By Mark on Jul 15, 2008 in Advertising, Analytics, Branding, Direct Marketing, Featured, Marketing, Offer, Process, Social Media, Strategy, Viral Marketing | 1 Comment
"Warning: Habits May Be Good for You" explores how an anthropologist turned to marketing experts from CPG companies like Procter & Gamble to help increase the incidence of hand-washing with soap after using the toilet in the nation of Ghana to improve the health of children. Obviously, this was an important effort and I was encouraged to see marketing practitioners as instrumental in helping achieve success in this endeavor.
As I was reading the article, it struck me that many of the techniques used are found in Robert B. Cialdini's classic Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. I'd lent out my copy a few years ago and, thankfully, had to buy a new version which includes an epilogue written by Dr. Cialdini in 2007. My re-re which triggered my thoughts on social media.
By Mark on Jul 10, 2008 in Advertising, Copy, Direct Marketing, Marketing | 0 Comments
Well, the classic Claude Hopkins book Scientific Advertising is still a must-read. It's a slim 56 pages, but blows just about every advertising book ever written out of the water.
No less than David Ogilvy said that everybody should read it seven times and that it changed his life.
By Mark on Jul 9, 2008 in Advertising, Commentary, Direct Marketing, Featured, Marketing, Mobile, Online, SEO/SEM, Social Media, Viral Marketing | 1 Comment
What's the value placed on a social media marketing campaign by the marketers that develop the campaign? It's hard to tell, because one typically can't get access to the key metrics associated with the campaign, particularly sales attributed to the effort and ROI.
I was intrigued by a new social push by Sony Ericsson for the Z750a flip phone, created by their agency, Iris. The campaign is titled "Bringing Purple Back."
By Mark on Jun 4, 2008 in CRM, Direct Marketing, Featured, Marketing, Process, Strategy | 3 Comments
My experience with L.L. Bean today shows that customer service, when done correctly, isn't an expense. It can be your #1 marketing tool and put a wide moat between your business and your competitors.
L.L. Bean is the standard against which your phone support should be measured.
By Mark on Mar 11, 2008 in Direct Marketing, Featured, Inserts | 0 Comments
I admit that I actually enjoy being upsold. That's partly because it's what I do for a living. It's also because I want to make certain that I've purchased the right thing for the problem I'm trying to solve.
That means I've got two all wheel drive vehicles in Northern Virginia because it sometimes [...]
By Mark on Feb 19, 2008 in Advertising, Copy, Database marketing, Direct Mail, Direct Marketing, Featured | 3 Comments
And sometimes I just shake my head. My apparently never-ending stream of poorly executed direct mail continues, with the latest effort being a shockingly bad example from Marriott's Fairfield Inn and Visa. It appears to be the result of a co-op promotion, which may account for the execution; nobody at either Marriott or Visa felt [...]
