Description: An exercise bar
Main Pitch: "Hundreds of body shaping exercises in one compact system"
Main Offer: 2 pay of $24.95
Bonuses: Four workouts on DVD, one-year personal trainer helpline, wall chart, eating guide AND buy one, get one free
Starring: Tony Little
Marketer: Fitness Quest
Website: www.EasyShaper.com
Prediction: Unlikely to succeed
This commercial is a good example of why most DRTV marketers say you can't do fitness in short form (unless you go narrow like Iron Gym or Shake Weight, but that's another topic).
The issue here is the product does too much and comes with too many bonuses. There just isn't enough time to explain everything ... even if you're a hyperactive fast-talker like Tony Little.
And how does that fast talking come across to the viewer? I think Ron Popeil put it best in an interview he did with me last autumn (yes, that was a shameless name drop). He said such pitches "sound like a machine gun" and that the perception is "they are trying too hard, so it’s too good to be true."
Another problem with such commercials is they create confusion and (to use a favorite experession once again) confusion is a sales killer.
For these reasons, despite the talented people involved, I think this one is going to be a flop -- at least in short form.
