08Jul 2004 by Bob Cargill

12 Ways You Can Be a Direct Marketing Hero

Direct Marketing
Thursday, July 8, 2004 – Continuing a longstanding agency tradition, Yellowfin Direct Marketing is just days away from the release of our new fiscal year calendar, designed both as a useful time management tool (for those on the receiving end) and as a timely, self-promotional vehicle (for us). That’s right, in the spirit of practicing what we preach, this calendar is offer-laden, information-packed and just begging for a response all year long. (It’s also -- hint, hint -- absolutely free to anyone for the asking.) Each month of the calendar features a great, little tip on how to “take your organization’s direct marketing initiatives to the next highest level.” Along with this colorful, new wall calendar, we've included a dozen different coupons, each one good for one free half-hour consultation…
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29Jun 2004 by Bob Cargill

The Brilliance to Which We Aspire

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 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…
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22Jun 2004 by Bob Cargill

The Law of the Name

Branding, Miscellaneous
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…
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15Jun 2004 by Bob Cargill

Talk about Target Marketing

Direct 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…
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11Jun 2004 by Bob Cargill

Those Whom Are Sure to Attract Others

Direct Marketing, Fundraising
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…
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08Jun 2004 by Bob Cargill

Before I “Break Camp”

Miscellaneous
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…
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01Jun 2004 by Bob Cargill

Either Then or Never

Miscellaneous
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 --…
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24May 2004 by Bob Cargill

Tailor-Made for Two-Way Traffic

Public Relations
Monday, May 24, 2004 – While we’re on the subject of presentations (see previous post, entitled The Black Door), there’s one I made with a former colleague nearly six years ago that just begs to be resurrected here in A Fine Kettle of Fish -- for reasons you’ll quickly understand. At the time, I was working at CPS Direct, where they had a program called Direct Marketing University. The gist of this program was that employees of the company were to exchange their knowledge and expertise with each other, leveraging, if you will, our pool of intellectual capital. Brownie points of some sort were doled out, commensurate with how many of these “courses” you either attended or taught, but for the life of me I can’t remember all the details.…
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17May 2004 by Bob Cargill

The Black Door

Miscellaneous
Monday, May 17, 2004 – People who know me know how highly I speak (no pun intended) of Toastmasters International, a remarkable organization that truly empowers its members to achieve their full potential and realize their dreams. There are Toastmasters clubs in more than 80 countries -- about 200 Toastmasters clubs are “doing business” in Massachusetts alone -- and in each one people like you and me are developing their communication and leadership skills, and finding the courage to change. Back in the day, one of my dreams was to hone my public speaking skills to the point where I could lead seminars and speak at conferences and industry events about direct marketing and creativity. At the time (in the late ‘80s), the extent of my public speaking opportunities was…
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