August 30, 2012

Weekly Round-Up

  1. Clear Call. Marketer: Allstar. Producer: Paddock Productions. Pitch: "The new large print caller ID." Comments: Written by yours truly. [ss]  
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  3. Bathtastic. Pitch: "The kid-smart solution to a happy shampoo." Comments: This is Bye Bye Tears under a new name. [ss]
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  5. Bump Shield. Pitch: "Protects your home by holding doors shut in the event of lock bumping." Comments: As it is, fear and prevention are a tough sell on DRTV. But when you have to educate people about the problem your product solves? That's a recipe for guaranteed failure. [ss]
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  7. Cool Way. Pitch: The flat iron that "stops the high heat damage cycle." Comments: Not a good category for short-form DR. [ss]
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  9. Dr. Tom's Rapid Foot Relief. Marketer: IdeaVillage. Producer: Blue Moon Studios. Pitch: "Roll it on, and the pain is gone." Comments: A 'fast fail.' [ss]
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  11. Flea Vac. Pitch: "Turn your vacuum into a flea killing machine." Comments: Selling the invisible. A replenishment item. Not a great combination. [ss]
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  13. Foot Bliss. Pitch: "The cure for dry, cracked feet." Comments: Should do well, especially at retail, but I'd be careful with those claims. [ss]
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  15. The Kruncher. Pitch: "The easy way to work out your abs." Comments: Nothing original about this one. Besides, given what just happened with Ab Circle, I'd be afraid to succeed in this category. [ss]
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  17. Revers-A-Pals. Pitch: "The game ball is about to change ... Throw it! Reverse it!" Comments: Cute product, but let me count the ways it is destined for failure: 1) wrong demographic, 2) segment of a segment, 3) seasonal, 4) has multiple SKUs. Yes, this one's right up there with football pizza on the list of items that were most wrong for DRTV. [ss]
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  19. Shock It Clean. Starring: Professor Amos. Pitch: "The only super-concentrated, multi-purpose cleaner you will ever need." Comments: So many attmempts ... so many failures. [ss]
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  21. Side Solution. Pitch: "Finally, a pillow made for side sleepers." Comments: "Finally"? Guess they never heard of the one that's already everywhere at retail? Also, if their pillow won't get you to sleep, watching the video on their site sure will! [ss]
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  23. Win Cleaner. Pitch: "It's like laundry detergent for your PC." Comments: I like the tag line and the spokeswoman. (She looks like this annoying telemarketer we used for the Clear Call spot.) But I don't like the product. The market has been too saturated with similar solutions. [ss]