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Copyright 2008 by Mike Anderson – MJL Publications http://www.lowriskmarketing.com All rights reserved All materials in this book are copyrighted and may not be changed, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The following conditions also apply: You can print out this e-book for personal reading.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS _____________________________________________________________________________________________

Introduction .................................................................................................3

Question #1: You’re a man who has traveled all over the world – and by the sound of it - have been traveling worldwide from the get go. How important is a world-view when it comes to creating effective direct response advertising?............................................................................... 10 Question #2 The term USP has been with us since the fifties. There have been dozens of books written on the topic, and yet most great USPs seem always to be just out of reach. How does one develop a great USP and is there a process or little secret to getting the USP right – the first time out? .................................................................................................... 12 Question #3 You have had one-on-one relationships with some of the great advertising minds of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries - David Ogilvy comes immediately to mind. Is there something about these individuals that makes them inherently well suited to the world of marketing?................................................................................................. 14 On the coattails of that question is this one: Who are your marketing heroes, and why? ..................................................................................... 15 Question #4 You and I are of an age where we have lived and worked without personal computers, without Email, without Faxes, and without the Internet. What are your thoughts on technology and the role it plays in the world of direct response marketing?........................................... 20


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Question #5 You are author of several books. The one I am most impressed with, “Commonsense Direct Marketing”, is in my opinion one of the all time classics in the world of Direct Response Marketing. How did that book come about? And why has it continued to be one of the “go to” reference works of all time?.............................................................. 22 Question #6 You are the Grand Master of direct response. You have worked on literally thousands of advertising campaigns. What in your opinion are the most common errors one makes when creating a campaign and how can we avoid these mistakes?............................................... 24 Question #7 I read somewhere that children are inherently great copywriters. What is it about children that makes it possible for them to write better copy than adults? ......................................................................... 26 Question #8 I noticed that you are personally involved with the European Academy for Direct and Interactive Marketing Certification. Can you tell us how you got involved in that enterprise and how you developed your obvious passion for teaching others? ....................... 27 Question #9 What is the one book, beyond Commonsense Direct Marketing, that you would recommend to those who wish to improve their direct response marketing skills? ........................................................................ 31


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Question #10 When I was very young man, I would accompany my uncle to a bar in the town where I grew up. After drinking all night long, we would patronize a blue-collar restaurant that served breakfast in the wee hours of the morning. The place was called Mom’s Open Kitchen. My question to you is this: How can someone who has no copywriting experience come up with a name that good? Good because it has in it the three things that a drunk thinks about most that time of the night: a kitchen, a place that’s open, and Mom..... 32 Question #12 You’ve been around for a good long while. You’ve been there and you’ve done that. What do you love most about this business? ...... 33 About the Author ........................................................................................ 34


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INTRODUCTION _____________________________________________________________________________________________ A few days ago, I was talking to a radio sales rep about copywriting

and the subject eventually came around to advertising legends.

Out of the blue he said, “If there was one legend who could be with

us this morning, who would it be and what would you ask him?”

It was an interesting question. And it wasn’t one that I could easily

answer. There were so many people who influenced me along the

way. Claude Hopkins, David Ogilvy, and Rosser Reeves to name just

three. Fortunately, the waitress chose that particular moment to

bring us the check and within minutes I was on my way back to the

office.

But the question stayed with me for the balance of the day. And by

late evening I decided that it wouldn’t be any of those fellows.

Instead, it would be direct response legend Drayton Bird.


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The truth is that next to Claude Hopkins, Drayton was the man who

totally embraced direct response. And that told me that he was not

only willing to “talk the talk” – he was willing to “walk the walk”. In

direct response there is literally nowhere to hide. The campaign

either works or it doesn’t. And Drayton was always right there – on

the front lines of capitalism.

And then I did something that was totally impulsive. I knew that Mr.

Bird was still actively involved in the business because I had stumbled

across his newsletter about a year earlier on the internet. And I knew

that his email address was on his newsletters. So I wrote him a brief

note and asked if I could submit a dozen or so questions for his

review. And to my surprise and delight, Drayton Bird agreed to

answer them.

But before I get to the questions, let me give you some background

on Drayton that I snatched from Wikipedia this morning.


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Drayton Bird is a man with over 40 years experience in direct

marketing and advertising. He began his career as a journalist and

copywriter and went on to be a co-founder of Trenear-Harvey, Bird

& Watson, a specialist Direct Marketing Agency in 1977. By 1984 this

had become the largest and most well known direct agency in the

UK and with the local O & M Direct agency (a subsidiary of Ogilvy &

Mather) not performing well in this market, there was little surprise

when THB&W was acquired by O & M and he became Vice-

Chairman and Creative Director of O & M Direct worldwide.

To promote his business at THB&W, in 1982 Drayton wrote, published

and printed Commonsense Direct Marketing. The rights to this were

later acquired by an independent publisher and the book has gone

on to be reprinted 5 times and has become a standard work of

reference used by students and quoted by speakers around the

world.


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In November 2003 the Chartered Institute of Marketing named

Drayton Bird one of 50 living individuals who have shaped today’s

marketing, other names included Kotler, Peters and Levitt.

Advertising legend David Ogilvy said he “knows more about direct

marketing than anyone in the world. His book about it is pure gold.

His speeches are not only informative, but hilariously funny.”

Campaign magazine named him one of the 50 most important

individuals in UK advertising during the previous 25 years – "the only

universally acknowledged point of creativity in the direct marketing

world”. UK magazine Direct Response said his impact on UK direct

marketing was “unlikely to be matched by any other individual"

He has worked with many of the world’s leading brands, including

American Express, British Airways, Deutsche Post, Ford, Microsoft,

Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, Philips, The Royal Mail, Unilever and Visa.

He has also worked with major advertising agency groups, including

Y & R, JWT, FCB and Leo Burnett.


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Business schools, universities and management consultants he has

worked with include Columbia University Business School, New York,

INSEAD, The London Business School, ESIC (Madrid), IPADE (Mexico

City), IPADE (Lima), Cap Gemini, McKinsey and A. T. Kearney.

He now runs Drayton Bird Associates, who work with many firms on

direct marketing and other marketing matters. You can find him

online at http://www.draytonbird.com. He also has interests in five

other firms in the UK and Asia.

In 2008 he launched EADIM - The European Academy of Direct and

Interactive Marketing, a joint venture with FEDMA, the Federation of

Direct and Interactive Marketing and the Direct Marketing

Associations of 12 European countries. The first "European Certificate

in Direct and Interactive Marketing" starts in September 2008. The

one-year course leads to a qualification recognized throughout

Europe.

And now … The Interview.


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QUESTION #1 _____________________________________________________________________________________________

MA: You’re a man who has traveled all over the world – and by the sound

of it - have been traveling worldwide from the get go. How important

is a world-view when it comes to creating effective direct response

advertising?

DB: The more you know, the better you can do. The broader the mind,

the greater the potential.

Ideas come from many sources and ways of looking at things. The

essential desires of human beings do not vary that much, but their

habits, views, problems and circumstances do.

The more sources you have, the more you understand the different

ways in which people see things and the varied ways they solve

problems – and therefore the more you have to draw upon.


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One purely practical benefit is that you can often take what works in

one place and apply it another. When I worked on American

Express, I recall finding an idea in Singapore, which we tried in Hong

Kong, then London, then Spain. It did well everywhere.


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QUESTION #2 _____________________________________________________________________________________________

MA: The term USP has been with us since the fifties. There have been

dozens of books written on the topic, and yet most great USPs seem

always to be just out of reach. How does one develop a great USP,

and is there a process or little secret to getting the USP right – the first

time out?

DB: Today almost everything can be done faster, though not necessarily

better. Never has it been easier to copy a good idea, so the

material from which to fashion a unique proposition is easily copied;

thus the basis of that proposition is not secure.

In any case the trick with a USP is rarely that you have something the

other fellow doesn’t; it is that you talk about it where he doesn’t, or

express it better.


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Having said that, what most customers want is not something unique

but something better. This usually revolves around service. As Jeff

Bezos said, “Are my customers loyal? Absolutely. 100%. Right till the

moment someone comes along and offers better service.”


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QUESTION #3 _____________________________________________________________________________________________

MA: You have had one-on-one relationships with some of the great

advertising minds of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries - David

Ogilvy comes immediately to mind. Is there something about these

individuals that makes them inherently well suited to the world of

marketing?

DB: You made me think on this one.

I don’t think the answer is peculiar to the world of marketing. It

applies to success in any field of endeavour.

I think the people who triumph tend to have most of the following

qualities. They are deeply insecure - harried by fear of failure. They

are far more persistent than others. Never give up. They are brave –

take risks.


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They are more optimistic, harder working and a little crazy; not just

obsessive and perfectionist but downright eccentric. They are

extremely persuasive and charming when necessary, quite wily and

often a little unscrupulous.

They are self-centred, utterly intent on their aims, maniacally

competitive, calculating and not too concerned with, or unaware of

the chaos they cause in their personal lives.

MA: On the coattails of that question is this one: Who are your marketing

heroes, and why?

DB: Well, I have quite a list! “If I have seen further it is by standing on the

shoulders of giants”.

Nobody in this business can fail to admire Claude Hopkins, though

he doesn’t sound like much fun, because he succinctly summed up

what matters, what doesn’t and why. Every time I re-read Scientific

Advertising I learn something.


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John Caples, whom I wish I had met, was much nicer than Claude,

by all accounts. Ogilvy told me that he and Rosser Reeves learned

all they knew from Caples. I certainly did. I used to re-read his stuff

constantly. Full of practical advice.

Another great hero is W. Edwards Deming. Not a marketer; a

statistician. But his approach - do, measure, improve, then repeat –

transformed Japanese industry. Shame nobody in the West was

listening. And hardly anybody in marketing anywhere pays enough

attention to his lessons.

James Webb Young’s thinking on advertising remains unsurpassed. I

have a copy of his university lectures, which must be a good 50

years old. Jeremy Bullmore, another JWT man, is by far the most

amusing and often the most perceptive person in that industry. His

book, Behind the Scenes in Advertising is well worth reading.

Excellent on brands.


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I worked for Papert, Koenig and Lois in my advertising days. George

Lois is wonderful – another man like Ogilvy and Burnett, ready to just

about kill to win.

Leo Burnett, of course; he understood the power of the common

touch.

And Rosser Reeves, who devised the idea of the USP. Ogilvy learnt a

lot from him. His Reality in Advertising is one of the best (and

mercifully briefest) books on advertising. Most of the people who

prattle about the USP have never read it, of course.

I was friends with the late Bill Jayme. Apart from giving me the worst

hangover I ever had – with some stiff competition in that arena – he

was the wittiest, most civilized direct copywriter of all.

My favourite client, Victor Ross, still with us, has a powerful mind

which helped develop many of the techniques that built the


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Reader’s Digest. A wonderfully cultured, entertaining and thoughtful

man. Though like David Ogilvy, he never suffered fools gladly.

And last but most important, Ogilvy because I worked with him, had

lots of laughs with him, loved him – and he liked me, so I learned.

We always like people who like us.

David was not one for praising you to your face, but one day my

New York partner, who was trying to get me to persuade David to

do something he didn’t want to, said, “David loves you, you know”.

You could have knocked me over with a feather.

It would take pages to cover all the reasons why I admired him, but

in a review of his biography I wrote:

“Claude Hopkins and John Caples may have made more

impact on the nature of advertising and direct marketing.

Albert Lasker made far more money. Many think Bill Bernbach’s

agency was more ‘creative’.


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But nobody – to my mind – had such an influence on so many

people. This is despite the fact that many of his ideas were not

at all original.

The headline of his most famous advertisement, for Rolls Royce,

was run thirty years earlier by another car manufacturer. Other

people talked about the brand and its image before him.

Others – going back to the 19th century - pointed out that

advertising should be about selling, not showing off. And still

yet others trumpeted the importance of research.

But nobody took these thoughts and theories, reflected on

them, elaborated on them, explained them and proposed

them so memorably, persuasively, and with such style.”


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QUESTION #4 _____________________________________________________________________________________________

MA: You and I are of an age where we have lived and worked without

personal computers, without Email, without Faxes, and without the

Internet. What are your thoughts on technology and the role it plays

in the world of direct response marketing?

DB: The Internet has changed a great deal, but commercially it is just

accelerated direct marketing – a phrase that came to me some

years ago when I was being interviewed on Indian television.

I love the way it enables you to test so much more, so much faster.

Of course, technology can do many wonderful things, but it cannot

make you think any better. Nor does it change the nature of human

beings. It does; however, enable you to make mistakes a lot faster

and on a grander, multiplied scale (vide the current recession).


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It has also given rise to a tidal wave of pretentious jargon and

bullshit, besides giving a good living to a lot of phonies.


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QUESTION #5 _____________________________________________________________________________________________

MA: You are author of several books. The one I am most impressed with,

“Commonsense Direct Marketing”, is in my opinion one of the all

time classics in the world of Direct Response Marketing. How did that

book come about? And why has it continued to be one of the “go

to” reference works of all time?

DB: It came about for several reasons.

1. My partners suggested I write it back in 1979.

2. I couldn’t understand why nobody had defined direct

marketing simply. That infuriated me. So I did so, then kept

writing.

3. I thought all the existing books were either boring, inadequate,

shallow or just naked self-promotion.

4. I think self-promotion is a great idea if you give something in

exchange, and the best way may well be to define the

subject, which Lord & Thomas did in the 1900’s for advertising.

If you define something before or better than others, to some

extent you “own” it.


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5. I enjoyed making something that seemed “dull” interesting. It is

interesting.

Why do people keep reading it and referring to it? I guess it’s easy

to read but pretty comprehensive, and I keep updating it. I am

never happy with it, actually.


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QUESTION #6 _____________________________________________________________________________________________

MA: You are the Grand Master of direct response. You have worked on

literally thousands of advertising campaigns. What in your opinion

are the most common errors one makes when creating a campaign

and how can we avoid these mistakes?

DB: Same old stuff. Here’s are 21 common errors off the top of my head.

1. Not enough research.

2. Not getting enthused by the subject – which means you

can’t convey any excitement.

3. Conversely, falling in love with your product, and assuming

everyone else will.

4. Not working hard enough. Settling for the first idea that

comes along.

5. Being reasonable rather than emotional.

6. Trying to be original rather than right.

7. Being led astray by what you like, rather than what will sell.


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8. Failure to get to the point.

9. Omitting reasons to act.

10. Failing to overcome likely objections.

11. Dull words, same old breathless enthusiasm, no charm.

12. Jargon, cliché and pretentious drivel.

13. Failure to repeat the proposition.

14. Illustrations that say nothing or don’t demonstrate.

15. Not enough calls to action.

16. Failing to feature the incentive strongly enough.

17. Not enough impartial evidence - testimonials and so on.

18. Layouts that follow fashion or draw attention to themselves.

19. Not editing often or ferociously enough.

20. Not asking other people’s opinions.

21. Not asking yourself “Why is this here?”

The solution? Use a checklist.


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QUESTION #7 _____________________________________________________________________________________________

MA: I read somewhere that children are inherently great copywriters.

What is it about children that makes it possible for them to write

better copy than adults?

DB: I don’t know that they can. But they have no inhibitions and think

simply. Good combination.


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QUESTION #8 _____________________________________________________________________________________________

MA: I noticed that you are personally involved with the European

Academy for Direct and Interactive Marketing Certification. Can

you tell us how you got involved in that enterprise and how you

developed your obvious passion for teaching others?

DB: This was the idea of my partner Marta Caricato, who being relatively

new to the business sees things I miss.

She noticed that in many countries where we were speaking there

was no formal direct marketing education, so we thought we’d try

and create something.

It’s made up of one-week residential study in Brussels, the rest done

in webinars over a year, with an exam. FEDMA – which is the

European association of marketing associations thought it was a

great idea and supported us.


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I am lucky in that I know a lot of very good people who came along

and taught – people who don’t normally do so as they are pretty

high-powered.

Like many things in life, it gave us a few surprises. We had people

coming from Australia and South Africa. Most were far more

experienced that we’d expected. One delegate (ex-Marketing

Director of a National phone company) said it was the most

valuable week he’d spent since he learned to read and write.

We’re doing it again in October.

Why do I like teaching? Maybe I just like helping people. I get great

pleasure from other people succeeding – in that sense it’s selfish.

Maybe I’m just a show-off.

But I do take immense pride in the number of people who started

with me and have done well. One of the nicest things anyone has

said about me was last year when Sir Martin Sorrell said the world


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was full of people lucky enough to be taught by me. That gave a bit

of a glow.


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QUESTION #9 _____________________________________________________________________________________________

MA: What is the one book, beyond Commonsense Marketing, that you

would recommend to those who wish to improve their direct

response marketing skills?

DB: Scientific Advertising. No contest. But there is a list of about 12 on

my website that I like. (http://www.draytonbird.com)


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QUESTION #10 _____________________________________________________________________________________________

MA: When I was very young man, I would accompany my uncle to a bar

in the town where I grew up. After drinking all night long, we would

patronize a blue-collar restaurant that served breakfast in the wee

hours of the morning. The place was called Mom’s Open Kitchen.

My question to you is this. How can someone who has no

copywriting experience come up with a name that good? Good

because it has in it the three things that a drunk thinks about most

that time of the night:

1. A kitchen.

2. A place that’s open.

3. And Mom.

DB: Either be a genius. Or, get drunk, think about the customers and

write down every single idea you can think of – and use simple words

everyone knows.


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QUESTION #11 _____________________________________________________________________________________________

MA: You’ve been around for a good long while. You’ve been there and

you’ve done that. What do you love most about this business?

DB: You see what your results are. Every job is different – lots of new

things to learn. It’s the only thing I’m much good at. Properly done,

it saves firms a lot of money they’d otherwise waste - and gives

customers what they want. That’s not too bad, is it?


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ABOUT MIKE ANDERSON

Mike Anderson is President and Chief Marketing Strategist of

Morgan-James, LTD., a marketing consultancy located in

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Over the past 30 years Mike and is associates have worked with

several hundred small, medium, and large businesses including:

ACCO A & A Furniture Liquidators

Allenberry Playhouse BAG-IT

Bailey Landscape Bank of Delaware

Beck & Associates Bertta U.S.A. Corporation

Big A Autoparts Bour & Yaverbaum, P.C.

Canadian Pacific/Cominco Capital Tax Collection

Central Penn Office Products Charlene M. Meyers Catering, Inc.

Citadel Communications Citibank

Clelan & Company Computerland

Corado Foods, Inc. Corning Glass


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Country Chef Dame Media Group

Denice Ferko-Adams Associates Dewalt Radial Arm Saws – Graphics

Dupont Dupont “Teflon”

Eastman Kodak Echo

Eshenhaurs Fuels, Inc. EFM – General Machine Corporation

EFO Furniture Galleries Etnoyer’s RV World

Fire and Ice High Impact Radio Promotions Flooring Budget Bar

Fox’s Markets Franklyn Studios

Furniture Farms General Foods

Gerrity’s Supermarkets Green Jewelers

Hershey Chocolate Company Hershocks

Hewlett-Packard Hoffman Fordland

Honeywell IBM

ILC Industries Ingersoll-Rand

Ingram Fuels International Harvester

ISI Financial Group J.F. Waybrant & Sons, Inc.

Killian Fireplace Center Lawrence Chevrolet GEO

Lawn Equipment Parts Company Litton Industries

Major League Baseball Promotion Mantis Tillers

Masonic Home of Elizabethtown Media Marketing Associates

Morton Salt Munn’s Diamond Gallery


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New York Stock Exchange Nordson Corporation

Northeast PA WWII Victory Committee O’Reilly’s Pub

PA Dept. of Education The Patriot News

Pepe’s Cantina Philadelphia Phillies

Pipeline Interactive Poland Countryside Furniture

Post Cereals Progresso Foods

RCA Richards Foods

RMS, Inc. Shick

Scott Paper Shelly’s Sporting Goods

Sheraton Inn Harrisburg Smoking Cessation

Special Care Sportsman’s Gold Course

Stuard Derrick Real Estate Swartz Supply Company

Time to Travel TV Host

Union Deposit Corporation United Electric

Univac Division, Sperry Rand Vara, Inc.

Weight Watchers of Central PA, Inc. WHITCO Home Furnishings

White Outdoor Power Equipment Zamias Develope

Mike has presented marketing, sales, and writing seminars for such

groups as the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Weight

Watchers, and Nordson Corporation.


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Mike has created record setting high impact radio promotions for

both the furniture and jewelry industry throughout the United

States, Canada and Great Britain. He creates sales letters, direct

mail packages, ads, email marketing campaigns, brochures,

articles, press releases, white papers, web sites, newsletters, scripts,

and other marketing materials clients need to sell their products

and services to businesses and consumers.

He also consults with clients on marketing strategy, mail order

selling, and lead generation programs.

Prior to founding Morgan-James, LTD in 1976, Mike was owner of

Creative Systems, an advertising agency, in Elyria, Ohio and was a

Communications Staff Writer for Nordson Corporation where he

authored numerous technical articles and created an audio

newsletter that was distributed to Nordson offices worldwide.


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Mike has appeared as a guest on several TV and radio shows

including Financially Speaking, RJ Harris in the Morning, and the

Todd Jeffers Show.

He was a ghostwriter on several projects including Three Mile

Island: A Time of Fear and Deadly Pursuit – the latter became a

Playboy Magazine Book Club Selection and an NBC Movie of the

Week.

For a FREE telephone consultation contact:

Mike Anderson, Chief Marketing Strategist Morgan-James, LTD. 4961 Montclair Court Harrisburg, PA 17112 Phone: (717) 652-9269, Fax: (717) 652-5749 Email: [email protected] Web: www.morganjamesltd.com or www.lowriskmarketing.com

brought to you by: · copywriter and went on to be a co-founder of trenear-harvey, bird &...

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