Push the envelope for marketing success: a new book on direct mail offers advice on the next generation of marketing - advice - Book Review

Art Business News, Oct, 2002 by Murray Raphel

Many years ago, I gave a seminar for more than 300 galleries from across the country. During the presentation, I asked how many people in the audience used direct mail to increase their sales. Less than a dozen raised their hands.

Gradually, one by one, more galleries have been converted to using this powerful marketing tool with dramatic results. So now that we've all discovered the benefits of direct mail, is there anything new to be learned about it? Are there techniques, once considered sacrosanct, that can be ignored now with success? Are there concepts, ideas or directions to follow to insure a greater degree of turnover, sales and profits?

The answers to these questions are "Yes, yes and yes," and they are explained in Pushing the Envelope, a new book by Alan Rosenspan, president of Alan Rosenspan & Associates, a direct marketing creative service and consulting company. Over the past three decades, he has won more than 100 awards for successful advertising and direct mail. He was creative director of Ogilvy and Mather in three different countries. He is a teacher and writer and is hired to speak across the United States and internationally about effective direct marketing.

Rosenspan's book title is appropriate because he "pushes the envelope" in creating unusual, dramatic, different and successful direct marketing programs. His book is packed with case histories, many of which you can adapt for your gallery by asking yourself, "How can I make this great idea work for me?"

Here is some advice Rosenspan offers on what works, what doesn't and what is worth trying:

Break the Rules: Rosenspan doesn't like rules because he thinks rules usually fail for three reasons: Rules change, rules that work for one company do not work for another, and rules often contradict one another.

The Customer Always Comes Second: Rosenspan quoted Herb Kelleher, founder of Southwest Airlines, whose philosophy is the customer comes second to his employees. As a result, Southwest is frequently chosen by Fortune magazine as one of the 100 Best Companies To Work For In America. More than 150,000 people apply to work there every year.

Make Customers, Not Sales: Marketing was once defined as "making a sale" Rosenspan defines it as "making a customer," because research shows that more than 90 percent of all profits come after the first sale.

Target Your Efforts: Direct mail fails when you make the assumption it must have something for everyone instead of being laser-focused on who will most need or benefit from your product.

Make Offers They Can't Refuse: Often, said Rosenspan, a good direct mail piece can contain a bad offer. Here are four: An offer with too short a deadline, an offer with too long a deadline, an offer that sounds too good to be true and an offer that is too vague.

For instance, when you offer "up to 40 percent off" for a sale in your gallery. Does "up to" mean most items are much lower? Your customers will probably think so.

Free is Key If you offer something for free, shout it. Rosenspan almost always starts the headline on a reply card with the word "Free" and uses the word as much as possible in the copy.

`You' Are the Star: Advertising that talks to you and gets you involved probably has the word "you" or "your" in the headline. The Magazine Publishers of America awards a $100,000 prize for the best magazine ads of the year. A recent year's competition had 27 finalists, and 14 had the word "you" in the headline.

The Letter is All-Important: The letter is the most important part of any direct marketing package. Research shows it will account for 65 to 75 percent of your response. So make sure the opening makes the reader want to continue reading.

`But I'm Not Creative.' Wrong! Most people think they're not creative. But every person is creative if given the right opportunity. As Pablo Picasso said, "Every child is an artist. The problem is to remain an artist after you grow up."

The Obligation Factor: "When someone does something for you, you are almost compelled to do something for them," wrote Rosenspan.

To prove his point, I like a promotion done by Donald Kelley owner of three galleries in Minnesota. He sent a small framed picture to every person who moved into the community. He used inexpensive prints and leftover molding pieces for frames. Each finished piece cost him less than $6. "We had about a 90-percent customer response," he said. "They came in to say `thanks' and bought something else for their new home for at least $50. It was a key to building my business."

Another example is a supermarket in our area which captures customers' birth dates. Then, on their birthdays, customers receive a congratulations card with an offer of 10 percent off their purchases on their next visit, a free amount of dollars based on their spending history and a free gift--often a pint of ice cream. The average customer's purchase when redeeming the gifts is far, far greater than their average purchase through the year.

The Power of E-Mail

Rosenspan cited Forester Research, which said e-mail volume will reach 240 billion messages a year in 2003. If you're not involved in e-mail and e-marketing, you are missing out on an enormously powerful direct marketing tool.