2. Direct Marketing
Association
Creative
Master class
October 15, 2012
Herschell Gordon Lewis
3.
4. Exploit the
21st century difference:
1. Increasing informality
2. Increasingly emphatic
persuasion
3. Inclusion of validation
4. Promise of fast action
5. The Internet is primarily
responsible for all four trends.
They apply to both email and
Website copy and have bled
over to all media.
NOTE: The dynamics of email
and Web site differ because
email arrives unannounced and
Website copy usually is the
result of a search mechanism.
6. The edge direct has over
other mass media is the
edge actionhas over
branding.
That means:
Recall is a weak
substitute for a
transactional response.
7. Example of recall –
Ten minutes after listing, test
subjects were asked to recall
these possible automobile names:
Tiger
Presto
Xecrovtu
Holiday
Sunlight
9. Adjustments in
marketing for “difficult
times” :
1. Acknowledge tough times
2. Emphasize sincerity and
rapport
3. Wallow in statesmanship –
“You don‟t have to give up
your lifestyle.”
4. Specify apparent proof
5. Imperative, not declarative
10. If you take nothing else
away from this session,
remember this:
Imperative
outpulls
declarative.
11. Careful –
The amount of
perceived
imperative alters
receptivity:
16. How do you transmit
an imperative?
“Let‟s”
leads convivially…
“You should”
shows authority…
“You must”
can generate
resentment…
all for the same directive.
18. Are you specifying
(not just suggesting) a
recognizable comparative
benefit in:
√health
√wealth
√social position
or
√professional position
?
19. Prospective buyers
always will
interpret an
unclear statement
in a way that‟s
most beneficial to
themselves.
20. That is why The
Clarity
Commandment is
more significant
now than ever
before in
marketing history.
21. The Clarity Commandment:
When you choose words and
phrases for
force-communication, clarity
is paramount.
Don‟t let any other
component of the
communications mix
interfere with it.
22. A simple litmus test:
If the typical reader or
online message-recipient
can‟t determine what
you‟re pitching…
within ten seconds…
you‟ve violated The
Clarity Commandment.
23. What might the Rotary Club have
said in a half-page ad in its magazine
that would add clarity and response?
24. Ad for an
accounting
company,
aimed at
non-profits.
Is this the
optimal
headline?
45. A message aimed at a
mobile audience demands
three elements or it
loses:
1. absolute clarity
2. ease of response
3. undeniable relevance
WANT TO LOSE?
OMIT ONE OF THOSE.
50. The original,
written in 1926…
still much
imitated today:
•They grinned
when the waiter
spoke to me in
French
•They laughed
when I told them
how I beat stress
•They laughed
when I said I‟d
lose weight
Hundreds of
others
51. Paralleling:
Associating a familiar story or
an episode or an equivalence
with your offer:
“Just as
[that]
makes [or made] sense,
[this]
makes sense [for you now].”
58. You write:
What is the one
thing you want
most?
That‟s a mis-used
“Genie Wish” headline.
59. “What is the one thing you
want most?”
opens the door to
disappointment. Instead:
“Is this the one thing you
want most?”
Still not optimal. The
professional would avoid
“The Genie Wish”:
“You want it. No problem:
Here it is.”
60. The telling difference
between semi-effective
copy and effective copy:
Specifics outpull
generalizations.
61. This
marketer
knows:
Find a
specific
benefit for
yourself
and ride it
hard.
63. Choice of words:
• You will be among the first
to…
• You will be one of the first
to…
64. Why is
among
a weakener?
Psychologically, it
automatically kills
exclusivity.
65. Choice of words:
• You will learn how to…
• You will discover how to…
Suggestion:
Eliminate learn and earn
from your selling
vocabulary
66. Why are learn and earn
weakeners?
Because they suggest the
sender of the message is
superior to the recipient.
Keep the recipient in
apparent command.
67. Two points here:
1) The word
“Learn” adds
nothing and may
even reduce
response.
(How about “Why
not save money by
switching…”?)
2) Specifics
outpull
generalities (note
last bullet).
68. Avoid these words in
force-communication
messages:
• quality • “Remember,”
• service • What‟s more
• value • …means
business
• needs (as
noun) • When it
comes to…
83. In e-mail, time is NOT on
your side.
Grab the target.
Shake the target.
Right now.
84. Email is the only medium in
which the approach
“It‟s important to me
so it‟s important to you”
is a valid marketing ploy…
but only if properly used.
Why?
Because email is the ultimate
one-to-one, arm-around-the-
shoulder medium. Rapport is
the key to response and to
fewer opt-outs.
85. So
in an email message,
“I”
is infinitely superior
to
“We.”
86. The Web is price-driven.
We can predict wildness:
The addition of daily deal
vouchers and aggregators
to the marketing mix
already affects the future
plans of social media.
89. WARNING:
Responders disappear at
checkout.
Study conducted by Kefta Inc.,
San Francisco technology and
service provider: Between half
and 90% of orders placed in a
shopping cart are abandoned
before checkout.
90. How about
“social media”
?
Are they…
or will they be…
major marketing
factors?
91. Pro: Con:
1. Social 1.Marketer
media are loses control.
one-to-one. 2.Phony
2. Customers pitch
become becomes
direct obvious.
salespeople.
92. Do you see the marketing
point this satire makes?
93. E-mail and social similarities and
differences
E-MAIL SOCIAL
•“This is for you.” •“Hi, there.”
•Demands fast action. •Reward for reply.
•Supposedly unique •Incentive matches
discount. the vendor.
•One-way •Two-way
communication. communication.
•Generally targeted. •Hyper-targeted.
•“We love you.” •“Prove you love me.”
•“I know who you are.” •“I know who you are.”
94. If you plan to use
Facebook or MySpace or
Twitter or Pinterest as a
marketing tool…
please, please, please:
Test.
(Best test: as both vendor
and as potential
consumer.)
95. What is the significance of
this, at online checkout?
96. This was as of July…
blink and it will change again
97. Suggestion:
Use Twitter for lead
generation, not for actual
offers…
and have super-clear
materials as quick follow-
ups.
101. Don‟t know either one. Philosophically
and psychologically, ultimate results of
this kind of message?
102. “Social” are new media.
The rules are still
forming. Always analyze
your results, and you‟ll
generate a constant flow
of rules you can use…
profitably.
103. A dozen implicitly weak
words and phrases:
• administration • formulate
• approximately • indeed
• define • needs (as noun)
• earn • product
• facilitate • respond
• features • work
104. A dozen words and
phrases with power
• free • not sold in stores
• free gift • first time offered
• limited time • good only until [DATE]
• right now • Don‟t miss out
• surprise • I‟ll look for your order
• hot • Try it at our risk
