For Immediate Release

Is it really possible to make a TiVo proof ad?
Nista, Hancock and Knapp Advertising (NHaK) produces the AlmostGolf branding campaign, recognized as TiVo’s first reported “least skipped” television commercial

Long Beach, CA; July 16, 2007 - Since the introduction of Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) such as the popular TiVo service, advertisers have been running scared… afraid of consumers digitally zapping their ads with a few clicks on the remote. In recent months, major ad agencies have reported they’ve produced TiVo-Proof ads for clients such as KFC and Trim-Spa but new data coming out is showing that these ads didn’t stop people from pressing the fast-forward button.

This week TiVo finally released the highly anticipated results that analyze the nation’s most viewed commercials. TiVo reports in these first ever results that the branding campaign for the AlmostGolf practice ball dominated the charts as the least fast-forwarded ad in April 2007, the first month that data was made publicly available. In a David vs. Goliath moment not common in television advertising, AlmostGolf beat out all other ads across 15 major networks throughout April as tracked by the TiVo StopWatch results, taking number one on the coveted “Least Fast-Forwarded Brand Campaign” for Daytime & Primetime slots.

This news was widely reported by industry publications such as MediaWeek, AdWeek and Advertising Age who described the highly anticipated results as the first report card for a commercials’ actual performance.

Long Beach, California based advertising agency Nista, Hancock and Knapp (NHaK) is responsible for the production of the AlmostGolf television spots.

“I wish I could say that I had some secret weapon in making a TiVo proof ad, but the reality is that we produced a commercial that directly sells to the consumer without typical annoying tactics – that’s why people aren’t skipping over this ad. Sometimes agencies forget that ‘cutting-through’ isn’t synonymous with insulting the viewer.” says NHaK CEO, Jim Nista. “It also helps tremendously when you’re promoting a product that really works. The AlmostGolf ball isn’t a gimmick – golfers really love it for practice,” Mr. Nista continued.

Television ads for AlmostGolf are produced as a hybrid between traditional direct sales commercials and brand awareness campaigns, using a toned down approach not common in other “Direct Response” ads. The ads don’t feature a loud-mouthed pitchman and instead just show golfers having fun practicing their game. Ads for AlmostGolf promote the ability to buy online or by telephone, but regularly rack up more retail sales than anything else, proving their nature as ads that sell cross channel.

“AlmostGolf doesn’t have a limitless budget, so we don’t shotgun their ads everywhere. We buy where they are relevant to the audience, meaning people are more interested in the product and less likely to fast-forward” added Gretchen Gray, responsible for media planning on the AlmostGolf account at NHaK.

NHaK is a full service Advertising and Marketing Agency serving clients in fields ranging from consumer sporting goods to financial services and food/beverage to media services. Beyond offering Advertising and Marketing, NHaK develops technology solutions for survey tracking, ad campaign results reporting, and print-on-demand publishing.

For more information about Nista Hancock and Knapp (NHaK) please visit: www.nhak.com or contact:

Ashley Gilb
Nista, Hancock & Knapp (NHaK)
Phone: 562 624 0100
Email: Ashley@nhak.com

Gretchen Gray
Nista, Hancock & Knapp (NHaK)
Phone: 562 624 0100
Email: Gretchen@nhak.com