Here's an interesting package that mailed ahead of the 2016 US presidential election. Given the worldwide public health policies, restrictions and mandates -- which seemingly mushroom by the day -- the timbre of this piece has more than a little … [Continue reading]
What a great lead with a WIDE fishing net... ready to pull in almost any reader. You can certainly see the influence of Paul Michael's amazingly evergreen, “How You Can Make a Killing in Coins” in this direct mail package. Few writers can … [Continue reading]
Here's the kind of promotion that helped build Weiss Research's "Safe Money Report" into the BIGGEST and best known financial newsletter in the world in the mid-2000s. It was Clayton Makepeace's copy that single-handedly brought in a legion of new … [Continue reading]
The Guinness Guide to Cheese is featured in the essential Ogilvy On Advertising. Yes, this is a brand ad and a damn fine one in the annals of food advertising. The layout with the photos and summaries of the various cheeses make for irresistible … [Continue reading]
Newspaper print was on its way out long before early 2020, but these last 18 months have really expedited the process. The "80/20 of newspaper print" seems much more like 95/5 since most national advertisers (who happened to largely be supplement … [Continue reading]
Always pay attention when something mails for 3 SOLID years, like this promo did. It was also BIG in online display. This advertiser sucked out EVERY last drop of response... thanks to the powerful three-word combination in the headline. In … [Continue reading]
The fabulous LIVE MAINE LOBSTERS print ad got me hungry for some food copy. What could be better than a Hancock Gourmet Lobster catalog? Gourmet food promos almost always have great photography (similarly with travel and real estate … [Continue reading]
Recently one day, I stumbled across this remarkable print ad and asked myself the question: "How'd this ad get into my possession?" Then it hit me. Surely, this full page ad was no "mere mortal" ad. I reached for the 520-page transcript from … [Continue reading]
This is without a doubt one of the GREAT food membership newsletters that rides along with members' quarterly product shipments. And it hails from one of the greatest advertising copywriters ever to pick up a pen. … [Continue reading]
It's amazing what an average marketer... with a middle of the road product can do... with the MAGIC of origin marketing. Disclaimer! The magalog at the left is no also ran. It mailed from coast to coast for many years and it's a textbook … [Continue reading]
Here's another DM package from the sweet spot of business development and self-help. The old school of direct mail marketing is exemplified with the ever present: … [Continue reading]
It's funny. I recall getting this direct mail sales letter from Clayton Makpeace, like it was last month. But even this boomer brain recognizes it was way back in 2007. What a GOLDEN era for copy! … [Continue reading]
Emails started hitting my inbox for swipes as the price of oil has begun to surge heading into mid-2021 and have continued through September. This one from five years ago was a BIG mailbox hit. It's certainly one of the most memorable one-word … [Continue reading]
This killer magalog appeared on my radar while researching "case against" advertising leads. You have to marvel at this one. What better way to sell probiotics than with the headline: "Probiotic Flaws Revealed!" "Hey, wait a second!" "I … [Continue reading]
(SEPTEMBER 2021) I needed to pull an old rabbit out of a hat for a client recently, and THIS was the swipe... foundation for the promo... that leapt to the fore. Here's a hypothetical to demonstrate how powerful this little known headline is. … [Continue reading]
What's so great about EVERGREEN products... those you can sell over and over again... even years from now? Precisely that. You don't need to reinvent anything in five or ten years (twenty or more sometimes!) and even the ads for such products … [Continue reading]
Crisis copywriting, fabulous fascinations and legal loopholes that protect the average citizen... from the scoundrels, sharks and charlatans out to rob his money... steal his home... and sue him back into the stone age. Here's one of the … [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 was THE Mr. X promotion. After it mailed far and wide, there were a flood of copycat Mr. X promos. Not to preserve anyone's anonymity but because the MYSTIQUE of Mr. X led to a a lot of response. This is still an evergreen business … [Continue reading]
Mailed in 2009 and signed by "Anonymous," here's the setup for "Lethal Termination Tactics." "You don't know me ... and I'm not gonna tell you who I am. And I won't even bother wasting your time with a fake name. … [Continue reading]
Sometimes you don't need reams of copy to sell a solid product, especially when it's backed by a luminary like the late Wayne Dyer. And an evergreen topic like this will ALWAYS sell because everyone hits stick points. I Know What to Do, So Why … [Continue reading]
"Tonight we're gonna party like it's... 1979!" That is if your idea of a party is spiraling inflation, soaring crime, oil supply disruptions and foreign policy fiascos. In many ways, 2021 is reminiscent of '79 and this subscription renewal … [Continue reading]
Earlier this year (February of 2021) I had a conversation with a marketer/product developer who's in his eighth (8th!) decade in the marketing game. Not Joe Sugarman! He ran into someone who had a factory filled with product he couldn't move... … [Continue reading]
There was something magnificent about marketing in the pre-Web days. Like these packages from Nightingale-Conant. You'd get one of these in your mailbox and if you were impulsive enough to open it immediately, you could count on the next 20 … [Continue reading]
I love the creativity that comes with health and beauty copywriting. - "Lunchtime facelifts" - "Gastric bypass in a bottle" - "Tummy tuck pills" Though these metaphors test the boundaries of credibility, they're pretty commonplace. But … [Continue reading]