May 14, 2021

Silver Lining Update


Back in October, I wrote about the pandemic's 'silver lining' for DRTV advertisers: record-breaking sales. The post was about a report from DRMetrix showing that during and after the quarantine period of March to May, the top marketer increased spending by an eye-popping 1,420% over the previous year and “increases of 300% to 400% were not uncommon.”

Now comes a new report from DRMetrix covering all of 2020. It finds that spending on all short-form products increased more than 55%. This is especially good news since spending in the category had been sliding, tumbling more than 26% the year before (click the chart above).

“It’s amazing when, during a huge media disruption, you have one sector of the industry that has 20/20 vision,” says Joseph Gray, CEO of DRMetrix, in a new blog post about the study. “Performance-based television advertisers could see what was really happening with their TV advertising investment and KPIs in real time down to the network, daypart, and creative level. What they discovered is that response levels were at an all time high while media rates were at an all time low. Moreover, performance-based television advertisers could measure that consumers were still responding, engaging, and buying.”

Check out the full Covid Edition report for more information.

May 04, 2021

True Top 10 (April 2021)

It's the beginning of May, so it's time to take a look back at last month.

Here is your True Top 10 for April 2021:

  1. Copper Fit Never Lost Mask
  2.  
  3. MicroTouch Titanium Trim
  4.  
  5. Bell+Howell Tac Shaver
  6.  
  7. Copper Fit Ice Knee Sleeves
  8.  
  9. Copper Fit Angel Sleeper
  10.  
  11. Bell+Howell Bionic Spotlight
  12.  
  13. Lucinda's Kitchen Spurtle
  14.  
  15. Copper Fit Energy Socks
  16.  
  17. Clean Zone
  18.  
  19. Granitestone Blue

IdeaVillage keeps the top spot and continues to dominate in spending, but 'only' had 50 percent of the top 10 last month.

Emson's Bionic Spotlight drops another place to No. 6, but its TacShaver (with Paragon) rockets back up the charts to No. 3 and its Granitestone Blue pans get in at No. 10, giving Emson two more chart-toppers than last month.

Meanwhile, Telebrands falls out of the top 10 completely, replaced by Top Dog's juggernaut Clean Zone and newcomer Kalorik with its Kitchen Spurtle.

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Source: AdSphere™ brand rankings for the last media month.
Visit DRMetrix for more information.

May 03, 2021

Lucinda's Kitchen Spurtle

Description: A wooden spatula
Pitch: "Ten tools in one"
Offer: $19.99 for a set of four
Bonus: Double the offer (just pay a separate fee)
Starring: Lucinda Scala Quinn
Marketer: Kalorik
Visit Website

Telebrands tested this product in late 2018 under the name Amish Spurtle with a commercial starring Cathy Mitchell. It was never heard from again, and I wasn't surprised.

I would never have guessed a wooden spatula (with a brand name that sounds like an exploding tortoise, no less) could be successful on DRTV. I guess Ms. Quinn has a much bigger following than I knew.

Granitestone Blue

Description: A set of nonstick pans
Pitch: "The fast, easy way to cook gourmet family meals every day"
Offer: 4 pay of $49.95 with free shipping
Bonus: 3-piece steamer/fryer set, 5-piece bakeware set (free)
Brand: Granitestone
Marketer: Emson (2020 True Top Marketer)
Producer: Hutton-Miller (2020 True Top Producer)
Visit Website

The first blue pan is DRTV history was IdeaVillage's Yoshi Blue, which became one of the True Top Spenders of 2012.

In 2018, The Cookware Company launched its Blue Diamond pan and has put out three line extensions since then, including a griddle and a "Dutch oven" pot.