On Tuesday, February 16th, I had the chance to chat with author and former Ogilvy & Mather CEO, Ken Roman, at the invitation of my friend, Byrne Hobart.
What did we talk about?
Byrne and I, of course, grilled him on his latest book, The King of Madison Avenue: David Ogilvy and the Making of Modern Advertising.
Like a typical, turbo-charged CEO, Ken called into the conference line from the back of a yellow cab cruising through the snow covered streets of Manhattan.
This is a book that tells the rest of the story about David Ogilvy, the most famous advertising man in the world, from someone who worked shoulder-to-shoulder with him for decades.
More than just a book about Ogilvy, The King of Madison Avenue reveals the evolution of modern direct response advertising in the 20th Century.
Kenneth Roman has co-authored several acclaimed books including: “How To Advertise” and “Writing That Works” and he maintains an active speaking schedule.
Byrne Hobart works for the web development company, Blue Fountain Media in New York City.
The highlights are mine.
Lawrence Bernstein: Hello, this is Lawrence Bernstein and today I have the privilege of being on the line with Kenneth Roman and Byrne Hobart. Kenneth Roman is the former CEO of Ogilvy and Mather and the co-author of How to Advertise and Writing That Work. Today, we are going to be talking to him about his most recent book, The King of Madison Avenue, David Ogilvy and the Making of Modern Advertising. And we are also on the line with Byrne Hobart of Blue Fountain Media. Blue Fountain Media is a boutique website development and online marketing firm located in New York and Byrne is a rare expert bridging both new media and classic direct response advertising — the kind that David Ogilvy helped to make famous.
Kenneth and Byrne, welcome to the call.
Kenneth Roman: Thank you very much, can I also add that Blue Fountain designed my website which is how I got involved in this whole thing and they did a terrific job for me.
Lawrence Bernstein: Well, that’s great. Thank you. I thought before we just dive into a couple of questions, we might just preface it by letting you tell us, Kenneth, a little bit about your work at present day.
Kenneth Roman: Well, I’m out spending a lot of time talking about the book. I just have done some work on the paperback edition, which is coming out in this spring and I’m thinking about what I’m going to do next.
Lawrence Bernstein: Do you want to lead with a question then, Byrne, and then I’ll follow up?
Byrne Hobart: Sure, so as I was reading the book, I noticed that Ogilvy goes back between the soft sell and hard sell traditions. Do you know which one he ended up settling on?
Kenneth Roman: The idea of soft sell verus hard sell is one that a lot of people in the business reject a little bit. David Ogilvy believed in only one thing and he really believed this passionately, which is, in selling, he did some of the classiest, most interesting advertising that’s ever been done from historic edit, but as he was proud of saying, “Every ad I ever wrote sold.”More on Interview With Former Ogilvy & Mather CEO, Ken Roman
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DO YOU KNOW:
- Triple exclamation points are a dead giveaway of advertising amateurs?
- That outrageous metaphors, like “Scottsdale on the Water,” undermine credibility?
- That investment cliches like “ground floor” cause many readers to immediately toss your sales letter in the trash?
You didn’t. Well that’s evident from this sales letter which hails from the distant year, 2007.
As the creator of the Ultimate Online Swipe File, I store more junk mail than any sane copywriter should and I recently unearthed this doozy.
Now, I don’t fault the principals of this real estate project for thinking big and pitching their plan to the public. Wasn’t that what everyone was doing in the sub-prime years?
And though cheesy, I don’t blame them for renting the most expensive restaurant in the neighborhood and trying to get the attendees soused on chateaubriand and claret in an attempt to loosen their wallets.
But they deserve everlasting condemnation for mailing such an appalling ad.
Yes, it’s an invitation for a free dinner and everyone knows there’s going to be a pitch. Even rich folks are willing to sit though a dog and pony show for a freebie.
But is there any hope of attracting a bona fide prospect with a headline containing “The Most Exciting Project in a Lifetime!!!”
This developer has gone “all in” as they say in poker parlance. He’s done a mass mailing to a compiled list and even rented a restaurant to host the would-be buyers. Yet, the copy reads like it was written by someone who uses a photocopier for a living — not someone who creates accountable advertising.
It’s probably too late to “rescue” this advertiser in 2010. And maybe in hindsight it’s a good thing that tepid copy capped response.
How many other clueless souls are out there today mailing pieces like this? There’s a greater number of clients than any of us could handle in two lifetimes.
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Imagine a company that spends tens of millions a year on lead generation — everything from TV and radio to full page space ads and direct mail and banners all over the net.
One such company is Fisher Investments with over $35 billion under management and headed by Forbes columnist, Ken Fisher.
How does such a behemoth screw up the email marketing basics like this?
Here was the email sent by Fisher Investments on Tue, Jul 13, 2010 at 2:38 PM PT. Imagine how many names this went out to with a marketing budget like theirs.
Subject: Surprising Prediction by Forbes Columnist Ken Fisher
Body: “If you have a $500,000 portfolio, you should download the latest report by Forbes columnist Ken Fisher. In it he tells you where he thinks the stock market is headed and why.
This must-read report includes his latest stock market prediction, plus research and analysis you can use in your portfolio right now.”
And now for the capper. There was no link in the email message.
This is an email marketing sin if ever there were one. The subject line was intriguing enough that it got me to open it — no small accomplishment these days.
Then I’m told an expert will be sharing a valuable prediction for where the market is headed. Okay, I’m ready for the content — beam me up Scotty.
And then…
They drop the ball. No link and no possibility for finding out this information. Moreover, there’s no chance for Fisher to gain a shred of business from such a gaff.
They did take the trouble to qualify the reader with the phrase: “If you have a $500,000 portfolio…” but that certainly wasn’t a condition for receiving the latest report. Was it?
Or maybe it was just a really sophisticated way of conveying that Fisher thinks the market is going sideways by omitting the link.
Either way, you always need to verify you’ve got a functioning link in your email message if your intention is to give your subscribers valuable content on a web page.
If you’re an email marketer, one way to get an immediate pop from your marketing efforts is to concentrate on your email marketing subject lines.
Hundreds of email marketers have already grabbed this subject line collection and discovered…
A Surprising Prediction by Forbes Columnist Ken Fisher
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If you’re looking for proven ad headlines in the health and alternative medicine markets…here are some to get you started.
I’ve spent a small fortune on books and newsletter subscriptions over the last decade to acquire the most successful direct mail promotions.
These were winners and mailed over-and-over again.
Alternative Medicine and Health Headline Swipe File
Coronaries Cured For Pennies
Prostate Problems GONE In Just 14 Days!
Vinegar Can Be Used For WHAT?
How Modern Chinese Medicine Helps Burn Disease Out Of Your Body
End Your Heart Problems in Three Months or Less For Less Than a Dollar a Day
More on Health Advertising Headlines | Alternative Medicine Headlines
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Recently, I’ve had the privilege to work with a highly capable web designer who is familiar with the online marketer’s world of autoresponders, squeeze pages, WordPress customizations and many other things. I’m a big fan of her work.Carma Spence helps creative professionals nurture a thriving online presence that supports their career and business goals. She can help you develop a strategy for your website, squeeze pages and social media, as well as help you implement it. She customizes WordPress themes to fit your branding, designs squeeze pages to promote your products, services and opt-in bonuses, and helps you integrate a wide variety of online marketing techniques, including article marketing, into your overall marketing plan. For more information you can visit her website at http://www.dragonwyze.com, email her at carma@dragonywze.com or leave her a voice mail message at 815-642-4092 and she’ll return your call within 48 hours.
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Hard to believe the Bencivenga 100 Seminar was over 5 years ago.
I continue to meet and do business with many of the attendees of that historic gathering.
And speaking of attendees, the B-100 was like the Oscars of direct marketing. Legends and players of the highest caliber were all over the halls of the St. Regis Hotel.
I remember Doug D’Anna darting around in a dark suit in between sessions — an A-Lister on top of his game who was there to get better.
Gary called Doug, “one of my ablest competitors over the years” and it’s easy to see why.
Here’s a video where Doug walks you through one of his greatest DM achievements, The Great Retirement Betrayal. It was mailed in excess of 25 million times.
It’s called: “How To Write Long Copy That Makes Money.”
I’ve rarely seen someone so brimming with enthusiasm and so willing to share as Doug in this video.
(Full disclosure: I am not an affiliate and I get goose eggs if you buy Doug’s terrific DVD.)
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Whenever I interview a prospective copywriting or consulting client, one of the first questions I usually ask is: “who’s this product for?”
And more often than I’d like to hear, I get the answer: “it’s for everyone.”
Experience has taught me to defer on such projects because the prospective client has no idea who his or her target market is. And that signals there’s usually a basket of oversights and problems in addition to this biggie.
Conversely, when you ask the question, “who’s this product for?” and get an answer like, “it’s for single executive women who live in Tribecca, have aspirations to be a managing director and spend their summer weekends in the Hamptons,” then this is as green as lights get.
These clients not only know who their target market is but they’ve likely designed the product with this demographic in mind.
Does this mean there are no products with “everyone” as the target audience.
Well, yes and no.More on Copywriting: Headline Nightmares
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Yesterday was a rare day when I went to look at server stats and noticed hundreds of visitors came to my blog via an article in “The Guardian” by Tom Meltzer entitled:
“The advert that just keeps going: It’s probably the longest-running ad in newspaper history. So what’s the secret of its success?”
Tom Meltzer’s article was eyebrow-raising for two reasons.More on Shamed By Your Swiping? “The Guardian” Challenges Lawrence
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How can you get a Nobel Prize Winner to endorse your product or service?
Believe it or not, it can be really quite simple.
And one of the best places to take a cue from is top flight direct response companies who know the importance of pairing promise and proof.
So with that in mind, I’ll swipe Ken McCarthy’s equation: Traffic + Conversion = Profits for:
Promise + Proof = Profits
See, without superb proof mechanisms, the loud promises just get drowned out. Amazingly, most marketers never catch on to this fact. And that’s good news for us!
Look at the above headline for the colon cleansing product, Flora Source.More on Promise + Proof = Profits
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Here’s a free publicity case study I’ve been meaning to post for a while.
Years ago, when I first heard marketing consultant, Jay Abraham, talk about getting control of a marketing asset you don’t posses, I understood the concept but didn’t have the faintest idea how to execute it.
Here’s a paint-by-the-numbers way to do it and how it resulted in over $52,000 in traceable business for my most important client at the time: my wife.
But to really grasp the nuances of what I’m about to share, you’ll need to imagine a world quite different from ours today.
And it’d help if you’re acquainted with Bizarro World in D.C. Comics — the place where incompetence is rewarded, stupidity is praised and ugliness is treasured. Interestingly, Bizarro World boasts a popular financial instrument called the Bizarro Bond, “guaranteed to lose money for you.”
The backdrop for this story gives Bizarro World a run for its money.
Imagine a place where…
- Little things like collateral, income and creditworthiness are totally irrelevant factors when buying a home.
- Property values can go nowhere but up.
- Generous credit lines are given to anyone with a beating pulse.
- And similar to the Bizarro Bond, something called the sub-prime note is the preferred ruinous investment of choice.
Well, you needn’t imagine it. This was that very strange year known as 2005 and the place was the good ole’ US of A.
But don’t worry. Even if you resided elsewhere, we almost certainly exported these to a place near you.
More on $50 Thousand In Free Publicity And The “Mystery Briefcase”
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