Why Infomercials and In-store Media Create Lift

Last month, Discovery Channel launched a new series called, “Pitchmen.”  It’s a reality show where amateur inventors compete for a chance to have their products sold by celebrity infomercial host Billy Mays. Mays, who has been doing infomercials for 12 years, has generated over $1 billion in sales selling everything from OxiClean to Arm & Hammer baking soda. So what’s the catch? Is it his booming voice, the beard, the blue shirt, or the khakis that make people buy what he’s selling?

Mays believes it’s his simple, honest approach to selling that takes a product from zero to millions.  However, there is another equation that accounts for his success, the success of infomercials in general and the value proposition  of in-store media. Connecting informative and entertaining media with an immediate purchase opportunity equals sales. First, facts make people consider an item, emotion causes them to act.  Product tests and demonstrations in infomercials show customers precisely what they need to know about a product — how it will fit into their lives.  Lively hosts and excited user testimonials create the emotional trigger to motivate consumers to buy. Where in-store media and infomercials have the advantage over other media is providing an immediate opportunity for consumers to act on that emotional trigger by making a purchase.

In the store, as soon as a shopper is motivated by a digital presentation, signage or product demo, they can make the purchase.  All other media is separate from the immediate purchasing opportunity.  How many additional steps must be taken after seeing a compelling beer commercial before you can actually be drinking a cold one? How long must that motivation be sustained before you actually have an opportunity to make a purchase?  Most importantly, how much does it cost an advertiser to make that kind of lasting impact? According to the LATimes, “the nation’s Top 10 advertisers spent 15.1% less in 2008.”  Assuming that’s a decrease in traditional advertising, how do they reach their consumers now?