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Guthy-Renker (pronounced: Guh-thee Ren-ker) is a Santa Monica, California based direct-response marketing company that sells products directly to consumers through infomercials, television ads, direct mail, telemarketing, e-mail marketing, and the Internet. As of 2014, it has 8 different product groups, with an emphasis on celebrity-endorsed beauty products. Guthy-Renker was founded in 1988 by Bill Guthy and Greg Renker. In 1995, it began distributing the acne treatment Proactiv, which became responsible for more than half its revenues by 2005. The company also created seven subsidiaries in the late 1990s for different products and advertising channels. It founded an infomercial channel, GRTV, which was sold to TVN Entertainment Corporation in 1999. Guthy-Renker's revenues grew from $400 million in 2001 to $1.5 billion by 2009. ==History== Guthy-Renker was founded in November 1988 by Bill Guthy and Greg Renker, who met at the Indian Wells Racquet Club and Resort in Indian Wells, California.〔 They considered starting an infomercial company after an order was placed at Guthy's cassette duplication company, Cassette Productions Unlimited, for 50,000 copies of a real estate lecture to be sold through infomercials.〔 At the time many infomercials mimicked talk shows and investigative news specials, raising concerns among consumers and policy makers that the programs were misleading. To avoid the controversial practice, Guthy-Renker disclosed that their infomercials were paid advertisements at the beginning of each program. It made professional-quality productions.〔 Renker was invited to testify to a Congressional subcommittee in 1990 regarding ethics in advertising, which led Guthy-Renker and others to form the National Infomercial Marketing Association to create industry standards.〔〔 The following year, the firm had to cut back operations, because news coverage of the Persian Gulf War drew viewers away from infomercials. Ron Perelman of Forbes Holdings Inc. bought a 37.5 percent share of Guthy-Renker in 1993 in exchange for $25 million and priority access to air-time on Perelman's television stations.〔〔Bird, L. (1993, Nov 15). Perelman buys stake in maker of infomercials. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 23, 2013.〕 At the time, Guthy-Renker had grown to $60 million in revenue.〔 In 1996,〔Rotenier, N. (1996). (Operators are standing by ). Forbes, 158(10), 278.〕 Perelman's stake in the company was resold to News Corp and Guthy-Renker bought it back. Two years later, Goldman Sachs bought a stake in the company that valued Guthy-Renker at $3 billion,〔 and a Japanese trading company, Nissho Iwai Group, bought a 17 percent portion of Guthy-Renker's Asia subsidiary for $9 million. Guthy-Renker created a television station for infomercials called GRTV in 1996, which was sold to TVN Entertainment Corporation in 1999.〔 From 1995-1997, the firm created seven new subsidiaries.〔 These included Guthy-Renker Radio, Internet, Select Network, International and Fitness,〔 as well as subsidiaries like an online dating service and a psychic business that did not perform well.〔 Guthy-Renker partnered with National Media Corp. to help market some of its fitness products, which led to a legal dispute that was settled with undisclosed terms in 1997. Guthy-Renker claimed National Media Corp. excessively aired infomercials for an exercise machine, the Fitness Flyer, and started selling an unauthorized imitation of the original. National claimed Guthy-Renker had not provided enough Fitness Flyers to meet demand.〔Cleland, K. (1997). Fitness Flyer. Advertising Age, 68(26), s30. Retrieved January 23, 2013.〕 Guthy-Renker grew to $400 million in revenue by 2001 and $1.5 billion by 2009. In 2011, Guthy-Renker acquired a portion of Paramount Equity Mortgage, a solar energy, insurance and mortgage loans company. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Guthy-Renker」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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