See the full page article as it appeared in Inventor’s Digest here

But Wait! There’s More!

The direct response television or infomercial industry offers an ideal space for many independent inventors to license their products.

Media billings for short-form DRTV spots – 15 to 120 seconds – dropped 10% in the third quarter of 2010 compared with the same time in 2009. Short-form spending topped out at $9.7 million, the ninth-consecutive quarter of decline, according to figures reported in Response Magazine.

Although the DRTV market has fallen on hard times, it still has a voracious appetite for new, low-cost consumer products.

And product, to cite the cliche, is king.

In the fast-paced world of infomercials, speed to marketplace tends to take precedence over patents, which can be a speed bump, says Earl Pardo, partner at infomercial company Media Corp. in Overland, Kan.

A big seller recently has been the Magic Mesh, an easy-to-install screen partition for backdoors that Media Corp. licensed from a small company in Australia. Magic Mesh has no patent and, in fact, had been selling in catalogs for years, Pardo says.

Indeed, more important than intellectual property is whether a product already as a sales history, Pardo says.

Has your invention sold in catalogs, the Internet, shopping networks or tradeshows? If so, that demonstrates consumers have an interest in your product – and so may DRTV companies.

Another major consideration: margins. DRTV companies prefer to see multiples of five, meaning they can sell your product for five times what it costs to manufacture it.

These numbers are a part of business reality. Pardo and others say that too often, even seasoned inventors harbor unrealistic expectations when it comes to royalty rates.

Most licensing royalty rates are 2% to 5%.

“One of the biggest mistakes inventors make is getting afraid of a licensing deal because they hear 2-5%,” Pardo says. “They don’t understand that even 1% of an As Seen On TV product is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

Companies that license take on the risk of manufacturing, quality control, distribution, marketing and inventory, among other things.

To test a product on DRTV can cost $50,000. If the product doesn’t test well in these limited TV runs, then the inventor typically gets the product back. But the DRTV company is still out the fifty grand.

Moreover, TV sales are not the real moneymakers, Pardo adds. The real money comes from landing space on retail shelves.

“We’re losing money on the TV side to create awareness on the retail-distribution side,” he says.

Even a successful DRTV run doesn’t guarantee retail success. The Jupiter Jack mobile phone device did well on TV, but didn’t when it hit the retail channel.

And in that case, “we have to take that product back,” Pardo says, “or mark it down.”

The same hot passion that drives inventors to invent can also blind them to stone-cold market and business realities.

Chris Clark, the VP from Edison Nation, says he confronts this almost daily. While more companies are looking for new products, so too are more inventors trying to get their inventions to those companies. The consumer market is crowded. The competition is intense.

Clark recalls a recent conversation he had with an executive from a major toy manufacturer.

“He told me, ‘Inventors don’t realize how not unique their inventions are.”

Editor’s note: This article appears in the September 2011 print edition.

See full article at:

http://www.inventorsdigest.com/archives/7241

A partnership between Media Corp and Allstar Products Group, promoters of The Snuggie and the Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter on this product, gives it marketing reach unequalled in the industry. Magic Mesh is not only being promoted on the nation’s highest ranked DRTV spots, but featured in catalogs and will be on retail shelves nationwide by this fall.

If you think you have the next Magic Mesh, Windshield Wonder or Snuggie, a quick call or click will put you in touch with us here at Media Corp and we can put your product through our proven three step approach. Review, Test and Rollout … it’s that simple. Call us today or click on the Submit Your Invention link at the top of this page.

See Magic Mesh hit #5 in Jordan Pine’s Summer True Top 50 here

The ICKC National Invention Contest is looking for inventors to submit their inventions for a chance to win a commercial produced for Direct Response television (DR-TV). The complete package which includes a TV spot to be aired in select markets for product testing is a prize worth $20,000. If successful, the winners invention would generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalties for the inventor.

Ed Waldberg, President of Media Corp. says “We are excited to be the primary sponsor of the ICKC National Invention Contest. This contest provides inventors of all types to have a chance to win a DR-TV spot that could literally change their lives if the product is a success. DR-TV is still the best and quickest way to get your product to market. In our industry the right product and speed to market is the key to success.”

Typically an inventor will spend in excess of $20,000 to produce and test a commercial on TV. “Going it alone is expensive and time consuming. The ICKC National Invention Contest is an opportunity like none other,” says Carrie Jeske, Marketing Director for the Inventors Club of Kansas City. When inventors submit products to the ICKC National Invention Contest they should consider the seven most important criteria for DR-TV product success:

1. Does your product have a unique selling advantage? In other words how does your product stand apart and does it have a “wow” factor?

2. Problem/Solution/Benefit Orientation. The bigger or more common the problem solved…the more the product sells!

3. Does your product appeal to the masses? TV reaches a very broad demographic, if your product appeals to the masses you have a winner.

4. Product Pricing. Typically products under $20 are considered good short-form DRTV items.

5. How demonstrable is your product? The better the visual demonstration of the product the greater the chance for success.

6. Is your product believable? Will people believe your product will work?

7. Is your product easily explained? Consumers must be able to understand what the product does in a relatively short amount of time.

If you have an invention and you think that it meets the seven criteria to make a DR-TV winner then submit your product today at: http://www.inventorsclubofkc.orgWho knows, you could have the next big “As Seen on TV” winner!

Robert Risch never dreamed he would hear numbers like 12 million when he brought his cleverly angled windshield cleaning system to Media Corp, but we knew that with our three step process, Review, Test and Rollout, it would sell. Now three years later, thanks to his relationship with Media Corp, Windshield Wonder product inventor Robert Risch is a wealthy man.

“We are always looking for the next small thing to turn into a really big thing,” says Ed Walberg, Media Corp President. “Our company has a record of doing just that with products that, once seen by the public through one of Media Corp’s DRTV spots, buy in record numbers. Jupiter Jack, the Salad Blaster and of course, Bob’s Windshield Wonder, that now appear in “As Seen On TV” aisles at major retailers like WalMart, CVS and Bed Bath and Beyond all started as products on the conference room table during one of our weekly review meetings.”

Inventors and product managers simply can call us, or click on the Submit Your Invention link at the top of this page and fill out a simple form to begin the three step process to find out if your product will make it to the level of super stardom that the Windshield Wonder, Jupiter Jack, Quick Strip or GPS Pall II have attained.

The reviewed infomercials and spots include over 400 infomercials and over 1000 spot commercials from the calendar year 2009. Judging criteria includes assessment of overall quality of the production, effectiveness of the production to achieve its goals, and the success of the product in the DRTV marketplace.

Jupiter Jack, a product invented by Jason Bobb continues to generate impressive worldwide sales and is available in retail outlets such as Wallgreens and Bed Bath & Beyond and big box retailers like Target and WalMart.

Media Corp has been in the business of “As Seen on TV” for fifteen years. As such, they have seen successes like the Windshield Wonder™, Greensheet Award winner Jupiter Jack™ and the Salad Blaster™ go from the drawing board, to the shelves at Bed, Bath and Beyond®.

Getting an idea or invention into the hands of the buying public is no easy matter and many an entrepreneur has tried and failed. Media Corp provides the path of least resistance for those entrepreneurs by test marketing products to determine marketability. “Our proven system of testing and scoring a product ensures the inventor a much higher chance for success,” said Ed Waldberg, President of Media Corp. “We have been at the DRTV game a long time and understand the nuance of consumer behavior. We apply that expertise during the market test phase and it provides for a much better than average outcome for our clients.”

The voting results were as follows:

1. Windshield Wonder
2. Jupiter Jack
3. Bottle Top
4. PedEgg
5. Perfect Fit Button

Media Corp of Overland Park is a Direct Response Television Company that specializes in taking products through a rigorous test marketing system to ensure maximum sales of the product through numerous consumer channels. The top two products chosen at Devils Arena were products brought to market by Media Corp of Overland Park.

Media Corp provides leadership on direct response television to clients nationally and has been in the business of “As Seen on TV” for fifteen years. As such, they have seen successes like the Windshield Wonder™, Jupiter Jack™ and the Salad Blaster™ go from the drawing board, to the shelves at Bed, Bath and Beyond®.

Getting an idea or invention into the hands of the buying public is no easy matter and many an entrepreneur has tried and failed. Media Corp provides the path of least resistance for those entrepreneurs by test marketing products to determine marketability. “Our proven system of testing and scoring a product ensures the inventor a much higher chance for success,” said Ed Waldberg, President of Media Corp. “We have been at the DRTV game a long time and understand the nuance of consumer behavior. We apply that expertise during the market test phase and it provides for a much better than average outcome for our clients.”

“In our business, analytics are the key to success,” say Ed Waldberg, CEO of Media Corp. “We need data and we need it fast to ensure that we are airing in the right markets, at the right time, on the right networks. Online and social network analytics gives us that data practically in real time.”

“As far as I know, we are one of the only DRTV companies using the social aspect as well as the online marketing piece. A few years ago we would have been fearful to do a web or social media-only call to action but now having a pure web campaign isn’t unusual at all.” Walberg estimates that 10% to 15% of DRTV today drives only to the web. “We typically continue to use both the call center and web/social tools, but I see that trending more towards online-only as time passes,” he added.

DRTV in general is one of the most highly measurable mediums, and marketers are turning to it more often in the current economy. “Direct response in the down economy has been very strong because of measurability,” says Earl Pardo, President and head of new product sourcing at Media Corp. “If you’re a top level executive and your advertising agency can’t measure the effect your ad dollars are having on your bottom line, that’s a problem. That’s where DRTV comes in.”

DRTV is already a $200 billion dollar industry and it is expected to grow another 6% over the next five years.

Social Media is playing a role that marketers did not expect just a few years ago and Media Corp is leading the way by offering a social media piece in the marketing efforts of each of the new products they launch for their inventor clients. ”Now that people are doing research, reading blogs and searching for information about products, it has dramatically changed how marketers do business,” says Walberg “People are getting messaging about a product from their friends and other outlets, not just directly from the marketer.”

Consumers are counting every dollar these days as well, and DRTV ads can provide them with the detailed information they need prior to purchase. “Money is tight for many people, so consumers often need more information and a better pitch before parting with their money,” says Pardo.

“And one might think that the target is younger viewers only, or that seniors don’t have computers and wouldn’t use a URL versus an 800 number,’” he says. “This is not the case at all.”

Not only is this older age group gaining confidence with technology, but so are their children, who are purchase influencers.

“Most people go to the Web for their starting point of information,” Pardo continues. “And sales increase for our clients when we integrate both media.”

Kit includes:

• 16? Windshield Wonder handle
• 2 Microfiber Bonnets
• Spray Bottle

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