How to work with your infomercial producer to create a successful DRTV production

By Greg Sarnow

Entrepreneurs and marketers often suffer from unrealistic expectations when they hire infomercial producers. What's more, they often miss key opportunities that eventually lead to frustration and disappointment. However, the great opportunity DRTV offers frequently gets lost, because many entrepreneurs and marketers do not know how to work with a producer effectively.

Recently, one CEO of a corporation that brings in about $50 million a year decided to launch a new product using DRTV. His questions about his role in the production process perfectly went to the heart of the question: How can I maximize the results of my DRTV campaign? Following are some of the CEO's questions, along with some helpful answers that many direct marketers and entrepreneurs can use as a guideline for collaborating with their own DRTV producer.

Q: Why is it so important for me to work closely with my producer?
A: When DRTV projects are done well, the rewards are great. Now, even Fortune 500 companies like Procter & Gamble look to successful brands like Oxy-Clean that have been built by DRTV. There is enormous potential in doing a DRTV campaign right. The marketer and the creative team join forces to work toward their common goal: selling the client's product. The marketer joins in the creative process of the production. Marc Mayhew of Mayhew-Breen Productions says it well: "Creativity is based on a series of starts and stops that, hopefully, advance the thinking behind the concept."

Q: What does the production process actually involve?
A: Every production contains a number of steps. The exciting thing is that they involve several important processes of great value to you. The more you understand about them ahead of time, the more you can take advantage of them to get the full benefit for your DRTV campaign. Let's take a closer look at these steps and how they will help you.

Launch meeting. Your first step after hiring a producer is the launch meeting. Here you tell the producer everything about your product and launch the creative process.

Treatment. After the launch meeting, the production team takes a little time to digest everything you told them and any ideas that emerged. Then they offer you two or three different outlines, each laying out a possible approach to your production. These outlines are called treatments. Treatments include: show format; ideas for using celebrities, hosts, experts and testimonials; critical elements in delivering your message; and creative openings for attracting viewers' attention.

Scriptwriting. Once you approve a treatment, the production team starts to create the script. A good script will prove its worth as a critical part of the entire production process and may take several weeks to finalize. Even the best scripts usually change throughout production--that's the nature of the creative process. A good change helps sharpen your goals and suggests other ways to refine your message.

Production shoot. The production team extracts a shot list from the script. This forms the basis for the main production shoot. The shoot may take place in a studio, a home or at a fancy location. The production shoot takes two or three days for an infomercial and one day for a DRTV short-form commercial. Although pressure or fatigue may mount at times, you will find these days irresistibly exciting. This is where you begin to see your ideas take shape!

Editing/Post production. After the production shoot, the production team begins editing. This process can take three to four weeks for an infomercial. Not only does the producer get to see the quality of the production days' work, but the team also sees the effectiveness of the script on-screen. After a few weeks, it is quite common to shoot additional footage or pick-up shots.

Offline edit. At this point, the show is pieced together without any of the finishing touches. Enough editing is completed that the client can get an idea of what the show will eventually look like and give feedback on the way the show will eventually look.

Online edit master. At last! You have a complete, broadcast-ready production. The online edit master goes to the dub house and then gets sent to each television station selected by the media buyer for airing.

Q: Will the producer take care of all these steps?
A: In the words of Steve Howard, a 25-year veteran of the DRTV business, "for producers, there is nothing more frustrating than meeting a potential client, who may have a decent product, and hearing them say, 'I'm not really sure how to market this great product...why don't you tell me what you think?'" Your contribution to the process involves so much more than meeting the producers, showing them the product and assuming that they will do the rest. Nothing could be further from the truth. The launch meeting gives you your first important opportunity to collaborate with the producer.

Q: Why is the launch meeting so important?
A: From the launch meeting, the creative team will mine the gems that ultimately become the core of the show. Therefore, the launch meeting becomes the most critical time for a client to have input in the whole production process. The launch is like a data-sharing session, where your producer learns about your product and both your team and his team begin brainstorming ideas. This meeting will thrill you with its energy and dynamism. Be sure to come prepared!

Q: How can I prepare for my launch meeting?
A: Let's start with the basics. There are two scenarios.

Scenario 1: What if you've never sold a unit of the product you will market on television? Then a strategy to find out what will turn a viewer into a buyer has to be mapped out. While both you and your production team will have ideas about that, you are better off investing the large amount of capital needed for an infomercial after you know the answer! Maybe you'll go to a kiosk in the mall for a weekend, a flea market, a farmers market or a state fair. You'll have to get your product in front of people and figure out the language that will engage your customers and the offer that will entice them to purchase--now!

Scenario 2: If you have sold your product before, bring all the relevant marketing materials and tell the entire story behind your marketing efforts. How was this product sold in the past? Has the product been in retail? Did it sell through? Has it been on home shopping? What were sales per minute? If you did not achieve your intended results, what were the results? Do you have any ideas or research that would give insight into why consumer acceptance came in below expectations?

For either scenario, make a thorough list of all the features, benefits and advantages your product offers. Write down how every potential user will use your product, and why they will love using it. Before you go to the launch meeting, watch your competition's commercials. If you've studied their DRTV campaigns and come to the launch meeting with these commercials, you can have a meaningful strategic discussion. This will prove critical for positioning your product. It is best done before you start, not once your production is over.

Q: What should I do at the launch meeting?
A: Following is a helpful checklist. Tape the entire launch meeting. Use either a video or audio recorder. So many great ideas are raised that are often forgotten once the production process begins. Each party should get a copy of the tape.

Bring several samples of your product to the launch meeting. Also, be prepared to demonstrate it.

Highlight the features of the product or service. While demonstrating the product, explain all of its features. Features are an important component of the messaging the writer will need before writing the commercial. Features answer the question all consumers ask themselves: "Why should I believe you?"

Explain the benefits of the product or service. Even advertising professionals confuse the difference between a feature and a benefit. A feature tells consumers about how the product works. A benefit tells consumers why they want the product. Every product can include many benefits. Write each one down--that's important. If your product offers different benefits to different demographics, write each one of them down as well. Benefits answer the question all consumers ask themselves: "What's in it for me?"

Explain what is unique about your product. What makes your product different from any other product? Think of everything about your product that is unique or gives you an unquestionable advantage over your competition. Make a list you can leave with the producer.

Consider using celebrities. If you know of any celebrities who use your product, find out as much as you can about their willingness to participate in the production. They may make great hosts or endorsers.

Do you have testimonials? If so, bring as many details as possible about these people with you. Are they from an independent group? Are they friends? Relatives? Be prepared to talk extensively about the results obtained from the testimonials. This will be of great value to the producer.

Scientific research and endorsements. If you have a double-blind study for a skincare product or nutraceutical, bring the research to the launch meeting. If a doctor or Ph.D. will endorse the product, let the producer know.

Pricing info. If you have any statistical data on your competitors' pricing, bring it to the launch meeting. All of your manufacturing costs, duty (if applicable), and costs of bonus items will be important topics to discuss at the launch meeting.

Develop an irresistible offer. It makes a great product even better by offering a price, which makes consumers think they have nothing to lose and everything to gain if they buy this now!

As you can see from the list above, you'll have to do a lot of work to prepare for your launch meeting. Look at it like the "State of the Union" address, where you have to put all of this information together to take the first step in a great collaboration.

Q: OK, I can see I will have to prepare a lot of information. What should I expect from the producer?
A: The producer will bring two to five people to the launch meeting. The line producer, the director, the writer and the company executive should all attend. Think of this as a "data-dump" session. The producer will want to understand your goals in great detail. Your production team will go through all the information you are bringing. Then they will try to take the information you are presenting one or two steps deeper. Several examples of drilling down for important tactics are:

Unique Selling Proposition (USP). This is usually a combination of features and benefits that, taken together, say something about your product that no other can claim. It usually amounts to one or two sentences. You can easily find the USP when you watch commercials if you listen to what they say after the word, introducing. The USP is very important because it makes your best sales pitch in a succinct, short statement.

Unique Emotional Proposition (UEP). In these days of clutter and impression overload, how we connect with the potential consumer is becoming the deciding factor in whether we make a sale. In an oversupplied economy, customer feelings drive purchase decisions and profitability. The more choices there are and the more complex life becomes, the more people make decisions on what "feels" right to them. The USP presents an analytical, rational view of value. The UEP tells the story about your product, your company, what you stand for, and why the consumer will feel better using your product. The UEP is fast becoming the driving factor in selling!

Core benefits. When you come with your list of benefits, the producer will drill down to find the two or three that will instantly appeal to any consumer. In fact, these core benefits can be true of most products. In the old days, direct response marketing appealed mostly to products that dealt with vanity (beauty, diet/weight loss, and fitness), or saving time and money (housewares, hobbies and automotive), or earning money (business opps and self-improvement). These core benefits answer the consumer's question: What's in it for me? at its most fundamental level.

Product offer. Every product offer contains the main product, the bonus items (free items offered as an incentive), and the upsells that are made once people call in. Without all three items, the offer is not complete and will likely not generate the revenues it needs to be successful. A great deal of time will be spent formulating the product offer and measuring the financial ramifications of the possibilities being considered. The end result should be a "compelling offer."

Testimonial strategy. Great testimonials come from ordinary people who obtain extraordinary results with your product and then share those results. Some producers have a real gift for the art of interviewing potential testimonial givers. Launch meeting discussions about this strategy will be very important.

Q: How will I know if the script I get is a good one?
A: A DRTV script usually contains three columns. On the far right is the text, in the middle are the supers and titles, and on the far left is the video description. Concentrate on the text. First, look for the benefits and features. Go down the script line by line and label each sentence as a feature, benefit, testimonial, USP or selling the results. If you find many features and few benefits, discuss that with your producer. If you don't see your USP, make sure the writer adds it close to the beginning. Does the script sell? If you wrote instructions to your sales agents on overcoming objections and selling this product, would your instructions be found in the script? Where? Buried in the end or right up front?

Do the first 90 seconds grab your attention? Do you like the problem/solution introduction, or do you feel it is over-hyped? After the launch meeting, your comments on the script provide one of the last chances you will have to impact the production process. Don't be afraid to go sentence by sentence and make sure your vision is on the paper!

Every viewer is asking two critical questions: What's in it for me? and Why should I believe you? The benefits, selling the results and a great offer answer the first question. The features, testimonials, celebrity endorsements, medical research and demonstrations answer the second question. If you don't answer those questions thoroughly, you won't make the sale. Once you approve the script, it goes into production. You need to make sure the script holds everything you feel is important. If it doesn't, ask the producer to explain why your idea was omitted.

Q: Should I be there for the production shoot?
A: Absolutely. But while you're there, let the team members do their job. There can only be one director and one producer at this point. Review the shot list before, not during, the shoot. If you have a comment or an idea, by all means, tell the producer. As production goes on, you might feel more emboldened to voice your opinion, but find one person to communicate with. The crew and talent often get confused as to who they should be listening too when too many people start giving direction at the same time.

Q: What do I need to know about editing?
A: Unless you have spent a lot of time in an editing bay, you're best off waiting until the offline edit is ready. At that point, you will see something that makes sense and can be evaluated. By this time, the producer's team knows what they have and what they don't. They may even offer suggestions or ideas to make the show even better. Often budget overruns occur because great ideas come out of the brainstorming that takes place watching the offline. If you have to go back for pick-up shots, or you need animation or additional testimonials, here is your last chance to impact the show. The offline edit gives a pretty close rendition of what the show will look like. It is still very raw, but you'll pick up the thread and see the outcome of all the work. Go back over your script notes and your comments. Decide whether you have everything you want there, or whether something is missing. If you discover an omission, decide on its importance. Then either go get it or forget it. Once you sign off on the offline, it will only be a few days before your show is in the can and ready to test.

Q: Well, it seems pretty involved, but even more exciting. Anything else?
A: Actually, just utilizing these steps puts you way ahead of most marketers. Even the most professional direct response marketers, who have a large percentage of hit shows, work on these steps every time they launch a new product. The early production steps will go slowly, but then you will save weeks, and even months, on the rest of the production. Following the steps discussed will provide the key to increasing your chance to get to market quickly with a hit show.

Greg Sarnow is the founder of the Direct Response Academy in Austin, Texas. The company offers courses, coaching and project management in DRTV. He can be reached at (512) 301-5900. Please send comments or questions to editors@retailing.org.