December 2009 – Feature: The Art of the Script

Insights into the “Black Arts” of Direct Response Scriptwriting

By Rick Petry

“What we do is a kind of black arts. It’s magic,” says Jim McNamara, a veteran of more than 20 years of DRTV scripting who has penned hits for the likes of Guthy-Renker and Jenny Craig. McNamara was one of a quartet of seasoned DRTV writers who Electronic Retailer recently sat down with to get a better understanding of the process, best practices and pitfalls these experts have encountered over decades of experience writing both short- and long-form DRTV.

If Product Is King, Is The Emperor Wearing Clothes?
The first mission-critical objective for any DRTV program is to identify a product’s unique selling proposition (USP), traditional marketing parlance for the magical thing that differentiates one product from all others. “A lot of products don’t have a USP, only a P,” comments Geraldine Newman, a Clio-award-winning writer and director who first hit it big in DR with Buns of Steel. “A lot of marketers don’t go wide enough or deep enough. You have to find out what really makes a product work versus all of the others out there. I fascinate in the product. I bathe in the product.” Colleen Szot, an architect of hundreds of DRTV campaigns who cut her teeth on NordicTrack echoes that sentiment: “The first thing I want the marketer to do is send me the product. I want to touch it, see it, feel it and love it. They can’t send me enough information.”

At the end of the day, the USP is really about positioning, and Cesari Direct’s creative director, Ron Lynch, has a singular perspective on how to approach it: “One of the things we like to do is find a way to create a new category or market for somebody and then have them dominate that new market.” Lynch sites the example of the Hunter Fan Company, which had what the company thought of as an air purifier with two major obstacles: it was the most expensive on the market and had one of the largest footprints. By re-positioning the item and demonstrating it as an air sterilizer with wholly unique properties, Hunter was able to step out of the crowded air purifier category and create a whole new class of product.

Such thinking gets laid out in a roadmap known as a creative brief, the foundation document that articulates the basic who, what, where, when, how and why of a particular offering. McNamara sees the brief as his responsibility, whereas Szot’s view differs, “I’m the writer, not the strategist. I focus on the message and that’s it.” Lynch sees it as a collaborative effort that includes not only the client, but perhaps the call center and their inbound scriptwriter, a fulfillment company versed in offer strategies and others; however, aggregating the ideas and putting them down in words on paper falls to the writer.

Coalescing the team’s thinking typically involves a brainstorm that identifies all the elements that can be leveraged to help sell a product. These assets might include relationships with celebrity endorsers, demonstrations, before-and-after results, evangelical testimonials–in short, anything that can help the cause. Particular attention is paid to who is being targeted, although writers often rely on their own research and intuition to get into the skin of the prospective buyer. “It takes a lot of sensitivity,” remarks Newman. “Nobody knows the product better than the client, but the writer knows television and knows how to translate the ideas via the unique medium of TV,” adds McNamara.

From there, the writer will typically construct a number of different creative approaches in the form of a treatment, a brief synopsis that describes a variety of approaches to the creative. The marketing team then debates the merits of these different concepts, selects one or, in some cases, a hybrid of ideas, and then the author gets busy constructing an outline prior to scripting, a technique that can save time, frustration and the number of drafts required to get to a mutual agreement.

A Formula for Success?
Just how formulaic a DRTV script should be remains debatable. One school of thought suggests that short form built on the tried-and-true structure of problem, solution, features, benefits and an irresistible offer has paved the way for many a success and given consumers a short-hand template for fundamentally understanding when a direct offer is being made. Similarly, the three-pod nature of many infomercials capped by a traditional call to action that asks for the sale represents a set of conventions easily understood by viewing audiences. Szot advocates a return to such DR basics. “We need something that is demonstrable, that solves a problem and that people can afford, particularly in light of the down economy. The industry tends to mimic what’s going on in television programming, but programming doesn’t always have the answers.”

Lynch argues that the structure of many infomercials is actually derived from other forms of communication including three-act dramas and even remedial writing structure. “The assumption that the industry invented this formula is false. It’s something you learned in grade school as basic as a five-paragraph essay: one paragraph that tells you what you’re going to read, three paragraphs in defense of an argument and a concluding paragraph that recaps why you should be persuaded by what you were just exposed to.” Lynch likens the product to a hero who must overcome obstacles, reveal a secret and rise above all circumstances to conquer the villain who, in this case, is the proverbial problem the “hero” product solves.

Newman scores a direct hit with her take on slavishly following rules: “Why would you adhere to a rigid formula when the rate of success is typically one out of 25?” In fact, it’s clear that even in DR, every rule was made to be broken–perhaps. McNamara comments, “People who make infomercials that look like every other infomercial do themselves a disservice. You have to look at each situation individually. For example, I did a show for a seminar pitch that was linear and we didn’t ask for the order until the very end–very unconventional. And that approach did $50 million in sales.”

Likewise, celebrity spokespeople may or may not be the answer, but when paired with the right product, they can be a wonderful component on which the writer can unleash his or her imagination. “Stars and great spokespersons can add tremendous power to your spot or show,” enthuses McNamara. “Think of a Tony Robbins, a Tony Little, a Jay Kordich or a Suzanne Somers advertisement. Without these unique personalities, how would you do these shows? But of course, you still need the right words.”

Ultimately the script acts as a blueprint, but because so many elements in infomercials rely on spontaneity, the scripts frequently act more as guidelines. “Tony Little works off of bullet points,” Szot explains. Yet, she still scripts his words in an effort to ensure that the salient selling points are captured with deliberate intention.

The Keys to Successful Testimonials May Not Be On The Keyboard
Given how vital testimonials are to DRTV success, writers have strong opinions about the proper approach, but the vital common element is captured in a word heard often in marketing circles these days: authenticity. Szot begins the process by reviewing letters and e-mails from enthusiastic customers, then moves to telephone interviews where, she claims, she can quickly discern whether to put the consumer on the air.

Newman approaches testimonials with directions and intentions in mind, but prepares open-ended questions that will allow the testimonial to tell their story. “I avoid directing them, otherwise you make bad actors out of good people,” she says. Further, too much direction can cause people to shut down. And once that happens, according to Newman, “They’re dead. I want them out of control.”

Szot echoes that view, describing one fitness show that involved adult twins. One had worked out and gotten quite fit using an exercise bar, while the other was still grossly overweight. Szot interviewed the sisters together and asked the heavy twin how she felt. “That’s what started the waterworks.”

McNamara advocates for quality over quantity, “In the Proactiv shows, testimonials may take two minutes or longer. We want to give people time to tell their stories and move the audience.”

In most cases, the writers actually conduct the testimonial interviews, having done the spadework in advance by interviewing them over the telephone prior to their arrival on set. The writer understands their stories and has prepared the material necessary to, hopefully, extract the ideal, real and credible sound bites. Says McNamara, “The more the merrier when it comes to testimonials, because they’re so unpredictable. The ones you think are going to turn out great can be lousy. But real people will say things about a product you would never think of–and it’s pure gold.”

Don’t Try This At Home
With the longer lengths of DRTV, sometimes marketers are tempted to stuff too many messages into their shows in the misguided belief that if they cover as many bases as possible, the consumer will self-select a scenario that is relevant to them. Szot warns against this “kitchen sink” tendency: “Clients try to cram five features into a 60-second spot. I say one primary feature in a 60-second spot and two features in a two-minute one. Otherwise, it’s information overload.”

Testing many offers, however, is a different matter. Lynch recommends preparing four or five offers prior to the first airing of the show and going through with the testing process regardless of what the results are. Not a big fan of focus groups, he notes, “Broadcast is where the truth is told. Offers have to be tested in the real world. I convince myself in my mind what the highest possible price could be for an item and then I write with that level of perceived value in mind.”

The craft of writing involves a fascinating dichotomy; it’s something that many professionals loathe to do and yet it is also something that many untrained folks remain convinced they can do. “People don’t realize the skill and talent involved in writing,” comments Newman, “but they shouldn’t write their own ads anymore than they should perform their own dentistry.” Adds Lynch, “This is a collaborative art form that requires perspective, and the only way you can truly gain perspective is through different sets of eyes.”

Rick Petry is a freelance writer who specializes in direct marketing and is a past chairman of ERA. He can be reached at (503) 740-9065 or online at rickpetry.com or twitter.com/thepetrydish.