First there was the mighty Phillips Health, almost single-handedly launched by Clayton Makepeace’s ad copy in the early 1990s.
Then it became Healthy Directions after one of those private equity deals in 2005.
Then Helen of Troy bought Healthy Directions for $195 million in 2014… and promptly sold it for a $42 million loss a little over three years later.
It’s impossible to keep track of all these transactions… and not necessary. [Continue reading]
This is a classic OLD SCHOOL direct mail package that's as relevant in this post-pandemic world, as when it mailed twenty years ago. Perhaps even more so. Take this headline: "A business strategy that may be common as dirt in one industry can … [Continue reading]
How could any self-respecting ad archivist resist this swipe in a case study that cost an advertiser $300 k? You've likely run into A Little Mistake That Cost a Farmer $3,000 Each Year in Victor Schwab's classic house ad spread 100 Good … [Continue reading]
Who would have guessed this ad sold one and a half million copies of a $12.95 book? There was no backend offer to this blockbuster that ran by the thousands from 1999 to 2003. It was just a lonely frontend that pulled in over $19 million. It's … [Continue reading]
This direct mail package might as well have been written a lifetime ago, instead of the the early to late 2000s, when it mailed heavily. Look at all that's changed. … [Continue reading]
Here's an ad from one of the BIG direct response players from yesteryear. This MAGIC headline did much of the heavy lifting to sell over 2.6 MILLION copies of the book that captured the zeitgeist of the times. … [Continue reading]
Here's a rare, send-no-money, risk-free trial offer, with no obligation to buy. This self-mailer is making the rounds in late 2020. The offer for this pain relief cream is as resistance free as it gets. What's the goal behind such a generous … [Continue reading]
Talk about copy that transcends the product for sale. Take a look at this one. This is how you sell a $199 coin by mail order. … [Continue reading]
When you've got an ad that's capturing response like crazy... what do you do? Obviously, not sit on your laurels. Answer: Test, test and test some more! You're looking at one HOT ad that's had tens of thousands of print insertions since … [Continue reading]
Why has this testimonial headline been going strong since 2014? Let's have at it. First off, despite the potential for a lot of POP, the testimonial headline is often ignored. … [Continue reading]
Believe it or not, you can learn a LOT about response getting direct mail -- and winning direct response in general -- from the lowly penny stock pitch. This is the sequel in the campaign to the colossal newspaper mailing from earlier this year … [Continue reading]
Some of us 20th Century marketers may recall an interesting lead generation case study from eBay. There was an eBay seller who'd seemingly cornered the market on guitar picks and offered hundreds of lots of guitar picks at any given time. The … [Continue reading]
Here's a full page lead generation ad that's BURSTING through the pages of The Wall Street Journal, Investor's Business Daily, USA Today and many more. What can we learn from a wealth management company with $100+ BILLION in its coffers that got … [Continue reading]
I'm a sucker for response boosters like this that have stood the test of time. And these ads, from Dow Theory Forecasts, ran by the THOUSANDS in the 1960s and 1970s. Why were they so successful and why do some direct mail advertisers use it as … [Continue reading]
One may either like or dislike this publisher, his newsletter and his message, but one thing is for certain... There's no way to be indifferent to one of his epic DM packages -- there's no squishy middle. That's because the publisher with a … [Continue reading]
How often do you see a full fledged real estate investment pitch like this in the New York Times? This ad was on fire in the Wild West of workshops in real estate investing and had thousands of insertions. … [Continue reading]
All of us in the direct response game know about the importance of testing. You can learn more with one test than all the opinions (and focus groups) in the world. Bluntly, a credit card settlement from a flesh and blood customer is the … [Continue reading]
Dear Friend, I once saw an old farmer lift the rear end of a pickup truck and push it off the ice where it was spinning its wheels. He had never touched a weight in his life. But that 's nothing compared to the little old ladies who have … [Continue reading]
If you live in North America, you've surely bumped into this company's display ads, catalogs, print insertions or radio ads. Here's their 44 giant pages of course creation copywriting if you missed it. There's no topic of academic interest that … [Continue reading]
He's one of the most visible frontmen in financial publishing. And he wields plenty of cloak and dagger to fill up a mail package. I'm talking about Jim Rickards. … [Continue reading]
$4,997 for a newsletter subscription... $3,200 for a skin cream... $4,000 for an anti-aging supplement... $9,990 for a power supply backup... And cosmetic dentistry that makes them all look like bargains. Whether you're marketing … [Continue reading]
The 1-word headline has a long response grabbing history. Too few marketers test it. Headlines like: * HELP * WANTED * OBSCENE The advantage of the one-word GRABBER is obvious. … [Continue reading]
This is surely one of the most PERSUASIVE investment ads ever to appear in print... newspaper print that is. There were only a handful of copywriters on the planet at the time who could have devised this pitch. It's PACKED with iron clad proof … [Continue reading]
Insurance boasts some of the greatest lead generation and compelling offers of any category in advertising. It's surely due for a category of its own here. This ad by Sun Life ran as a full page insertion in British tabloids in 1987. The … [Continue reading]
This was one of the most successful advertorial series of all time. NGC Sports were BIG TIME in sport fishing and golf and had TENS of thousands of insertions in everything from local newspapers... to trade publications like Oklahoma Farm … [Continue reading]