#208 Blog Post Wednesday 5 March, 2025
Posted by Denny Hatch
https://dennyhatch.blogspot.com/2025/03/208-drs-wo-borders.html
Nothing Grabs Attention Like The Surprise of an Envelope in the Mail Containing a Giant Free Gift!
Last week the above 6”x9” US Mail envelope landed in my letter box. It was squishy and plump. Folded inside was a massive 15-inch-square bright nylon DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS tote bag—big and sturdy enough to carry a dozen cans of beer plus lots of additional groceries.
Everything about the mailing is warm, decent and fun. Lugging my groceries home through the streets of Philly from Whole Foods in this attention-getting tote bag makes me feel good. I am reminding passers-by that an independent, non-government-funded organization is taking loving care of desperately needy, victimized adults and children in the world’s most inhospitable and dangerous regions. And I'm invited to help make it happen.
A textbook perfect direct mail fundraising package!
“Your first hundred words are more important than the next ten thousand words,” said the legendary salesman, Elmer “Sizzle” Wheeler.
Here’s the lede — the first 100 words of the Doctors Without Borders’ magnificent two-page letter:
The first sentence of the letter is a drop-dead stopper that immediately gets inside your head:
“If you had mere moments to flee your home after a disaster, bringing only what fits in this tote bag, what would you choose?”
You’re instantly interrupted and thinking about your possessions, your safety, your family, what's really important to you.
Remember Bob Hacker’s seven “Key Copy Drivers” — the seven emotional hot buttons guaranteed to make people act. Six of the seven are in these first 100 words!
1. Fear: that something gawd-awful could happen to us.
2. Greed: n/a.
3. Guilt: horrid events are destroying innocent people’s lives the world over. I should do something to help!
4. Anger: Dictators and tyrants all over the world are creating mayhem, torture and deaths.
5. Exclusivity: I’m so lucky. These horrors are wounding and killing others.
6. Salvation: Thank goodness. I’m safe from all this evil!
7. Flattery: One of the first things you see in the letterhead above: Awarded the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize. Wow! Imagine getting letter and free gift and request from this revered, world renowned organization!
In short: The first 100 words of this letter cover six of the seven emotional hot buttons that make people act.
If you are a direct marketer, you’d be wise to hire this copywriter!
STOP! THINK! Could you create this powerful attention-getting Doctors Without Borders message using teensy-weensy emails from a sad-sack wee inbox below? No way, Jose. Tactile direct mail with its heft, size, design and color you physically hold in your hands cannot be instantly zapped into oblivion like mouse type on your computer, iPad or iPhone.
Gosh, I how miss my old outdoor mail box crammed with brilliantly written letters, self-mailers, postcards, catalogs and bright, exciting design with spectacular offers.
Most of all Peggy and I miss the conversations, conventions, gatherings, expos, intimate interaction and constant contact with the great direct marketers — the legends, innovators, worker bees and yes, the enthusiastic tyros — all of us thrilled to be in the fascinating, fun, world of what the legendary Stan Rapp called "Intimate advertising."
Our iconic little newsletter, WHO'S MAILING WHAT! started in our heads, survived a dry test, was published and lasted 30+ years. We loved it — as did our readers.
Could WHO’S EMAILING WHAT! make it in today’s media mix?
Nah.
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From Bob Hacker — the great West Coast Agency founder renowned for his breakthrough campaigns: "Wish I'd written that."
ReplyDeleteBob, thank you, thank you. Praise from on high! This was great fun to write.