General – Page 5

Your Feedback Is Welcomed…

One of the guiding principles of Direct Response Marketing and Copywriting is to listen to your audience and get feedback where possible.

I’ve just added this blog to “Blog Catalog” and over in the left hand column (sidebar) you’ll see a little button with “Rate My Blog”.

It will take just 2 clicks to give your opinion and I would welcome your feedback.

(Re the rating scale, 1= “Kev, this is terrible!” to 5 = “Kev, this is the best!”)

And if you have the time to leave a comment, that would be much appreciated.

I’m interested to know what sort of topics and posts you find most interesting and useful. For example, what do you think about the “Scientific Advertising In The 21st Century” series of posts?

Father’s Day In Australia

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)!

Today (Sunday, 15 June) is Father’s Day in many countries (including the UK, USA, Canada and many others. Interestingly (to me, anyway!) down here in Australia (and New Zealand) Father’s Day is celebrated later in the year on the first Sunday of September.

According to Wikipedia, the first modern Father’s Day celebration was on July 5, 1908 in Fairmont West Virginia. The origins are unclear. It’s variously suggested that the first Father’s Day was a church service memorial for local men who died in a mine accident or as a natural complement to Mother’s Day.

Of course, many cultures have had festivals or holidays to celebrate the Masculine Spirit. One interesting one is in Germany where they have Mannertag (or “Men’s Day”) where guys get together and do all sorts of blokey things like pulling wagons around, drinking beer and eating sausage. Most excellent dude!

In the USA, Father’s Day was officially recognized as a holiday (celebrated on the third Sunday in June) in 1972.

IBISWorld estimates that Americans will spend US$11 billion on Father’s Day gifts in 2008. This is about US$7 billion less than spending for Mother’s Day.

For me, Father’s Day is always a little sad. My own father passed away about 9 years ago. Regardless of that, a big “Thank You” and “Happy Father’s Day” to Dads everywhere!

“Happy Mother’s Day” To Mums Everywhere!

Today (Sunday May 11) is “Mother’s Day” in North America and Australia (plus a few other places). A big “Thank You” to mothers everywhere for, well, simply being mothers and everything you do!

A special “Thank You” and much love to my Mum, of course, back in the UK. I get to express my special appreciation to her twice every year because in the UK Mother’s Day (or “Mothering Sunday” as it’s sometimes called) falls on a different Sunday. It’s 3 weeks before Easter Sunday, rather than the second Sunday in May (as in the USA).

The different dates reflect the different origins of the day. In the UK and Ireland (according to Wikipedia) the day was originally a religious event when the practice was to visit one’s “Mother Church”. Over time, the day evolved into a celebration of mothers and motherhood.

In the USA, the first nationally celebrated “Mother’s Day” was in 1914, but the event had been observed in various forms going back to the 1870s.

It’s a big commercial event, of course! (You did remember to do that “Mother’s Day” promotion?) According to IBISWorld, Amercians will spend around $2.6 billion on flowers, $1.53 billion on “pampering” gifts and $68 million on cards. Plus it’s estimated that in 2008 Americans will spend approximately $3.5 billion on dining out for Mother’s Day.

Whatever you do, have a wonderful day!

Happy Easter!…Plus Some Marketing Observations

Tomorrow is Good Friday and marks the start of the Easter long weekend holiday. A happy and peaceful Easter to everyone.

Easter is one of the big holidays of the year and brings forth a wave of promotions and holiday-themed events second only to Christmas. The most obvious signs of that are Easter Eggs and other chocolate indulgences. I mentioned the very delicious Haigh’s Chocolates before. Needless to say, they have a full range of Easter Eggs and other related items! I was astonished on Tuesday when I passed by their shop in Sydney that mid-afternoon the shop was full with a long queue of people waiting to pay for their purchases!

Hot Cross Buns are the other big Easter food item, at least in Sydney. I was chatting with the manager of a “Baker’s Delight” store and she told me that today (the Thursday before Easter) is their biggest day of the year, even busier than Christmas. Thinking about it, I’m not surprised. There’s a frenzy of buying Hot Cross Buns, even places that don’t normally carry such items seem to have them! They come in 6-packs, 2 packs and different varities (I can highly recommend the “Baker’s Delight” chocolate chip version!). Not surprisingly, “Krispy Kreme” have their own special Easter versions I noticed the other day when passing by.

It’s a bit of a tradition on this Thursday to have Hot Cross Buns with “Morning Tea”. Many companies buy in Hot Cross Buns for staff today.

So what’s the lesson for marketers and copywriters? Well, events and holidays give you a “reason why” to have a promotion if you can legitimately tie in your product or service with the event. There are plenty of events throughout the year (St. Patrick’s day recently, for example) so map out a marketing calendar now and start planning.

In the meantime, once again “Happy Easter” to you and your family.

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