Ex-Fitness Trainer Tests First Infomercial
Jerry Abbott, a personal fitness trainer for 20+ years, has begun testing his first-ever infomercial for the Torsoball.
He has been developing the product for the last two years. RW Advertising, the infomercial’s producer, is testing 30-minute infomercials are being tested on cable outlets such as the Travel Channel and Gameshow Network, as well as some local broadcast channels around the country, Abbott says.
“We’re gonna see which ones work best of us,” he says.
Later this year, the company will likely look into marketing through shopping channels and possibly selling through retail. The product is a conventional exercise ball with handles on the side. It costs $99.99 which can be made in three payments. The calls to action are a toll free 800 number and its website www.torsoball.com.
One reason why the company plans to stick with long form infomercials is because the medium seems so well-suited to products of this type.
“Infomercials are usually the normal way you do things when you bring out a fitness product of this type,” he notes.
As such, Torsoball is trying to appeal to men and women between the ages of 18 and 50, he says. The product is a conventional exercise ball with handles on the side.
People use the torsoball by lying on the floor and rolling the ball in front of them. This is supposed to build up abdominal muscles without straining the back, says Abbott. The infomercial shows people doing variations of these exercises.
“We’re going after the broad demographic of passive fitness product users,” he says. “When most people exercise they don’t want to lift weights or old school kind of stuff. This is a new style: it kind of builds not only abdominal muscles but works all upper body muscles based on a special circuit of exercises.”
The website features separate online videos of a man and a woman each using the product and voice-over hawking the product’s benefits as well as testimonials.
For the moment, the company is likely to rely on long-form infomercials and will run them as long as they work.
“Some infomercials have been on for years,” he says.
RW Advertising, a direct response broadcast shop, produced the infomercial.
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