The DMA business meeting was held on Sunday in San Diego.
They moved the meeting to a much larger room because everybody wanted to attend to see what a proxy vote shoot-out between Gerry Pike and the Board looks like.
I don't know how many proxy votes Gerry picked up with his campaign, but it must have been a lot. When I got there the word was that Gerry and the board had gone late into the night to come to a settlement.
By the time we showed up, it was a love fest. With the board announcing that Gerry had been reinstated for a second term and Gerry telling us what a great bunch of people were on the board. In addition to Gerry being back on the board, he gets to nominate three more board members.
I'll add to the love fest by saying that there are a lot of smart cookies on the DMA board and I hope they figure it out. If not, I think a lot of members will vote with their feet in 2010.
I went to the Electronic Retail Association (ERA) party Monday night and had a good time. It reminded me of the dot.com explosion back in the late 90's. Lots of good contacts, lots of booze. Lots of people wearing all black. Back in those days you could walk into a party and by the time you got to the bar, you had been offered at least $20 million by three different venture capital groups.
No matter how dumb your idea was.
Jon
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
DMA Conference-DMEF Awards Dinner
Direct is alive and kicking!
I attended the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation (DMEF) Awards Dinner last night. Close to 300 marketers from all over the country gathered to honor Beth Smith, http://sbdirect.net/ with the Edward Mayer Award. Beth is a super lady who over her career has taught so many people direct advertising that she probably has had a direct affect on the country's GNP.
For the past three years the DMEF has asked me to do the auction part of the evening. That's because I'm a shameless ham who has absolutely no problem asking people for money in public. Some day, I will probably have a very successful career as a homeless person.
I must admit that with the economy the way it is, I did not have great expectations to raise a lot of money, in fact, I had decided to go easy on the crowd and not shake them down for their last penny like I usually do.
Well let me tell you something, when it comes to a good cause like the DMEF, direct marketers step up, no matter how bad the economy is!
In about 30 minutes, I think we raised over $150,000.00, I haven't heard the official count yet, it might be more.
I must admit that putting me on "before" dinner was served was a brilliant strategy and I apologize to everyone for threatening to not feed anybody until they gave me all their money.
Hey, it was for a very good cause.
Today is the DMA board meeting and they have moved it to a much larger room so that we can all come to see what a proxy fight is all about! (see my previous post). Everybody is talking about it and excited about the changes that could take place.
I'll fill you in on what happens.
Jon
I attended the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation (DMEF) Awards Dinner last night. Close to 300 marketers from all over the country gathered to honor Beth Smith, http://sbdirect.net/ with the Edward Mayer Award. Beth is a super lady who over her career has taught so many people direct advertising that she probably has had a direct affect on the country's GNP.
For the past three years the DMEF has asked me to do the auction part of the evening. That's because I'm a shameless ham who has absolutely no problem asking people for money in public. Some day, I will probably have a very successful career as a homeless person.
I must admit that with the economy the way it is, I did not have great expectations to raise a lot of money, in fact, I had decided to go easy on the crowd and not shake them down for their last penny like I usually do.
Well let me tell you something, when it comes to a good cause like the DMEF, direct marketers step up, no matter how bad the economy is!
In about 30 minutes, I think we raised over $150,000.00, I haven't heard the official count yet, it might be more.
I must admit that putting me on "before" dinner was served was a brilliant strategy and I apologize to everyone for threatening to not feed anybody until they gave me all their money.
Hey, it was for a very good cause.
Today is the DMA board meeting and they have moved it to a much larger room so that we can all come to see what a proxy fight is all about! (see my previous post). Everybody is talking about it and excited about the changes that could take place.
I'll fill you in on what happens.
Jon
Monday, September 28, 2009
DMA - Time for some changes
There's a big controversy brewing at The Direct Marketing Association (DMA). One of their board members by the name of Gerry Pike has nailed his proverbial theses to the door of the DMA in the form of a website titled http://abetterdma.org/ . Mr. Pike is asking all voting DMA members to give him their proxy vote so he can implement the changes he feels are needed to change (save?) the DMA.
The DMA has lashed back with an email to it's members http://www.the-dma.org/cgi/dispannouncements?article=1328 that if you didn't know better, would portray Gerry Pike as a trouble maker who is bitter over the board not nominating him for a second term.
I'm qualified to make a few comments
As a 25 year member of the DMA and an expert in direct marketing, I think that I'm qualified to make a few comments on the situation.
First let's start with Gerry Pike. I've known him professionally for several years. I've had drinks and dinner with him and other professionals in the field on several occasions and he never came across as a wacko. He's a professional who is not afraid to speak-up. I can see how he might rub other DMA board members the wrong way.
On the other side is the DMA board. http://www.the-dma.org/cgi/disppressrelease?article=1225 There are approximately 40 people on the DMA board, all top professionals and they only meet three times a year as a full board, so things move slow. John Greco is the President of the DMA. There have been some very big lay-offs at the DMA and their ability to service members has suffered. On top of that, Mr. Greco makes over $800,000.00.
Three or four years ago I was having a chat with John Greco and told him that the term "Direct Marketing" was antiquated and misunderstood. When you tell someone you're a Direct Marketer, the usual reply is, "So you do direct mail?" I said, "that was why I changed our agency name to Roska Direct Advertising instead of direct marketing." To most people, Direct Advertising covers all forms of media, including interactive. The name change has really worked. Not only our clients perceptions, but our own perceptions of what we do.
John Greco asked me if I was suggesting that the DMA change its name to The Direct Advertising Association? I said yes and added that if they didn't, some other associations were going to eat their lunch.
Most people don't call themselves direct marketers anymore
Direct Marketing is not dead. But it has gone through a transformation. Most people don't call themselves direct marketers anymore. Today people identify themselves as marketers, and they "use" direct marketing as a tactic.
To the majority of brand and product managers I have worked with over the years "direct marketing" usually means "direct mail" or "junk mail". Our industry has done a terrible job of educating or expanding knowledge in the direct field. The DMA claims that over 50% of total advertising spend is direct, yet we do not have a proper college level textbook and the majority of colleges and universities do not teach direct/interactive courses.
Whereas "Direct Advertising" is perceived as multi-channel, including interactive. We could go as far as to rename it The Direct and Interactive Advertising Association (DIAA). Changing the name to Direct Advertising will meet today's marketers perceptions.
More importantly, changing the name is an important first step in a commitment to change the DMA into an organization that is in tune with where things are going and not focusing on trying to save the past.
And John, take a pay cut. Temporary.
Jon
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Staying Busy
You can feel when the agency is doing well.
Everyone has a glow of confidence and there is a definite smoothness in the work process. Everyone’s busy and the work is good.
We’ve been hiring over the past few months; writers, designers, account managers, even some just graduated trainees.
We took our “it’s the economy” hit last year. We got so freaking paranoid as business slowed down that we trimmed down, tightened up and re-evaluated every process and procedure. We got focused on what clients need, right now.
We must have done something right.
The agency came out of the gate strong in 2009 and whatever it is that we are doing right; we plan to keep doing it!
Speaking of Trainees
We have three new college grads starting next week.
They will go through six months of training and if they’re still here in 6 months will be promoted to Assistant Something or Other. Their first week, we don’t give them any work. It’s all about orientation by different departments and agency process training, which can be pretty intense. They walk around in a daze and tend to cling to each other. We have a pretty good training process in place. On average, it takes two to three months before it all comes together for them and they have what I call the AHA! moment. All of a sudden, they understand how the agency can go from a challenge to a brilliantly executed solution and what part they can play in that.
What’s good with having several trainees at once is that they learn to work as a team and support each other. Once several years ago, I had a trainee that just wasn’t getting it. She was a hard worker and very smart, but not firing on all cylinders. I called together three other trainees in the agency and told them that it was their responsibility to get her up to 100%. I also told them all of the terrible things that would happen to them if they failed.
Worked like a charm.
I love eCommerce
Ever since we built the PetFoodDirect.com site in the late 90’s, I’ve been fascinated with eCommerce.
We just soft launched an eCommerce site called www.SkinRenu.com . The site sells high quality skin products. We needed to keep the budget in control while we built the first phase of the site. So we went with a Yahoo Store Front that we customized. It looks pretty good and started pulling orders right away. But there’s still a lot to be done over the next six months.
A RPV session led to the concept of “Love what you see when you look in the mirror.” The brand vision is paid of well on the site. Next we start to build in all the response triggers. Things like special offers, promotions, and events. Once we get all the bugs out of it, we’ll begin testing Search Engine Marketing (SEM). You’ll see the site grow and change over the next year and I’ll keep you posted on what’s happening and what I’m learning.
And I’m open to your suggestions! Really.
Jon
Everyone has a glow of confidence and there is a definite smoothness in the work process. Everyone’s busy and the work is good.
We’ve been hiring over the past few months; writers, designers, account managers, even some just graduated trainees.
We took our “it’s the economy” hit last year. We got so freaking paranoid as business slowed down that we trimmed down, tightened up and re-evaluated every process and procedure. We got focused on what clients need, right now.
We must have done something right.
The agency came out of the gate strong in 2009 and whatever it is that we are doing right; we plan to keep doing it!
Speaking of Trainees
We have three new college grads starting next week.
They will go through six months of training and if they’re still here in 6 months will be promoted to Assistant Something or Other. Their first week, we don’t give them any work. It’s all about orientation by different departments and agency process training, which can be pretty intense. They walk around in a daze and tend to cling to each other. We have a pretty good training process in place. On average, it takes two to three months before it all comes together for them and they have what I call the AHA! moment. All of a sudden, they understand how the agency can go from a challenge to a brilliantly executed solution and what part they can play in that.
What’s good with having several trainees at once is that they learn to work as a team and support each other. Once several years ago, I had a trainee that just wasn’t getting it. She was a hard worker and very smart, but not firing on all cylinders. I called together three other trainees in the agency and told them that it was their responsibility to get her up to 100%. I also told them all of the terrible things that would happen to them if they failed.
Worked like a charm.
I love eCommerce
Ever since we built the PetFoodDirect.com site in the late 90’s, I’ve been fascinated with eCommerce.
We just soft launched an eCommerce site called www.SkinRenu.com . The site sells high quality skin products. We needed to keep the budget in control while we built the first phase of the site. So we went with a Yahoo Store Front that we customized. It looks pretty good and started pulling orders right away. But there’s still a lot to be done over the next six months.
A RPV session led to the concept of “Love what you see when you look in the mirror.” The brand vision is paid of well on the site. Next we start to build in all the response triggers. Things like special offers, promotions, and events. Once we get all the bugs out of it, we’ll begin testing Search Engine Marketing (SEM). You’ll see the site grow and change over the next year and I’ll keep you posted on what’s happening and what I’m learning.
And I’m open to your suggestions! Really.
Jon
Friday, August 7, 2009
Eyeball Candy Websites
We’re working on a lot of websites at the moment.
When I think of websites, I think of a seminar I went to given by Amy Africa, an authority on how people use the internet. Go take a look at her website and when you come back, I’ll make my point.
http://www.eightbyeight.com/
My point.
You probably think her website is butt-ugly. But I’m telling you, Amy Africa knows more about building websites that generate business then I will ever know (and I’m pretty good). She uses all the tricks she’s learned doing research on how people surf, purchase and interact with anything on the web. This is a website that generates response!
Using the Rosen Velocity Scale -- http://www.rgrosen.com/velocity.html ,
I would rate Ms. Africa’s site at an 8 or 9.
That’s because the site is totally focused on visitor interaction.
When I tell our interactive and web designers to go to Ms. Africa’s website; they all moan and cry about its lack of beauty and failure of design. They are missing the point.
The secret to a customer interactive site is Eyeball Candy!
Ms. Africa has eyeball candy piled up all over her site. Your eyes go from tidbit to tidbit. Offer to offer. She knows that the reds and blues and orange are the best colors for a website.
The secret to improving your website is not to copy the Africa look. Though I would say that you couldn’t go wrong if that’s what you did.
The trick is to incorporate eyeball candy technique into your site wherever possible.
One trick to create your eyeball candy is to make a list of every key fact, offer, benefit and feature you want the site to deliver on the home page. With this list you create individual pieces (eyeball candy) that show a visual, headline and a short punchy copy lead that draws to eye to it. Each one of these candies allows you to click deeper into the site to find out more. You might have three different eyeball candies that all click to the same inside page, each one leveraging a different feature/benefit.
Go take a look at this site:
www.PetFoodDirect.com
I designed this site 10 years ago. It’s an eyeball candy site. I think Amy Africa would be very pleased with it. The homepage consistently converts visitors into orders better than anything that has been tested against it. That’s because the homepage delivers everything it can to pay-off the anticipated needs of the visitor. It then draws the visitor into the site to capture the orders.
If I could redesign this site based on what I know today, I would do a better job of brand delivery, but the eyeball candy style would remain and continue to draw visitors in.
Eyeball candy design need not be ugly. Done correctly, it can be dramatic and award winning design. If your website is to be judged on clicks, sign-ups and/or orders…eyeball candy works!
Jon
When I think of websites, I think of a seminar I went to given by Amy Africa, an authority on how people use the internet. Go take a look at her website and when you come back, I’ll make my point.
http://www.eightbyeight.com/
My point.
You probably think her website is butt-ugly. But I’m telling you, Amy Africa knows more about building websites that generate business then I will ever know (and I’m pretty good). She uses all the tricks she’s learned doing research on how people surf, purchase and interact with anything on the web. This is a website that generates response!
Using the Rosen Velocity Scale -- http://www.rgrosen.com/velocity.html ,
I would rate Ms. Africa’s site at an 8 or 9.
That’s because the site is totally focused on visitor interaction.
When I tell our interactive and web designers to go to Ms. Africa’s website; they all moan and cry about its lack of beauty and failure of design. They are missing the point.
The secret to a customer interactive site is Eyeball Candy!
Ms. Africa has eyeball candy piled up all over her site. Your eyes go from tidbit to tidbit. Offer to offer. She knows that the reds and blues and orange are the best colors for a website.
The secret to improving your website is not to copy the Africa look. Though I would say that you couldn’t go wrong if that’s what you did.
The trick is to incorporate eyeball candy technique into your site wherever possible.
One trick to create your eyeball candy is to make a list of every key fact, offer, benefit and feature you want the site to deliver on the home page. With this list you create individual pieces (eyeball candy) that show a visual, headline and a short punchy copy lead that draws to eye to it. Each one of these candies allows you to click deeper into the site to find out more. You might have three different eyeball candies that all click to the same inside page, each one leveraging a different feature/benefit.
Go take a look at this site:
www.PetFoodDirect.com
I designed this site 10 years ago. It’s an eyeball candy site. I think Amy Africa would be very pleased with it. The homepage consistently converts visitors into orders better than anything that has been tested against it. That’s because the homepage delivers everything it can to pay-off the anticipated needs of the visitor. It then draws the visitor into the site to capture the orders.
If I could redesign this site based on what I know today, I would do a better job of brand delivery, but the eyeball candy style would remain and continue to draw visitors in.
Eyeball candy design need not be ugly. Done correctly, it can be dramatic and award winning design. If your website is to be judged on clicks, sign-ups and/or orders…eyeball candy works!
Jon
Thursday, July 30, 2009
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
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
Thursday, July 9, 2009
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
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
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