March 2008 - Electronic Retailer Magazine

President Lynn Powers 

Shares Insight on 

Cultivating the Brand 

and Saving the Planet 

 

Beyond SEM 101 

Case Study: Euro-Pro 

Mops Up on the Web 

©Electronic ©Electronic Retailer Retailer 

Magazine Magazine 

[ search engine powered by magazooms.com ]













PHOTOS BY MARC PISCOTTY 

Vol. 5, No. 3 | March 2008 

tableof 

CONTENTS 

2008 

38 

44 50 

4 electronicRETAILER | March 2008 

Multichannel Marketer 

of the Year 

Cover Story 

The Gaiam Effect 

Electronic Retailer’s “Multichannel Marketer of the Year” stays ahead of the 

curve when it comes to broadening its customer reach. This lifestyle 

media company embraces a diverse marketing strategy that comprises 

DRTV, retail, catalog, e-commerce, social networking, and other emerging 

technologies. 

By Vitisia Paynich 

44 

FEATURES 

Case Study 

Cleaning Up Online 

Euro-Pro’s Shark Steam Mop is a 

successful product with lessons to 

teach. A big one has to do with 

how DRTV viewers now do their 

buying. 

By Jack Gordon 

50 

Smarter Search 

Search engine marketing expert 

Dana Todd explains how to 

increase the efficiency of your payper-click 

campaigns 

By Tom Dellner 

ERA SECTION 

70 

A Message From ERA’s 

Education Committee Chair 

ERA’s education is retail-driven 

By Brett Goffin 

71 

Speaker Exchange 

Industry leaders speak up 

By Sieglinde Friedman 

76 

Research Study 

Research: ERA’s commitment to 

retailers 

By Sieglinde Friedman 







tableofCONTENTS 

DEPARTMENTS 

8 Contributors 

12 Industry Reports 

56 Innovations 

80 Bulletin Board 

82 Calendar of Events 

84 Ad Index 

85 Classifieds 

RESEARCH 

26 eMarketer Research 

30 IMS Retail Rankings 

34 Jordan Whitney’s Top Categories 

COLUMNS 

10 Editor’s Perspective 

22 Legal File 

FTC on the DNC Warpath 

By Jeffrey D. Knowles and 

Jennifer L. McVey 

24 Online Strategies 

Social Media Vendor Selection 

Guide 

By Aaron Kahlow 

22 


36 Marketing Methods 

TNS and TiVo Take on Nielsen 

By Peter Koeppel 

88 Rick Petry 

Stirred, Not Shaken 

CHANNEL CROSSING 

58 Legal 

Understanding Work-Made- 

For-Hire Agreements 

By Gary P. Kohn 

62 DRTV 

A Primer on Candidates’ DRTV 

Opportunities 

By Gene Silverman 

64 Radio 

DR Radio Can Sell Books 

By Bill Sullivan 

66 Online 

Are You Undermining Your 

Direct Sales? 

By Kenneth R.P. Osborn 

68 Research 

You’re Listening to Your 

Customers, But Are You Hearing 

Them? 

By Dan Neely 

©2008 Electronic Retailer. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or 

transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including by photocopy, 

recording, or information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the 

publisher. Reprints of articles are available. Contact Debbie Duhn at (541) 952-0300, or via email 

at dduhn@retailing.org. 

March 2008 | Volume 5 Number 3 

Electronic Retailer magazine 

West Coast Office 

1001 Avenida Pico, Suite #C 606 

San Clemente, CA 92673 

Phone: 949-489-5501 

BUSINESS OPERATIONS 

Executive Vice President of Media Electronic Retailing 

Association/Publisher Gina Mullins-Cohen 

gcohen@retailing.org | Phone: 949-489-5501 

Associate Publisher, Operations Debbie Duhn 

duhn@retailing.org | Phone: 541-952-0300 

Creative Director ERA Kim Lewis 

klewis@retailing.org | Phone: 951-277-8259 

EDITORIAL 

Editorial Director Gina Mullins-Cohen 


Editor-in-Chief Vitisia Paynich 

vpaynich@retailing.org | Phone: 909-606-3406 

Creative Director Kim Lewis 

klewis@retailing.org | Phone: 951-277-8259 

Executive Editor Tom Dellner 

tdellner@retailing.org | Phone: 949-240-1429 

Editor at Large Jack Gordon 

editors@retailing.org 

eMedia Editor Patrick Cauley 

pcauley@retailing.org | Phone: 703-908-1030 

Editor of Government Affairs Bill McClellan 

bmcclellan@retailing.org | Phone: 703-908-1032 

Contributing Writers Sieglinde Friedman, Brett Goffin 

Contributing Columnists: Lesley Fair, Aaron Kahlow, Gary P. Kohn, 

Jeffrey D. Knowles, Peter Koeppel, Jennifer L. McVey, Dan Neely, 

Kenneth R.P. Osborn, Rick Petry, Gene Silverman, Bill Sullivan 

ADVERTISING 

Publisher Gina M. Cohen 


Associate Publisher, Operations Debbie Duhn 

dduhn@retailing.org | Phone: 541-952-0300 

Director of New Business Technologies Ruth Wheeler 

rwheeler@retailing.org | Phone: 949-459-0495 

Advertising Sales & Sponsorship Manager Debbie Skerly 

dskerly@retailing.org | Phone: 949-743-0319 

ELECTRONIC RETAILING ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE STAFF 

ERA President & CEO Barbara Tulipane 

Executive Director, ERA Europe Marcel Avargues 

Vice President, Board & Strategy Sieglinde Friedman 

MAGAZINE ADVISORY BOARD 

MAB Chairman: Dick Wechsler, Lockard & Wechsler 

Hal Altman, Motivational Fulfillment & Logistic Services 

Andy Arvidson, Imagine Fulfillment Services 

Dr. Nadia Ashrafian, Nadia Direct Corporation 

Branimir Brkljac, Studio Moderna 

Allison Dollar, Interactive Television Alliance 

Steven J. Edelstein, The Logical Step 

Edward Glynn, Venable LLP 

Harry Hill, Oak Lawn Marketing Inc. 

Peter Koeppel, Koeppel Direct 

Collette Liantonio, Concepts TV Productions 

Rick Petry, Consultant 

Joan Renfrow, Onyx Productions Inc. 

Gene Silverman, Hawthorne Direct Inc. 

Jonathan Starets, SmartReply 

Anthony Sziklai, Moulton Logistics Management 

Jeff Tuller, Savvier 

Dan Zifkin, Zephyr Media Group 

EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS 

Send press releases and other information to the editor-in-chief. 

SUBSCRIPTIONS 

E-mail Patrick Cauley at pcauley@retailing.org 







contributors 


Jack Gordon, editor at large 

Jack Gordon has written for The Economist, the Wall Street Journal, the 

Minneapolis Star Tribune, and a host of business and consumer magazines. He 

has served as chief editor of two award-winning national business magazines, 

addressing professionals in the event-marketing and corporate training fields. 

He has edited books including the seven volumes in the Pfeiffer’s Classic Activities 

series for training and development specialists. His work with corporate clients 

ranges from marketing-communications consulting to ghostwriting. His essay, 

“Milksop Nation,” won the 2002 Shell-Economist Writing Prize, an international 

competition sponsored by The Economist of London. 

Sieglinde Friedman, ERA, 

vice president of board & strategy 

Sieglinde “Sigi” Friedman serves as vice president of board & strategy. She also 

works as the liaison between ERA’s executive office and the board of directors, as 

well as ERA’s international membership. Friedman’s background includes 25 

years of executive and board liaison experience with foundations and not-forprofit 

organizations among other international entities. She is member of 

BoardSource, ASAE, Council of Foundations and Society of Nonprofit 

Organizations. 

Brett Goffin, contributing writer 

As an industry development manager for retail at Google, Brett Goffin is 

responsible for helping create national sales and account strategy for the 

country’s Fortune 500+ retail advertisers. Goffin works as a consultant to 

advertisers and partners, sharing best practices and category trends. Prior to 

Google, he was a strategic alliance director at the rich media technology company, 

United Virtualities. Before joining United Virtualities, Goffin was an 

account group director at the interactive agency, Beyond Interactive, where he 

worked on accounts such as GlaxoSmithKline, Canon and Verizon. He has 

enjoyed working in the digital marketing industry for nine years. Goffin holds 

a B.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan. 







editor’s PERSPECTIVE 

tThis month, the Electronic Retailer staff rec- 


VITISIA PAYNICH 

Multichannel Marketing at Its Best 

ognizes one particular company that exemplifies 

the true spirit of multichannel marketing. 

Not only does this company embrace 

DRTV, catalog, retail and e-commerce, it’s 

not afraid to explore new types of media and 

experiment with innovative technology to 

create brand awareness. 

I am honored to introduce Gaiam Inc. as 

Electronic Retailer’s “Multichannel Marketer of 

the Year.” The lifestyle media company promotes 

healthy and natural living through a 

variety of instructional books, DVDs, CDs and 

fitness products. In fact, you might be familiar 

with some of Gaiam’s top-selling DRTV 

brands like The FIRM and Billy Blanks. 

The Broomfield, Colo., company also develops 

original programming for broadcast and 

cable networks, as well as for online. What’s 

more, Gaiam has gone mobile, partnering with 

BlackBerry to provide wellness and meditation 

content for the BlackBerry Audio service. 

A brand leader in the Lifestyles of Health 

and Sustainability (LOHAS) market, Gaiam 

utilizes social networks to enhance its branding 

efforts online and to grow its Gaia.com 

community. “These people are very socially 

and environmentally responsible and they 

want to share their thoughts and feelings 

with the community,” explains Gaiam 

President Lynn Powers. 

She adds that from a marketing standpoint, 

social networks open up opportunities 

for the company to develop new continuity 

and membership programs for its wide range 

of fitness and wellness products. 

Many marketers can tout their successes in 

the retail space, however, Gaiam has gone one 

step further by creating store-within-a-store 

environments in 6,000 retail locations across 

the country. These unique store displays can 

be found at retailers like Target, Barnes & 

Noble and Elephant Pharmacy. According to 

Bill Sondheim, president of DRTV and trade 

at Gaiam, “We don’t look at ourselves as selling 

a single product—we’re selling a brand, a 

lifestyle and an experience.” 

Aside from its marketing efforts, Gaiam 

has exercised its brand muscle to bring 

awareness about the environment. 

Two years ago, Gaiam forged a partnership 

with The Conservation Fund to develop the 

first “Go Zero” sustainable shipping program. 

The green initiative encourages online customers 

to add a small donation at checkout. 

The proceeds go directly to The 

Conservation Fund, which enables the planting 

of trees to offset carbon dioxide emissions 

that result from product shipping. 

Gaiam only expected about a five-percent 

response rate during the first month. Yet, the 

actual response rate was around 30 percent. 

“To this day, it’s still hovering at over 25 percent 

of people saying yes to the donation, 

because it’s the right thing to do and we made 

it simple,” says Powers. 

While Gaiam’s philanthropic endeavors 

had no bearing on the magazine’s decision to 

select it as “Multichannel Marketer of the 

Year,” we definitely felt that the company’s 

efforts to promote green living were worth 

noting. After all, the whole purpose of telling 

marketers’ stories each and every month is to 

help educate, create awareness, and hopefully, 

inspire others as they pursue their own 

business goals—whether it’s to generate 

sales, create brand awareness or to simply 

affect change in the world. 



[ search engine powered by magazooms.com ] 

Vitisia Paynich 

Editor-in-Chief




industryREPORTS 

Former ERA Chairman, DR Icon Earl 

Greenburg Passes Away at 61 

PALM SPRINGS, Calif.—Earl 

Greenburg, founder of Transactional 

Marketing Partners, CEO of Total 

Marketing Partners and former chairman 

of the Electronic Retailing 

Association’s Board of Directors, died 

on February 1 at Eisenhower Medical 

Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif. 

Greenburg had succumbed to complications 

from melanoma. He was 61. 

Prior to making his indelible imprint 

in the DRTV industry, Greenburg 

made his mark in the entertainment 

industry as a former vice president of 

NBC Daytime and producer of “The 

Regis Philbin Show.” He received two 

Emmys for his work. Greenburg was 

also the former president of Home 

Shopping Network Entertainment. He 


most recently served as the Palm 

Springs International Film Festival’s 

board president. 

In addition to his accomplishments 

in the entertainment and DR industries, 

Greenburg was a well-known 

philanthropist. He started the 

Greenburg Family Foundation in support 

of Project New Hope, which 

helped to build affordable housing 

for those living with HIV and AIDs. 

Greenburg founded the organization 

in honor of his partner Rick Weiss, 

who passed away from the disease in 

1994. Greenburg also established the 

Rick Weiss Humanitarian Awards, an 

annual black-tie charity event that 

raises money for AIDs research. 

Through the Foundation, he and his 

life partner David Peet have also lent 

their support to a variety of local and 

national charities that benefit children, 

the homeless, as well as organizations 

devoted to cancer research. 

“Earl brought excitement and elegance 

to ERA and to the industry. 

Perhaps what he will most be remembered 

for, however, was his humanitarian 

efforts in both the arts and 

with AIDS,” says Barbara Tulipane, 

president and CEO of ERA. “While 

his ability to bring people together 

was legendary, it was his playfulness 

and sometimes mischievous 

nature that I will remember 

the most. Earl’s approach 

to life should serve as a 

reminder to all of us that life 

should be enjoyed. I will miss 

him as will the industry.” 

On February 4, family, 

friends, politicians and industry 

colleagues gathered at 

Temple Isaiah in Palm Springs 

for a memorial service. Greg 

Renker, founder of Guthy- 

Renker Corp. and a longtime 

friend, was among those who 

eulogized the industry giant. 

“Earl always created so much anticipation 

for what was to happen next. 

He was almost like an illusionist; so 

full of surprises and flourish! And talent!” 

says Renker. “He could work the 

phone and charm a room like no one 

I had ever met.” 

During the service, Renker also 

praised Greenburg for his talent as a 

matchmaker, especially when it came 

to setting up his friend and business 

partner Bill Guthy. 

“Earl was the life of every party 

and the energy that infused every 

meeting. We loved his sarcastic wit 

and will always be grateful he introduced 

us to each other many years 

ago. We miss him already,” Guthy and 

wife Victoria Jackson said in a joint 

statement. 

News that the industry veteran 

passed away spread quickly over the 

Internet. On the Electronic Retailer 

blog, Craig Handley wrote: “He was a 

brilliant man who took the time to 

learn who you were and what your 

value was in order to represent you to 

the best of his ability. You always felt 

that he respected you and you were 

important…. I know I will miss having 

him as a resource and a friend.” 

Greenburg is survived by his life 

partner David Peet, his son, Ari 

Greenburg and his wife Andrea, 

daughter, Meredith and her life partner 

Barbara Donner, and daughter 

Kathryn Claire, as well as grandchildren 

Tyler, Avery, Hunter and Ryan. 

Linda Goldstein, a partner at Manatt 

Phelps & Phillips LLP, once described 

Greenburg to Forbes.com as “A relationship 

builder, a dealmaker that 

brings people together who should be 

together. He makes deals happen.” 

Earl Greenburg will be deeply 

missed by the direct response 

industry. 








Fosdick Fulfillment Joins PCI Security Standards Council 

WALLINGFORD, Conn.—Fosdick 

Fulfillment, a full-service product fulfillment 

company, announced that it 

has joined the PCI Security Standards 

Council as a new participating organization. 

As a participating organiza- 


tion, Fosdick Fulfillment will work 

with the Council to evolve the PCI 

Data Security Standard (DSS) and 

other payment card data protection 

standards. 

The PCI DSS, endorsed by 

American Express, Discover Financial 

Services, JCB, MasterCard Worldwide 

and Visa Inc., requires merchants and 

service providers that store, process 

or transmit customer payment card 

data to adhere to information security 

controls and processes that ensure 

data integrity. Due to its participant 

status, Fosdick Fulfillment will now 

have access to the latest payment card 

security standards from the Council, 

be able to provide feedback on the 

standards and become part of a growing 

community that now includes 

more than 400 organizations. 

“The PCI Security Standards 

Council is committed to helping 

everyone involved in the payment 

chain protect consumer payment 

data,” says Bob Russo, general manager 

of the PCI Security Standards 

Council. “By participating in the 

standards setting process, Fosdick 

Fulfillment demonstrates they are 

playing an active part in this important 

end goal.” 

Fosdick Fulfillment CEO and 

President Bill Pappas adds, “I am 

grateful to be part of the PCI Security 

Standards Council. I feel confident in 

the great work the Council is doing 

and I am pleased to have the opportunity 

to work with them.” 








FTC Forum 

What’s Your Policy on Privacy? 

BY LESLEY FAIR 

A1998 study by the Federal Trade 

Commission (FTC) showed that 85 

percent of online retailers collected 

personal information from consumers, 

but fewer than 15 percent posted a privacy 

policy explaining their information 


practices. What a difference a decade 

makes. These days, privacy policies are 

standard for any Internet marketer. But as 

recent FTC law enforcement actions make 

clear, having a privacy policy is just the 

first step. It’s critical that companies live up 

to the promises they 

make about how 

they use and secure 

the information they 

collect. 

So what does this 

mean for the savvy 

electronic retailer? 

Here are some tips 

on making your privacy policy a priority. 

The letter of the law? Of course, it’s 

important to discuss your data security 

practices with your attorney, but 

that doesn’t mean your privacy policy 

should read like a legal tome. 

Design it with your customers in 

mind. Just like the rest of your website, 

your privacy policy should be 

clear, direct and easy to understand. 

Keep technical jargon and legal terminology 

to a minimum. 

Say what you mean and mean what 

you say. Some online retailers lace 

their privacy policies with lofty lan- 




guage about how careful they are 

with customers’ personal information, 

but don’t back their words up 

with tough security measures. For 

example, the FTC recently settled a 

case with a company that claimed 

“We are committed to maintaining 

our customers’ privacy,” and yet 

allegedly failed to protect personal 

information from a well-known—and 

easily preventable—form of hack 

attack. Statements in your privacy 

policy are no different from any other 

advertising claim you make. You’ve 

got to back them up with solid proof. 

The more things change. For security-minded 

consumers, your company’s 

information practices are a key 

factor in their decision to do business 

with you. So if you decide to 

modify how you use personal information, 

it’s important to call customers’ 

attention to that change in 

policy. Just editing what you say on 

your website won’t alert them to 

your new procedures. 

Create a culture of compliance. A 

company’s privacy policy is only as 

strong as the staff that implements it. 

That’s why it’s important to train all 

employees—including your IT professionals, 

sales representatives, human 

resources specialists and support 

staff—on how to protect sensitive 

data. To help you explain the basics to 

your team, the FTC has produced a 

new 20-minute online tutorial, available 

at www.ftc.gov/infosecurity, 

offering practical tips on safeguarding 

personal information. 

Getting guidance. Looking for more 

nuts-and-bolts advice? On April 15, 

2008, the FTC is sponsoring a workshop 

in Chicago, “Protecting Personal 

Information: Best Practices for 

Business.” This free event will feature 

business executives, attorneys, government 

officials and other experts with 

practical guidance for companies of all 

sizes. Visit www.ftc.gov/infosecurity to 

find out more. 

Lesley Fair is an attorney in the FTC’s 

Bureau of Consumer Protection. 




March 2008 | electronicRETAILER 17


Electronic Retailer’s LiveEdit Lab 

Debuts in Santa Monica 

Jim Sterne, president of Target 

Marketing, delivered the opening 

keynote address. 

SANTA MONICA, Calif.—Electronic 

Retailer’s inaugural LiveEdit Lab took 

place on Wednesday, January 30, at the 

beautiful Hotel Casa Del Mar. The 

LiveEdit Lab places readers in front of 

the columnists and editors who provide 

them with cutting-edge multichannel 

marketing content each 

month. Liquid Focus served as a presenting 

sponsor at LiveEdit. 

Supporting sponsors included Applied 

Perceptions, dComm - Digital 

Commerce Agency LLC and Cannella 

Response Television. 

The one-day conference started with 

a bang during Target Marketing 

President Jim Sterne’s morning 

keynote. As the founding president of 

the Web Analytics Association, Sterne 

shared insight on the online marketing 

landscape. “Your website is not a 

brochure, it’s an activity,” he says. 

Sterne went into a brief history of the 

evolution of web analytics, touching on 

everything from charting and reporting 

to process optimization. “A website 

is not paper on the Internet,” he says, 


explaining that you need to 

help people do rather than 

help them read. 

Sterne was quick to ask 

the audience pointed questions, 

at times incorporating 

slides of actual attendees’ 

e-commerce sites into 

the presentation. “Every 

page should have specific 

purposes for specific personas,” 

he says. The keynote 

was the perfect segue to the 

day’s feature-packed lineup. 

Next, Daniel Wright, CEO 

of Seattle-based mPoria—a 

leading provider of mobile 

commerce solutions—spoke 

about m-commerce: selling goods and 

services over mobile devices. The audience 

was surprised to learn just how 

much commerce is currently conducted 

via mobile devices, and impressed 

at analysts’ projections for future 

growth (m-commerce revenues are 

expected to reach $480 million in the 

next 12 to 18 months in the U.S.). 

Wright outlined just how easy it is to 

get a mobile commerce site up and 

running (depending on the amount of 

site sophistication, it can be accomplished 

in less than an hour), and 

audience members were surprised at 

the low cost. 

The topic then shifted to search 

engine optimization and social 

media. Aaron Kahlow, conference 

chair of the Online Marketing 

Summit and managing partner of 

BusinessOnline, discussed how companies 

often build their sites based on 

their own business objectives, rather 

than paying attention to the needs of 

site visitors. Companies also need to 

ask themselves: “How easy is it for 

customers to find information that 

they’re looking for when visiting your 

site?” Kahlow offered valuable action 

items for improving ROI. He then 

transitioned to social media. 

“Marketing always starts with human 

behavior,” Kahlow notes. He adds that 

social media can be an effective vehicle 

for many. It can create word-ofmouth 

buzz about a product or service, 

and help marketers gain a better 

understanding of their customers. 

The first panel of the day was “Email 

Marketing: Easy and Effective 

Elements You Need to Know About.” 

Moderator Jeanniey Mullen, founder 

and executive chairwoman of the Email 

Experience Council, engaged 

attendees and welcomed questions and 



Jeanniey Mullen (right), founder and executive chairwoman of the E-mail 

Experience Council, moderated a panel discussion on e-mail marketing. 


input. Other panelists included Kathryn 

Waters of OgilvyOne Worldwide, Bill 

Schildknecht of Zinio Systems and 

Barbara Moses of VIVmag. With digital 

and Internet media spend on the rise, 

the panel contends that while e-mail 

competes in a crowded landscape, its 

impact remains strong. The presentation 

was filled with eye-opening statistics. 

For instance, 49 percent of all written 

communication in the UK is sent 

through e-mail. What’s more, the panel 

showed that using e-mail as a marketing 

vehicle is effective, but needs to be balanced 

delicately as e-mail is also a personal 

vehicle. 

Angus Glover Wilson, president of 

dComm - Digital Commerce Agency 

LLC, engaged the attendees during the 

lunch keynote entitled “Online Ad 

Networks 101: The Next Big Thing 

Since Search Marketing.” In Glover’s 

opinion, the “Google-ization” of 

media will continue to help ad networks 

gain steam. He explained that 

the price pressure, targeting sophistication, 

operational complexity and 

testing capabilities make online ad 

networks an appealing option for 

direct marketers looking to expand 

upon their traditional media. As consumers 

spend more and more time 

online, there are multiple reasons why 

ad networks may be a good option. 

According to Glover, they offer affordable 

access to premium publishers, 

access to long tail inventory, large volume, 

broad distribution and advertiser 

control. However, in closing, Glover 

offered some warning about the 

placement of ads in conjunction with 

content on a site. For example, an ad 

from Folgers urging consumers to 

“Enjoy a Second Cup” was probably 

not the best ad to be paired next to a 

story on Yahoo News, suggesting that 

coffee triggers heart attacks. 

Regardless, as the kinks in online ad 

networks continue to be worked out, 

Glover delivered on his goal of showcasing 

their strength and importance. 

Omniture’s Brig Graff has a wealth 

of experience in online marketing 

and is one of the industry leaders in 

behavioral targeting. He outlined his 

company’s latest advances and product 

offerings in the field: Offermatica 

and TouchClarity. Offermatica utilizes 

segment-based targeting to personalize 

a consumer’s website experience 

and drive revenue through the 

Ken Osborn, CEO of Liquid Focus, 

served on an afternoon panel discussed 

devoted to online video. 

presentation of more relevant offers. 

TouchClarity, on the other hand, captures 

dozens of variables about each 

visitor, creates a profile in real time 

and then serves highly relevant offers. 

Marty Fahncke, president of 

FawnKey & Associates, explained how 

marketers can leverage the social networks 

to reach 300 million online 

users worldwide. “The media landscape 

is changing so fast, it’s kind of a 

wild west,” Fahncke says. He adds that 

marketers who aren’t already on 

Facebook are already missing the boat. 

Fahncke discussed media buying and 

guerrilla marketing using such social 

networks as MySpace, LinkedIn and 

Facebook. 

Dana Todd delivered a dynamic 

address outlining the current paid 

search landscape. Todd, a co-founder 

of SiteLab (a full-service interactive 

agency based in La Jolla) and past 

president of the Search Engine 

Marketing Professional Organization 

(SEMPO), discussed the continued 

rising costs of paid search and the 

necessity—given this environment— 

to make your pay-per-click campaigns 

more efficient. She then outlined 

strategies for doing so, including 

techniques for improving your 

ad’s click-through rates, ways to 

improve your conversion pathways 

and other techniques for helping 

to reduce waste, like match 

types and dayparting and the 

identification and turning off 

of non-performing keywords. 

Jason Mittelstaedt, vice president 

of marketing at Right Now 

Technologies, reminded attendees 

that the customer experience 

is what really matters. 

According to Mittelstaedt, 99 

percent of customers are likely 

to recommend your products 

and services to friends and family 

if they’ve had a good product 

experience. He then pinpointed 

eight steps for delivering 

exceptional customer experiences, 

including empowering your customers, 

listening to them and establishing 

a knowledge foundation. 

An afternoon panel discussion 

devoted to online video included 

Livemercial’s Nicky de la Salle, Liquid 

Focus’ Ken Osborn, Gene Silverman 

of Hawthorne Direct and Bob 

Greenstone of Permission Interactive. 

Leading off the panel, de la Salle discussed 

the relationship between the 

impact of online video and the consumer 

demographic. 

Then, Osborn and Silverman delivered 

separate presentations outlining 

nuances of crafting and implementing 

video online. Greenstone concluded 

the session with an interesting discussion 

of the importance of testing different 

aspects of online video, and 

sharing some of the valuable (and 

sometimes surprising) results his testing 

has revealed. 

The one-day event concluded with 

an ERA happy hour, which gave 

attendees an opportunity to unwind, 

network and enjoy the sunset. 






Ypulse College Mashup Stands Out and Delivers 

SANTA MONICA, Calif.—“Well, let’s 

learn how to further brainwash the 

youth of America,” were the words 

uttered by an attendee while stepping 

off the elevator at the Sheraton 

Delfino Hotel in Santa Monica, Calif. 

Although that comment raised a small 

red flag, as the first keynote began, it 

became clear that the day of panels 

and presentations ahead at the Ypulse 

College Mashup, held on February 1, 

would be entirely rewarding. 

Ypulse, which started out as a blog 

founded by journalist Anastasia 

Goodstein in May 2004, has grown 

into a community, with the blog, 

newsletter, daily updates and Mashup 

events becoming the go-to spot for 

marketers and advertisers interested in 

reaching the Generation-Y audience. 

So often at marketing conferences 

buzzwords are thrown around as speakers 

act like they know what they’re talking 

about in terms of how to monetize, 

say, Facebook. What was so unique 

about Ypulse was that its speakers have 

actually done this. CollegeHumor.com 

and MySpace were two examples of this. 

The morning’s first keynote came 

from Stephen Friedman, general manager 

of MTVu. His address centered on 

four guiding truths: the medium is not 

the message; partner with your audience; 

celebrate their passions; and 

acknowledge the special time (college) 

in their life. He showed that media 

changes have affected cultural perspective 

and how digital rights are the new 

battleground. Friedman effectively 

demonstrated how MTVu penetrates 

college campuses using multiple channels 

and tactics, a lesson most marketers 

in the room could relate to and 

learn from. One especially interesting 

tidbit he proposed was the notion that 

Gen Y looks to Gen X—not their parents, 

as each generation actually wants 

to correct the recklessness of the 

immediate, previous generation. 

After a brief research presentation, a 


ContentNext Media’s Rafat Ali leads the panel “Totally Wired 

Entertainment: Old School to New School.” 

panel discussion titled “Totally Wired 

Entertainment: Old School to New 

School” took the stage. Moderated by 

Rafat Ali, editor and publisher of 

ContentNext Media, discussion 

erupted about how the trends in 

entertainment have changed over the 

years for the companies represented in 

the panel. Alluding that TV is still 

huge, Graham MacRae, manager of 

college radio promotions for Warner 

Bros., argued that teens don’t want to 

go onto MySpace and begin clicking 

on random bands. “They have the 

patience to watch a full half-hour program 

on the computer,” adds Zach 

Posner, vice president of corporate 

development for National Lampoon. 

He described how National Lampoon 

is sending a comedy troupe to different 

schools across the country in lieu 

of campus reps, which most other 

brands and companies utilize. 

“Integrate with their day, don’t 

interrupt it,” says Gaylene Nagel of 

Electronic Arts. EA’s sub-brand, EA 

Games, she explains, will go to college 

football games and set up a face painting 

stand with various video games at 

tailgates, instead of the more obtrusive 

tactics one might see from a credit 

card sign up at a similar event. 

The day also consisted of roundtables 

with topics that ranged from how 

to integrate with social networks and 

to how to work with and retain Gen-Y 

employees, to fundraising tips for 

youth charities. The charity aspect 

was a refreshing theme heavily promoted 

throughout the event. Rather 

than merely figuring out ways to reach 

youth for profits, each session provided 

examples of how to leverage the 

very real and active socially responsible 

generation. Mr. Youth’s Matt 

Britton offered advice to marketers 

that often misplace their ad dollars. 

He says marketers should localize 

their efforts with a popular pizza shop 

near a campus, rather than a national 

chain. “You want to pick Joe’s Pizza 

over Dominos, and you also want to 

create news with what you’re doing.” 

Before the day concluded, the final 

session involved real college students 

discussing the issues of the day with 

attendees. Placing the attendees face to 

face with their target audience in an 

interactive, participatory way was a 

great touch. “What we learned from 

this event is that there is a robust community 

of media and marketing professionals 

who are specifically trying to 

reach college students and that this is a 

unique demographic that requires specific 

strategies. Between presentations 

of statistics and tactics from companies 

in the space, we also got to hear directly 

from college students about what 

they look for in media and marketing, 

as well as what causes and issues they’re 

passionate about,” says Goodstein. It 

seems “brainwashing” certainly was the 

wrong word after all. 







BY JEFFREY D. KNOWLES AND JENNIFER L. MCVEY 

legalFILE 

tThe Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has 


FTC on the DNC Warpath 

once again cracked down on violators of the 

National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry. The 

Commission recently announced six settlement 

agreements with major retailers and 

marketers, bringing the total number of settlements 

to 34 since the Registry was established 

in 2003. The total amount of civil penalties 

that have been recovered as a result of those 

settlements has now reached $16 million. 

Strict monitoring of compliance with the 

Registry is likely to continue, with each settlement 

helping to further clarify the FTC’s interpretation 

of Do Not Call regulations. The companies 

targeted by the latest enforcement 

actions include such well-known names as 

Ameriquest Mortgage Company, Craftmatic 

Industries (makers of automatic beds), ADT 

Security Services, Guardian Communications 

and Global Mortgage Funding. Their collective 

settlements resulted in a total of $7.7 million in 

civil penalties, with another $7.8 million in 

civil penalties suspended based on Guardian 

Communications’ inability to pay. The 

largest penalty—$4.4 million—was 

levied against Craftmatic. In addition 

to these fines, the FTC is 

poised to take further action 

against Global 

Mortgage Funding 

in federal district 

court. 

Companies that want to continue their successful 

marketing practices without becoming 

the FTC’s next example of how not to telemarket 

should pay attention to the FTC’s most 

recent guidance on the Do Not Call regulations. 

“EXPRESS AUTHORIZATION” 

The FTC has made clear that using sweepstakes 

entry forms to obtain phone numbers does not 

create an established business relationship with 

the entity conducting the sweepstakes, nor 

does it substitute for “express authorization” to 

call the numbers obtained. In its complaint 

against Craftmatic, the FTC alleged that that 

company and its vice president of marketing, 

Eric Krafstow, (who is also a defendant in the 

action), held a sweepstakes to win a free 

Craftmatic bed, in which the sweepstakes entry 

form required participants to enter their phone 

numbers. Entrants were told that their phone 

number was also their sweepstakes entry number. 

The form did not indicate to entrants that 

the number they gave would then be used to 

place sales calls, and Craftmatic did not otherwise 

seek entrants’ express consent to call. 

Where entrants gave numbers that were discovered 

to be on the DNC Registry, Craftmatic 

sent them a confirmation letter asking for verification 

of the phone number. The letter asked 

only for verification of the number, and repeated 

that an entrant’s telephone number was 

their entry number, while failing to inform 

entrants that their phone numbers would be 

used to place sales calls. FTC alleged that 

Craftmatic then placed sales calls to the phone 

numbers obtained through sweepstakes 

entries, including calls to phone numbers that 

were listed on the DNC Registry. Under the 

settlement agreement, Craftmatic will pay $4.4 

million in civil penalties. 

The lesson of the Craftmatic settlement is 

that a sweepstakes entry does not suffice for 




the “inquiry” that can establish a 

prior business relationship—at least 

not without clearly disclosing to 

entrants that their entry form information 

might be used for marketing 

purposes. Likewise, completion of an 

entry form that does not disclose the 

use of information to conduct sales 

calls does not qualify as an “express 

authorization.” 

NON COMPANY-SPECIFIC 

INQUIRIES 

The FTC has previously indicated that 

companies that obtain telephone numbers 

from third-party lead generators 

are responsible for the practices those 

lead generators use to obtain telephone 

number information. The Commission 

has also stated the when inquiries are 

received in response to websites that 

offer general information, and are not 

specific to a certain company, the lead 

generators who run those sites must 

disclose to consumers that their information 

will be used by third parties for 

the purpose of making sales calls. 

In its recent complaint against 

Ameriquest, the FTC alleged that 

Ameriquest’s telemarketers called numbers 

listed on the DNC Registry. 

Although the company had obtained 

the phone numbers in question 

through third-party lead generators, 

the FTC found that Ameriquest was 

ultimately responsible for the conduct 

of its lead generators in obtaining the 

numbers. The lead generators had 

enticed consumers to provide their 

phone numbers using websites that 

offered information about other products, 

including financial information. 

The FTC’s complaint reasoned that 

because consumers who gave their 

phone numbers were not making 

inquiries or reaching out to Ameriquest 

in particular, no business relationship 

was established. Ameriquest will pay $1 

million in civil damages under its settlement 

with the FTC. 

When using numbers from lead generators, 

in order to take advantage of 

the safe-harbor provisions in the DNC 

Registry rules, telemarketers must 

ensure that the entity generating the 

lead disclose (1) that the consumer will 

be called for marketing purposes; (2) 

the maximum number of calls the consumer 

can expect to receive; and (3) if 

possible, the identity of the parties who 

will be making the marketing calls. 

MONITOR THE CONDUCT 

OF AFFILIATES 

In several recent enforcement actions, 

the FTC has held that if a company 

has affiliates who are authorized dealers 

of its products, that company will 

be held responsible for the affiliates’ 

telemarketing practices. In the most 

recent action, the FTC charged ADT 

Security Services and two of its 

authorized dealers with telemarketing 

to consumers whose numbers were 

listed on the Do Not Call Registry. 

Even though the authorized dealers 

used their own telemarketing 

resources, the FTC alleged that ADT 

was responsible for all of the illegal 

calls. The complaint against ADT 

emphasized that the company provided 

extensive marketing materials to its 

authorized dealers, and that the 

authorized dealers had contracts with 

ADT under which they would become 

subcontractors on any of the security 

systems contracts they obtained while 

marketing on ADT’s behalf. 

The FTC’s recent complaint against 

ADT partially echoes its 2005 consent 

agreement with DirecTV. As in the 

DirecTV complaint, the FTC alleged 

that ADT failed to conduct the requisite 

due diligence to ensure that its affil- 

iates had policies in place to prevent 

violations of the DNC Registry rules. 

ADT’s contracts with authorized dealers 

did not adequately address compliance 

issues and potential violations. 

These two cases establish that not only 

must policies be in place to prevent 

violations, but contracts must address 

The lesson of the Craftmatic settlement is 

that a sweepstakes entry does not suffice for 

the “inquiry” that can establish a prior 

business relationship—at least not without 

clearly disclosing to entrants that their entry 

form information might be used for 

marketing purposes. 

potential violations, provide for monitoring 

of authorized dealers, and allow 

for dissolution of the contract (or at 

minimum non-payment) if DNC registry 

rules are violated. The FTC has 

allowed the use of third-party compliance 

monitors, but only if the company 

first conducts due diligence of the 

third-party monitor and the reports 

from the monitor are carefully 

reviewed and utilized. 

Although areas of ambiguity still 

exist in the FTC’s enforcement of the 

regulations governing the Do Not Call 

Registry, the number and size of those 

areas shrink with each enforcement 

action. It is critical that marketers 

monitor the FTC enforcement environment 

to ensure that their practices, 

and the practices of their vendors, do 

not run afoul of the Commission’s 

most current guidance. 

Jeffrey D. Knowles manages Venable 

LLP’s Government Division and heads 

the firm’s Advertising and Marketing 

Practice Group. Knowles is a past 

chairman of the ERA Board of 

Directors. He can be reached at (202) 

344-4860. Jennifer L. McVey is an 

attorney with Venable. She can be 

reached at (202) 344-4338. 





BY AARON KAHLOW 

onlineSTRATEGIES 

sSelecting a social media vendor is about as 


Social Media Vendor 

Selection Guide 

difficult a task there is these days for marketing 

professionals. It’s a nascent industry without 

any established leaders with a plethora of 

technologies and a mix of service, integration 

and features, which makes it hard to find one 

company that can help with your social networking 

and social media needs. Here are 

some guidelines to make your search easier. 

Strategy consulting. Most companies and 

marketing departments base their strategy on 

intuition and opinion, or they lean on their 

agency of record to validate it (when most agencies 

have little social networking experience). It 

is paramount to work with someone who has 

done this time and time again. He or she can 

steer you away from the pitfalls and enlighten 

you as to what works and what doesn’t. 

Every social network should be 

unique to its target audience, so there 

is no platform that has anticipated all 

your needs, especially in the 

infancy of social media. 

Information architecture (IA). Mapping 

out how users will connect, what the flow of 

information will be and how all elements in 

the very fluid environment of a social network 

will interrelate is something that many 

pass over quickly. But your design will have 

no foundation without the right sitemaps, 

wireframes and IA. 

Database architecture. Organizing and 

repurposing data is a challenge and should not 

be overlooked—this is usually the difference 

between a good social network and one that 

merely looks good until it’s actually put to use. 

You need to be able to correlate similar traits 

among members and surface that data to make 

recommendations; the database structure and 

logic to get meaningful results can be very tricky. 

Custom development. Custom development 

is comprised of: 1) Taking in disparate 

data sources and tying them into your master 

social networking platform and 2) Developing 

custom features not already found in your 

chosen platform. Every social network should 

be unique to its target audience, so there is no 

platform that has anticipated all your needs, 

especially in the infancy of social media. 

Baseline platform and supporting technology. 

When I last researched platforms, I 

found over 20 platforms that, at first glance, 

looked like they could meet my needs. None 

did. The big question is whether to build it 

yourself or use one that’s already built. If you 

just want to see how you can connect customers 

and extract valuable insight from 

them, then an out-of-the-box solution is the 

way to go. But if you are looking to create a 

lasting community, the build-it-yourself 

option is much more viable since you’ll never 

be able to predict what will be needed six 

months from launch, let alone six years. 

Custom build-out takes longer and has 

support challenges when code breaks or 

something goes wrong. Out-of-the box platforms 

have a much shorter time to market, 

little flexibility but not a lot of flexibility in 

making changes. 

In the final analysis, social networking and 

the supporting technologies are evolving so fast 

it’s nearly impossible to pick the perfect solution. 

But like most of us in social media say, 

“Better to try, learn and re-launch, then wait for 

the perfect answer. It will never come.” 




Aaron Kahlow is managing partner of 

BusinessOnLine and chairman of the Online 

Marketing Summit. He can be reached via email 

at aaron@businessol.com.




eMarketer Research 

Podcast Advertising 

Fueled by an audience that is expected to grow by more than 285 percent in the next five years and the continued migration of content 

to portable devices, the channel is expected to mature and show robust increases in ad spending through 2012, according to a recent 

eMarketer report. 

U.S. Podcast Audience, 2007-2012 (in millions) 


Total podcast Active podcast 

audience* audience** 

2007 18.5 6.5 

2008 28.0 10.0 

2009 38.0 14.0 

2010 47.0 17.5 

2011 56.0 21.5 

2012 65.0 25.0 

Note: ages 3+ from any location; *individuals who have ever downloaded a podcast; **individuals who download an 

average of one or more podcast(s) per week. Source: eMarketer, May 2007 

eMarketer projects that by 2012, more than 25 million Americans will listen to podcasts at 

least once a week, with a total podcast audience of 65 million. 

Online Activities of U.S. Adult Internet Users, 2006 

E-mail 

Local search* 

Instant messaging (IM) 

Online purchasing 

Music search and download 

Read blogs 

Video search and watch 

Social networking 

Video downloads 

Publish own blog 

Podcasting 

28.0% 

36.2% 

46.2% 

44.8% 

42.7% 

41.3% 

57.6% 

56.9% 

55.5% 

Voice communications (VoIP) 27.7% 

25.9% 



100% 

Note: n=337 ages 18+; *a search is considered “to be local when the user’s intent is to find a business listing or other 

information that is directly tied to a given geographic boundary”; Source: Piper Jaffray 

According to a Piper Jaffray survey, 25.9 percent of U.S. adult Internet users engage in podcasting, 

as compared to 100 percent who use e-mail and 41.3 percent who participate in social 

networking. 





eMarketer Research 

Demographic Profile of U.S. iTunes Podcast Users, 

as Compared to All Adult Internet Users (% of total) 


iTunes podcast Total adult 

downloaders Internet users 

Gender 

Male 63% 51% 

Female 

Age 

37% 49% 

18-24 29% 14% 

25-34 14% 20% 

35-44 27% 24% 

45-54 23% 22% 

55-64 5% 13% 

65+ 

Household income 

2% 6% 

$100,000 

Education 

31% 24% 

High school 25% 28% 

Some college or associates degree 28% 34% 

College/graduate degree 47% 37% 

Note: numbers may not add up to 100 percent due to rounding; Source: Comcast Networks Inc. 

The U.S. podcast audience skews significantly male, as compared to the total population of 

Internet users. 

U.S. Podcast Ad Spending, 2007-2012 (in millions and % over prior year) 

2007 

2008 

2009 

2010 

2011 

2012 

$165 (106.3%) 

$240 (45.5%) 

Note: *includes advertising and sponsorship spending; Source: eMarketer 

$310 (29.2%) 

$360 (16.1%) 

$400 (11.1%) 

$435 (8.8%) 



The eMarketer forecast for podcasting advertising spending is quite optimistic, thanks to factors 

including growing familiarity with podcasting, improved portable MP3 player technology, 

refinement of podcast advertising creative and more seamless ad insertion. 


Los Angeles San Diego Miami 

More Media Direct, Inc. 

A Full Service Direct Response Advertising Agency 

■ Television 

■ Print 

■ Per Inquiry 

■ Radio 

Our Services 

■ Websites 

■ Product 

Development 

■ Retail Distribution 

■ Media Funding 

Let the professionals at More Media Direct help 

your product or service achieve the success it 

deserves. Because, after all, More is better. 

(305) 672-9793 



www.moremediadirect.com 

Contact Mickey Silverman at (305) 672-9793 or 

email mickey@moremediadirect.com 


etailRANKINGS 

LONG-FORM PRODUCTS SOLD ON TV 

Based solely on frequency of programs aired on national cable networks monitored, media index and web activity. 

RANK PRODUCT CATEGORY PRICE 

1 bareMinerals Beauty 2 payments of $29.99 (plus $9.99 S&H) 

2 Shark Steam Mop Household 3 payments of $33.00 (plus $15.00 S&H) 

3 Total Gym Health & Fitness 30-day trial for $49.95 

4 Sheer Cover Beauty $29.95 (plus $5.95 S&H) 

5 P90X Health & Fitness 3 payments of $39.95 (plus $19.95 S&H) 

6 Natural Advantage Beauty $29.95 (plus $7.95 S&H) 

7 Turbo Jam Health & Fitness 3 payments of $19.95 (plus $12.95 S&H) 

8 Tempur-Pedic Household Lead generator 

9 Body Makeover Health & Fitness 6 payments of $19.99 (plus $19.99 S&H) 

10 Oreck XL21 Household Free 30-day trial (including S&H) 

11 Xpress 101 Kitchen 2 payments of $19.95 (plus $14.95 S&H) 

12 Shark VX3 Household 4 payments of $19.95 (plus $15.95 S&H) 

13 Fluidity Bar Health & Fitness 30-day trial for $39.95 (plus $49.95 S&H) 

14 The Firm Health & Fitness 2 payments of $29.95 (plus $14.95 S&H) 

15 Tobi Household 4 payments of $29.95 (plus $29.95 S&H) 

16 Ultimate Healing Education & Self-help $39.95 (plus S&H) 

17 Bowflex Health & Fitness Lead generator 

18 Extenze Health & Fitness $59.95 (plus $6.95 S&H) 

19 Murad Beauty 3 payments of $39.95/$119.80 (plus $8.95 S&H) 

20 Shapely Secrets Health & Fitness 2 payments of $19.99 (plus $12.93 S&H) 

21 Cricut Crafts & Hobbies 5 payments of $49.95 (free S&H) 

22 Oreck XL Air Purifier Household Lead generator 

23 Nu-Wave Kitchen 3 payments of $33.00 (plus S&H) 

24 Hip Hop Abs Health & Fitness 3 payments of $19.95 (plus $12.95 S&H) 

25 CorEvolution Health & Fitness 30-day trial for $49.95 (free S&H) 

© 2008 / Infomercial Monitoring Service, Inc. Satellite 2, 810 Parkway Blvd., Broomall, PA 19008, USA. Phone: (610) 328-6902. Fax: 

(610) 328-6791. E-mail: catanese@imstv.com. Based solely on frequency of programs aired on national cable networks monitored, 

media index and web activity. IMS is a research and publishing company that tracks both long- and short-form DRTV on national 

cable and satellite. Its database and video library services companies are involved in all aspects of the DR industry. IMS provides 

weekly and monthly reports with DRTV rankings, verification, evaluations, research, consulting, film and video production, post 

production and broadcast duplication. 


THE RETAIL RANKINGS FOR JANUARY 2008 







etailRANKINGS 

SHORT-FORM PRODUCTS SOLD ON TV 

Based solely on frequency of programs aired on national cable networks monitored, media index and web activity. 

RANK PRODUCT CATEGORY PRICE 

1 Perfect Pushup Exercise device $39.90 

2 Proactiv Solution Acne treatment $39.95 

3 ExtenZe Male enlargement pills $0.00 

4 Kinoki Detoxifying foot pads $19.99 

5 Total Gym Exercise equipment $0.00 

6 Enzyte Male enhancement pills $0.00 

7 Mighty Putty Heavy-duty epoxy $19.99 

8 Bowflex Home Gyms Exercise equipment $0.00 

9 SunSetter Awnings Retractable awnings $0.00 

10 Craft-Lite Cutter Craft cutting board $19.99 

11 Lipozene Weight-loss supplements $29.95 

12 bareMinerals Makeup kit $0.00 

13 Pushup Pro Exercise device $19.99 

14 Artisan Stand Mixer Mixer $349 

15 Green Bags Reusable food storage bags $9.95 

16 Cat Genie Self-cleaning litterbox $0.00 

17 Dr. Frank’s Joint Pain Relief Pain relief for pets $19.95 

18 Mobility Products Power wheelchairs $0.00 

19 Ditech.com Home loan $0.00 

20 NutriSystem Advanced Diet plan $0.00 

21 Buxton Shoulder Bag Organizing purse $19.95 

22 OneTouch UltraMini Blood glucose meter $0.00 

23 Hoveround Power wheelchairs $0.00 

24 Select Comfort Sleep Number Air chamber mattress $0.00 

25 Bose Quiet Comfort 3 Noise-cancelling headphones $0.00 

© 2008 / Infomercial Monitoring Service, Inc. Satellite 2, 810 Parkway Blvd., Broomall, PA 19008, USA. Phone: (610) 328-6902. Fax: 

(610) 328-6791. E-mail: catanese@imstv.com. Based solely on frequency of programs aired on national cable networks monitored, 

media index and web activity. IMS is a research and publishing company that tracks both long- and short-form DRTV on national 

cable and satellite. Its database and video library services companies are involved in all aspects of the DR industry. IMS provides 

weekly and monthly reports with DRTV rankings, verification, evaluations, research, consulting, film and video production, post 

production and broadcast duplication. 


THE RETAIL RANKINGS FOR JANUARY 2008 







Jordan Whitney’s Top Categories 

RANK SHOW NAME PRODUCT PRICE DISTRIBUTOR 

1 Natural Advantage Skincare system $29.95 Guthy-Renker 

2 Lifestyle Lift Facelift procedure Lead generator Lifestyle Lift 

3 bareMinerals Makeup $59.90 BareEscentuals 

4 Sheer Cover Makeup $29.95 Guthy-Renker 

5 Proactiv Solution Acne treatment $19.95 Guthy-Renker 


TOP INFOMERCIAL CATEGORIES FOR FEBRUARY 2008 

BEAUTY 

FITNESS 


1 Turbo Jam DVD exercise program $59.85 Beachbody 

2 P90X Exercise program $99.00 Beachbody 

3 Total Gym Home gym Lead generator American Telecast 

4 Ab Rocket Exerciser $99.99 Ab Rocket/Emson 

5 Fluidity Method Exercise bar $39.95 (trial) Fluidity Fitness 

HOUSEWARES 


1 Shark Steam Mop Steam mop Free trial Euro-Pro 

2 Tempur-Pedic Foam mattress Lead generator Tempur-Pedic 

3 Shark VX3 Cordless floor cleaner $59.85 Euro-Pro 

4 GT Xpress Countertop grill $39.90 GT Media 

5 Tobi Steamer Portable steamer $119.80 Tobi 



Source: The Jordan Whitney “Greensheet” published by Jordan Whitney, Inc., Tustin, Calif. For information about the “Greensheet,” 

Jordan Whitney’s consulting, tape library or category-specific research reports, contact Clare Kogler at Jordan Whitney, Inc. Voice: (714) 

832-3353; fax: (714) 832-4422; e-mail: greensheet@cox.net or visit www. jwgreensheet.com. 


TOP SHORT-FORM CATEGORIES FOR FEBRUARY 2008 

HOUSEWARES 

RANK SHOW NAME PRODUCT PRICE/OFFER DISTRIBUTOR 

1 Direct Buy Discount decorating centers Lead generator Direct Buy 

2 Mighty Putty Moldable super-hold epoxy $19.99 Plymouth Direct 

3 Handy Switch Wireless light switch $19.99 Ideavillage 

4 Riddex Pro Plus Pest repellent device $29.95 Dynamic Response 

5 Craft Lite Cutter Backlit paper cutter $19.99 Merchant Media 

FITNESS 


1 Perfect Push Up Exerciser $39.90 Fine BodyRev Products 

2 Total Gym Home gym Lead generator American Telecast 

3 Bowflex Home gym Lead generator Nautilus Group 

4 Teeter HangUps Inversion therapy device Lead generator STL International 

5 Treadclimber Exerciser Lead generator Nautilus Group 

PERSONAL CARE 


1 Listen Up Personal sound amplifier $14.99 Ideavillage 

2 Zerosmoke Stop-smoking product Free trial Zerosmoke 

3 Ped Egg Pedicure tool $10.00 Telebrands 

4 Infinity Razor Razor $19.95 Infinity Razor 

5 Power Chair Personal mobility vehicle Lead generator Mobility Products 



Source: The Jordan Whitney “Greensheet” published by Jordan Whitney, Inc., Tustin, Calif. For information about the “Greensheet,” 

Jordan Whitney’s consulting, tape library or category-specific research reports, contact Clare Kogler at Jordan Whitney, Inc. Voice: (714) 

832-3353; fax: (714) 832-4422; e-mail: greensheet@cox.net or visit www. jwgreensheet.com. 



marketingMETHODS 

aAdvertisers and media buyers have been push- 

BY PETER KOEPPEL 


TNS and TiVo Take on Nielsen 

ing for measurement systems that more accurately 

reflect consumer TV viewing patterns in 

this age of DVRs, where many consumers are 

zapping through commercials. TNS Media 

Research and TiVo have developed technologies 

in an attempt to improve on the current 

measurement systems. TNS will be using settop 

box data from 100,000 DirecTV households 

to get a better handle on consumer TV 

viewing patterns. TNS DirecTView will provide 

both live and time-shifted viewing patterns 

on a second-by-second basis. TiVo also 

has been collecting second-by-second viewing 

data of real-time and time-shifted TV viewing 

on DVRs from 20,000 users. Nielsen currently 

uses minute-by-minute data and a sample of 

just 14,000 households, and many of the 

Nielsen households have to complete paper 

diaries tracking their TV viewing habits. 

More sophisticated marketers, TV 

networks and their media-buying 

firms will start looking at data from 

multiple sources, including Nielsen, 

TNS and TiVo to better assess 

viewing patterns. 

ALL VIEWER MEASUREMENT 

SYSTEMS HAVE LIMITATIONS 

No measurement system is perfect. Set-top 

boxes have their limitations, since they don’t 

know when someone leaves the room during 

a commercial break. In addition, the viewing 

habits of DirecTV satellite customers may 

not be reflective of the rest of the TV viewing 

population, since they tend to be more 

upscale, and many signed up for the service 

to watch sporting events, which could skew 

the viewing data. TiVo users tend to be more 

upscale, more tech-savvy and younger, so 

TiVo data also may not be representative of 

the general TV viewing audience. 

More sophisticated marketers, TV networks 

and their media-buying firms will start looking 

at data from multiple sources, including Nielsen, 

TNS and TiVo to better assess viewing patterns. 

TiVo is recruiting viewers who are willing to provide 

demographic data, so they can report viewing 

patterns by demographic groups. Nielsen is 

working on “Anywhere Anytime Media 

Measurement,” which measures all forms of 

video media consumption. And Nielsen is now 

measuring DVR data, which looks at programming 

and commercial minutes most watched in 

real time and up to seven days later. 

One surprising finding from TiVo’s data 

was that DRTV ads were some the most 

viewed commercials. Who would have 

guessed that DRTV ads would be viewed 

more than more expensively produced 

branding ads with celebrities? Todd Juenger 

from TiVo, surmises that “Celeb-laden commercials 

may not do well in TiVo because 

they tend to be purchased for maximum 

reach across a broad rather than targeted 

audience, and targeting appears to be a key 

ingredient for TiVo viewers,” according to 

Jack Myers’ Digital Video Report. 

It’s encouraging to see several new companies 

now competing to provide a more comprehensive 

profile of TV viewing habits. 

DRTV media-buying firms armed with this 

type of data should be able to further 

improve their clients’ ROI in today’s more 

fragmented media environment. 




Peter Koeppel is president of Koeppel Direct 

Inc., a full-service media buying agency based 

in Dallas. He can be reached at (972) 732-6110, 

or via e-mail at pkoeppel@koeppelinc.com.




PHOTO BY MARC PISCOTTY 





The 

Effect 

Electronic Retailer’s “Multichannel 

Marketer of the Year” stays ahead of the 

curve when it comes to broadening its 

customer reach. This lifestyle media company 

embraces a diverse marketing strategy 

that comprises DRTV, retail, catalog, 

e-commerce, social networking and 

other emerging technologies. 

BY VITISIA PAYNICH 

Multichannel marketers are the catalysts who blaze the 

trail for others to follow, and they are the risk takers willing 

to experiment with new trends that marketing skeptics 

often dismiss as nonviable. It’s that pioneering mentality 

that sets them apart from the pack by making their brands 

more prominent and their products more easily attainable. 

“We would like to appeal to all consumers in whatever 

channel they wish to shop,” says Lynn Powers, president of 

Gaiam Inc., a lifestyle media company. Thus, if you build 

the brand this way, then the customer has access to that 

brand—regardless of their shopping preference. 

She adds that multichannel marketing is “a 

more difficult strategy to implement, but I 

think in the long run, it’s the ideal strategy 

to have because then you’re also not so 

Lynn Powers, president 

susceptible to market fluctuations in 

of Gaiam Inc. 

any single channel.” 





coverSTORY 

It’s that forward-thinking attitude 

and attention to new and innovative 

marketing trends that prompted 

Electronic Retailer to recognize Gaiam 

Inc. as the “Multichannel Marketer of 

the Year.” We spoke with this year’s 

award recipient to learn more about the 

company and the marketing practices 

that have helped to cultivate its brand. 

Gaiam operates on a three-tier business 

model consisting of channels, 

product offerings and content. Those 

channels include DRTV, retail, catalog, 

e-commerce and social networking. 

Instructional books, DVDs, CDs and 

fitness equipment, as well as organic 

apparel and eco-friendly products 

make up the company’s breadth of fitness 

and wellness products. 

The Broomfield, Colo., company 

also produces original content consisting 

of programming accessed via 

broadcast and cable networks, online 

and even on mobile. 

As a brand leader in the $227 billion 

Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability 


(LOHAS) market, Gaiam has maintained 

steady growth in revenue each 

quarter. In Q3 2007, the company generated 

36 percent growth and $70.3 

million in revenue. In addition, the 

company has expanded its multichannel 

efforts through a number of acquisitions 

and strategic partnerships 

forged over the course of three years. 

GOOD KARMA IN THE AIR 

In 1994, Powers and Jirka Rysavy 

struck up a conversation on an airplane 

that would 

later change both 

their lives. Rysavy 

talked to Powers 

about his business 

that he founded in 

1988 called 

Transecon Inc. The 

company, which 

stands for Transfor - 

mational Economy, 

distributed metaphysical 

and environmental 

products. 

However, Rysavy 

aspired to do more 

with his company by 

making a difference 

in people’s lives, as 

well as in the environment in which 

they exist. “Jirka told me about the 

concept and we talked about it over the 

next year,” recalls Powers. She eventual- 

“When you go into one of these retailers, 

you will find a dedicated area with our store 

signage and nothing else but our products 

in that area. Those permanent footprints at 

retail are incredible ways for us to further 

extend the lifestyle that we’re trying to 

sell.”—Bill Sondheim, Gaiam Inc. 

Gaiam's store-within-a-storeenvironments, 

like this one 

at Elephant 

Pharmacy, can be 

found in 6,000 

retail locations 

throughout the U.S. 

ly joined Rysavy in February 1996, to 

help him put the plan in motion. That 

year, Inc. magazine ranked Transecon 

34th on its list of “Fastest Growing 

Private Companies in America.” 

In 1998, Transecon changed its 

name to Gaiam derived from the 

word Gaia, meaning “Mother Earth.” 

Powers says their objective was “to 

create sustainable businesses for likeminded 

people and give them an 

alternative to conventional products 

that are either healthier for them or 

healthier for the planet.” 

BUILDING BRANDS IN DRTV 

Gaiam reinforced its market position in 

the home media distribution market 

when it acquired GoodTimes 

Entertainment (GT) in September 

2005 for $35 million. The deal also 

included GT’s extensive media library, 

giving Gaiam a stronger foothold in the 

fitness/wellness category and allowing 

the company to leverage the DRTV talent 

that once fell under the GoodTimes 

umbrella. One of those talents was Tae 

Bo guru Billy Blanks. 

“In a way, Billy [Blanks] has gone 

through three phases in DR,” notes 

Bill Sondheim, president of DRTV 

and trade at Gaiam. “He had his initial 

Tae Bo experience in the early 

’90s. Then in 2000, GoodTimes 

Entertainment identified him as a talent 

and successfully re-stimulated his 




career.” Blanks entered his third phase 

in DR once Gaiam purchased GT. 

Today, the Tae Bo master has 

evolved with his DVD series, transitioning 

from an equipment-centric 

fitness workout to a more life coachoriented 

format. Blanks’ evolution 

has resonated quite well with 

infomercial viewers and has led to 

stellar sales of his DVDs like “Billy’s 

Bootcamp” and earned it top rankings 

in both Jordan Whitney’s 

“Greensheet” and the “IMS Report.” 

Sondheim cites The FIRM DVD 

products as another DRTV success 

story for Gaiam. The FIRM was actually 

conceived from the company’s original 

programming—a perfect fit for the 

DRTV market. Today, the fitness brand 

has evolved from its aerobic and 

weight-training roots to a workout 

regime that incorporates yoga—a 

reflection of the changing demographic. 

In fact, The FIRM and Billy Blanks 

have become powerhouse brands on 

television and in the retail space. 

“What I think is unique about the 

way we look at DRTV versus many of 

our competitors is the fact that we 

really look at it as a brand-building 

tool that also generates revenue, as 

opposed to some folks that look at it 

more as an opportunity to sell a widget 

that has a limited lifespan,” contends 

Sondheim. 

He explains that these type of companies 

utilize DRTV as a quick way to 

brand a product, sell it, and then get it 

into retail before its lifecycle ends. 

“Because we’re looking at it as a 

brand, it never reaches a point in its 

lifecycle where it’s time to ‘blow it 

out,’” explains Sondheim. However, 

he notes, even if a particular product 

actually reaches the end of its lifecycle, 

that product is part of a brand 

with longevity, and therefore, “we 

care about protecting that brand’s 

value proposition.” 

The wellness category is another 

market that Gaiam has successfully 

penetrated. Sondheim reveals that the 

company will be introducing new 

wellness products to the DRTV market 

in the coming months. “We’ve recently 

announced a series of DVDs that we 

co-produced with the Mayo Clinic, 

along with a series of kits designed for 

restorative fitness and exercise to help 

people live more active lifestyles during 

the aging process,” he says. 

STANDING OUT ON 

RETAIL SHELVES 

Over the years, Gaiam has heightened 

its visibility in the retail space. 

Consumers can easily find their products 

in 68,000 retail stores across the 

country, which include Best Buy, 

Borders, Wild Oats, Whole Foods and 

more recently, Linens ‘N’ Things. 

What’s more, Gaiam has forged partnerships 

with other big-box retailers 

like Target and Barnes & Noble to create 

store-within-a-store environments. 

“When you go into one of these 

retailers, you will find a dedicated area 

with our store signage and nothing 

else but our products in that area,” 

explains Sondheim. “Those permanent 

footprints at retail are incredible 

ways for us to further extend the 

lifestyle that we’re trying to sell.” 

To date, Gaiam store-within-astore 

environments exist in 6,000 

retail locations throughout the U.S., 

with plans for future expansion. 

GOING STRONG ONLINE 

How has the company grown its 

Internet business? “We would like to 

move very rapidly toward more online 

[retailing] and less catalog, because it’s 

the right thing to do for the planet,” 

says Powers. “And, the growth in our 

e-commerce business has been very 

strong over the past two years.” 

Although Gaiam still uses catalogs as 

a marketing vehicle, Powers recognizes 

that more people are shopping online. 

“Also, we’re finding that more people 

are looking for sustainable green living 

health products on the Internet. And 

our search engine and affiliate programs 

seem to be paying off.” 

One of Gaiam’s other online objec- 





coverSTORY 

tives was to establish a community, 

which meant stepping into the social 

networking waters and aligning itself 

with a company that already had a 

presence in the space. The company 

acquired Zaadz, a leading social networking 

site in the LOHAS space with 

85,000 members and 850,000 unique 

visitors per month. 

“These people are very socially and 

environmentally responsible and they 

want to share their thoughts and feelings 

with the community,” says Powers. 

The company also set its sights on 

Lime, a multimedia company that 

emphasizes living a healthier, greener 

and more balanced lifestyle. Its programming 

content can be found on 

broadband television, SIRIUS 

Satellite Radio, national cable, online 

and on mobile phones. 

Next, Gaiam sought out Conscious 

Enlightenment, an online and offlinebased 

community comprised of print 

publications, a social network, video 

channel and an online video streaming 

subscription club. 

All three entities make up the company’s 

Gaia.com community. 

In 2006, when BlackBerry was looking 

for a partner company to provide wellness 

and meditation content for its 

BlackBerry Audio service, it reached out 

to Gaiam. Powers notes, “We are the 

leading content provider for the fitness/wellness 

category. We own 50 percent 

of the market share. So, when you 

have that kind of market share and that 

kind of content, people seek you out and 

come to you for it.” 

She believes mobile is an ideal vehicle 

for Gaiam. “If you need a twominute 

meditation, delivering content 

that way is great.” 

CORPORATE 

RESPONSIBILITY IS VITAL 

Gaiam believes it’s every company’s 

corporate responsibility to do the 

right thing, especially when it comes 

to making decisions that have an 

impact on the environment. 

In 2006, Gaiam entered into partner- 


ship with The Conservation Fund to 

launch the world’s first “Go Zero” sustainable 

shipping program. The green 

initiative requests that online customers 

add a small donation at checkout that 

goes directly to The Conservation Fund, 

which enables the planting of trees to 

offset carbon dioxide emissions that 

result from product shipping. 

During the first month of the pro- 

gram launch, “we expected a five-percent 

response rate. I think we had more 

than a 30-percent response rate,” recalls 

Powers. “To this day, it’s still hovering 

at over 25 percent of people saying yes 

to the donation, because it’s the right 

thing to do and we made it simple.” 

Business Ethics magazine ranked 

Gaiam among the “100 Best Corporate 

Citizens” in its Spring 2006 issue. 

“I see Gaiam as an aggregator of LOHAS 

companies and creating a connection for 

people around the world to make choices 

that affect positive change and to get that 

information out to others in whatever 

way they’re used to seeing it….” 

—Lynn Powers, Gaiam Inc. 

The FIRM 

offers 

fitness 

enthusiasts 

weight and 

strength 

training, 

along with 

yoga 

instruction. 

Another important issue the company 

is addressing is the Fair Trade initiative. 

Gaiam is working with Fair Trade organizations 

in mostly third-world countries 

to market artisans’ crafts and goods 

online. Most of the profits from those 

transactions go directly to the artisans so 

that they’re able to earn living wages. 

“We also have standards set up in all 

the factories that we deal with to make 

sure that they are socially and environmentally 

responsible,” says Powers. 

“I will tell you that we’re not perfect. 

I’m not here to say that all the factories 

that we use follow every single 

standard that we’re setting, but we’re 

moving in baby steps every time, and 

we’re making people responsible for 

annual improvements.” 

What does the future hold for the 

Multichannel Marketer of the Year? 

According to Powers: “I see Gaiam as 

an aggregator of LOHAS companies 

and creating a connection for people 

around the world to make choices that 

affect positive change and to get that 

information out to others in whatever 

way they’re used to seeing it— 

whether it’s through DRTV, on the 

Internet, in the stores or as part of a 

global community.” 











Euro-Pro’s Shark Steam Mop is 

a successful product with 

lessons to teach. The most 

important? How DRTV viewers 

now do their buying. 

BY JACK GORDON 

A hit infomercial is always a joy to its 

sponsor, and Euro-Pro Corp. knew 

quickly that its half-hour show for the 

Shark Steam Mop was a home run. 

After testing last spring, a media campaign 

for the lightweight floor-cleaning 

device rolled out in June. The 

show climbed rapidly in rankings by 

Jordan Whitney and the Infomercial 

Monitoring Service. As of December, 

it was the number-one ranked 

infomercial in the U.S., and the Shark 

Steam Mop was the most successful 

direct response product in Euro-Pro’s 

history. 

But Euro-Pro also got a surprise. 

The Newton, Mass., company markets 

household products such as vacuums, 

sewing machines and steam 

cleaners under the Shark label and 

other brand names. It has produced 

winning infomercials before, but 

never one in which so many cus- 




caseSTUDY 

tomers chose to buy from the website 

rather than by calling an 800 number. 

Until the steam mop show ran, no 

more than 15 percent of respondents to 

a Euro-Pro infomercial had ever bought 

the advertised product online, says Jeff 

Frankel, the company’s vice president of 

international and direct consumer sales. 

Yet, more than 32 percent of all steam 

mop sales have come via the web. 

That represents a lot of money. As of 

mid-January, Frankel says, total sales 

from the infomercial have amounted 

to more than 200,000 units at an average 

gross per sale of about $127. That’s 

more than $25 million in revenue, a 

third of it generated online. 

The high online response rate is 

due in part to careful search engine 

optimization, but certainly not to a 

glamorous website for the product. 

Far from it, Frankel says. The dedicated 

site to which infomercial viewers 

are directed, sharksteammop.com, is 

a bare-bones affair, constructed on 

what he calls a “quick and dirty” basis 

in about two weeks by a low-priced 

vendor in India. “I’d have made the 

site prettier and given it more features 

if I had time,” he says. “But it’s giving 

us better performance than anything 

we’ve had in the past.” 

“If you put up an 

infomercial with a 

URL and a phone 

number, 95 percent 

of the activity would 

come in by phone.” 

—Paul Soltoff, SendTec 

Frankel suspects that the unprecedented 

online response rate for the 

Shark Steam Mop is not a peculiarity 

of the product or the campaign, but 

more a sign of the times—and a sign 

of things to come. 

So does Paul Soltoff, CEO of SendTec 

Inc. in St. Petersburg, Fla. SendTec is the 

multichannel marketing agency that 


helped produce the steam mop 

infomercial and that handles 

search optimization and other 

aspects of online marketing for 

Euro-Pro. Soltoff has worked 

with Frankel on a number of 

campaigns for the past several 

years, during which, he says, “we have 

watched a paradigm shift.” 

As recently as five years ago, Soltoff 

says, “If you put up an infomercial with 

a URL and a phone number, 95 percent 

of the activity would come in by 

phone. Then it went to about 10 to 14 

percent online, which was great 

because [on the web] you have no callcenter 

expense for inbound operators.” 

But an online response upward of 

30 percent? That isn’t about site design 

and it isn’t just about steam mops, 

Soltoff says. Rather, it points to a rapidly 

growing change in consumer 

behavior. “Consumers are deciding 

where to engage advertising, where to 

research products and where to buy,” 

he says. DRTV advertisers now routinely 

put URLs in their commercials, 

but they have grown accustomed to 

“looking at web sales as incremental 

pickup—as cream.” When a full third 

of an infomercial’s sales can come in 

via the web, he suggests, “marketers 

have to rethink their online strategies.” 

If this much traffic is moving 

online, Soltoff says, DRTV advertisers 

“have to be in position to intercept it. 

And to assess it. And to measure it. 

Otherwise, they might not get it.” 

THE SHOW 

This was an infomercial that almost 

didn’t happen. Steam cleaners in the 

past have not panned out as a steady 

source of business for Euro-Pro— 

The challenge Euro-Pro had 

while creating its Shark 

Steam Mop infomercial was 

breaking through the perceived 

value barrier by making 

viewers feel as if they 

actually had used the mop. 

“more of a roller coaster—some years 

hot, some years cold,” Frankel says. 

Euro-Pro’s strategy is to use infomercials 

to build demand for products that 

can be taken to retail, from which most 

of its business comes, so the company 

doesn’t look for quick-hit directresponse 

offerings with short lifespans. 

Corporate skepticism had to be 

battled, and the project got underway 

with a bare-bones budget. But 

Frankel fought for this particular 

product because he thought it was a 

breakthrough device that anyone who 

mopped a kitchen floor would love. 

Early research showed that consumers 

did, indeed, love the steam 

mop—but only after they used it. “If 

we just showed them the product,” 

Frankel says, “people said they’d pay 

$30 to $60 for it. For that, we couldn’t 

do a successful infomercial. But once 

they used it, they said they’d pay $80 

to $130.” The challenge, he says, was 

to produce an infomercial that “broke 

through the perceived value barrier” 

by making viewers feel as if they actually 

had used the mop. “That was the 

challenge we gave to SendTec.” 

Soltoff then suggested an additional 

way to break the value barrier: offer 

an unusually long trial period to 

encourage customers to use the product. 

To get it into the buyer’s hands, 

the Shark Steam Mop comes with a 

60-day, money-back satisfaction 

guarantee. That’s risky, Soltoff 




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caseSTUDY 

admits. But he explains that Frankel 

believed in the product strongly 

enough to bet that he’d get very few 

returns. The bet paid off. 

GOING TO RETAIL 

The original goal for the infomercial 

was simply that it should pay for itself 

by generating enough sales to cover 

the media costs, Frankel says. Testing 

showed that the most profitable offer 

was a three-pay of $29.95—a total of 

about $90. Because the hope was to 

drive the product to retail at a price of 

$79, however, Euro-Pro settled on a 

four-pay of $19.95. 

Sacrificing a bit of today’s profit 

with an eye on tomorrow’s retail possibilities 

was a strategy that worked 

handsomely. The infomercial proved 

the steam mop’s appeal, and an international 

rollout to major retailers 

should be underway by March. A 

mid-January Google search on “shark 

steam mop” found Target stores as the 

number-one paid listing. Target’s link 

led to a promise that the mop would 

be in stock within a few weeks. 

Euro-Pro will “drive this product 

deep into retail around the world,” 

Soltoff predicts. “You’re going to 

know a lot of people who own Shark 

Steam Mops…. That’s why I love 

infomercials. You don’t have to be 

Procter & Gamble to fill a pipeline, 

create a brand, and ultimately 

explode into retail. For all the prob- 

The initial goal for the steam 

mop infomercial was to generate 

enough sales to cover the 

media costs. The next step was 

going to retail in the U.S. and 

internationally. 


lems that infomercials have today— 

high media costs, vanishing TV viewers, 

DVRs—they’re still an incredibly 

powerful weapon.” 

BACK TO THE WEB 

In the infomercial’s test phase last 

spring, customers who wanted to 

order online were directed only to 

Euro-Pro’s main corporate website. 

From there, Frankel says, it wasn’t 

possible to add upsells for the mop— 

extra steam pads, extended warranties 

and so on. Almost simultaneously 

with the post-testing rollout, 

Frankel threw up the single-product 

site, sharksteammop.com, and directed 

viewers there instead. 

That’s when online sales took a 

huge jump and began to account for a 

third of all orders. Basic and unglamorous 

though it was, the dedicated 

microsite not only allowed upsells 

(largely accounting for the average 

gross of $127 on an $80 product), it 

sold more mops. 

Soltoff points to this as an important 

lesson. When consumers go 

online in response to a television 

advertisement, he says, “they’re coming 

to buy.” There should be no obstacles 

or distractions in their path. He 

insists that driving shoppers to the 

main corporate site in pursuit of 

branding or image-related goals is a 

mistake. “On a corporate site, there 

are a number of things to do: Here’s 

the section for investors, 

here’s ‘About Us,’ here are our 

other products. All of that 

peels away conversions. 

When you mix apples, 

oranges and bananas, you 

depress the sale of apples.” 

When shoppers are driven instead to 

a microsite focused on a single product, 

the buying path becomes far more 

simple and intuitive, Soltoff says. Want 

to sell a steam mop or any other individual 

item? “Put your blinders on,” he 

advises. One product, one website. 

But beyond the question of where 

to drive your customers once they’re 

online, Frankel and Soltoff agree, the 

larger lesson is that more DRTV 

viewers are going online to begin 

with—a lot more. 

When web sales were incremental, 

Soltoff says, the big question for DRTV 

advertisers was simply: “Did I sell 

enough on the phone or not?” Ask that 

question in a vacuum today, and your 

campaign may wind up in trouble. “You 

might decide from the phones that an 

airing isn’t working when it is,” he says. 

“That’s the world we live in now.” 

If a third of an infomercial’s sales can 

come in online this year, and maybe 

more next year, then DRTV marketers 

need to rethink their measurement and 

tracking systems. Euro-Pro and 

SendTec not only know how many 

online sales the steam mop is generating, 

they can tweak media buys accordingly. 

Why? Because they track online 

activity very carefully. 

If an infomercial airs at 2 a.m. in 

Chicago, Soltoff says, he can see the 

effects in terms of visits directly to the 

website, and click-throughs from 

search engines such as Google and 

Yahoo, and traditional phone calls to 

an 800 number. “We can tie all of that 

back to the media spend,” he says. 

“This activity all happens in time 

frames that can be coordinated with 

specific media spots. From that you 

can tell what media is working, what’s 

breaking even, and what isn’t.” 

That is, you can tell what’s really 

working, not just what’s happening at 

the call center. With online sales turning 

into meat and potatoes instead of 

merely gravy, that’s nice to know. 




Jack Gordon is Electronic Retailer 

magazine’s editor at large.

Delivering Critical Retail Strategies for 

Today's Multichannel Marketer 

Keynote: Geoff Ramsey 

CEO of eMarketer Research 

One of online marketing’s 

true visionaries, Ramsey is 

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the cutting edge of all aspects of digital marketing 

practices and covers industry trends, best 

practices and the latest research statistics. 

Presenting Sponsor: 

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Search engine 

marketing expert 

Dana Todd explains 

how to increase the 

efficiency of your 

pay-per-click 

campaigns 

BY TOM DELLNER 

It seems odd to consider that a discipline 

as new as search engine marketing 

could already have its “good old 

days.” But with pay-per-click (PPC) 

costs consistently rising 10 to 20 percent 

year to year, it’s easy to see why 

search marketers get nostalgic when 

thinking back on the nickel-per-click 

days of 2002. 

In the face of steadily rising costs, 

the only way to maintain ROI is to 

make your search campaigns work 

harder for you. Electronic Retailer sat 

down with one of the industry’s leading 

PPC experts—Dana Todd, cofounder 

of the interactive agency 

SiteLab and past president of the 

Search Engine Marketing Pro - 

fessional Organization (SEMPO)—to 

learn how to search more efficiently 

and get the most out of your PPC 

programs. 

GET YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER 

Before you do anything, you first 

need to focus close to home. “You’ve 

got to make sure that you’re the best 

salesperson possible with the leads 

you’re given,” says Todd. “Fix your 

landing pages and your conversion 

pathways. Ask yourself, ‘Is my sales 

diplomat doing its job extremely 

well?’ I can’t emphasize this enough. 

Until you tighten up these efficiencies, 

any expenditures of time or 

money on pay-per-click initiatives 

will be subject to your own failure to 

convert that additional traffic.” 





searchSMARTER 

So first, implement the processes 

for the ongoing refinement of your 

website’s conversion performance. 

And take heart in knowing that these 

efforts will pay dividends across each 

and every advertising program— 

from banner ads to print, radio and 

television. 

AVOID ANALYSIS PARALYSIS 

As mentioned above, your first step 

should be to improve your website’s 

sales and conversion efficiencies. But 

don’t put all your search efforts on 

hold until you’re converting leads at 

25 percent. “I see clients who freeze 

their advertising efforts because they 

don’t want to waste any money until 

they’re as efficient as possible,” says 

Todd. “It’s like the person who refuses 

to date or go shopping until they’ve 

lost 20 pounds. You want to install an 

aggressive ongoing process for 

improving your landing pages, but 

then go ahead and start your search 

campaigns, knowing that your efficiencies 

are improving every day.” 

TURN OFF YOUR 

NON-PERFORMERS 

Turning now to the specifics of your 

PPC campaigns, the first thing you 

can do is to eliminate waste. “Identify 

your non-performers,” urges Todd, 

“those keywords you’re spending a lot 

of money on, but which aren’t converting 

well. Turn them off, or cut 

their budget. Don’t feel sorry for 

these keywords or make excuses for 

them (for example, ‘they’re driving 

brand’). If you want to keep these 


Dana Todd is co-founder and executive 

vice president of SiteLab, a full-service 

interactive agency based in La Jolla, Calif. 

She is on the board and is past president 

of SEMPO and was recently named the 

most influential person in search engine 

optimization. She can be reached at 

dana@sitelab.com. 

words because you truly believe they 

drive brand, then attach some kind of 

engagement metric to them and give 

them their own budget, with their 

own ROI spreadsheet that has less to 

do with dollars driven and more to do 

with time on site. Don’t put them on 

your main spreadsheet—they’ll blow 

your buy.” 

By turning off non-performing 

keywords, you may find yourself saving 

a few hundred bucks. Roll that 

money back in. Reward the keywords 

that are performing and let them run. 

MAKE YOUR AD POP 

Google and Yahoo apply something 

called a “Quality Score” or “Quality 

Index.” They are closely tied to your 

ads’ click-through rates. A high clickthrough 

rate leads to a high Quality 

Score, which discounts the amount 

you’ll need to pay for a high position 

on the results page. Conversely, with a 

low click-through rate and Quality 

Score, you’ll need to pay a lot more 

per click for that high position. It’s as 

if the search engine is penalizing you 

for your ad’s irrelevance to the particular 

keyword query. 

To enhance your click-through rate, 

you need your ad to stand out, says 

Todd. “One of the first things you can 

do is to make sure to repeat the keyword 

in the copy of the ad itself. 

Consumers want a reaffirmation of 

what they’re searching for as they scan 

the page. Also, the search engines give 

you a bit of an assist by bolding the 

keyword match in your ad and even in 

your URL.” Although this seems like a 

no-brainer to people who’ve been 

doing PPC for awhile, Todd still sees 

veteran and sophisticated advertisers 

who fail to include the keyword or 

keyword phrase in their ad copy. 

OK, so what if all your competitors 

are doing this; what else can you do to 

make your ad stand out? Use numbers 

(e.g., in describing the terms of a 

sale), symbols or white space, Todd 

suggests. You may even want to experiment 

with the form and shape your 

copy takes on the page—anything 

that makes your ad stand out from 

the rest. “The human eye is attracted 

to aberrations; the consumer is much 

more likely to notice an aberration 

than nice copywriting.” 

MATCH THE AD 

TO THE AUDIENCE 

This may seem basic, but it’s a fundamental 

that can be lost in the world of 

paid search. “I see many advertisers 

get a bit lazy and take the same ad and 

spread it around among different ad 

“I see clients who freeze their advertising 

efforts because they don’t want to waste 

any money until they’re as efficient as 

possible. It’s like the person who refuses to 

date or go shopping until they’ve lost 

20 pounds.”—Dana Todd, SiteLab 




groups,” explains Todd. “They stick in 

different keywords, but that’s not customizing 

the ad for the ad group. For 

example, an advertiser might run two 

ads: ‘Men’s running shoes: 20% off’




searchSMARTER 

and ‘Ladies’ running shoes: 20% off.’ 

But maybe you know from experience 

that women are less price-sensitive 

and respond more to an offer of multiple 

widths. Or perhaps you know 

that men respond to a guarantee of 

free overnight shipping or an athlete 

endorsement. By creating a message 

that’s unique and tailored to each 

particular ad group (whether the 

grouping is by gender, geographic 

location or something else), you’ll 

start creating a brand promise and 

you’ll see your click-through rates 

dramatically improve.” 

What if you’re unsure of the product 

attributes that different ad groups 

might respond to? Use PPC to find 

out. Experiment with different ads 

and pay attention to your clickthrough 

rates, making sure you swap 

out underperforming ads before they 

hurt your Quality Score. (To gauge 

performance, keep in mind that the 

average click-through rate on Google 

search is two percent.) 

SET THE DIAL CORRECTLY 

Match types allow you to dial in the 

amount of exposure you want your 

ad to receive for given keywords. Say, 

for argument’s sake, you run the campaign 

for a presidential candidate 

conveniently named “Uncle Sam.” If 

you were to buy the keyword “Uncle 

Sam” on an exact match, your ad 

would only be shown if someone 

were to enter a query with the exact 

words “Uncle Sam.” Your ad would 

not be shown if someone were to run 

a query on “Uncle Sam gaffe” or— 

gulp—“Uncle Sam sex scandal.” 

Thus, you can keep your ad from 

being shown to uninterested or even 

unfriendly eyeballs. 

Now say you buy the keyword 

phrase “political donations.” 

According to Todd, you may want to 

put that on an expanded match. Now 

someone who types in “democratic 

donations” or “political fundraising 

donations” will see your ad. 

It’s a balancing act: you want your 


ad to attract as much traffic as possible, 

but you don’t want overexposure 

to an unqualified audience; this will 

do nothing but damage your clickthrough 

rate. One technique is to 

start with a broader, expanded match, 

then dial back to eliminate waste, 

using your click-through rate as a 

guide. (Only do this, warns Todd, if 

you are willing to pay close attention 

to your campaign—your ad will 

quickly slide to the bottom of the 

page if a bad click-through rate 

harms your Quality Score.) Another 

rule of thumb, according to Todd, is 

to put high-volume keywords or keyword 

phrases (like “cars,” “used cars” 

or “airline tickets”—these are called 

“head words”) on exact match and 

low-volume keywords (like “underwater 

basket-weaving accessories”— 

these are known as “tail words”) on 

expanded match. 

Yet another filtering mechanism is 

the use of negative words. Take our 

example of the campaign manager for 

“Uncle Sam” mentioned above. If you 

were to set “scandal” as a negative 

word, then your ad would not be 

served for the query “Uncle Sam 

Scandal.” Negative words are just 

another way, in addition to match type, 

to control the distribution of your ad. 

GEO-TARGETING 

Geo-targeting can be used to help you 

tailor your message to a given audience 

as noted above (perhaps touting 

weather-proof boots in the Upper 

Midwest or shoes from a popular 

designer in major urban areas for a 

query on “ladies’ shoes”), but it can 

be used in other ways, too. 

“Maybe you’re based in the Southeast 

and shipping costs to the Pacific 

Northwest prevent you from being 

competitive in those areas,” explains 

Todd. “You could set up your campaign 

so that your ad is seen only within a sixstate 

radius of your home state.” 

START STRONG 

“When we structure a new campaign, 

we often plan to over-spend initially— 

paying top dollar to ensure that we have 

the number-one position,” explains 

“If you can create a message that is unique 

and tailored to the purchase behavior of 

each particular ad group…you’ll start 

creating a brand promise and you’ll see 

your click-through rates dramatically 

improve.”—Todd 

Todd. “This position always tends to get 

the highest click-through rate. Once 

you get that click history, the search 

engines recognize your ads as relevant 

and reward you with a high Quality 

Score and a discount. Now you can 

carefully scale back your spend and perhaps 

even maintain the number-one 

position [thanks to the discount]— 

especially if you are working hard to 

test and refine your ad’s creative to 

maintain that click-through rate.” 

DAYPARTING 

For those companies—business-tobusiness 

organizations and others— 

with ads that tend to convert well 

during regular business hours, but 

which perform poorly in the evenings 

(or vice versa), Todd suggests dayparting—a 

setting that allows you to 

turn your ads on and off during certain 

times of day. “Turning your ads 

off after business hours has a side 

benefit in that it can help cut off 

unwanted international traffic.” 







innovations 

LivePerson Integration Measures Impact of 

Live Chat Interactions on Conversion Rates 

NEW YORK—LivePerson Inc. a 

provider of online engagement solutions 

that facilitate real-time assistance 

and trusted expert advice, 

announced that it has seamlessly integrated 

its live chat technology with 

the powerful Google Analytics 

reporting platform, enabling small 

and midsized businesses to accurately 

measure the impact of the chat channel 

on sales and conversion rates. 

Automatically included in 

LivePerson’s small and midsized 

business products, this new valueadded 

feature helps customers pinpoint 

which keywords and marketing 

campaigns drive visitors to chat; 

measures and tracks the impact of 

these interactions on conversion 

rates; and develops an accurate profile 

of visitors who interact via chat 

AUSTIN, Texas—7 Billion People 

has announced the general availability 

of MarketMaestro, a behavioral 

analytics solution that offers comprehensive 

user data based on distinct 

online buying personalities, 

giving e-marketers new methods for 

optimizing websites and related 

marketing programs. For the first 

time, e-marketers can now understand 

shoppers’ psychological characteristics 

and how to optimize website 

language and content, advertising 

and outbound marketing programs 

to meet their specific buying 

preferences, thus leading to 

increased transaction closure rates 

and customer loyalty. 

MarketMaestro automatically and 

transparently analyzes user search 

and subsequently make an online 

purchase. 

“LivePerson’s integration with 

Google Analytics supplies valuable 

information and validates that chat 

helps our company double conversion 

rates over visitors who don’t 

chat,” says Francis Bilodeau, web 

7 Billion People Launches New Generation of 

Web Analytics Software for Online Retailers 


LivePerson integrates live chat with the 

Google Analytics reporting platform. 

and click patterns to identify behavioral 

segments, or psychological “portraits,” 

and defines their buying 

methodology, motivation, presentation 

preferences and other critical 

communication factors. 

The software then provides simple 

and powerful reports showing which 

portraits are being drawn to websites 

by outbound marketing programs and 

how portraits are behaving on these 

sites, (i.e., visits, returns, abandons and 

conversions). Expert systems built into 

the software then analyze this data for 

correlation and dissonance and provide 

actionable recommendations to 

e-marketers and content owners. 

According to the company, 

MarketMaestro Portraits are dynamic 

and context sensitive—focusing on 

project manager for Drummond 

Designs. “Instead of having to 

hypothesize the importance of using 

LivePerson’s chat technology, Google 

Analytics gives us concrete evidence 

of its effectiveness and proves our 

return on investment.” 

LivePerson’s integration with 

Google Analytics delivers advanced 

insight and analysis into website visitors 

who chat. Google Analytics 

reports that are relevant with this feature 

include: map overlay report, 

which displays volume and quality 

metrics of live chat interactions by 

geographic region; and search 

engines report, which reveals the 

sources and keywords that drive 

interactive chats. 

For more information, visit 

www.liveperson.com. 

the language used in the selling 

process and the behavior of the website 

for that individual. 

MarketMaestro is based on information 

from 30 years of research in 

behavioral psychology and the study 

of face-to-face sales and marketing 

interactions. The software automatically 

and transparently analyzes 

search terms, phrases, click patterns 

and online behavior, and uses a neural 

net to determine consumers’ psychological 

portraits. The model 

measures behavior across hundreds 

of different attributes and provides 

expert systems and recommendations 

on both website tuning and outbound 

marketing programs. 


www.7bpeople.com. 



Please send your product announcements to Editor-in-Chief Vi Paynich at vpaynich@retailing.org. 





channelCROSSING 

legal 

BY GARY P. KOHN 


Understanding Work-Made- 

For-Hire Agreements 

Yogi Berra, that lovable Hall of Fame 

baseball player with the homespun oneliners, 

once said: “You’ve got to be very 

careful if you don’t know where you’re 

going, because you might not get there.” 

In his inimitable style, Yogi was trying to 

say that you need to have a plan in order 

to get to where you want to go. Every 

marketer knows that planning every 

detail of a marketing campaign is critical 

to the success of that campaign. However, 

some marketers’ plans fail to take into 

account protection of the very core of 

their campaigns—ownership of their 

creative materials. Marketers should take 

steps to own all creative elements vital to 

their products and brands. Before 

launching a marketing campaign, marketers 

should insist that any third-party 

rendering creative services sign an agreement 

commonly known as a Work- 

Made-For-Hire Agreement. 

The Work-Made-For-Hire Agreement 

should expressly state that the marketer 

is the sole and exclusive owner throughout 

the universe in perpetuity of the 

work and the results and proceeds of 

the service provider’s engagement 

and services…. 

The most common situations in which 

a marketer would want to enter into a 

Work-Made-For-Hire Agreement 

include the following: when engaging a 

producer to produce an infomercial or 

short-form commercial, an editor to edit 

a direct response production, a writer to 

create a script for a direct response production, 

a web developer or designer to 

create a website, a copywriter to create 

manuals or other sales literature, and a 

graphic artist to create artwork, logos or 

animation. A well-crafted Work-Made- 

For-Hire Agreement typically consists of 

the following contract provisions, among 

others: (1) specifics of the work being 

created or developed; (2) specifics of the 

creative services to be rendered; (3) the 

deliverables schedule; (4) the economic 

deal between service provider and marketer; 

(5) the schedule of compensation 

payments; (6) work-made-for-hire provisions; 

and (7) numerous legal protections, 

such as approval rights, representations 

and warranties, covenants and 

indemnification. 

WHAT IS A WORK 

MADE FOR HIRE? 

There is a general rule that a person who 

creates a work is the author and owner of 

that work. By virtue of creating that 

work, the author can claim a copyright 

for that work. This ownership right permits 

the author to exercise and to control 

all rights relating to that work. However, 

there is an exception to this general rule 

based upon a category of works under 

the United States Copyright Act called 

“works made for hire.” The principle of a 

work made for hire is that the author and 

owner of the work is the person who 

commissions and pays for it, not the person 

who actually creates the work. The 

concept of a work made for hire is 

derived from the Copyright Act and case 

law. Section 101 of the Copyright Act 

provides for two distinct ways in which a 

work will be categorized as a work made 

for hire: a work prepared by an employee 

within the scope of his or her employment; 

or a work commissioned, falling 

within a special group of categories and 

the subject of a written agreement. 




OWNERSHIP OF ALL CREATIVE 

ELEMENTS IS CRITICAL 

A marketer wants to acquire and to control 

the broadest bundle of rights possible 

when developing and launching a

Electronic Retailer Magazine wishes to thank the sponsors 

for their generous support in the launching of the Electronic 

Retailer LiveEdit Lab conference series. 

Presenting Sponsor 

Liquid Focus 

Supporting Sponsors 

Applied Perceptions dComm; Digital Commerce Agency 

Cannella Response Television 

We also thank the speakers for delivering their expert insight and valuable content to our audience. 

Jim Sterne, Target Marketing - Keynote; Dan Wright, mPoria; Aaron Kahlow, Online Marketing Summit; Jeanniey Mullen, 

Email Experience Council; Kathryn Waters, OgilvyOne Worldwide; Bill Schildknecht, Zinio Systems; Barbara Moses, 

VIVmag; Angus Glover Wilson, dComm® - Digital Commerce Agency, LLC; Brig Graff, Omniture; Marty M. Fahncke, 

FawnKey & Associates; Dana Todd, SiteLab; Jason Mittelstaedt, Right Now Technologies; Gene Silverman, Hawthorne 

Direct; Ken Osborn, Liquid Focus; Bob Greenstone, Permission Interactive; Nicky de la Salle, Livemercial 

Save the Date: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 LiveEdit NYC! 



www.electronicretailermag.com/liveedit 


®


legal 

marketing campaign. Therefore, the 

marketer desires to have exclusive, 

irrevocable, worldwide rights to 

develop, manufacture, advertise, 

promote, market, sell, distribute and 

exploit a product in any and all 

media and markets now known or 

hereafter devised. The marketer 

obtains some or all of these rights 

either by an exclusive license from a 

third party, such as a product inventor, 

or owns the rights outright by 

developing the product internally. 

However, if a marketer hires persons 

to develop creative elements 

integral to the marketing campaign 

but fails to secure legal rights to 

exploit those elements, the creator of 

these elements may be entitled to 

force the marketer to cease using 

those elements and/or to pay the creator 

additional compensation 

including a percentage of sales. 

The stories are legendary of products 

that have become hits only to 

witness persons coming out of the 

woodwork to claim ownership rights 

to certain creative works. For example, 

a marketer who intends to spend 

millions building a brand around a 

trademark or a logo should ensure 

that the graphic artist commissioned 

to create the trademark or logo is not 

deemed the author and owner of 

that intellectual property. 

Thus, the critical need by the marketer 

for the foresight to enter into 

Work-Made-For-Hire Agreements 

regarding key creative elements 

before spending significant dollars 

launching the marketing campaign. 

SERVICES AND 

COMPENSATION 

In structuring a Work-Made-For- 

Hire Agreement with a service 

provider, the marketer should list the 

specific services to be rendered to the 

marketer, including a precise schedule 

for deliverables. The marketer should 

provide that the service provider shall 

submit a reasonable number of revisions 

of the work until the work is 


deemed satisfactory to the marketer, 

and that the marketer shall be entitled 

to terminate the engagement of the 

service provider with or without 

cause. In consideration of the services 

being rendered, the marketer will 

provide in the Work-Made-For-Hire 

Agreement for the amount of compensation 

to be paid to the service 

provider. 

Because the work being created is 

typically done in stages, likewise the 

compensation is typically paid in 

installments according to the achievement 

of certain performance benchmarks, 

such as submissions of drafts 

of the work. To avoid claims by the 

service provider for additional compensation 

after the fact such as a percentage 

of sales, the Work-Made-For- 

Hire Agreement should be clear that 

the compensation set forth in the 

Agreement represents payment in full 

for all services rendered. 

WORK-MADE-FOR- 

HIRE PROVISIONS 

The Work-Made-For-Hire 

Agreement should expressly state 

that the marketer is the sole and 

exclusive owner throughout the universe 

in perpetuity of the work and 

the results and proceeds of the service 

provider’s engagement and services, 

which are deemed to be a “work 

made for hire” for the marketer 

under the Copyright Act. Typically 

the Agreement would confirm that 

the marketer has a laundry list of 

rights to market and exploit the 

work, and that the service provider 

shall cooperate and willingly sign any 

assignments requested by the marketer 

to evidence ownership rights. 

Oftentimes, a power of attorney is 

provided if the service provider fails 

or refuses to sign such assignments. 

Most importantly, the Agreement 

should state in the event it is ever 

determined that, in accordance with 

the Copyright Act or otherwise, the 

work or the service provider’s 

engagement and services are not 

deemed a “work made for hire” for 

the marketer, then the service 

provider assigns all rights therein to 

the marketer and agrees never to 

make a claim of ownership thereto. 

LEGAL PROTECTIONS 

Important legal protections in a 

Work-Made-For-Hire Agreement 

would include the following, among 

others: approval rights of the marketer 

over the work being created; 

representations and warranties of 

the service provider confirming that 

the work is wholly original and does 

not infringe on any rights of any 

third party; covenants of the service 

provider agreeing not to make reproductions 

of the work and not to disclose 

any confidential information of 

the marketer; an indemnity for the 

benefit of the marketer if the service 

provider breaches the Agreement; 

and an attorneys’ fees clause providing 

that the prevailing party in any 

court action or arbitration proceeding, 

as applicable, shall receive such 

party’s attorneys’ fees and costs. 

OWNERSHIP IS 

EVERYTHING 

As a marketer investing substantial 

time and resources to build and to 

exploit a brand, it is crucial to have a 

solid gameplan to lock up the ownership 

of all creative elements integral 

to the marketing campaign. In addition 

to filing necessary applications 

and registrations for intellectual 

property protection, taking the time 

to enter into a Work-Made-For-Hire 

Agreement is an investment that will 

pay substantial dividends when the 

campaign is launched without a hitch 

or an ownership challenge. 

Gary P. Kohn practices entertainment 

and corporate law and specializes in 

licensing, marketing and direct 

response contracts. He is licensed in 

both California and New York. Kohn 

can be reached (310) 670-7311, or via 

e-mail at gpkohn@sbcglobal.net. 








DRTV 

BY GENE SILVERMAN 


A Primer on Candidates’ 

DRTV Opportunities 

Having lived in Iowa for the past 20 years 

and having participated in the nation’s first 

presidential caucus each election cycle, I 

have been given some insight into just how 

little political advertising has evolved with 

the times. Here in the Hawkeye State, the 

election cycle begins with 30-second TV 

spots about six months in advance of the 

Iowa caucus. Before you know it, red, white 

and blue signs bearing the names of every 

presidential aspirant, including some 

you’ve never even heard, crop up on neighborhood 

lawns like so many cornstalks. 

Next, we’re face to face with the candidates 

themselves as they visit local coffee shops 

and luncheonettes. Once in a while, they 

will even show up at your door. And, before 

they leave town, they enthusiastically give 

their stump speech at the local library or, if 

the weather cooperates, to a larger crowd 

that gathers in the town square. 

[W]ith the national conventions and 

November election just on the horizon, I 

think it’s my political duty to give the 

candidates and their handlers a primer 

on how they could modernize their 

approach and utilize some advanced 

electronic direct response advertising 

techniques to their advantage. 

Except for TV, radio and web activity, 

presidential politics out here in the heartland 

has really not changed that much 

since Abraham Lincoln did the same sort 

of grassroots tactics back in 1860. And 

from what I saw in the electronic media, 

despite a $45 million investment, the 2008 

candidates’ TV and radio commercials 

have not advanced the art of campaigning 

very much either. Their 30-second TV ads 

are more or less the video equivalent of 

Honest Abe’s campaign posters and lapel 

buttons from so many years ago—short, 

clichéd and not really very informative. 

A VOTE FOR DRTV 

As the primary season nears its finale and 

with the national conventions and 

November election just on the horizon, I 

think it’s my patriotic duty to give the 

candidates and their handlers a primer on 

how they could modernize their approach 

and utilize some advanced electronic 

direct response advertising techniques to 

their advantage. After all, we in the direct 

response advertising community have the 

most effective and measurable form of 

advertising there is, so we should be patriotic 

and share our unique insights with 

the candidates. We might even be able to 

teach the future leader of the free world 

something new about how to cost-effectively 

impact public opinion. 

My first bit of advice: create an informative 

and entertaining infomercial that 

treats each potential voter as an intelligent 

individual who is in need of a wellcrafted 

tutorial about my candidate’s 

stand on the issues, his or her vision and 

character. Despite Ross Perot’s very successful 

use of long form in 1992, political 

infomercials have been an underutilized, 

yet powerful tactic. With a fraction of a 

typical spot media buy budget, the 

infomercial could create a wave of positive 

PR and inform the general public 

about the candidate in a positive way— 

the precise way we want to craft our candidate’s 

image—not necessarily the way 

the media portrays him or her. 

With 28 and one-half minutes of TV 

time, we would have enough time to truly 

educate the voter about the candidate and 

what he or she is really all about. With long 

form, there will be enough time to demonstrate 

the candidate’s strong points, show 

his or her passion and elaborate on that 

individual’s positions on a variety of critical 

issues. There also would be time to 




meet the family, tout the candidate’s 

career achievements and get to know 

his or her innermost thoughts. 

Toward the end of our presentation, I 

would build an emotional and compelling 

crescendo, which would 

inspire the viewer to respond to the 

800 number or go online to donate 

money, time or organizing power to 

further the candidate’s cause. 

Because the direct response mechanisms 

(1-800-candidate name and 

candidatename.com) embedded in 

our political infomercial are highly 

memorable, we should be able to 

generate a valuable database of 

potential supporters—complete 

with e-mail addresses and phone 

numbers. What we do with this hot 

list is critical, especially because there 

are a variety of local campaign activities 

for which our respondents 

could be recruited. Through profes- 

Attention: GOLD BOOK 

Directory Companies 

Electronic Retailer is proud 

to provide companies the 

ability to make corrections 

to their online GOLD 

BOOK listing. Visit our 

web site and view your listing 

at www.electronic retailermag.com 

under The Gold 

Book Directory tab. Listings 

on this site will be used for 

the upcoming 2008-2009 printed GOLD 

BOOK. Please check your information 

by March 14. 

If you have a correction, please contact 

Pat Cauley, eMedia Editor, 

pcauley@retailing.org. He will assist you 

with your password and login information 

which will give you the ability to make 

changes. You can also reach him at 703- 

908-1030. 

sional outbound telemarketing and 

well-crafted e-mail solicitations, the 

folks on our infomercial-generated 

list could be converted to energetic 

neighborhood canvassers, a virtual 

army of volunteer foot soldiers who 

go door to door distributing literature, 

putting up posters and talking 

up our champion, all the while wearing 

our candidate’s campaign button. 

It’s like Abe Lincoln did, but 

multiplied by thousands. 

In order to expand the infomercial 

phenomenon further, I would use 

targeted e-mail campaigns to cultivate 

the many thousands of potential 

donors from the infomercial list who, 

because they have responded favorably 

to it, may be open to contributing 

to a media fund for airing the 

infomercial even more on local stations 

in states with upcoming primaries 

and ultimately, on national 

networks during the general election. 

The above scenario is really just 

Infomercial Marketing 101, but I 

think you can see how tried-andtrue 

techniques, which we use every 

day, could be adapted as an innovative 

and effective campaign strategy. 

It seems to me that the next president 

of the United States could be 

just an infomercial away from making 

history. Hillary, Barack, John? Is 

anybody out there listening? 

Gene Silverman, vice president, 

marketing services/account management 

at Hawthorne Direct, has been 

an executive in the direct 

response TV industry for over 20 

years, with expertise in integrating 

DRTV campaigns and other electronic 

and traditional marketing 

channels. He can be reached at gsil 

verman@hawthornedirect.com. 






radio 

BY BILL SULLIVAN 


DR Radio Can Sell Books 

If you’re into book marketing, here is 

some valuable selling information you 

may have overlooked—especially if 

you’ve been restricting your sales campaigns 

to DRTV. Some of you understand 

how DRTV sells books. 

However, because radio is a different 

ball game that requires different skills 

and talents, not many understand that 

DR radio can also sell books. Let’s discuss 

how DR radio not only can sell 

books, but also how to sell plenty of 

books at a low cost per lead. Based on 

my extensive experience, here are the 

key elements for successful DR radio 

book marketing. 

A GOOD READ 

To begin with, DR radio can sell almost 

any book, provided it deals with a 

highly popular subject that appeals to a 

wide national audience. Next, your creative 

should contain compelling radio 

copy. It must persuade listeners of the 

book’s value—how it offers solutions 

DR radio can sell almost any book, 

provided it deals with a highly popular 

subject that appeals to a wide national 

audience. Next, your creative should 

contain compelling radio copy. It must 

persuade listeners of the book’s value.… 

to health, financial or personal problems, 

for example. In addition, your 

copy should also include a hard-toresist 

offer that motivates listeners to 

send for the book—to try it for free, 

just pay S&H, for example—without 

having to go to a book store. Most successful 

DRTV campaigns have a strong 

backend marketing program supporting 

every call that can apply to this 

type of radio offer. 

Just as important as your copy is the 

media buy. Even with just the right 

book and highly persuasive radio copy 

plus an offer many listeners simply cannot 

refuse, your campaign can still fail 

if you don’t select the right stations and 

the right daypart mix at the lowest 

prices. 

In short, selling books using DR radio 

requires highly specialized know-how. 

Time after time, the most successful DR 

radio book marketing campaigns have 

been produced by a select number of 

experienced and talented radio professionals 

who not only know what books 

and creatives work best, but also know 

how to buy the right stations and airtimes 

at the lowest prices possible. One 

such campaign for a well-known book 

that offered solutions to a variety of personal 

problems generated as many as 

15,000 leads per week. 

In addition to those top-to-bottom 

hands-on skills, radio experts with a 

large per inquiry/remnant radio network 

can place a book ad on thousands 

of stations—they can select from as 

many as 11,000 stations across the 

country, for example—and clients pay 

only a small per inquiry fee or a small 

percentage of the cost. 

Clearly, to increase your chances of 

success, you’ll want to partner with experienced 

people who know DR radio book 

marketing; choose professionals with a 

proven record that shows they know how 

to develop a profitable DR radio campaign—from 

the selection of the book 

itself to the creative and to making the 

media buys that meet your particular 

needs and budget. 




Bill Sullivan is president of William Sullivan 

Advertising, a full-service agency that specializes 

in direct response radio. He can be 

reached at (973) 379-8555, or via e-mail at 

bill@williamsullivanadvertising.com.





online 

BY KENNETH 

R. P. OSBORN 


Are You Undermining 

Your Direct Sales? 

Most of today’s DRTV marketers have a 

business model where retail sales are the 

prime goal. This is a fantastic way to create 

wealth, but some practices being used 

by these marketers, and the parties they 

employ to wholesale their products, are 

doing something that undermines the 

DRTV ad campaigns themselves. It has to 

do with selling the retail goods to entities 

that, in turn, market the products online 

for less than the TV offer. 

Marketers are selling the retail items 

wholesale and then the wholesale buyers are 

marketing the retail items online via search 

engines and affiliate marketing. These sales 

compromise the DRTV campaigns themselves, 

because consumers looking for the 

TV offers online find their way to the wholesaler 

buyers’ sites where they make their purchase 

rather than purchasing products from 

the marketers’ sites. There is practically zero 

accountability for these sales, leaving the 

marketers with the impression that the TV 

The point is that wholesale buyers are 

selling retail items of the TV offers for 

less online than the marketers’ offers. 

ad dollars aren’t paying out. What makes 

matters worse is the marketers are selling the 

retail items and not the mail order packages. 

This allows the wholesale buyers to sell the 

main items for less than the TV offers. 

Consumers looking for the best bargains 

online find and purchase them from the 

wholesale buyers’ sites and not directly from 

the marketers. 

BAD FOR BUSINESS 

It is important to understand that marketers 

come up with “TV offers” in order 

to produce the ever-so-critical high average 

revenue per order amounts, which 

are critical to making a campaign succeed. 

Just selling the retail items alone 

generally doesn’t produce enough rev- 

enues to offset the price of media. For 

example, a typical $19.99 TV offer is 

comprised of the base unit and a premium 

or bonus item. The retail item is just 

the main item, which typically retails for 

$9.99. Let’s say the TV offer is “Buy one, 

get one free, only $19.99—and get two 

free widgets.” The manufacturer has a 

“special TV offer” created to build the 

value (the mail order package). 

Thus, they have to cover the costs of 

two main units, as well as the two free 

widgets. At the same time, the marketer is 

most likely selling the retail unit wholesale 

for as low as $4.50. Wholesale buyers 

purchase the retail item and sell it online 

for $9.99 and literally win the business 

away from the marketer. Or, even worse, 

the wholesale buyer offers the base unit 

for $14.95, still underselling the manufacturer, 

but increasing their margins. 

When the manufacturer goes out to compete 

on the search engines or looks to pay 

affiliates for sales, it has fewer margins 

with which to work. 

The point is that wholesale buyers are 

selling retail items of the TV offers for 

less online than the marketers’ offers. 

Therefore, they are in a position to pay 

more for clicks, affiliate orders and other 

online marketing than the marketers 

themselves. Most important, you need to 

understand that these sales are compromising 

the very effectiveness of the 

DRTV ad campaign. 

Manufacturers have to come up with a 

way to work with the wholesale buyers of 

goods and understand this macro event in 

order to see more success. What’s more, 

controlling the sale of retail goods and 

timing the sales is a critical element of 

today’s DRTV direct/retail sales model. 




Kenneth R. P. Osborn is CEO of Liquid 

Focus, a full-service e-commerce and interactive 

marketing agency based in Westport, 

Conn. He can be reached at (866) 892-0259.





research 

BY DAN NEELY 


You’re Listening to Your Customers, 

But Are You Hearing Them? 

Every retailer would love to know exactly 

what’s on their customers’ minds. Most 

retailers have adopted technologies on 

their sites that engage customers with 

their products and their brands, including 

customer forums, product reviews 

and ratings. These features have done a 

great job of making retail sites more 

interactive and forming relationships 

between your business and customers. In 

addition, companies can access the information 

customers submit to gain insight 

into their opinions and thoughts. While 

these current forms of customer interactivity 

are well intended and do provide 

value to retailers, there is tremendous 

opportunity to gain rich, informative 

insights from customer interactions. In 

this capacity, they fall short. Forums, 

reviews and ratings fail to deliver information 

indicative of an entire customer 

base, make it time-consuming and difficult 

to analyze the wealth of information. 

They don’t deliver information to the 

retailer in real time—a key requirement 

for any retailer looking to stay competitive 

and keep customers happy. 

Current customer interaction mediums 

are very successful at encouraging 

customers to talk, but do not provide a 

way for the retailer to analyze what 

customers are saying. 

THE LOUDEST PERSON 

IN THE ROOM 

Forums and product reviews are 

designed to help customers make purchase 

decisions, and to potentially 

encourage sales of popular products. 

These mediums allow a customer to take 

the floor and endorse or criticize a product, 

generally only highlighting the voice 

of the “loudest person in the room.” This 

is the person who has free time, strong 

opinions and the confidence to post in 

front of large groups of people. For the 

most part, while this person can provide 

valuable insights, he or she is not necessarily 

indicative of the rest of a retailer’s 

customer base. A company that draws 

information about its customers from 

current mediums is playing a guessing 

game when it comes to deciding whether 

to take action on the customer feedback. 

There is no way to know whether sentiments 

are felt customer-wide. 

Current customer interaction mediums 

are very successful at encouraging 

customers to talk, but do not provide a 

way for the retailer to analyze what customers 

are saying. If a huge portion of a 

retailer’s customers participate in forums 

and post thousands and thousands of 

comments and sentiments around that 

brand and its products, the process of 

gaining valuable and actionable information 

from this vast amount of data is 

nearly impossible and often can be inaccurate. 

It’s generally a manual and timeconsuming 

process that fails to identify 

and accurately weigh the influence and 

importance of a customer’s content and 

the valuable social information about 

their interactions. 

For most retailers, responsiveness to 

customers is key to customer loyalty, 

maximizing sales and staying competitive. 

Whether you’re competing with 

huge online retailers or trying to maximize 

sales during a busy time of year, 

being able to accurately identify customer 

sentiments and take quick action is 

a necessity. Receiving this information in 

real time is essential to making this happen, 

and current forms of customer 

interaction do not allow for this. 

Knowing in real time that a product’s 

price is too high, or that customers don’t 

like the new design of a product, can give 

retailers the information they need to 




ight their ship quickly and deliver 

what customers want, fast. 

THE LIGHT AT THE 

END OF THE TUNNEL 

There are three main problems with 

the form of customer participation 

and interaction that most retailers 

use today: customers are not necessarily 

representative of the customer 

base as a whole, sifting through data 

is inefficient and inaccurate, and the 

information is not delivered in real 

time. So, what’s a retailer to do? 

The simple answer is to first get 

your customers talking to each other 

(or locate a place where they are 

already talking), then tap into those 

conversations and draw valuable 

insights in real time. How? Social networks 

and customer communities 

provide a way for consumers to develop 

relationships with each other and 

maintain communication around 

your brand and industry on a personal 

basis. It’s no longer about posting 

something in a huge forum of 

unknown people. It’s about customers 

cultivating relationships with likeminded 

people, and talking about 

what’s important to them. This kind 

of communication is far more honest, 

and empowers the people who would 

not normally participate in a mass 

audience medium, like forums. 

The second step is tapping those 

conversations so that the most 

important and relevant information 

is delivered to you in real time. This 

information can be based on the 

content from customer interactions, 

but just as importantly, is from the 

social aspects of those interactions. 

This includes, with whom customers 

interact, how they interact, what 

types of content they interact with, 

and a host of other key social infor- 

mation. Most businesses do not have 

the time or resources to dig through 

masses of data to find what’s important. 

Several technologies available 

today offer companies a low cost 

way of listening to their customers 

and gathering that data intelligently 

so that retailers have clear insights 

to work with. What’s most important 

is eliminating the guesswork 

around what’s valuable to your 

business, and making sure you are 

working with vital, accurate and 

actionable insights. 

As we hear time and time again, 

it’s all about the customer. Stepping 

into their world and being able to listen 

to their wants, needs and senti- 

ments delivers highly valuable information 

to a retailer with any size 

market research budget. The technology 

around this process has now 

made it affordable and simple to get 

access to customer information that 

has previously only been available to 

the largest of retailers. Enabling customer 

communication and gathering 

insights from it not only empowers 

your customers, but also informs 

all aspects of your business to help 

you better serve them. 

Dan Neely is founder and CEO of 

Networked Insights in Madison, Wis. 

He can be reached at 

daniel.neely@networkedinsights.com. 





BY BRETT GOFFIN 

oOn the triumphant heels of the 2007 

ERA Annual Convention education 

series, I assume the chairmanship of 

the Education Committee. The 

Education Committee’s mandate is to 

serve as the voice of its members in 

terms of knowledge acquisition. The 

Committee offers opportunities for 

professional growth and development; 

adds to the body of knowledge in the 

arena of convention programming; 

and recognizes excellence in performance 

and achievement in convention 

programming. The bar is high, yet my 

colleagues on the Committee, in concert 

with the ERA staff, are committed 

to delivering progressive, relevant and 

practical tools and solutions with a 

focus on increasing sales and offering 

innovation to retailers. 

In line with that pledge, topics and 

themes were developed for the eRetailer 

Summit—which took place March 2-4, 

2008 at the InterContinental Hotel in 

Miami—through discussions with the 

Committee, retail members across all 

channels and the Retail Council. I am 

pleased to say that the results provided 

attendees in Florida with a valuable, relevant 

and useful series of sessions. In 

addition, attendees were offered two 

luncheon keynote addresses. 

EDUCATIONAL OFFERINGS 

Because video and social networking 

have become anchored in our culture—and, 

indeed, are proving to be 

undeniably successful features in online 

advertising—the Committee developed 

two educational offerings on Monday, 

March 3, which included “Earning 

Attention with Video” and “Creating a 

Successful Blog Marketing Program: 


A Message From ERA’s Education Committee Chair 

ERA’s Education Is Retail-Driven 

Safely and Effectively.” Experts from 

Ogilvy Public Relations, Brightcove, 

Avenue A/Razorfish, Resource 

Interactive, Triangle Direct Media, HSN 

and Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, 

among others, discussed the essentials of 

balancing the technical and creative 

components of how to profitably reach 

consumers. Immediately following these 

sessions, the Retail luncheon featured 

Brian Cusack of YouTube, who delivered 

a keynote address. Because of YouTube’s 

extraordinary popularity, Cusack’s presentation 

offered attendees an inside look 

into a company using broadband technology 

and the impact the video destination 

has had on society. 

In addition to standard education, 

market research was identified as a 

major member benefit. On Monday 

afternoon, Forrester Research 

unveiled the latest ERA-commissioned 

study concerning how consumers 

navigate the multichannel 

landscape. 

This market research de-mystified 

the often multi-informational process 

consumers use to navigate through 

the purchase funnel. Such topics as 

consumer behaviors, the needs and 

wants of multichannel purchasers, 

how they shop, the role of different 

elements in the marketing mix and 

how retailers may profitably and 

effectively market to them using different 

channels were discussed. 

The Education Committee also 

established that, in order to understand 

consumer shopping behaviors, retailers 

have a keen interest in optimizing their 

customers’ experience online, as well as 

developing a better understanding of 

how to serve consumers. On Tuesday, 

Electronic Retailing Association 

Leaders in Direct-to-Consumer Commerce 

March 4, these topics were addressed in 

two sessions led by representatives of 

eFashionSolutions, Fandango, Cisco, 

University of California’s Sloan Center 

of Internet Retailing, QVC, 

Footlocker.com, Hewlett-Packard 

Home & Office Store, Oreck and others. 

Offering a complementary and overarching 

view, the luncheon keynote 

address was presented by Jacob 

Hawkins of Overstock.com. Speaking to 

the strategies for making consumers’ 

online shopping experience easier, 

Hawkins illuminated Overstock’s successes 

and associated profitability. 

Profitability, after all, is the key to 

retail success and the Committee 

agreed that it was important to offer a 

session on financial models and 

reporting tools. The afternoon’s interactive 

discussion, led by Stephen 

Petrucci of Caliber Direct Inc., 

offered tools and real-life examples of 

how systematic evaluation instruments 

such as forecast models and 

performance metrics will improve 

retailer marketing strategies. 

I trust the eRetailer Summit attendees 

found value and a clear return on 

their investment through the conference 

line-up. In order to afford each 

participant an opportunity to network 

with the speakers, time was allotted to 

do so after each session. On behalf of 

the Education Committee, I welcome 

your feedback and thoughts about this 

year’s eRetail Summit, as well as suggestions 

for the 2009 conference. 




Brett Goffin is an industry development 

manager for retail at Google. He 

also serves as chair of ERA’s Education 

Committee.



fFor strategic direction on the 

appropriate content for the 

eRetailer Summit, in concert with 

the ERA Education Committee, 

Research Task Force and Retail 

Council, ERA reached out to leaders 

in the direct-to-consumer industry 

to determine the key issues that 

affect them and the tools and solutions 

they seek. The educational 

programming that recently took 

place at the eRetailer Summit 

reflected on the results of this outreach 

effort. Held March 2-4, the 

Summit was focused on providing 

insightful, practical means on how 

retailers/marketers can position 

themselves to dominate the competition. 

Speakers representing the top 

50 e-retailer and technology companies 

presented progressive, content-rich 

materials on video advertising, 

blogs, customer loyalty and 

profiling at the conference. 

For those of you who were unable 

to make it to Miami, here’s a dialogue 

with some of the speakers 

who participated in the e-Retailer 

Summit. ERA sat down with one 

group of panelists—who spoke on 

Tuesday, March 4 on the topic, 

“Optimizing the Customer 

Experience in an Online World”— 

to gather their thoughts regarding a 

wide range of solutions. The panel 

consisted of Ed Foy Jr., CEO of 

eFashionSolutions; Peter Phillips, 

VP product development at 

Fandango; Michele Gibson, director 

of web marketing at Cisco; and 


Industry Leaders Speak Up 

Donna Hoffman, chancellor’s chair 

and co-director of Sloan Center for 

Internet Retailing at the University 

of California at Riverside. 

ERA: Why is it so important for 

the e-retailer to engage the 

online customer? 

Ed Foy Jr: 

Appealing to the 

customer is the 

key to retention. 

Whereas multichannel 

retailers 

have the benefit of various touch 

points with customers, pure-play eretailers 

have only one channel to use 

to truly gain customer loyalty. As a 

result, captivating the customer is 

critical for creating a balance 

between price and different types of 

sticky “retention” tactics. This is 

what helps the e-retailer stay relevant 

and helps build a brand that is not 

driven exclusively by price or discounts. 

Since online shoppers are 

easily distracted and it only takes a 

second to click out—it is imperative 

to give them a reason to stay. 

Furthermore, we have learned that 

often, online consumers go to a site 

looking for a particular type of product 

and therefore, it is more purposeful 

to design sites and provide content 

that is pertinent. Engaging customers 

is also critical for extending 

their length of time on the site, which 

we hope will ultimately lead to 

increased purchases. 

BY SIEGLINDE FRIEDMAN 

Peter Phillips: It is 

important for 

many reasons, but 

the most critical is 

that engagement 

engenders trust. 

Consumers have more and more 

choices, but less and less time to 

spend engaging with those outlets. 

They need to feel comfortable with 

the brand and confident about the 

benefits of engaging with its site, 

especially if they are going to conduct 

a commercial transaction. Trust can 

be engendered in a variety of ways, 

and many of the Web 2.0 initiatives— 

such as social networking—are prime 

examples of tools that sites can use to 

create this trust. 

Michele Gibson: 

The online customer 

now has 

tremendous 

power over how 

they research and 

explore making purchases. 

Immediate engagement is critical, as 

world-wide web users are increasingly 

impatient with finding the information 

they need. Providing a truly 

winning experience is the only way 

for e-retailers to distinguish themselves 

from the next e-retailer. Your 

site must address the customers’ 

needs on their terms. 

At Cisco, our goal is to be ready to 

interact with prospective customers 

no matter where they are in the purchase 

cycle. The web gives us the glob- 






al reach, and power to interact with 

customers 24/7. We are using personalization 

to provide a rewarding experience 

based on what we know of the 

user—combining data sources and 

observational information. 

We have found multimedia to be 

particularly effective in engaging 

online customers. ‘Video data sheets,’ 

(short video segments that show the 

product and highlight its advantages 

and ability to solve business problems), 

have proved extremely popular. 

These embedded videos are typically 

one of the most clicked upon 

links on whatever page they appear. 

We have found that people who 

watch these videos go deeper into our 

website. They look at four or five 

times as many pages. They also come 

back to the site with higher frequency 

and also engage with partners with 

greater regularity, too. 

Donna Hoffman: 

There are a lot of 

online retailers 

and a lot of websites 

out there! 

The competition 

is keen and sophisticated and there 

are many different kinds of content 

vying for the online customer’s attention. 

If online retailers don’t make 

the effort to sincerely connect to their 

customers with interactive dialogues, 

those customers are likely to move 

on. Online consumers want to be 

part of the process and consider 

themselves in control online. 

Retailers who don’t give their customers 

an opportunity to exercise 

this control are going to find themselves 

lost in the ether. 

ERA: We realize that the customer 

wants to be engaged while 

online, but what do you suggest 

in terms of customer relationship-building 

that clearly increases 

loyalty and retention? 


Foy: At eFashion Solutions, we know 

that customer retention and loyalty 

start with the basics: service. The 

operational aspect of the online retail 

business is a huge retention tool. Too 

often, retailers are so focused on 

advanced technology that they overlook 

the basics. Customer loyalty and 

retention is the result of exceeding 

expectations. Here are a few basic 

steps we follow: 

1Communicate 2Speed 3Surprise 4Personalize 5Luxury 6Service - E-mail order 

confirmation immediately. 

- Ship packages on the 

same day orders are placed. 

- Upgrade shipping for 

repeat buyers. 

- Send thank you 

cards via U.S. Postal vs. e-mail to 

loyal customers. 

- Send handwritten notes 

(from the CEO) to big spenders 

who have a long history. 

- Invest in your call center 

by training staff on fast ring 

response, knowledge of product line 

and reply to e-mails within an hour. 

These tactics create an experience 

that customers do not necessarily 

expect and definitely will not forget. 

Once these have been mastered, then 

start using technologies to customize 

offers to different customer segments, 

add loyalty programs and the like. 

Gibson: Building a relationship with 

the customer can involve providing 

access to information whether from 

people or documents in whatever way 

the customer feels comfortable. This 

variety of engagement can be accomplished 

by using many tools. 

Cisco.com has experimented and uses 

Click-to-Chat, third-party testing 

information and product use documents. 

Focusing on both pre- and 

post-sales activities helps build a lasting 

relationship with the customer. 

Programs that customers can join 

and provide benefits or entitlements 

are effective in increasing loyalty. 

Even something as simple as a wellrun 

newsletter program can work. We 

Engaging consumers by allowing them into 

your world and empowering them will only 

build networks of brand advocates. 

The viral effect is imperative. 

—Ed Foy Jr., eFashionSolutions 

have seen that targeted programs that 

are not readily available to all can 

work even better. Developing communities 

can be a very effective way of 

building deeper relationships with 

your customers. 

Another tactic that has worked 

extremely well is using click-tochat, 

where customers can interact 

with a live representative by clicking 

a button. By both allowing users to 

self-navigate to this resource (reactive 

click-to-chat) as well as serving 

it up appropriately to targeted users 

(proactive click-to-chat), we have 

garnered some incredible conversion 

rates. I have seen up to 40 percent 

conversion to leads through 

this (where a typical marketing program 

might result in three to 10 

percent conversion). 

ERA: Could you please discuss 

examples of relatively simple steps 

an e-retailer might take to enhance 

overall customer satisfaction? 




Phillips: Some of the social networking 

tools—user reviews, message 

boards, etc.—are useful because

they allow peer-to-peer feedback, 

and word-of-mouth is incredibly 

powerful. Customer satisfaction surveys 

with clear, actionable followups 

are also important for building a 

strong customer experience. Finally, 

you need a team specifically tasked 

with looking at the customer experience 

(whether it’s housed within 

product or marketing). You need to 

look at the experience not only 

onsite, but also via all other touch 

points (e.g., e-mails, etc.), and that’s 

essential for evolving strong customer 

relationships. 

Gibson: Enhancing a customer 

experience can be as simple as getting 

rid of old site content and providing 

up-to-date content including 

product capabilities and pricing. In 

addition, providing consistent web 

interfaces and creating web pages 

with a clear purpose and measurable 

performance indicators can ensure 

that web pages fulfill their purpose 

and continue to do so over time. 

Online newsletters, RSS feeds and 

podcasts provide methods for customers 

to stay in touch with what 

solutions are offered for business 

problems without being interrupt 

driven for customers. 

Make sure that you do the basics 

very well. Customers have routine 

expectations that are sometimes 

overlooked. Failure to meet these 

expectations can detract enormously 

from other efforts to provide a 

great experience. Make sure that 

information and their transactions 

are secure. Provide great access to 

post-purchase service and support 

resources. Notifying people when 

their products ship, when delays 

occur, etc., are important ways to 

maintain trust. 

ERA: If Web 2.0 is a knowledgeoriented 

environment where 

human interactions generate 

content, what features might an 

e-retailer incorporate to offer a 

richer experience without overwhelming 

new visitors or sacrificing 

usability? 

Foy: Customer reviews and ratings 

can help create a richer customer 

experience and greatly impact the 

bottom line. Consumers trust their 

peers, especially when purchasing 

online, and endorsements from others 

can provide the reliability that is 

so important for e-retailers. 

Customer published videos and 

other editorial content can also help 

create a richer experience, but the eretailer 

must be careful that the 

merchandise offered does not get 

buried and the ease of purchase is 

not sacrificed. 

Phillips: I think it’s critical to note 

that you can’t just assume that there’s 

a standard package of Web 2.0 tools to 

generate an optimized customer experience. 

Each site has a unique audience. 

The business owners must carefully 

manage user research to determine 

and utilize the ideal set of tools. 

Gibson: Cisco.com reserves an area 

on product pages for related popular 

pages. This area allows visitors 

to see what other Cisco.com websites 

consumers have visited from a 

particular page. Being able to put 

customers or potential customers 

in touch with other customers or 

provide a peek into other’s behavior 

is a powerful tool. 

Hoffman: Some strategies include 





Speaker Preview 

implementing some so-called Web 2.0 

tools. For retailers a little nervous 

about this, we suggest thinking about 

it in terms “low hanging fruit.” For 

example, the site could develop a 

widget that customers could download. 

This is a great and inexpensive 

way to keep a literal connection open 

with a customer. There are lots of great 

ideas out there for clever widgets, and 

many aren’t that expensive. Something 

useful and creative is the key. 

Consider all the tools that Web 2.0 

offers, including blogs, vlogs, photoblogs, 

mob blogs, wikis, social networks, 

social bookmarking and tagging, 

podcasting (a.k.a., audio blogging), 

vidcats or vodcatgs (video casting), 

content syndication (RSS feeds, 

Atom) widgets, blidgits, chat rooms, 

message boards, mashups, mobile 

phones, mobile computing and portals. 

Then consider the usual online 

retailer goals, such as to drive traffic to 

the site, increase interactivity, improve 

rates of retention and purchase frequency, 

enhance customer experience, 

and so on. The trick is to link the 

Web 2.0 tools to specific goals, rather 

than just throw something new and 

different on the site because it’s cool. If 

the tools are used in the service of specific 

marketing goals—and the tools 

are well implemented—the online 

retailer will have a much better chance 

of offer richer experiences without 

turning off visitors. 

ERA: Do social networking/wordof-mouth 

strategies lead to 

increased customer allegiance, 

trust and product awareness? 

Foy: Engaging consumers by allowing 

them into your world and empowering 

them will only build networks of brand 

advocates. The viral effect is imperative. 

YouTube and blogging are successful 

because they empower customers and 

that will grow over time and will continue 

to influence e-retailing. Your satisfied 


and loyal customers are becoming your 

best spokesperson and via these new 

channels your message is delivered and 

received by not just one or two potential 

customer but hundreds, thousands and 

in some cases, millions. Just one more 

reason to fine tune the basics, such as 

timely delivery of packages, sufficient 

communication, etc., to be sure the 

word of mouth is positive and drives 

traffic and not the other way around. 

Phillips: In many cases, yes. For 

example, Fandango has historically 

seen advance ticketing and registrations 

rise most sharply for 

movies getting the most onsite 

buzz via our user reviews. We are 

now looking at a series of site optimizations 

which will be released 

shortly that will provide enhanced 

tools for networking and providing 

user review feedback. 

Gibson: Online communities provide 

a way for customers to talk 

about their solutions, voice questions 

and provide help to potential 

and current customers. Hosting user 

conferences, whether online or in 

person, can also help stimulate discussions 

between customers. Wordof-mouth 

tools like delicious and 

digg can scale the customer contact 

efforts dramatically. 

Cisco’s Networking Professionals 

Connection (or NetPro) is a community 

where technical users can interact with 

other networking professionals on a 24hour 

basis worldwide about even the 

most complex technical issues. 

Customers are happy because they get 

the information they need (about a third 

avoid calling Cisco’s Technical Assistance 

If online retailers don’t make the effort to 

sincerely connect to their customers with 

interactive dialogues, those customers are 

likely to move on. Online customers want to 

be part of the process and consider themselves 

in control online.—Donna Hoffman, 

Sloan Center for Internet Retailing 

Center by finding help through the community), 

and it is also beneficial to Cisco 

as two-thirds of NetPro users have 

bought a Cisco product based on something 

they read on NetPro. 

Hoffman: Some great research clearly 

shows that social networking and 

word of mouth strategies can do 

much to strengthen key customer 

metrics. The key is to utilize social 

networking and word of mouth 

strategies that link the brand in meaningful 

ways to customer discussions. 

Where retailers can fall flat is by slapping 

some stuff online that has no relevance 

to their customer target. 

Online customers are savvy and can 

see through empty and false promotions. 

Retailers should strive to have 

real dialogues with their customers, 

offer them valuable content that is 

worth passing on or clicking through, 

and see these kinds of strategies as a 

way to get closer to their customers 

(as opposed to simply generating 

more clicks). 




Sieglinde Friedman is ERA’s vice president, 

board & strategy. She can be reached 

at (703) 908-1021, or via e-mail at sfried 

man@retailing.org.




BY SIEGLINDE FRIEDMAN 


Research Study 

Research: ERA’s Commitment 

to Retailers 

tAt the 2008 eRetailer Summit in 

Miami, ERA unveiled a new research 

paper on how consumers navigate 

the multichannel landscape and use 

those channels together. This topic 

was developed through discussions 

with ERA’s retailer leadership, 

including dialogues with the Retail 

Council and Research Task Force. 

Interestingly, it is clear that consumers 

shopping across channels 

produce significantly higher sales per 

transaction and bestow a true competitive 

advantage to those retailers answers through polling of some 

who harness the power of multichan- 600+ consumers and aggregating the 

nel advertising (i.e., TV, radio, results. In fact, in concert with its 

online). But how, in terms of prof- launch, the research firm presented 

itability, do consumers navigate the its conclusions, along with exclusive 

multichannel world and, if a compa- raw data, during the recent eRetailer 

ny offers different mediums (i.e., TV, Summit in Miami. 

radio, online), how do customers use 

and weigh those mediums together ADDITIONAL OFFERINGS 

in order to make a purchase? In addition, at the Summit, ERA 

Forrester Research delivered those offered—in tandem with the 

44% went to retail to look for 

a product they saw on TV 

Have you gone to a retail store to look at a product 

or service you saw advertised via infomercial or 

home shopping channel in the last year? 

research—various educational 

sessions designed to 

help further retailers’ understanding 

of what attracts 

consumers to their online 

sites such as video in advertising 

and utilization of 

marketing blogs. What’s 

No, 56% 

more, experts discussed 

optimization of the consumer 

experience, serving 

customers well, and, financial 

models and reporting 

Base: All Respondents 

for profitability. 

Source: Online survey of 343 US Consumers. 

In its continuing effort to 

Conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of ERA. 

support retailers, ERA has 



In its continuing effort to support 

retailers, ERA has provided members with 

the valuable benefit of 24 new research 

reports (two per month in 2007), which 

present pragmatic and forward-thinking 

advice on the latest trends and innovative 

strategies to allow direct-to-consumer 

retailers to grow their business. 

provided members with the valuable 

benefit of 24 new research reports 

(two per month in 2007), which present 

pragmatic and forward-thinking 

advice on the latest trends and innovative 

strategies to allow direct-toconsumer 

retailers to grow their business. 

Through an exclusive agreement 

with Forrester Research, these 

research papers offer members a 

resource to assess existing technologies, 

gather the latest information on 

emerging markets and products, and 

to understand the business implications 

of technology change. This 

twice-monthly benefit will continue 

in 2008. ERA has highlighted the top 

five Forrester Research reports from 

last year for your information and to 

maintain an uncompromising advantage 

and all may be accessed on ERA’s 

website (www.retailing.org). 




Sieglinde Friedman is ERA’s vice president, 

strategy. She can be reached at 

(703) 908-1021, or via e-mail at sfried 

man@retailing.org.

Beachbody, creator of the nation's most 

popular in-home fitness and weight loss 

solutions, was founded in 1998 by 

Product Partners, LLC, of Los Angeles. 

Beachbody products combine challenging 

video-based fitness programs with 

easy-to-follow diet guidelines, superior 

nutritional supplements, and an unparalleled 

online support system. 

Mr. Jon Congdon 

President 

8383 Wilshire Boulevard 

Suite 1050 

Beverly Hills, CA 90211 

Phone: 323 904 5600 

Fax: 323 904 5675 

Website: www.beachbody.com 

Capital Media is a full service advertising 

agency that specializes in bringing 

successful English language direct 

response marketers into the US Hispanic 

market. Capital Media provides long 

form and short form television and radio 

media planning and buying, print media 

planning and buying, marketing strategy 

development, concept, copywriting and 

production. Capital Media also provides 

the full spectrum of front and back end 

campaign management services. 

Dr. Nadia Ashrafian 

CEO 

31831 Camino Capistrano 

Suite 100 

San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675 

Phone: (949) 542-8282 

Fax: (949) 542-8280 

Web: www.capitalmedia.com 

CPU2 formerly the RFD division of 

Protocol Marketing offers innovative 

marketing solutions for the Direct 

Representing the Leaders of Direct Response 

Response Industry where creating 

value with the direct to consumer 

channel is vital. We have world class 

fulfillment including custom continuity 

services, Inbound call center where 

we can sell or upsell your products, 

custom pack out services and a full 

scale optical media replication facility. 

Doug Engebrethson 

Vice President, Sales 

6 Commerce Way 

Arden, NC 28704 

Phone: (800) 379-9664 ext. 255 

Web: www.cpu2.com 

As an industry leader, Convergys has 

been providing direct response 

clients with superior contact center 

sales support since 1978. We are 

dedicated to helping our clients meet 

their sales goals, while representing 

them professionally to their customers. 

This dedication earned us 

Customer Inter@ction Solutions magazine’s 

ranking as the number one 

inbound teleservices agency for the 

last six years. 

Ron Elinkowski 

Senior Director, Retail, Consumer & 

Direct Response 

1400 W 4400 S 

Ogden, UT 84405 

Phone: (801) 629-6344 

Email: ron.elinkowski@convergys.com 

Web: www.convergys.com 

The Dalbey Education Institute was 

founded on the wealth-building principles 

of CEO and founder, Russ 

Dalbey, a self-made multi-millionaire 

who has dedicated his life to helping 

others achieve real financial independence 

quickly and without risk. A 

Colorado-based global institution, 

what began as one individual helping 

another has grown into a respected 

institution recognized as a national 

hub for practical financial education. 

Cathy Dalbey 

President 

7233 Church Ranch Boulevard 

Westminster, CO 80021 

Phone: (303) 577-6002 

Fax: (303) 577-8002 

Web: www.dalbeyeducation.com 

GSI Commerce is an outsourced operations 

company serving DRTV marketers, 

retailers and branded manufacturers 

through a fully integrated set of 

eCommerce, customer care and fulfillment 

and logistics solutions. 

Doug Wille 

President, Direct Response 

10303 Norris Ave 

Los Angeles, CA 91331 

Phone: (818) 834-8800 

Web: www.gsicommerce.com 

Guthy-Renker is one of the world’s 

largest direct response television companies 

with annual sales in excess of 

$1.5 billion. Originally launched as an 

infomercial production studio by co- 

CEOs Bill Guthy and Greg Renker, the 

independently-owned, vertically-integrated 

company has since broadened 

its focus into every area of electronic 

retailing, making quality products available 

to U.S. and international consumers 

through broadcast television, 

cable and satellite, as well as telemarketing, 

direct mail and retail channels. 

Jonathan Flicker 

Executive Vice President of 

Marketing 

3340 Ocean Park Boulevard 

2nd Floor 

Santa Monica, CA 90405-3248 

Phone: (310) 581-6250 

Fax: (310) 581-3468 




HSN LP, an operating business of 

IAC/InterActiveCorp (Nasdaq: IACI), originated 

the electronic retailing concept 

in 1977 and has since evolved into a 

global multi-channel retailing giant, 

offering thousands of name brands 

including JVC, Kodak, Gateway 

Computers and Wolfgang Puck cookware, 

as well as stylish fashions from 

Nicole Miller and Nine West. 

Brad Bohnert 

Director, Public Relations 

1 HSN Drive 

St. Petersburg, FL 33729 

Phone: (727) 872-7515 

Fax: (727) 872-6615 

Web: www.hsn.com 

Imagine Fulfillment Services (IFS) is the 

industry leader of order fulfillment services 

for the direct response industry. IFS’s 

client portfolio includes several Fortune 

500 companies and major film studios. 

Our company was founded in 1997 with 

corporate headquarters in Torrance, 

California; only 10 minutes from the Long 

Beach and Los Angeles Ports and 15 minutes 

from LAX Airport. IFS has 300,000 

square feet of building space and 319 

full-time employees who handle over 50 

active consumer infomercial and short 

form DRTV order fulfillment campaigns. 

The foundation of our company is our 

terrific team! We provide personal, 

prompt service and pay special attention 

to the details. We believe in “the customer 

is right” attitude. Clients feel our 

service is unparalleled in the industry. 

Andy Arvidson 

Owner 

20100 South Vermont Avenue 

Torrance, CA 90502 

Phone: (888) 411-4437 

Fax: (310) 217-4615 

Web: www.imaginefulfillment.com 

Jewelry Television is the nation’s 

fastest-growing home shopping network 

and the only network to focus exclusively 

on the sale of fine jewelry and gemstones. 

The live, 24/7 programming reaches 65 

million homes on a full or part-time basis. 

Charles A. Wagner, III 

General Counsel & Secretary 

10001 Kingston Pike 

Knoxville, TN 37922 

Phone: (865) 692-1363 

Fax: (865) 769-5356 

Web: www.jewelrytelevision.com 

The innovators of “Online Direct 

Response.” Livemercial is the leader in 

single product sales of infomercial and 

short form products online. The company 

offers turn-key solutions with integrated 

media packages and patentpending 

technology that has transformed 

the direct response business 

and generated a new channel of selling. 

Johnny Mathis 

CEO 

3001 Leonard Drive 

Suite 301 

Valparaiso, IN 46383 

Phone: (219) 477-3900 

Fax: (219) 477-3913 

Web: www.livemercial.com 

LiveOps is the leader in work-at-home 

teleservices solutions for the direct 

response industry. We constantly deliver 

our clients higher revenue per media 

dollar than traditional call centers. 

Matt Fisher 

VP, Direct Response and Shared 

Services 

3340 Hillview Avenue 

Palo Alto, CA 94304 

Phone: (800) 411-4700 

Fax: (650) 745-3756 

Web: www.liveops.com 

Media Power helps other businesses put 

the power of direct response marketing 

to work for them. As your marketing partner, 

we can provide any of these services: 

telemarketing, catalogs, spot ads, TV 

infomercials, fulfillment, direct mail, radio 

infomercials, print ads and e-commerce. 

In 2002, we introduced our Radio2Retail 

program to help you unleash the power 

of radio to market your product and 

secure retail shelf space. 

Doug Monson 

President 

60 York Street 

Portland, ME 04101 

Phone: (207) 775-4363 

Fax: (207) 775-4282 

Web: www.mediapower.com 

Founded in 1989, Mercury Media is the 

nation’s largest direct response media 

agency, with gross billings in excess of 

$350 million. The company offers an 

unmatched platform of talent and services 

for long- and short-form television and 

traditional advertising services such as 

print, radio and out-of-home media. 

Maintaining the most comprehensive 

direct response database and the most 

sophisticated research, Mercury offers 

best-in-class direct response solutions 

and measurable, data-driven results. 

Dan Danielson 

520 Broadway Suite 400 

Santa Monica, CA 90401 

Phone: (310) 451-2900 

Fax: (310) 451-0810 

Email: dan@mercurymedia.com 

Website: www.mercurymedia.com 

Founded in 1994, O'Currance 

Teleservices offers a variety of inbound 

telemarketing service to enable its customers 

to reach and/or exceed their sales 

goals and customer services metrics. 

David Meine 

Executive Vice President 

1785 South 4130 West 

Suite O 

Salt Lake City, UT 84104 

Phone: 801.736.0500 

Fax: 801.736.0510 

Web: www.ocurrance.com 

Oak Lawn Marketing is a Branding and 

Media Company headquartered in 

Nagoya, Japan with global operations in 

China and the United States. OLM is the 

largest infomercial company in Japan 

and its strategy for growth is encompassed 

by its focus on ‘Four Converging 

Circles of Success - Media, Product, Brand 

and Entertainment’. Currently the company 

has over 750 employees in Japan 

with offices in Nagoya, Tokyo, Osaka and 

Sapporo. OLM also has employees working 

worldwide at quality control offices 

in Shenzhen and Shanghai, and at its 

product sourcing company Global 

Infomercial Services, located in Chicago. 

Harry A. Hill 

President 




Scott Reid 

Chief Optimization Officer 

Nakato-Marunouchi Bldg. 7F 

3-17-6 Marunouchi 

Naka-ku, Nagoya, 460-0002 

JAPAN 

Phone: (+81) 52-950-1124 

Fax: (+81) 52-950-1524 

Web: www.oaklawn.co.jp 

QVC, Inc. was founded in June 1986 by 

Joseph Segel and began operations in 

November 1986. QVC broadcasts live 24 

hours a day, 364 days a year, and introduces 

over 1600 products every week to 

viewers in over 87 million homes across 

the United States. Other divisions/subsidiaries 

include QVC.com, QVC@, and 

QVC Local. The QVC Studio Tour is located 

at the company's world headquarters 

in West Chester, PA. QVC is a subsidiary 

of Liberty Media Corporation. 

Lawrence R. Hayes 

Vice President 

Studio Park 

West Chester, PA 19380 

Phone: (484) 701-8192 

Fax: (484) 701-1021 

Web: www.qvc.com 

Savvier is one of the leading infomercial 

companies in the direct response 

industry with expertise in product 

development, manufacturing, marketing 

and domestic/international distribution. 

Savvier’s first two long form 

infomercials, Bodyflex and 6 Second 

Abs, were both number one products 

on IMS and Jordan Whitney. 

Jeff Tuller 

President 

5790 Fleet Street 

Suite 130 

Carlsbad, CA 92008 

Phone: (760) 431-7274 

Fax: (760) 431-7875 

Web: www.savvier.com 

SF Video was incorporated in 1990 and 

began servicing the infomercial industry 

in 1992. Our focus is on large volume CD 

/ DVD / HD-DVD / Blu-Ray replication 

manufacturing. We currently have plants 

in Los Angeles, New York, Israel and 

Hong Kong. In addition, SF Video offers 

printing and packaging to compliment 

our disc media replication services. 

SF Video, Inc. 

Steven Feinberg 

1548 Stockton Street, 2nd Floor 

San Francisco, CA 94133 

UNITED STATES 

Phone: (415)288-9400 

Fax: (415)288-9410 

Email: steven@sfvideo.com 

Website: www.sfvideo.com 

ShopNBC, one of the nation’s largest television 

home shopping networks, sells a 

wide range of upscale merchandise 

including jewelry, housewares, apparel, 

computers, electronics and health and 

beauty products at great values. 

ShopNBC broadcasts live 24 hours a day, 

seven days a week and is also available 

via webcast on ShopNBC.com. The company, 

founded in 1990, is available in 60 

million homes through analog and digital 

cable as well as through DirecTV (channel 

370) and Dish Network (channel 228). It 

has been publicly traded since 1991 on 

NASDAQ under the symbol VVTV. 

Nathan Fagre 

SVP & General Counsel 

6740 Shady Oak Road 

Eden Prairie, MN 55344 

Phone: (952) 943-6000 

Fax: (952) 943-6111 

Web: www.shopnbc.com 

The Sylmark Group is a leading multichannel 

consumer products company 

specializing in housewares, personal 

care and fitness products based in Los 

Angeles. Our company markets its 

products through campaigns featuring 

direct response television, the Internet 

and retail channel distribution both in 

the United States and international 

markets. The Sylmark Group is vertically 

integrated with television production, 

product development, global sourcing, 

direct marketing, retail and customer 

service—all under one roof. 

Craig Shandler 

Executive Vice President 

4929 Wilshire Boulevard 

Suite 500 

Los Angeles, CA 90010 

Phone: (323) 938-9200 

Web: www.sylmark.com 

Thane International, Inc., has emerged 

as the leading global marketer of consumer 

products launched through shopping 

television in over 100 countries 

worldwide. Thane’s distribution platform, 

which spans the globe, and its strong 

product portfolio have made Thane a 

partner of choice for numerous product 

owners and trading partners worldwide. 

Thane Direct, Inc. 

Patty Booth 

President 

Cathy Chung 

Director of Licensed Products 

Centennial Centre, Suite 203 

5409 Eglinton Avenue West 

Toronto, Ontario M9C 5K6 

CANADA 

Phone: (416) 621-3700 

Fax: (416) 621-2735 

Web: www.thaneinc.com 

Thane Direct, Inc. 

Paul Greenberg 

Chief Creative Officer 

3420 Ocean Park Boulevard 

Suite 3075 

Santa Monica, CA 90405 

Phone: (310) 452-2188 

Fax: (310) 452-2203 

West Corporation, the DR industry’s 

premier contact solutions provider, helps 

today’s leading companies increase the 

number of calls processed, generate 

additional revenue, achieve greater call 

flexibility and deliver a higher level of 

customer care. We also offer powerful 

automated solutions and intelligent 

upsell and cross-sell solutions that give 

companies the ability to maximize every 

customer contact opportunity. 

Jim Speidel 

VP New Business Developement 

11808 Miracle Hills Drive 

Omaha, NE 68154 

Phone: (800) 841-9000 

Fax: (402) 716-0690 

Web: www.west.com 




ulletinBOARD 

COMPANY 

NOTICES 


TLS Launches The Logical University 

NEW HAVEN, Conn.—The Logical 

Step (TLS), a comprehensive think 

tank of intellectual property, tactical 

campaign management and 

retail/consumer product introduction, 

has announced the launch of a fourth 

division, The Logical University. The 

Logical University provides comprehensive 

direct-to-consumer education 

and intelligence to seasoned marketers—either 

intimately involved 

with direct response programming or 

actively seeking competitive advantage 

through in-depth education, process 

mapping, financial modeling experience 

and “connected” direct response 

networking. 

As the retail market is so prevalent 

within the direct-to-consumer marketing 

mix, The Logical University 

provides a dedicated forum for 

direct-to-consumer retail sales 

growth while defining all methodology 

and necessary steps so critical to 

any successful campaign. 

LOS ANGELES—Quigley-Simpson, 

one of the country’s fastest growing 

full-service advertising agencies and a 

pioneer in the area of brand response 

advertising, took home 10 advertising 

and marketing industry awards in 

2007, adding to its already growing 

collection of industry accolades. 

For its work with VISA, Quigley- 

Simpson won a Gold Ava award in 

the TV/financial category, as well as 

two Gold Marcom awards for television 

spots and for direct response 

television. For Reunion.com, 

Quigley-Simpson was presented 

with two Marcom Platinum 

awards—the highest possible 

honor—in the single spot television 

According to Steven J. Edelstein, 

The Logical Step’s CEO, “The Logical 

University provides a comprehensive 

direct-to-consumer curriculum 

developed for the brand marketer, 

tactical marketing executive, and seasoned 

consumer product goods executives 

that need an intensive education 

regarding intelligence, process, 

financial and navigation of this very 

complex industry.” 

He adds that “the practice of direct 

response is a methodical and detailed 

business endeavor. As we navigate 

through all facets of direct response 

and piece together the many moving 

parts, we will explore each process, 

every step, all directions and evaluate 

and—if you are lucky—review actual 

direct response business examples 

[that] take in account some of the 

many tactics used by marketers in this 

engaging industry.” 


www.thelogicalstep.net. 

Quigley-Simpson Recognized for Work on VISA, 

Reunion.com and Bella & Birch Accounts 

and the overall creative categories, 

along with two Ava awards, one 

Platinum for TV/spot service and a 

Gold for the entire Reunion.com television 

campaign. Finally, for client 

Bella & Birch, maker of designer wall 

finishes, the agency took home another 

Platinum Ava in the TV/products 

category, as well as two more Gold 

Marcoms for television spots and for 

direct response television. 

The Marcom Awards is an international 

competition for marketing and 

communication professionals 

involved in the concept, writing and 

design of marketing and communications 

programs and print, visual and 

audio materials. 




Super Bowl Fever 

Eric Stanton of JBT Media 

Management Inc. and Heather 

Curatolo of DirecTV at Super Bowl 

XLII in Arizona. 

Innova Group and TV 

Ofertas Announce Merger 

MIAMI—Innova Group, a leader in 

the DRTV business of the Mexican, 

U.S. Hispanic and Puerto Rican markets, 

announced a strategic merger 

with TV Ofertas S.A. from C.V., a 

leading company that specializes in 

the direct retail marketing of fitness, 

health, beauty and home products in 

Mexico and Latin America. The 

fusion of these two companies, which 

will now operate under Innova’s 

name, creates a conglomerate with 

ownership of the largest number of 

infomercials aimed to retailers and 

large department stores in Mexico. 

IAB Supports FTC’s Embrace 

of Self-Regulation of 

Behavioral Advertising 

NEW YORK—The Interactive 

Advertising Bureau (IAB) has commended 

the Federal Trade 

Commission (FTC) for its release of 

a set of proposed principles to guide 

the development of self-regulation 

in the evolving area of behavioral 

advertising. 

“We support the FTC’s call for 

industry self-regulation, and we are 

very pleased that the commission 

endorsed the IAB’s analysis of the 

value of the ad-supported Internet,” 

says Randall Rothenberg, president 

and CEO of the IAB. “At the same 

time, we will continue to work with 

our members to educate the FTC and 

Congress about the new interactive 

tools that improve consumers’ lives, 

enhance consumer control and build 

the U.S. economy.” 

Incredible Discoveries’ 

Black & Decker Campaign 

Makes JW’s Top 60 

Infomercials List 

POMPANO BEACH, Fla.—Incredible 

Discoveries Inc., a leading DRTV and 

multichannel marketing company, 

announced that its long-form infomercial 

for the Black & Decker Infrawave 

Speed Oven placed among the “Top 

60 Infomercials” in Jordan Whitney’s 

December 2007 rankings. The Jordan 

Whitney “Greensheet” reports, which 

rank infomercials and spots and analyze 

their content, are part of the 

company’s independent services providing 

up-to-date information on 

direct response television, including 

infomercials, short-form direct 

response television commercials, the 

websites for these products and the 

companies involved in their production 

and distribution. 

Motivational Fulfillment & 

Logistics Services Scores Big 

With Bed, Bath & Beyond 

CHINO, Calif.—Motivational 

Fulfillment & Logistics Services 

(MFLS), a leading provider of highquality, 

results-orientated fulfillment 

and distribution to the direct marketing 

and retail industries, has 

announced that Bed, Bath & Beyond 

issued its annual vendor assessment 

audit and Motivational scored 99 percent 

out of 100. This score is based on 

accuracy of orders, on-time shipping, 

data transmission and the ability to 

meet many of the other stringent 

standards of Bed Bath & Beyond. 

Adriana Eiriz has been appointed 

chief marketing officer of Nexxo 

Financial. 

Power Direct has named Bret 

Butterfield as the new vice president 

of business development. 

Christopher Morgan Fulfillment 

Services announced that it has 

promoted Thomas Mauthe to 

vice president of operations. 

MBS, a Division of World 

Marketing, Inc., announced that 

Stan Braunstein, long time 

member of MBS’ executive team 

and former president, has retired 

as of January 31. 

WorkPlace Media announced that 

Dan Llewellyn has been named 

as director of business development 

for CPG/Retail and that Joe 

Artiste has been promoted to 

director of national accounts. 

Full Perspective Services has 

named Brett Healey as vice president 

of marketing and sales. 

Synergixx LLC has hired Dave 

Postal as its new business 

development manager. 

Jonathan Starets has been 

promoted to director of mobile 

services for SmartReply. 

Williams Worldwide Television has 

announced the addition of Sunny 

Choi as international sales 

manager. 





calendar 

MARCH-APRIL 2008 INDUSTRY EVENTS 

Mar. 

2-4 

Mar. 

10-12 

eRetailer Summit 

March 2-4, 2008 

InterContinental Hotel 

Miami, Fla. 

For more information, visit http://www. retail 

ing.org/new_site/meetings/eretailer_summit/ 

eretailer_summit.htm 

Luxury Interactive 2008 


The Landmark 

London, UK 


http://www.luxuryint.com 

ERA and Electronic Retailer 

Networking Event 

Following are photos from ERA and Electronic 

Retailer’s cocktail reception that took place on 

January 30 in Santa Monica, Calif. 

Jason Mittelstaedt of Right 

Now Technologies and Kathi 

Moore of Quigley-Simpson 


Mar. 

17-20 

Mar. 

16 

Mar. 

16-18 

Mark Biglow 

(left) of Mercury 

Media and ERA 

Chairman Edwin 

Garrubbo 

Peter Phillips of Fandango with Electronic 

Retailer’s Gina Mullins-Cohen and Debbie Skerly 

Search Engine Strategies – New York 


Hilton New York 

New York, N.Y. 

For more information, visit http://www.search 

enginestrategies.com/newyork/ 

ERA Networking Reception Chicago 

March 16, 2008 

House of Blues 

Chicago, Ill. 

For more information, contact 

kwhite@retailing.org 

International Home & Housewares Show 


McCormick Place 

Chicago, Ill. 


http://www.housewares.org 

Kris Johnson of GSI 

Commerce (formerly 

Accretive Commerce) 

and Jessica 

Hawthorne of 

Hawthorne Direct 




Mar. 

17-18 

Mar. 

20 

Mar. 

21 

OMMA Conference & Expo Hollywood 


Renaissance Hollywood Hotel 

Hollywood, Calif. 


http://www.mediapost.com/omma/ 

Mobile Communities Unconference 


Sheraton Palo Alto 

Palo Alto, Calif. 


http://mcu2008.eventbrite.com/ 

Paragon Media Internet 

Media Planning & Buying 101 


Sheraton Buckhead 

Atlanta, Ga. 

For more information, visit http://www. 

paragonmedia.com/mediaseminars.html 

Liquid Focus’ Ken Osborn and 

Electronic Retailer’s Ruth Wheeler 

Electronic Retailer’s Tom Dellner and 

Marty Fahncke of FawnKey & Associates 

Mar. 

31- 

Apr. 4 

Apr. 

29 

Apr. 

30 

Ed Elliot and Natalie 

Hale of Media Partners 

Worldwide 

ARF 54th Annual Convention & Expo 

March 31-April 4, 2008 

Marriott Marquis 


For more information, visit http://www.thearf. 

org/events/upcoming/rethink-08.html 

ERA Legal Series (9.5 CLE credits) 


American Conference Center 



http://www.retailing.org/legaled 

Electronic Retailer LiveEdit Lab NYC 


American Conference Center 


Please send your upcoming industry event listings to Pat 

Cauley, eMedia editor, at pcauley@retailing.org. Note: Dates 

and locations are subject to change. 

From left: Adriana Eiriz of Nexxo 

Financial, Nancy Duitch and Cynthia Levin 

of Vertical Branding Inc. and Greg Sater of 

Rutter Hobbs & Davidoff Inc. 




Marcia Waldorf (left) and Jim Crawford of 

Waldorf Crawford LLC with Forbes Riley 


ad index 

Advertiser Page 

28:30 Advertising Agency ....................................................................14 

www.2830.net 

310-460-2830 

Applied Perceptions ...............................................................................37 

www.apcrc.com 

800-915-4170 

Chief Media.........................................................................................41, 43 

www.chiefmedia.com 

212-300-8487 

COREDIRECT ..............................................................................................21 

www.coremedia-systems.com 

973-276-0882 

Daves International.................................................................................16 

www.davesinternational.com 

973-244-1118 

dComm..................................................................................................25,67 

www.dcomm.tv 

E&M Advertising, Inc...............................................................................16 

www.emadv.com 

212-981-5900 

Electronic Retailer LiveEdit Labs – New York ................................49 

www.electronicretailermag.com/liveedit/ 

Envision Response ..................................................................................63 

www.envisiontv.com 

206-850-6339 

ERA Legal Series.......................................................................................53 

www.retailing.org 

ERA Webinar ..............................................................................................57 

www.retailing.org/webinar 

E-SUMMIT (American Conference)....................................................65 

www.americanconference.com/e-summit 

888-224-2480 

Hawthorne Direct inc ...............................................................................1 

www.hawthornedirect.com 

641-472-3800 

Icon Media Direct Inc .............................................................................13 

www.iconmediadirect.com 

818-995-6400 

Infomercial Monitoring Service Inc. (IMS).......................................69 

www.imstv.com 

610-328-6902 

JBT Media Mgt. Inc ..................................................................................11 

www.jbtmedia.com 

480-777-8811 ext. 100 

Jordan Whitney Inc .................................................................................73 

info@jwgreensheet.com 

714-832-3353 

Koeppel Direct Inc .....................................................................................7 

www.koeppeldirect.com 

972-732-6110 


Advertiser Page 

Liquid Focus.................................................................................................9 

www.liquidfocus.com 

866-892-0259 

Livemercial ...............................................................................................2-3 

www.livemercial.com 

219-477-3900 

Lockard & Wechsler Direct ................................................................CV3 

www.lwdirect.com 

914-250-0250 

MindFire......................................................................................................47 

www.era.lookwhosclicking.com 

877-560-3473 

Mobile Marketing Association............................................................55 

www.mobilemarketingforum.com 

MoreMedia Direct Inc. ...........................................................................29 

www.moremediadirect.com 

305-672-9793 

Motivational Fulfillment & Logistics Services ..................................5 

www.mfals.com 

909-517-2200 

Moulton Logistics Management........................................................15 

www.moultonlogistics.com 

818-997-1800 

Oak Lawn Marketing, A Global Alliance Member........................31 

www.oaklawn.co.jp 

Oneupweb .................................................................................................27 

www.oneupweb.com 

877-568-7477 

Paradise Coast Media.............................................................................61 

www.paradisecoastmedia.com 

561-266-7311 

Permission Interactive ........................................................................CV2 

www.permissioninteractive.com 

619-708-7456 

Robinson Radio ........................................................................................33 

www.robinsonradio.com 

804-726-6400 

TransFirst ePayment Services..............................................................17 

www.transfirst.com 

402-399-9777 or 888-541-9800 

Zephyr Media Group ..........................................................................CV4 

www.zephyr-media.com 

847-328-1519 

The index is provided as an additional service. Electronic Retailer 

does their best to insure advertisers are included, however, the 

publisher does not assume any liability for errors or omissions. 




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rickPETRY 

Stirred, Not Shaken 

i“I drink your milkshake! I drink it up!” rages 

Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) in Paul 

Thomas Anderson’s brilliant and disturbing 

film, “There Will Be Blood.” It’s a catch phrase 

that threatens to join “Say hello to my little 

friend!” and “Hasta la vista, baby!” in a T-shirt 

tagline, machismo-fueled society that favors 

the upper hand delivered with an irony-clad 

backhand. And while Plainview uses the words 

to describe how, as if with a straw, he has 

siphoned off oil that a rival erroneously 

believes he controls, it could just as easily be 

describing a certain breed of competition that 

pervades our direct marketing industry. 

It should come as no surprise that in an 

environment where scarcity mentality is regularly 

leveraged to get folks to buy things, 

spurned by the fear of lost opportunity, there 

would be some who can’t be happy unless they 

have all the marbles, though I suspect content- 

As our industry matures, merger and 

acquisition activity has become a matter 

of course, as early entrepreneurs 

cash in and consolidation creates new 

life forms out of the primordial soup. 

ment will always elude them. Their actions 

echo another of Plainview’s musings: “I have a 

competition in me. I want no one else to succeed.” 

And yet, the Darwinist consequences of 

a free market dictate that such sentiment will 

be part of the swirl, as well it should, because 

it forces competitors to be better—though we 

pay a stiff price in the bargain. 

As our industry matures, merger and 

acquisition activity has become a matter of 

course, as early entrepreneurs cash in and 

consolidation creates new life forms out of 

the primordial soup. Too often, such mash- 

ups are characterized in terms of winners and 

losers—as one organization assumes dominance 

and the other seemingly dissolves. It’s 

not unlike the current U.S. political discourse, 

where differences are exploited at the 

expense of commonalities. And it isn’t just 

jobs that are siphoned off, as the proud 

employees who served the heads of companies 

that were paid multiples for the uniqueness 

of their culture, together watch paralyzed 

as those very qualities that made them 

special are sucked away. 

The decisions that contribute to such realities 

are driven by egos as much as they are by sound 

business practices. And while a lot of money is 

getting socked away in the process, entire legacies 

are being deposited in another sort of 

bank—the memory bank, where they are destined 

to depreciate over time. Such reflections 

may cause one to consider how a legacy should 

be defined in a world where the accumulation 

of wealth and power is generally revered above 

striking a balance between work, family and 

friends. But—as colleagues we assumed would 

be among us for decades pass on—we confront 

our own mortality, and in the process such 

questions become inescapable. 

It is within this climate that members of 

ERA, including a good many competitors who 

might otherwise clash, come together amid 

common ground. This affords us a chance to 

make a different set of inquiries: In a world 

dominated by survival of the fittest, is there 

room for fairness? Can we draw straws without 

succumbing to the impulse to measure them? 

When future generations take measure of us, 

will it be our humanity they count? 




Rick Petry is the immediate past chair of ERA 

and a freelance writer and consultant. He can 

be reached at (503) 740-9065, or via e-mail at 

rick.petry@gmail.com.

March 2008 - Electronic Retailer Magazine

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