If you’ve ever been between jobs, you know how much of a challenge it is to stand out in a crowd of those who are ambitiously jockeying for the same gig.
After all, chances are you’re just one of dozens, if not hundreds, with relatively similar credentials in line for that one plum position. [...]
Bob Cargill Advertising, Blogging, Branding, Cause-Related Marketing, Client Service, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Fundraising, Marketing, Public Relations
If you know of an organization that’s looking for an experienced direct marketer and enthusiastic, entrepreneurial creative director, copywriter, blogger and public speaker, I know of someone who fits the bill.
Moi.
Yes, I’m here to tell you that even though my employment with one company has just recently come to an end, I have no [...]
Bob Cargill Advertising, Blogging, Branding, Cause-Related Marketing, Client Service, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Fundraising, Marketing, Public Relations
If you were a neighbor of mine, you’d know what I mean when I say my lawn isn’t going to win any beauty contests. It’s so thin, brown and malnourished, it’s embarrassing – especially during the dog days of summer.
So when The Scotts Company wrote to me recently about growing a [...]
Bob Cargill Advertising, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Marketing
All experienced copywriters know how advantageous it is to establish common ground from the get-go with those on the receiving end of our messages and offers. Whether we’re selling products and services or raising funds for charitable organizations, like ambassadors of goodwill, it behooves us to speak the same language as the constituencies before us, [...]
Bob Cargill Copywriting, Direct Marketing
People “do stupid things” and “don’t always use common sense,” according to two different ads – for Vonage and UnitedHealthcare respectively – that appeared in the latest edition (March 11-13, 2005) of USA WEEKEND, the Sunday newspaper magazine supplement.
If I hadn’t laughed out loud when I first saw these ads, I might have been insulted.
Coincidentally, [...]
Bob Cargill Advertising, Copywriting
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was an extraordinary philosopher, renowned to this day for his words of wisdom, but if what he said about life’s uncertainties were to still hold true, 21st century consumers might even be more reluctant to part with their money.
“In this world,” he once opined, “nothing is guaranteed except death and taxes.”
Of course, [...]
Bob Cargill Copywriting, Direct Marketing
Historically, the prototypical direct response ad has always included an order form, which is invariably surrounded by a broken line. To those who don’t respond by phone or – today – computer, such a plain and unmistakable border tells the audience to get out the scissors, detach along perforation and mail before said offer expires. [...]
Bob Cargill Advertising, Copywriting, Direct Marketing
Before you attend your next brainstorm meeting, I have a little homework assignment for you. Watch a few hours of television. Take in a couple of good movies. Listen to some talk radio. Punch up The Lycos 50. Then grab the latest issues of People, Time and Rolling Stone magazines, and read them cover to [...]
Bob Cargill Advertising, Copywriting, Direct Marketing
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 [...]
Bob Cargill Copywriting, Direct Marketing
