Is Direct Response A Fraud?Or Is Brand Building A Scam?...

Image / "Brand building" advertising vs. Direct Response advertising. It's time to brush up on basic marketing philosophies.

The other day I was at a family gathering. There were aunts, uncles, and cousins there that I haven't seen in a long time. We had a great feast... the kids were playing games and having a good time... and all of the adults were just kind of catching up with each other. After a while, my cousin Mary came over and sat down next to me. I could tell by her cheerful smile she had something exciting to tell me. And sure enough, she launched right into her announcement that she was starting a new business. That was all I needed to hear. Now I was pumped with excitement for her. For the remainder of the evening we were engaged in an uninterruptible in-depth discussion. But unfortunately, it ended with me being FRUSTRATED!

Here's why...

Mary told me she was starting a wedding planner business. It seemed to be a good fit. She is totally into that kind of thing. She's helped a lot of her friends plan their weddings ... and she even planned her own. Mary is full of creative ideas and wound up with energy. Plus, she has an elegant class about her. She is like a young Martha Stewart without the jail time. So I think she can totally pull this off. But, when we began to discuss how she planned to get the business off the ground, and how she planned on getting new clients, she couldn't have been more disillusioned, stubborn, lost, off target, and just down right WRONG!

Mary has already spent about $20,000 on her website, brochures, business cards, customized stationary, furniture and whatever else she thinks she needs to get this thing off the ground. After hearing that, I ask her, "So how many clients do you have so far?" Mary gave me a sad look with her head tilted down and her bottom lip puffed out as she muttered, "none yet." Now even though this is not how I would have started, I didn't give her a hard time about it. But personally, I can't see starting a project without testing to see if there is a demand for it first ... Or figuring out how to market it.

She assured me that she was working on getting clients. The way she described it to me, she is putting an image ad in the newspaper, buried deep in the "living" section or something like that. It sounds like a glorified business card. It doesn't give the reader a reason to call in... it doesn't grab anyone's attention... and it doesn't talk to people who are engaged.

The thing that I found the most frustrating is that I hate seeing good people falling for the Brand Building Scam or making avoidable mistakes. And I think she could have a real shot at making this work if she would only WAKE UP!

Why Image Advertising Can KILL Your Business Before You Even Get Started! Back in the 70's, a legendary direct response marketer Lester Wunderman had a showdown with one of Madison Avenue's top marketing firms, McCann Erickson, over the Columbia Record Club account. At the time, Columbia was the biggest mail order club in the world, and Wunderman had done all of their advertising for them since it was formed back in the 50's. But Columbia decided to hire McCann to do a series of TV commercials to support their print ads in the TV guide and Parade magazine because of their experience and "expertise" in TV commercials. So Wunderman proposed a split test. He suggested that out of the 26 major marketing areas he takes 13 and McCann takes the other 13 and whoever increases the response to the local TV Guide and Parade advertising wins the whole account. Columbia agreed. After a month they tabulated the results. Response rates in Wunderman's markets were up 80% compared to 19.5% for McCann's markets.

Why did Wunderman win with such a HUGE margin?

Well, McCann, like all the other conventional advertisers, have a preconceived notion that it is humor, splashy graphics and celebrity endorsements that make ads work. They are more concerned about impressing their peers and winning awards than they are about getting results for their clients. They forget the basic meaning for advertising, which is... "Salesmanship in print." Which nowadays translates to "Salespersonship in multimedia", to be politically correct. They think by making a TV commercial that gives the viewer a warm feeling, they will have a warm feeling toward the product. But, since Wunderman is an expert in direct response marketing, he has a better idea of what WILL work and what WON'T work because direct response marketing is SOLELY based on results. Marketing dollars converted into sales. ROI! So with his knowledge of what gets response, Wunderman was able to implement mechanisms that sent the TV viewers to the ads in the TV Guide and the Parade Magazine. Not only did Wunderman beat the pants off of McCann, they did it at 1/4th the cost. McCann bought prime-time slots for their commercial while Wunderman's ads were on in the wee hours of the morning.

So, you make the call... which form of advertising is a scam or fraud? Direct Response Or Brand Building Advertising.

The bottom line... maybe if you have deep pockets like Coca Cola, Nike or Microsoft you can afford to waste money on image or brand building advertising. But for 99% of American businesses... whether you are in the business of selling life insurance or selling sports cars... your marketing needs to be accountable. Your advertising needs to bring you measurable results. And if it doesn't, you'll get killed!

Dedicated To Multiplying Your Commissions, Dean Cipriano

Related Articles

• Get More Clients By Taking Stock Of Your Marketing
• Making Money with Article Writing
• Choosing a Niche Product to Promote
• Do You Outperform Your Competitors In Winning Work?
• Criminal Record Research, A Basic Step Before You Hire

HTML Ready Article. Click on the "Copy" button to copy into your clipboard.

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC '-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN' 'http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd'> <html><head><title>Article Storehouse | Is Direct Response A Fraud?Or Is Brand Building A Scam?...</title></head><body><h3>Is Direct Response A Fraud?Or Is Brand Building A Scam?...</h3><br><br> By: Dean Cipriano<br><br><p><p>Image / "Brand building" advertising vs. Direct Response advertising. It's time to brush up on basic marketing philosophies.</P><p>The other day I was at a family gathering. There were aunts, uncles, and cousins there that I haven't seen in a long time. We had a great feast... the kids were playing games and having a good time... and all of the adults were just kind of catching up with each other. After a while, my cousin Mary came over and sat down next to me. I could tell by her cheerful smile she had something exciting to tell me. And sure enough, she launched right into her announcement that she was starting a new business. That was all I needed to hear. Now I was pumped with excitement for her. For the remainder of the evening we were engaged in an uninterruptible in-depth discussion. But unfortunately, it ended with me being FRUSTRATED!</P><p>Here's why...</P><p>Mary told me she was starting a wedding planner business. It seemed to be a good fit. She is totally into that kind of thing. She's helped a lot of her friends plan their weddings ... and she even planned her own. Mary is full of creative ideas and wound up with energy. Plus, she has an elegant class about her. She is like a young Martha Stewart without the jail time. So I think she can totally pull this off. But, when we began to discuss how she planned to get the business off the ground, and how she planned on getting new clients, she couldn't have been more disillusioned, stubborn, lost, off target, and just down right WRONG!</P><p>Mary has already spent about $20,000 on her website, brochures, business cards, customized stationary, furniture and whatever else she thinks she needs to get this thing off the ground. After hearing that, I ask her, "So how many clients do you have so far?" Mary gave me a sad look with her head tilted down and her bottom lip puffed out as she muttered, "none yet." Now even though this is not how I would have started, I didn't give her a hard time about it. But personally, I can't see starting a project without testing to see if there is a demand for it first ... Or figuring out how to market it.</P><p>She assured me that she was working on getting clients. The way she described it to me, she is putting an image ad in the newspaper, buried deep in the "living" section or something like that. It sounds like a glorified business card. It doesn't give the reader a reason to call in... it doesn't grab anyone's attention... and it doesn't talk to people who are engaged.</P><p>The thing that I found the most frustrating is that I hate seeing good people falling for the Brand Building Scam or making avoidable mistakes. And I think she could have a real shot at making this work if she would only WAKE UP!</P><p>Why Image Advertising Can KILL Your Business Before You Even Get Started! Back in the 70's, a legendary direct response marketer Lester Wunderman had a showdown with one of Madison Avenue's top marketing firms, McCann Erickson, over the Columbia Record Club account. At the time, Columbia was the biggest mail order club in the world, and Wunderman had done all of their advertising for them since it was formed back in the 50's. But Columbia decided to hire McCann to do a series of TV commercials to support their print ads in the TV guide and Parade magazine because of their experience and "expertise" in TV commercials. So Wunderman proposed a split test. He suggested that out of the 26 major marketing areas he takes 13 and McCann takes the other 13 and whoever increases the response to the local TV Guide and Parade advertising wins the whole account. Columbia agreed. After a month they tabulated the results. Response rates in Wunderman's markets were up 80% compared to 19.5% for McCann's markets.</P><p>Why did Wunderman win with such a HUGE margin?</P><p>Well, McCann, like all the other conventional advertisers, have a preconceived notion that it is humor, splashy graphics and celebrity endorsements that make ads work. They are more concerned about impressing their peers and winning awards than they are about getting results for their clients. They forget the basic meaning for advertising, which is... "Salesmanship in print." Which nowadays translates to "Salespersonship in multimedia", to be politically correct. They think by making a TV commercial that gives the viewer a warm feeling, they will have a warm feeling toward the product. But, since Wunderman is an expert in direct response marketing, he has a better idea of what WILL work and what WON'T work because direct response marketing is SOLELY based on results. Marketing dollars converted into sales. ROI! So with his knowledge of what gets response, Wunderman was able to implement mechanisms that sent the TV viewers to the ads in the TV Guide and the Parade Magazine. Not only did Wunderman beat the pants off of McCann, they did it at 1/4th the cost. McCann bought prime-time slots for their commercial while Wunderman's ads were on in the wee hours of the morning.</P><p>So, you make the call... which form of advertising is a scam or fraud? Direct Response Or Brand Building Advertising.</P><p>The bottom line... maybe if you have deep pockets like Coca Cola, Nike or Microsoft you can afford to waste money on image or brand building advertising. But for 99% of American businesses... whether you are in the business of selling life insurance or selling sports cars... your marketing needs to be accountable. Your advertising needs to bring you measurable results. And if it doesn't, you'll get killed!</P><p>Dedicated To Multiplying Your Commissions, Dean Cipriano<br></P></p> <br><br> <b>Author Resource:-></b>  Dean Cipriano, Insurance Selling Systems. <a href="http://www.milliondollarleads.com/">http://www.milliondollarleads.com/</a> Dean Cipriano is recognized as the leading sales trainer and marketing expert in the financial services industry.<br><br><b>Article From</b> <a href='http://articlestorehouse.com/'>Article Storehouse</a><br></body></html>