The peer review period is over. Here are the True Top Spenders for the first half of 2013:
And now, here are the big winners ...
True Top Marketer: Allstar Products Group!
Although technically tied with 2012 champ Telebrands for the number of campaigns that made the list (9), Allstar has the most new campaigns and thus takes the title. That is, eight of nine campaigns had not appeared before (compared to five of nine for Telebrands). Congratulations to a great group of true professionals. This is the fourth time they will wear the belt (not counting seasonal titles). They were also the Best Marketer of 2009, the True Top Marketer of 2011 and the True Top Marketer of mid-year 2012.
As for the other major players: IdeaVillage was a close third with eight campaigns (five of them new), Emson tied for fourth with rising star Hampton at four campaigns a piece, Tristar logged a respectable three campaigns, and Ontel did not appear on the list for the first time (although I'm certain we'll see them on the full-year chart).
True Top Producer: The Schwartz Group!
Demonstrating they are more than 'just' the champions of food DR (see Side Socket and Grip Go), this talented team from sunny southeast Florida reigns supreme with five campaigns on the list -- for three different marketers, no less! Major kudos to them! This is the first time they will wear the belt (although they did briefly hold a seasonal title in 2011).
As for the other major producers: 2012 champ Concepts was a close second with four campaigns on the list, 'Steady Eddie' Blue Moon tied for third with upstart Zoom TV, and seven other familiar names all appeared twice on the chart.
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Finally, my track record with regard to the new items on the mid-year list is as follows:
- I predicted four were "likely to succeed" (Grip Go, Perfect Pancake, Zoomies/Zoom 300, Rabbit TV)
- I was "on the fence" about nine
- I predicted six were "unlikely to succeed" (Cat's Meow/Kitty Carousel, Side Socket, Ice Cream Magic, Ultimate Detangling Brush, Flex-Able Hose, MSA 30X)
- I did not predict "hit" or "bomb" for any of the items appearing (whew!)
My biggest misses: Cat's Meow, Side Socket and Flex-Able Hose. In my defense, I had pretty good reasons for all three. For instance, pure pet toys have never worked on DRTV ... until Cat's Meow, that is. The same is true of multi-outlet gadgets like Side Socket. I have personally failed with several. I can see why the latter worked (more painful problem solved, great Schwartz Group creative) but not the former. In fact, I predict at least five cat toys will test and fail in the next year as people try to replicate that outlier's success.
Then there's Flex-Able Hose. It was part of a triple duel where one player had a huge head-start (X-Hose, the only hose to appear on the 2012 chart) -- and the other player was Telebrands. Yet somehow, this campaign survived and thrived, at least on TV. At retail, there's no question Telebrands' Pocket Hose completely dominated the field.
So there you have it: The year so far. Got something to say? Post a comment.
