An infomercial is a form of television advertisement that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of direct response television (DRTV), they are often programlength commercials (long-form infomercials), and are typically 28:30 or 58:30 minutes in length.Infomercial – Business Dictionary – WebFinance, Inc.Infomercial Definition – Your Dictionary – LoveToKnow, Corp.Advertising Media Infomercials Law & Legal Definition – US Legal Definitions – USLegal, Inc. Infomercials are also known as "paid programming" (or "teleshopping" in Europe). This phenomenon started in the United States, where infomercials were typically shown overnight and early morning (usually 1:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.), outside peak prime time for commercial broadcasters. Some television stations chose to air infomercials as an alternative to the former practice of signing off, while other channels air infomercials 24 hours a day. Some stations also choose to air infomercials during the daytime, mostly on weekends, to fill in for unscheduled network or syndicated programming. By 2009, most infomercial spending in the United States occurred outside the traditional overnight. Stations in most countries around the world have instituted similar media structures. The infomercial industry is worth over $200 billion.
Washington, D.C.–based National Infomercial Marketing Association was formed in late 1990; by 1993, "it had more than 200" members committed to standards "with teeth".
While the term "infomercial" was originally applied only to television advertising, it is now sometimes used to refer to any presentation (often on video) which presents a significant amount of information in an actual, or perceived, attempt to promote a point of view. When used this way, the term may be meant to carry an implication that the party making the communication or political speech is exaggerating truths or hiding important facts."Premature poll campaign law can't stop infomercials"
The New York Times cited a professional in the field as saying that "infomercial companies tend to do well during recessions."
Format The word "infomercial" is a portmanteau of the words "information" and "commercial". As in any other form of advertisement, the content is a commercial message designed to represent the viewpoints and to serve the interest of the sponsor. Infomercials are often made to closely resemble standard television programs. Some imitate talk shows and try to downplay the fact that the program is a commercial message. A few are developed around storylines and have been called "storymercials". However, most do not have specific TV formats but craft different elements to tell what their creators hope is a compelling story about the product offered.
The term infomercial, by 2007, had come to refer to the format, even when used in a live presentation.
Infomercials are designed to solicit quantifiable immediate direct response (a form of direct response marketing, not to be confused with direct marketing); they generally feature between two and four internal commercials of 30 to 120 seconds which invite the viewer to call or take other direct action. Many viewers respond with a delayed response, by purchases made at retail outlets. These retail purchases are often the largest response. Using "not sold in stores" is a choice by advertisers who dislike sharing profit with retailers, or who lack the immense resources needed to get into retail channels. In the latter case, direct sales enables later retail distribution. Standalone shorter commercials, 30 to 120 seconds in length with a call to action, are erroneously called infomercials; when used as an independently produced commercial, they are generally known as DRTV spots or shortform DRTV. Infomercial sponsors often also use shorter spots during regular programming.
Products using infomercial marketing
The products frequently marketed through infomercials at the national level include cleaning products, appliances, food-preparation devices, dietary supplements, alternative health aids, memory improvement courses, books, compilation albums, videos of numerous genres, real estate investment strategies, beauty supplies, baldness remedies, sexual-enhancement supplements, weight-loss programs and products, personal fitness devices, home exercise machines and adult chat lines.
Uses for infomercials in the early 1990s included offering free trials of personal care products such as enhanced plaque removers; an 800-number was used to collect basic marketing information.
Major brands (such as Apple, Microsoft and Thermos-Grill2GoRudnick, Michael. Char-Broil's First DRTV Effort Gets Grill Sales Sizzling DMNews. 16 May 2001.) have used infomercials for their ability to communicate more complicated and indepth product stories. This practice started in the early 1990s and has increased since. Such advertisers generally eschew the less reputable trappings of the traditional infomercial business in order to create communication they believe creates a better image of their products, brands and customers. Apple's use of the infomercial medium was immediately discontinued with Steve Jobs' 1997 return to the helm of the company.
Automobile dealerships, attorneys and jewelers are among the types of businesses that air infomercials on a local level.
History Early infomercials During the early days of television, many television shows were specifically created by sponsors with the main goal of selling their product, the entertainment angle being a hook to hold audience's attention (this is how soap operas got their name; such shows were sponsored by soap manufacturers). A good example of this is the early children's show The Magic Clown on NBC, which was created essentially as an advertisement for Bonomo's Turkish Taffy.Fifty years of candy: consolidation, clowns and confidence. Candy Industry, August 1, 1994
The first filmed for TV half-hour infomercial for a commercial product (a Vitamix blender) were directed by Ray Culley and produced by Cinécraft Productions, a motion picture studio in Ohio in 1949.Home Miracles of the 1950s is thought to be the first filmed TV infomercial Vita-Mix Corporation, Case Western Reserve University, Encyclopedia of Cleveland History https://case.edu/ech/articles/v/vita-mix-corporation"But Wait! There's More," article in Academia.edu Letters. https://www.academia.edu/77820207/_But_wait_There_s_more_Papa_Bernard_and_the_first_TV_infomercial ran the infomercial from 12:30 to 1 a.m. on a Sunday. By 1:10 a.m., 130 orders had rolled in. Eleven subsequent showings of the infomercial brought in more than $41,400 in 1950 dollars.
One of the earliest pitch men in infomercials was Ron Popeil. He first appeared on television in 1956, demonstrating the "Chop-O-Matic," a device invented by his father. He later pitched products he invented himself and was nicknamed "America's Salesman." He is also credited with introducing the phrase, "but wait, there's more," a popular slogan used with infomercials starting in the 1950s.
Eventually, limits imposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on the amount of advertising that could appear during an hour of television did away with these programs, forcing sponsors into the background; however, a few infomercials, mainly those for greatest hits record sets (which could get around the restrictions by devoting much of the airtime to snippets of the songs on the records, which did not count as advertising) and Shop Smith power tools, did exist during the period when commercial time was restricted.
In 1976, a singer who found success with an infomercial under these restrictions was Peter Lemongello, whose album Love '76 sold over 1.8 million copies as a result of its frequent advertising via a two-minute infomercial on New York television stations, which made him a local celebrity, leading him to expand his campaign into the Los Angeles and Las Vegas markets.
During the 1970s, XETV-TDTa Mexican TV station based in Tijuana, but serving the San Diego marketran a one-hour English-language program on Sundays showcasing San Diego–area homes for sale. As a non-USA station, the FCC's maximum number of commercial minutes per hour did not apply to XETV. It was also during the 1970s that the hard sell "But wait! There's more!" Ginsu ads were being aired on American late-night TV..
After 1984 The Federal Communications Commission lifted the prohibition on program-length advertisements on radio in 1981.See Deregulation of Radio, 84 F.C.C.2d 968, 1007 (1981) (rescinding the FCC's policy banning program-length radio commercials.) Television followed in 1984 when the United States' Federal Communications Commission eliminated regulations that were established in the 1950s and 1960s to govern the commercial content of television.See Revision of Programming and Commercialization, Policies, Ascertainment Requirements, and Program Log Requirements for Commercial Television Stations, 98 F.C.C.2d 1075 (1984) (rescinding the FCC's policy banning program-length television commercials). One such regulation was dropping the limits on the length of television commercials.
One of the pioneers of the modern infomercial industry was Ray Lindstrom, who produced one of the first nationally broadcast infomercials, Get Rich with Real Estate (first aired on Satellite Program Network and The Nashville Network in October 1984) as a way to promote real estate professional Paul Simon. In 1985, he and partner Nancy Marcum purchased 2,700 hours of cable time at a cost of $8 million which translated to $21 million in sales by end of that year. The pair formed Media Arts International and continued to release infomercials on various products. They sold the company in 1986 but Lindstrom continued to make over 100 infomercials through his career. He later became known as "Mr. Infomercial" and the "father of the infomercial industry."
Kevin Harrington had his first infomercial air in 1985. Two early half-hour paid programs, Keys to Success (first aired on WPEC on June 1, 1985) and Can You Be Thinner? (first aired on KDNL-TV on July 21) both received frequent airplay nationwide into 1989. Harrington was one of the first to utilize dead slots during the late-night or early-morning to run infomercials and was nicknamed the "infomercial godfather"
By 1994, an estimated 91% of all stations had or were airing infomercials.
Product or person as pitchman One relatively early question was whether or not infomercials should feature celebrities. Although "how much will it cost" was part of the equation, so was a "highly demonstrable item with obvious features and benefits." Even when experts are used for their endorsement value, a "name" adds value in making an introduction.
Infomercials particularly exploded in the mid-1990s with motivational and personal development products, and "get-rich-quick schemes" based on the premise that one could quickly become wealthy by either selling anything through classified ads or through flipping. These were hawked by personalities such as Don Lapre and Carleton H. Sheets, among others.
When and where When they first appeared, infomercials were most often scheduled in the United States and Canada during the late night and early morning. As stations have found value in airing them at other times, a large portion of infomercial spending occurs in the early morning, daytime, early prime and even prime time periods. There are also all-infomercial networks (such as cable channels Corner Store TV, OnTV4U, Access Television Network and GRTV) that yield revenue for cable and satellite providers who carry them or fill local programming voids.