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It’s hard for those of us attached to long copy to admit it’s not always the answer.

One of the greatest direct response hits in years is a product created out of thin air.

It rarely gets more than a line or two of copy, yet sales of over a billion dollars a year speak volumes for this brand. (Case study coming soon.)

This ad to the left and backstory were forwarded to me by my friend and colleague, Bill O., who’s one of the top high ticket salesmen in the States.

“Attached is an ad that has run non-stop for the past 18 months or so for a small Italian beef stand.  I know the ad is super successful for two reasons:

1.  Every time I go in there, [the place] is packed with people.

2.  The same ad runs over, and over and over in the local paper and coupon mailers.

Their simple, little direct response ad works like gangbusters.  I don’t know how much money they are making, but every time I go in there I ask, “how’s business?” and always get the same answer: “really, really good.”  The Mercedes and Porsche parked next to the back door are telling, too.

Any small business could offer some type of widget and create some type of irresistible offer, but almost none do.”

PDF of “Simple, red-hot offer.”

Earlier this week, I received the belated and sad news of the passing of my friend and colleague, Christian Godefroy. I last heard from him on November 2nd and he suffered a fatal heart attack two weeks later on November 17th.

Christian Godefroy was one of the top marketers and copywriters on the European continent for the last 30 years and was an extraordinary teacher, as well as marketer.

He was the kind of person you could meet at a seminar who gave no hint that he “owned a mountain” and took in over $20 million a year for the last 30 years.

Christian was soft spoken (whether in French or English) but he was as competitive as they come.

Before holding his copywriting seminar a few summers ago, he shared with me that he wanted to top the great Gary Bencivenga by offering 300 seats at $5,000 a pop. He sold out this event and later marketed it online. Here’s the sales letter if your French is up to scratch.

Christian was rightly proud of his Positive Club, which focused on his first passion of self-help.

He had many friends and colleagues the world over who will miss him!

A few months ago, I was having dinner with a friend in New York.

He works for a large investment bank and shared an interesting story about an unusual conference call. He told me all the US personnel were instructed to get on a conference call for an important announcement.

The announcement was short and stark.

John Doe has had a sex change.

On Monday morning, John Doe will be coming to work as Jane Doe.

Any jokes, innuendo or comments even bordering on the inappropriate… will result in immediate termination.

25,000 people all across America now had to be on their best behavior. Anyone who crossed the line was out, no matter their rank or production.

[Read more…] about Monday Morning Sex Change

Chet Holmes passed away on August 12th after a year-plus long battle with leukemia.

He appeared to be on the road to recovery but developed graft verses host disease after a seemingly successful marrow transplant.

Chet kept a private weblog for family and friends and the intimacy of what he shared combined with the courage he maintained throughout his illness are inspirational.

Fortunately, his sales and marketing legacy lives on though his books, recorded seminars and teachings. He built some of the fastest growing companies and broke sales records almost everywhere he went.

His track record in the Fortune 500 world was as impressive as they come, but it was when he teamed up with Jay Abraham in the late 1990s-early 2000s that Chet became a fixture in the direct response world.

Chet’s sales and marketing strategies can fill a book, and they do. But it’s a particular interview strategy I admire of his, that helped him build record breaking sales teams. Chet was a caring human being and a great teacher, but above all he was a hard charger.

[Read more…] about Remembering Chet Holmes

Last week, one of the boldest direct response campaigns went live.

* Print ads in The New York and LA Times.

* Banners on the home pages of CNN, The Huffington Post and The New York Times.

* And a website counterattacking an injunction by the Federal Trade Commission by using the very statements of the Chief Administrative Law Judge as ringing product endorsements.

The average direct response advertiser would never dare such a campaign.

But pomegranate juice maker, Pom Wonderful, is not run by your average DR operators.

The owners of the company are California billionaires, Lynda and Stewart Resnick, who built Teleflora and Fiji Water into behemoths. They also took over the Franklin Mint, founded by the venerable direct response player, Joseph Segel.

And with revenues soaring above $165 million per year, in part thanks to print and billboard advertising like the one above, Pom is in a unique position to take on the regulatory powers that be.

[Read more…] about The FTC As Your Ad Agency