eHobbies launches a low-cost TV campaign by targeting local cable shows
Online toy and hobby retailer eHobbies.com is getting ready to air its first commercials, following a successful offline marketing campaign at the Los Angeles County Fair earlier this fall, co-CEO Seth Greenberg tells Internet Retailer. The commercials format will be direct-response-oriented, not image, Greenberg says. The first one will promote radio-controlled vehicles and be aimed at teens and college students. The second will be about eHobbies’ merchandise in general, including toys, games, slot cars and trains and will be aimed at parents, airing on daytime TV. "The commercials will be direct response, not branding," Greenberg says. "We learned our lesson about that."
Greenberg and partner/co-CEO Ken Kikkawa resurrected EHobbies.com from the wreckage of a venture capital-funded company that had high ambitions and an equally large staff and funding. They acquired the original company’s inventory and URL after it went out of business.
The TV campaign will consist of buying spots on local cable TV channels at the low cost of $30 to $40 per spot for prime time programming, Greenberg says. The company is targeting 10-20 markets, based on where its sales come from. In addition to inexpensive air time, eHobbies kept costs under control by taking up cable operators’ offers to create the commercials, Greenberg says. "Cable operators will subsidize the cost of the ad because they want you to spend the money on advertising," Greenberg says.
Greenberg says eHobbie’s sponsorship of the aviation pavilion at the Los Angeles County Fair earlier this year was so successful that eHobbies has signed up for next year. It distributed 100,000 catalogs at the fair and operated as the pavilion’s gift shop for air-related merchandise.
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