The scene is repeated throughout the programme which can last from one to 30 minutes and the return policy -- 30 days, money-back guaranteed -- is aimed at breaking the viewer's resolve.Before you know it, you've picked up the phone and are relaying your credit card details to the operator on the line. Welcome to direct response television advertising.

On-Screen home shopping is one of the retail industry's techniques to rein in customers long on cash and short on time.

Chief executive Hermann Chan of Times Direct Marketing Group said the telemarketing concept was booming worldwide because it was cost-effective and could be conducted anywhere, any time. "People have less and less time to spend with salesmen," he said.

And the success of Singapore'sprivately owned TV Media Holdings Pte Ltd seems to prove the point. Formed in 1994, TV Media says in its corporate brochure it is the only corporation able to deliver a message to more than 600 million viewers in Asia and Russia.

This global company employs more than 900 staff, operates in nine languages and markets products in 61 countries via cable, broadcast television and satellite dishes. Group turnover has grown from Singapore $10.6 million (US$6million) in its debut year to S$79 Million in 1997.

Chairman and chief executive officer Bob Robertson says he expects sales to be about S$141 Million this year, generating a 10 per cent net profit margin, despite Asia's economic crisis.

"We don't seem to have suffered any dampening of enthusiasm for our products and I think the product is more powerful than the economy," Robertson said in an interview. "But I dare say we would be doing a lot better if it wasn't for the downturn," he said.

According to Robertson, success for an "As Seen On TV" productdepends less on how well designed or useful it is and more on what viewers perceive they need or want.

Coupled with repeated endorsements and a generous return policy, which are relatively novel marketing concepts in Asia, the aim is to make the products irresistible.

Response to a 30-minute infomercial can result in zero calls or the call centre's lines being jammed. In five minutes, this means about 150 calls in Singapore and about 4,000 calls in Japan. Research firm Asian Advertising & Marketing estimated that in 1996, the latest figures available, the television infomercial market in Singapore was worth between S$25 Million and S$40 Million a year.

TV Media's products, with a 10 to 20 per cent profit margin, come from around the world and vary from support pillows to fitness equipment and slimming creams.