As Seen on TV—And Beyond: DRTV Trends and Tips
DRTV TRENDS AND TIPS FOR THE INTERNET ERA
Chief Marketer recently chatted with Robert Medved, CEO of Cannella Response Television, LLC, to get his thoughts on today’s DRTV landscape.
What products/niches are performing well in DRTV? It’s all about the value proposition, says Medved. “Diet and exercise products such as Total Gym are still top sellers because they might allow the consumer to save money by cutting their gym memberships and working out at home.”
Breakout products are typically those that are in a mass market vertical and solve a problem — and they don’t have to be in the traditional DRTV top verticals like fitness, household and beauty. Recent examples include DogPedic, basically a Tempurpedic-type pet bed, and Your Baby Can Read, a program to encourage early learning development.
How does the Web fit into DRTV? “Good products explode when social media gets behind them,” says Medved. “There’s nothing like a testimonial to gain trust. Once it hits someone’s Facebook page how they lost weight [using a product], that really puts it over the top.”
Overall, the phone is still the top DRTV response mechanism, but for certain products — especially those skewing toward younger consumers — the Web is on top.
Any trends in media availability? In short form, DRTV marketers are always competing with top brands for air time, says Medved, noting that the typical patterns still apply — for example, space is still more plentiful (and affordable) in the summer months.
On the long form side, the footprint is more stable: For the most part, the blocks of available paid programming haven’t changed in 25 years, so DRTV pros are just competing against each other for those dayparts. “And,” says Medved, “pricing has declined thanks to the fragmentation of space and the introduction of things like DVRs.”
Medved was bullish on DRTV’s future, noting that the medium’s annual compound growth rate has continued to rise. And even though many consumers now take advantage of the chance to watch DRTV spots and response online, he cautions that you shouldn’t count out the idiot box just yet.
“At the end of the day, I still think people need that time to sit in front of the television and veg out. And the phones are still ringing.”
Got a DRTV tip to share? Contact Beth Negus Viveiros at [email protected]
