Wednesday, September 6, 2006
VENTURA, CA—Studio Store Direct, a direct response television marketing company based in Ventura, CA, announced today that it has signed a ground-breaking distribution agreement with Digicorp, Inc. (OTCBB:DGCO.OB), a publicly held digital media company specializing in alternative, niche advertising and Latino home entertainment distribution. Under this arrangement, Digicorp will become the first film distributor to participate in Studio Store Direct’s patent-pending, proprietary process, in which successful direct response television (DRTV) commercial spots are embedded into DVD titles.
The enabled Digicorp DVDs will hit retail shelves by October 1, 2006 and will be serviced to mass, specialty and independent retailers across the U.S. Spanish language commercials for three products—Blue Hippo, Nu-Wave Oven and the Dual-Drill—will form this first round.
“In effect, we are creating an entirely new channel of distribution. We’re circumventing the ever-increasing up-front television media cost and delivering the key to unlocking powerful new streams of revenue for Hollywood Studios, DVD distributors and DRTV marketers,” explains Reno R. Rollé, founder and CEO of Studio Store Direct. “We’re very excited to be working with Digicorp, who clearly understands the potential of our process and knows how to target the financially empowered Spanish-speaking consumer.”
With Studio Store Direct, consumers are in complete control of their commercial-viewing experience and exposed to proven direct response commercial programming that offers exciting, new products and services—all on an entirely opt-in basis. Consumers simply highlight the Studio Store Direct icon on the DVD menu with their remote control and access customized virtual shopping programs. They are then driven to dedicated toll-free phone lines or Web sites to place orders exactly as in traditional DRTV. Within this model, Studio Store Direct effectively behaves much like a television network, reaching precisely targeted consumers via the DVDs they purchased or rented.
Digicorp’s CEO Jay Rifkin says that “Reno and his team at Studio Store Direct have the cutting-edge system and expertise that give consumers access to products and services from the comfort of their homes, while enabling us with a potential turn-key new revenue solution.”
The DVD industry, led by Warner Brothers (NYSE:TWX), MGM, Disney (NYSE:DIS), FOX (NYSE:NWS), Paramount (NYSE:VIA), Universal (NYSE:GE), Lions Gate (NYSE:LGF) and others, including leading independent distributors, has become a nearly $25 billion-a-year business, according to Home Media Retailing. Studio Store Direct is in talks with these major studios and distributors to enable their feature films, library titles and other non-theatrical releases, including special interest, fitness, children’s and others. According to the Electronic Retailing Association (ERA), DRTV, including long form infomercials, short form spots and live television shopping, accounts for more than $100 billion in annual revenue.
“Our patent pending process and proven methodology combined with the DVDs massive distribution potential and unprecedented access to television consumers, could prove revolutionary. We’re approaching the DVD market with high expectations, while looking carefully ahead at VOD and other emerging media as well,” says Rollé.”
By Allison Bruce, Ventura County Star
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Infomercials are infiltrating DVDs. But in contrast to the “yell-and-sell” technique found on late-night television, the point of these ads is to get the DVD viewer to come to them. “It’s the difference between having someone knock on your door selling a vacuum cleaner and driving to the store to buy a vacuum, said Reno R. Rolle,” CEO of Studio Store Direct. The Ventura company is starting to sign up partners to put video catalogs of items on the menu of the latest blockbuster or independently distributed DVD release. The concept is simple: Take merchandise that would appeal to the viewers of a particular movie or television series and pitch that merchandise from a virtual “store” that DVD viewers can access from the menu.
The store would have video presentation of the items, perhaps by one of the actors or characters. People could call in and order merchandise or go online to buy. Studio Store Direct creates the content, works with the studio to identify products and hands over the programming to be included on the disc. Then the company handles calls and orders, processes the credit cards and ships out the products. “The idea takes advantage of a hot revenue stream for movie studios,” Rolle said. The Walt Disney Co., for example, brought in $8.7 billion in studio entertainment in 2004, but the company earned an additional $2.5 billion from related merchandise. The Electronic Retailing Association reports that direct response, which includes infomercials, live shopping, radio and online retailing, grew by 8 percent in 2004, bringing in more than $296 billion. Of that, $156 billion was in direct-response television, according to Molly Alton Mullins, association spokeswoman.
The association’s annual survey found people most commonly bought music through TV infomercials, followed by kitchen utensils and cookware, cosmetics, skin care and hair care products, exercise equipment and audio/video equipment. The average amount spent on infomercial shopping was $98. Traditional infomercials broadcast not knowing who they will reach, paying expensive fees to do so. Shopping channels have the benefit of people tuning in who may want to buy but cannot guarantee that the person watching at this moment wants what’s on the screen. Studio Store Direct targets ads to people inclined to buy a movie by the same director or chess set depicting the movie’s fantasy world. The DVD viewer chooses when to enter the virtual store and watch the presentation.
“With Studio Store Direct, we really know exactly who’s watching,” Rolle said. “If someone buys Star Wars, chances are they are a Star Wars fan. We can customize our offering.” There is the risk that someone buying or renting a DVD won’t want shopping with their entertainment, but new approaches are needed in the direct-response industry, said Tim Hawthorne, founder of Hawthorne Direct Inc. in Iowa and one of the pioneers in infomercials. “People have to experiment,” he said. “Nobody knows what will work.” He said Studio Store Direct is taking an interesting approach to addressing the problem of on-demand viewing. Nobody seeks out an infomercial; people stumble upon them while watching television, he said. Digital video recorders and on-demand programming get around that. Marketers will have to figure out ways to entice people to watch advertising on their iPods, cell phones or computers. Short teasers probably will refer people to longer ads with more information. Those who deal in infomercials have experience with keeping people interested in longer ads, Hawthorne said.
“Our golden era is about to arrive,” he said. Studio Store Direct has applied for a patent, but Rolle said the main selling point is the company’s expertise in direct-response television. Operators familiar with direct-response television sales know how to capture an order when a call comes in and up-sell and offer additional related merchandise, Rolle said. After operating expenses, profits are split evenly between Studio Store Direct and the partner company. “There’s no out-of-pocket expense to the studios at all,” Rolle said. One of the first partners National Lampoon, a holding company that owns the comedy franchise, where Rolle founded the home entertainment division. The company can use the virtual store to promote its other titles or sell merchandise.
Monday, November 7, 6:30 am ET
LOS ANGELES—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Studio Store Direct, creators of a proprietary process for enabling DVDs with direct response methodology, today announced formation of a strategic Alliance with National Lampoon (AMEX:NLN – News), the most recognized name in comedy, to embed direct response commercial content onto National Lampoon branded DVDs.
“National Lampoon has established itself as a prolific source of contemporary, branded DVD content with a massive fan base,” said Reno R. Rollé, CEO of Studio Store Direct. “We look forward to substantially enhancing the revenue potential of DVDs by infusing them with the power of our patent pending ecommerce solution. It’s no secret that direct response television works and works well. The Electronic Retailing Association (ERA) estimates that the industry— including infomercials, short-form spots and live television shopping—accounts for more than $150 billion in annual revenue. Our process will bring the power of this incredible business to marketers and viewers of DVDs all over the world.
LOS ANGELES – July 1, 2008 – Red Rock Pictures Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB: RRPH.OB), a film and entertainment marketing company, announced today that it has entered into an exclusive agreement with San Francisco based 2ndEdison, Inc. (www.2ndedison.com) to handle worldwide marketing and distribution for the Metaball.
“This is possibly the hottest and most innovative new consumer fitness product I’ve ever seen” said Red Rock Chief Executive Officer, Reno R. Rolle’. “The response so far from our marketing partners has been extremely encouraging”.
The Metaball is the world’s first variable weight medicine ball that converts into a complete set of dumbbells and push-up bars. It is seven medicine balls in one so it takes up a small fraction of the shelf space at retail which will have stores very happy. The ball has a cushiony handle on each side, making it easy to do all of the popular medicine ball exercises. It then splits in half to reveal adjustable weight plates on the interior. You can go from 5 to 20lbs in one ball. Perhaps the most amazing feature is that once you open the ball into two halves, you now have a dumbbell in each hand that adjusts from 2.5 to 10Lbs., which is the perfect weight range for most dumbbell exercises. The ingenious device is basically a complete home gym in one ball the size of a small basketball. It’s fun, colorful and takes up incredibly little space in the home.
Rolle’ continued, “Chris Bradley of 2ndEdison is an award winning product designer and a well-spring of new product ideas. We’re proud and honored that he chose Red Rock as his marketing partner for this amazing new product.”
“The Metaball combines all of the most popular home fitness products together into one compact and simple solution.” said 2ndEdison Founder and CEO, Chris Bradley. “I see great potential in the Metaball and with Red Rock as our marketing & distribution partner, I know that we are setup for success. Reno Rolle and his team have an outstanding track record of marketing breakthrough consumer products on a global basis, so I am very excited to be working with them to develop this business!”
Red Rock is producing a direct response television commercial to market the Metaball. Initial sales efforts will focus on television and the internet with an eventual planned roll-out to retail stores worldwide.
About 2ndEdison, Inc. (www.2ndedison.com)
2ndEdison, Inc. is an award-winning new product development company focused on inventing, designing and developing new consumer products and brands. 2ndEdison has expertise in product strategy, marketing, mechanical engineering, industrial design and off-shore manufacturing. Throughout 2ndEdison’s rich history it has worked with many of world’s most admired brands from companies such as HP, Procter & Gamble, Clorox and many others. More recently, 2ndEdison has focused its efforts on developing new products targeted for direct response channels of distribution with 7 new products/brands targeted to launch this year.
