TV COMMERCIALS HAVE LONG PAST, SHORT FUTURE

Fairfield, IA -- Television commercials may be an endangered species. Already zapped by nearly 50% of TV viewers, the 30-second spot is seen "following the dinosaur into extinction, threatened by advancing technology and the demands of more sophisticated consumers," observes Tim Hawthorne, the media visionary who pioneered the modern infomercial.

"As interactive TV and the Internet invade more American homes, the 60-year history of intrusive advertising and the short-form commercial may be coming to an end," says Hawthorne. "When audiences have complete control of their viewing, they won't choose to watch a 30-second spot for Clorox."

Recognizing that flexibility among viewers, he continues, "advertisers in the interactive online age soon will be creating informative long-form commercials designed to attract consumers who have a choice. The advertiser's goal will be to get consumers to spend time with the product--interacting, asking questions, requesting information."

Hawthorne, author of the definitive handbook on long-form television marketing, "The Complete Guide to Infomercial Marketing" (NTC Business Books 1997), calls infomercials "the forerunners to interactive television. The elements of presentation, price points, service and call to action are virtually identical, providing a natural format for the transition to online selling."

The "revolution in how advertising will be delivered and viewed will make the 30-second spot obsolete," Hawthorne predicts.

Gearing up for an expansive future, he recently recast his industry-leading infomercial company, hawthorne direct (formerly Hawthorne Communications, Inc.), as a full-service, direct marketing agency specializing in creating, producing and managing marketing campaigns from concept development to retail distribution. Now, as chairman and CEO of the renamed hawthorne direct, the industry's leading infomercial ad agency envisions another metamorphosis.

"I want to create a multi-media direct shopping channel to interactively serve the growing needs of a more sophisticated consumer who demands more product information," says the 47- year-old Harvard graduate who has scheduled 2001 as the launch date for Hawthorne Interactive. Explaining that he is "not a still-photo and graphics guy but a moving picture and stereo guy waiting for cable modems and compressing technology to advance," the 25-year industry veteran said the time is close at hand "when consumers will start downloading things in real time. Currently, I create interactive long form TV commercials where I ask viewers to pick up their phones and make a call; within two years we will be doing the same thing with our commercial advertising on the Internet, although we'll be generating response via dialogue boxes and key strokes. That will be an exciting adventure for us as we take infomercials down the fast lane of the information superhighway."

Hawthorne, who pioneered long form direct response television (DRTV), now a full- service provider of integrated marketing services, including short-form DRTV, international direct response, live TV home shopping, credit card syndication and much more.

Since entering the industry, Hawthorne has "continuously made it his mission to go beyond the Ron Popeils of the infomercial world and move into the future of interactive DRTV."

Regardless of the product, he says, advertising messages will need to be highly enticing or the consumer will turn to one of the 49,000 other viewing options available. "Program quality will attract the audience of tomorrow, just as infomercials do today. People watch infomercials not because they have to but because they want to, they appeal to their desire for product information in an entertaining format."

In the age of the Internet and interactive television, Hawthorne continues, "commercials won't be 30 seconds or 30 minutes in length. In all likelihood, a product will have six to ten chapters of information to screen, each running between two and ten minutes. Like now, the goal of 21st century advertisers will be the same: keep viewers watching as long as possible; keep them moving from one chapter to the next; keep them engaged, asking questions until they finally are sold.

"Advertisers should learn the art of infomercial creative today, because tomorrow's advertising will follow closely in its footsteps."