• by Wayne Friedman , January 29, 2008

Sensing growth for long-form advertiser TV commercials, ZenithOptimedia Direct will launch an infomercial division.

Zenith Optimedia Direct Long Form Group will help clients create and produce infomercials. It will also provide telemarketing, database management, fulfillment, offer development, ROI modeling and results analysis.

"With the splintering of media, it's making the half-hour unit costs more affordable," says Joe Shain, CEO of ZenithOptimedia Direct. "With the loss of viewership on TV and the migration online, advertisers have the ability to produce their own programming."

While many media agencies have a financial interest in independent infomercial production companies, few agencies looked to bring those companies in-house.

Universal Music executive Stacey Kaufman has been named senior vice president and director of long-form marketing for the new Zenith unit.

Kaufman had been senior vice president and media director at Universal Music, where she lead in-house media and helped orchestrate many of Universal's blockbuster infomercial campaigns. She will report to Shain.

Increasingly, big-brand advertisers are seeking much time in explaining attributes of products on TV, especially those products with a complex story, said Shain. Upcoming infomercials at Zenith include one by Sharp for a new air filter and another by a pharmaceutical company for an antidepressant drug.