Thursday, October 06, 2005

"Hey, Look At This"

A few weeks ago Jon Congdon walked into my office with one of the infomercial industry's leading trade magazines, RESPONSE Magazine. He said "Hey, look at this," and tossed it on my desk, opened to the Editor's page.

The title of the Editor's comments for this month's issue:
A Power(90)ful Product Test Is Good News for the Industry ... I Hope!

In the article, Tom Haire talks about his personal frustration with bogus marketers casting a cloud over a medium, the infomercial, which can be such a powerful tool for advertisers. The program-length infomercial has a unique ability to educate, motivate, and sell. It's hard to find another industry that has seen as many overnight rags-to-riches success stories. Likewise, this infomercial is one of the most abused forms of advertising.
People like Tom and publisher John Yarrington, magazines like RESPONSE, and trade association ERA are trying to clean it up by focusing on the examples of appropriate and positive business applications of the medium. Their efforts will ultimately help the consumer, clean up this industry, and hopefully help mature a medium that really can benefit people who see products on TV they are interested in, who want to know more than a one minute TV ad can tell them.

Tom goes on in his article describing how it came time for him to do something about his competing love for food, and his frustration with his weight - and how he decided to walk the talk, put his own industry to the test, and see if Power 90 would do what we say it does in our infoemrcials.

I am proud to say, as expected, he's doing VERY well with it!

Jon and I saw him briefly a couple weeks ago in Vegas, and he really is a sliver of the guy I saw At the same event last year. According to a conversation Jon had with him, since August 1st he has lost 26 pounds, even with a week in Vegas smack in the middle of his program. Nice work! That's with the exact same Power 90 that we sell. No trainer. No assistance. The guy just went for it; Decide. Commit. Succeed.

Here are emails we got in response to Jon checking in with Tom and John at RESPONSE Magazine on Tom's status:

Jon,

Doing well. Missed just one day so far (one of the days at ERA). Today is day 65. My last weigh-in on Sunday, I was at 212. Down 26 pounds, only 2 in the last two weeks, mostly due to traveling to ERA and then over to Phoenix for the USC-ASU game. However, I can report that the sculpting is really starting to kick in and I am getting cut in places I haven't been since HS basketball and tennis. Still working on a little of the gut, but it's disappearing.

Thanks much for helping out with this. Good luck with your buddies. Tell them they'll never know how fast the 90 days can go. I've got three and a half weeks left and I feel like I just started.

Thomas Haire
Editor-in-Chief
Response Magazine


And then from John Yarrington, the publisher who has watched Tom shrink:

Hi Jon,

Great to hear from You. I'm sure Tom will follow up to this e-mail, but I have to tell you, Tom's doing great! From a co-worker's point of view, I've noticed a huge improvement in his energy level and a major increase in his overall self-confidence.

Beyond Tom's personal improvements, his devotion to the program has created a infectious health conscious environment in our office which has inspired others to take control of their lives and begin living healthier.

I'm sure you will be pleased to see Tom's results in the Editor's note of the October issue of Response Magazine. We at Response are definitely proud of Tom and I know the Power 90 team will be too!

My Best,
John Yarrington
Publisher
Response Magazine

I am not a fan of chasing publicity. It's exhausting, and takes you out of the work you need to do to innovate and really sell. But when this kind of notice comes our way naturally, it's exciting and sure feels good.

I'll give you an update if Tom submits his final numbers to us. But for now, I want to join the entire staff at Beachbody and our community of Power 90 believers and wish him the best of luck in his last 30 days!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I had my account debited fro 19.95 in Sep.05. I was assured after calling, that I would not receive any additional product from you. i am disabled and have no interest in your product. On Oct.3 an additional 45.85 was debited. I called again, spoke with an Arion who assued me that you could place a rush on returning my funds(48 hours). the return # that I was given for the time that if and when i received the productisx06n236. When i call today i am told that the "order" would have to be returned (scheduled to go out today) and I would have to wait for the return to be processed. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was placed in the 5 minute cue, whereby, of course, no one answered but i was "allowed" to leave a message. If this is how you do business, I will report you to the Attorney General's Office, Consumer Fraud Division and the BBB. I am on a fixed income and you will not practice this type of business with me. I will not just go away. I am disabled now, but prior to this worked as a professional and consumer advocate.

TuxBaby said...

I have to say I've always been a skeptic of infomercials, but just this year I've tried out 3 different things and all have been great! The first one was Power90- and I've gone on to order more BB products.

The next was Bare Minerals make-up. I'm not a big make-up wearer, and the mineral make up DOES work and doesn't feel cakey like liquid. I was skeptical about it too- but now I've made a second order of mineral products.

The third was the Magic Bullet. It was actually my Dad who bought it, but that thing works GREAT for making my BB portein smoothies as my post-workout treat!

So those are my infomerial "plugs" but I tell everyone about BB and how much fun I've had changing my lazy lifestyle. :-) And although there ARE some infomercial products that are purely junk, I am happy that there are some true quality products out there as well.

~TuxB

Carl Daikeler said...

Carol - First, I am saddened to hear about your disability. I hope that is not a permanent situation. I would be interested to know more if you cared to email me -- I am considering a line of "rehab" type workouts based on some requests we've had recently. Second - I will look into what happened with your order. Bottom line is, we will do what it takes to make sure you are satisfied.

Tux - It's interesting to hear which products you have been pleased with. Both of those others come from good companies, and since I am aware that many of those competitors read this blog to see what we're up to at Beachbody, I am sure they will appreciate the compliment as well!

Carl

Anonymous said...

Hey Carl and Tuxbaby,

I also use Bare Minerals! I love it!!! Awesome product! I was sold from the minute I watched the video that came with the product and learned how to apply it! It's all I use now!

The other, of course, is Power 90. What can I say??? Awesome doesn't even start to say what it has meant to me! So, long live the truthful and useful infomercial!!!

And don't be hassled by folks who bring ultimatums on your wonderful blog. I know that BB will rectify her complaint beautifully, so hey, Carol, chill out! :) BeachBody is a very fair company and is not trying to take advantage of you. Be patient and it will all work out, I'm sure! I mean, you have it from Carl's mouth and the man is NOT a liar. You can trust him!

Blessings,
Sarah/Psalm9567

Carl Daikeler said...

I appreciate that Sarah, but this is what happens with new technology like blogs and the internet. We are running a company with more transparency than competitors who NEVER create a relationship with the customer; and if that's the way we're going to build this, I have to accept responsibility, find a way to respond efficicently, and then find/fix where the system breaks down. Hopefully that means we will attract more customers like you, like Tux, and like Carol - who will not just blow us off and say "another scam" if there's a problem, but will give us the chance to fix things, and then be lifelong customers when we really do come through and make things right.

Anonymous said...

Carl! Hola... I know you are all busy with Hawaii around the block. Anyway. Can you tell Jon to tell Tom, WAY TO GO and keep it going! It is wonderful to see that people try what we all know works. It is good to see that he is reaching goals, even when on the road. I love that cause I do spend sometimes on the road and have to adjust my workouts and everything and take it outside. Not a bad thing but something I would have never done in the past. I would have hide in the pool, whirlpool, then back to my hotel room to watch tv. Now I try to find a park, a place to walk, check out the area... it is amazing how much you get to find once you are interested. I visit Iowa a lot and I found a map for bicyclist. It is something I can use in the future.

WTG Tom and hopefully he can drop by chat or the message boards and keep all of us updated.
Thanks Carl,
XO
Mary