Perfect Cooker

Description: An electric pot
Main Pitch: "One touch, one pot, one perfect cooker"
Main Offer: 2 pay of $19.99 for one
Marketer: Tristar
Watch the spot

This is a great product and another reason for me to be excited. It combines the convenience of a slow cooker with the versatility of a cooking pot and it's portable. If there's a negative, it's the challenge of communicating so much in a two-minute format. It will be so much easier to explain this and build the pitch in long form and/or a live-shopping segment.

S7 Analysis: This one passes the S7 with flying colors. I could invent concerns, but they would all seem pretty minor.

Weekly Round-Up

1. Pancake Express. Marketer: Spark Innovators. Pitch: "Quickly measures, mixes and dispenses." Comments: There's some reason to believe DRTV buyers are interested in pancakes, but the successes have all been pans. In 2002, Merchant Media and a company called Allied dueled with a pancake pan (Perfect Pancake vs. Pancake Wizard), and in 2013 Allstar and Telebrands dueled with an updated version (Perfect Pancake II vs. Flip Jack). I tend to doubt people will be interested in an easier way to make pancake batter, though. It's already pretty easy, and the benefit of this gadget must be weighed against its cost -- in dollars and cabinet space. [ss]
 
2. Bubble Saucer. Pitch: "The amazing flying bubble machine." Comments: Looks like fun. Kids love bubbles and many like Frisbees. Not sure if they'll buy such a thing off TV, though. [ss]
 
3. Easy Carry Clip Shadz. Pitch: "Easily clip on to your prescription eyewear." Comments: This might have a shot under the HD Vision brand with a better commercial. As it is, it's not very exciting -- and it also faces the 'segment of a segment' issue. [ss]
 
4. Forever Wipers. Pitch: "Put a razor-sharp edge on dull wiper blades." Comments: This one's a tough read. Do people think of wiper blades in the literal sense? That is, do they think of them like razor blades and believe it's sharpness that matters? I don't think of them that way, but I've never asked around to find out what others think. [ss]
 
5. Garden Genie. Pitch: "The gardening gloves that let you dig and plant without hand tools" Comments: This seems like it's designed for hard-core gardeners, and that segment has proved difficult to target. In other words, the best gardening products for DRTV have spillover appeal to non-gardeners. [ss]
 
6. Glow Sharks. Pitch: "Turn your boring, ordinary bath water into a glow-in-the-dark tub party." Comments: Given the success of Party in the Tub and Shower Wow, there may be something here. Then again, it's only good for one use (like a glow stick), so that could be a barrier to purchase. Probably a good checkout item. [ss]
 
7. Sleep Sitting Up. Pitch: "Chin pillow was designed to provide comfortable sleep while sitting up." Comments: Truly bizarre. SNL couldn't do better. I'm sad it won't go far because I'd love to see the parodies and read the online comments! [ss]
 
8. Ultimate Jar Opener. Pitch: "Makes opening jars easy." Comments: Neat item, but probably too utilitarian. There's no real "wow." [ss]

Recline & Unwind

Description: A 5-mode massaging pad
Main Pitch: "Turns any recliner into a spa"
Main Offer: $39.99 for one
Bonus: 2nd one (just pay a separate fee)
Marketer: Telebrands
Watch the spot

I'm excited about this project and several others I have been seeing. It seems people are committed to helping me answer a question I posed on the ERA blog at the end of last year: Is $40 the new $20? Thanks for the help, industry!

As for this particular product, it feels out of time to me. There was a period when massage chairs were all the rage. It may have been as far back as when Sharper Image was still in business. Stores like that one and rival Brookstone certainly used massaging devices as a big draw, especially during the holidays. And many DRTV marketers took that as a cue there might be an opportunity. But aside from the bizarre Air-O-Sage that Igia rolled out in 2003 (Telebrands also did it under the name Air Press Massager), I can't think of any noteworthy hits.

S7 Analysis: Perhaps in no small part because of the Sharper Image and Brookstone wars, I feel like massage is a crowded category. I also have doubts about the needed criterion. If people are going to spoil themselves, I tend to think they'll spring for the real deal. This seems like a half-measure.

Selfie Starlite

Description: A star-shaped 'selfie' light
Main Pitch: "Gives you crisp, clear photos and videos every time"
Main Offer: $10 for one in white, one in black and pouch
Bonus: Double the offer, selfie stick (just pay a separate fee)
Marketer: Telebrands
Watch the spot

There has been no evidence so far that DRTV marketers can cash in on the 'selfie' trend. Believe me, I've tried. The reasons are fairly obvious in retrospect: The demographic is all wrong and the category (phone & tablet accessories) has the worst track record in our industry. This particular product also has a design that's bound to be polarizing. Some will think it's cute, others childish or silly. Do the calculation, and those are some pretty long odds.

S7 Analysis: Another way of saying 'wrong demo' is 'wrong target.' I'm also not sure how many people need better selfie lighting. Even for the most phone-obsessed teen, this seems like a problem that would be low on the scale. But I could be wrong about that. Teens could think it's positively devastating that their selfies are so dark. I wouldn't really know without some further research.

SciMark Report from March Response

My SciMark Report in print for March is now available on the Response Website.

In this month's issue, instead of writing about duels, I cover three marketers doing their own thing: IdeaVillage with Flexi-Frisbee, Telebrands with Fresh Pops and Tristar with the Perfect Posture Bra.