This 3,232 2-page spread for the World Wildlife Fund was published in July, 1979 and was created by Ogilvy & Mather.
Like anything O&M did in this period, this is an exemplary ad in this category. Ogilvy mentions it in the chapter, Wanted: A Renaissance In Print Advertising in the landmark advertising book,
Ogilvy On Advertising.
Back From The Dead (2-page, 629 kb PDF)
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A visit to Rome last month sparked an idea for writing a report on creating breakthrough information products.
Here’s how it happened.
I met up with an American friend who’s been living in Italy for the last few years.
He manages several modestly successful investment funds, yet complains about how expensive it is paying for everything in euros, while keeping most of his assets in dollars.
Understandable.
Besides the fact that you could buy a euro for 85 cents in October of 2001 and it now costs $1.55, many items are now priced higher in euros on a pure 1-to-1 basis.
So, later that evening when the currency complaint came up again (and after a few bottles of Pinot Grigio), I suggested to my friend that he could even the exchange rate simply by making a lot more dollars.
He and several others at the table looked at me with a mixture of suspicion and intrigue.More on 7 Breakthrough Info Marketing Offers And How To Create Your Own
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Testing.
Most marketers and copywriters know the importance of it.
They pay lip service to it.
But so few do it consistently.
In many ways, testing was a lot easier to understand (and explain) before the advent of the Internet.
Thanks to powerful software and the ability to manipulate countless factors on a web page, the terms multivariate and taguchi became all the rage a few years ago. And lots of people got caught up in the bells and whistles.
These are great but it’s pointless for marketers to dive into them if they haven’t mastered the basic A/B split test.
Here’s what I tell clients who are new to testing.
1) Remember the K.I.S.S. principle and…
2) Test big factors.
So, what are the big factors to test?
There are plenty, but it’s hard to get bigger than the headline.
The legendary adman, John Caples, evangelized about the importance of headlines and influenced the thinking of every major ad writer who’s come after him.
(Later this week, I’ll have a series of space ads he not only helped create but was the front man in.)
The direct mail package above for the red wine extract, resveratrol, has been mailing strong for over five years.
It’s one of the true Energizer Bunnies of direct mail with no signs of quitting.
If you want to really understand the nuances of what makes a winner tick, this is worth checking out.
And only one significant factor has changed in over five years — the headline.
From:
How The French Live 42 Percent Longer Than Everyone Else
To:
How The French Live Longer Than Everyone Else
Why is the second headline the new control?
That’s the kind of question that helps you really understand how to harmonize with your market.
And the fastest way to get there is by testing.
Next post: testing appeals in your ads — something Caples was fanatical about.
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93 Extraordinary Referral Systems
Looking for a basic referral rewards program that works?
This is a bare-bones template for new customer acquisition I used with some of the hardest hit restaurant owners in Post- 9/11 Downtown Manhattan.
I wish I could report that I rescued every client who was wise enough to retain me. That would be crazy though — just as crazy as starting a marketing consulting business in Post-9/11 New York.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but it would have been worth paying for the privilege to work in that time and place and under those conditions.
What I found out was there was a fair number of Uptown residents who felt an obligation to help their Downtown neighbors, so when these little referral invitations made their way into their hands, many Uptowners made the effort to take a bus or subway downtown to patronize these restaurants.
The business owner should not expect an overnight stampede.
What you’re doing is planting a lot of little seeds and waiting patiently for the harvest. The goal here is getting the recipients of the referral invitation to convert to returning customers.
More on Referral Marketing: Setting Up a Basic Referral Rewards System
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Caples on Copy, published 33 years ago was part of the brilliant “The Wall Street Journal. It Works.” campaign.
This print ad is like getting a bite size version of Tested Advertising Methods. (Note: the 4th edition or earlier of that book is the way to go because later editions include an ivory tower ad man.)
There’s all kinds of timeless wisdom in this ad like:
Clients get tired of ads before the public does.
Overwriting is the key. If you need a thousand words, write two thousand. Trim vigorously. Fact-packed messages carry a wallop. Don’t be afraid of long copy. If your ad is interesting, people will be hungry for all the copy you can give them. If the ad is dull, short copy won’t save it.
Times change. People don’t. Words like ‘free’ and ‘new’ are as potent as ever. Ads that appeal to a reader’s self interest still work. People may disagree about what self improvement is important, but we all want to improve ourselves. Ads that offer news still work. The subjects that are news change, but the human curiosity to know what’s new doesn’t. These appeals worked fifty years ago. They work today. They’ll work fifty years hence.
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Phyllis Robinson was one of the major forces in late 20th Century advertising.
When Bill Bernbach opened the doors to Doyle, Dane & Bernbach in 1949 — what would soon become one of Madison Avenue’s dominant agencies — he recruited Phyllis Robinson to run the copy department.
She became the mentor to numerous copywriters and designers who blazed trails in the advertising world including: Paula Green, Julian Koenig, Mary Wells Lawrence and George Lois.
Phyllis Robinson, the original mad woman, died on December 31st in Manhattan.
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Listen to direct response copywriters and they’ll tell you corporate copywriters are clueless branding nuts.
Corporate copywriters will tell you direct response copywriters are nothing more than peddlers of get rich quick schemes, enlargement pills, and slimming devices.
Who’s right? (I like to keep a foot in both camps.)
In the timeless words of Rodney King of L.A. Riot notoriety, “Can we all get along?”
Since the demise of Ogilvy & Mather Direct, corporate advertising ain’t what it used to be.
But that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of great examples of corporate direct response advertising.
This ad hails from the late Ron Hoff, who was executive creative director at Ogilvy & Mather in New York, and Foote, Cone & Belding in Chicago.
Ron Hoff Talks Corporate Advertising was part of a series from the brilliant campaign: “The Wall Street Journal. It Works.”
Ken Roman, former CEO of Ogivly & Mather, is a fan of this campaign as well. I’ll have several more of these gems soon.
If you want to learn how to broadcast your expertise out to the broadest masses, this one is a keeper.
I’m partial to these two concepts:
…they [copywriters] should never start writing until they have seven times as many facts as they will actually use in an ad.
I have often wondered why corporate ads always strive to make the reader believe that the company is infallible. Admit one negative and the rest of your advertisement will gain believability.
So, here’s the ad: Ron Hoff Talks Corporate Advertising
1. Does it communicate, quickly, the “basics” of your business?
When you spend every hour of every working day thinking about your corporation, it’s easy to assume other people know all about your company. The products it makes. The industries it serves. The scope of its operation.
Corporate advertising often starts from a point far beyond the reader’s knowledge. Important legislators in your audience may not know you. Important investors may be only vaguely aware of your name. More on Corporate Advertising: 12 Questions To Ask
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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 Ad Headlines 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 Ad Headlines in Health | Alternative Medicine Ad Headlines
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The 18th Century economist, Adam Smith, was one of the founders of modern economics.
Roust a copywriter from his slumber at 3:00 a.m. and ask him what he knows about Adam Smith and he’s likely to utter the now famous, two-word metaphor: “invisible hand.”
What’s the invisible hand?
In his landmark text — The Wealth of Nations — Smith asserts the free market, instead of being a chaotic battleground, is actually an efficient place where the right quantity of goods is produced…almost as if by a hidden force.
He called this hidden mechanism the ‘invisible hand.’
Once you apply this to the world of advertising, you’ll begin to see there are invisible hands reaching into almost every market. And if you figure out how to harness this natural, hidden force, you’ll be able to increase response at will because you’ll be working with the beliefs your prospects already have.
Case Study Ad #1: How the Beautiful People Get Rid of Both Cellulite and Ordinary Fat — Without Really Dieting!
The legendary copywriter and author of The Brilliance Breakthrough and Breakthrough Advertising, Eugene Schwartz, was the copywriter for this instructive ad.
The headline, besides showcasing the invisible hand concept, is full of masterful nuances.
Like the word ‘really.’
Notice he doesn’t say “without dieting.” Absolutes like that usually backfire because they push the envelope of believability.
The word “really” strengthens the claim because it suggests “the beautiful people” still do some dieting though nowhere near what normal people do.
The invisible hand in this ad is the widely held belief that there’s a group of beautiful people and jet setters who get whatever they want without lifting a finger…eat whatever they please without gaining an ounce…and continue to look and act beautiful almost by some divine right.
How did they achieve this exalted status?
The truth is, it doesn’t really matter.
What matters is there’s large enough segment of people who believes this. So, there’s no need for master-level persuasion because this built in belief system is naturally working for you.
All you have to do is wrap your core claim around this belief.
How the Beautiful People Get Rid of Both Cellulite and Ordinary Fat — Without Really Dieting!
Case Study Ad #2: “Fortunately most investors think like losers. That’s how people like me get rich.”
This 1980′s ad is a great example of the invisible hand at work.
The photo and headline combination used in this ad is disarmingly direct.
Fat cat, Julian Snyder, is standing with his arms crossed in front of the New York Stock Exchange. Limo behind him and a smug smile on his face…he’s making millions while the little guy is taking a bath.
Thanks to this widely held belief, the reader is yanked into the copy. From there, the core claim of the book is masterfully tied to the kernel of belief already in the reader’s head.
Fortunately most investors think like losers. That’s how people like me get rich.
Case Study Ad #3: Why Models Stay Young Till Sixty!
Here’s another Gene Schwartz ad fronting the invisible hand.
Much like the ad in the first example, this promo plays on the natural belief that models are a special class of people.
Whether it’s genetics or some secret regimen that only models know, it’s easy to buy into the claim.
What’s the invisible hand in your market?
No doubt it’s there. All you have to do is get out of your own head long enough to find it…then wrap it tightly around your big promise.
Why Models Stay Young Till Sixty!
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Got quite a few emails since blasting a message out about Dr. Mark Stengler’s High Energy for Life Video series.
Emails like:
this promotion is not congruent with the reasons people signed up to your list! (Yes, I know, a high percentage of people want to lose weight.)
And another:
I was expecting something about marketing…so was going back and forth in my mind as I was reading it:
“Is this a weight loss marketing example?…no it looks like a straight promotion…but I’ve never gotten one from Lawrence before…there must be something about marketing…lemme look again…etc.
And last:
Weight loss promo? Does not compute. Would Clayton or Gary mail a weight loss promo?
So, I see how this message may have caused a disconnect.
More on High Energy for Life Video Series (Dr. Mark Stengler)
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