Then another. And another…Five in all. All from the same airline rewards credit card. One offering 40,000 free miles. Another 40K. A third, another 40K. Then one shouting 40K, plus “triple miles!” The final mailing: a whooping 50,000 miles.

One day's mail: five mailings from a major marketer you'd think could target a little (ok, much) better.

One day’s mail. One blue envelope… five times over. A total of 160,000 miles! Whoo-hoo – the family’s vacationing  in Australia! Of course, no such “embarrassment of riches.” The 5 packages were to 3 names in the household. Not an innovative “campaign-in-a-day.” Just a mundane database embarrassment.

An interesting use (non-use?) of merge-purge data work. And how “Junk Mail” earns its name. Not to mention an embarrassment to all professional direct marketers trying to live that “junk” moniker down. Hey, data ‘mis-’selects could easily bring one person two offers in a day. Or two different offers to the same household on the same day. But three names at one address — with the two people getting multiple offers? Yeeesh.

On a very close tangent: marketers often cry that direct mail is expensive. And, yes: postage alone is getting pretty pricey. But, as gasoline gets more expensive, you take steps to use it smarter! Same applies to the mailbox.

It’s just kind of fascinating when your neighborhood mail carrier’s truck literally drives home an example of how no one wishes to execute marketing in the mail. Not to mention wondering how the unemployed grad student in the household got a richer offer than either the primary wage-earner, or the significant other with an exemplary 30+ year credit history. But, then how reaffirming this all is: even decades into a career, one can see something new with each passing day!

But sometimes, it seems, the more a successful brand changes, the more it can stay the same.

At least that’s one conclusion you could draw after examining a legendary entertainer, a long-time luxury/performance car badge, and a decades-old men’s fragrance.

Example #1 of 3: Elvis: a big-time mover and shaker (literally) who revolutionized popular music…and entertainment. His contemporaries — Chuck Berry, Bill Haley, Jerry Lee Lewis — never left the groove of their youth.

From rock-a-billy pioneer, to movie star, to the Vegas stage–Elvis pioneered brand transitions.

Today, these other survivors might indeed be powerful “retro brands.” But The King stayed at the top of the game nearly his entire life. He did it by not only changing his game, but as a tribute to his star power, also arguably changing the playing fields themselves as well. It’s hard to imagine the music of the ’60′s without his string of 1950′s hits, starting with his first song to get airplay, “That’s Alright,” <play> which helped bridge music styles across that time’s rigorously segregated music charts. But he didn’t stay there. Not all singers can act. Elvis made the leap, and, again, its difficult to picture The Beatles “Help” without his rock/pop musicals preceding it. Then times changed, and so did he, updating his brand again. Now what happens in Vegas may stay there, but music acts haven’t been the same after his high-energy showmanship took the strip by storm.

Elvis’ hip-shaking as demonstrated in this vid is famous…but a look at the early minutes of this clip shows Ann-Marget is no slouch either…

There are other celebrity brand morph mavens, as well. Madonna, Sally Fields and John Travolta, for example, all discussed in this post on the “No Green Bananas” Blog to which I also contribute. Keeping space here short, let’s move on to two good examples of how examples of entertainment morphs can move merchandise when applied to commercial brands.

Example #2 of 3: Cadillac. In it’s early days, Cadillac had all the status of  Mercedes and BMW of its day rolled into one major brand car on the American road, combining precision engineering, speed and luxury. Nearly 100 years later, the brand had become

That "egg crate grill"...the elongated "tail fin" lights in the back...much has changed from the '67 Eldorado to the 2011 Caddy. But, much is also the same.

old, tired and stogy. Like the entertainers referenced above, re-invention meant more than tweaking. After literally re-engineering the car from the ground up, new advertising put the icing on the cake (no, ads alone cannot resuscitate a brand: it requires actually having something to sell, too). But this “new” brand, while feeling totally different, is actually a return to Cadillac’s roots. Today’s advanced state of the art reality rules out c.1910-era Cadillac  engineering innovation (as in there will not be another new, first-time ever V8, for example) today’s Caddy’s do indeed offer top-drawer performance, styling and luxury.

Note, in both the pix above and in this Led Zeppelin-fueled TV spot: the signature egg crate grill, the dramatic vertical taillights (sans tail fins) are the same…even if  the song is not the same.

The differences are obvious: but the brand essence, including the presence of bracing sea air, is remarkably the same.

Example #3 of 3: Old Spice. I imagine most blog readers have seen at least some of the new Old Spice campaign (no oxymoron in this case) “Smell like a man, man.” So we offer one of the original campaign’s efforts for your viewing enjoyment. Note again: the new ads don’t have a modern sailor. And no updated whistled theme song.The ads are much different. Yet, like Elvis’ core stage personality, or Cadillac’s fundamental brand values, much is the same. It’s about a man. A lady-pleasin’ kind’o man, although interpreted quite differently. And, it is the same scent I remember my grandfather (one-time Chief Petty Officer) wearing as he attended church.

Give him his due…the Old Spice sailor was good for a 20+ year hitch: not too shabby. And apparently, he always smelled like a man, man.

So what do we have… a male entertainer shakin all he’s got on various stages (both venues and lifestages) singing and exuding confident sex appeal; a high performance luxury motorcar; a spicy scent for a man who wishes to attract a lady. Very different; but much the same. In many respects each products’ core value proposition, the brand’s essence — and marketability — is preserved virtually intact. This is enabled because the brand’s personality, its outer expression, could morph adapt and  change with the passage of time and trends. The moral of this tale: if brand relevance is a concern of yours, take a lesson from The King & Co.

As a career direct marketer, I have to "Go To War" – Spy vs Spy as it were – with the "spooks" building Yahoo spyware. Wong! Bad! There outta be a law.

Database marketing is a major part of what I’ve done all my working life. For decades now, the measured effectiveness of much of my professional work has depended on intimately knowing about consumers, so we could craft increasingly more relevant, meaningful – and persuasive – messages to consumers.

So, when I was recently asked if I thought third-party tracking in internet marketing was acceptable, I thought about it, and quickly concluded: “YES; it had better be.”

After all, without tracking and consumer insight, direct marketing faces a very bleak digital future. Our success in the “Analog Era” would have been incredibly difficult without lists, made possible by tracking many and various types and various (often behavioral) data points. And online, its been my experience —so far — that I could pretty easily monitor my behavior, delete cookies and check boxes to minimize and control tracking: easier than you could mailing lists back in the day. The big question, not for the consumer, but the marketer, concerns data accuracy on the tracking. Conspiracy theories, fretting about Big Brother data collection…no worries.

And then, like Saint Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus, the scales fell from my eyes. Last week, my wife was figuring out a birthday present for our niece. She was emailing my brother asking about the how his girls were feelings about dresses, and what sizes they were currently wearing. She didn’t go shopping yet. No searches. No sites visited.

And clicking around in her email account — before even sending him the email — voila: ads for little girls dresses appeared in the banner in the page! (whooo-wee-eeeuuh – cue the Outer Limits SFX).

Freaky. Scary. …Infuriating.

Monitoring keywords in my email…while I’m writing it yet!? …there outta be a law! There was little other conclusion I could reach than that Yahoo is “reading” our email, and feeding it into the algorithms used to immediately serve up ads.

I am okay with Homeland Security keeping me safe.  And I still think tracking for marketing purposes – responsible, legal tracking – is fine. But you gotta draw a line. It’s a federal offense to read postal mail. My e-mail should be afforded similar respect…especially from the service provider! I accept TSA might look in my luggage. I don’t think FedEx is going to start reading my Overnite Letters. And the day they do, is the some day I start dropping off my packages at another provider.

Yahoo … Boo!

Facebook says "Show me YOUR money!"

Facebook raised ad rates 40%, according to a recent Bloomberg news item. FB says the increase highlights the demand to be on their site as the 500-million strong social network creates waves in online advertising. Facebook, founded in 2004, also passed Google last year to become the most visited website in the U.S.

Then, I see bloggers noting that Facebook ads perform half as well as typical banner ads. And that overall, some sources show that click through rates for online ads have been declining. Meanwhile, other sources claim the “emotional resonance” of online ads is up.

Overall, click through rates are looking kinda down

So, is Facebook using their growing size to unfairly muscle the world in paying more as they continue to explore ways to monetize their efforts? Could be. I was chatting about it the other day with our agency’s Media Director, Len Zappolo, who joins me writing for the No Green Bananas Blog. Some highlights of our conversation:

• Fundamentally, all media (FB ads, online banners, TV, transit ads, skywriting, whatever), is a commodity. Just like pork bellies or frozen orange juice concentrate, it is worth what the market will pay. If buyers are willing to pony up 40% more, then the exposure is indeed “worth” it. And perhaps Facebook’s ad space has, in fact,  been undervalued.

• It all depends on the advertisers goal and strategy. The basic difference between image and response advertising holds true in any medium, digital or analog. It makes more sense for HBO to tout Crown of Thorns on FB for exposure they hope leads to sales, than for an Insurance plan measuring Cost Per Lead for a Medicare Supplement Plan.

• Perhaps much online ad exposure is analogous to billboards. Len told me about how the outdoor industry is moving from DEC – Daily Effective Circulation (a straight-ahead tally of passing cars), to the Traffic Audit Bureau’s new measure “Eyes On,” which is all about assessing the propensity of a motorist to see the ad…and wouldn’t the online ad world benefit from a similar tool?

• Then we drifted into the dynamic of FB as a social environment. Does the media ecology of FB, if you will, foster participants liking, detesting or participating or avoiding advertising? And, depending on the marketing objective and strategy, does that even matter. Do/did people dislike seeing advertising creep from the stadium onto the NHL ice itself, inside paperback books, or product placements in movies. And, if they say these messages are “crap” – is the impression in fact wasted?

Why not pay for virtual space ads in virtual Farmville Dollars?

We decided we didn’t know the answer to all these questions (imagine that — two agency people who freely admit to not being know-it-alls!). But we DO know that these rates are, as always, just a stake in the ground to give the negotiation discussion a starting point. With that definitely real world  discussion, the market will set it’s own value on the ad space.

We finally concluded with the truly creative media question — if I am buying virtual ad space on FaceBook, why not negotiate payment in Farmville dollars?

Including more than one by me. Along with my family. And a number of co-workers. I’ve seen the hunter a bear dance, hug, kiss, pick flowers, go drinking, and go shopping. If you haven’t seen it yet, you should go “shoot the bear” yourself.

The Tipp-Ex video is very cool, inviting you to literally "write how the story ends."

Then I asked myself, where can I get this stuff?” Then I wondered: How do they suggest I use it? Since I remember this as correction tape I used back in the day to fix typewriter errors: and I haven’t ’used a typewriter in decades.

Humm…no website link. But there’s a facebook link, where I can “like” this great YouTube execution…. But no website link I can see. No retailer directory. Nothing about the product.

As a creative guy, I’m charmed. As a career direct marketer, I’m frankly appalled. And yes, once again: “puzzled.”

If there’s no desire for crass, commercial selling, why not some helpful product info to help me appreciate the wonders of Tipp-Ex and go buy some? (Ok, after some Google searching, I find Tipp-Ex is a European brand. So maybe it’s not available in the U.S.? Am I seeing totally geo-targeted material? Maybe some international readers can help me out there?)

The Old Spice YouTube campaign is more traditional...but is it more effective?

To compare and contrast, see Old Spice’s “Smell Like A Man” campaign. Less interactive. And arguably less viral. But the campaign claims more than 140 million impressions (that also included broadcast TV, I imagine) and, according to Nielsen, helped sales increase 55% in three months, with a whopping 107% boost during the month of July 2010 alone.

The difference: in the description accompanying the video is the Old Spice web page. And a link to the Facebook page, where, along with discussion, I often see prominent coupons to print and redeem in store. How convenient.

Then there’s the subservient Chicken from Burger King – the on-demand video ancestor of the Tipp-Ex execution is right on the BK website, just a click away from all kinds of both fun and promotional resources.

So my take is that the Shoot The Bear video is real fun. And 13 million impressions is good. But getting 13 million more sales, tracked to the viral campaign, would be even better. If anyone has any “inside info” to share on how The Bear linked to sales, I think we’d all appreciate  a peek under the tent.

According to a recent article in USA Today‘s Senior Moment, “Social media use among internet users aged 65 and older grew 100 percent last year, so that one in four (26 percent) people in that age group online are now logging in to FaceBook, Twitter.” Further, they report, look at “soon-to-retire young Boomers, and that number is even greater: half (47 percent) of internet users aged 50-64 use social media now, an 88 percent growth from the previous year.”

The article then speculates what people are doing there. Talking with my friends, relatives and acquaintances over the past year, I can tell you the honest answer for many 50+ folks is “not much.” Yes, as agency-types, we’re there. Because its where the future is: especially according to the pundits on FB and Twitter . Meanwhile, I have real life friends who won’t ever be FaceBook Friends because they forgot they even had a FaceBook page until I asked them about it. And now they have no idea what their password is, and have no motivation of rediscovering it. But they are “FMIGS” (FaceBook Members In Good Standing) and are counted in those percentages quoted above. Then, how about those FB profiles without pictures. Gotta wonder how many of them belong to folks 50+, eh? Having a page, and actually being a participant in social media, are two different things.

Twitter has the same dynamic. Sure there are active users. Lots of them. But also a huge number of folks who signed on, followed some folks, and dropped out. YouTube? One of the hottest things going is “Smosh.” Sort of the new media version of Wayne’s World, but it’s not a skit on a TV show: it IS a YouTube show. Immensely popular. And not totally un-funny. Click on the screen to watch. Now, honestly: how many 50+ people do you think are among the 2.2 million viewers? About as many as are listening to Taylor Swift, I’m guessing.

I am not discounting the impact of social media on mature people (no slam on Ian and and his Smosh-buddy’s level of humor). But we also need to be real. Checking on your grand daughter’s FB photo album once a quarter doesn’t make you a social media user. Now, maybe my social circle is just kinda lame. But are most of your “Boomer Buddies” up and active on FB and Twitter? Until I hear differently, I’m going to figure those e-pundits and their e-stats don’t lie, but–well, as marketers, we know the rest of the adage.

A recent days haul from our mailbox. (Not the mints, theyre just for scale).

First, I want to make sure that 3/10th of apiece of mail in the statistic cited above isn’t worrisome. Hearing  the U.S. Census tell me the average household has 2.59 people: that’s something to worrying about. For me, picturing that .59 person is troubling. But, thanks to USPS mail handling, I have actually seen three-tenths of a mail piece. More than once. So I’m pretty comfortable with that statistic. I get it.

The amount of mail we receive some days, I don’t get.

Again, statistics demonstrate my family is odd (as if I needed a government study to confirm that . The postal service reported a serious revenue shortfall through Q3 2010. $3.5 Billion. Why? “An unprecedented decline in mail volume – down more than 20% since 2007,” the USPS said in a statement. I think I recall getting that statement in my mail, too.

Another angle on the days mail. It still looks like a lot of mail. (Or a lot of recycling).

During the third quarter 2010 alone, mail volume dropped 1.7%, to 40.9 billion pieces. I could almost believe the “missing” 1.7% dropped on our household. I can’t wait until the holiday catalog mailing volume starts to kick in. Obviously, we’re in the the 20% of people who get 80% of the mail.

Or maybe it’s all due to Direct Mail Karma. After a little over 30 years in direct marketing, many of those during years when mail was “the” medium, not a part of an off-line/on-line mix, I worked on a lot of mail packages. Campaigns that generated a lot of mail volume. Maybe now, it’s all literally coming back to me.

Still, every once in a while, I can see a sliver lining in it. Even if it is typically on the inside of an American Express envelope.

In fact, the first image is a QR code, being touted as the latest, greatest direct marketing response mechanism since the toll-free number. The second image, in my eyes, is the spitting image of my first Creative Director.

The third image is definitely not my first CD, but does demonstrate some of the consumer press the QR is getting—being a photo from an article published in “The Sun”

In reality, this “new” direct response technology was developed back in 1994 by Densu/Wave. You’ll find lots of background info on their website. It is a 2-D code: which means it contains data along both the X and Y axis. The familiar UPC bar code is 1-D and is scanned along the “X” axis only. The QR code can hold much more data. Over 7,000 characters, in fact.

While the QR code was initially used to track parts in vehicle manufacturing, it has been used in marketing for some time in Japan and has recently started appearing in ads in the US. You “read” the code using the camera function of a web-enabled smartphone. Snap a picture  on a QR code printed on anything from a print ad in your lap, to a large poster across the street, and it’ll quickly link you to a digital asset via the www.

Haven’t seen how it works? Download a QR app to your phone and give it a try. If you use a blackberry, check out this review of five different QR readers.

It lists all sorts of pros and cons. One real pro: they’re free! A con many of the apps share is that they can be rather awkward to access. A con not listed: will QR codes be adopted and used by consumers?

Will QR Codes face the real world welcome of the now extinct "CueCat?"

Other questions: How long will it take for the public at large to embrace them? Given the nature of the technology, will usage vary dramatically between 20- & 30-somethings and Baby Boomers? Some of us “seasoned” 50-plus marketers remember the “CueCat” scanner introduced back in 2000. Vigorously promoted in Forbes, Parade, Adweek and Wired, consumers said “pass,” and it quickly ran through all of its 9 lives and expired.

I predict (really going out on a limb here! the QR code will fare much, much better, that the old cat, for many reasons. But, I also suspect many marketers will find  some value to being a second-wave adopter.

It’s a fine formula. Very solid. But for direct marketing? Frankly, you can do better.

A.I.D.A. works alright for a general ad. But to get people to call a tele-sales rep, or enter their credit card number into a web site, you’ve got to sell harder. Get your prospects more motivated. Fortunately, there’s another proven and tested formula, courtesy of old-school DR copy guru Victor O. Schwab, that’s based on timeless human behavior and keeps on producing in all media, including online…

A better formula for direct marketing success: A.A.P.P.A.—Attention, Advantage, Proof, Persuasion, Action.

The old A.I.D.A. formula may get shoppers to look at a product or service. But, like you in all probability, I look at all kinds things I find interesting, and perhaps even desire…but I stop short of purchasing. A.A.P.P.A. fills in the selling gaps to get your prospect from eyeing, to buying. Here’s how…

Somehow, ☺ this photo seemed relevant to “Attention, Interest, Desire, Action.” And why that formula may be totally irrelevant to your direct marketing efforts. Yes, it would appear this model is indeed making sales based on attention-getting images such as this, but these images are not only highly relevant to the product, in this case, they more or less are the product. For the clients I have worked with this pix might get attention, but the sales-o-meter would spin to 180 degrees of irrelevancy when it measures how it applies to their product.

Attention ~ ”You gotta do more than just say: “made you look.”

The key is relevant attention. It’s not that hard to make people look, the trick is to make them care. And be interested enough to look deeper, or read on. The goal is gaining attention with something that leads to an expectation your product or service can fulfill. People may be attracted and amused by misdirection. But it doesn’t make them want to buy.

Advantage ~ ”Interest, Schmintrest…what’s in it for me?”

Conveying an advantage goes beyond gaining interest. It’s also a step deeper than “benefit.” A feature is what a product or service has. A benefit is what that means to me. An advantage is what it can do for me now.

Feature:         28 m.p.g.

Benefit:           Goes farther on less gas

Advantage:

• To the frugal—Helps keep your money in your pocket
• To the hip—It’s like getting a free grande latte every time you fill up
• To the enviro-friendly—Reduces your carbon footprint

Ultimately, how you frame the advantage is the largest step to making the sale. If you don’t get the consumer at this point, nothing else will matter. They will ditch out of your pitch, and they’ll never see/read/hear anything else you have to say.

Proof ~ ”Everyone who’s trying to sell me something makes promises—I’m not trusting any of you shysters.”

Consumers today are skeptical. “Really,” you say “Wow, I didn’t know that!” Fact is, they’re often sarcastic, too. But, it seems you already knew that as well. Yet, in spite of what we know, we too often fail to satisfactorily prove our claims. And the shopper/consumer/prospect basically says “Uh-huh. Sure. Right.” And moves on, secure in knowing you had something you wanted to sell—but nothing that they wanted to buy. I join scores of people in airport terminals walking past folks hawking free t-shirts. Why? I have a credit card. I’ve heard misleading promises of “free airline tickets” before. The burden of proof—that they really have something worth my time to listen to—is on them as the salesperson.

Persuasion ~ ”Okay, you have a good thing there: but why should I part with my hard-earned cash—and why now?”

Yep, you’ve got a good deal. It makes sense. But…I’ve already got other plans for my money. But…I want to sit on it for a bit a ponder (and probably forget all about it). But…I’ve lived without it this long, and I’m not suffering so badly…or any of dozens of “buts” I have to pass on your offer.

Nutritionists and health care policy-makers worry about America’s big butts. As a direct marketer, I fret over their little, deal-killing “buts.”

You have a prospect on the cusp. But why should they agree to buy—now? Price going up? Disaster looming if action is postponed? Are other’s passing them by, or thinking less of them? Is it time to finally give in and finally get that widgit they always deserved? Time to donate to help others while a matching gift program is still on?

At this final step, inertia is your biggest stumbling block. And it’s a big boulder to move.

Action ~ ”I’m still heading for the door: unless you close the deal.”

Okay, you’ve lured them in. Got ‘em to take the bait. You set the hook and you’ve reeled them in. But you’ve still got to get your prey in the net and landed. They WILL wriggle away. Hit them with a deadline. Put their suspicions to sleep with a money-back guarantee. Make them want to come on board with a final sweetener to the offer. Speed them into the boat—now!

That’s all folks. Follow the formula and more sales are yours! Easy, right? …And people wonder why direct marketers advocate long copy. It’s just not practical to lure a consumer through all those steps in 20 words or less, or in a 30-second TV spot.

A junior writer working on a direct mail package once told me: “I don’t need to craft all that copy—they’ll get that info when they call in.” Thing is, he was writing a one-step sales kit. There was no “call in.” No follow-up mailing. The application was in the envelope and the entire sales needed to be closed there. “Oh,” he said. “I guess I will need both sides of a letter.” Yep. If you’re going to go through A.A.P.P.A., close the sale, produce a winner and earn a bonus, yes you will. Start writing. At least you’ve got a place to start.

But when it comes to direct marketing, awards are a real test of character. They provide a window into a creative person’s principles. The courage of their convictions. How they really think.

This piece of direct marketing literally "rocks." Course a slip of photocopy paper and some stones in a baggie—lacking a real "creative concept"—isnt likely to ever win an award. But it demonstrates some folks indeed have the nerve to be truly different with their communication.

Why have Ad Awards? My take is that awards largely came about to give general advertising folks their props. Something concrete for clients to have and hold that verifies their creative work measured up and was truly excellent. Frankly, having worked in that world for some years and having won a number of ad awards, it’s just about impossible to accurately quantify what most advertising accomplishes. Yes, I know there are ways to measure, but not like the definitive numbers Direct Marketing provides. Awards give a tangible expression of worth. Advertising is a pretty intangible business. More about impression and perception that a hard and fast linking of effort to a revenue stream. It’s just the nature of the beast. A hunk of Lucite and simulated gold-like plated alloy can be the closest it gets to the real “atta-boy” some folks get.

The Direct Marketing Creative Dichotomy. In direct, however, there is a highly tangible, empirical accounting of a job well done. Leads. Sales. Phone calls. Clicks. Cost per lead. R.O.I. But that’s all so black and white. Prosaic. Business-like. Creative and marketing folks want more. We want sparkles. Fireworks. Sprinkles. If life gives us lemons, we’re really not happy making lemonade—we wanna make lemon meringue pie. Sure we want the steak (vegetarian creative folk please indulge me the analogy), but without the sizzle, it simply can’t nourish our whole being.

So, the lure of statues and plaques looms large. The kid in us loves to stand up in the spot light, take a walk to the stage, and collect our kudos.

And A Direct Marketing “Original” Sin. Too often, this inate desire to do great work can lead to the direct marketing sin of doing work to meet the criteria of award show judges, rather than the consumer.*† And the personal drive to win awards for us overcomes the professional objective of helping our client’s marketing folks win sales awards. Shame on us when that happens.

But sometimes, just sometimes (and it’s not true of any of my clients, mind you) clients can play a role in this perversion of creative priorities. Hard-nosed, real-world business experience often has the side effect of tossing a big, sopping wet blanket on nearly any really innovative idea that bubbles up out of the primordial creative soup.

Award shows have responded with “Brave Client” awards. These awards applaud clients who go out on a limb to test different and risky ideas. Which brings us (finally!) to this blog entry’s pictured marketing effort. THIS is a client with stones. Real stones. I found this low-tech message from a local house-cleaning service near the mailbox at the end of my drive recently. It’s not a mailing. I guess it’s a “tossing.” The point is, it’s different. And creative. Not in that it has an ingenious concept or dazzling design, but in that it is truly unusual. And completely unexpected. I haven’t received anything like this before. And I’ll wager if you have, its not with the frequency of emails, TV ads, banner ads or direct mailings.

Not only is it a “whacky” unproven idea, a businessperson went with it. They put up their money to execute it, and let it loose on the marketplace. Pretty cool, actually.

To Sum Up: if you’re a creative type, have the stones to stick to our primary mission of generating sales (not awards)—always with an eye to tossing out original, previously untried, innovative executions that will work.

And if you’re a client-side person: have the stones to toss out challenges, along with caveats…and the courage to try something new that shows promise. Encourage, and fund, bold thinking that can generate repeat sales and business for both you and your agencies.

Instead of winning shiny awards, we’ll all get the real rewards we so rightly desire.

* Note #1—There is a small number of awards based on results. The Direct Marketing Association’s ECHO Awards is probably the best known. But they are small in number and—regrettably—less acclaimed by the marketing world-at-large and therefore less prestigious than the “Oh-Wow Creative” awards.

† Note #2—Also reminds me of a very successful award-winning ad agency who foolishly proclaimed in a press release that the target audience on all their creative briefs for all clients and all products was the same: “The One Show Judges.” They were out of business in two years.