Jun 23

Response June: A Series of Educated Gambles

Response June 2016Response‘s June issue hit the web (and mailboxes) this week. Headlined by a cover story on the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), the issue also features our second quarterly Advisors Forum feature of 2016, this time centered on the topic of attribution, a special case study on Delivery.com‘s solution to issues with credit card fraud, and a web-exclusive story on the pharmaceutical and healthcare space. Read on for background on some of the key facets of our first summer issue:

  • In a shocking turn, the headline for the cover story on the LVCVA echoes its most famous tagline: ‘What Happens in Vegas …’ The work on this story actually dates to late 2015, when I received a press release from the LVCVA’s Courtney Fitzgerald about a new digital offering from the group. By early January, we’d settled on a cover interview with Cathy Tull, the group’s senior vice president of marketing, as a cover story. But with a new TV campaign rolling out in June — and a series of mobile-focused digital offerings hitting in the interim — we agreed to push the feature until this particular issue. It was the right choice, because by the time I sat down for a phone call with Tull in early May, we had plenty to discuss. The LVCVA’s wide-ranging goals and ever-expanding online and offline marketing efforts make it a great story for anyone looking at any facet of performance-based marketing. If you missed it above, here’s the link: ‘What Happens in Vegas …’
  • Attribution may be the biggest buzzword in performance-based marketing today. Marketers, agencies, and other vendors are working constantly to find the right mix of data that will help them attribute each lead or sale back to the piece of media that prompted a consumer to act. But as consumers have gained more control over how and when they are reached — let alone how and when they respond — that attribution is harder and harder to nail down. Seven members of the Response Advisory Board responded to questions for this special roundtable on the topic of attribution — and the online version includes their full, unabridged answers. If you missed the link above but want to check out the story, click here: What’s the Attribution Solution?
  • When I met with Forter‘s Bill Zielke and Delivery.com’s Colin Sims at the eTail West event in Palm Desert, Calif., in February, I was intrigued by their story about the online retailer’s struggles with credit card fraud and Forter’s solution. Right then and there, I made an immediate decision that this story was worthy of a rare case study feature in the pages of Response. Four months later, freelancer Doug McPherson has the story for you: Fighting Fraud
  • The issue’s fourth feature — our look at the pharmaceutical and healthcare markets — is only available online. For marketers of healthcare services to health insurance to pharmaceuticals, an ever-changing regulatory environment is nothing new. How are these marketers dealing with the restrictions — and capitalizing on new opportunities in the age of Obamacare and expanded Medicare coverage? Don’t miss this web exclusive: Healthy Changes
  • Our monthly direct response TV and radio media billings return to the DR radio space for outstanding fourth-quarter 2015 results. The radio space’s best 4Q performance in five years lifted its annual total to more than $58 million — a 7.9-percent rise over 2014, which itself was a big bounce-back year. What’s behind the recent success of the radio medium? For a full look at 4Q 2015 DR radio media billings, click here: DR Radio Doubles Down on Success
  • Response is very fortunate to have many of the brightest minds in the business as regular contributors to our column well. This month’s pieces display the breadth of that expertise, if you simply click on these links: Media Zone; Production House; Net Gains; and Legal Review. At the risk of sounding a little self-assured after more than 15 years running the magazine’s editorial, I’d like to think I’m in that group of “bright minds,” which means I always want to make sure my Editor’s Note column measures up. This month, I flip the attribution debate among marketers and agencies on its head and ask our readers to view attribution from a consumer’s perspective. Might this reversal help you better understand your attribution issues from a business perspective? That’s what I’d like to know. If you missed the link above, click here to read (and respond to) my latest: Thinking Like a Consumer Could Help Your Attribution Modeling

Thanks again for reading and interacting with Response!

Feb 24

Response February: A ‘Premera’ Marketer; New Hall of Famers; and Not-That-Bad Media Billings

The February issue of Response debuted in print a couple of weeks ago and hit the Web last week. I’ve finally been able to clear some time today to give you my monthly glimpse at back story on the issue, including the cover feature highlighting Premera Blue Cross (and VP/GM Jim Havens), the new class of inductees for the DR Hall of Fame and more:

  • About four months ago, we got a call from Sean Fay of Envision Response in Seattle. Sean’s been a long-time friend of Response, going back to his days with Cesari Direct. He was really excited about the work he’d just done with Premera Blue Cross, the Blue Cross health insurance organization serving Washington and Alaska, and believed they’d be interested in talking about their campaign for some newly tweaked Medicare offerings. After I was connected with Amy Carter, a key PR player for the insurer, the story came together without a hitch. Havens, who headed up the Medicare Advantage product launch, was open and forthright about the challenges Premera faced and the work that both Envision and agency DMW Direct did to help make its multi-channel campaign a success. If you missed the link above, here it is once again: A Direct Advantage
  • Our Field Reports news section is a hearty one this month, led by the announcement of the 10 inductees selected to join the Direct Response Hall of Fame on May 1 at Response Expo in San Diego. With a nominating process headed by the Response Advisory Board, this group of inductees joins our inaugural group of nine who were inducted in 2013. Not only will the induction event happen at the Expo, but a very special panel discussion featuring six of the inductees will take place just prior to the ceremony. In sadder news, we say goodbye to one of the “As Seen On TV” industry’s founding fathers, Mike Ackerman, who passed away in January. If you missed the link above to these two big stories (and more), click here to take a look: Field Reports February
  • When I received the initial 3Q 2013 short-form DRTV media billings information from Kantar Media, the decline was eye-opening. After all, the year’s first two quarters had been a struggle for all media billings areas we cover. But these were brutal. Fortunately, the Kantar team sent a note along, not too far after the initial E-mail, with an explanation for its change in methodology late in 2012 that is playing a role in the losses it’s reported so far in 2013. So, while short-form media billings are still down — and the market is mirroring the long-form space by moving more of its dollars away from the expensive cable space — the losses aren’t as horrifying as once believed. For more on 3Q short-form DRTV billings (and Kantar’s explanation), click here: Kantar Clarifies Dour 3Q Short-Form Results
  • Finally, my Editor’s Note riffs on how healthcare marketers — forced to become more agile and more aggressive due to the new Affordable Care Act and an aging populace — are becoming the leaders in showing all vertical markets how best to become direct, digital, data-driven marketing experts. The timing couldn’t be better, coming along a month after the debut of Response‘s new look and new tagline. In addition to our cover feature on Premera Blue Cross, the issue also includes a feature on how an array of healthcare marketers are finding new ways to gain and maintain customers. For more of my thoughts, here’s the link once again: Healthcare Marketers Point the Way to Marketing’s Future

Thanks again for reading and interacting with Response!