Response Magazine Features Concepts TV

SHORT FORM PRODUCTION - LOG ON NOW
Response APRI L 2 007

The shape of direct response commerce has
completely changed. Direct response clients not
only have to consider the importance of sales
from their broadcast TV commercials, but also sales
generated from their Web sites.

With the continuing popularity of the Internet,
any new marketer should be conscious of a product’s Web site in its marketing strategy. At the initial conceptual stage of a DR campaign, it’s vitally important for marketers to acquire the URL that matches the product’s name. Karen How, vice president of direct response marketing at Fairfield, N.J.-based OnTel Products Corp., says, “When we acquire a product name, the URL plays a large role in the decision making process. Preferably, we choose a URL that matches the name to ensure that the consumer will remember it. We also register common misspellings of the product name to make sure we capture as many orders as possible.”

The Web site should be designed so that potential customers are immediately directed to the
page that reflects the offer in the TV commercial. The last thing a marketer wants to do is send a potential customer into shopping cyberspace and lose them.

Placement of the Web address in the commercial is also key. Collette Liantonio, president of
Concepts TV Productions in Boonton, N.J., says, “Just a few years ago, we would position the Web address toward the end of the spot. Now, we begin placement immediately, since Web site sales are an integral part of a product’s success.”
Most experts also stress the importance of acquiring a “dot-com” URL versus a “dot-TV” URL.
The phrase “dot-TV” is not standard in our customer’s vocabulary, but “dot-com” is. If the URL is only available in “dot-TV”, some experts even suggest changing the product’s name to acquire a “dot-com” URL, saving potential customers.

Recently, a DRTV marketer in the housewares arena enjoyed great success with a new product
introduction via short - form. The company, which requested anonymity for this article, attributes a large part of this success to its Web site. In its first TV airing, the ad generated around 950 telephone sales and more than 350 additional Web site sales. Nearly one of every three sales came from consumers “logging on” to find out more!

“On average, we experience an additional 30 percent of Web sales and revenues that are double
the price point of the TV off e r. This increase of revenue is i n s t rumental to the rollout of a campaign,” says Sonia Makurdsik, president of SRM Direct.

But wait, there ’s more! Web site sales cost less per order. Rather than paying a per-minute fee
to the telemarketing service for a call, customers can shop at leisure with no direct costs to the
marketer. It eliminates the operator, while providing valuable information to the consumer. Says Raj Shahani, vice president of new product development for TELEBrands in Fairfield, N.J., “The Internet is cost effective for marketers and convenient for customers. It’s a win-win situation for both.” Nicola de la Salle, vice president of West Coast operations for Livemercial, agrees, and adds,“Successful DR marketers are creating sites that create the same immersive experience as television with the ability to capture orders in a fast and convenient way, capturing not just TV traffic but driving Internet traffic through strategic Internet media purchases.”

The Internet is the future of business, and is vital to the continued success of direct response.
“ Web site and DRTV integration is now more important than ever. In the near future, the Web is going to be as important as television for driving new business,” says Ed Garrubbo, CEO of
C reative Commerce LLC in New York. Streaming content on the Web also allows consumers to review the salient features of a product repeatedly with virtually no overhead for the marketer. “Streaming the TV commercial on a markter’s Web site is critical to the success of any new DR campaign,” says Liantonio.

Kristy Pinand-Dumpert is director of sales for Boonton, N. J.- based Concepts TV Productions, an expert in direct res ponse TV production. She can be reached at (973) 331- 1500 or via E-mail at kristy@ conceptstv. com.