Review: Slim Belt

Description: An "invisible" belt with a flat buckle
Main Pitch: "Eliminates sags, gaps and bulges" and "gives you a slimmer appearance"
Main Offer: $10 for one belt in clear
Bonus: Second belt in black (just pay separate P&H)
Marketer: Ontel Products
Producer: Blue Moon Studios
Website: www.BuySlimBelt.com
Product (D7) Score: 5 out of 7
Commercial Rating: Good

This product is positioned toward slim young women. Unfortunately, that group is under-represented among DRTV buyers. There is a way to position it toward older, larger women, but I recognize the challenges of showing such women in a commercial. Still, I think it has to be done to make the product sell. I would reconsider the creative, which is very well done otherwise, from that perspective.

Then again, maybe the problem this solves is too small and the item is too much of a commodity to excite the impulse to "call now." Women also view a belt as an accessory, which means personal taste and the rules of fashion come into play. Any time this is the case, the odds of DRTV success decrease significantly. Sometimes the rules can be broken, especially when the utility of a product is strong (Buxton Bag is a case in point). But many times women put fashion above functionality, and that kills the sale.

AJ on CNN

AJ Khubani, president of Telebrands and a Founding Father of DRTV, appeared on CNN recently to explain why our industry is a "bright spot" in an otherwise gloomy economy. His description of DRTV media buying ("beachfront property at trailer park prices") is an instant classic.

Review: Easy Bake Sheet

Description: Silicon baking pan
Main Pitch: "Bake food evenly without the
sticky mess"
Main Offer: $14.95 for one tray plus the book, "50 Better Baking Recipes"
Bonus: Titan Peeler plus a second tray
(just pay S&H)
Marketer: Tristar Products
Website: www.EasyBakeSheet.com
Product (D7) Score: 5 out of 7
Commercial Rating: Good

My thoughts on this product are the same as my thoughts on Harvest Direct's Sili Strong, since the items are similar. In my December review of the product, I wrote that silicon bakeware "has some potential," but worried that it's too "widely available at retail, and most people get by fine with their regular bakeware and some tinfoil." This product has a much better name, but it faces the same challenges.

As for the commercial, it did a better job selling me on the product than the Sili Strong spot, but I still found a few areas for improvement. Both spots focused too much on the strength of the pan, in my opinion, when it's really the "no-stick" message that's compelling. For example, this commercial's magic demo is the pan supporting a dumbbell. I'm not sure why that's important. Instead, I would have loved to have seen a "torture test" where the stickiest mess imaginable is baked in and then, like magic, slides right of the pan with no residue left behind.

I also think the color choices for both products is odd. Red seems to be the favorite color. This product also comes in teal. For some reason, those colors make the product seem less credible. Why not just go with "pan gray"?

Review: HD Vision Readers

Description: HD Vision sunglasses with built-in bifocals
Main Pitch: "Like two glasses in one" (sunglasses and reading glasses)
Main Offer: $19.99 for one pair
Bonus: Second pair (just pay S&H)
Marketer: IdeaVillage
Producer: Morgan James
Website: www.HDReaders.com
Product (D7) Score: 6 out of 7
Commercial Rating: Good

Full disclosure: I worked on this campaign.

IdeaVillage seems to have discovered a magic formula with its HD Vision line of sunglasses. Years ago, the original HD Vision sunglasses were a solid hit (No. 25 on the Jordan Whitney annual for 2002). Last year, the company introduced HD Vision Wraparounds and discovered another bona-fide hit that continues to sell well (currently No. 38 on the IMS Top 50).

In December of last year, IdeaVillage reintroduced its original product under the name HD Vision Ultras. So far, there's been no evidence of success despite a 6 out of 7 rating by me and a very strong offer. The curse of the line extension in reverse? Maybe. But I don't think that will apply to this product. Here's why ...

While HD Vision lenses alone may not be enough to have a hit these days, HD Vision lenses plus a unique twist seem to do just fine. In the case of HD Vision Wraparounds, the twist was that they fit over prescription eyeglasses. In this case, the twist is that they have reading glasses built in.

What's truly amazing about the success of these products is also the reason why I can only give them a  6 out of 7: They target a niche market -- people who wear glasses. I suspect the reason this doesn't seem to matter is that this group isn't a niche when you're talking about DRTV buyers, a group consisting mostly of Baby Boomers and Seniors, people who tend to suffer from age-related vision problems.

Review: Wizzit

Description: A pair of electric tweezers
Main Pitch: "Finds, grabs and removes unwanted hair from the roots, and keeps it from growing back for weeks"
Main Offer: $19.95 for one unit with carry pouch
Bonus: Multi-piece manicure kit (just pay additional S&H)
Marketer: Unknown
Producer: Unknown
Website: www.BuyWizzit.com
Product (D7) Score: 6 out of 7
Commercial Rating: Poor

This product has been done before and done better -- as Tristar's Tweeze. In fact, Tweeze is still on the market and selling strong, from what I can tell.

I rarely give a DRTV spot a rating below "OK," but this one deserves its "poor" rating. With the exception of the animation, it does a terrible job of demonstrating the product. The writing could also use work.

If this campaign does well at all, it will be on the strength of the product and the category. But the bottom line is that this product is two years too late and has no shot against Tweeze at retail, which raises an important question: Why bother?