A. Eicoff & Company: Press Releases

Google Turns to Direct Response TV

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

By Steve McClellan

In a deal that buyers have been pushing for, Google TV struck an agreement last week to integrate its ad buying platform with the industry's leading transaction processor for the direct response TV industry, CoreDirect.

For Google, the deal represents another stake that the company's Internet-based TV auction platform has been able to drive into the turf of traditional TV. For DRTV buyers, it makes the process of buying spots via Google much easier to analyze.

"I've been working with both sides [GoogleTV and CoreDirect] to help them understand our needs to make this happen," said Heather Lang, vp, associate group media director at A. Eicoff, the Chicago-based direct response firm. "They've finally nailed it down and it's working."

For DRTV advertisers the Google platform provides new insights into how to craft creative messages for spots, said Lang. "Their set-top box data shows us down to the second where customers are tuning out of spots," she said. "We haven't had that kind of granularity before." And now, with the CoreDirect agreement, GoogleTV spots will flow directly into analytical software, saving enormous amounts of time, she said.

The deal comes at a time when advertisers are demanding more precise ROI metrics from their agencies and when DRTV spending is on an upswing -- up 36 percent in 2007 -- while other media segments are near flat or down. With the agreement, said Roman Alemania, media supervisor at DirectPartners, Marina del Rey, Calif., "we are starting to achieve some of our most efficient response costs in our campaigns."

As Published in ADWEEK, October 20th, 2008

http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/agency/e3ie08aadb553c2ade9ab11da0ebf68e4e2

TV Commercials Are Dead! Long Live the TV Commercial!

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

By Bill McCabe
Senior VP
A.Eicoff & Co.

Ten years from now, television commercials will cease to exist.

This prediction is being whispered in the corridors of ad agencies, in television network hallways and in the meeting rooms of blue chip advertisers.

It is a prediction based on certain statistics and trends. For instance, an Advertising Age study found that the top 100 advertisers shifted $1 billion last year from television and newspapers to the web. In addition, experts estimate that 40% of households will have DVR capabilities by 2012, making it easy for viewers to watch programs without having to watch commercials. And market research firm Outsell Inc. recently reported that online advertising this year is expected to increase 12.3% and reach $105.3 billion, exceeding the combined amount spent on radio and television advertising for the first time.

So is the television commercial doomed? Not at all. Contrary to these statistics, certain types of commercials are healthier than they’ve ever been. Ten years from now, traditional 30-second, brand-building network spots may be scarce, but we’re going to see a new breed of commercial—a breed that is more measurable, flexible and targeted than what we’re used to.

Yet media pundits are quick to tar all television commercials with the same brush. They envision a time in the not-too-distant future where all stations will be similar to HBO and programming will be supported solely by subscribers and other ancillary income sources.

The problem is that these pundits are mistaking an evolution in viewer advertising attitudes for a revolution. People have always complained about commercials and sometimes muted the television when they air. But they have also accepted them as the price they pay for their favorite programming. There’s no evidence that this is changing. Huge numbers of people are still watching their favorite network programs, sporting events and talk shows in “real” time and sitting through the commercials. An unwritten pact exists between viewers and advertisers: You give us good programs and we’ll accept a certain amount of advertising.

This pact will remain in place in the future, though with modifications. Viewers have more leverage than ever before; they can watch commercial-free cable stations; they can zap commercials; they can download their programs commercial-free to various hand-held electronic devices.

As the balance of power shifts, so too will the type of commercials that air. As television becomes a much more individualized, responsive medium, commercials will follow suit. 30-second network “glamour” spots were perfect for a mass medium. As the medium becomes more specialized and as the individual viewers exercise greater power over what is viewed, we’re going to see more direct response commercials, more spots designed to lead viewers to web sites and more viewer-controlled advertising.

If you look closely at emerging trends in television advertising, you’ll see that many of these the predictions are already taking shape. Even an casual observer will notice that a much greater variety of spots exist now than ten years ago: longer-length spots for packaged goods products, a continuing expansion of direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical commercials, a boom in direct response high ticket offers for cars and travel and a growing number of not-for-profits taking advantage of television’s fundraising power. If you look a bit more closely, you’ll also notice that more commercials are including web site addresses that, when viewers click on their sites, offer them various options: watching infomercials, finding tech specs, requesting a sales call.

Convergence technology will increase viewer control to the point that people may be given commercial options: choose between ten commercials, each for a different type of car; or the choice may be between a car commercial, a spot for a piece of athletic equipment and one for an airline.

If you still believe that television advertising is on the verge of extinction, consider three key advantages it has over web sites and other new media.

First, it partners well telemarketers. Viewers are accustomed to calling an 800 number after seeing a direct response commercial. They want to talk to a knowledgeable human being. It is a well-conditioned reflex, one that doesn’t work nearly as effectively on web sites. Browsing is an internet term, and that is exactly what people do when they visit a web site. Sites have not yet developed a similarly effective response mechanism.

Second, commercials on television are more impactful than commercials that run in the new media. A larger screen and a superior sound system allow commercials to have a much greater impact on viewers than the smaller screens and poorer sound of many computers, smart phones, etc.

Third, people don’t zap most commercials. DVRs are primarily used for top-rated network programs. The vast majority of television programming—reruns, older movies, talk shows and so on—aren’t recorded. On top of that, the majority of viewers don’t use DVRs frequently or at all. Television remains a passive medium. Most people prefer to sit there and watch rather than “do” anything, even if technology makes it simple to do away with commercials.

Rather than make the argument that television advertising is dying, a better argument is that television advertising is changing. It is morphing into a much more specialized, responsive strategy than in the past, and for advertisers that pick up on this trend, it will be an even more effective strategy than ever before.

Television Advertising's Salvation

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

By Bill McCabe
Senior Vice President
A. Eicoff & Co.

Can DRTV save television advertising from going the way of the dinosaur?

As advertisers shift significant dollars from television and into the web and as technology makes it easier than ever before for viewers to zap commercials, doom and gloom scenarios for television advertising abound. More than one media pundit has predicted that television stations will all eventually adopt the HBO model and make their money through subscriber fees and ancillary income.

What these pundits have failed to factor into their predictions, however, is DRTV. Direct response television traditionally does well in a recession, and this one is no exception. Offers for high ticket items, not-for-profit fundraising, web-site focused spots and direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical commercials are just some DRTV areas that are thriving.

More to the point, all the signs point to DRTV doing even better in the future.

First, consider an emerging trend—the diversification of DRTV spots. If you study the commercials that air in a given non-network, non prime time period, you’ll discover a startling variety of spots—a variety that didn’t exist until relatively recently. You’ll find hybrid DRTV/retail spots designed to generate sales directly and in stores; you’ll see direct response commercials for a range of high ticket offers (cars, travel, consumer electronics, home exercise equipment); you’ll come across numerous not-for-profit fundraising ads.

Second, the Internet has actually helped rather than hurt DRTV budgets. There’s no question that a significant percentage of advertisers have shifted dollars out of television and into Internet advertising. Yet most of these dollars have come from blue chip advertisers running 15- and 30-second spots on prime time, network shows. As viewership numbers go down, they naturally don’t want to continue paying an arm and a leg for these spots. Yet they see DRTV as a natural conduit to their web sites. In fact, we’re seeing a growing number of spots where the primary goal is to drive viewers to advertisers’ sites.

Third, as cable and satellite stations continue to proliferate and the number of subscribers continues to increase, DRTV will be the beneficiary. Since cable’s earliest days, DRTV has been its perfect advertising partner. With its more affluent audiences (than broadcast stations) and its specialized offerings, cable/satellite is tailor-made for DRTV advertisers. They can do a better job of matching an offer with the audience of a given station, and they can sell higher-ticket items because of higher income levels of viewers.

Fourth, DRTV is a highly versatile strategy, one that can adapt to the new media. Invariably, we’re going to see a great number of direct response spots running on web sites and smart phones, not just on television. As a response-based strategy, it is naturally well-suited to phones and computers, since it’s easier to respond to an offer with these devices than through the television-telephone combination. Perhaps more significantly, we’re bound to see advertisers creating traditional television DRTV spots to drive viewers to web sites to choose from a series of specialized DRTV offers. A car company, for instance, may run a “generalized” DRTV commercial on TNT, and then viewers who go to the advertised web site can choose from spots for the company’s 10 models.

Fifth, the High Definition trend is perfect for DRTV’s bread and butter: demonstration spots. From the earliest days of television, direct marketers have known that the more compelling the demonstration, the greater the response. Some products don’t demonstrate as well on television as they do live, in large part because mediocre picture quality and sound blunts the power of the presentation. HDTV coupled with large screens and superior sound systems are changing all this, and it’s going to make television an ideal medium for demonstrations of everything from high-end kitchen gadgets to home exercise equipment.

What all this means is that television advertising is going to change rather than disappear. It’s going to evolve in a response-oriented direction. In fact, I don’t believe I’m being overly bold in predicting that at some point in the future, every television commercial will include a response vehicle. Even brand-building, prime time network spots will provide viewers with a way to talk back, to ask questions and to voice their opinion. Advertisers are pretty smart. Once they realize that viewers are ready, willing and able to respond to just about anything that airs, they’re going to find ways to facilitate that response. Web sites may be a part of every commercial, superimposed on the screen from the commercial’s start to its finish. As technologies converge, a button may exist on the remote that allows viewers to respond immediately with all sorts of purchases, information requests or ideas.

None of this is bad, unless you’re a traditional advertiser or agency that refuses to accept that the DRTV spot that once aired in the wee hours of the night is entering the prime time spotlight.

You've Lost That Selling Spirit

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Why television spots fail to make a sale, and what brands and agencies can do about it

-By Ron Bliwas
July 14, 2008

Television commercials are losing their ability to sell. This thought came to me after being inducted into the Direct Marketing Association Hall of Fame a few months ago, when someone asked me how TV advertising had changed over the past 40 years.

Admittedly, as a television direct response advertising practitioner, I'm biased in favor of commercials that sell. But my statement applies to all types of television commercials. From image-focused car commercials to boundary-pushing beer ads to direct response insurance offers, these spots don't motivate viewers to take action -- to go to a store, to call a toll-free number, to visit a Web site. By and large, most commercials are unable or unwilling to make the cash register ring.

Why? Because product demonstrations tend to be poorly conceived and executed (or not used at all). Because toll-free numbers and Web addresses are presented poorly: They're not on the screen long enough; they appear at the wrong time, and the commercial doesn't compel viewers to get off the couch and respond. Because too many commercials focus on being clever and conceptual rather than creatively communicating reasons to buy. Commercials today seem almost embarrassed to ask for the order, as if doing so might offend viewers' sensibilities.

It wasn't this way in the early days of television, when commercials sold with bravado and tremendous effectiveness. Of course, what worked then would never work today because viewers have become much more sophisticated buyers -- they'd be turned off by the crude look and hyperbole of some of the spots. What would work, though, is recapturing the selling spirit of those early commercials. I believe you can learn a lot from history, so let me share a bit of television advertising history with you.

Until Federal Communications Commission chairman Newton Minnow delivered his "vast wasteland" speech in 1961 and the maximum commercial length was set at two minutes, spots were sometimes five to 10 minutes or even longer. Some of these longer commercials were actually listed in the television section of the newspaper and were as popular as the programs they competed against.

In a number of instances, advertisers brought in professional pitchmen from carnivals, department stores, open-air city markets and the Atlantic City boardwalk, trained the camera on them and gave them free rein to sell. And sell they did -- slicers and dicers, car polish, cosmetics, real estate and jewelry.

The production standards of these early commercials were low. The pitchmen often looked disreputable. The odds are that at least some of them stretched the truth to make a sale.

When they were finished, though, you wanted to buy. The demonstrations were compelling: They set cars on fire to demonstrate the durability of a car polish; they made chopping vegetables look easy and fun. They worked their audience into a buying mode, building on the benefits and presenting an airtight case for why you couldn't do without a product. They motivated with meaningful premiums, warnings that the deal wouldn't be available for long and slashed prices.

Pitchmen weren't concerned about building brands, an integral part of television advertising today, even for those of us doing television direct-response work. But it's possible to build a brand and sell at the same time. Too often, though, advertisers and their agencies act as if they're mutually exclusive activities. They rarely incorporate tried-and-true selling tactics into their spots -- testimonials, call-to-action devices, demonstrations, guarantees -- as if these techniques might somehow taint their brand building.

Too many spots focus on being provocative, funny or emotional, but fail to make a sale. Viewers scratch their heads, laugh or cry, but they don't buy.

To recapture the selling spirit, I suggest these tactics:

Create longer commercials. Some products and services are too complex to be sold effectively in 30 seconds, and a longer length allows for better demonstrations or more compelling offers.
Use a two-step process. The commercial should be the first step to drive customers to call a number, visit a store or go to a Web site. For many products and services -- especially high-ticket ones-it's much easier to sell viewers on taking a no-commitment step than actually buying. Once they make the effort to take this step, however, they qualify themselves and greatly increase the odds they'll buy if the second step is handled effectively.
Include an act-now reason. Try this experiment: Watch 10 commercials and see how many of them give you a good reason to buy now rather than later. Not many. Act-now reasons can be anything from limited-date offers to special pricing. One caveat: These reasons need to be presented with more conviction and sophistication than a car dealer's ad.
Tell agencies to create spots that sell. Agencies are perfectly capable of creating commercials that produce results, but they won't do so unless advertisers give them that direction.

Let me assure you that I'm not suggesting that all commercials should resemble late-night pitches for personal injury lawyers. That would simply make a bad situation worse. What I am suggesting is that television advertising is in danger of forgetting its true purpose, and that when commercials stop making the cash register ring, advertisers will look toward other media to achieve that goal.

Ron Bliwas is CEO and president, Ogilvy & Mather's A. Eicoff & Co.

As Published in ADWEEK, July 14th, 2008

http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/community/columns/other-columns/e3i5dab627a6e5e9f670127924ab621c819

Bliwas and Morgan Inducted into DMA Hall of Fame

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0700

Chicago — Ronald L. Bliwas, president/CEO of A. Eicoff & Company, the largest direct response television agency in the nation, and Charles D. Morgan, chairman of the board and company leader of Acxiom Corporation, a firm that integrates data, services, and technology, were inducted into the Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA) Hall of Fame at a luncheon today.

DMA Hall of Fame Committee Chair Marjorie Kalter, Ph.D., academic program director and clinical professor at New York University, presented the awards to Bliwas and Morgan. The awards, which are DMA’s highest honor, were presented during the DMA07 Conference & Exhibition, the multichannel global marketing event of the year, which concludes on Thursday at McCormick Place West in Chicago.

Ronald L. Bliwas
President/Chief Executive Officer, A. Eicoff & Company

As the head of A. Eicoff & Company for 27 years and an employee of the agency for 37 years, Ron Bliwas has earned a reputation as one of the country’s leading and most respected authorities on direct-response television advertising. Under Bliwas’ leadership, Eicoff has grown to become one of the top 10 agencies in Chicago, greatly expanding its client base over the years to include companies such as Sears, Bose Electronics, New York Life, and Ameritrade.

Bliwas writes and speaks frequently about television advertising, and his expertise and accomplishments have received widespread recognition. He has been named one of the most influential people in Chicago by Crain’s Chicago Business; has received similar recognition from Response TV magazine; and has been interviewed by Mike Wallace to provide “60 Minutes” viewers with an overview of the DRTV business.

In 2007, Bliwas’ book, The C Student’s Guide to Success, was published by Penguin (under the Tarcher imprint). It has been named a Book-of-the-Month Club selection and has received praise from The Washington Post, Chicago Magazine, and other publications.

In 2005, Bliwas served as DMA’s chairman of the board and today continues to serve on the DMA board. He also serves on Taylor Capital Group, Inc.’s Board of Directors, the University of Arizona National Board of Advisors, the Board of Friends of Prentice (Northwestern Memorial Hospital Foundation), and Illinois Institute of Technology’s Psychology Department Board of Overseers.

A 1964 graduate of the University of Arizona with a B.S. in marketing, Bliwas also received a degree from Northwestern University’s Institute for Advanced Advertising Studies.

Charles D. Morgan
Chairman of the Board and Company Leader, Acxiom Corporation

Charles D. Morgan is company leader of Acxiom Corporation. Under his leadership, Acxiom has expanded from a small data processing company into a global corporation that provides customer and information management solutions for many of the world’s largest, most respected companies. Earlier this month, Morgan announced that he would retire as company leader upon the selection of a successor.

After six years at IBM as a systems engineer, in 1972, Morgan joined Acxiom as vice president. Since 1975, he has served as the company’s chief executive officer and chairman of its board of directors. In 1991, he assumed the additional title of president. His title became company leader when Acxiom eliminated executive titles in 1997.

Morgan maintains a keen interest in technology and continues to participate actively in setting Acxiom’s technical direction. By instilling a unique business culture and vision of success, he has become one of the few executives in the country to see his company named five times to Fortune’s coveted “100 Best Places to Work” list.

In 2001, Morgan served as DMA’s chairman of the board. He also served for eight years as chairman of the board of trustees at Hendrix College and continues to serve as a trustee.

In 2002, Morgan joined 13 other senior executives from leading US companies to form the Mailing Industry CEO Council, which aims to unify the mailing industry and promote the critical role that mail plays in business and commerce. That same year, he joined the Enterprise Software CEO Roundtable, a group of approximately 30 chief executives and other high-ranking officials from the world’s largest software companies, who meet to share ideas and review industry trends.

A native of Fort Smith, AR, Morgan is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.

About the DMA Hall of Fame

DMA’s Hall of Fame honors those who have made outstanding contributions to the practice, growth, and stature of direct marketing. Since it was established in 1978, DMA has honored 91 men and women whose vision and leadership have helped shape today’s data-driven, multichannel marketing profession.

URL as effective as toll-free number

Fri, 08 Dec 2006 00:00:00 -0800

From DM News
By Ron Bliwas, President & CEO, A. Eicoff & Company

Most of you are aware that the inclusion of URLs in commercials is having a huge impact on our business. You may be unaware, however, that parallels exist between these proliferating URLs and the advent of toll-free numbers in direct response spots about 30 years ago. By examining these parallels, we can see how the current trend is changing DRTV on many levels.

Many commercials today incorporate URLs into their spots, some for true measurement purposes and others not. From high-budget, brand-building commercials to traditional, longer-length DRTV ones, Web site addresses are everywhere. The industry is buzzing with talk about the impact of URLs, just as the industry buzzed when 800 numbers were introduced in DRTV commercials.

Some of you may recall the "old days" of DRTV before toll-free numbers, when handling calls from respondents was a logistical nightmare. It was the lowest-tech operation imaginable, with separate numbers and separate operators for each geographical area.

Many viewers were reluctant to call these numbers because they assumed they would be charged or because they had called once and couldn't get through - or they did get through and had to deal with an unprofessional operator who couldn't answer their questions or do much more than take the order.

Toll free numbers changed everything. Not only did they make it easier for viewers to order, but they were psychologically reassuring - people who were suspicious of the "ordinary" phone numbers appearing on the screen were reassured by the toll-free technology.

Over time, this technology enabled advertisers to provide callers with options for more information and ordering, to capture information that could be used for future database marketing efforts, to qualify callers for higher ticker lead generation offers and so on.

Richer Experience Online

Today, the use of Web site addresses in spots is having a similar impact.

First, it is making DRTV an even more accountable advertising medium. Just as 800 number technology made DRTV more accountable years ago, the technology is now in place to track a given television commercial's impact on Web site traffic.

We can now determine how many people visited a site after seeing a commercial and then clicked on the button for more information, used a retailer-locator feature, printed a Web site coupon or ordered the product off the site. More so than ever before, advertisers have been demanding greater accountability from their advertising, and the combination of DRTV and Web site technology meets this demand.

Second, this linkage is ideal for the growing number of high-ticket, high-concept offers currently airing. Just as toll free ordering attracted blue chip advertisers to DRTV and expanded the range of offers, URLs are having the same effect.

Think about the wave of direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical commercials. One of the problems with these spots is that viewers immediately want more detailed information about a given medication. Commercials linked to Web sites offer viewers the chance to find this information, especially as it applies to their particular condition.

Web sites also provide the advantage of anonymous information searches - many individuals don't want to share information about their health with anyone besides their doctor. This ability to offer a huge volume of information in an accessible and, at times interactive, format will entice any advertiser with an offer that demands more information before buying.

Third, and perhaps most important, these Web site connections make the entire buying process easier. One of the challenges DRTV has always faced is motivating people to leave whatever television show they've been watching to dial a number. Now they don't have to. They can simply slide over to their computer and be online in seconds.

In addition, as television and computer technologies become more integrated, they won't even have to move-they can access the site through the same remote that operates their television sets.

Imminent Integration

This is just the start of the revolution. Just as it took a little time for 800 numbers to catch on (some people actually distrusted the promise that they could make a call and wouldn't be charged for it), it will take awhile before DRTV spots and Web sites are in perfect harmony.

Advertisers still exist who don't understand how to use Web sites in commercials, which display the site address at the wrong time or in the wrong way.

Moreover, many advertisers lack "dedicated" sites - sites that are linked to specific commercials. As a result, it is difficult to track the impact of a spot on Web site traffic.

Nonetheless, these are problems that will resolve themselves with education and experimentation. In a relatively short period of time, we're going to see more innovative integration of DRTV and Web sites, and the impact will be as great if not greater than when 800 numbers changed our industry.

Ron Bliwas is president/CEO of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide's A. Eicoff & Company, a direct response television agency in Chicago. He is also a past chairman of the Direct Marketing Association's board. Reach him at ron.bliwas@ogilvy.com.

That Ad is So Entertaining...But Can It Sell? Who Knows

Wed, 17 Dec 2003 00:00:00 -0800

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