Search results for The Sharper Image
Found 21 item(s)
Found 21 item(s). Displaying 1-15
February 8, 2011 From Denny Hatch's Business Common Sense
When I came across the obituary of Milton Levine, it struck a chord deep within me.
Here was a 43-year-old salesman of toys and novelties watching some ants at a July 4, 1956 picnic when he suddenly saw his future—the ant farm—a 6” x 9” two-sided plastic frame with sand, tunnels and live ants busily doing their thing as mesmerized kids watch and learn.
A half-century later, kids are still enthralled with ant farms. The basic model sells for $10.99.
Last year, Levine sold his business for $20 million. His website, UncleMilton.com has a slew of wonderful scientific gadgets for kids.
Milton Levine—described by one magazine writer as “anty-establishment”―gave pleasure (and inspiration) to millions of kids, made pots of money, obviously had great fun and went to the great beyond at 97.
Life doesn’t get any better than that!
So what does a fledgling entrepreneur do following a “eureka moment?”
How do you translate an idea into a profitable business?
My suggestion: go the dry test route.
I spent 15 years creating dry tests for clients and my own little business—the WHO’S MAILING WHAT! newsletter and archive service—started out life as a dry test.
Technically the dry test is illegal, but many years ago I discovered a possible loophole.
September 14, 2010 From Industry Centers
Find the latest lists to test—complete with names, descriptions, counts, prices and list managers'/owners' contact information—with this biweekly online feature from Target Marketing.
March 2008 From Denny Hatch's Business Common Sense
Last week I did a column on the simultaneous bankruptcies of two famous catalogs—Lillian Vernon and The Sharper Image—and received a long comment from Michael Muoio, president and CEO of Lillian Vernon. (See the image below.) His comment ran beyond 1,500 characters, and I quickly e-mailed him with effusive thanks for taking the time to write and to ask him to either cut it or finish it so I could run it as two entries with “continued” on the first one. Muoio e-mailed me back and said, “Wanna do a phone call?” I e-mailed him back and said sure, and that I would write
February 2008 From Denny Hatch's Business Common Sense
The king of high-end tchotchkes (Richard Thalheimer, former CEO and chairman of The Sharper Image) and queen of low-end tchotchkes (Lillian Vernon) have been dethroned. Lillian Vernon and Sharper Image—two iconic catalogs—were known to have been struggling in recent years. Their bankruptcies were expected. That they were announced on the same day is astonishing. How could this happen? Both Vernon and Thalheimer launched businesses without paying their dues. Ultimately, neither of them knew what the hell they were doing. Lillian Vernon’s Story In 1933, Lillian Katz’s family fled the Nazis. They left Leipzig, Germany, for Amsterdam, and four years later were lucky enough to
Insert Media Buying Guide: Help Wanted
September 2007 From Target Marketing
The good news: Insert media continues to blossom, with new programs being announced regularly. The could-be-better news: The channel still needs more players, both advertisers and program owners. While this medium has seen significant expansion in recent years, everyone with a stake in its success is clamoring for more. More large programs. More variety in advertisers and offers. To identify a few of the main challenges and opportunities in the insert media arena, Target Marketing called on two leading experts: Leon Henry, chairman and CEO of Leon Henry Inc., and Lisa Roland, president of Everyday Media. They shared their thoughts on how marketers can leverage
September 2007 From Target Marketing
The good news: Insert media continues to blossom, with new programs being announced regularly. The could-be-better news: The channel still needs more players, both advertisers and program owners. While this medium has seen significant expansion in recent years, everyone with a stake in its success is clamoring for more. More large programs. More variety in advertisers and offers. To identify a few of the main challenges and opportunities in the insert media arena, Target Marketing called on two leading experts: Leon Henry, chairman and CEO of Leon Henry Inc., and Lisa Roland, president of Everyday Media. They shared their thoughts on how marketers can leverage
The New Robber Barons
November 2006 From Denny Hatch's Business Common Sense
In the late 1970s, I was hired to write a membership mailing for Comp-U-Card, a Stamford, Conn. organization that claimed to have built “a data base of price and product information on approximately 60,000 brand name products.” Consumers could tap into this wealth of information and presumably save many times the $25 membership fee. Goods were shipped directly from wholesalers to the customer. I met briefly with the president, Walter A. Forbes, who was good-looking, articulate and very intense. At one point in our meeting, he took a phone call and asked me to step outside, which I did. When I returned, Forbes told me that
November 2006 From Denny Hatch's Business Common Sense
In the late 1970s, I was hired to write a membership mailing for Comp-U-Card, a Stamford, Conn. organization that claimed to have built “a data base of price and product information on approximately 60,000 brand name products.” Consumers could tap into this wealth of information and presumably save many times the $25 membership fee. Goods were shipped directly from wholesalers to the customer. I met briefly with the president, Walter A. Forbes, who was good-looking, articulate and very intense. At one point in our meeting, he took a phone call and asked me to step outside, which I did. When I returned, Forbes told me that
A Look Inside Statement Insert Programs
May 2006 From Tipline
Looking for another channel through which to acquire customers with a strong lifetime value? Of course this is a rhetorical question because who isn’t? Statement inserts are advertisements for products or services that ride along with monthly billing statements, and they may be your answer. There are upwards of 200 programs on the market today, and they fall into one of three primary categories: * Visa/Mastercard credit cards, including Bank of America, Capital One, Chase and MBNA, which account for about 125 million statements per month. * Retail credit cards, such as Saks, Macy’s, Belk and Sears, which total about 60 million statements per
May 2006 From Tipline
Looking for another channel through which to acquire customers with a strong lifetime value? Of course this is a rhetorical question because who isn’t? Statement inserts are advertisements for products or services that ride along with monthly billing statements, and they may be your answer. There are upwards of 200 programs on the market today, and they fall into one of three primary categories: * Visa/Mastercard credit cards, including Bank of America, Capital One, Chase and MBNA, which account for about 125 million statements per month. * Retail credit cards, such as Saks, Macy’s, Belk and Sears, which total about 60 million statements per
The Book Publishing Game
April 2006 From Denny Hatch's Business Common Sense
Welcome to the Toughest Business on Earth April 11, 2006: Vol. 2, Issue No. 28 IN THE NEWS AMAZING TUGS by the Crowley Corporation Every once in a while a book comes along that captures the imagination of kids and adults who are young at heart. The Crowley Corporate Communications group has published a children's book about tugboats entitled AMAZING TUGS. —MarEx Newsletter, April 7, 2006 According to publishing guru Dan Poynter, a survey by the Gallup Organization found that 82 percent of the population believe they have a book inside them. Six million people have already written a manuscript. That
April 2006 From Denny Hatch's Business Common Sense
Welcome to the Toughest Business on Earth April 11, 2006: Vol. 2, Issue No. 28 IN THE NEWS AMAZING TUGS by the Crowley Corporation Every once in a while a book comes along that captures the imagination of kids and adults who are young at heart. The Crowley Corporate Communications group has published a children's book about tugboats entitled AMAZING TUGS. —MarEx Newsletter, April 7, 2006 According to publishing guru Dan Poynter, a survey by the Gallup Organization found that 82 percent of the population believe they have a book inside them. Six million people have already written a manuscript. That
The TM Curse?Broken!
October 2005 From Target Marketing
I 'm going to let you in on an inside joke at the Target Marketing offices. For a while, we've been speculating that our Direct Marketer of the Year Award was cursed. Consider: Of the 12 previous winners, six had their careers hit the skids shortly after being proclaimed by us as the best in their field. A couple examples: 1) Who else but the infamous John Peterman to start our curse? A little more than two years after Target honored him, J. Peterman Co. filed for bankruptcy. 2) Ah, Jay Walker and Priceline! We knew we were taking a gamble on
October 2005 From Target Marketing
I 'm going to let you in on an inside joke at the Target Marketing offices. For a while, we've been speculating that our Direct Marketer of the Year Award was cursed. Consider: Of the 12 previous winners, six had their careers hit the skids shortly after being proclaimed by us as the best in their field. A couple examples: 1) Who else but the infamous John Peterman to start our curse? A little more than two years after Target honored him, J. Peterman Co. filed for bankruptcy. 2) Ah, Jay Walker and Priceline! We knew we were taking a gamble on
The Corporate Pitch
July 2005 From Denny Hatch's Business Common Sense
Who Speaks for Your Company? The new General Motors strategy of offering employee pricing on all new models resulted in a 47-percent sales increase in June. Ford promptly followed suit. Chrysler went them both one better by not only offering employee discounts but bringing back Lee Iacocca--the man who saved the company in 1982 and became its spokesman--to do the TV commercials, complete with the line he made famous, "If you can find a better car, buy it." In 1955 Ogilvy & Mather dreamed up the idea of using the CEO of Schweppes USA, the elegant, bearded Commander Edward Whitehead, as the centerpiece of
July 2005 From Denny Hatch's Business Common Sense
Who Speaks for Your Company? The new General Motors strategy of offering employee pricing on all new models resulted in a 47-percent sales increase in June. Ford promptly followed suit. Chrysler went them both one better by not only offering employee discounts but bringing back Lee Iacocca--the man who saved the company in 1982 and became its spokesman--to do the TV commercials, complete with the line he made famous, "If you can find a better car, buy it." In 1955 Ogilvy & Mather dreamed up the idea of using the CEO of Schweppes USA, the elegant, bearded Commander Edward Whitehead, as the centerpiece of
Fulfillment Special Report: iRobot Simplifies Web Fulfillment
July 2004 From Target Marketing
Challenge: iRobot, maker of Roomba Robotic FloorVacs, wanted an online store for the 2003 holiday season, but without the complexity of integrating back-end operations among multiple vendors. Solution: Use a single-source provider for Web site development, fulfillment and customer service. Results: The site, irobotstore.com, was completed in 30 days, calls per order decreased, and iRobot saved the soft costs associated with vendor coordination. While iRobot creates robotic products for a variety of uses, such as archaeological digs and landmine countermeasures, the company is best known for its patented floor-cleaning robot, Roomba. Until last fall, the line of Roomba Robotic FloorVacs and accessories was sold primarily through stores, such
July 2004 From Target Marketing
Challenge: iRobot, maker of Roomba Robotic FloorVacs, wanted an online store for the 2003 holiday season, but without the complexity of integrating back-end operations among multiple vendors. Solution: Use a single-source provider for Web site development, fulfillment and customer service. Results: The site, irobotstore.com, was completed in 30 days, calls per order decreased, and iRobot saved the soft costs associated with vendor coordination. While iRobot creates robotic products for a variety of uses, such as archaeological digs and landmine countermeasures, the company is best known for its patented floor-cleaning robot, Roomba. Until last fall, the line of Roomba Robotic FloorVacs and accessories was sold primarily through stores, such
The Direct Marketer of the Year (3,039 words)
October 2003 From Target Marketing
By Hallie Mummert Master of Multichannel Marketing If Richard Thalheimer was a different kind of person, he might be inclined to stick out his tongue at the big-box electronics and department stores that carry his company's line of product designs. After all, it was only a decade ago that these retail giants were copying The Sharper Image's merchandise mix of outside brands as well as its store layouts, diluting the strength of the company's message and stealing market share. But the same entrepreneurial spirit that drove Chairman and CEO Thalheimer to launch the company in 1977
October 2003 From Target Marketing
By Hallie Mummert Master of Multichannel Marketing If Richard Thalheimer was a different kind of person, he might be inclined to stick out his tongue at the big-box electronics and department stores that carry his company's line of product designs. After all, it was only a decade ago that these retail giants were copying The Sharper Image's merchandise mix of outside brands as well as its store layouts, diluting the strength of the company's message and stealing market share. But the same entrepreneurial spirit that drove Chairman and CEO Thalheimer to launch the company in 1977
Best Practices Your Path to World-class Direct Marketing
September 2003 From Target Marketing
By Hallie Mummert World-class direct marketing doesn't happen by accident or overnight. Companies known for their excellence in one area of business—think L.L. Bean and customer service, Amazon.com and ease of use, The Sharper Image and merchandising strategy—spend years and buckets of money developing processes and technologies to advance their performance levels. Of course, a large company can afford the investment high-level operations require. While medium- and small-size companies don't have deep enough pockets to compete with large companies inch for inch, they are not barred from tailoring best practices to fit the size and scope of
September 2003 From Target Marketing
By Hallie Mummert World-class direct marketing doesn't happen by accident or overnight. Companies known for their excellence in one area of business—think L.L. Bean and customer service, Amazon.com and ease of use, The Sharper Image and merchandising strategy—spend years and buckets of money developing processes and technologies to advance their performance levels. Of course, a large company can afford the investment high-level operations require. While medium- and small-size companies don't have deep enough pockets to compete with large companies inch for inch, they are not barred from tailoring best practices to fit the size and scope of
Cover Story Profile - Select Comfort (2,858 words)
April 2003 From Target Marketing
By Denny Hatch Where channel integration means a sales and marketing network that never rests. You have to be in awe of a company that opened its doors in 1987 and ended 2002 with 26 patents, 321 retail outlets, 25,000 testimonials from happy customers, net sales of $335.8 million and a dazzling stock performance in what can only be called a bungee-jumping market. The company is Select Comfort, headquartered in Minneapolis, manufacturer of beds that encompass a revolutionary design and blessed with a marketing team that rivals the legendary David Oreck and the wizards of Bose. About the Interview That Follows Noel
April 2003 From Target Marketing
By Denny Hatch Where channel integration means a sales and marketing network that never rests. You have to be in awe of a company that opened its doors in 1987 and ended 2002 with 26 patents, 321 retail outlets, 25,000 testimonials from happy customers, net sales of $335.8 million and a dazzling stock performance in what can only be called a bungee-jumping market. The company is Select Comfort, headquartered in Minneapolis, manufacturer of beds that encompass a revolutionary design and blessed with a marketing team that rivals the legendary David Oreck and the wizards of Bose. About the Interview That Follows Noel
Color Sells
January 2003 From Target Marketing
The right palette can improve response By Lois Boyle There's a reason catalogs aren't printed in black and white: Color sells. How can you sell denim without showing the blue? Or oranges without, well, orange? While color is crucial to accurately presenting products, it's also important to use color as a tool to attract attention and maintain visual interest. The following is a list that designers should consider when selecting a palette. 1. Support of Brand Some catalogs are easy to recognize by their use of color. Why? Because they've established a well-defined color palette, and the color scheme becomes essential to their brand
January 2003 From Target Marketing
The right palette can improve response By Lois Boyle There's a reason catalogs aren't printed in black and white: Color sells. How can you sell denim without showing the blue? Or oranges without, well, orange? While color is crucial to accurately presenting products, it's also important to use color as a tool to attract attention and maintain visual interest. The following is a list that designers should consider when selecting a palette. 1. Support of Brand Some catalogs are easy to recognize by their use of color. Why? Because they've established a well-defined color palette, and the color scheme becomes essential to their brand
