Landing online just prior to last month’s MTC Expo, Response‘s April issue was chock full of the kind of editorial tie-ins that we’re happy to feature at that event. The cover story — an interview with the Safelite Group‘s Renee Cacchillo — was backed in San Diego with an appearance by Bruce Millard, Safelite’s VP of digital and customer innovation. A media spotlight feature on TV’s advancing technology includes thoughts from three more Expo speakers: Nutrisystem‘s Lauren Mitchell, DISH Media Sales‘ Scott Berger, and Hulu‘s Michaela Giovengo. THOR Associates‘ Fern Lee — who took the Expo stage twice in San Diego, once as a moderator and once as an inductee to the DR Hall of Fame — and Koeppel Direct‘s Peter Koeppel (who helmed a sponsored DRMA Learning Annex session) serve as sources for our story on the financial services marketing space. And, speaking of the Hall of Fame induction, which took place on April 26 in San Diego, our fourth feature in this issue is a roundtable featuring all seven 2018 inductees. Looking for more information on how this issue came together? Read on!
- The genesis of what became the cover story on Safelite — c’mon, sing the jingle with me … “Safelite repair, Safelite replace!” — was an email conversation with the company’s PR contact in the run-up to Response Expo 2017. Yes, sometimes the process takes a bit. After letting the contact go cold until last fall, I reached out to a new Safelite contact, Katie Salvator. Prior to her departure from the company earlier this year, not only did Katie work hard to get me squared away for this interview with Renee, but also got the ball rolling on bringing Millard in to speak at the Expo. As we went through the process, the company’s director of communications, Keriake Lucas, also jumped in to lend a helping hand. The whole team at Safelite was outstanding to work with and Cacchillo provided incredible depth to her comments during the interview. All in all, it’s one of my favorite pieces of the past year. If you missed the link above, click here: A Clear View
- Freelancer Bridget McCrea handled our 2Q media spotlight feature, which dives into the expanding world of TV and how consumers’ demands on marketers — and those delivering content — are driving technological change. With thoughts from marketers, media agencies, technology providers, and media outlets, the piece gives a decent snapshot of some of the options out there for marketers today — and what’s coming in the near future. That link, once again: Expanding Technology, Demanding Viewers
- New to our freelancer team, but not the industry, Ian Murphy was a natural for our look at performance marketing in the financial services space. Banks, insurance, and other FS marketers have been long-time leaders in using the full array of performance media, and as technology accelerates change, these marketers remain at the forefront. Here’s that link again: Everything, All the Time
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Freelancer Doug McPherson connected with all seven members of the 2018 DR Hall of Fame induction class for a special roundtable discussion. The stellar group includes Hal Altman, Fern Lee, Keith Mirchandani, Cathy Mitchell, Steve Netzley, Colleen Szot, and Dick Wechsler. The event on April 26 in San Diego featured an hour-long roundtable similar in vein to this story, as well as the sun-dappled induction event — the first time all living members of an induction class actually made it to the induction ceremony! Want to hear from these legends, but missed the link above? Here you go: A Scintillating Septet
- Not only is Cannella Media‘s Tony Besasie a veteran Response Advisory Board member, but he’s also one of the more thoughtful media executives out there. In his company’s latest DRMA Spotlight story, Besasie riffs on “video everywhere,” attribution, data science, and the expansion of opportunity to sell products and services directly to consumers. Want more? Here you go: Leading the Evolution
- Fourth-quarter 2017 long-form DRTV media billings are highlighted in our monthly direct response TV and radio media billings research. The quarter’s $6.6 million decrease left total-year 2017 results $67 million (or 7.9 percent) short of 2016’s long-form spend. That percentage decrease is the worst since a 9.5-percent drop in 2014 — and the loss means that long-form DRTV’s market has decreased in 10 of the past 11 years. For a full look at 4Q 2017 long-form DRTV media billings, click here: Long-Form Billings Wrap Another Tough Year
- The April issue also includes three contributed columns:
- In his Media Zone piece, DISH’s Berger gets into the benefits of advertising with over-the-top (OTT) TV providers.
- d2H Partners‘ Marcelino Miyares says, “Enculturation is not about the state of diversity in your company. It is about the diversity of our marketplace.” He’s got plenty more of interest to say in his En Español column.
- In the Committee Corner, Education Committee members Ava Seavey and Michael Montgomery talk about just a few of the challenges of advertising on Facebook.
- Finally, my Editor’s Note column was written for the folks who joined us in San Diego, and leads with last summer’s conception of “MTC Expo.” Nine months in the making, the event ended up being as seamless from our perspective as any we’ve run during the past dozen years. And, by and large, the attendee feedback has been outstanding. If you were on hand and we haven’t chatted since the show, don’t hesitate to drop a line with your thoughts — good, bad, or otherwise. We always love hearing from our attendees. It’s the only way we can keep improving. Here’s that link to the column one more time: See You in San Diego … at the Intersection of Media, Technology, and Commerce
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