Repair Rather Than Replace

Housewares products hit the right note in tough times

by Collette Liantonio, from the March issue of Response Magazine

Since the onset of the Great Recession in 2008, DR agencies have been faced with one tough question that overrides all others for their clients: How can a consumer justify a purchase when he or she is barely holding on to a job or a home?

It’s not easy. When DRTV commercial producers create a spot or long-form infomercial, defining the true value of a product is crucial to the sale. Getting the consumer to grasp that he or she is, in fact, getting a great deal for a great product is tougher than ever. One needs to look no further than the explosion of ‚“buy one, get one free” offers being used to prompt consumer action.

Consumers can’t afford to replace major household products when money is tight. The need for home improvement doesn’t go away. It just means consumers have to look in another direction.

Perhaps that’s why the housewares space continues to be very good to DR marketers. Rather than replacing worn out items, or spending thousands on home improvement projects that were all the rage in the home equity heyday of 10 years ago, consumers are now looking for low-cost replacements until the economy turns around.

Three products from Hampton Direct have had great success, Twin Draft Guard, Wonder Hanger and Furniture Fix. In each case, the product was built for DRTV demonstration. Each was a simple, inexpensive solution rather than an expensive replacement.

Consumers on a budget simply felt more comfortable utilizing a quality product like Twin Draft Guard, rather than contracting out for a complete weather-stripping job on their homes. By using Wonder Hangers, they also were able to find a simple and easy way to expand their closet space, without knocking out walls to rebuild their closets. And rather than shelling out $1,000 for a new living room set, they were able to easily repair sagging chairs and couches with Furniture Fix.

While each of these products hit a sweet spot during the Great Recession, they still required an eye for the production capabilities particular to direct response marketing. Any successful DRTV campaign is built around amazing product demonstrations that cut through the clutter of a crowded television landscape and turn ever-skeptical consumers into customers.

In the Furniture Fix spot, sumo wrestlers weighing a combined 1,000 pounds sit together on a couch using Furniture Fix to emphasize the product’s strength. In the Wonder Hanger spot, the product supports a 20-pound weight. The difference that proper creative development can make to allow your campaign to cut through the clutter is immeasurable. At the same time, it’s crucial that your producer knows the leaders in the DR space to connect you to other capable vendors. If your producer doesn’t have a complete DRTV network, beware.

Still, the ultimate key is that the right DRTV production agency can help you find the right message to reach the right consumer. And with the right producer, one that understands your product, whether it falls into the housewares vertical or beauty or fitness, your product stands a much better chance of finding its way into consumers’ homes, even in a difficult economy.

Collette Liantonio, President of Concepts TV Productions is featured in the March issue of Response Magazine, speaking about how technology has helped producers work smarter and more efficiently in a challenging economic environment.

DRTV producers focus on quality shows that entice consumers and add value to their lives.

One Hit at a Time

By: Bridget McCrea

The recent recession changed the way a lot of companies do business. And while the DRTV industry as a whole was somewhat insulated from its effects, both long-form and short-form producers have learned to work smarter, better and faster in the challenging environment.

The fact that modern-day technology and sites like YouTube have turned all of us into videographers has put even more pressure on the professionals. ‚“All of my children got HD cameras for Christmas this year and their production quality is incredible,” says Collette Liantonio, president at Boonton, N.J.-based Concepts TV Productions. ‚“But there’s more to developing DRTV campaigns than just a camera; people don’t always appreciate the fact that we’re DR gurus and not just producers.”

That lack of appreciation has pushed key players in the industry to find less expensive production techniques, all the while maintaining (or enhancing) the overall look, feel and effectiveness of the campaigns themselves. Technology helps producers achieve this balancing act, what with the myriad production techniques (like green screens) and editing suites (which allow remote parties to work on the computer from their own location) that are available on the market today.

‚“We don’t have to send rough cuts out of the state or country for client review and approval anymore,” says Liantonio. ‚“We all get into the virtual editing suite and get the job done much more efficiently.”

Liantonio also uses virtual backgrounds when shooting testimonials to minimize crew and costs that add up when working on location. ‚“As long as it doesn’t compromise the integrity of the testimonial’s message,” she says, ‚“it’s a great way to save both time and money.”

To stay on top of the game, the most experienced producers are making sure to stay in tune to the key trends, opportunities and challenges currently impacting short- and long-form production.

Going Short

Rolling up Their Sleeves

Short-form producers rolled up their sleeves in 2011 and found innovative ways to meet higher production standards without breaking budgets. ‚“Even emerging, entrepreneurial brands are demanding higher production values, knowing that those values are vital to building a business that can compete with established brands,” says Tim Hawthorne, chairman and executive creative director at Hawthorne Direct in Fairfield, Iowa, and member of the Response Advisory Board.

Concurrently, ‚“faster and cheaper seem to be a growing trend,” says Hawthorne, who increasingly turns to technology to help achieve the delicate balance between high production values and smaller budgets. ‚“Client requests for faster, cheaper shows is not a positive trend for the industry,” adds Hawthorne, ‚“but it’s certainly representative of the current economic climate.”

To augment its clients’ short-form campaigns in a cost-effective manner, Hawthorne Direct incorporates online video into all websites; actively uses social networking for research and ‚“listening” to consumer feedback; uses SMS text as a response mechanism; and is experimenting with the use of QR codes.

Liantonio says the Web has become a hotbed for short-form testing. Some test shows are created with an in-house camera, no set price points, and few, if any, production values. Those efforts have pushed short-form producers into the role of Web designers.

‚“That’s a big change that’s taken place in our industry,” says Liantonio. ‚“If you can’t do Web design, you really can’t be in short-form production.”

Taking Center Stage

Concepts TV’s biggest short-form successes over the past year included Miracle Socks, which are compression socks designed for the senior market, and the Sift & Toss cat litter system. The Miracle Socks campaign honed in on phone sales, based on the target demographic, while Sift & Toss capitalized on the Web, social media and mobile, the latter of which increased product sales by 12 percent.

Web and social media have also taken center stage at THOR Associates in New York, where CEO and Founder Fern Lee says all marketing efforts revolve around multichannel platforms.

‚“When developing creative we make sure to have assets that can be culled down to 10 seconds, 15 seconds and 30 seconds,” explains Lee, a member of the Response Advisory Board, ‚“so that the DR can drive to retail and have media assets for all digital use, from social networking to affiliate marketing.”

THOR’s short-form hits for 2011 included Looney Tunes ClickN Read Phonics. That campaign required Lee and her team to shoot a show that included more than 20 children, animation from Looney Tunes and a Spanish-language version.

‚“We were able to integrate digital and traditional direct marketing touch points for a strong ROI,” says Lee, ‚“and a very successful campaign.”

To read the entire article, click here.

Double Grand Slam for Concepts TV at the Moxies

Boonton, NJ The biggest convention of the year for direct response marketers and production companies, the Electronic Retailer Association Direct to Consumer Convention, may have come to a close but Concepts TV Productions is still celebrating after winning two major Moxie Awards. Concepts TV won the Best Long Form of the Year under $250K for "The Amish Heat Surge Fireplace" from Heat Surge LLC and the Best Short Form Variety Commercial for "Emery Cat" from All Star Marketing. "Two major wins in one night is incredible!" exclaimed Founder and President of Concepts TV Productions, Collette Liantonio. "Working with these products and these marketers was a pleasure, and I'm so proud that these productions were recognized by a jury of our peers. We look forward to producing many more award-winning productions for our clients." Concepts TV Productions is well known in the direct response industry for making exceptional short-form spots, but their long-form capabilities are finally being recognized. The 30 minute Amish Heat Surge Fireplace, which already won two Aurora awards, was filmed all over the country. However, the most memorable shooting days took place in Winesburg, Ohio, home to the largest Amish community in America. There, Concepts filmed the Amish carpenters and the community working together in Amish barns to handcraft the authentic mantles. "I love it when a project takes you on a breathtaking journey," says Dana Conklin, assistant director and producer at Concepts TV. "The Amish Heat Surge Fireplace is a product that people all across America really do love, and that's obvious in the heartfelt testimonials portrayed in the infomercial." Emery Cat, a cat scratching platform that enables cats to trim their own nails, was shot and produced in the Concepts TV studio and various homes in New Jersey. "That was an out of the ordinary shoot," Ms. Liantonio recalls with a laugh. "Most cats don't follow direction. When your featured talents aren't people, it really forces you to think outside of the box. And because of that we were able to produce a fun and creative spot. It's the unique variety of projects that come our way that really make me love this business!" For more information on Concepts TV Productions, please call us at (973) 331 1500 or e-mail us at collette@conceptstv.com.

Collette Liantonio, President of Concepts TV Productions, was quoted in the March 2011 issue of Response Magazine, in the article ‚“A Winning Combination,” about how DRTV Producers balance the needs of their clients with end-user demands.

The article focuses on one of Concepts TV's latest hits, Pajama Jeans, and the strategy behind marketing it to a wide audience.

A Winning Combination
Bridget Mccrea

What do you get when you cross a successful DRTV marketer of products like Wonder Hanger with venerable toy maker Vermont Teddy Bear? The end result is PajamaJeans, an invention that the latter developed for its PajamaGram mail order firm. The product, which is pajama-soft but looks enough like real jeans to be worn in public, sold so well during the 2009 holiday season that Vermont Teddy Bear decided to market them to the masses.

To gain exposure for the product, the manufacturer began working with Williston, VT based Hampton Direct, whose ‚“As Seen on TV” hits include Furniture Fix and Total Pillow. Also on board was Boonton, NJ based Concepts TV Productions, where President Collette Liantonio and her team came up with a short-form campaign for the $39.95 product.

Liantonio took a grassroots approach to the PajamaJeans show, which she knew would reach a broader audience if a wide range of female shapes and sizes were shown wearing the pants. ‚“We didn't want to just feature emaciated girls; a good booty is really important,” says Liantonio, laughing. ‚“We cast people who had 'real' bodies. That's the beauty of the spot.”

By acknowledging the fact that the world is made up of more than just ‚“skinny minny” models, Liantonio says the marketer has been able to reach a wider audience of DRTV viewers who either order directly from TV, or who visit the PajamaJeans website for more information before buying.

‚“I ususally warn clients against selling garments on TV that come in different sizes because those items are so personalized,” says Liantonio. ‚“But in this case, the clients hit a home run, thanks to the universal appeal of the spot and the fact that it was directed at 'real' women.”

The entire article can be read by clicking here.

The April/May 2010 issue of NJ Savvy Living featured Collette as the "Infomercial Queen."

By Patricia Herold

A mere four words describe the influence Collette Liantonio wields in America's vast billion dollar commercial marketplace: ‚“Queen of the Infomercial.”

She didn't invent the form, but she's sure perfected it selling Hooked on Phonics, Topsy Tail, Perfect Pasta Pot, George Foreman Grills and countless other legendary products, over and over again to millions of consumers.

People magazine once dubbed George Foreman ‚“The Marketing Champ of the World,” announcing that, ‚“Almost everything George Foreman touches seems to sell.”

Truth is, almost everything Liantonio touches seems to sell. This petite, Montville resident with bright blue eyes, blonde hair and stylish Chanel glasses is a heavyweight in the intensely competitive world of TV direct response, a star marketer with a gift for turning ordinary products into household names and getting us to drop the remote, grab the phone, and say: ‚“I want one!”

She's marketed a host of hits, chalked up more than 25 years in a male-dominated business and become an industry expert on what makes us want to buy. Her secret? There are many, but it all begins with the right words.

‚“I have a nice ability to turn a phrase that people like,” says Liantonio, something she dubs ‚“metaphors for the masses,” wording that makes consumers respond to the announcer, urging them to ‚“call now.”

When a client shows her a product, whether Bedazzled, ‚“the hottest craft item in America today,” (for adding rhinestones to clothes) or the $19.99 limited edition ‚“piece of history” plate celebrating Barack Obama's inauguration, her instincts tell her exactly how to make us ‚“get it.”

"I recognize a magic moment in a demonstration," Liantonio says, sitting in the sleek, spotless kitchen that adjoins her office at the cozy Boonton headquarters of her company, Concepts TV Productions Inc.

THE COMMON TOUCH

"A magic moment is the 'ah hah' moment in a commercial that makes you want to buy a product, she says. And although Liantonio has been called the "queen," her tremendous success probably has more to do with her kitchen table instincts than royal ways. She seems to have the common touch, a knack for knowing just what words and images will make the average consumer buy the product, "as seen on TV."

Born in Brooklyn, Liantonio knew early on she would not be going into the family moving business her grandfather started. .It was successful and, she explains, "It was for men. My father and his brother wanted to give the business to the boys ... It was like 'and Sons.' That's how it used to be."

Besides, her interest lay in theater and directing, not trucking. (Her father had been a journalism major who went into the family business after the war, but dabbled in writing, penning articles for Movers News.) In high school, Liantonio was an actress who wrote poetry. Her career plan was to run a college theater. But at 22, she ended up with a job at Rutherford High School, teaching classes in film, writing and Spanish. She wasn't much older than her students, and the closeness in age made her uncomfortable.

After three years, Liantonio decided to put her writing to work, doing brochures for people in her Clifton neighborhood and getting a job on the local paper on the bottom rung: covering night municipal meetings. Eventually, she moved on to work at a direct response business, later taking a position as an account supervisor for an ad agency. By this time, her first marriage had broken up, and she was on her own, so full-time work was a necessity. She remembers chain smoking at night, working only after her children had gone to bed. "I had two kids; I had no options," she recalls.

The ad agency work focused on client relations, and she missed what she calls "executing" ... seeing something through from beginning to end." Eventually, she went out on her own.

These days, Liantonio still gets to "execute," whether writing a script, attending a product demonstration or traveling to Mexico City to collect and shoot testimonials from native Spanish speakers for a "Hooked on English" commercial.

BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY

She acknowledges that she's well known and has a history of success, but Liantonio takes nothing for granted. "As an entrepreneur, I don't think anybody ever knows. I'm insecure always; there's an ebb and flow to business." And although she's made it in a risky field (she's a member of the Women Presidents Organization, reserved for women with multimillion dollar businesses) and has won numerous industry awards, Liantonio describes her company philosophy as conservative.

Her core principles: "I don't believe in overhiring (she employs 10 people); I don't believe in debt ... I'm old school that way. I don't leverage; that's my comfort. I hire generalists. I hire people who can grow. People who are smart ... eager."

She also has been delighted to hire family members and friends from time to time. Her daughter, Eve Fusco, now director of creative services, once managed Concept TV's finances. (Liantonio's office, located in a cozy renovated frame house is barely a mile from Eve and two little grandsons' doorstep.) And daughter, Collette DeBenedetto, currently working for Creative Artists in Los Angeles, once expressed an interest in making her mother's family business a two-generation affair.

Liantonio also draws in members of her community. Residents of Mountain Lakes, where she and husband Jan DeBenedetto once lived in a imposing lakeside home, aren't surprised to spot neighbors as models in Concepts ads or learn an acquaintance is working for - or has interned with the company. One of Liantonio's daughter's good friends, Dana Conklin, is a prized producer.

ON LOCATION

In fact, it's Conklin's mother who provided the set for a recent Concepts TV shoot, her well-furnished suburban colonial near the Morristown/Mendham border. A make-up artist and model have taken over one end of Conklin's long dining room table, while in the upstairs master suite, Liantonio is directing.Wearing comfortable black shoes, she's surrounded by production assistants, her favorite three-man camera crew and a Montclair State intern, one of many interns she's welcomed over the years.

"Animating" an inanimate product made of plastic or steel - making it live in the consumer's mind - is a Liantonio specialty, something she describes as, "Here's what it is; here's what it does." The pace is relaxed.

"Are we comfy?" she asks the group circled around the whirlpool tub, on whose edge is poised the object of their attention: a graceful foot demonstrating a nail invention. "Camera is rolling ... and action!" The camera stays fixed on the foot and the model's hand, daintily painting her toenails. Collette stands face to face with the screen that frames the camera's shot, seemingly scrutinizing every pixel, studying the effect.

Spontaneously, the model lifts her foot gently, her toes delicately poised on the tub. "That's great! I like the arch," Collette says. "Now model it... we love your feet, Jen! Angle your toes a little bit ... Nice, that's good on the light, Pete ... Excellent." They've shot this sequence a couple of times, but for now, the Queen of the Infomercial finds it just right.

"The beauty of this business is you put it up on the air and it either sells or it's a bomb," she notes. In a few months, if those perfect nails set off by that perfect arching foot and a few perfect words get TV watchers to reach for their credit cards and pick up their phones, Collette Liantonio will once again have had her say.

By Thomas Haire

MEXICO CITY, When Mark Mashaw, vice president of marketing at Baltimore-based Hooked on Phonics Inc./Smarterville, saw the success of the company's flagship product in non-English speaking nations, he first considered the idea of marketing a new product under the name "Hooked on English." "When we acquired Hooked on Phonics in 2005, we noticed that the product had gained some success in retail as a learn-to-read product overseas," he says. "Costco tested the product in a couple of Asian locations, and results came back extremely strong, even better than our strong U.S. sales."

According to Mashaw, this interest in such products "fueled the creative process" for the "Hooked on English" product that is just now rolling out in a series of international markets. However, the product is not the only unique thing about this new long-form DRTV campaign. A traditional long-form production was shot domestically in English by Boonton, N.J.-based Concepts TV Productions. However, marketers also wanted a Spanish-language show for the booming Latin American market, and Concepts TV teamed with Mashaw's group to shoot on location in Mexico City earlier in 2007.

"We wanted real testimonials from real Mexican families, in order to be as authentic as possible, we wanted to avoid using the U.S. immigrant population that may already have some grasp of English," says Collette Liantonio, founder of Concepts TV. "We wanted to introduce the product to Mexican families in Mexico with kids who needed to learn to speak English. We had great assistance from a team down there in finding the right families to use and speak about the product. In the testimonials, the children were more articulate in English than their parents!"

Concepts TV's Jaime Schneider was a producer on the project, and contends shooting in Mexico was a "great experience." She adds, "Authenticity was crucial with the market this product is going to appeal to."

Working with a Mexican crew on location, Liantonio, Mashaw and their team were able to shoot testimonials in users' homes. The team also enlisted the services of Martha Debayle, a well-known radio and TV personality and parenting expert. Mashaw says Debayle, who launched a popular parenting magazine and Web site under the name bbmundo (www.bbmundo.com), is "the face" for the product. "She's known in Mexico for her perfect English," he adds. "She's an amazing combination, a media persona and parenting expert. We don't have someone similar in the U.S."

Mashaw calls Concepts TV a "creative and flexible partner" that was "very responsive through the process." For her part, Liantonio credits Edwin Garrubbo of Creative Commerce for bringing her company into the process.

"Because of our ability to produce in Spanish and English, Ed got us involved with the idea of bringing this product to every country in the world," she says. "Over a series of months, we interviewed with Mark and made a deal. The excitement for this product on our end is the international aspect, we're talking about French and German versions right now."

Garrubbo adds, "We wanted to work with Concepts TV because of its decades in 'selling experience.' Of course, the show needed to look good, but it also really needed to sell. Concepts TV is expert at both. We approach every business and product as an international opportunity. Therefore, we had no problem suggesting that 'Hooked on English' start internationally and then work its way back into the United States."

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Inventions & Us
BY CARRIE M. HARPER

So, where do you go to find the next great American inventor? A good place to start is Pittsburgh, Pa. That's right, Pittsburgh.

The Invention & New Product Exposition (INPEX) held its 22nd annual invention trade show on June 7-10. INPEX is America's largest invention trade show and exposition showcasing numerous inventions and new products available to license, manufacture or market. As I entered the trade show floor, you could practically feel the excitement and enthusiasm that surrounds the show, as more than 350 inventors from 20 countries around the world gathered under one roof in hopes of getting their product on store shelves or featured on a live shopping show.

The show featured innovations ranging from an upside-down Christmas tree, to new power tool and fitness ideas, to a love-detection collar for pets.

INPEX is also where amateur inventors get chosen and invited to participate in ERA’s annual Invention Showcase. The association launched the show in 1999 to provide inventors with a safe forum to understand the invention process and see firsthand how to turn their dreams into a marketable reality and to bring new products and ideas to ERA member companies.

For the fifth consecutive year, ERA hosted a product review panel to qualify products for its 2006 Invention Showcase to be held September 10-12 in Las Vegas. The panel was comprised of six ERA members representing all segments of the multichannel marketing and direct response industry, from catalog to DRTV to Internet to call centers. Industry experts included: Collette Liantonio, president, Concepts TV Productions Inc.; Karen Hyman, president, Live Link TV; Bridget Corish, director of business development, Livemercial Inc.; Tami Cubel, vice president of client development, InPulse Response Group; Wendi Cooper, CEO, C Spot Run Productions, LLC; and Curtis Clarke, vice president of Catalog Solutions Inc. Each panelist brought a unique perspective to the panel and represented years of direct response knowledge and experience.

Over 50 inventors with products geared toward the direct-to-consumer industry presented their ideas and innovations in the hopes of pre-qualifying for this year's Showcase. Products ranging from things that make you go to those that made you ask yourself "now why didn't I think of that?" Were auditioned; the panel invited more than 30 inventors to exhibit in Vegas.

As our industry becomes increasingly more sophisticated and focused on the big brand Fortune 500 companies, it's thrilling to see the high-level of entrepreneurship entering the direct response world says Concepts TV Productions; Collette Liantonio. Its exciting to see the American Dream in action and to have the opportunity to recognize the next great breakthrough that is destined to make our lives better.

This year's inventors are no doubt hoping to duplicate the success of one of last year's Invention Showcase winner, Carrie Jeske. Her invention, Sports Shade, a portable awning that can be attached to a fixed object to provide shade and cover during summertime recreational activities, was recently featured live on QVC and is available for sale on its website.

As the long day ended, marking another successful partnership with INPEX, ERA and Invention Showcase Task Force chair, Wendy Cooper, commented, "Every year it is such a joy to be able to give back to the people who make our industry thrive‚Äîthe inventors. It's so refreshing to see how ERA’s Invention Showcase has grown, how ERA members have stayed committed, and how our efforts with the support of everyone at INPEX provide exactly what we set out to do: provide a safe forum where education meets opportunity. And it's thrilling to see the high-level of entrepreneurship entering the direct response world.

Collette Liantonio, Concepts TV Productions Inc.
Information about ERA & Invention Showcase, including a list of past winners, is available at www.americaninventiveness.org.