Have you ever wondered where the concept of USP (Unique Selling Proposition) came from? Or who the masters of writing winning sales letters were? In today’s post, I’ve listed 10 of the favourite marketing books of famed copywriter Bob Bly (www.Bly.com).
People frequently ask me to recommend my 10 favorite marketing books:
1. How to Write a Good Advertisement by Vic Schwab (Wilshire Book Company, 1962).
A common-sense course in how to write advertising copy that gets people to buy your product or service, written by a plain-speaking veteran mail order copywriter in 1960.
Best part: 100 “archetypal” headlines that people are still using in various forms today to create new controls (e.g., “When Doctors Feel Rotten, This is What They Do”).
Availability: Still in print (Wilshire Publishing) and available on amazon.com.
2. My First 50 Years in Advertising by Max Sackheim (Prentice-Hall, 1970).
Another plain-speaking, common-sense guide that stresses salesmanship over creativity, and results over awards. The author was one of the originators of the Book of the Month Club.
Best part: The oversize format allows full-size reproductions (large enough for the copy to be legible) of many classic direct response ads (e.g., “They Thought I Was Crazy to Ship Live Maine Lobsters as Far as 1,800 Miles from the Ocean”).
Availability: Out of print and difficult to find.
3. The Robert Collier Letter Book by Robert Collier.
While Schwab and Sackheim concentrate on space ads, Collier focuses on the art of writing sales letters, of which he is a master. You learn how to write persuasive sales letters in a friendly, natural, conversational style.
Best part: While some of the letters may seem old-fashioned and dated, Collier’s timeless principles still apply.
Availability: Comes in and out of print. Somewhat difficult to get.
4. Reality in Advertising by Rosser Reeves (Alfred A. Knopf, 1961).
The book in which Reeves introduced the now-famous concept of USP (the Unique Selling Proposition).
Best part: The idea that every successful ad must (a) offer a benefit, (b) the benefit must differentiate your product from the competition, and (c) the benefit must be big enough to motivate buyers to purchase your product instead of others.
Availability: Out of print and difficult to get.
5. Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz.
A copywriting guide by one of the greatest direct-response copywriters of the 20th century.
Best part: The notion that advertising does not create desires; rather, it focuses already existing desires onto your product.
Availability: Available from Boardroom Books.
6. Tested Advertising Methods, Fifth Edition by John Caples, revised by Fred Hahn (Prentice-Hall, 1997).
An updated version of John Caples’ classic book on the principles of persuasion as proven through A/B split tests.
Best part: The A/B split headline tests with the results (e.g., for an air conditioner, “How to have a cool, quiet bedroom – even on hot nights” pulled 2 ½ times the response of “Get rid of that humidity with a new room cooler that also dries the air”).
Availability: In print. Available in bookstores and online.
7. Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy (Atheneum).
Charming autobiography of legendary ad man David Ogilvy, packed with useful advice on how to create effective advertising.
Best part: Chapter 6 on “How to Write Potent Copy.”
Availability: Out of print and difficult to get.
8. Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins (Bell Publishing, 1920).
A book on the philosophy that advertising’s purpose is to sell, not entertain or win creative awards – and how to apply this philosophy to create winning ads.
Best part: His observation that “specifics sell; superlatives roll off the human understanding like water off a duck’s back.”
Availability: Since the copyright has expired, this book is now in the public domain and is available as a free downloadable e-book on several Web sites.You can also buy it as a paperback on amazon.com.
9. Method Marketing by Denny Hatch (Bonus Books, 1999).
A book on how to write successful direct response copy by putting yourself in the customer’s shoes. Packed with case histories of modern direct response success stories, including Bill Bonner of Agora Publishing, and Martin Edelston of Boardroom.
Best part: The introduction of the concept of method marketing, which states: “You cannot write copy without getting inside the head of the person to whom you are communicating and becoming that person.”
Availability: In print and available on amazon.com; also on Denny’s Web site www.methodmarketing.com.
10. Advertising Secrets of the Written Word by Joseph Sugarman (DelStar, 1998).
How to write successful advertising copy by a modern master of the space ad.
Best part: The 24 psychological triggers that get people to buy.
Availability: In print and available on amazon.com.
Did I leave out any of your favorities? (I know I left out a dozen or so of mine!)
Last week, ShareLife held their 15th Annual Corporate Golf Tournament at Lionhead in Mississauga. As is the case every year, we were blessed with great weather – lots of sunshine and above all, no rain.
If you have ever played Lionhead, you know that it is not one of the easier courses. Instead of the usual 15-under par, the winning team from PricewaterhouseCoopers had to settle for a 10-under.
The annual golf tournament is ShareLife’s signature fundraising event and it helps support the work of ShareLife-funded social service agencies that deliver programs and services to those most in need in our community. This year, more than $75,000 was raised with 150 golfers taking part in this worthwhile cause.
Many thanks were extended to all the sponsors including CIBC, the presenting sponsor.
Our team, Denis Brillon, President of Bradford Direct, Howard Stevenson, Neil MacCarthy, Director of PR & Communications at the Archdiocese of Toronto and myself had to settle for a respectable 5-over final score.
Even though the United States Postal Service is reporting a significant decline in the volume of mail we all know from the contents in our mailboxes that we still seem to get plenty. It’s clear that direct mail marketing budgets have been slashed in many cases, but of course as some companies pull back from sending mail others see that as an opportunity to send more. We decided to research which profit and non-profit organizations are currently sending the most mail.
Top 10 For-Profit Mailers
56% of all the top 50 mailers in the U.S. are for-profit ogranizations. Several of these are large publishing companies athat sending publications, renewal notices, and other offers to the public.
Publishers Clearing House – This household name in the sweepstakes industry makes over $620 million dollars a year through publishing and distributing millions of magazines and other publications. They are the overall largest user of direct mail in the U.S.
The Economist Group – With revenues north of $516 million this is another publishing giant. They publish under the brands of The Economist newspaper, The Economist Online, Economist Intelligence Unit, and a few more.
Conde Naste – You may not be familiar with this massive publisher with revenues of $454 million per year. They own some of the most subscribed to magazines in the World (GQ, Vogue, The New Yorker, etc.).
Direct Brands – Like Conde Naste, you may say Direct Brands, Inc. who? Well they have revenues of $402 million per year with services you will recognize (Columbia House, Book-of-the-Month Club, etc.).
Consumers Union – This company has revenues in excess of $249 million per year on sending direct mail, you may be more familiar with Consumer Reports.
Omaha Steaks – With revenues of $200 million per year this company has made a bundle off of selling mail order mouth watering meats. Now that’s mail with some sizzle to it!
Rodale – Has revenues of approximately $136 million per year and publishes magazines like Men’s Health, Runner’s World, and Prevention.
Hachette Filipacchi Media – Another massive magazine publisher with revenues reported at $123 million from magazines like ELLE, Woman’s Day, Car and Driver, Road & Track, and more).
International Masters Publishers – This publisher is well known for Recipes & Cooking, Wildlife & Nature, Home & Leisure, and similar categories of publications. They have annual revenues of $230 million.
Boardroom – This is another publisher for a list that is most well-known for their Bottom Line newsletters in the subject areas of Personal, Health, Retirement, Natural Healing, and Wealth. Their revenues could not be reliably collected.
Top 10 Non-Profit Mailers
44% of all the top 50 mailers in the U.S. are non-profit organizations that are either soliciting for donations or attempting to collect on pledges via mailers.
Smithsonian Institute – They generate donations/revenue of $532 million per year.
U.S. Fund for UNICEF – They generate donations/revenue of $454 million per year.
Habitat for Humanity – They generate donations/revenue of $356 million per year.
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society – They generate donations/revenue of $269 million per year.
March of Dimes – They generate donations/revenue of $248 million per year.
World Wildlife fund – They generate donations/revenue of $180 million per year.
Paralyzed Veterens of America – They generate donations/revenue of $109 million per year.
Humane Society of the U.S. – They generate donations/revenue of $102 million per year.
Alzheimers Association – They generate donations/revenue of $95 million per year.
National Wildlife Federation – They generate donations/revenue of $83 million per year.
It’s always interesting to see who is using the mail more frequently as a means of communicating with the American public. The biggest surprise is that in this list of the 20 top mailers, that are no banks or credit card companies. Judging by the mail I get every day, that’s a surprise.
(This article was recently published on ChangeofAddress.org. I thought it was an interesting read given how we are always reading about how direct mail is dying and being phased out in favour of other advertising media. You can find the original article at http://www.changeofaddress.org/blog/2010/top-20-us-direct-mail-marketers/.)
Everybody is talking about digital printing nowadays but it may not be a good fit for all. As technology advances, the choices become more difficult.
I read a lot of magazines, newspapers, reports, articles and newsletters about the printing industry. Not unexpectedly, they write extensively about the latest printing technologies.
In printing, technology has always been ‘king.’ Heidi Tolliver-Nigro in an article entitled, “Digital Printing: It’s Not About Technology Anymore,” (Graphic Arts, Feb 2010) stresses the point that print is no longer print but just another tool in your marketing arsenal. It comes down to matching the technology to the application.
In my direct mail world, it’s always been about personalization. For the past 40 years, we have witnessed the benefits of adding personal data to a direct mail package. We know that consumers and donors respond better to personalized mail.
However, the choice of technology nowadays is daunting. Volume is no longer the main criteria since some of the digital presses can produce up to 9 million monthly impressions. Inkjet technology is comparable now to laser. Paper also becomes a non-issue since the newer digital presses can use a wide variety of stocks.
It comes down to which application is going to be the most effective AND appropriate for your particular organization/company.
Generally speaking, I still see most personalized digital printing being used by commercial enterprises, especially by Fortune 500 companies. Not only do they have the budgets for the upfront costs (before revenues start coming in) but they also have the marketing staff who can focus their energies on managing the campaigns.
In addition, their direct mail is usually integrated with into a much larger marketing campaign incorporating other media such as PURLs, social media and print ads.
hp LaserJet 8000
Non-profits have much smaller budgets. Their timelines are also much shorter. This is where the traditional offset print/laser personalization model is ideal.
Without the extra layer of technology, turnaround times are much quicker. Segmentation and testing can easily be accommodated and costs are lower, so budgets are more easily met.
I have even seen the use of digital printing backfire on non-profit organizations because donors resent the fact that their dollars are being used on more expensive technology.
The bottom line is that just about any kind of personalized direct mail (also called 1:1 printing, variable data printing, variable data imaging) application can be used. It comes down to how you want to represent yourself to your target audience – and, of course, your budget.
This was also the time when Olympic sports were called ‘amateur’ sports and funding was pretty pitiful. The Montreal Olympics demonstrated how a lack of support, financial and otherwise, can result in the first-ever host country to go without a Gold medal. (Canada ended up in 27th position with 5 Silver and 6 Bronze – still an accomplishment considering the lack of resources for Canadian athletes.)
In contrast, the 21st 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics was fueled by a 5-year, $117-million program called “Own The Podium” designed to improve Canadian high-performance sport.
Did it make a difference?
Like… duh!
Fourteen – that’s 14 – Gold medal performances! 14 times that O Canada! was played on the international stage!
Canadians athletes nowadays have access to more and better training facilities, have better equipment, have more opportunity for international competitions, have access to better rehab facilities, and have the ability to better support themselves while training.
So what does this have to do direct mail?
Other than having a chance to say how proud I was to be Canadian at the end of it all yesterday and walk around with a puffed-up chest, it’s a good example of what can be achieved when you are willing to SPEND the money to achieve RESULTS!
Too many times, direct mailers are trying to find short-cuts to great results.
It ain’t gonna happen!
If you’re always going to go with the cheapest price knowing full well that you’re taking a chance, don’t expect a “miracle on ice.”
Be willing to pay for professional services and direct mail expertise. In the long run, it will SAVE you money and put you on the path to Gold-medal direct marketing.
It’s been a while since I last posted, whoa, quite a while. Life seems to whiz by so fast these days.
I’ve been working on a few direct mail side projects, testing new content delivery techniques and trying to figure out what would be best way to deliver content to you.
Whatever the method is, it’s got to be quick, efficient and, most importantly, be of value to my readers and clients.
Video is hot these days both the ‘talking heads’ version and screen capture. It seems people have less time and are less willing to sit & read especially if they have to do it using a computer monitor. I don’t blame them.
Our world is filled with a constant daily barrage of information, and unless we want to spend our whole day reading and watching, we have to get very particular about what we choose to spend our time on.
I REALLY want to help direct mailers get their mailings out the door as cost-effectively and as quickly as possible.
The best way I know is to pass on production and printing tips/techniques/secrets so that mailers can be pro-active and AVOID a lot of the problems that cause delays and additional costs.
What is your preferred method of receiving such valuable information?
New web services are coming online every day. I regularly receive notifications of new web-to-print sites.
In fact, one of the fastest-growing companies in the world is Vistaprint, a printing company who supplies free business cards as a lead generator. (The free cards are actually a pretty good deal, so you can get them by clicking on a link on my home page at http://www.dmgraphics.ca).
One of the biggest printing markets is in direct mail, so it’s no wonder that many printers are creating online printing sites, and at the same time offering direct mail services through them.
And while I recommend Vistaprint for select printing services, would I recommend them or any of the other online printers for a direct mail project?
Yes, under certain conditions… but mostly NO!
Let’s look at the “Yes, under certain conditions…” first.
This is very limited yes. If you are sending out simple mailers like a postcard to a small, clean list, say less than 1,000, you will probably be fine. Even if it gets screwed up, you will probably not go bankrupt (hopefully).
However, for larger mailings, especially with multiple lists, or packages that require envelopes, letters and other inserts, I would never recommend online services. I would even send you to an offline competitor before recommending online services.
Why?
Many reasons.
Probably most importantly is the hands-on customer support that is required for most mailings. Each step of the direct mail process – data, printing, personalization and lettershop – can easily become complicated with minor hurdles becoming major stumbling blocks when handled by an online automated service.
An offline direct mail shop with a reasonable amount of experience under their belt is going to be your best bet. If it’s someone in your area, even better. You can always make a trip to their plant to check on things, meet your account manger, get a free lunch, etc.
A bricks-and-mortar business is still going to be your safest route for this type of service.
Don’t get me wrong – I love the automation culture of the web and its 24/7 availability, but NOT for direct mail. Don’t say I didn’t warn you – price and the latest whiz-bang online technology is not always best.
