[Top Agency & Direct Response Series] Direct Response Campaigns With Ed Crain of Kingstar Media

Ed Crain is the President and CEO of Kingstar Direct and Kingstar Media, which is recognized as Canada’s top performance marketing agency. With over 25 years of industry experience, Ed has played a crucial role in the company’s growth and success, helping top brands like Trivago, Babbel, and Generac achieve remarkable marketing outcomes. Kingstar Media specializes in ensuring accountability for every media dollar spent, delivering impressive results for clients through precise planning and optimization of offline and online media. Ed’s passion for direct response marketing and building strong relationships has driven his success, making him a respected figure in the field.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• [03:08] How Ed Crain transitioned from a young actor to a direct response marketing mogul
• [6:52] The importance of testing and evolving marketing tactics to beat control ads
• [9:39] How to effectively partner with companies to scale their marketing efforts
• [18:55] How testimonials and trust factors are incorporated into a successful direct response offer
• [25:41] The role of “magical transformation” and why it’s crucial in a product’s pitch
• [27:13] The elements that constitute an irresistible offer
• [32:41] The evolution of marketing expectations from “infomercial hits” to calculated performance marketing
• [43:23] The characteristics of an effective pitchman

In this episode…

Ever wondered how some of the most iconic direct response marketing campaigns came to be? What makes a campaign both effective and memorable? What if you could glean insights directly from the mind behind legendary infomercials like the ShamWow and Jack LaLanne’s juicers?

Ed Crain of Kingstar Media shares his journey from being a childhood actor to becoming a powerhouse in the direct response industry. He recounts how his early experiences led him to the infomercial sector, where he mastered the art of creating engaging content that drives consumer action. With decades of experience, Ed provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse into working with notable personalities like Fran Tarkenton and Jack LaLanne, emphasizing the importance of genuine passion and relationships in crafting compelling marketing messages. 

In today’s episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast, Dr. Jeremy Weisz interviews Ed Crain, President and CEO of Kingstar Media,  about the evolution and efficacy of direct response marketing. He shares valuable lessons on constructing a powerful pitch, the necessity of authentic testimonials, and the importance of continuous testing and optimization. Ed’s anecdotes highlight how even in an age of shrinking attention spans, the fundamentals of creating trust and showcasing clear transformations remain key.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Ed Crain on LinkedIn
• Kingstar Media

Special Mention(s):

• Jack Lalanne
• Francis Tarkenton: X | Facebook | YouTube
• Joe Weider
• Vince Offer on LinkedIn
• ShamWow
• Cathy Mitchell on LinkedIn
• Emeril Lagasse on LinkedIn

Related episode(s):

• [Top Agency Series] Mastering the Art of Media Advertising With Geoff Crain of Kingstar Media on the Inspired Insider Podcast
• From Maxwell Street to Infomercials with Ron Popeil on the Inspired Insider Podcast
• Boardroom Inc: Light Bulb Moments after 1.3 Billion pieces of direct mail – with Brian Kurtz [Big Lessons] on the Inspired Insider Podcast

Episode Transcript

Intro 0:00

You are listening to Inspired Insider with your host, Dr. Jeremy Weisz.

Jeremy Weisz 0:22

Dr. Jeremy Weisz here, founder of inspiredinsider.com, where I talk with inspirational entrepreneurs and leaders. Today is no different. I have Ed Crain of Kingstar Media. Ed, before I formally introduce you, I always like to point out other episodes people should check out of the podcast. This is part of the Top Agency Series, but also Top Direct Response Series. 

I think Ed, you know, in my business life and life, things are rooted in direct response and relationships like those two things are really the foundation for how I think about things. And so I love having people like you on, who are experts, and have been, I had your son on, Geoff, talk about it, and he’s like, You have to have my dad on. He’s the OG of direct response. I knew you were shooting infomercials, and really rooted in direct response going way back. I had Ron Popeil on, that was a great interview talking about direct response, infomercial king. I had just Brian Kurtz, and some other people who just really specialize in direct response and those are some of my most fun interviews. So check those out, you can go to Inspired Insider and just type in ‘direct response’ and see what shows up. 

And this episode is brought to you by Rise25. At Rise25 we help businesses give to and connect to their dream relationships and partnerships. How do we do that? We do that by helping you run your podcast. We’re an easy button for a company to launch and run a podcast. We do the strategy, the accountability and the full execution. So, Ed, we call ourselves the magic elves that run in the background and make it look easy for the host so they can create amazing relationships and really create amazing content and, most importantly, run their business. So for me, the number one thing in my life is relationships. I’m always looking at ways to give to my best relationships. I found no better way, over the past decade, to profile the people and companies I most admire and share with the world what they’re working on. So if you’ve thought about podcasting, you should. If you have questions, go to Rise25.com. 

And I’m excited to introduce Ed Crain. He’s the President and CEO of Kingstar Media. It’s one of Toronto’s leading performance marketing agencies. Ed has over, I won’t gauge you, several decades of experience and planning, buying, optimizing offline and online media for some of the world’s top brands. We’ll talk about the mind behind working with Jack LaLanne, if you’ve heard of him, David Wolfe and the NutriBullet, Fran Tarkenton infomercials, if you didn’t realize. And Vince Offer, if you don’t know what Vince Offer is, you may have heard of the ShamWow. So Ed, thanks for joining me. 

Ed Crain 3:08

Thank you. Jeremy, nice to be here, and thank you for having me.

Jeremy Weisz 3:03

Just start off and talk about the company and the origins of the company.

Ed Crain 3:08

Sure. So, I mean, I don’t want to go on too long, but I really came from, you know, I think I want to say performance, because, I mean, I was a childhood actor, to some degree, in my hometown of Ottawa, but when I went to university I was going to be an urban planner, I had all these plans to change and rebuild the world, and then I just, I really fell back to kind of wanting to get somewhere in touch with performance and engagement so I ended up, I think, you know, the first time I shot a product, somebody said to me, Well, you know, we can’t pay you a lot of money, but we’ll pay you this, and we’ll pay you a small royalty. And that was called Dance Mix USA, a CD with K-TEL. And that, that was actually sort of the beginning of learning this business where I could create a commercial and I could put it on television and garner a response. In those days, it was a phone number, you know, today we’ve transitioned what I call the like, the, you know, same ROA tactics to use television and radio, even out of home now to try to, you know, drive engagement you know, we work with Trivago, with ClearScores, LeoVegas, Babbel, you know, Generac. There’s a lot of clients that we help in the Canadian market to get to scale on television. These companies usually come with pretty qualified in house digital intelligence, and we try to bring them to the Canadian market. 

But yeah, the early days of the infomercial business, you mentioned relationships. And I just, I can’t agree with you more. My relationships with people like Jack LaLanne for 10 years and and, you know, one of Jack’s things was like, I think I mentioned, I would always mention techniques, about how we could sell more juicers. And Jack would go, Ed, I really only care that people change their lifestyle, that they become healthier, that they change the way they’re eating, that they work out, that they exercise. So it’s interesting. That’s passion, right? And I think at the end of the day, if you can find with a pitch person, a spokesperson, a client, a team what their passion is, and you can create content, and you can deploy that content. That’s kind of the passion that I find, and that comes with relationships with companies that are driven and they want to get their message out there, and they want to do it with the best spokespeople available in the market that are genuine. And that’s the, you know, that was really what I loved in the infomercial business. It became the first way to kind of engage large groups of people with a long format television commercial and they were fun, like I think Sirius says, When has ever advertised been good? Well, it was actually fun and good for a long period and creatively, you can still do that today. I think you do it differently, but I think you can do it.

Jeremy Weisz 6:39

So did you start having other companies come to you? You mentioned the Dance Mix USA, of similar nature, wanting to get on TV and do direct to consumer?

Ed Crain 6:52

Absolutely, and, you know, I think we always talked about, you know, the separation between, you know, brand and response. And when you get into the whole brand discussion, they’re, you know, like companies that are starting out. And I think where we found, we continue to find our sweet spot, is engaging with, you know, companies that are in or just past startup mode, and they’re looking to hone that messaging. They’re looking to work with a partner that isn’t, you know, just there to please, you know, a brand that they’ve maybe developed themselves. They’re looking for that partnership saying, how do we get a response? How do we measure a response? How do we get a return on investment? And obviously, in direct response, it was, you know, a CPO. So it was very simple, you spend $1,000 in media, you get 2500 back. That’s kind of a break even in the old days. And you know, we were getting some three to ones, four to ones, five to ones. Mentioned power rider with Fran Tarkenton. I think out the gate, that was probably like a five to one. So it’s a no-brainer to buy $1,000 in media time and have $5,000 of sales, and I think that’s always, you know, how many times you go to the plate to get a hit? So that was the old days. And I think it’s evolved today. I don’t think companies approach the market the same way. There’s a whole lot of different tactics to employ before you would get to linear television, and I think the development of the messaging, the partnership, the relationships, working with companies, that’s where, you know, it’s always the people that put in the extra 20% of time, you know, all the ones that want to beat their control. And that’s what I loved about direct response. And I would tell everybody and I would say, Listen, you’ve got a spot up there getting a response, I said, Don’t be satisfied. Don’t sit back in your lawn chair. Like, test against it, like, try to beat the control. And that was, I think, the best part of the business was that we would look at, you know, and today, I think that’s even more true with the deployment of media, and especially in digital media, you’re doing something every week. You’re doing video blogs. You’re doing, you know, revamping a message, you’re changing a background, you’re changing a font, you’re trying something different to see if you can get a viral response. But there’s no prescription for that. It’s just really hard work.

Jeremy Weisz 9:39

I think that’s, you know, Ed, maybe your next book called beating control. I want to, you know, I love things rooted in direct response principles like you say, even if it’s online, even if it’s a video online, or if it’s an ad, it could be paid, or whatever it is, it’s really rooted in direct response principles. I want to talk. You mentioned Fran Tarkenton, the power rider, if that’s a good example. And walk me through a little bit. It starts with planning it and the messaging on it. Walk me through. How did that happen in the first place with Fran Tarkenton?

Ed Crain 10:17

Well, I think really, I got contacted by a company out of California, and I’d worked with them before, and we just creatively, you know, you talk about a relationship, and there was a company that I worked with and, you know, they said, listen, we’ve got this product, and it’s called the Iron Horse. And I was like, oh, and they showed me the product, and it was, I mean, it’s the seated exercise, where you kind of go up and down like this, right? And in the first meeting, I was like, so you want to call it the Iron Horse, and, and it was like, you know, so that’s where I start scratching my head. And so we creatively get together and, and they said, listen, we’ve got an outreach and, and actually, there was a product on television at the time called the Health Rider. And I’m trying to remember the host of that, but that product was on air for about $400 and this version that we could do with the power rider came out like under $200 and we thought we had a value statement. Then they were able to attach the football player, Fran Tarkenton. And, you know, it’s kind of that that appealed to me. I mean, I don’t want to get too off topic, but the Minnesota Vikings, the coach was at one point up in Winnipeg, and coached the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. And my father was a quarterback. So it’s like a connection. I have a connection to, like football, a quarterback, Fran Tarkenton. So I was very excited to do the project, and, you know.

Jeremy Weisz 12:03

You had a hand in Fran Tarkenton, or did, like, how did that brainstorm go of who should represent this product?

Ed Crain 12:10

I think that we basically, as I remember, there were a number of names bantered around, and everybody just stopped when they said, you can get Fran Tarkenton and, like, there’s just, it was a stop, like, if we could get him, this was, like, gonna be a successful project. So I can’t say I had a hand in signing him the California call.

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