When you hear the term “infomercial,” you might think of channel-surfing while a spokesperson shows you the benefits of the P90X workout system or the Shamwow, but the long-form commercial format is also an effective tool for legal marketing.
An Opportunity for Lawyers to Differentiate
“The infomercial is underutilized. I think most lawyers and law firms don’t realize the power of the infomercial and the opportunity,” says Consumer Attorney Marketing Group President and CEO Steve Nober. “No agencies other than CAMG are producing infomercials for legal marketing, so it’s an opportunity for lawyers to really be different.”
Legendary mass tort attorney Mike Papantonio agrees. “What I see CAMG doing with the infomercial is spectacular. Sitting down and talking about an issue is the most effective thing because when you do that, you create a personality, a brand. That’s exactly how we brand everything at Levin Papantonio,” he says. “Most of you attorneys have wonderful personalities and leadership characteristics. People want to hear what you have to say. There’s something about the way you say it that gives people a sense of comfort.”
The infomercial format allows attorneys to delve deep into one mass tort, a combination of several torts, or even to highlight a firm. “You have a half-hour of uninterrupted time. To be specific, it’s 28 minutes and 30 seconds, but it’s considered a half-hour so you can have your own programming. You can put commercials in the middle,” explains Nober. “With mass torts, we run 5 or 6-minute segments on different litigations, all the way through a committed, dedicated half-hour on just one litigation. We can rotate which segments we want to put together in any particular week.”
If the firm is running an infomercial that showcases multiple litigations, CAMG uses an ESPN-style ticker to show upcoming segments. “If the consumers are not interested in what’s on now, they can look on the left of the screen to see that Hernia Mesh is going to be talked about in a few minutes, so they might stay tuned,” says Nober. “The ticker lets them know everything that’s going to be covered in the half-hour.”
A Complement to Traditional Advertising That Goes Beyond Marketing
Mike Papantonio sees the infomercial as a complement to traditional advertising. “Both of these formats are important but if I were to pick one thing that we’ve used to brand our law firm, which has been around for 66 years, it’s this vehicle. There’s a sense out there by the American public that corporations aren’t doing things in our best interest. When you sit down and talk to them in a setting like this, it creates an image for you. I would definitely put the CAMG infomercial format in what you do. I would institutionalize it in my law firm and make it a brand of my firm.”
Papantonio says the infomercial format goes beyond being an effective marketing tool. “Here’s the other thing that happens. Somebody turns on the station, I don’t care if it’s 2:00 in the morning from a hospital bed, they’re watching you talk to them. You’re having a really positive impact, culturally. You’re telling a story that you can’t tell in 30 seconds,” he notes. “You’re really talking about how bad the case is, rather than selling something. You can sell – I’m not critical of the ad. We run plenty of ads with CAMG. You have to do a combination. I think you’ll feel better about yourself as a lawyer.”
Unbelievably Valuable for Mass Torts and Single Events
Nober adds, “In mass torts, it’s unbelievably valuable to have more time to explain the victims, the manufacturers, what went wrong, the status of the litigation. Consumers can really understand a lot more about the problem and what they can do about it. Between that ticker and putting segments together, it’s a powerful tool we use for mass torts.”
The infomercial format can also be an effective strategy to market firms in the single event space. “It’s a powerful tool that firms can be leveraging locally and nationally,” says Nober. “We can produce a half-hour with lawyers talking about their firm, auto accidents, what makes them different, interviews and testimonials, sound bites from the lawyers. It’s amazing how much we can put into a half-hour.”
“There’s rarely a law firm that’s taking advantage of producing, buying, and running media in a half-hour,” shares Nober. “That’s why the half-hour is misunderstood. Nobody realizes the opportunity with it, and we’re running with it. We’re just starting to spread the message out.”
Consumer Attorney Marketing Group’s infomercial format is an effective way to market your single event or mass tort campaign for both local and national markets. CAMG’s top-notch creative team can work with you to structure an infomercial that targets your objectives.
Ready to shoot your infomercial? Get started today. Call (800)-200-CAMG or contact CAMG at our contact page .
