By Garlton Roark

Greating a Branded Reuenue-Shating

DRTU Retail Ghannel

hile the evolution of the Intemet and the ity numbers to further brand and reinforce those URLs. As a re-
opportunities it has spawned
-
have undoubtedly sult, DRTV advertisers will be branding, publicizing, promoti^g,
-
been a catalyst for change in the way many indus- driving trafftc to and incrementally building long-term value in
tries now operate, it has done surprisingly little to a DRTV retail channel owned by the cable operator or TV net-
inspire change in others. This is especially true for cable opera- work.
tors and TV networks who offer revenue-sharing DRTV media. This branded revenue-sharing concept incents cable opera-
For this segment of the DRTV industry the Intemet has cre- tors and TV networks to continue airing these ads because even
ated an enormous opportunity to further enhance retum on in- when a particular DRTV spot or infomercial is underperform.
vestment (ROI) through the use of branding and product aggre- irg, it will still serve to brand, promote, publicize and drive traf-
gation, a concept that cable operators and TV networks are in a fic to that cable operator or TV network's shopping site. This
unique position to exploit. Ironically, could never happen with traditional
both have done little, if anythi.g, to cap- revenue-sharing DRTV ads. Plus, this
ttaLrzeon this new paradigm in marketing
and are missing an opportunity of epic
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built-in economic incentive is espe-
cially beneficial for DRTV marketers
,

proportions. with products that might not have

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Even though the current reveoue- quickly recognizable merits.
sharing DRTV media model was devel- mmfu$m ffiffiffiffiesxtrs ffiffi# YW How important is it for cable oper-
oped well before the advent of the Inter- ators and TV networks to brand their
net, it is for the most part essentially trEffiffwffirkm €m ffi#ffi€*sxffiffi m#r$mg revenue-sharing DRTV retail chan-
unchanged. Under this antiquated sys- nel? Consider the following: how suc-
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tem, cable operators and TV networks cessful would 1800FLO\7ERS.com be
each air thousands of DRTV ads for prod- wFxmm ffi ffiffitr€mffiffi#ffin ffiffiYW sffiffi€ if, in lieu of airing the same toll.free
ucts or product lines whose success they vanity number and matching [JRL,
are partially responsible for but will not sFtr #mffmffisgffirmffm$ Hs thqy instead used a purely numeric
commensurately share in. telephone number and no URL, or
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In other words, the only revenue they , even worse, no URL and a different
will receive in this system is their per- ffiffitrwffi €ffi furmffi#, ffitrffiffiE$ffi€ffi, numerical telephone number every
centage of sales exclusively from inbound time they aired a DRTV ad?
telephone orders that are unlikely to re- ffie$fuffimmHmm ffiKB# #r#wm €rmff$Hffi €ffi Obviously, they wouldn't be nearly
occur because they were likely generated as successful, t{ at all. But that's exactly
€fum€ mmfuffm ffiffiffinffi€#tr ffin YW
using telephone numbers that are fre- how most revenue-sharing DRTV
quently changing, unbranded, l.rorr-de- tr?ffiffwffirk-ru mfumffiffi$trxffi ffifi€ffi" spots and infomercials are cuffently
script and easy to forget. That's not ll aired by cable operators and TV net-
much, considering the thousands of DR works!
ads cable operators and TV networks air If cable operators and TV networks
to intensively brand a product or product line that could make are unable or unwilling to integrate online ordering and employ
it a success for later distribution in retail stores, catalogs or on- a brand for the retail channel they provide that is more memo.
line malls. rable than the product brands being advertised, consumers will
Of course, cable operators and TV i-retworls don't expect to be more likely to purchase those products elsewhere. By failing
share in revenues from other channels of distribution. But, they to do so, cable operators and TV networks would deny them,
are most certainly entitled to maximize the ROI on the rev- selves their pro-rata share of the sale and the opportunity to
enue-sharing DRTV media they do provide. build long term value in the revenue-sharing DRTV retail
The easiest way for these companies to maximize ROI from channel they provide.
this source is to simply insist that all revenue.sharing DRTV ads
airing on their systems or networks be tagged with their URLs Garlbo f,ort b a tiller fid ilIy cnmparo1; *fu cfl! be td*d st
"for online ordering, and better yet, with matching toll.free van- {s8tm{SS8.

ffiW Response JUNE 2005 www. resp0nsemagazt ne, c0m