Tim O’Leary, former CEO and co-founder of The Tyee Group, a DRTV production company and media agency in Portland, OR, founded a new DRTV company, The O’Leary Group.
The new company plans to consult on product development, marketing and creative strategies for products sold in a DRTV format. He said he wants to develop long-term brands for DRTV companies, which often focus on short-term sales from television.
“Direct response television is one of the most under-utilized advertising formats in history,” O’Leary said. “Most companies are so focused on the short-term sale that they forego the power of direct response to build valuable long-term brands while selling the product.”
The company plans to launch a Web site and transactional television series. O’Leary’s first client is Icon Health & Fitness, West Logan, UT, a long-time client of Tyee.
“Time has worked with Icon since it began direct response advertising and was the brain behind our big hits, like the Crosswalk Treadmill and CardioGlide,” said Colleen Logan, director of marketing at Icon.
