Copywriting And Marketing In Tough Times…
By Kevin Francis | October 13, 2008
Back to the 1970s or is it the 1930s?
I’ve refrained from commenting too much about the chaos and mayhem sweeping the financial markets in recent months.
Not because I haven’t been aware of what’s been going on and it’s significance. After all, I worked in banking for over 20 years and I’m an avid student of financial markets and business history.
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Some Unusual Copywriting Tips From The Great Ted Nicholas
By Kevin Francis | October 12, 2008
Dropped in on Mal Emery’s latest “Masters Of Cash Flow” event in Sydney yesterday, primarily to see my good mate Pete Godfrey who was speaking. Now, copywriting and marketing legend Ted Nicholas was also speaking at the event and Pete happens to be good friends with Ted.
So, I was delighted when Pete introduced me to Ted and I had the opportunity to talk with the great man for a few minutes.
Ted really is a very charming, warm and gracious man. Of course he is a veritable walking library of knowledge about direct response marketing and copywriting. I didn’t have too long to chat with him, but he shared a couple of interesting tips.
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Some Schadenfreude Over Bank Advertising
By Kevin Francis | October 7, 2008
I’ve mercilessly poked fun at bank advertising in the past, so it was with some glee that I came across this article in “The Economist” (“Bank Slogans - Ad Nauseum”).
The tagline “Because They’re Worthless” sets the tone. Who can resist a wry chuckle reading this…
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A Cautionary Tale Of Event Marketing…
By Kevin Francis | October 3, 2008
Been doing a fair amount of work marketing seminars and similar events lately.
So my eye was drawn to this item about an event marketing disaster (“You’re Fired! Trump Lands Aussie In $2.5m Hole”).
In brief, a local promoter hired Donald Trump to come to Australia for a speaking tour and his company has now gone under with debts of $2.5m after failing to sell enough tickets.
Number of lessons to be learned from this fiasco…
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Copywriting “Master Class” With Pete Godfrey…
By Kevin Francis | October 2, 2008
…is coming up real soon!
I must confess to being remiss in bringing this to your attention but I have been flat out recently (hence the lack of posts as well..sorry!)
Anyway, Pete’s third (and final) “Master Class” is fast approaching. It’s on Friday Oct 31, Saturday Nov 1 and Sunday Nov 2 at the Hilton in Brisbane.
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Fascinating Take On Current Events For Copywriters…
By Kevin Francis | September 27, 2008
…and marketers at Lawrence Bernstein’s “Info Marketing Blog”.
I’ve sung the praises of Lawrence’s blog before.
What he’s been doing lately is link in some classic direct response ads to the dramatic events unfolding in the financial and political arenas.
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Review - Ben Settle’s “The Copywriting Grab Bag”
By Kevin Francis | September 17, 2008
Here’s my somewhat belated review of Ben Settle’s “The Copywriting Grab Bag” (I’ve been busy over the last week, what can I say?).
More of a monster special report rather than a simple book, what you get for your money is…
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The Marketing Genius Of Damien Hirst
By Kevin Francis | September 16, 2008
Recently came across a couple of items about the contemporary British artist Damien Hirst. If you’re not familiar with Hirst, he is something of an “enfant terrible” of the modern art scene and is best known for works featuring dead animals in formaldehyde.
The first is from the current issue of “The Economist” (“The shark’s last move”). It’s an interesting look at the business side of the modern art world and how Damien Hirst has turned himself and his work into a fantastically profitable brand.
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“Scientific Advertising In The 21st Century” - Part 11 “Information”
By Kevin Francis | September 11, 2008
“Information” is the subject of Chapter 11 of the copywriting classic “Scientific Advertising” by Claude Hopkins.
In today’s language, what Hopkins is talking about is better understood as research.
Hopkins was firmly of the view that…
“An ad-writer, to have a chance at success, must gain full information on his subject…A painstaking advertising man will often read for weeks on some problem which comes up.”
And he very much practiced what he preached. Hopkins was renown for his work ethic.
Here are some of the areas Hopkins insisted needed to be covered…
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Father’s Day In Australia
By Kevin Francis | September 7, 2008
Today (Sunday Sep 7) is Father’s Day down here in Australia.
Have a great day Fathers everywhere and a big “Thank You” (to Mums as well)!
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