The Brilliance to Which We Aspire

Tuesday, June 29, 2004 – Thumbing through the latest issue of Rolling Stone magazine last week, an ad for eBay Motors — smack, dab in between the “Correspondence” and “Rock & Roll” sections — stopped me dead in my tracks.

An extraordinarily simple, no-frills composition, it uses a story about “Brothers John and Tom [who] want a great way to sell their cars” to illustrate the benefits of peddling wheels on eBay versus the old standby, the classifieds. After seven days, John, who uses eBay, “sells his car for a great price,” while Tom, who went the old-school route, finds his “ad is used as litter box lining.”

It’s hip, funny and irreverent, sure, but it’s also textbook in formula, drawing on a case study of two young men and employing fear tactics to drive (no pun intended) the point home — not unlike a legendary Wall Street Journal direct mail package written by Martin Conroy three decades earlier.

But Conroy’s story about another two young men would be nearly impossible to top. After all, his story was only recently dethroned as the newspaper’s control after a 29-year reign, and has been heralded by many as the single most successful ad ever. Yes, ever.

In his story, the protagonists “graduated from the same college. They were very much alike, these two young men. Both had been better than average students, both were personable and both — as young college graduates are — were filled with ambitious dreams for the future. Recently, these men returned to their college for their 25th reunion. They were still very much alike. Both were happily married. Both had three children. And both, it turned out, had gone to work for the same Midwestern service company after graduation and were still there. But there was a difference. One of the men was a manager of a small department of that company. The other was its president.”

Of course, the implication — and the author draws it masterfully — is that the more successful of the two young men read The Wall Street Journal.

That is the brilliance of Martin Conroy. That is the brilliance that captured the emotions of countless would-be subscribers to the tune of an estimated $2 billion in sales. And that is the brilliance to which every direct marketer — including the creative team behind the eBay Motors ad, I’m sure — aspires.

The Law of the Name

Tuesday, June 22, 2004 – On page 73 of their incredibly insightful book, The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, celebrated marketing strategists Al Ries and his daughter, Laura Ries, couldn’t be more succinct — and sagacious — in writing that “the most important branding decision you will ever make is what to name your product or service. Because in the long run a brand is nothing more than a name.” Of course, it takes much more than just a catchy name to succeed in business, but the Ries’ point is well taken. And they do expound on this law, reminding their readers not to “confuse what makes a brand successful in the short term with what makes a brand successful in the long term. In the short term, a brand needs a unique idea or concept to survive. It needs to be first in a new category. It needs to own a word in the mind. But in the long term, the unique idea or concept disappears. All that is left is the difference between your brand name and the brand names of your competitors.” Not surprisingly, here at Yellowfin Direct Marketing, we’re asked all the time about the origin of our moniker. Unlike Ries & Ries (the world-renowned marketing consultancy named after its founders), or Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero’s Red Hot Copy (the acclaimed copywriter, author and marketing professional), our brand name is metaphorical, not literal, designed to pique your curiosity and stick in your mind. It’s as unique as our ideas and concepts, an extension of our corporate personality. Our brand name means a lot to my boss, David (he and his wife once caught 32 Yellowfin tuna off the coast of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico), but it likely means even more to our clients, given the trust they place in us as a small, entrepreneurial direct response advertising agency. And that, when all is said and done, is why the law of the name is so immutable.

Talk about Target Marketing

Tuesday, June 15, 2004 – If you’re like me, you own more loyalty cards than you care to admit, but like a good boy scout showing off his merit badges, you don’t hesitate to flash them — with great pride — at the register. These cards, of course, are used by database marketers to keep track of our purchases, but on the surface, all most of us consumers care about are the “rewards” (read: discounts) we receive for our frequent patronage. Yes, there are those who dismiss such loyalty marketing tactics as too “big-brother”-like. But privacy concerns aside, I think these cards point up an incredibly effective way to forge bonds with your audience and introduce them to products and services they’ve shown a predisposition to buy. For instance, the fact that I use my Extra Care card at CVS/Pharmacy about a gazillion times a month means I get a lot of direct mail from this chain — such as the brilliant piece I received over the weekend promoting the Shoebox line of cards. Talk about target marketing. I’m one of those guys (I know, contrary to gender stereotypes) who buys a handful of cards at a time, and just recently I went on a binge. So not only did CVS have the offer down pat, but the timing was right, too. (Nothing like striking while the iron is hot!) And let’s not overlook the creative, either. Inside a faux hand-addressed envelope were several coupons for Shoebox cards nested inside an actual, life-size birthday card featuring this perfectly executed copy: “It may not be your birthday, but we just couldn’t wait to show you this great card! It’s from the new Shoebox collection at your local CVS store. Come on down for a look, and bring these exclusive coupons along. They’re our way of saying thank you for being one of our most valued customers.” Yup. One of their most valued — and loyal — customers, that’s me. And innovative marketing like this is partly the reason why.

Those Whom Are Sure to Attract Others

Friday, June 11, 2004 – Some of the best ideas have a way of falling into your lap. For instance, one of our higher education clients is doing something on its Web site that any other school, non-profit organization or association (I can’t help but think of the New England Direct Marketing Association) could emulate. In promoting Alumni Weekend 2004 on its Web site, Ithaca College is posting a list of those alumni who have already registered to attend, the idea being that if you see someone you know, or someone you want to know, you’ll be more likely to attend. Think Evite. After all, if it’s all about networking — and you just so happen to be on the fence — what could be better than knowing in advance with whom you’ll be rubbing elbows? Of course, if you’re sponsoring the event, the potential downside is your pre-registration list is running short, therefore scaring prospects away. But I would think you could easily preempt that possibility by convincing a number of key “names” to sign up early, essentially pre-populating your guest list with those whom are sure to attract others.

Before I “Break Camp”

Tuesday, June 8, 2004 – Before I “break camp” in the evening and call it a day, I’ve always made a habit of going over my to-do list, backwards and forwards. What I’m not able to put behind me simply gets carried over to the next day, so what I end up with in my cramped, bulging Day-Timer (call me old school, but I’ve never used a PDA) is a long, eclectic list of not only all my commitments, but also my goals and ideals — each one to be acted on (hopefully) in the near future — trailed by and an even longer history of what’s (thankfully) been put to bed. At Yellowfin Direct Marketing, this habit remains unbroken, and I can’t help but think that A Fine Kettle of Fish is the perfect place to air such a list. So without baring anything proprietary, here’s a quick rundown of just some of what’s on my plate — and, also, what’s top of mind, across the agency – in the busy weeks ahead.

Tagline for Yellowfin. We’re not there yet, but we’re close. I’ve been running suggestions by David for a few weeks now, and we’ve whittled it down to the following:

Better Net Results

Good Catch, Great Results

Cast a Wider Net

Make a Big Splash

(and, my personal favorite…)

Direct Marketing out of Water

Florida State University. Mike and Sarah left yesterday for Tallahassee, where they’re meeting with the FSU development staff today to present our direct mail creative (three packages) along with strategy and ideas for a series of alumni fundraising events in the fall.

Newsletter. Gave David a rough outline of the Yellowfin e-newsletter we’re planning to launch in just a few months. We still need to flesh out the proposed content, but a tentative TOC for the premiere issue includes articles on variable data digital printing and direct response fundraising in the higher ed marketplace, a case study, a client profile and more.

The Public Broadcasting Co-op. We’re introducing two new direct mail packages at next week’s big R&D meeting, which is being held at UNC-TV in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Expectations are high for this one. So is our confidence.

Spay-Neuter Assistance Program (SNAP). Over the course of the next few days, will be putting the finishing touches on a new raffle package for this organization, which dedicates itself to stopping the destruction of healthy dogs and cats in animal shelters due to the pet overpopulation problem.

Summer CAMMP. Preparations have begun – in earnest – for our participation in the Council of Alumni Marketing and Membership Professionals conference, to be hosted by the University of Connecticut July 28-30 in Windsor, Connecticut. We’re already working on our two-minute “infomercial” (which I will be presenting), along with all the marketing-related accouterments you’d expect (and some you wouldn’t) we’d bring along to such an important conference.

The Ad Club Mentor Program. Made it to the kick-off breakfast yesterday morning, hosted by Digitas, to learn that my responsibilities as a mentor are to meet with several Ad Club interns over the course of the summer and introduce them to potential opportunities in this field. My pleasure!

18-Month Yellowfin Calendar. It’s practically all hands on deck for this initiative, which is in the design phase right now, and should be good to go – as a token of appreciation to clients, prospects and friends – sometime in July.

Intern. Met with Melissa Rodriguez, our new intern, yesterday afternoon, to review some of her responsibilities – and quickly realized just how big an asset she is going to be our operations this summer. We’re lucky to have her on board.

Blog. Got some good advice about A Fine Kettle of Fish from Jennifer Rice, who publishes an excellent blog called What’s Your Brand Mantra? – she was very kind and generous in dispensing some invaluable feedback.

Either Then or Never

Tuesday, June 1, 2004 — If I were to look back on my career so far, a defining moment in time for me was the summer of 1990, when I decided to fly solo as a creative director and join the ranks of the self-employed. For the next seven years, I kept myself busy defining and developing my brand as a direct marketer — not just writing copy, but working closely with a pool of designers and even closer with my clients, all the while realizing, like a parachutist about to jump, that this is what it’s like to look destiny in the eyes. But having emerged from the experience far better for the wear, I can’t help but wish for every entrepreneur — for every budding professional, really — such an incredible odyssey, such a rare opportunity to challenge your will and test your mettle. Cargill Creative was a “virtual” agency with unlimited potential but resources that were only so deep. Schooled as a creative, I recast myself out of necessity as an account executive, a traffic manager, a salesman and an accountant, too. Occasionally I had enough money in the coffers to employ an additional writer, but for the better part of this gig it was just me, myself and I, the accidental principal who wore all the hats, the chief, cook and bottle washer. The hours were long, the responsibilities were endless, but the upside of being my own boss was the autonomy and freedom, and my professional inhibitions ran wild. It’s no coincidence that during this stretch of new found glory I explored options that might otherwise not have been available to me, throwing myself into three organizations — Toastmasters, The New England Direct Marketing Association and The MetroWest Leadership Academy — that, collectively, would have a long-term impact on not just my career, but also my growth as an individual. Call it ambition. Call it survival. Call it biting off more than I could chew (well, almost). But clearly I was refusing to be intimidated by any unfounded fears of failure, knowing full well that much of what I was doing I was doing either then or never.