#145 Blogpost – Tuesday, February 8, 2022
http://dennyhatch.blogspot.com/2022/02/145-youtube-video.html
Posted by Denny Hatch
A YouTube
Confession: My Passionate
50-year Lovefest with Direct Mail!
This all started with Brian Kurtz—for many years the #2 guy at a funky, family-owned little newsletter company called Boardroom Inc. Brian worked closely with workaholic founder Martin Edelston (1929-2013) and oh-so-physically-frail copywriter Mel Martin. Together they grew it into a $150-million-a-year behemoth.
Over 20 years as editor and publisher of the WHO’S MAILING WHAT! newsletter and archive service and later Target Marketing Magazine — I gave a lot of ink to the Boardroom organization.
Following Marty Edelston’s passing Brian fetched up as founder of a private pricy ($20,000-a-year-dues) direct marketing association, Titans Mastermind.
At some point a number of months ago out of the blue Brian called (or maybe e-mailed) asking me to do a presentation to his membership at one of his upcoming meetings. I initially said no thank you; I don’t do speaking engagements anymore, especially not during this gawd-awful pandemic. He badgered and bugged me until I finally said okay. As a bonus, Brian said my talk—and the discussion afterwards—would be recorded on video. And, of course, all expenses would be paid.
I agreed, figuring maybe this would result in fodder for a blog post and, possibly, worth a shot on YouTube.
The result: a PowerPoint presentation that consumed me for three months.
PowerPoint?
“Power corrupts. PowerPoint Corrupts Absolutely.”
—Edward Tufte
What Happened
It turned out my PowerPoint journey reduced the 827 years of direct mail history to 40 minutes and 42 seconds.
When
it was finished, I was invited to attend Brian's entire three-day
conference—meals, booze and camaraderie—all things I used to adore. At 86—with the killer COVID-19 rampaging across the world—I
opted for a quick in-and-out.
I arrived around noon and sat through a ZOOM presentation by an intense, brilliant and glib young woman—as I recall at a Toronto venue. She was onscreen for most of an hour and talked business management techniques. The discussion that followed might as well have been in Greek or Urdu. The whole session was above my pay grade.
Brian Kurtz
Because of COVID, live attendance at Brian's symposium was light—roughly 25-30 participants. I knew two of the players from years back, one of whom was a former client. I was scared to death that my li’l nuts-‘n’-bolts old-fashioned junk mail tale would bore the hell out of these hugely successful techno-wizards.
After a hearty buffet lunch, I was introduced and did my thing. Mercifully I made no goofs on the delivery. It turned out a number of the attendees were heavily into direct mail (some totally dependent on it) and I had managed to raise some issues that expanded their horizons.
About This YouTube Video
Alas, Brian's recording of my PowerPoint was patchy. My voice is no longer strong and I faded in-and-out. The live audience heard me okay, but the sound recording did not pick up everything. As a result, I re-recorded my presentation at a professional studio a couple of blocks from home. The current version is audibly okay.
Below is the Link to My PowerPoint. It Ends with The Most Successful Advertisement in the History of the World.
(And the Arithmetic to Prove It!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ww8a-8hyio&t=107s
Regarding
the discussion that followed, a goodly number of fascinating points
were raised. Many contributed. Everybody learned something. I know I
did. But attendees did not have individual mics. The session was disjointed. Some
of the dialogue was totally inaudible. The camerawork casual. Participants
wandered about the room, some masked, others barefaced. For general
distribution it would need editing and a professional sound upgrade.
My opinion: In its current iteration the discussion can be valuable to industry professionals, but not to a world-wide YouTube audience. So it would not be lost for all time, I saved the discussion session (which runs about 40 minutes) on a non-public YouTube site that's available only by private invitation.
As a Subscriber to This Blog, You're Invited
To View the Raw Footage of the Discussion
Email me and I'll send you a private link to the discussion on a confidential basis. I am: dennyhatch@yahoo.com.
Thank you.
P.S. Below is the link to complete history of the Two Young Men mailing (the most successful advertisement in the history of the world), copy, design and back-up correspondence with copywriter Martin Conroy (1922-2006) and Wall Street Journal circ director Paul Bell:
http://dennyhatch.blogspot.com/2019/01/37-most-successful-advertisement-in.html
###
Word count:755
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An utterly brilliant presentation on the history of direct mail from the Middle Ages to the present day given by the one man in the world who is fully qualified to do it. Packed with useful copywriting advice, fundamental principles of direct marketing, and the best examples of direct mail from the past 600 years. Be sure to ask Denny for permission to see the discussion period afterwards which not only adds additional insight but also gives you a glimpse into one of the most important marketing conclaves in America today, Brian Kurtz's "Titans Mastermind."
ReplyDeleteHey, Richard,
DeleteWOW!
Thank you, thank you!
Dear Dora Williams,
ReplyDeleteThank you, thank you for an invaluable tip.
Do keep in touch!