From 'as seen on TV' to as seen at the store - exercise equipment marketing

Discount Store News, Jan 6, 1992

From |As Seen On TV' to As Seen At the Store

Rather than wait for new "as seen on TV" products to make names for themselves, promoters now are simultaneously launching sporting goods products for sale on retail shelves.

Even without a simultaneous introduction, the time frame for shifting from direct response to retail has been tightening over the past four years from a year to about six months and, in some cases, just three months or less.

When Telebrands, of Wayne, N.J., introduced its ThighSizer exercise device on television three months ago, for example, it simultaneously got the product onto retail shelves at Caldor, Jamesway, Fisher's Big Wheel, Rose's and Pace Membership Warehouse. The retail price is about $15, compared to $20 on television, plus $5 shipping and handling.

The ThighSizer is similar in design and price to the competing ThighMaster that TV actress Suzanne Somers is promoting, said Keith Mirchandani, vice president of marketing. Users place the ThighSizer between their legs and squeeze.

In contrast, when Telebrands, then calling itself U.S. Buyers Network, introduced its Ambervision getting them onto shelves in Caldor, Jamesway and Rose's. In addition, Kmart now is testing them.

Ambervision glasses are superior to others because they screen out blue light, and because Telebrands has created brand awareness with millions of dollars worth of advertising, Mirchandani said. They are similar to BluBlocker sunglasses that sell TV-direct for $49.95, Mirchandani said.

Ambervision's price on both television and retail is $9.95. With a retailer cost of $5, Ambervision glasses generate margins of almost 100%. Even on ad, gross margins for Telebrands' products in sporting goods, housewares and health & beauty care run !t least 60%, compared to typical discount store margins of 25% and 26% on housewares and toys, he said.

Telebrands has sold about 5 million pairs, he said, and sales are still running about 1 million pairs a year, evenly split between direct and retail.

Similarly, Fitness Quest, Canton, Ohio, began shipping its new Jane Fonda Lower Body exercise program to discounters in November, the same month it introduced the product with a two-minute commercial on Fox TV. The program consists of a step bench and 65-minute video tape of a Jane Fonda exercise routine for $59.95, the same price at retail as direct-TV.

And Fitness Quest got its new, upscale Fit One cross country ski exercise machine into retail channels at $295 three months after it introduced it on television in December 1990, said David Petersilge, national retail director. In comparison, its $59.95 Easy Glider skier entered retail more than six months after Fitness Quest introduced it on TV in October 1987.

Fitness Quest has sold about 2 million units of Easy Glider on TV, at $59.95, plus $9 shipping, and about 700,000 more through retail outlets at $54.95.

Another new product with a simultaneous TV and retail launch last February was its Tummysizer, a $19.95 stomach exercise belt that operates on the basis of isometric contraction of muscles. The price on TV is $19.95 and chains such as Sears, Meijer, Bradlees, Oshman's, Big 5 and Sports Town carry it at the same price. Kmart offers it for $17.97.

The first TV product for Fitness Quest was the Abdomenizer, introduced on TV at $19.95 in October 1988, with retail shipment in February 1989. Fitness Quest sold about 1.5 million units direct, and retailers have sold 2 million more as low as $17.95 on ad.

A "surprisingly low" percentage of the millions of potential customers who see a product promoted on TV actually order it, Fitness Quest concedes in its promotional brochure. Most eventual purchasers need to see and touch a product in a store before they buy.

Fitness Quest "sets the stage," for a purchase, it claims, and retailers "reap the rewards."

Suzanne Somers' Thighmaster is produced by Ovation Communications, Los Angeles, and is distributed by Healthstyle, Huntington Station, N.Y. Ovation rolled it out on TV in April 1991 and began shipping to retailers for Christmas. It sells for $19.95, direct, and Ovation also sells a Suzanne Somer's workout video for $14.95, direct.

Ovation began shipping Thighmaster to discount chains, including Wal-Mart, Target and Kmart, and most major sporting goods chains in the fourth quarter, said Michael Clark, vice president, business affairs. "It is selling quite briskly at full suggested retail of $19.95," he said. He declined to disclose sales projections for either direct or retail channels.

"Ovation is projecting the end of the road for direct response," for the Thighmaster, Clark said. But he declined to disclose when that will come.

"We will keep it going as long as it breaks even," he said. "It's not like conventional advertising and you have a set amount and that's it."

Even if direct response loses a little, "we'll subsidize" direct response because that drives retail sales, he said. Direct and retail work hand in glove, he said.

PHOTO : Venture, Des Moines, Iowa: The Thighmaster, which was first rolled out on TV in April 1991, is now selling briskly at many discount stores.