Dec 21

Response November: Winners, Travelers, and Home Shoppers

Response November 2015With travel and year-end projects taking precedence, I’ve fallen behind on my Response recaps. So, this is the first of two Response-filled blog posts during Christmas week — a look at Response‘s November issue. With our DRMA Marketer of the Year event shifting to early October, our cover story on the three finalists also shifted back one month to this issue. Additionally, we covered the travel and home shopping spaces, while adding a new feature on the business solutions market — a vertical that’s growing thanks to the combination of online and offline marketing. Let’s take a deeper look at some of the issue’s top pieces.

  • In an intriguing bit of timing, DraftKings‘ victory in the annual industry-wide vote for DRMA Marketer of the Year was announced in Las Vegas on Oct. 7 — the same week that initial stories of one of its employees winning $350,000 on competitor site FanDuel surfaced. Since then, the intrigue around the two daily fantasy sports (DFS) sites has continued to build, with legal challenges slowing the companies’ advertising, but fantasy sports players continuing to flock to the services in record numbers. DraftKings was a deserving winner in the competition, as voters responded to its overwhelming TV and online marketing efforts with a similarly overwhelming number of ballots. The trio of 2015 finalists — also including SharkNinja (formerly Euro-Pro) and TELEBrands — represents, one might say, the past, present, and future of the performance-based marketing world. If you missed the link above, and want to read more about the three finalists, click here: Crowning the New ‘Kings’
  • Travel marketers have been long-time believers in direct response — well before the transition into the omnichannel, performance-based efforts that dominate today’s landscape. For years, we’ve covered this space as it exhibited leadership in how best to combine online and offline methodologies that could be effective for marketers of all types of products and services. This feature is no different, as we’ve caught up with top-level travel marketers from the resort side (Atlantis Paradise) and from the local travel bureau perspective (Nassau Paradise Island Promotions Board and LasVegas.com). If you missed the link above, click here to read how performance-based methods are driving travelers to locations around the world: Leveraging the Power of ‘Book Now’
  • Perhaps no part of the old-school direct response universe has been forced to adjust as rapidly as the home shopping space. From the leaders — HSN and QVC — to smaller start-ups, the direct connection these networks have to their viewers and shoppers has changed immensely with the expansion of digital marketing. More impressively, their embrace of this change — celebrating innovation rather than cowering in fear — should be a model for all marketers. What’s new in the space? If you missed the link above, click here: Lights, Camera … Creativity
  • Our monthly direct response TV and radio media billings recap returns to short-form DRTV for second-quarter 2015 results, which — thanks to some measurement changes by Kantar Media — were a bit shocking. While the quarter shows a frightening 39-percent decrease from 2Q 2014 results, the bulk of that can be ascribed to a change in rate estimates for U.S. Hispanic space. So, where the other four TV media outlets showed a more palatable 9.2-percent decrease, the Hispanic space plummeted more than $330 million. For a more in-depth explanation from Kantar and a full look at 2Q 2015 short-form DRTV media billings, click here: Kantar Methodology Shift Is the Culprit in 2Q Short-Form DRTV Decrease
  • Finally, you might have noticed a recent change to the magazine’s tagline. Response is now “The Magazine for Performance-Based Marketers.” Similar changes have been made to the DRMA (“The Alliance for Performance-Based Marketers”) and Response Expo (“The Event for Performance-Based Marketers”). Why? It’s all in this month’s Editor’s Note: Join the Performance-Based Marketing Evolution

Thanks again for reading and interacting with Response!

Nov 05

Photo-A-Day 2013: Week 42

Ready for a rush to the finish of my 2013 Photo-A-Day project? Good, because just a couple of days ago, I finally finished working up images from late November and December — and they’ve been loaded into the media cache on the blog.

Let’s get started by reaching back to mid-October of last year, for a week that started in Chicago, stretched through the Dodgers’ final home playoff game and on to my sister’s 40th birthday and beyond! Remember, to see any image at full size, just click on it!

14-OCT-2013: Love (LOVE) the Lodge in Chicago. This Instagram image shows just one reason why.

14-OCT-2013: Love (LOVE) the Lodge in Chicago. This Instagram image shows just one reason why.

15-OCT-2013: Waiting at LAX bag claim ... as usual.

15-OCT-2013: Waiting at LAX bag claim … as usual.

16-OCT-2013: NLCS Game 5, Dodgers vs. Cardinals.

16-OCT-2013: NLCS Game 5, Dodgers vs. Cardinals.

17-OCT-2013: Working on my annual preview of college football's most historic rivalry.

17-OCT-2013: Working on my preview of college football’s most historic rivalry.

18-OCT-2013: I put together this VERY 1973 gift pack for my sister's 40th birthday.

18-OCT-2013: A VERY 1973 gift pack for my sister’s 40th birthday.

19-OCT-2013: My sister and her husband at her 40th birthday shindig.

19-OCT-2013: My sister and her husband at her 40th birthday shindig.

20-OCT-2013: These pumpkin candies are like crack this time of year.

20-OCT-2013: These pumpkin candies are like crack this time of year.

Feb 15

Photo-A-Day 2013: Week 33

More travel was on tap for the week of Aug. 12-18: a weekend visit with friends in Virginia Beach. Let’s get to the week’s images. (Remember, if you want to see any image at full size, just click on it!)

12-AUG-2013: I was sitting around the house when I noticed what an odd thing trophy toppers are. #HoopItUp

12-AUG-2013: I was sitting around the house when I noticed what an odd thing trophy toppers are. #HoopItUp

13-AUG-2013: The Cool-A-Coo. Victory.

13-AUG-2013: The Cool-A-Coo. Victory.

14-AUG-2013: As the summer went on, this became a very familiar scene.

14-AUG-2013: As the summer went on, this became a very familiar scene.

15-AUG-2013: Welcome to Virginia Beach.

15-AUG-2013: Welcome to Virginia Beach.

16-AUG-2013: A bird looks for treasure in the salty sands of Virginia Beach.

16-AUG-2013: A bird looks for treasure in the salty sands of Virginia Beach.

17-AUG-2013: "I see you rolled your way into the semis. Dios mio, man. Liam and me, we're gonna fuck you up." Norfolk, Virginia, y'all.

17-AUG-2013: “I see you rolled your way into the semis. Dios mio, man. Liam and me, we’re gonna fuck you up.” Norfolk, Virginia, y’all.

18-AUG-2013: Interesting ceiling and lighting at JFK's American Airlines terminal in New York.

18-AUG-2013: Interesting ceiling and lighting at JFK’s American Airlines terminal in New York.