Wednesday, March 30, 2022

#151 People Don't Buy From Clowns

 
#151  Blog Post – Wednesday, 30 March 2022

 

Posted by Denny Hatch

 

New Faces in Direct Mail

 Are Trashing the Old Rules

 

  
Hi, we’re Share Local Media

Share Local Media aims to reimagine the world of offline marketing for tech and e-commerce companies. 

As a full-service agency, program operator, and SaaS technology platform Share Local Media Helps tech and e-commerce companies leverage direct mail to achieve efficient direct response outcomes with high quality branding.

https://www.builtinnyc.com/company/share-local-media

 

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“People don’t buy from clowns.”   —David Ogilvy

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It All began with This 6” x 9” Envelope
And Its Ten 5-1/2" x 8-1/2" Inserts.


   "The wickedest of all sins is to run an

     advertisement without a headline."

     —David Ogilvy 

 

•   “Avoid text printed over, or reversed out

     of, a busy or distracting background.”

     —Ed Elliott

 

Who Sent This? I Went Online And Found

These Clowns’ Manifesto Is Gibberish.

 

ABOUT

"Share Local Media (SLM) aims to reimagine the world of offline marketing for tech and e-commerce companies. We started as e-commerce marketers ourselves, and launched SLM with a goal of turning direct mail into a high performing, scalable channel for a digitally native client set. To do so, we’ve taken an inputs based-approach to the space, and re-engineered the channel from the ground up to make it easier to test, faster to execute, more measurable, and ultimately, more effective for e-commerce and tech clients of all types.


"We live and breathe direct response marketing, and strive to delight clients with high performing campaigns built around fast, data-driven client service, and premium, unique branding." 

 

Now Let's Have a Look at an Insert
Written and Designed by the Clowns

 Obverse (Front) Panel. Beauty Shot.
 

•   “Avoid text printed over, or reversed out

     of, a busy or distracting background.”

     —Ed Elliott

 

Reverse (Back) Panel. The Business Side (description, price, where available, order mechanism., etc.)
 

Never set your copy in reverse (white type on a black background) and never set it over a gray or colored tint. The old school of art directors believed that these devices forced  people to read the copy; we now know that they make reading physically impossible.”—David Ogilvy 
 
"Always make it easy and obvious how and where to order."       —Elsworth Howell 
 
"Type smaller than 9-point is difficult for most people to read."      —David Ogilvy
 
 
• The only contact information—where to order—is a single, easy-to-miss line in tiny type at the bottom of the back side of the insert:
Start exploring now at awaytravel.com
        
 
• There is no ordering information anywhere on the insert. 
 
• What is the price of these products? 
 
•  What is the USP (Unique Selling Proposition)? 
 
• In other words, how are they different from (and better than) competing products. E.g., Samsonite, TravelPro, American Tourister, Coolife? 
 
• What are these products made of? What are the "three durable materials" mentioned in the copy? 
 
• Where are they made? U.S.A? China? India?
 
BELOW: Copy Retyped for Readability

Built for modern travel        
We know travel might look different these days, but we’ve
got you covered—even if you’re not going far. Our thoughtfully
designed suitcases, bags and accessories offer something
for every type of traveler, and every type of trip.

THE PERFECT SUITCASES
Shop our suitcases in three durable materials—
each one is designed to last for life.

PREMIUM FEATURES
Four 360º spinner wheels, interior
compression system, and combination lock.

FREE SHIPPING, AND RETURNS
We’ve got all shipping covered, and
exchanges and  returns are always easy.*
 
Start exploring now at awaytravel.com
*Items with personalization cannot be returned.
 
 
Note: the asterisked disclaimer is in wee, tiny, itsy-bitsy, minuscule 6-point Courier type reversed out in white-on-black and unreadable sans magnifying glass. This guaranteed dishonest fight-starter with customer service is hardly a confidence-builder.
 
 
Takeaways to Consider

One day a man walked into a London agency and asked to see the boss. He had bought a county house and was about to open it as a hotel. Could the agency help him to get customers? He had $500—to spend. Not surprisingly, the head of the agency turned him over to the office boy, who happened to be the author of this book. I invested his money in penny postcards and mailed them to well-heeled people living in the neighborhood. Six weeks later the hotel opened to a full house. I had tasted blood!

   —David Ogilvy, Ogilvy on Advertising

 

• Direct mail is the world’s oldest advertising technique; it goes back to 10 July 1194 A.D.

 

• Direct mail is a not a slow, clunky, cumbersome, hugely expensive antique step-child of advertising. “Direct mail is the aristocrat of advertising.” —Lew Smith

 

• Never forget the direct marketing business hub started off as the DMA (Direct Mail Association) and over the next half-century went through myriad industry name-changes. Three years after it started calling itself “Data Driven Marketing” the entire once- massive and influential organization was basically outta business—a faint shadow of its grand former self.

 

• In this epoch of the Internet, Social Media, TV, robo-calling and print advertising, direct mail is the only safe medium to use when you are testing a new product or service and be guaranteed it won’t be picked up, stolen and sold around the world by Chinese thieves and counterfeiters even before you’ve finalized your start-up financing.

 

• A simple, plain-Jane direct mail 775-word non-personalized junk mail letter was the most successful advertisement in the history of the world.

 

• Direct mail is the only medium where you can test small, precisely analyze response results, run confirming tests and—if the numbers hold up—roll out and cream the market and leave your competitors eating your dust.

 

• "Direct marketing is the science and art of creating wants.”      —Denny Hatch  
 
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Word count: 934
 



292pp     6" x 9"
Hardcover:     $39.95
Paperback:     $29.95
ebook/Kindle: $19.95

Amazon

 https://www.amazon.com/Method-Marketing-Denison-Hatch/dp/1648372767/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=method+marketing&qid=1681898276&sr=8-9

Barnes & Noble

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/method-marketing-denison-hatch/1100485178?ean=9781648372766

 

At age 15, Denny Hatch—as a lowly apprentice—wrote his first news release for a Connecticut summer theater. To his astonishment it ran verbatim in The Middletown Press. He was instantly hooked on writing. After a two-year stint in the U.S. Army (1958-60), Denny had nine jobs in his first 12 years in business. He was fired from five of them and went on to save two businesses and start three others. One of his businesses—WHO’S MAILING WHAT! newsletter and archive service founded in 1984—revolutionized the science of how to measure the success of competitors’ direct mail. In the past 55 years he has been a book club director, magazine publisher, advertising copywriter/designer, editor, journalist and marketing consultant. He is the author of four published novels and seven books on business and marketing.

CONTACT
dennyhatch@yahoo.com


Note to Readers:  
May I send you an alert when each new blog is posted? If so, kindly give me the okay by send
ing your First Name, Last Name and email to dennyhatch@yahoo.com. I guarantee your personal information will not be shared with anyone at any time for any reason. The blog is a free service. No cost. No risk. No obligation. Cancel any time. I look forward to being in touch!

IF YOU HAVE TROUBLE POSTING A COMMENT… EMAIL ME! I'LL HELP!
Google owns Blogspot.com and this Comment Section. If you do not have a Google account — or if you find it too damn complicated — contact me directly and I will happily post your comment with a note that this is per your permission. Thank you and do keep in touch. dennyhatch@yahoo.com


Invitation to Marketers and Direct Marketers: 
Guest Blog Posts Are Welcome. 
If you have a marketing story to tell, case history, concept to propose or a memoir, give a shout. I’ll get right back to you. I am: dennyhatch@yahoo.com
215-644-9526 (rings on my desk). 

You Are Invited to Join the Discussion.

11 comments:

  1. Are they willing to share how it worked?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cindy,
      Many thanks for taking the time to write!
      Results???? Check Vance Morris’s Comment below.
      Normally I’m a results freak.
      This is not worth spending our time on.
      Do keep in touch!

      Delete
  2. That flyer, or postcard, whatever it was, would've hit my circular file within 2 seconds with nary a glance. Too hard to decipher.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for writing.
      Check out your intellectual clone, Vance Morris, and his Comment below.
      I just feel so sorry for the folks who wasted good cash for these preposterous efforts.
      These inserts are like peeing in blue serge. They make the writers/designers warm all over
      and nobody notices.
      Do keep in touch.

      Delete
  3. VANCE MORRIS
    To:dennyhatch@yahoo.com
    Wed, Mar 30 at 10:25 AM
    We must be on the same mailing list. I did a “marketing malpractice” video on this last year.
    https://youtu.be/GOEpFDWy7mE
    = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
    Hey, Vance,
    WHAT A HOOT!!!!!
    I LOVE IT!!!
    I’m going to run this in the Comment Section of today’s blog.
    If you are unhappy with the idea, I’ll delete it.
    Do keep in touch!
    Cheers.
    —DH

    ReplyDelete
  4. In all the readership tests I've ever read, I've never seen reverse type do better than cut readership in half when compared to regular.
    Glad your blog and comments aren't set in reverse;)
    Bob

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for writing. Great to hear from you.
      Check out my reply to Tim Orr below about an off-the-page ad with a black coupon and reversed out white type.
      Do keep in touch.

      Delete
  5. I always enjoy reading your critiques. The obvious DR points get missed so easily, it takes a pro to spot what's missing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
      My greatest regret in life was never having met David Ogilvy. My advice to anyone in marketing communications is to get hold of everything Ogilvy wrote and published. Look for his rules. Write them down. Memorize them until they are etched into your DNA. Ogilvy on Advertising, Confessions of an Advertising Man and anything else you can find of his. This is not Mad Men flash and filagree and high-tech bloviating, but rather down-to-earth, commonsense how-to-do-it right and make it easy to read what you write. What’s more everything he said pre-Internet directly applies to digital marketing. My life and work are peppered with Ogilvyisms.

      Delete
  6. Howdy, Denny!

    About 4 decades ago, there was a predatory agency that used to make photostats of print ads, then reverse the type in them, and send a new comp directly to the client, with a note saying something like "Don't you think your ad would have looked better and been more effective this way?"

    They did this for years, so I figure it was working with some clients. One of ours brought its ad to us, indignantly asking why we hadn't thought of reversing the type. I'm not sure they ever fully accepted our explanation. I learned that a certain amount of client ego is tied up in its ads, and they will often choose less effective ones, so long as they make them feel "proud."

    Best regards!

    Tim

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, Tim,
      Thanks for taking the time to comment. Great hearing from you as always!
      Many years ago, pre-Internet I remember the story of a general agency that landed a direct marketing client. No one in the place had any experience with direct. One thing someone in the agency said was that in space ads it is imperative that the order card stand out and be easy to fill in. The agency ran a good mail package but designer decided on a black order card with reversed out white type. It was a wipe-out. Not a single order. Turns out nobody who read the mailing had a pencil with white lead or a pen with white ink. Duh.

      Delete