The “With-Without” Formula

A client I hadn’t heard from in a while contacted me at the end of last year.

He had a print ad pulling a very respectable three times ad cost and wondered if he could get it even higher.

His objective went beyond merely trying to bump response since he was close to getting his product in a national retail chain, and he was looking for the tipping point to get there.

But as bright an aura as his ad seemed to have, it also cast a dark shadow.

The market clearly wanted the benefits his product offered. But for a large segment of them, it meant accepting a disadvantage they assumed went along with the benefits.

I’m an eternal optimist but when he told me his ad was doing 3-to-1, I didn’t hold out high hopes for significant improvement given his media costs. So it was a relief to spot some low hanging fruit when I finally got my hands on the ad.

It was time for the old…

“With-Without” Formula

As in, with all the benefits showered on you… but without any of the drawbacks.

In these cases, with the dark shadow of some assumed disadvantage looming in the background, there’s no time to mess around and address it in the fine print.

You’ve got to let the market know they get everything they want without the thing they clearly don’t want, and do so right away.

I made only two changes to the control ad.

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Jack3d Article in the New York Times

Anyone in the alt-health and supplement business can’t help but notice the growing trend of wrongful death cases.

A few weeks ago, I wrote how Manoj Bhargava, founder of 5-Hour Energy, went on the assault when his company came into the spotlight due to several wrongful death suits. I’m neither an attorney nor a nutrition scientist but I’d be surprised if there’s any judgement against Bhargava’s product, given how little different it is from a cup of dark roast Starbuck’s with some B vitamins thrown in.

Last week, a wrongful death case against Jack3d (pronounced: “jacked”) manufacturer, USPlabs, hit the wires.

But this is a product in a whole other category than 5-Hour-Energy due to the controversial ingredient dimethylamylamine (DMAA). It’s an  amphetamine-like stimulant that’s already been banned in the U.K., Australia and Canada.

It’s available in any sports nutrition outlet the United States and is the preferred pre-workout supplement for many gym rats, including yours truly on occasion. I’ll be hitting the medical databases before my next scoop though.

Many lifters in the States are stockpiling the stuff anticipating an eventual ban.

Here’s the link to the lengthy New York Times article: Is the Seller to Blame? Workout Supplement Challenged After Death of Soldier.

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Cushioning The Claim

$25,000 Dollars For a Few Hours Work Doesn’t Seem Fair!

This ad had widespread insertions in the early 1980s and was written by one of the most successful operators in the biz-op category, a man named John Chriswell of Sterling Virginia.

Even at the time this ad was on the scene, this was a saturated market and giant claims were a dime a dozen.

How did Chiswell overcome the natural resistance to oversized claims heard again and again?

He cushioned the claim.

Instead of focusing on the advertiser’s income claim, the prospect’s attention was drawn to the “fairness” of earning $25,000 for a few hours work.

To my knowledge, this was a totally new headline treatment and accounted for this ad’s longevity in this market with notoriously short life spans.

Winning at the Races May Not Be Your Idea of Fun, But…

This print control had a four year run in the early 1970s — a long time in a then crowded market, characterized by the total addiction of its constituents to “the races,” as anyone who ever walked past an Off Track Betting location would attest.

Lots of ads made the same promise, but this one got them to respond.

How?

The headline cushioned a ubiquitous claim, “Win at the races,” with the short string of copy: it, “may not be your idea of fun.”

This had the dual advantage of calling out the core prospects, the misfits spending a day congregating around an off-track parlor, as well as attracting opportunity seekers who might be repelled by the horse racing scene.

This ad, though a throwback, is a great example of copy written in the voice of the core respondent, someone who’s spent a lot of time at the track.

“This Is The Best Darn Tomato I’ve Ever Tasted!” was a reliable order getter for years, but then like all ads, eventually started flagging.

How did the advertisers breathe new life into it and keep response flowing?

They cushioned the claim with a simple headline alteration, using the conditional tense.

“This Could Be The Best Darn Tomato I’ve Ever Tasted!” became the new control and the ad kept going.

Most novice advertisers avoid “coulds” and “maybes” because they seem wishy-washy but experienced advertisers know using them in the right place can make claims seem more plausible and increase response.

To download the ads in a single PDF, click here.

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Mystery Monk’s Brand Battle

The “mystery monk” got his first taste of energy drink ten years ago at a trade show.

From his first sip, he knew he wanted a piece of this market but wasn’t ready to take on emerging giant, Red Bull.

Nor did he care to share fridge space with Coke or Pepsi.

So, he invented his own product category — the energy shot.

It’s the retail point of sale success story of the last ten years. His product is now located next to countless cash registers all across the country.

And, the “mystery monk?”

Until recently, little was known about him. He broke his silence in this must read Forbes article last year.

His private company went from zero to over a billion dollars a year in sales in short order.

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Killer Campaigns: “The Power of the Printed Word”

Click to download PDF: “The Power of the Printed Word”

 

In late-2012, I had a client, who was a cold name on my house file, buy six months of my time.

Worth it? Yes, but I’ve gotten a severe case of withdrawal.

So, for those who asked why I haven’t been posting, I’ll be more than making up for it with over a year’s worth of content.

I’ll also be tearing down and rebuilding most of my websites, including this one.

Here’s one of the better ones I’ve been sitting on for a while. It’s a 15 ad campaign in one PDF, which you can download through the link below.

In the 1980s, International Paper was locked in a no-holds-barred struggle with five major competitors whose products varied little.

International Paper set out to create a reason why customers should prefer I.P. above the rest, even if only for a feeling of the “warm and fuzzies.”

But can that translate to sales and customer loyalty, especially for a commodity product like paper?

The campaign — “We believe in the power of the printed word” — was a smashing success.

It was conceived by Ogilvy creative director, Billings S. Fuess, who relied on celebrities with credibility in education, like:

  • Kurt Vonnegut: “How To Write With Style”
  • Bill Cosby (before he became a TV sitcom superstar): “How To Read Faster”
  • Malcolm Forbes: “How To Write a Business Letter
  • Walter Cronkite: “How To Read A Newspaper”
  • And George Plimpton: “How To Make a Speech,” among others.

While the ads were published under the bylines of these well knowns, it was Fuess who spent three to four weeks researching each ad and one week writing the first draft.

27 Million Requests for Copies of These Ads

The initial campaign targeted the 15-to-30 age group, mainly those in high school or college, under the banner of the “College Survival Kit.”

But as these two-page spreads gained attention from widespread insertions, I.P. was inundated with requests for copies of theses ads from all age groups. They later spun off the “Business Survival Kit.”

Doubleday was one of four publishers to put in a bid to publish a compilation of these ads after the fourth ad hit the press.

Can you imagine anything so crazy… print ads being turned into a book? :-)

But the copies were swept up and out of print copies now sell on Amazon for $273 and up.

Most wouldn’t peg a paper manufacturer as the source of such ingenious product and brand differentiation.

It just goes to show there are countless ideas for creating a competitive advantage out of thin air.

“The Power of the Printed Word”

(20-page,  4-megabyte PDF)

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From Mail Order Copywriter to Dating Market King

If you picked up a magazine or newspaper in the 1970s or 1980s, you would’ve encountered an ad like this from Eric Weber’s Symphony Press.

Weber was a timid young advertising copywriter when he decided there had to be a better way to meet women.

So, he took tape recorder in hand and spent his weekends approaching women and asking them what a man could do to pique their interest.

At night, he’d transcribe the tapes.

He realized he was onto something when he met the woman he’d later marry.

Eventually, he had enough material for a book, but no publisher would option “How to Pick Up Girls.”

One day Weber was sitting on his psychoanalyst’s sofa complaining that he’d worked thousands of hours on his book, but couldn’t get it published.

His analyst replied, “You’re in advertising. Promote your own book and sell it yourself by mail order.”

That’s exactly what Weber did and he went on to sell millions of copies of his books by mail order and became the first “king” of the dating market.

Message to copywriters: it’s good to eat your own cooking.

Here’s one of the first ads that opened the floodgates to the then untapped dating market.

“If I got my man, you can get yours.”

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Simple, Red Hot Offer

It’s hard for those of us attached to long copy to admit it’s not always the answer.

One of the greatest direct response hits in years is a product created out of thin air.

It rarely gets more than a line or two of copy, yet sales of over a billion dollars a year speak volumes for this brand. (Case study coming soon.)

This ad to the left and backstory were forwarded to me by my friend and colleague, Bill O., who’s one of the top high ticket salesmen in the States.

“Attached is an ad that has run non-stop for the past 18 months or so for a small Italian beef stand.  I know the ad is super successful for two reasons:

1.  Every time I go in there, [the place] is packed with people.

2.  The same ad runs over, and over and over in the local paper and coupon mailers.

Their simple, little direct response ad works like gangbusters.  I don’t know how much money they are making, but every time I go in there I ask, “how’s business?” and always get the same answer: “really, really good.”  The Mercedes and Porsche parked next to the back door are telling, too.

I love that they haven’t cluttered the ad with a bunch of me too offers.  They have one irresistible offer that keeps bringing people in the door.  They also haven’t gotten cheap and stopped running the ad now that they have a following.  The offer works, so they keep using it.

Any small business could offer some type of widget and create some type of irresistible offer, but almost none do.”

PDF of “Simple, red-hot offer.”

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In Memory of Christian Godefroy

Earlier this week, I received the belated and sad news of the passing of my friend and colleague, Christian Godefroy. I last heard from him on November 2nd and he suffered a fatal heart attack two weeks later on November 17th.

Christian Godefroy was one of the top marketers and copywriters on the European continent for the last 30 years and was an extraordinary teacher, as well as marketer.

He was the kind of person you could meet at a seminar who gave no hint that he “owned a mountain” and took in over $20 million a year for the last 30 years.

Christian was soft spoken (whether in French or English) but he was as competitive as they come.

Before holding his copywriting seminar a few summers ago, he shared with me that he wanted to top the great Gary Bencivenga by offering 300 seats at $5,000 a pop. He sold out this event and later marketed it online. Here’s the sales letter if your French is up to scratch.

Christian was rightly proud of his Positive Club, which focused on his first passion of self-help.

He had many friends and colleagues the world over who will miss him!

Christian's Ad in the US Market

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A Tale Of Two Copywriters

One late summer evening, two copywriters sat down at their keyboards to craft sales letters for almost identical products.

They were very much alike, these two copywriters.

Both had years of experience writing every type of ad and were dynamos at selling to their core markets.

Both writers were also dedicated students of direct response marketing and were up on the latest trends and techniques for making their clients (and themselves) ever larger profits.

But while one writer spent an entire week on writing and edits, his leisure-loving colleague cranked his final draft out within hours of sitting down that first evening.

And here’s the capper.

The ad that was written in mere hours buried the week-long effort by many multiples.

What Made The Difference

While one writer spent days building the perfect lead, piling layers of proof into his ad and extracting every conceivable hot button to boost response…

The other writer had a hunch that a good, old-fashioned story was called for to sell the dickens out of his particular product.

And he was right.

But where did he get such a brilliant idea?

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Christmas Department Store Advertising

This is a 4-page Christmas advertising spread from Marshall Field from 1950.

Growing up in and around New York City, I recall what a big deal the department store windows were around Christmas time.

Fascinating and nostalgic advertising in the per-Internet days and respondents to this ad could order a booklet with the story about the Marshall Field Christmas windows.

Click on the image to download the PDF.

There is great excitement in Wonderland these days now that the Uncle Mistletoe windows are open along State Street. Many of the animals have roles in the Mistletoe adventure staged there and all the other Wonderland folks are coming downtown (on Uncle’s magic rug, of course) to see the windows.

“Why, this is more fun than being on the stage,” exclaimed Obediah Pig the other day.

“It is being on the stage,” declared Michael O’Hare.

“That’s right,” said Uncle Mistletoe, “and we’ve got all those children to entertain and they’re the most wonderful audience in the world.”

Edward Bear, who had been sitting to one side, spoke up, “This is the most exciting adventure you’ve ever had, Uncle Mistletoe. I hope every boy and girl can get to see what happens.”

“You are right, Edward Bear,” said Michael O’Hare. “This year’s adventure is really exciting. It’s called, ‘A Party for Santa,’ and it’s all about a surprise that Aunt Holly and Uncle Mistletoe plan for the old gentleman when he finishes his trip around the world.”

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