You want to showcase your product on one of the home shopping television networks.
Who are the players?
- HSN was launched by Lowell ‘Bud’ Paxson and Roy Speer in 1982 as the Home Shopping Club, a local cable channel seen on Vision Cable and Group W Cable in Pinellas County, Florida. Paxson and Speer got their inspiration from a mishap turned into gold; Paxson’s first company, a radio station, had a vendor with cash problems, paying it in can openers; the radio used its station to sell the can openers that sold out and an industry was born three years later on July 1, 1985, changing its name to HSN.
- QVC, (Quality, Value, Convenience), followed HSN in 1986 as its competitor in the category of televised sales pitches for consumer goods and services. Founded by Joseph Segel, QVC broadcasts in six countries as QVC US, QVC UK, QVC Germany, QVC Japan, QVC Italy, and QVC/CNR (China) to 235 million households. After the financial difficulties of acquiring Cable Value Network, Comcast bought a majority share, then then sold to Liberty Media in 2003. By 2007, it rebranded itself with the tagline, iQdoU (I shop QVC, do you?) and became the first of its category to offer HD programming. By 2012, QVC partnered with China National Radio to take over the operations of its televised home shopping and ecommerce sites, initially reaching 35 million households.
- GUTHY RENKER, founded in 1988 by Bill Guthy and Greg Renker, is known for selling celebrity-endorsed products through high-production-value infomercials. The co-founders created an infomercial for a self-help book they were both fans of, Think and Grow Rich. The company grew to $60 million by 1993, when Ron Perelman bought a 37.5 percent share in the company. In the 1990s, Guthy Renker started selling cosmetics, household goods and fitness products and grew internationally, reaching $1.5 billion in revenues by 2009.
We also provide some information about how to get your product showcased on a home shopping network:
- Establish a fan base (social, experiential)
- Establish seasoned sales base with _ million in revenue
- Get seen or written about (PR)
- Have an established company carry your product, then make the pitch
Closing:
If your objective is to sell your product on a home shopping network, click here to learn how KD can help you every step of the way.
