Blog - Page 50 of 55 - Bob Cargill

14Oct 2004 by Bob Cargill No Comments

The Art of Client Service

If it wasn't for a pair of brown leather cowboy boots, my career in direct marketing may have taken a different turn a long time ago. The year was 1984, and I had a great job as a copywriter at RCA Direct Marketing. But when a friend told me about another job as an account executive at Grey Direct, my youth and ambition got the best of me. I applied for it. The interview went well, but word got back to me afterwards that I hadn't dressed the part. Sure, I was wearing the requisite Brooks Brothers blue pinstripe suit, but my feet were covered in Dingo boots instead of classic wing tip shoes. My bad! Today, of course, I would like to believe the fact that I didn't land…

07Oct 2004 by Bob Cargill

A Reasonably Good Ad Campaign

Advertising

With the home team in the American League Division Series and playing baseball like they really mean it this year, it certainly is a good time to be able to call yourself the Official Hospital of the Boston Red Sox. After all, winning is contagious. But that's just one thing Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) has going for it this fall. Something else that’s been working in the hospital’s favor lately is its current advertising campaign, which is designed to call attention to the many different reasons people (750,000 of them annually) become patients there. In a series of large, clever display ads in this town’s two major dailies (of course, there may be other publications on the media schedule of which I’m not aware), this nationally-renowned academic…

29Sep 2004 by Bob Cargill

The Yellow Wristband and The Bracelet

Fundraising

The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to cancer prevention and survivorship, isn't the only Foundation using something you wear on your wrist to draw attention to its cause. The Until There's a Cure Foundation has been raising funds and awareness about HIV/AIDS for a number of years now through the sale of what it calls The Bracelet. Of course, unless you have been a sequestered juror for the last couple of months, you know that in the LAF’s case, we’re talking about those ubiquitous, thin, yellow rubber wristbands that have become almost de rigueur among young and old alike. As Lance himself wrote in a direct mail fundraising appeal I received last summer just days before he was crowned victor once more on the Avenue des Champs-Elysees,…

23Sep 2004 by Bob Cargill

The Raging Bonfire That is the Blogosphere

Blogging

Adrants made my morning today, referring me to an article written by Pete Blackshaw, chief marketing and customer satisfaction officer of Intelliseek, that, in my mind, adds fuel to the raging bonfire that is the blogosphere. Blackshaw, appearing in MediaPost’s MediaDaily News, says, “Blogs and bloggers have made a huge mark in 2004, and this should give every major marketer and advertiser pause for deep reflection.” Not mincing words, he warns marketers and agencies alike that “the blog revolution brings with it unmistakable tradeoffs and potent new ‘rules of engagement.’ Ignore them at your peril.” He says, “bloggers promise to hold marketers to new levels of accountability, impacting just about everything advertisers do, say, and claim.” One of his recommendations for brands is to “Listen to the pulse: Know exactly…

21Sep 2004 by Bob Cargill

Broken Line, Solid Practice

Advertising, 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. Even if there’s no form to complete, coupon to save, or paper to shuffle in any way whatsoever, it’s still an incredibly strong call to action. It’s Pavlovian, really, consistent with the laws of the conditioned reflex. But evidently all this is no secret to the marketing team at Boston Sports Clubs. I can’t tell you how many ads of theirs I’ve seen framed by broken solid – as opposed to dotted – lines. For…

15Sep 2004 by Bob Cargill

Recycling References to Popular Culture

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 cover. I know, all that’s going to seem like information overload to some of you (and, to the others, perhaps a disdainful exercise in futility), but if you can stomach all the mind candy, the ideas will come rolling off your tongue. You’ll recycle a few references to popular culture and have everyone at that meeting – and, ultimately, your customers – singing your praises. Trust me. Using current events and popular culture to call…

08Sep 2004 by Bob Cargill

A Big Lesson in Marketing

Advertising, Direct Marketing, Miscellaneous

The success of any advertising or direct marketing campaign depends on a coalescence of elements, not the least of which are the motif of the creative and the timing of the launch. If you can tie those two together, you're likely to be sitting pretty. For example, take the Sunday newspaper insert I received recently from Target, which prides itself on selling quality, stylish merchandise at reasonable prices. Scheduled to arrive in-home about a week before the first day of school, it was obviously designed by the retailer to look like a classic composition notebook – ruled pages, marble red cover and all. But the “back to school” theme doesn’t stop there. This bold, eye-catching, 8-1/2” X 11” insert is divided into three two-page spreads – one each for middle…

01Sep 2004 by Bob Cargill

Cause-Related Marketers and the Runners They Chase

Cause-Related Marketing

For more than two decades now, I have been running an average of about 20 road races a year, and practically every one of them benefits at least one local or national charitable organization. As an athlete, it's not necessarily the first thing you think about at a race, but besides all the physical training you have behind you, the idea that your entry fee (or at least a percentage thereof) is going to some worthy cause can’t help but serve as a strong, underlying motivating force. Of course, any such philanthropy is probably an afterthought for some runners – understandably. After all, we’re preoccupied with our performance. We’re running for time and place. But if you’ve competed in as many 5K races as I have, you come to realize…

25Aug 2004 by Bob Cargill

Give Now or Forever Hold Your Peace

Fundraising

Splashed across the cover of this past weekend’s edition of the Sunday newspaper supplement, USA Weekend, was a story on “How Your Wedding Can Make a Difference,” introducing engaged couples to the “concept of weaving a dose of altruism into nuptials as a way to launch a couple’s married life with special purpose.” Apparently, according to the article, more than 2,000 couples have already registered with the Washington, D.C.-based I Do Foundation, magnanimously adding philanthropy to their wedding day vows. It’s the “pay it forward” principle, really – a novel, noble idea rearing its beautiful, benevolent head in stark contrast to the traditional wedding registry. Let’s see, you can either shell out for another toaster oven, coffee maker, stainless steel colander or five-speed blender for a bride and groom who…