Doug Garnett

In Response’s January issue, I introduced the Six Degrees of DRTV™ that Atomic Direct uses to deliver maximum impact. That article showed how balancing direct and retail sales delivers better total results.

It’s no secret that the successful execution of a DRTV campaign can be difficult. Sometimes it’s temping to just find a good formula that works and stick with it. But the truth is when we stay within our comfort zone, we leave tremendous profit potential untapped. In DRTV, that means the full...more >>

Google needs an infomercial. So does Kindle — and so do many new technology products for consumer use.

The DRTV industry has come a long way during the past 25 years. Yet the one-dimensional nature of too many campaigns leaves DRTV’s richest potential untapped — by both traditional and brand marketers. Looking forward, our industry must move from its simplistic starting points to a more complex...more >>

One of my employees recently attended a talk by the head of a large brand DRTV agency. This executive claimed that there is no reason to do research early in a project. Why? It hasn’t helped increase success at his agency.

Infomercials are the only TV advertising that consumers choose to watch. After all, when consumers see traditional TV spots, the choice they’ve made is to watch a program — not the spots.

The death of television advertising was first rumored decades ago with fears that remote controls and the VCR would put advertisers out of business. When digital video recorders (DVRs) appeared more than 10 years ago, we were once again told that TV advertising would die. Now the "TV killer" idea...more >>

Over the years, DRTV has been driven by a single-minded focus on TV sales. In this one-dimensional approach, the MER (ratio of TV sales to media cost) becomes the single most important measurement of campaign success.

In case you haven't heard, we're in a recession. And news outlets couldn't be happier.

I was saddened to read about The Sharper Image's bankruptcy and that they have been forced to seek suitors to purchase their assets. Sadness aside, those of us in the DRTV business must take notice of this failure. In its heyday, The Sharper Image had one of three campaigns that the traditional...more >>