176 !!Chapter 9
infomercials and are compensated by receiving a percentage of sales. A
successful infomercial can generate substantial sales, although most are
not successful. They are usually tested in a region and played for one or
two weekends. If considerable sales are not achieved, the infomercial is
typically canceled.
The following list contains some of the most successful infomercials:
- Jane Fonda: Fitness Trends for the Nineties (treadmill)
- Psychic Friends Network (1-900 line)
- Bruce Jenner: PowerWalk Plus (treadmill)
- Connie Sellecca and John Tesh: Growing in Love and Hidden Keys
- Jake Steinfeld: Body by Jake (hip and thigh exercise machine)
- Barbara De Angelis: Making Love Work
- Health Rider (fitness machine)
- Popeil Pasta Maker
- Anthony Robbins: Personal Power$4 (self-improvement)
The following is my interview with Mark Mayhew, of Mayhew/Breen
Productions, one of the most successful infomercial producers.
MZ: What is an infomercial?
Mark: An infomercial is a 28-minute and 30-second broadcast piece
that is used to sell a product or to convey information about a
product.
MZ: Other than the length, how does an infomercial differ from a
commercial?
Mark: A commercial is designed to enhance the image of a product
and create an awareness that can be acted on later on, whether
it’s in a store or in some other way. An infomercial demands a
direct response—thus the name ‘‘direct response.’’ [The audi-
ence] calls for information about a product at that moment or
actually buys something.
MZ: What is the role of music in an infomercial?
Mark: [It] is not unlike its role in a commercial, but in an infomer-
cial we use music to enhance the need to buy. We have one of
the most difficult jobs, and that is to get people up off their com-
fortable seat and get to a phone and take down a number. We
use music to enhance that need. We use it to help us drive the
sale.
MZ: Is creating an infomercial different from creating a commer-
cial?
Mark: It’s not fundamentally different, in that you’re working on a
product for which you’re creating an image. In traditional adver-
tising, that image does not have to be acted upon in that minute.
In our business, we’re still creating an image for the product, but