Spyro Kourtis

on October 31, 2007

category: lead generation

President and CEO

Walking away from lead generation.

Most of us tend to be either risk-takers or risk-avoiders. I see it in business all the time. In marketing, the risk-avoiders give me some version of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." They run the same campaign over and over until it's run into the ground.

On the other team are those who always look for the breakthrough idea that will bring them fame and glory. If it's been done before, they don't want to see it. They're easily bored and assume their customers are just like them.

It's easy to poke fun. But we see both of these traits out there in the world because both approaches can be wildly successful. The trick is knowing when to use each.

Most of us will continue to use our preferred behavior pattern when we create our marketing plans. We may throw good money after bad, still hoping that the results will change. The reason we do so is that our selling systems seldom break. Instead they very slowly grind to a halt. Rarely do we reverse this trend by going with the same-old same-old.

What should you do if you find your lead generation programs producing fewer qualified results? If you've been tweaking your marketing here and there and nothing makes a big impact, maybe you need to walk away from lead generation entirely.

It sounds crazy. But it just might work.
 

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Carolyn Hansen

on October 30, 2007

category: direct marketing

Vice President/Marketing

Is 1:1 marketing going to get boring?

Do direct marketers love targeting too much? One advertising person recently mentioned that she was a little nervous about the idea of a time when only dog-owners would see dog food commercials.

That may sound a bit bizarre to those of us who hate advertising waste. But I think I have an inkling of what she was worried about.

If at some point we’re living in marketing utopia and I’m only getting commercial messages aimed at what I've already done or expressed interest in, how will I find out about cool new stuff? How will I figure out if I’m living the best possible life for me, if what I learn about has been determined for me based on my previous choices? A lot of us, particularly in this business, have a bad case of FMS – Fear of Missing Something.

No worries. Marketers will always need to expand the circle to include people who may not have thought about their product before. My old boss, Bob Hacker, would call focusing in on smaller and smaller target groups as Foobird Marketing — explaining that a Foobird flies in tighter and tighter circles until it flies up its own butt. Vulgar, but there's truth in it for you.

And, because of that, I promise that even in marketing heaven you'll occasionally see a dog food commercial – even if you don’t have a dog.
 

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Paul Jenulis

on October 25, 2007

category: creative

Proofreader

Why slide?

"Why slide?" two former co-workers asked me the other day over drinks. Just beginning my second Captain and Coke, and having not heard the beginning of the conversation, I had no idea what the hell they were talking about.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked them.

"Why slide?" they responded in unison.

I assumed the blank face I returned them was a sign I didn't understand, but you know what happens when you assume.

"Are you drunk?" the female asked me.

Another dumb-founded look from me. I wasn't drunk, but I might as well have been.

"Why slide?"

I was getting overwhelmed with the questions.

And I didn't have an answer, so I got up and went to the bathroom.

So today, during an in-between of two projects, I was perusing Hacker's new website and realized just what the hell they were talking about. It's on the home page, right after the Hacker logo shoots out of nowhere onto the screen.

Strategy to the left. Ideas to the right.

With a slider in between.

If you slide it left, the Hacker logo dances away and you get five options from which to choose (the who we are and what we do pages). Slide to the right, and after that little dance of the logo, you get samples of some of the work Hacker has performed in the past. Although there's a bar at the bottom of the page for easy navigation, this sliding option is what has caught the eye of at least two people. And they seemed perturbed by it. Having raked over this new site repeatedly for typos and such (and then checking to make sure the edits were made, and then marking up more edits, and then checking to see if THOSE were made, and repeating, and repeating again), it never occurred to me that this slider option may not make sense. Well, to me it did, but that's not saying much.

In any case, the question was raised again: "Why slide?"

I had no answer then, and I have no answer now. I'm just a proofer, you know. I'm all about words and syntax and punctuation, and not much else (well, I know a lot of useless sports statistics, but where's that gonna get me in life?).

The slider made sense to me at the time. (Disclaimer: I'm about as technologically advanced as dinosaurs. Even now, typing this blabbery out, it amazes me that I can hit some keys with symbols on them and the thoughts in my head appear on screen.) I have no idea why Hacker chose the slider option, except that perhaps it's fun. It's modern. It's technologically savvy, baby.

But that's not what's important, right? What's important is that the site is navigable.

So why slide?

Is it that important? What's important is that, although some things have no answers, it's the questions we CAN answer that need to be dealt with. Because, really, why mess with questions that can't be answered? It'll drive you crazy. You might as well be a dog chasing its tail. Or a sports nut proofing junk mail. (Or a bored reader checking out some lame blog about sliding navigation bars.)

It's important questions like, "How did you miss THAT error?!" (I was distracted) and "You're a proofreader?" (on some days, yes) and, perhaps most importantly, why have you, dear reader, read this far?
 

Comments:

10/29/2007 at 12:32 a.m.
Here's why
The slider is all about choice! It gives people the opportunity to navigate the site the way they think about marketing. Some focus on ideas that can be turned into marketing strategy, while others start with strategy -- and the perfect idea falls outs -- when the strategy is right. However, never forget you always need both!
>>Spyro Kourtis, Bellevue WA10/25/2007 at 12:58 a.m.
Are you drunk?
Damn straight... "it's fun. It's modern. It's technologically savvy, baby." But "why"? Well... I believe the designers were thinking it would make people think. And wonder. And play with it. And go to bars and talk about it. Or at least mumble incoherent incomplete sentences about it. :)
>>Tara, Bellevue WA

Jon Bell

on October 24, 2007

category: creative

Senior Copywriter

Using all the words we've got

"I don't swear for the hell of it. Language is a poor enough means of communication. We've got to use all the words we've got. Besides, there are damn few words anybody understands." - Clarence Darrow in Inherit the Wind.

Now there's a lawyer who should be reviewing direct marketing copy.

I'm not trying to fool anybody when I say something is free. It's free! But someone in legal thinks there are strings attached when I'm, say, giving away a white paper for answering a couple qualifying questions. They tell me to say it's "complimentary."

Then there's the disclaimer that needs to be written into the pitch. I'm not allowed to tell you that you'll save $250 on installation. No . . . I have to say: You'll pay $1,000 for installation - that's a $250 savings! - when you buy a $25,000 piece of equipment and sign a ten-year service agreement that costs $69 per month per user (minimum of 10 users, please), if you decide to buy before May 15, 2009 and you call our toll-free number when the moon is full.

Okay. Thanks. I guess I won't be mentioning the offer at all.

I just want a lawyer who will let me say what I mean.
 

Comments:

11/1/2007 at 6:50 p.m.

When you start measuring the disclaimer copy in inches, it doesn't strengthen your marketing efforts. But topping the list of my "Favorite Moments in Direct Marketing Legal" is a very short disclaimer: *FREE, without obligation When you have to add an asterisk every time you say FREE, it's frustrating. But when the asterisk points to a definition-- for those who may not be familiar with the term FREE-- well, that's just silly.
>>Meredith Steiner,  

Tara Scot

on October 23, 2007

category: integrated marketing

Web Developer

Will the voices please shut up, I'm trying to talk about email here!

I have a confession to make. As an employee of a direct marketing agency, it's an ugly one...

I check my home mailbox less than once a week. Sometimes I just go get my Netflix movies and leave the rest of the mail behind. I won't go into the reasons why, let's just assume the voices tell me to do it that way, and move on.

So I suck at getting my mail. But I check my email at least every 10 minutes. I get email on my phone. I get email at my desk. I walk down the hallways and people ask "Hey, did you get my email?" If my husband has a honey-do item for me, he sends me an email. If my friends or family want to schedule a get-together, they send me an email. If you want to get my attention, send me an email.

The point is that for me, and others of my ilk (read: geeks), email marketing is much more effective than print advertising. But the question remains, how do you get my attention? If you're not my boss, a client, or my husband, how do you get me to spend even 10 seconds of my ridiculously frenetic day focusing on your message?

Obviously, you need to make it a targeted, relevant (and therefore interesting) message. I'm a mom. I'm a musician. I'm a geek-gadget lover, and a somewhat OCD collector of kitchen containers. Send me something about that and I'm yours (along with some of my money). Targeting, or list strategy, is a necessity for a successful email. It's also a subject I'll leave to the experts. I'm going to talk about the next most important thing: The email itself.

Six things I've learned about email:

1. Get to the point. You have about 1.5 seconds before my finger, which is hovering ominously above the "delete" button, crashes down on it and relegates your email to the black hole that is my recycle bin.
2. Make it funny. If you can make me laugh, I will read it all. Even if I don't want what you're selling, I will most likely forward your email to at least one of my friends. Maybe they'll throw money at you.
3. Don't get too fancy. Email technology is in its embryonic stage compared to other web technologies. If you want to make sure people see your message how you intend, keep it simple. Don't attempt any cool web tricks. Hell, don’t even attempt lame ones. At best maybe (and I repeat maybe) try a clickable link.
4. Keep the identity, message and call to action above the fold.
5. Don't bet on pretty pictures. Over 75% of email clients have images turned off when the user first loads the email. Your message and identity must be in simple text first, and graphics as a backup. In this example, Apple didn't get the memo *:



6. Hold no hope for improvement in the future. Microsoft's latest version of Outlook (2007) now uses Word's HTML engine (and all its limitations) to display emails rather than Internet Explorer's. Yet another thing I need to ask Bill about over lunch some day...

Oh, and in case you're wondering, yes, my bills are often late.

* Source: www.campaignmonitor.com
 


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Thomas Lamprecht

on October 18, 2007

category: creative

Vice President/Executive Creative Director

Smart Creative

It takes a village to tango. Or perhaps pogo would seem more appropriate here. Certainly, when it comes to development of great marketing work it takes all the participants to engage in a coordinated dance. At the end, there is always one entity that must assimilate all the parts, deconstruct and synthesize them and find a way to articulate originally, informatively, persuasively. That end is the creative. Smart creative. The smarter, the greater the sum of its parts.

And in today’s world smart the creative must be. It functions like a tip of an iceberg, a beacon, visible above the surface to all, with a supporting, hidden mass of target and industry research, strategies, guidelines, data, clients’ idiosyncrasies, latest visual, copy and design trends, business, art, media, informed vernacular and the very edges of relevant limits to name but a few (phew...). No other area of marketing discipline involves the necessity of rigging as many disparate parts together and coming up with communication that not only works but is innovative, original, compelling, informed and, at the same time, pulls like a freight train.

To get there and for the pogo to culminate in a graceful and forceful marketing bang some essential parts of the organization need to effect mutually supportive working relationships. Both account and creative staff have to be more invested in the development of creative approaches. Media, sales and accounts have to be encouraged and guided to seek out new appropriate opportunities and openings. Accounts need to look for ways to steer existing clients towards more innovative creative solutions, whenever possible. Creatives need to feel empowered to challenge the usual assumptions and put forward innovative thinking rather than feel locked into churning out predictable—however reliable—volumes of offer-driven, or generic direct marketing. The teams need to feel that they have an equal stake and partnership in fulfilling that objective. They need to feel mutually supportive of, and supported in, reaching it. Let’s dance.
 

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Spyro Kourtis

on October 17, 2007

category: integrated marketing

President and CEO

No more silos.

The lines are blurring — and that means it's an exciting time to be a marketer.

At the DMA, I look around and see some organizations still living in the 20th century and others who have definitely moved on. What's interesting is that the companies from an earlier era are great at defining who they are — they're list vendors or print vendors or even digital marketing providers.

It's the ones who can't define themselves so easily who have the jump on the rest.

That's because the biggest marketing hits nowadays are not as much about the medium you see them in, as about the idea they convey. It doesn't matter if you see a marketing message on Dancing with the Stars or on YouTube. It's the impact of the idea.

Shelly Lazarus, chairman and CEO of Ogilvy Worldwide, discussed this in her DMA keynote address. Listening to her, it really hit home for me how important it is that the ideas come first. Then you look for the media that are most appropriate for the idea.

She gave the example of the Dove Real Beauty campaign and how it started as a dialog on the Internet. When Dove learned that only 2 percent of women thought they were beautiful, they posed the question of what was real beauty. Then they developed a web site where women participated. That led to media attention, including interest from Oprah. A video was made — not a commercial, a YouTube video — and millions watched. The rest is history.

The lines are blurred, the walls are down. This is good news. Life is more interesting.
 

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Spyro Kourtis

on October 15, 2007

category: direct marketing

President and CEO

Going green at the DMA

Everyone's talking about the environment here in Chicago at the DMA. But is anything really happening?

After the first full day of the conference, we've certainly gotten an earful about going green. There were lunches and breakout sessions. John Greco announced 15 green initiatives on behalf of the DMA itself in a keynote address.

Those of us here from Hacker Group were ready to fill our notebooks with ideas. We didn't come away with much.

So let me take this opportunity to announce that Hacker is launching its own green action plan. We've been working hard to find ways to provide our clients with options to execute environmentally friendly campaigns. This includes:

• Sourcing recycled paper and environmentally friendly materials
• Partnering with vendors who are committed to protecting the environment
• Reducing waste through better targeting and data hygiene to reduce the amount of undeliverable mail

We are currently conducting environmental profiles of our approved vendors for:

• Documented environmental policies
• Material sourcing capabilities
• Manufacturing process (UV presses, soy-based inks, etc.)
• Recycling programs
• Renewable energy use
• Waste disposal and compliance policies
• Compliance with FSC and ISO 14001 Standards

These aren't empty words on a page. Hacker Group has always been committed to environmental responsibility in our own offices. We've been recycling, reducing waste and conserving energy here for all my 15 years here. I know we can make that a goal for our clients and vendors, as well. As is true in so much of what we do, it's all about execution.

 

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Gary Wallace

on October 11, 2007

category: a look into agency life

Print Specialist

A little more light backstage, please.

Ever wonder what makes an actor’s or actress's star shine so brightly? Is it their natural beauty that leaves us breathless and wanting to look just like them? Could it be their unparalleled talent that so inspires us to elevate them to celebrity status? Or, could it be that, just maybe, all the “little people” they so grandly give credit to while accepting their golden award really do deserve credit? You betcha! Take away the makeup artist, acting coach, lighting technician, costume manager, grip, best boy, caterer, speech therapist, dance instructor, writer, hair stylist, publicist, agent, personal secretary and what do you have? Probably just our next door neighbor. And so it is with agencies.

We have our president, a growing army of vice-presidents, sales people, art directors and the like all bathing in the spotlight of recognition and acknowledgement. Yet, it’s the “little people” who truly make things happen. I think credit should go to the assistants and the assistant-assistants, not only for acts that border on heroism, but for day-to-day getting the job done. We rely on them more than we realize. They are a significant part of this agency’s foundation, our bedrock. For example, there is our assistant office manager, Meg Stan. Too often I approach her with a “crisis situation,” hoping for a miracle, that she will once again save the day…and my bacon. She invariably responds with, “I can handle that.” And so she does. There are many more like her working back stage and our superstars should always be mindful of that. Without them they would not shine so bright, if at all, and this would be just another agency. Let’s have all those working in the shadows step forward into the stage lights to take a bow and enjoy some well deserved applause.
 

Comments:

10/11/2007 at 3:04 p.m.
Thanks!
Thanks Gary! You are too kind!
>>Meg Stan, Bellevue WA

Jill Kaufman

on October 10, 2007

category: direct marketing

Vice President/Account Services

Maintaining tribal knowledge

Just came out of a client meeting where the CMO asked, "How do you keep track of all the learnings?  You pride yourself on learning something from a test with one client and applying that knowledge to the next.  I have a guy over here who knows something the woman over there needs to know but doesn't.  How do you guys make that happen?"

I wish I could say we were perfect.  We'd love to have Hacker University, where new employees go for a week or a month and come out with a B.A. in What We Know.

We do have some systems, of course.  A rather long list of people in the company gets raw response analysis reports for every client as soon as they're completed.  Our senior management team is fanatical about being involved up to their elbows in client work.  We have a great record of low turnover, so many people at all levels have been here a good long time and will at least know that we tested something before - if they can't call up the results at their fingertips - so they can at least start digging up answers.

We also have a tradition of open forums at 8 a.m. on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, when our Strategy Council meets.  This is a group of senior executives who make themselves available to any Account Manager who wants to pick their brains on behalf of a client.  I highly recommend making this a practice at your company.

And our Account Managers formally present client results to their peers at a weekly meeting.  The team gets up to speed on test results for each client at least on an annual basis - and for important information that has broad application, more often.

One of the many things I appreciate about Hacker culture is that we do share information with each other quite liberally.  Some people in my past work life felt that knowledge was power and they certainly didn't want to disseminate any of their personal power.  We have a much better spirit of "we're all in this together" here - and that makes it easier to share what we know.
 

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Carolyn Hansen

on October 9, 2007

category: integrated marketing

Vice President/Marketing

Do you google yourself?

Of course you do. You learn such interesting things. For example, I'm a real estate agent in Minnesota. I'm also a lawyer in the state of New York. Best of all, I teach Spanish at the University of South Carolina. I vacation in Mexico quite a bit, but I had no idea I was so fluent in the language. These fascinating search results come from having a relatively common name.

Hacker is not a common name. I googled our company the other day. Lo and behold, another direct marketer had bought Hacker Group as a key word! A competitor, I guess. Frankly, I hadn't heard of his organization. You'd think we'd be near the end of any long tail of direct marketing terms. I looked up a few of our competitors -- ones I recognize -- and no one seems to have done the same to them.

It's an interesting idea. A little dangerous, I suppose, if you're paying for clicks and someone from the company notices. (This one got at least two clicks from me -- I had to check him out, after all.)

Since most of the other references on Google's first page of results have the adjective "notorious" in front of hacker group, I’ve decided to take this as a gesture of respect and a sincere form of flattery.
 

Comments:

10/11/2007 at 5:13 p.m.
Cool job you've got there, Dave!
Or should I say, "Woof!" You know, there's something very entertaining about the search experience. You juxtapose two things, the Dave Fisher we know here at Hacker and someone who writes about dogs all day and it makes us smile. But it also subtly points out the dangers of "contextual" advertising online, when the advertiser doesn't control the context. Maybe that's a subject for another blog post!
>>Carolyn Hansen, Seattle WA10/11/2007 at 1:47 p.m.
Googled myself
Very interesting blog Carolyn, I had no idea there was another Hacker Group. I could come up with some crazy Superman theory about the bizzaro world and them being exact but opposite copies of all of us, but I'll spare you and just share my most interesting Google twin. Apparently Dave Fisher is a field writer for Beagles Unlimited Magazine. I had no idea I was so prominent in such a ... specific field.
>>Dave Fisher, Bellevue WA

Paul Jenulis

on October 4, 2007

category: creative

Proofreader

The Game of Proofreading

That’s what I do: proofread junk mail.

I’m the coolest person you know.

The green tea is warm in my stomach, and the sweet and salty granola bar (with almonds!) will keep me going until lunch as I continue to read about being Pre-Approved for everything under the sun.

And so: I read. And snack. I mark up, in red ink, of course, corrections to incorrect grammar usage, adding a period here or an exclamation point there; I cross out words and add others that I believe will work better (but few agree with me); I transpose words that flow better when transposed; and I suggest different words that may work better according to the audience involved. All while keeping the clients’ style preferences, which vary considerably, in mind.

Often, I am stetted. Usually, this ticks me off. And so, I’ll argue my cause. Sometimes, the point is proven and agreed with, and change is made (yay for change!). Other times, my requests fall on deaf ears. No matter how big I write in red ink.

You learn to choose your battles and accept losing others, regardless of correctness. But half the battle is learning to choose which battles to fight.

It’s okay, though, friend. That’s how the system works. Keep chugging along, catch the errors, move on to the next project. It’s rather delicious, like the granola bar.

And so: I read. I mark the shit up.

Repeat. All day long, baby.

Move on to the next fun project: it’s all part of the game of proofreading for this, one of the Best Coast’s top direct marketing agencies.

What I’m telling you is that every day I get to come to work and play a game. And get paid for it. Just sit down, drink the tea, and find the errors. It’s like doing a crossword puzzle, or finding Waldo. Only it’s junk mail; and if I’m not 100% on my game, I may miss something. Which could be costly, unless it’s caught later on, but not too late. Too late, and you’re thrown to the dogs. If you miss something, you get lambasted. Lambasted, I say! How could you miss THAT! they say. I’m only human, I reply. But that don’t fly. That don’t fly at all, baby.

Okay, I’m exaggerating. But that’s okay.

We can edit that out…

Until next time,

Paul the Proofer
 

Comments:

10/5/2007 at 11:51 a.m.
Junk mail? No...
What some may call "junk mail", others may call "targeted media". That's what I prefer to call it anyway. Sounds better, more sophisticated. As a proofer, wouldn't you agree?
>>Michelle Schmoelzer, Bellevue WA10/4/2007 at 11:45 a.m.
Awesome post!
Great post PJ! I didn't realize proofing was so much fun... :)
>>Tara, Bellevue WA

Thomas Lamprecht

on October 3, 2007

category: creative

Vice President/Executive Creative Director

Brand sucking air

Development and promotions of brand lay traditionally within a domain of branding and general advertising agencies. The brand of a company or product was developed to embody and project the essence of such entities and its function was to communicate inspirational uniqueness. A brand’s priorities were to be; instantly recognizable, highly compelling, desirable and of perceived prime value. (Not to mention; lethal to the competition.)

So, if the brand is company’s ‘face to the world’ core difference and promise, and thus its articulation of reason d’etre, why is it being developed outside of what it supposed to accomplish in the end—a sale. And, furthermore, why is it not developed from the point of that persuasive one-to-one conversation with specific audience that culminates in their ultimate expression of preference—a purchase.

The reasons seem obvious enough. Branding and general agencies are not driven by concern about how to engage in that vital conversation and they don’t know much about how to engage in it. Nor do most of them care as traditionally that activity resided with direct marketing discipline. Brand was to be created in a brand silo and only after its birth it was forwarded to be used in marketing. It was almost an afterthought. Sometimes a brand worked well in marketing. Sometimes, not surprisingly, it seemed jerry-rigged.

In the current, internet conditioned landscape of audiences’ shortened attention span, increasing impatience for irrelevance and overwhelming preference for user controlled content, brands have to be more than just seductive or inspirational poetry. They have to work hard. Overtime!
 

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Paul Ford

on October 2, 2007

category: integrated marketing

Senior Copywriter

How the medium changes the message

Earlier, Brian Gilbert talked about non-addressable direct response media in this space.

That got me thinking about the creative work for campaigns across multiple media. I don’t think it’s necessarily a cut-and-paste idea for your creative team. The creative concept and tone ought to be different with non-addressable media than they are with mail – mainly because you’re talking one-to-many, rather than one-to-one.

There’s no personalization, of course. So that could have an impact on response. On the other hand, having your brand visible in a wider space could have a very positive impact on response in all media. So, as Brian said, it’s definitely something to consider.
 

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