Advertising Results Should Matter

Most readers of this Blog will agree that measurable marketing is growing and that measurement is critical in the client-ad agency relationship. But it’s hard to get advertising and marketing firms to change their ways. This was brought to my attention by a recent Adweek article on the lack of incentives for performance based marketing.

The web, microsites, email, direct mail, SEO, banners/links/placements, mobile, word-of-mouth, social media, even traditional media and PR can be measured, albeit not perfectly. Marketing today is and should be about accountability and relevancy to the customer/prospect. The problem, I think, is that most traditional shops still try and sell their killer creative and treat the web and other emerging channels separately and want to cling to the past. They fail to understand that marketing is changing.

Saatchi & Saatchi CEO Kevin Roberts was interviewed in Business Week and he still sells and believes in the killer creative that does not work nearly as effectively as in the past. While I admire his conviction, the article goes on to talk about the shift in marketing to those who understand and practice measurable marketing. Both articles are worth the read.

Grant A. Johnson

Johnson Direct LLC

1-800-710-2750

A Shift From Marketing To Selling?

Robert Mandelbaum of PKF Consulting wrote a good article on hospitality.net on hospitality marketing that applies to all marketing. I think you’ll enjoy the level of detail and logic in the piece. Happy reading!
Grant A. Johnson

Johnson Direct LLC

1-800-710-2750

Tis The Season for Direct Mail

The following information speaks for itself:

 Post Office Anticipates 20-Billion-Piece Month
The U.S. Postal Service expects to deliver 20 billion piece of mail between Thanksgiving and Christmas,

Monday, Dec. 17 is forecast as being the heaviest-volume day, with 275 million cards and letters mailed then — more than three times the 82 million average daily volume. Total piece count, which includes cards, letters, packages, catalogs, and magazines, should approach 1 billion, up from the average day’s rate of 703 million.

The busiest delivery day will be Wednesday, Dec. 19.

To ensure timely delivery, Parcel Post packages should go into the mail system no later than Dec. 15. First-Class Mail and Priority Mail should be sent by Dec. 20, and Express Mail should be sent by Dec. 22.

 Grant A. Johnson

Johnson Direct LLC

1-800-710-2750 

 

Advertising Icon Dick Wilson Dies

Dick Wilson, the quirky Mr. Whipple “Charmin Guy” has died. When I think about those commercials, I think of simpler times and my youth. Back then, cable was not an option nor was the internet.

I have to wonder if he would have “cut through the clutter” today. I remember going into the store and “squeezing the Charmin” after seeing the commercials. Rest in peace.

Grant A. Johnson

Johnson Direct LLC

1-800-710-2750

“Word of Mouth” Marketing is Expensive!

Perhaps it’s just me, but I find it very ironic that the  “word of mouth” marketing spend will top $1 billion dollars in 2007. It’s the largest growth sector in marketing services. Silly me, I always thought me telling someone else about a great product, service, company or individual was free.

If you have the time and/or ambition, I would love your views.

If I like what you write, I will post it … and you can pay me!

 

Grant A. Johnson

Johnson Direct LLC

1-800-710-2750 

Let’s Re-learn To Think Like Kids.

I was reminded of the wisdom of children again last week. My youngest child was going over her previous week’s grades with me — all very good grades until we got to a math test. She simply stated. “Dad, I got an 80 on this test and would have done better but they didn’t give me enough problems, so that’s ok.” I must admit, I loved her logic.

One of the more popular speeches I give is called “Fortuitous Mistakes, How thinking like a child can give you exceptional marketing results.” I site very successful marketing examples that happened by accident. Think back to when you were young, daring and a little (ok a lot) less gray. You were fearless, or at least more bold. Kids are not afraid of making mistakes. Everything is new to them and not getting something right is a journey of discovery. Failure is a big, accepted part of their lives.

That’s the way it should be with all the emerging media — be brave, try lots of things and fail often. You just may succeed. Failure is only bad if we don’t learn from our mistakes. Kids don’t think with boundaries or rules attached, they just move ahead.

One more story to demonstrate: When selling a house I removed an old round pool. I had to replace the non-existent grass with sod. Sod is rectangular. I dropped off the sod and had my 10-year-old son fill in the sod as much as possible and told my wife I would complete the job that weekend. I was wrestling with how to fill in the oval as I did not have a sod cutter or large snips to use. The next morning I woke up to find the entire circle filled in. I called my son outside and asked him how he filled in the sod around the circle. He looked at me like I was nuts and replied: “What are you talking about, I ripped the sod and put it in place.” Like a puzzle I thought, but he created the missing pieces! To him it was so obvious; and to me, someone trained to over think things, it was pure genius.

Embrace childish thoughts. Think like you’re 2 or 3 again. You’ll be surprised how many times people tell you how smart you are.

Grant A. Johnson

Johnson Direct LLC

1800-710-2750

What Advertising Should Be About!

I always revel when I find a new blog from someone who understands the impact of marketing measurement. That’s the case with the Marketing Geek Blog from Michael Fassnacht. I came across this blog through my Google alerts and I wholeheartedly agree that advertising and marketing is about growth. If you cannot calculate a direct correlation between your marketing and a measurable ROI, then it’s time to retrench and start over.

As Michael points out, change is the air and I’m all for it. Read and enjoy!

Grant A. Johnson 

Johnson Direct LLC 

1-800-710-2750 

More Social Media Options, A Good Thing?

A recent Ad Age article caught my attention and points to the continued trend toward Social Media and experimentation to see what will resonate with folks and what will not.

Most Social Media outlets are more communication focused — while Bebo, the newly updated “player” will be more entertainment oriented and thus more like a magazine.

With Social Media, like most media outlets, you can expect others to jump on the proverbial band wagon and try new things to improve on the success of YouTube, Facebook and others.

You will hear this from me again and again, but I truly believe that this is a GREAT time to be a marketer, especially a measurable marketer with the rapid change taking place in marketing and the shift of control to the consumer/prospect/customer.

At some point we will reach saturation as we are all over-communicated to already, but nonetheless it’s exciting to see things unfold.
Grant A. Johnson

Johnson Direct LLC

800-710-2750

Direct Marketing ROI Projected for 2008

To see the way the Direct Marketing Association is projecting things, we all ought to get into e-mail marketing as our primary method of communicating … fast!  I’m not so sure that’s really true, but the DMA did put out some interesting projections, recently, as reported in the Oct. 18 edition of PROMO Magazine.

In that report, the DMA projects return on investment for commercial e-mail to more than double the ROI of other direct marketing tactics in 2008.  The DMA states that for each dollar spent, commercial e-mail will return $47.65, with non-e-mail online marketing a distant second at $20.19.

Others on the list of select direct marketing tactics are:

• Direct response newspaper ads, $16.86

• Non-catalog direct mail, $15.60

•  Telemarketing, $8.61

Pretty impressive.

Then, again, we need to cast a somewhat jaundiced eye at the report, given its origins.  Let’s face it; DMA has a vested interest in marketers jumping on the DM bandwagon.  At the same time, smart marketers realize that direct marketing’s dominant position in advertising spends is due to the simple fact that it works!

I think measurable marketers overall do a better job than branders in understanding relevancy from the target market (s) perspective and, in this day of over-communication, that approach resonates with busy people.

So, I put it out here for your review and discussion.  Where do you stand?  Please give me your thoughts.

Grant Johnson

Johnson Direct LLC

800-710-2750

The Lost Art of the Handwritten Thank You Card

“Son, we live in a world that has walls.  And those walls have to be guarded by men with guns.  Who’s gonna do it?  You?  You, Lt. Weinberg?  I have a greater responsibility that you can possibly fathom.  You weep for Santiago and you curse the Marines.  You have that luxury.  You have the luxury of not knowing what I know:  that Santiago’s death, while tragic, probably saved lives.  And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives … you don’t want the truth.  Because deep down, in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me on that wall.  You need me on that wall.  We use words like honor, code, loyalty … we use these words as the backbone to a life spent defending something.  You use ‘em as a punchline.  I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it!  I’d rather you just said thank you and went on your way.  Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon and stand a post.  Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think you’re entitled to!”

Everyone should recognize the courtroom soliloquy stated by Col. Nathan R. Jessup, the character played by Jack Nicholson in the movie “A Few Good Men.”  Obviously, the good colonel hadn’t received a nice, personalized thank you note in quite a while!

Between e-mails, cell phones, blackberries and the harried life we lead, it seems a miracle if people remember to take a moment to say thank you anymore.  It’s a shame, because acts of gratitude have an exponential positive impact, on the person saying thanks and the person receiving the thank you.  And, quite frankly, there is nothing quite like a handwritten thank you card in today’s high-tech, low-touch world.

I was personally reminded of this a couple of weeks ago.  I volunteered to give the Stewardship Talk at my parish.  Our pastor thought it would be a good idea to have one of the parishioners motivate the troops.  I gave a ten minute talk during the homily at all the masses the first weekend of October.  I received a lot of positive verbal feedback from friends and fellow parishioners about my message and my unique delivery.  My good feelings turned to exuberance a couple of days later when a handwritten note arrived from my pastor.  It was a quick note of “genuine appreciation for your excellent stewardship talk.”  He stated that it was by far the best he had ever heard and he personally thanked me for all I do for the parish and school!

Do you think I’d “guard a wall” for this guy, or be willing to do something he asks of me down the road?  You bet I would!

Who could you write a thank you note to today?  How about a customer, your spouse, a fellow business associate, your child, your boss.  The list is endless.

A little note that takes a little time can reap huge dividends!

Rob Trecek

Johnson Direct LLC

800-710-2750

The comments expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of Johnson Direct, LLC.