1994

There's a battle waging in Fortune 500 conference rooms. Infomercial producers and media buyers on one side; traditional ad agencies on the other. Right in the middle are major corporation marketing vice presidents and brand managers. The issue: Who's best qualified to execute the corporation's first infomercial campaign?

If you've been considering doing an infomercial lately, he sure to check out the body bags first. There are some very expensive, highly "creative" Fortune 500 long-form commercials in the morgue because their producers pulled the trigger without knowing how to aim.

Will infomercials in the year 2010 still look like "The Juiceman's" slicer-dicer program and Cher's hair care talk show? Undoubtedly. As long as there are non-interactive television homes, the basic half hour infomercial we see today will exist. And fully interactive, fiber optic television is expected to penetrate perhaps only 30% to 35% of homes by 2010. Although soon to be dominated by major advertisers like General Motors, IBM, AT&T, and Sony, traditional 30 minute long infomercials will continue to be a mainstay in "old style" analog TV homes.