Archive for July, 2009
Marketing Credibility Shredder Case #1 – The Fat Doctor
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s a pretty fundamental principle of marketing today that you need to be congruent in all your communications.
That means, basically, that not only do you “Talk the talk”…
…but you’ve got to “Walk the walk”.
So, if you present yourself as a health and fitness expert…
A Copy Lesson From The Apollo 11 Moon Landing Anniversary?
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July 20 is the anniversary of the historic landing on the moon by Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin…
…with this year being the 40th anniversary.
Now, I wasn’t going to post about this, because it’s not something that’s directly related to the theme of this blog…
…namely direct response marketing and copywriting.
However, when I saw this headline…
Requiem For A Pitchman – Billy Mays Marketing Magic
Posted by: | CommentsOver at Clayton Makepeace’s blog, there is a special guest post from marketing maven Rich Schefren.
It’s all about TV pitchman Billy Mays and the marketing lessons to be learned from his work.
In a nutshell…
“…Billy knew how to do something that very few marketers realize is even possible. He knew how to create and stir up demand for a product in less than two minutes.”
“That’s right, in less than 120 seconds he was bale to introduce you to a product, get you to want it badly enough, and then get you to pick up the phone and crack open your wallet to order it. And once again – all in the span of two minutes.”
Now, for marketers and copywriters, this is going to be an increasingly important skill.
Marketing Today – Twitter Part 5
Posted by: | CommentsOK, this post isn’t strictly going to be about Twitter.
It’s more about social marketing in general (including Twitter, of course) and the STRATEGY to use to get the most out of the social media landscape.
Came across some great free resources from internet marketer Perry Belcher that really get across clearly what social media is all about.
Think…
Book Marketing With Video – Killing Rommel
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Here’s something a little different from the usual marketing video clips that we’ve been looking at.
It’s from one of my favourite authors, Steven Pressfield.
His best known book is probably “Gates Of Fire”, a retelling of the epic battle between the Greeks (mainly Spartans) and the Persians at Thermopylae in 480 B.C.
Steven’s latest book is “Killing Rommel” a novel set against the back drop of the war in North Africa in 1942-43.
Now, if you like historical drama I think you’ll love this book. I got it a few weeks ago and couldn’t put it down. Wonderful book with a surprising twist at the end. Can’t rate it too highly.
But that’s not the main point of this post.
Looking Ahead – Marketing Calendar August 2009
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This is usually a quiet time of year for marketers in general and direct response marketing in particular. In the northern hemisphere it’s the middle of summer and the holidays…
…and down here in Australia it’s the tail end of winter.
You tend not to see too many product launches or big promotions…
…for the simple reason that people’s attention is elsewhere.
However, all this is no excuse not to keep up your marketing activities…
Two New Marketing Books…
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…well worth your attention.
Before that…
“Happy 4th of July Weekend!”
…to all in the U.S.A.
Back to the two new marketing books.
The first is…
Another Great Marketing Video…
Posted by: | Comments…from Billy Mays.
After yesterday’s post, I couldn’t resist putting up one of Billy’s “Mighty Putty” infomercials.
Love the part with the truck! Who wouldn’t want some of this stuff!
My only slight quibble with this is that the offer is a little ordinary…great value for sure, but ordinary.
Marketing – Australia’s Most Trusted Brands
Posted by: | CommentsThe July 2009 issue of Reader’s Digest Australia contains their annual “Most Trusted Brands” survey.
For the sixth year in a row, Cadbury comes out on top. Panadol and Band-Aid are #2 and #3.
The rest of the top 10 are…
Farewell To A Great Modern Pitch Man – Billy Mays
Posted by: | CommentsSad…shocked really…to hear the news of the death of Billy Mays on June 28.
I confess that living in Australia and not watching a great deal of TV, I was not familiar with Billy and his ads until recently.
When I started to look more closely at marketing with video, the name Billy Mays came up as a master of the modern infomercial…
…especially the shorter variety that last only a couple of minutes.
And that makes his work perfect for us to get some pointers we can use in our own marketing videos.
