Direct Response Copywriting Swipe File

Marshall McLuhan Says That TV Killed Bob Kennedy (Gene Schwartz Newsletter Ad)

Just when you thought you’ve seen every Gene Schwartz print ad there is, another one creeps up from his seemingly endless oeuvre!

This one promotes the Marshall McLuhan Dew-Line Newsletter which looks like it had a modest run between 1968 and 1970.

Gene was probably a partner on this one and you’ll notice one of his easy to identify corporate name selections, Human Development Corporation, as well as the ubiquitous Schwartzian word, “instant,” in the copy: “INSTANT SEX.”

(Darn, I was too late to register the domain!) [Read more…] about Marshall McLuhan Says That TV Killed Bob Kennedy (Gene Schwartz Newsletter Ad)

The “With-Without” Formula

by 5 Comments

A client I hadn’t heard from in a while contacted me at the end of last year.

He had a print ad pulling a very respectable three times ad cost and wondered if he could get it even higher.

His objective went beyond merely trying to bump response since he was close to getting his product in a national retail chain, and he was looking for the tipping point to get there.

But as bright an aura as his ad seemed to have, it also cast a dark shadow.

The market clearly wanted the benefits his product offered. But for a large segment of them, it meant accepting a disadvantage they assumed went along with the benefits.

I’m an eternal optimist but when he told me his ad was doing 3-to-1, I didn’t hold out high hopes for significant improvement given his media costs. So it was a relief to spot some low hanging fruit when I finally got my hands on the ad.

It was time for the old…

“With-Without” Formula

As in, with all the benefits showered on you… but without any of the drawbacks.

In these cases, with the dark shadow of some assumed disadvantage looming in the background, there’s no time to mess around and address it in the fine print.

You’ve got to let the market know they get everything they want without the thing they clearly don’t want, and do so right away.

I made only two changes to the control ad.

A Tale Of Two Copywriters

by 22 Comments

One late summer evening, two copywriters sat down at their keyboards to craft sales letters for almost identical products.

They were very much alike, these two copywriters.

Both had years of experience writing every type of ad and were dynamos at selling to their core markets.

Both writers were also dedicated students of direct response marketing and were up on the latest trends and techniques for making their clients (and themselves) ever larger profits.

But while one writer spent an entire week on writing and edits, his leisure-loving colleague cranked his final draft out within hours of sitting down that first evening.

And here’s the capper. [Read more…] about A Tale Of Two Copywriters

Why Puerto Rico is unique as a place for manufacturers to make more profits

by Leave a Comment

This ad with Malcolm Forbes was part of the series Ogilvy and Mather created for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

They’re flatly some of the best business development ads ever written and were responsible for changing the landscape of the island.

Here is the original space ad written by David Ogilvy himself.

I would’ve opted for Forbes to don his “after hours” motorcycle leather instead of the CEO look, so it’s good I wasn’t part of that creative decision.

Why Puerto Rico is unique as a place for manufacturers to make more profits

How Long Should An Advertisement Be?

by 1 Comment

Warning: if you want the long answer to this, it’ll take about 20 minutes to read this behemoth of an ad from Victor Schwab. Also, unless you’re comfortable working with electron microscopes, printing this on an 8 1/2 x 11 will be a slog

(Just click on the ad image to download the almost one megabyte PDF file.)

There are so many timeless observations in this piece, that it’s hard to beleive it first appeared in print 55 years ago.

Much of this ad was repurposed into Victor Schwab’s classic, “How To Write a Good Advertisement.”

Here is one of my favorite sections called:”

“22 Ways to Hold Interest Longer” [Read more…] about How Long Should An Advertisement Be?