Did you ever have the feeling that you’re being followed? I do. In fact I’m being stalked this very minute. You know what I’m talking about: you’re wandering around the internet, minding your own business, when suddenly, you see a banner ad you could swear you’ve seen before. But you think it’s just your imagination, [...]
Archive for the ‘Directed Advertising’ Category
Trying to give credit where credit is due…
Posted: March 25, 2010 in Business, direct marketing, Directed Advertising, MarketingTags: DoubleClick, Google AdWords Search Funnels, Microsoft Engagement Mapping, View Thru Conversions
Sometimes, in the afternoon, between cups of coffee, when my eyes droop and I drift off, I daydream of a world where the roads are paved with golden bricks and I know exactly which advertising channel to credit for a sale or a site visit. Did the billboard with a URL lead to the sale, [...]
Costco Direct Mail Fail
Posted: September 24, 2009 in Business, CRM, Directed AdvertisingTags: Costco, direct mail best practices, Executive Membership, Fail, Gold Star Membership, membership renewal
I just received my membership renewal notice from Costco, and I was astounded by their blatant failure to apply one of the most basic rules of direct marketing: give me a reason to buy! There were at least 3 offers to upgrade my Gold Star (or Basic) Membership to an Executive Membership for an additional [...]
What color is Havana? Or Gypsy?
Posted: June 23, 2009 in Branding, Business, Directed Advertising, Marketing, MisleadershipTags: Banana Republic, Beluga, Brindle, Campmor, catalog copy, Columbia, direct response, Don Staley, Gypsy, Havana, J. Peterman, Jupiter, Merrell, Model Expo, North Face, The Lion's Share, Tom Daniel, Vasque
Good catalog copy needs to immerse its reader in an experience of a product they can’t touch. It’s a lonely voice in the wilderness, tasked with selling a product in a few words, at a distance, sometimes with the help of a picture. Sure, if you’re selling copier paper or a toner cartridge in an [...]
What does global warming have in common with junk mail?
Posted: May 19, 2009 in Business, Directed Advertising, Marketing, Media, Misleadership, PR and NewsTags: Anthony Watts, Business, climate change, direct marketing, Evan Jones, Global Warming, surface stations, testing, US Historical Climate Network, USHCN, Watts Up With That
To a direct marketer, testing is vital. But it’s important to know exactly what you’re testing. If you’re not careful, what you think your test is telling you may not be what it’s saying at all. It’s not just in direct marketing and business that testing matters, as you’ll see in a minute. Evan Jones, [...]
Special Report, Breaking News or Scam?
Posted: March 11, 2009 in Business, Directed Advertising, Misleadership, PR and NewsTags: Business, CNN, DRTV, fake "breaking news", fake "Special Report", financial institutions, House of Cards, Jim Cramer, Mad Money, mortgage lenders, paid advertisement, TMU, TopDot Mortgage
Have you seen the new commercials that look and feel like cable news programming? I’ve seen at least three different variations for three different advertisers. The one I see the most is the most innocuous: it’s for the “Mucho Money” show, a Jim Cramer “Mad Money” rip-off selling Optimum Online and related services. I say [...]
Don’t turn your customers into quitters
Posted: February 26, 2009 in Branding, Business, CRM, Directed Advertising, Marketing, Relationship MarketingTags: business strategy, collections letter, collections letters, CRM, Joe Connolly, Tanen Directed Advertising
The other morning on my way to work I was listening to CBS-AM, and Joe Connolly of the Wall Street Journal told the story of someone who had gotten a collections letter from their bank that sounded more like it had come from a repo man. (Or maybe it was the Sopranos… sorry if I’m [...]
Admit it — you love the ShamWow! commercial
Posted: January 14, 2009 in Branding, Business, Directed Advertising, Integrated Marketing, MarketingTags: Blendtec, direct response ads, DRTV ads, John Caples, Sham Wow, Super Bowl ads, They Laughed When I Sat Down At the Piano But When I started to Play!-, Volkswagen "Lemon" ad, Will It Blend
Normally when I’m watching TV with my wife, we DVR the shows we want to watch and fast forward through the commercials. (Alone, I’m more likely to indulge in a few guilty pleasures, like the “We are the champions” Wal-Mart “game day” ad.) The other day, though, we were skipping the ads when a ShamWow! [...]
The Most Sexy, Surprising and Shocking Marketing Numbers of 2008
Posted: December 30, 2008 in Business, Directed Advertising, Integrated Marketing, MarketingTags: Business, email marketing, games, seniors, students, Twitter, women, women would rather give up sex than the Internet
It’s the end of the year, and that means it’s time for bloggers everywhere to do one of two things: an annual recap, or predictions for next year. I’d like to examine some marketing numbers that are in turn sexy, surprising and shocking. SEXY Let’s start with my favorite number of the whole year, and [...]
In Praise of the Lowly Yellow Pages
Posted: November 2, 2008 in Directed Advertising, Integrated MarketingTags: local search, search, Tanen Directed Advertising, yellow pages
If you asked my clients and colleagues whether I’m a lo-tech or hi-tech kind of marketer, they’d all say the latter. It’s a rare strategy session that I don’t find some way to suggest search, or content syndication, or blogging, or widgets, or behavioral, or email, or… well, you get the picture. But the fact [...]
