Welcome to the new TRUE TOP 50, brought to you by DRMetrix and The SciMark Report. We begin with the first half of 2016. Click on the image below to see the most-aired DRTV campaigns in rank order and also learn which advertisers dominated the airwaves. Then read below to see who we’ve named the ‘best of the best’ for the year to date.
(Click to see the complete chart)
TRUE TOP MARKETER
Our first award of 2016 goes to IDEAVILLAGE PRODUCTS CORP. IdeaVillage had the No. 1 and No. 2 biggest spending campaigns of the first half of the year: Copper Fit and MicroTouch Tough Blade. IdeaVillage entered the copper compression garments category with two competitors to beat, yet no other copper brand appears on our top 50 chart. Meanwhile, the Copper Fit brand appears twice in the top 10 and three times in the top 20. Overall, IdeaVillage had six campaigns in the top 50, the most of any marketer.
TRUE TOP PRODUCER
Our second award of 2016 goes to BLUE REEF PRODUCTIONS, thanks in large part to the same Copper Fit campaigns mentioned above. Blue Reef produced the commercial with the highest Spend Index (Copper Fit Back Pro) and has the most appearances on the top 50 (four). It shares the impressive record cited above: two campaigns in the top 10 and three in the top 20. California-based Blue Reef and its leader, Mark Fanjoy, are relatively new names in the short-form business but quickly made an impression with high production value commercials for IdeaVillage starring legendary NFL quarterback Brett Favre.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Our runner-up for top marketer is ALLSTAR PRODUCTS GROUP, with the third highest Spend Index for the period, two campaigns in the top 10 (Roto Clipper, Wonder Wallet) and five campaigns on the top 50 chart in total.
Our runner-up for top producer is PADDOCK PRODUCTIONS. Besides having three campaigns of its own on the charts (Bell+Howell TacLight, $50 Gold Buffalo Coin and Slice Right), the production company is responsible for the behind-the-scenes work of two other campaigns. That also makes Paddock the most diverse operator in the production category as each of those successes is with a different marketer.
One unofficial award also deserves mentioning: the True Top Feeder. “Feeder” is our word for a smaller company that “feeds” hits to the big advertisers /distributors shown on the charts. By our estimation, roughly 20 percent of the top 50 came from feeders this time around. (Since these alliances aren’t always publicized, it can be hard to tell.)
In any case, there’s no doubt this is a growing trend and, based on what our research was able to turn up, our first award for the year in this category should go to LENFEST MEDIA GROUP. Pennsylvania-based Lenfest had two hits on the chart: Roto Clipper (No. 8) with Allstar and Furniture Feet (No. 45) with Ontel.
TRENDS
There are many other interesting things the DRMetrix data can tell us. Here’s something basic yet important: What categories are delivering hits these days. For instance, we observed a noteworthy change in the lighting category, which many have considered a bad category for several years. The first half of 2016 saw three lights make it into the top 50: Emson’s Bell+Howell TacLight (No. 23), Ontel’s EverBrite (No. 26) and Telebrands’ Atomic Beam (No. 50).
Unsurprisingly, one of the most dominant categories was cooking/kitchen with four hits in the top 50 (Gotham Steel Pan, Red Copper Pan, 1 Second Slicer and Slice Right). More surprising were the four DIY items on the chart, including the Flex Seal juggernaut as well as newcomers Rust-Oleum ReColor (No. 13), Lazer Bond (No. 19) and 5 Second Fix (No. 44).
However, some of these categories are misleadingly over-represented because the number of competitive items continues to grow. Earlier we mentioned that IdeaVillage was able to shake two competitors in the copper compression garments category, but others have not been as lucky.
Emson’s Gotham Steel Pan (No. 7) continues to battle Telebrands’ Red Copper Pan (No. 14) for dominance. A similar battle has emerged between the two marketers for flashlight supremacy as Emson’s Bell+Howell TacLight (No. 23) has Telebrands’ Atomic Beam (No. 50) nipping at its heels. Meanwhile, Telebrands’ Lazer Bond (No. 19) faces competition from Ontel’s 5 Second Fix (No. 44), and the marketer only recently broke free of competition in the hose category to stand alone in the top 50 with Pocket Hose Top Brass (No. 20).
One final note: The SciMark Report has always focused on short-form DRTV products, and our awards reflect that bias. However, DRMetrix’s AdSphere service provides comprehensive coverage of all DRTV, including brand, lead-generation and long-form commercials. Some of that data is also presented in the charts that accompany this article.
