The holiday season has unleashed a flood of new Long Form DRTV campaigns on national cable -- some of which are from categories that have long been underrepresented.
Last week saw the arrival of HeyMomDad, a Safety & Security app, and Go Smile Dental Pro, the first new Dental product to premiere a Long Form program on national cable in over a year.
Why now? Aren’t they at risk of being overlooked during this season of peak infomercials?
The short answer: Probably not.
For a more in depth answer, we have to ask another question: Is there a better time than now?
The holiday season is the buying season. The current flood of new infomercials generates momentum among television viewers. Once you’ve picked up the phone or made a few clicks on the internet to purchase one item, you’re more likely to do it again and purchase another. It’s the same as when you decide to buy a new shirt at the mall because you’ve already picked out a pair of pants.
HeyMomDad and Go Smile Dental Pro may be hoping to surf the tsunami of secondary sales all the way to DR success. But that’s not all they have going for them.
HeyMomDad is targeting the well-known and highly lucrative demographic of Helicopter Parents-- but from an entirely new angle.
While they may be a relatively new phenomenon, they’re a prized target of marketers -- and for good reason. When it’s impossible to put a price on the safety and security of your children, there’s no limit to what you might spend. Too bad for marketers that kids grow up! That’s why HeyMomDad is redirecting the attention and concern of helicopter parents away from their kids and on to their aging parents.
While the HeyMomDad app is ostensibly intended to benefit seniors, the infomercial is all about the peace of mind it gives their adult children. The same concerns that once made them helicopter parents - What if something terrible happens?!? - will manifest all over again. And because it’s impossible to put a price on the safety and security of Grandma and Grandpa, there’s no limit to what you might spend.
The timing of Go Smile Dental Pro’s entry into the DRTV landscape is hardly as complicated. Go Smile is merely taking advantage of the current dental vacuum.
Remember SuperSmile? Its Long Form programs aired 921 times in 2012. In 2013 that number shot up to 1224. In 2014 it fell all the way to 413.
So far this year SuperSmile has aired a mere 67 times and hasn’t been seen since May.
SuperSmile proved that Long Form is a viable strategy for dental products. For months they’ve left national cable wide open. We think SuperSmile’s absence makes this an ideal moment for Go Smile Dental Pro to move in.
What do you think? .