22Jun 2005 by Bob Cargill

The Power of Loyalty Marketing

Branding, Direct Marketing, Marketing
Every shopper likes to belong, to feel like an insider, to get a good deal that can’t be had anywhere else. At least, those are the cravings that retailers are counting on – and playing to – by asking their customers to use so-called loyalty cards, those small pieces of plastic so many of us have been conditioned like sheep to carry around in our wallets or on our key chains. I don’t know about you, but I have a handful of them, three for groceries alone (Stop & Shop, Shaw’s and Price Chopper), one for books (Barnes & Noble) and one for, well, this and that (CVS/Pharmacy). And while I sometimes feel like I’m being subjected to undue scrutiny when asked to produce one of these cards at the…
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15Jun 2005 by Bob Cargill

The Growth of Online Donations

Direct Marketing, Fundraising
According to The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s sixth annual survey of online fund raising, “Online donations to the nation’s largest charities grew sharply in 2004, with many groups receiving at least twice as much money via the Internet as they did in 2003.” In an article (“A Surge in Online Giving") in the June 9 edition of the publication, Nicole Wallace reports that “fund-raising experts say that year-to-year percentage increases in online contributions that far outstrip gains in other types of fund raising have won over many of the lingering naysayers.” Adding to the momentum was the strength of online donations to help victims of the December tsunamis in South Asia, acknowledges Wallace. The article also points out that the amount of money currently being raised online still pales in comparison…
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31May 2005 by Bob Cargill

A List of Nonprofit Blogs

Blogging, Direct Marketing, Fundraising
In preparing for my luncheon presentation for the Direct Marketing Fundraisers Association on Why Nonprofits Should Blog (Tuesday, June 7, 11:30 AM – 2:00 PM, at the Lenox Hotel in Boston), I have come up with a short list (below) of nonprofit organizations who have already established a presence in the blogosphere. If you’re in attendance next week (you can register here), you’ll hear me and special guest speaker, Emerson College faculty member Dr. Todd S. Gernes, offer kudos to these prescient organizations for being early adopters of an online communications platform that will likely have been put into play by more nonprofits than not come this time next year. Nonprofit Blogs Greenpeace Action Without Borders The Sierra Club The Nonprofit and Foundation Advocacy Blog The South-East Asia Earthquake and…
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23May 2005 by Bob Cargill

One of the Habits of Highly Effective Marketers

Copywriting, Direct 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, it pays to strike a chord to which almost everyone can relate. For instance, in the early '90s I wrote a direct mail package for Science News magazine that featured the following copy on the outside envelope: "Electricity so powerful it shocks a heart-attack victim back to life... Whales so hungry they take a bite out of the beach... Grasshoppers so smart they change coats to beat the heat... And other things that will make…
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28Apr 2005 by Bob Cargill No Comments

Premiums as Good as Money in the Bank

Advertising, Direct Marketing
Experienced direct marketers know that an effective way to optimize their offers is to give away premiums as incentives to buy. Subscribe to this or that magazine and take delivery of a calculator or compact disc, compliments of the publisher. Give to such and such nonprofit organization and receive a free umbrella or tote bag. Buy something from us and we’ll give something to you. It’s only human nature, after all. People are more inclined to try something new if you can dangle an attractive, appetizing come-on as a reward for their business. You have to think quid pro quo. Which is precisely what banks in the Boston area are doing a lot of lately, according to an article appearing in today’s business section of The Boston Globe.“Banks have been…
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12Apr 2005 by Bob Cargill

Running the Boston Marathon for Charity: A Personal Fundraising Initiative (Update)

Boston Marathon, Direct Marketing, Fundraising
With only a few days to go before the 109th Boston Marathon, it's a good time for me to follow up on the four-part, 2,637-word article I posted here in A Fine Kettle of Fish a couple of months ago on my experiences running this legendary race for charity. If you read my original piece, you know that I’ve participated in the Boston Athletic Association’s Boston Marathon Charity Program three times already, once for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (in 1996), and twice for The Home for Little Wanderers (in 2002 and 2003). And less than a week from now I’ll be doing everything I can to successfully complete the long, laborious 26 miles and 385 yards from Hopkinton to Boston once again, but this time around for a different charitable…
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04Apr 2005 by Bob Cargill No Comments

Direct Mail is Alive and Well

Direct Marketing
Despite all the attention being paid by marketers today to exciting, newfangled online channels and strategies, traditional direct mail is very much alive and well and more effective than ever in reaching individual customers and prospects. That appears to be the premise – which, as much as I’m enamored with the Internet, I certainly couldn’t disagree with – behind the U.S. Postal Service’s recent launch of Deliver, a free, bi-monthly magazine that, according to the March 14 issue of B to B, “explores how the U.S. mail can play a key role in companies’ overall marketing.” If you weren’t one of the several hundred thousand to receive the March issue, you can apply for your own complimentary subscription here.Creative Directors Take Note In the March 28 issue of Adweek (where,…
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25Mar 2005 by Bob Cargill No Comments

Marketing Miscellany III

Blogging, Direct Marketing
If you haven't gotten around to it yet, don't hesitate any longer to pick up a copy of The New Marketing Conversation: Creating and Strengthening Relationships Between Buyers and Sellers. Written by Donna Baier-Stein and Alexandra MacAaron, both past presidents of the New England Direct Marketing Association (NEDMA), it’s a comprehensive model for marketing in the new millennium, an indispensable guide for anyone selling, well, anything.Speaking of NEDMA, those who attended the association’s 26th Annual Paul Butterworth Copywriting Seminar the other night in Boston heard from a trio of illustrious direct marketers, all previous winners of the New England Direct Marketer of the Year award – Steven Tharler (Tharler/Opper), Nancy Harhut (Hill, Holliday) and Tracy Emerick (Taurus Direct Marketing). This free seminar – named after the late, great copywriter whose…
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22Feb 2005 by Bob Cargill No Comments

Why You Should Test Wristbands Now

Direct Marketing, Fundraising
If you don't wear one yourself, chances are someone you know wears one of the Lance Armstrong Foundation's yellow LIVESTRONG wristbands – after all, 33 million of them have already been distributed by this nonprofit organization dedicated to cancer prevention and survivorship.But yellow isn’t the only color people – on behalf of their favorite charities – are wearing on their wrists these days.Indeed, the phenomenal, overwhelming success the Lance Armstrong Foundation has had with yellow wristbands has caused nonprofits everywhere to sit up, take notice and adopt the very same idea, launching fundraising campaigns of their own around colored silicone rubber wristbands that symbolize their respective causes.For instance, fans of the Boston Celtics can now demonstrate their support of their favorite basketball team by wearing a green, “I am a…
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