For golfers, the end of the game may be the perfect hour for a cocktail. For Backjoy Orthotics, it's the perfect time for promotion. The company, which markets the Backjoy Core pain-relief device, has found success purchasing infomercial time in the timeslot directly following televised golf tournaments, says Tim O'Brien, vice president of Cesari Direct, which produces infomercials for Backjoy.
Spots that run after high-profile events, such as final championship rounds featuring celebrities like Tiger Woods, work particularly well to reach the target audience of upper middle-class men and women ages 55 and older. Certain cable networks also draw well, such as Biography, History Channel and Game Show Network.
The infomercial, hosted by company founder/CEO Bing Howenstein and co-host Mimi Umidon, uses testimonials from people such as office workers and truck drivers to illustrate the benefits of the product. The call-to-action is a toll-free number and a URL.
"It used to be just the 800 number and a [physical] address," Howenstein says. "When we added the website address to the infomercial [responses were divided] 10% web and 90% phone. We've watched that ratio change to 50/50 now."
About 80% of the company's marketing budget is devoted to DRTV, with the remainder allocated to the web and DR radio. From all these efforts, Backjoy has captured more than 1.5 million names, which are used primarily for focus-group research, says O'Brien. About 500,000 customers have purchased Backjoy Core.
Early next year, the company will start offering the $39.95 product at retail. So far, it has lined up Bed Bath and Beyond and hopes to announce other retailers later on. Even so, it's not going to stop running the infomercials, but will use them to help educate this new-prospect group on the product's benefits. In fact, O'Brien thinks the infomercial could easily run another five years, and believes it could help the firm expand into new markets, such has China.
"This particular product needs to be explained and demonstrated," says O'Brien. "If it was just sitting on a retail shelf, you would have no idea what it is."
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