Collette Liantonio, President of Concepts TV Productions, was quoted in the July issue of Response Magazine, in the article “Long- Form Bounces Back,” about the return of infomercials after a rocky 2009 due to the recession. Collette spoke about seeing more brand advertisers turning to infomercials since mainstream adverting suffered their own hits during the recession: “Brands are looking at an affordable intelligent return on investment and infomercials can produce an ROI that any brand company would appreciate. Once they discover infomercials, there is no going back.” The infomercial industry is always evolving, and the recession has offset yet another change in the field. Now marketers who normally produce half-hour shows are turning to companies like Concepts TV for their short-form infomercials, and brand companies are turning away from $20 to $30 million in advertising to the financially feasible and investing in the successes of the infomercial. To read the full article, click the link below. http://www.response-digital.com/response/201007/#pg36

The April/May 2010 issue of NJ Savvy Living featured Collette as the “Infomercial Queen.”

By Patricia Herold

A mere four words describe the influence Collette Liantonio wields in America’s vast billion dollar commercial marketplace: “Queen of the Infomercial.”

She didn’t invent the form, but she’s sure perfected it – selling Hooked on Phonics, Topsy Tail, Perfect Pasta Pot, George Foreman Grills and countless other legendary products, over and over again to millions of consumers.

People magazine once dubbed George Foreman “The Marketing Champ of the World,” announcing that, “Almost everything George Foreman touches seems to sell.”

Truth is, almost everything Liantonio touches seems to sell.  This petite, Montville resident with bright blue eyes, blonde hair and stylish Chanel glasses is a heavyweight in the intensely competitive world of TV direct response, a star marketer with a gift for turning ordinary products into household names and getting us to drop the remote, grab the phone, and say: “I want one!”

She’s marketed a host of hits, chalked up more than 25 years in a male-dominated business and become an industry expert on what makes us want to buy.  Her secret?  There are many, but it all begins with the right words.

“I have a nice ability to turn a phrase that people like,” says Liantonio, something she dubs “metaphors for the masses,” wording that makes consumers respond to the announcer, urging them to “call now.”

When a client shows her a product, whether Bedazzled, “the hottest craft item in America today,” (for adding rhinestones to clothes) or the $19.99 limited edition “piece of history” plate celebrating Barack Obama’s inauguration, her instincts tell her exactly how to make us “get it.”

“I recognize a magic moment in a demonstration,” Liantonio says, sitting in the sleek, spotless kitchen that adjoins her office at the cozy Boonton headquarters of her company, Concepts TV Productions Inc.

THE COMMON TOUCH

“A magic moment is the ‘ah hah’ moment in a commercial that makes you want to buy a product, she says. And  although Liantonio has been called the “queen,” her tremendous success probably has more to do with her kitchen table instincts than royal ways. She seems to have the common touch, a knack for knowing just what words and images will make the average consumer buy the product, “as seen on TV.”

Born in Brooklyn, Liantonio knew early on she would not be going into the family moving business her grandfather started.  .It was successful and, she explains, “It was for men. My father and his brother wanted to give the business to the boys … It was like ‘and Sons.’  That’s how it used to be.”

Besides, her interest lay in theater and directing, not trucking. (Her father had been a journalism major who went into the family business after the war, but dabbled in writing, penning articles for Movers News.) In high school, Liantonio was an actress who wrote poetry. Her career plan was to run a college theater. But at 22, she ended up with a job at Rutherford High School, teaching classes in film, writing and Spanish. She wasn’t much older than her students, and the closeness in age made her uncomfortable.

After three years, Liantonio decided to put her writing to work, doing brochures for people in her Clifton neighborhood and getting a job on the local paper on the bottom rung: covering night municipal meetings. Eventually, she moved on to work at a direct response business, later taking a position as an account supervisor for an ad agency. By this time, her first marriage had broken up, and she was on her own, so full-time work was a necessity. She remembers chain smoking at night, working only after her children had gone to bed. “I had two kids; I had no options,” she recalls.

The ad agency work focused on client relations, and she missed what she calls “executing” … seeing something through from beginning to end.” Eventually, she went out on her own.

These days, Liantonio still gets to “execute,” whether writing a script, attending a product demonstration or traveling to Mexico City to collect and shoot testimonials from native Spanish speakers for a “Hooked on English” commercial.

BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY

She acknowledges that she’s well known and has a history of success, but Liantonio takes nothing for granted. “As an entrepreneur, I don’t think anybody ever knows. I’m insecure always; there’s an ebb and flow to business.” And although she’s made it in a risky field (she’s a member of the Women Presidents Organization, reserved for women with multimillion dollar businesses) and has won numerous industry awards, Liantonio describes her company philosophy as conservative.

Her core principles: “I don’t believe in overhiring (she employs 10 people); I don’t believe in debt … I’m old school that way.  I don’t leverage; that’s my comfort.  I hire generalists.  I hire people who can grow. People who are smart … eager.”

She also has been delighted to hire family members and friends from time to time.  Her daughter, Eve Fusco, now director of creative services, once managed Concept TV’s finances.  (Liantonio’s office, located in a cozy renovated frame house is barely a mile from Eve and two little grandsons’ doorstep.) And daughter, Collette DeBenedetto, currently working for Creative Artists in Los Angeles, once expressed an interest in making her mother’s family business a two-generation affair.

Liantonio also draws in members of her community.  Residents of Mountain Lakes, where she and husband Jan DeBenedetto once lived in a imposing lakeside home, aren’t surprised to spot neighbors as models in Concepts ads or learn an acquaintance is working for – or has interned with – the company. One of Liantonio’s daughter’s good friends, Dana Conklin, is a prized producer.

ON LOCATION

In fact, it’s Conklin’s mother who provided the set for a recent Concepts TV shoot, her well-furnished suburban colonial near the Morristown/Mendham border. A make-up artist and model have taken over one end of Conklin’s long dining room table, while in the upstairs master suite, Liantonio is directing.Wearing comfortable black shoes, she’s surrounded by production assistants, her favorite three-man camera crew and a Montclair State intern, one of many interns she’s welcomed over the years.

“Animating” an inanimate product made of plastic or steel – making it live in the consumer’s mind – is a Liantonio specialty, something she describes as, “Here’s what it is; here’s what it does.” The pace is relaxed.

“Are we comfy?” she asks the group circled around the whirlpool tub, on whose edge is poised the object of their attention: a graceful foot demonstrating a nail invention. “Camera is rolling … and action!” The camera stays fixed on the foot and the model’s hand, daintily painting her toenails. Collette stands face to face with the screen that frames the camera’s shot, seemingly scrutinizing every pixel, studying the effect.

Spontaneously, the model lifts her foot gently, her toes delicately poised on the tub. “That’s great! I like the arch,” Collette says. “Now model it… we love your feet, Jen!  Angle your toes a little bit … Nice, that’s good on the light, Pete … Excellent.” They’ve shot this sequence a couple of times, but for now, the Queen of the Infomercial finds it just right.

“The beauty of this business is you put it up on the air and it either sells or it’s a bomb,” she notes.  In a few months, if those perfect nails set off by that perfect arching foot and a few perfect words get TV watchers to reach for their credit cards and pick up their phones, Collette Liantonio will once again have had her say.

To read the entire article, click here.

By Thomas Haire

MEXICO CITY — When Mark Mashaw, vice president of marketing at Baltimore-based Hooked on Phonics Inc./Smarterville, saw the success of the company’s flagship product in non-English speaking nations, he first considered the idea of marketing a new product under the name “Hooked on English.” “When we acquired Hooked on Phonics in 2005, we noticed that the product had gained some success in retail as a learn-to-read product overseas,” he says. “Costco tested the product in a couple of Asian locations, and results came back extremely strong — even better than our strong U.S. sales.”

According to Mashaw, this interest in such products “fueled the creative process” for the “Hooked on English” product that is just now rolling out in a series of international markets. However, the product is not the only unique thing about this new long-form DRTV campaign. A traditional long-form production was shot domestically in English by Boonton, N.J.-based Concepts TV Productions. However, marketers also wanted a Spanish-language show for the booming Latin American market — and Concepts TV teamed with Mashaw’s group to shoot on location in Mexico City earlier in 2007.

“We wanted real testimonials from real Mexican families — in order to be as authentic as possible, we wanted to avoid using the U.S. immigrant population that may already have some grasp of English,” says Collette Liantonio, founder of Concepts TV. “We wanted to introduce the product to Mexican families in Mexico with kids who needed to learn to speak English. We had great assistance from a team down there in finding the right families to use and speak about the product. In the testimonials, the children were more articulate in English than their parents!”

Concepts TV’s Jaime Schneider was a producer on the project, and contends shooting in Mexico was a “great experience.” She adds, “Authenticity was crucial with the market this product is going to appeal to.”

Working with a Mexican crew on location, Liantonio, Mashaw and their team were able to shoot testimonials in users’ homes. The team also enlisted the services of Martha Debayle, a well-known radio and TV personality and parenting expert. Mashaw says Debayle, who launched a popular parenting magazine and Web site under the name bbmundo (www.bbmundo.com), is “the face” for the product. “She’s known in Mexico for her perfect English,” he adds. “She’s an amazing combination — a media persona and parenting expert. We don’t have someone similar in the U.S.”

Mashaw calls Concepts TV a “creative and flexible partner” that was “very responsive through the process.” For her part, Liantonio credits Edwin Garrubbo of Creative Commerce for bringing her company into the process.

“Because of our ability to produce in Spanish and English, Ed got us involved with the idea of bringing this product to every country in the world,” she says. “Over a series of months, we interviewed with Mark and made a deal. The excitement for this product on our end is the international aspect — we’re talking about French and German versions right now.”

Garrubbo adds, “We wanted to work with Concepts TV because of its decades in ‘selling experience.’ Of course, the show needed to look good, but it also really needed to sell. Concepts TV is expert at both. We approach every business and product as an international opportunity. Therefore, we had no problem suggesting that ‘Hooked on English’ start internationally and then work its way back into the United States.”

President of Concepts TV Collette Liantonio was quoted in the July 2007 issue of Response Magazine about the advantages and cost effectiveness of using Virtual Sets.

Tapping Technology
By Bridget McCrea

When Collette Liantonio wants to produce an infomercial on the shores of Waikiki, she no longer has to fly spokespeople and/or celebrities to Honolulu. Instead, the president of Boonton, N.J.-based Concepts TV Productions uses a “virtual set” to achieve the same effect — and for much less money. The TV personality is simply filmed in front of a green or blue screen anywhere in the world, and then “cut out” and placed on the set during the editing process.

“That technology is helping to bring down the price of an infomercial,” says Liantonio. “We can actually shoot the beach at Waikiki and green-screen the person over that background.” And while that new technology helps producers cut corners, the most costly aspect of an infomercial — the real-life testimonials and endorsements — have become more expensive and time consuming.

“To legitimately get testimonials you have to develop people properly over time,” says Liantonio. To show an amazing alteration in someone’s appearance due to face cream, for example, takes eight weeks of close tracking, according to Liantonio. “While digital technology enables us to bring the cost of photography down,” she says, “the human element, the time and the labor intensity haven’t decreased at all.”

You can read the entire article by clicking here.

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Inventions & Us
BY CARRIE M. HARPER

So, where do you go to find the next great American inventor? A good place to start is Pittsburgh, Pa. That’s right, Pittsburgh.

The Invention & New Product Exposition (INPEX) held its 22nd annual invention trade show on June 7-10. INPEX is America’s largest invention trade show and exposition showcasing numerous inventions and new products available to license, manufacture or market. As I entered the trade show floor, you could practically feel the excitement and enthusiasm that surrounds the show, as more than 350 inventors from 20 countries around the world gathered under one roof in hopes of getting their product on store shelves or featured on a live shopping show.

The show featured innovations ranging from an upside-down Christmas tree, to new power tool and fitness ideas, to a love-detection collar for pets.

INPEX is also where amateur inventors get chosen and invited to participate in ERA’s annual Invention Showcase. The association launched the show in 1999 to provide inventors with a safe forum to understand the invention process and see firsthand how to turn their dreams into a marketable reality and to bring new products and ideas to ERA member companies.

For the fifth consecutive year, ERA hosted a product review panel to qualify products for its 2006 Invention Showcase to be held September 10-12 in Las Vegas. The panel was comprised of six ERA members representing all segments of the multichannel marketing and direct response industry, from catalog to DRTV to Internet to call centers. Industry experts included: Collette Liantonio, president, Concepts TV Productions Inc.; Karen Hyman, president, Live Link TV; Bridget Corish, director of business development, Livemercial Inc.; Tami Cubel, vice president of client development, InPulse Response Group; Wendi Cooper, CEO, C Spot Run Productions, LLC; and Curtis Clarke, vice president of Catalog Solutions Inc. Each panelist brought a unique perspective to the panel and represented years of direct response knowledge and experience.

Over 50 inventors with products geared toward the direct-to-consumer industry presented their ideas and innovations in the hopes of pre-qualifying for this year’s Showcase. Products ranging from things that make you go to those that made you ask yourself “now why didn’t I think of that?” Were auditioned; the panel invited more than 30 inventors to exhibit in Vegas.

As our industry becomes increasingly more sophisticated and focused on the big brand Fortune 500 companies, it’s thrilling to see the high-level of entrepreneurship entering the direct response world says Concepts TV Productions; Collette Liantonio. Its exciting to see the American Dream in action and to have the opportunity to recognize the next great breakthrough that is destined to make our lives better.

This year’s inventors are no doubt hoping to duplicate the success of one of last year’s Invention Showcase winner, Carrie Jeske. Her invention, Sports Shade, a portable awning that can be attached to a fixed object to provide shade and cover during summertime recreational activities, was recently featured live on QVC and is available for sale on its website.

As the long day ended, marking another successful partnership with INPEX, ERA and Invention Showcase Task Force chair, Wendy Cooper, commented, “Every year it is such a joy to be able to give back to the people who make our industry thrive—the inventors. It’s so refreshing to see how ERA’s Invention Showcase has grown, how ERA members have stayed committed, and how our efforts with the support of everyone at INPEX provide exactly what we set out to do: provide a safe forum where education meets opportunity. And it’s thrilling to see the high-level of entrepreneurship entering the direct response world.

Collette Liantonio, Concepts TV Productions Inc.
Information about ERA & Invention Showcase, including a list of past winners, is available at www.americaninventiveness.org.

DOSSIER: Collette Liantonio, President, Concepts TV Productions, Boonton

On the tube: Unless you haven’t watched TV in 20 years, chances are you’ve seen an info­mercial produced by Mountain Lakes resident Collette Lianto­nio, president of Concepts TV Productions.

The company: Founded in 1983 by Liantonio, the Boonton based company has been honored with more than 200 awards for its work in direct-response televi­sion, featuring such celebrities as Joe Namath, George Foreman and Arnold Palmer selling every­thing from cookware to hair care. Some of Liantonio’s hits include the Pasta Pot, Topsy Tail and Jack Lalanne Stepper.

What is direct-response television? Any commercial that can get immediate action whether ordering via telephone or the Internet — all those 800-number commercials.

How did you get started in this field? “I was doing this type of work for other people and asked my employer if he would hire me. He was my first cus­tomer. I’m primarily a script writer.”

Family business: “My daugh­ter Eve Fusco is chief financial officer, and my son, John Calder­aro, manages the Los Angeles office.”

“My other daughter, Collette DeBenedetto, is a junior at the University of Pennsylvania. “I also have a a 4 month old grandson, Cosmo.”

“My business is run like a fam­ily. I like that idea. I have only 10 employees. and we’re a very close-knit group.”

“My Parents live in a down­stairs apartment at my house, and growing up, I lived in an apartment above the family business.”

Born: July 12, 1949, in Brook­lyn and grew up there.

Education: After graduating high school at 16, went to Fordham University to New York on a scholarship majoring in English. Also has master’s degree from New York University in theater education with a concentration in directing.

Jersey girl: Moved to New Jersey when she married at age 22, settling first in Clifton. Taught English and Spanish at Rutherford High School for sever­al years.

Also lived in Wayne and Montville. “I kept moving west.”

Is there any other profes­sion you would have liked to try? “Acting, but I’m too insecure for all the rejection. You have to have a thick skin.”

How long have you lived In Mountain Lakes? “I’ve lived in Mountain Lakes for 11 years with my husband. Jon DeBenedetto.”

Favorite restaurants: South City Grill in Mountain Lakes and Attila’s Kitchen in Denville.”

What Is you love to do? “To go. I’m a globe-trotter. I go to Hawaii every couple of years, and in two weeks, I’m going to Spain. I like the whole Spanish culture.”

“I’ve also shot commercials in Africa, Korea, England and Scot­land and was in Serbia when war broke out. I would like to go to Bali and Egypt.”

Did you have any female role models? “There weren’t a lot of women coming up through the ranks then, mostly men.”

Pet peeve: “I dislike it when someone in business acts unethi­cal or immoral, then says, ‘It’s business.’”

Do you think women have come a long way? “I was in the second class of women to gradu­ate from Fordham, which was all male until 1965. There were 10 men to every woman.”

“It’s hard for women to com­bine business and a career unless you want your kids raised by a nanny.”

“I don’t think things have changed except that there are greater expectations going from a career to motherhood.”

“I feel badly that we don’t do a good job with child care in this country.”

“If I were going to make political statement, child care would be the issue.”

Dossier was reported by Sally Silverman, a freelance writer.

 

 

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That’s a WRAP! By Collette Liantonio  Shoot for the Sale: DRTV Production Basics While every DRTV marketer would love to win an artistic award for Best Infomercial, the real goal is to create a commercial that sells your product. You may claim that your primary goal is to build your brand but without strong sales, your commercial will be abandoned at the test phase and the world will never learn about your brand. So how does one create a compelling commercial that drives sales and builds your brand? After you determine that your product is a viable DRTV project, the first decision should be regarding the length of the commercial. Unless you have very deep pockets and a three-month lead time, a half hour infomercial can be daunting. While higher ticket items usually sell well through the infomercial genre, they can also be very effectively marketed in short-form commercials using payment plans, free trial offers and lead generation. Shows built around emotional testimonials and endorsements usually require the longer formats to persuade the consumer to purchase. In selecting a producer, the marketer should make sure that the selection of the commercial format is based on sound marketing criteria and not the limited expertise of the potential producer. Thus, you should ask three important questions of the potential producer: How much will it cost me? Get a budget and a contract. How long will it take? Get a schedule. What have you done successfully in this category? Get a simple disk of successful DRTV projects and a list of referrals. Once the length has been decided and the producer selected, the single most important production element is the script. At the end of an infomercial half hour, or a short form 120- or 60 second spot, the viewer should be compelled to reach into his or her pocket, take out a credit card and in a gigantic leap of faith, part with his or her hard earned dollars. That calls for a crystal clear message. Any confusion whatsoever will kill the sale. Obviously every second, every syllable counts. That’s why there’s a formula, the problem, the solution (your product), the demonstration, the proof (testimonials, endorsements, science) and the offer! FINE-TUNING THE OFFER Why do I repeat the offer? The most important testing element is the offer itself. Do you get one widget or two? Do you get to try it before you buy it? Do you get a free shoe phone with your magazine? Do you spend $9.95 or $99.95? The wise entrepreneur invests his or her money in the test phase. How much money do you spend on production? Many DRTV experts answer this question with the metaphorical. Do you want a Mercedes or a Volkswagen? Cheap or expensive is not the point. The secret engine that drives the sale is the script. It’s about the integrity of the spot, the message, the value of the offer…and that can be conveyed with Beta, SP, HDTV or 35mm film. It’s about the execution of a great script. Shows built around Emotional Testimonials and Endorsements usually require the longer formats to persuade the consumer to purchase. But what about the creative tone of the spot? You don’t have to yell and sell, but you do need to cut through the TV clutter, and you should compel the audience to stop, look and listen, not calmly and passively, but as an active participant. At the end of the minute (or so), the viewer should be driven to reach into his or her wallet, remove the credit card and call the 800 number or log on to the company’s web site and act now, or go to a store and look for the product now! Or the beautiful, award-winning commercial will be considered a very expensive mistake. So how does one create a great script with a spectacular offer and a compelling spot that makes the viewer order now? One hires an experienced expert to create a spectacular commercial with two or three different offers at the endings. One hires an experienced media buyer to test the offers. One hires a great call center to cross-sell and upsell, and one prays that one’s commercial will defy the odds and become the next DRTV hit. So don’t delay. Act now and call the expert. Collette Liantonio is president of Concepts TV Productions Inc. in Boonton, N.J. She can be reached at (973) 331-1500, or via e-mail at collette@conceptstv.com.

DRTV spots are performing well across the board this year.
BY BRIDGET MCCREA

When Collette Liantonio hunkers down to lay out her plan for a new short-form DRTV spot,
she likes to use a clean slate and original idea. “I like to create spots from scratch,” says
Liantonio, president of Concepts TV Productions in Boonton, N.J. “I don’t even want to
see anyone else’s spots, even if I’m creating a competitive show.”

Fiercely independent and creative, Liantonio was shocked last year when a little birdie told her that a competitor not only copied much of her Better Pasta Pot show, but that he had the gall to run her show on a monitor in the very studio where he was shooting his own pasta pot show. “They studied my show right as they were producing theirs so they could emulate the camera angles that we used,” says Liantonio. “That’s just not right.”

It may not be “right,” but mimicry is very common in an industry characterized by copycats and knockoffs. Liantonio attributes the lapse in judgment to a definite lack of “original brains” in the short-form arena. “It’s not that there can’t be competitive products, but at least write your own script and shoot your own spot,” she says, adding that the race to be “first and best” is getting harder and harder to win in the short-form arena.

Despite the rampant competition, Liantonio says her firm’s Better Pasta Pot did claim its share of the pasta pot-craze, and went neck-and-neck with a similar product for first position. “I know for a fact that one campaign is spending $750,000 per week on media profitably,” says Liantonio. “That’s one in a very crowded field. Once again, it was not a patented item. Everybody and his brother got in the act. It was crazy.”

The craziness comes from one simple source: the fact that short-form spots are hot right now, and everyone is using them – from the gadget producers to the housewares marketers to corporations like Radio Shack and Microsoft. In the past year, many marketers have also begun using spokespeople in their spots – a rarity until just recently, says Liantonio – and using the shows to drive both retail and online sales.

The latter is particularly popular, according to Liantonio. “We’re seeing a lot of short form being used to drive people to web sites,” she says, adding that short form is also being used for higher-ticket items, such as high-tech products. “It’s not all gadgets and gizmos anymore, but those products certainly aren’t suffering either.”

Yet another way marketers are milking more profit out of their $19.95 ceiling on short-form products is by creatively charging double the shipping and handling costs for what – to the consumer – appears to be two separate orders. After agreeing to pay $7.95 shipping and handling on a $19.95 pasta pot, for example, customers are offered a free package of accessories, as long as they pay the $8.95 shipping and handling charge.

Add it up, says Liantonio, and you get a $36.85 short-form product. “$29.95 doesn’t work with short-form housewares and gadgets,” says Liantonio. “This is helping marketers stay on the air at $19.95.”

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