#191 Andersen Windows

 

http://dennyhatch.blogspot.com/2023/06/191-andersen-windows.html

Blog Post #191 - Wednesday, 28 June 2023

 

Posted by Denny Hatch

 

 

“UGLY WORKS!” —Bob Hacker

(“Neatness Rejects Involvement.” —Lew Smith)

 

 

From Last Week’s Blog Post: Jayme on
"The Willing Suspension of Disbelief.”

“Two basic tenets of selling are that (1) people buy from other people more happily than from faceless corporations, and that (2) in the marketplace as in theater, there is indeed a factor at work called ‘the willing suspension of disbelief.’

      “Who stands behind our pancakes?  Aunt Jemima. Our angel food cake? Betty Crocker. Our coffee? Juan Valdez.  Anyone over the age of three knows that it’s all myth. But — like Santa Claus and the tooth fairy — the myths are comforting.”
—Bill Jayme, Legendary Direct Mail Copywriter in a letter to DH.

 

This oversized (9-1/2” x 11”) flyer above was an insert included in my weekend Philadelphia Inquirer three months ago. It is the polar opposite of what American Express sent me when it launched the Platinum Card in 1984. 

 

That AmEx masterpiece was the subject of last week’s blog post. It so beautifully replicated an actual mailing from the executive suite of a major corporation from the head honcho that for all the world appeared individually typed by his secretary who took it into the boss’s office for his actual signature in blue ink, then folded and inserted it into the hand-typed envelope. Whereupon she licked the envelope, affixed the two 18¢ First Class stamps and put it into her out-box to be mailed.

 

The American Express Platinum Card Mailing was a textbook example of “my willing suspension of disbelief!”

 

Instead of an elegant, deeply personal American Express letter the above is urgent, ugly and printed on the cheap. This is one-sided. The back is basically blank with a few lines of mouse type disclaimers that nobody will bother to read. 

 

This tacky piece kept coming in my newspaper week-after-week. Obviously, it was bringing orders in for Andersen Windows. Where is the willing suspension of disbelief?

 

Lemme say at the outset, I’m not on a soapbox proclaiming an opinion. This piece was (and is) successful. How do I know that. I keep receiving it — and its step-children — in my Sunday Philly newspaper.

 

Dorothy Kerr’s Dictum on Direct Marketing,

Direct Mail and Print Advertising Success.

At a New York Direct Mail Writer’s Guild Luncheon in 1982 US News and World Report circ director was the speaker. She changed my life. “If you want to be successful in direct marketing, watch your mail. If you see a mailing coming in over and over again, it is ipso facto successful. Save it. Study it. Memorize it. And Steal Smart.

 

If this flier were not working like gangbusters, the circ team at Andersen would be damned fools to keep sending it.

 

• Obviously handwritten (scrawled hurriedly by a real person). This does not look like a computer- generated font.

• Note the little smiley face at #4. A bit of puckishness from a real person to me. Ya gotta love it!

 

• Okay, it’s not direct to me by name. But it talks directly to me as a homeowner.

 

•  This is clearly from folks working in my neighborhood.

 

• It’s easy to read. In the words of copywriter Andrew J. Byrne: “Short words! Short sentences! Short paragraphs!”

 

• The thirteen most powerful words in the English language are:

You - Save - Money - Guarantee - Love - Results-


Proven – Safety - Easy - New - Health - Discovery – Free

 

 • Five of those powerful words are used in the Andersen copy:

    You – Save – Easy – Free – Guarantee.

   (“Warranty” is the same thing as “Guarantee.”)

 

• Terrific offers:

—   In-home appointment.

—   Custom-built.

—   Installation always included.

—   3% discount on everything.

—   Save hundreds of dollars.

—   Don’t pay anything for a full year.

—   Andersen windows are well-known for quality.

—   To get in on this deal, call by March 31.

—   Someone is sitting by the telephone waiting 

        to hear from me.

 

Two Slim-Jim Follow-ups.

This Slim Jim #1 Received in  my Sunday Inquirer the following week:

•These efforts are not e not from an anonymous salesperson. This one is signed by Kristin Gardner, General Manager of Andersen Windows.

• What’s more, the handwriting in the letter matches Gardner’s signature which indicates it was personal message to me written and signed by a by Kristin herself.

• No “willing suspension of disbelief.” The message is believable.

• Great offer: Buy 1 and get 40% off on a second window or door.   

                                                                                                   • It’s all free for an entire year.

     Slim Jim #2 (Received in            my newspaper the                      following Sunday):

   • If this collection of Sunday newspaper inserts     were combined into a single traditional  direct mail/direct marketing package, the top half of this Slim Jim would be the “lift” piece —  a quick “yes/no” survey involvement device designed to “lift” response. It directs your        attention to the condition of your current windows and doors and how they affect your lifestyle and household finances.

           • The bottom half would be the equivalent of a hand-written scrawled P.S. on the   letter hyping benefits!                                                            

 

    

 

     NOTE: One of the most-read elements of a direct mail letter is the P.S. All direct mail copywriters know to include a P.S. at the end of every letter — no exceptions. Sometimes even a P.P.S.

• Easy and affordable.

• Buy one and get 40% off on the second.

• Pay nothing for the entire year!

• Free diagnosis in your home by an Andersen rep.

• Call this number. The area code 267 is familiar to

    all us Philly folks.

• Note the website: YourPhillyWindows.com. This is indeed a hometown Philly branch of Anderson where corporate HQ is Bayport, Minnesota. You are spending money on your in your hometown.

• Implied: If you have problems, you can talk to a neighbor.

 

Takeaways to Consider

• Direct marketing is the aristocrat of all advertising. Success or failure is precisely measurable.

 

• If you pay to get an offer in the hands of a prospective buyer it is successful only if it brings in responses at an allowable cost-per-order.

 

• If a mailing, off-the-page print advertisement or TV infomercial appears over and over and over again, it is obviously profitable.

 

• Always remember Dorothy Kerr’s dictum: “See what keeps coming over and over and over and STEAL SMART!"

 

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