Where's the Gee Wiz?

Direct marketing is not a sexy word.

Whenever I told someone that I was a direct marketer, the universal response was, “Oh, you mean direct mail.” It would drive me freaking crazy, because direct mail is only one channel of a
multi-channel/media discipline.
So I started referring to my work as direct advertising and right away, people had a better grasp of what I did.

Direct advertising is not a sexy word either, but it’s better.
Direct advertising is advertising that has clear accountability, as well as a good brand delivery. It consists of a mix of direct mail, web, TV, print, outdoor, etc.; you can even spray paint your ad on the sides of sheep, as long as you can read the results.
I'm going to focus on direct mail for this post. What a lot of people don’t realize, is how powerful direct mail is. And I’m not talking about all those postcards I receive and toss in the trash every day. We have client direct mail campaigns going right now that are doing so well that a tear of happiness runs down my cheek every time I read the reports. And on top of that they look great!

Direct mail is not a postcard.
You lose most of the advantages of direct mail by using a postcard. And the number one advantage is having all of the room you need to deliver a marketing message and ask the recipient to respond.

Good direct mail always has a well written letter.
The letter is a personal one-on-one communication that clearly explains what we are offering you, what it is, what it can do for you, how you get it. . The letter refers the reader to the support materials that are in the package like a brochure, fact sheet or reply device. Each additional piece in the direct mail package supports the brand message/offer and works with the letter to generate a response.

I refer to the letter communication as:
A logical progression of thought that leads to a specific outcome.

In addition to the letter comes the supporting material like a brochure and response card. This is where you can pay off the brand creative with a big “Gee Wiz” idea that brings in creative memory triggers and/or unique positioning. These “Gee Wiz” ideas can be carried over to the outside envelope where they break through the mail clutter (usually a bunch of postcards from your competition).
Sometimes at our agency you’ll hear someone in a creative meeting ask,
“Where’s the Gee Wiz?”

And if it’s not there, we start looking for it.

Jon

Accountability by Testing

You need early accountability to succeed.

As an agency founder with my feet firmly planted in direct marketing, I've never had a problem with being judged by the results of my work. The quicker I know that something I'm doing is not generating business for my client, the quicker I can get it fixed!
That means that not only do I need to find a way to measure the results of my advertising; I need to measure those results as early as possible.

Vision and energy...no clients
When I started Roska Direct, I had a vision and a lot of energy. What I didn't have was clients. I hauled my portfolio all around town, banging on doors and driving people crazy looking for my first big break. That break came from Marty Goodman, the national circulation manager at TV GUIDE. I honestly think that Marty gave me that first assignment just to get me off his back. The job was to create a direct mail package for new subscribers. I worked on that concept day and night for two weeks and when I presented my ideas to Marty, he liked what he saw and gave me the go ahead to finish it up for a test mailing.
I continued to work on the package day and night for another two weeks and when it was done, Marty included it in a group of test mailings.

And when the response results came back...my creative did so poorly that when it hit the ground, it left a crater. I remember walking into Marty's office after the results were in with my head down, knowing I had blown my big opportunity. Marty looked at me and said, "What's your problem? We all thought your idea was a good one, now we know it doesn't work." and he gave me another assignment!
Once again I worked day and night, applying what I had learned from the first test. When the results of the second test came in Marty told me that it had done much better, but did not beat the control. (The control is the direct mail package that generates the best results with a positive ROI) and he gave me a third assignment. The third assignment became a control position for TV GUIDE for the next four years.

Test early, test often
Marty Goodman taught me that testing early, testing often and learning from each test leads to advertising success. I was very lucky to have the opportunity to work with him.

Most advertisers don't test, they come up with what might be a very good idea, sometimes do research to validate the idea and then shoot the entire advertising budget on a campaign. They find out if the idea worked or didn't work after the ad budget has been spent. That's one of the big reasons why the average tenure of a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) is around 2.4 years!

Good marketers approach their job like a general approaches a battle. The general tests different parts of the enemy's lines, looking for weak spots or opportunities. When that opportunity is identified, that is where he strikes!

Test, find the opportunities and focus your resources where they will generate the best ROI.
Jon