Weekly Round-Up

1. Ray's Roto Shredder. Marketer: National Express. Pitch: "The easiest way to shred meat, chicken, fish, lettuce and more." Comments: The success or failure of this project depends on: a) how many people like pulled pork, and b) how passionate those people are about the dish. My guess is this is a niche market and that the passion doesn't run high for most people. I think most people would rather have someone else pull their pork for them than do it themselves (tee hee) ... Of course, there is one type of pork that can create the sort of passion that defies DRTV criteria: bacon. I mean, people write songs about it! [ss]
 
2. Dreamers. Pitch: "The blanket and pillow set that's perfect for sleep and play." Comments: The original Snuggie was "the blanket that has sleeves." This is like the new Snuggie without the sleeves. I think the idea plays better this way, especially since it's 100% targeted toward kids. I can imagine mine pestering me for it. [ss]
 
3. Germ Patrol. Pitch: "Long-lasting, powerful protection from germs." Comments: As I've argued in the past, germaphobes are too small a minority to support a DRTV campaign. Leveraging the Ebola scare is unlikely to expand the market for reasons I discuss here. [ss]
 
4. LoveHandle. Pitch: "Get a handle on the devices you love." Comments: "Phone/tablet accessories" top my list of bad categories in this month's issue of Response (not yet available online). That means unless an accessory is the most amazing product ever seen, smart marketers would do well to avoid wasting their money. [ss]
 
5. Minx. Marketer: Will It Launch. Pitch: "Super fluffy slipper socks that have a secret pocket to store your phone." Comments: This product is unique ... Otherwise it fails every single criteria for DRTV, including price. [ss]
 
6. My Tie Mate. Pitch: "Keep(s) you looking your best." Comments: Another marketer who appears to have ignored almost every known criteria for DRTV (or never bothered to learn them). Even if ties were still commonly worn on a daily basis, this would be a horrible idea. And what's with the random British VO? [ss]