WHAT IS AN INFOMERCIAL?
The term infomercial refers to a very specific form of TV
advertising. Let's break apart the pieces and identify the
parameters and ingredients of an infomercial.
- An infomercial is an advertisement.
- An infomercial must be program-long.
- An infomercial must solicit a specific
direct response from the viewer.
IT IS AN AD.
First and foremost, an infomercial is simply another
form of advertisement. It is a commercial message, and as such
represents the viewpoints and serves the interest of the sponsor.
It is a "paid program."
IT IS LONG FORM.
Unlike conventional 30 and 60 second TV ads, an
infomercial runs at least a half hour. The reason: a half hour is
the smallest block of airtime a TV station will sell without
interrupting its programming schedules. (NO program on TV is
shorter than 30 minutes.)
IT SOLICITS A "DIRECT" RESPONSE.
An infomercial must solicit a
response which is specific and quantifiable. The solicitation and
the delivery of the response must be direct between the advertiser
and the viewer.
Unfortunately, the term infomercial is not universally understood
in the industry, and infomercials may be called different things by
different people.
The list of official sounding names, from "documercials" to
"long-form advertising" is "paid programming," is endless and can
be confusing: some term do not adequately define the scope of this
new form of advertising.
For example, the term long-form advertising seems to be a favorite
among media people. Unfortunately, the term describes only the time
aspect, disregarding purpose and content. Of course, it does reflect
the focus of those in TV circles, as opposed to the broader
perspective of those in the marketing community. What will become
of the term long-form advertising when paid advertising program
extend to an hour or longer? Will we upgrade the term to longer-form
advertising and then longest-form advertising?
By contrast, the term direct response advertising is obviously of
a marketing heritage. But like the former, the term is incomplete
because it does not qualify the medium being used. Mail order is
also a form of direct response advertising.
Finally, there are those who feel uncomfortable with the term
infomercial because it sounds too gimmicky or colloquial.
We think otherwise. More and more companies re accepting and using
the term infomercial, and because of that we feel it will stand the
test of time.
WHAT ARE DRTV SPOTS?
The term DRTV spot as used in this report refers to standard length
direct response advertisements that are aired within or between
regularly scheduled programs.
Like infomercials, DRTV spots are designed to solicit a specific
direct response from the TV viewers. Unlike infomercials, however,
they are not program-length ads. Although standard length is usually
one or two minutes, spots may run anywhere from ten seconds to
three minutes.
You product and the type of response you are trying to generate will
dictate when DRTV spots may be more cost-effective than infomercials,
and vice versa.
SOLICITING A RESPONSE:
Infomercials and DRTV spots are both designed
to solicit a specific response directly from TV viewers. What do you
want the viewers to do? What do you want to get? These are the two
fundamental questions you infomercial or DRTV spot must answer
effectively.
Regardless of which form of advertising you use,
certain rules always apply:
Be Explicit: Tell the viewers exactly what you want them to do.
Some advertisers get so engrossed highlighting the fantastic features
of their product, they bury their solicitation message and fail to
stress what they want the TV viewers to do.
Be Direct: Solicit a response that is direct - and measurable.
If your objective is to get the consumers to visit their nearest
shopping center to look for your product, this is not direct response
advertising/. Infomercials and DRTV spots require the viewer to
respond directly to you (the advertiser).
Must Be Measurable: The response must be quantifiable. Even if
you're running a simple opinion poll, the response must be something
that can be measured in a way that defines the success or failure of
either the advertisement itself or of the product being advertised.
LEADS OR SALES:
Infomercials and DRTV spots commonly solicit either a direct purchase
or an inquiry about a product. Again, be explicit. don't give the
viewer an option. If you do, your response mix will be inaccurate,
confusing, and counterproductive.
LEAD GENERATION:
A lead generation infomercial or DRTV spot asks the viewers to call
your toll-free 800 number and to leave their name and address to
receive additional sales information about you product or service.
SALES GENERATION:
A sales generation infomercial or DRTV spot prompts the viewer to
call your toll-free 800 number to place an order for you product
or service, paying by credit card or COD.
STICK WITH A SINGLE RESPONSE OBJECTIVE; ANYTHING ELSE IS PURE WINDFALL.
Your infomercial that solicits viewers to make a direct purchase
may also generate calls requesting additional information.
Although these unsolicited calls must be treated as highly qualified
leads, they cannot be used to measure the actual success of you
infomercial. Since you principal objective is to generate direct
dollar sales, all the calls that generated leads must be treated
as windfall.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN CUSTOMERS TO GO THE SHOPPING CENTER LOOKING FOR YOUR PRODUCT ?
As a rule of thumb, infomercials and DRTV spots are never designed
to encourage retail sales. However, some consumers want to look and
see a product before they purchase it. Others don't have a credit
card or fail to note the ordering information provided in you
infomercial.
This large contingent of potential customers can provide you with
extra profits from retail sales generated by your infomercial or
DRTV spot. An increase in retail sales of a number of products has
been directly attributed to infomercials or DRTV spots.
For example, exercise machines like the ThighMaster and certain
types of sunglasses, like BluBlockers, have enjoyed increased retail
sales due to direct response advertising by the aggressive marketers
of those products.
CREATING A TREND.
Direct response pioneers like The JuiceMan and
The Juice Tiger sold truckloads of juice extractors with their
infomercials. These two competing brands, however, did more than
sell juice machines on television - they convinced consumers that
juice was important and showed them how juice machines can help
them lead healthier, happier lives.
Consequently, these infomercials helped the retail sales of almost
every brand of juice maker. With their new awareness, consumers
became receptive to the idea of owning a juice machine.
Suddenly a product line that once collected dust on department
store shelves became a top seller. Stores began merchandising
juice machines, allocating prime store footage to display different
brands. Without any new advertising effort, juice-making machine
manufacturers now enjoy additional retail sales that were generated
by The JuiceMan and The Juice Tiger infomercials.
This example proves that an infomercial may effectively sell
directly to a specific TV audience while simultaneously producing
retail sales. You can see how retail sales can be generated without
any additional advertising expense - since the infomercial or DRTV
spot which prompted the retail sales actually paid for itself through
direct sales to TV viewers.
OUTPERFORMING RETAIL SALES
Moving consumers from conventional retail buying to direct response
television buying is another triumph that demonstrates the power of
infomercial marketer.
Until recently, women bought cosmetics from department stores or
their Avon lady. Victoria Jackson began to sell complete systems
exclusively through television infomercials. The only way customers
could buy her products was by responding to her paid TV programming.
Prior to her infomercial, 3 out of every 4 Victoria Jackson customers
bought cosmetics exclusively from department stores. In response to
Jackson's success, Avon is designing an infomercial campaign of their
own.
A NEW FORM OF TV ADVERTISING
Today's infomercials are a far cry
from the "long-form" televised sales pitches (5 and 10 minute
commercials) of the early '60s. This was when half-hour shows
sponsored by soap manufacturers gave birth to the term soap opera.
TV advertising three decades ago was largely confined to promotions
which: (1) told viewers that a particular product with certain
features existed, and (2) motivated viewers to go to the nearest
retail outlet to buy the product. Television then, in the strict
sense of the word, was nothing but an advertising medium.
Today television has evolved from a mere advertising medium into a
dominant distribution vehicle. Today's infomercials and direct
response TV commercials go beyond product promotion. They actually
give the consumer a means to directly purchase the merchandise being
advertised. Conventional TV advertising presents a product that
is available through retail outlets or a distribution network.
Direct response TV ads actually sell products direct to the TV
viewers. Direct response marketing remained the domain of mail order
and other print forms of direct marketing until television matured,
and advertisers began to recognize its direct marketing potential.
In fact, the terms infomercial and DRTV spots came into being because
television gives the advertisers a platform conducive to direct
marketing.
Coverage 98% of all U. S. households have at least one television
set. In this Electronic Age, TV has surpassed all other media as
our primary source of information and entertainment.
Cable TV 60% of all TV households in the U. S. have cable service,
providing a wide variety of channel selections in comparison to an
all broadcast environment.
Longer Hours Since we've evolved away from being a 9 to 5 society,
television executives recognized the profitable viewership base
found in late night hours. Remember when TV stations signed off
at midnight?
Airtime Availability With thousands of national, regional and local
TV stations, and with extended programming hours, airtime is readily
available. The growth of Cable TV, satellites, and superstitions has
brought television a long way since the time when we only had CBS,
NBC, and ABC.
