Alltrue.com, a Web site that offers free content featuring footage of pranks and outrageous behavior, has created a new revenue stream by packaging its best clips and selling them as a three-video set through a late-night infomercial.
A full-service production company, Alltrue was seeking new ways to derive money from its Web site, which receives 1.3 million visitors per month. Banner ads on the Web site were not bringing in enough revenue, said Matt Heindl, marketing director at Alltrue, New York.
“You can nickel-and-dime it forever,” Heindl said. “It's not going to add up.”
A two-week test of the long-form infomercial, which ran last month on BET, Comedy Central, E Entertainment and some broadcast stations, netted 6,000 sales of the $19.95 set. A $9.95 upsell of two additional tapes, offered when viewers responded to the toll-free number in the infomercial, also did well, selling thousands, said Judy Katz, vice president of business development at Alltrue.
A full rollout of the infomercial is imminent, Katz said, although she did not discuss further details. The infomercial was produced in conjunction with Cole Media Group, Lockport, NY, Alltrue's business partner.
The campaign targeted men age 18 to 35, although Alltrue thinks its products appeal to older men as well, Katz said. The infomercial, which ran on weekend afternoons and late weeknights, was composed entirely of samples from the videos.
“We think people will watch this, laugh and want to buy it,” Katz said.
The three-video set features two “Xtreme Laughs” videos, which include a series of real-life pranks played on unsuspecting passersby. Alltrue.com serves as a compendium of video clips of such pranks, including those sent in by viewers and those produced by Alltrue.
The third tape features the “FreakBox,” a booth equipped with a $100,000 mini-video studio. Alltrue takes the booth to public occasions — such as Spring Break events — and lets people who go in the box do whatever they wish on tape.
The upsell product includes an additional Xtreme Laughs video and an additional FreakBox video.
Alltrue is preparing to apply the concept of monetizing its Web site through television in other ways. The company said it is in negotiations with TV broadcasters in the United States and Europe to pilot television shows based on the themes introduced in Alltrue.com.
