RESPONSE Magazine - December 2017

© Copyright 2017 SciMark Corp. These reviews represent the opinions of the author. Any inaccuracies are unintentional. To report an inaccuracy or provide other feedback, E-mail: jordan@scimark.com. The SciMark Report is also a blog at scimark.blogspot.com. SciMark Corp. is a firm that specializes in short-form DRTV advertising. For more information and a full description of the S7 scoring system, visit www.SciMark.com.

WHAT MAKES UP THE SCIMARK SEVEN?

The PRODUCT should be: ( 1) needed; ( 2) targeted; and ( 3) different.

The CATEGORY should be: ( 4) un-crowded.

The COMMERCIAL should be: ( 5) engaging; ( 6) motivating; and ( 7) clear.

SCIMARK REPORT

Mark it on your calendar: 2017 is the year “DRTV brand” became a legitimate phrase. That’s right, you can now say it straight- faced and without a derisive snort immediately following its utterance.

For years, DRTV marketers have been dreaming of this day. Their sad stories were always the same: after a period of initial success, and often despite staffing up and spending millions on low-return advertising, the brand would fizzle and eventually fail. It seemed the core conflict between branding (long-term strategy) and DRTV selling (short-term execution) was irreconcilable — until this year.

It’s not so much that our industry resolved the conflict. It’s that we finally found categories deep enough to generate the steady stream of hits we need to sustain brand awareness. Below are the four categories that got us here.

NONSTICK COOKWARE

As I wrote last month, TELEBrands must have thought nonstick cookware was over after its historic run with Orgreenic. Then, only two years later, Emson launched Gotham Steel. It turns out the category was just getting started. In fact, it has such strong legs, it’s able to support three growing brands at the same time.

So far, I have archived 33 TV tests — exactly 11 per brand. At press time, Gotham Steel Bacon Bonanza was No. 16 on the DRMetrix Weekly Top 40, Tristar’s Copper Chef Cookware was No. 22, Gotham Steel Pot was No. 23, and TELEBrands’ Red Copper Flipwich was No. 34. Meanwhile, the Jordan Whitney Greensheet is promoting three Gotham Steel items and three Red Copper items. Who knows how many of these campaigns will do well at retail, but I hear the shelves are just as cluttered as the charts.

COMPRESSION GARMENTS

After some initial hot competition, Ideavillage now stands alone with its Copper Fit brand. It is taking full advantage of the monopoly. At last count, the marketer had logged TV tests for 16 different products, six this year alone, and rolled out with more than half of them. That’s a string of success stretching back to 2014 — and still going strong.

TACTICAL PRODUCTS

This trend snuck up on the industry like a commando on an unwitting sentry. (See what I did there?) Few suspected that a tactical-themed flashlight could become a hit, let alone launch two robust product lines. This includes me, and I share credit for the hit that started it all (Bell+Howell TacLight).

Yet here we are with 26 TV tests, nine rollouts — and counting. This
vein may actually end up being the richest of them all, as there appears
to be more than one category that’s
compatible with a tactical brand. For
instance, Bell+Howell TacGlasses just
established a beachhead in eyewear.
(OK, I’ll stop now.)

HAIR REMOVAL

Last but not least, I must also
mention Ideavillage’s Finishing Touch
and Micro Touch brands. Long ago, they
became the first original (i.e., non-li-
censed) DRTV names to deliver the lon-
gevity required to be called “brands” —
The first, a gold-plated rotary trimmer called Finishing Touch
Flawless, was still in the top 10 at press time. The second, an electric/
wet razor hybrid called Micro Touch Solo, remains in the top 20. That
seems fitting
since, prior to
2017, the only
time “DRTV
brand” wasn’t
considered an
oxymoron was
when speaking
about these
trademarks.