Direct Response Marketing

But Wait, There's More: 16 Years of D?j? Vu All Over Again

1 Sep, 2005 By: John Parkin Response

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As I sat recently in the bar area of what was once known as the Loews in Monte Carlo (now the Fairmont Monte Carlo Grand Hotel), attending yet another Electronic Retailing Association (ERA) convention and gazing across the magnificent Mediterranean bay, I was reminded not so much of the view but of the feeling of Déjàu — that sense we all encounter from time to time of being here before.

John Parkin

As I turned to view the populace, buzzing with its own sense of purposeful destiny, I was reminded of all the similar occasions when their paths had crossed.

I saw the "new faces" that replaced the "old new faces" of the last few conventions — those keen and determined souls who, for whatever reason, couldn't or just didn't last the first few laps, let alone the course.

I saw the hardcore movers mixing with the hardcore shakers and thought, "Hold on a moment! Has time really stood this still?"

When I first donned the now infamous red bow tie and suspenders back in the late 1980s, breaking new ground with a car wax (that wasn't a wax) whose ultimate testimony was that even a "fired" up Rolls Royce was not a match for this super new surface treatment, DRTV was a game — a lucrative occupation involving a small number of players. As the game got bigger and the stakes got higher, the number of successful players increased — but not proportionally.

With this influx, the game became a business only shortly before it appointed its own referees to establish itself as an industry. Under the guise of self-regulation came a quasi-respectability (let's not forget that the umpires were made up of the people playing the game), which lent itself to an air of borrowed credibility essential in any "pitch"— especially the pitch to net the big fish.

Yet after all this organizational input, do our nets contain the Fortune 500 marlin or are we still landing the cod, the tuna and the sole? Personally, I have always thought we were in the business of selling no matter what — a sprat today, a mackerel tomorrow and, every now and then, a big one took the bait. Bingo ... life was good.

Now, after 16 years in this business and attending these events, it seems I see essentially the same players make the same moves, employing the same game plans, winning the same games.

With the development of the international arena, if one looks from the outside in, history is simply repeating itself. The pioneering presence of the Harrington brothers in the United States, Kevin and Tim — whose vision made the industry what it is today — can now be seen in Simply TV in the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, the solidified positioning of National Media (a.k.a. Quantum) and Guthy-Renker has been cemented outside the states by Kym Bramm's Interglobal and Amir Tukulj of Thane.

However, deals are still cut in a hotel or some convention café over coffee. Bartering over a Bud at the bar still seems the best way to move the business forward. I guess some things will never change.

Of course, every rule has an exception, and the cost of getting to the table — or the price that has to be paid to attend the cocktail parties where most attendees' priority is to get out as quickly as possible — is constantly on the increase. Until we all recognize what we are all truly about — in the business of selling and making money period — then we only have ourselves to blame.

John Parkin is famous for the red bowtie and suspenders he wore when began hosting infomercials in 1989 for the automotive wax product, Auri. He has also hosted shows for Colorcote 2000, Touchless, Regal Royal Diamond Cookware, Astonish, Rocket Chef, Quick Cooker and Power Chopper. Parkin lives in northern England and can be reached at
parkinjohn@aol.com

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