Here’s a 1972 display ad by one of the two pioneers of the modern copywriting bullet, Mel Martin. The other was Ralph Ginzburg.
Though this ad was written many years before Mel signed on with Boardroom, and shot their sales into the stratosphere with his trademark fascinations, this ad isn’t so far from the level he was writing at for them in the late 80’s and early 90’s.
About a year ago, I came across some NutriSystem ads with testimonials obviously cooked up by a copywriter. Today, Nutrisystem seems to have all its ducks in a row and is going strong, with well over $100 million spent on print and television advertising annually. Thomas Connerty, who ran marketing at Nautilus and pitched the Bowflex exercise machine on late night TV, writes all of their ads. They never deviate far from “the formula.” Before-and-after photos, liberal use of celebrity endorsements and an irresistible offer. Watch how they take keyed advertising to the next level. Forbes magazine did an interesting article on the NutriSystem marketing machine that’s worthwhile reading.
Here’s a 1974 ad Gary Halbert wrote for a book entitled, “How To Rob A Bank Without A Gun.”
Though interest rates and consumer banking are a world different than in 1974, much of the ad copy could be used straight off the rack in the year 2008.
The year 1974 promises to produce the highest inflation rate in the last 22 years. Prices, as you may have noticed, are going no where but up. Some, like meat and gasoline are going right out of sight. The plain fact is that your money is in more danger right now than at anytime since 1929.
Is there a way out? Is there any place at all to put your money where it is safe? Where it will earn enough interest to keep ahead of inflation? where you can get at it instantly in case of emergency?
Is there?
You bet there is!
The answer is going to surprise you. The best place to keep your money is…
“How To Keep Your Money From Being Murdered”
Interesting, for such a copy perfectionist as Gary was, that there are a few typos in this ad.
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Joint venture partnerships are so ripe with possibilities and stacked with leverage, one could focus exclusively on them — while ignoring almost everything else — and still be reasonably successful in business.
I’ve been on the ropes more than once and was brought back to life by working with a few, select JV partners. The enthusiasm and fresh perspective of a good JV partner can be almost equal in value to a responsive list paired with a killer endorsement.
However, in the Internet marketing arena, nowadays, the JV process is by and large narrow…almost to the point of being mechanical. Think of the numerous messages about the latest launch that plague our inboxes each week. I call launches, which are nothing more than multiple, synchronized joint ventures, “assume the position marketing.”
You know how these messages typically go. “The doors to the site open next Friday at 11:00 am EST…and there are only 1000 available but we’ll sell out fast…so make sure you get on the early notification list so you can be one of the lucky few to snag the fast action bonuses….etc.”
These launches are nowhere near as effective as they were a few years ago. Since I’m an outsider in their world, several of the better known names have confided this to me. It was no surprise. After all, even the least perceptive prospect, who’s usually a marketer himself, is not Pavlov’s dog and recognizes fake scarcity when he sees it. As evidence, look at the emails from the last few launches practically begging you to buy, after the program has “sold out.”
Good marketers are critical thinkers and even contrarian to a degree.
My friend, Bill, who’s a talented marketer, reminded me of Cialdini’s lesson about scarcity in his landmark book, “Influence.”
In his words: “Cialdini talks about scarcity and how it can be a powerful tool of influence when it is genuine. He cautions, however, against being a “smuggler,” attempting to induce scarcity when it is not real.”
I’m certainly going back for a refresher read of “Influence.” Because it makes more sense aligning our marketing practices with the conclusions derived from Dr. Cialdini’s work, rather than trying to bend them to fit some superficial marketing tactic du jour.
So what’s all this have to do with an ad David Ogilvy wrote in 1965 for Reader’s Digest?
Good question.
I’ve just come across a whole series of space ads which were “advertising joint ventures” in the purest sense. Unlike the most common jv’s in which a list owner endorses a partner’s product or service and takes a cut of the sales, these jv’s relied on the high reputation of two partners in different yet complimentary realms.
“Confessions Of A Magazine Reader” is the earliest advertising joint venture I’m aware of. The image of both David Ogilvy and Reader’s Digest is enhanced by this ad. Notice that Ogilvy signs his name to it, so you can be sure the copy wasn’t churned out in an hour.
From “Confessions Of A Magazine Reader”:
Ogilvy on Reader’s Digest and billboard advertising:
They crusade against cigarettes, which kill people. They crusade against billboards which make the world hideous. They crusade against boxing which turns men into vegetables. They crusade against pornography.
Given how ubiquitous porn is, it’s doubtful either party would have much to say if the ad were written today. But what would Ogilvy think about advertising in public restrooms?
Ogilvy on Reader’s Digest and highbrows:
Some highbrows may look down their noses at The Digest, charging it with superficiality and over-simplification. Their is a modicum of justice in this charge; you can learn more about the Congo if you read about it in Foreign Affairs Quarterly and you can learn more about Abraham Lincoln in Carl Sandburg’s book about him. But have you the time?
Never boring
I seldom read a highbrow magazine without wishing that a Digest editor had worked his will upon it. I would then find it more readable. The Digest articles are never long-winded, never obscure, never boring.
The “reason why” in the footnote is a nice touch. Shortly after this ad was published, came the explosion of O&M house ads. So, it’s possible the ad itself was more than sufficient “payment” for Ogilvy’s work.
Though the bullets are far from remarkable under a 2008 lens, this is surely a headline which compelled more people to read a footnote than any other.
Frank Irving Fletcher earned more as a copywriter in early 20th Century dollars than 97% of copywriters today.
In Fletcher’s autobiography, “Lucid Interval,” he says: “The aim of modern advertising is not to make people think, but to save them the trouble and effort of thinking.”
One of his best known ads, also for Tecla Pearls, is entitled “A 10,000 Mistake.” John Caples holds this ad up as a model for telling a story “in a few words” in “Tested Advertising Methods.”
Fletcher told these stories to well heeled audiences and got them to respond in droves, as in this ad for Tecla Pearls.
Copywriter and direct response scholar, Robert Stover, has put together a great page of ads by Frank Irving Fletcher.
“At Last China Reveals Her 1,300 Year Old Stay Young Health Secret”
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I’m glad I stumbled upon a recent post (recent in 2008 :-)) on the Copywriter’s Board in which someone correctly pointed out that I’d gotten Bud Weckesser’s C.V. wrong in an earlier post on my blog.
That’s because later in the thread, Mike Winicki reminded me about (and made some incisive commentary on) a super successful space ad by Green Tree Press around the year 2000.
I knew this ad for “The Green Tree Computer Course” had a very high number of insertions but Mike Winiki pinned the number of sales at 1.5 million for this $12.95 mail order book.
It would be a dilution to try to paraphrase what he wrote next:
We should be paying more attention to what someone like Green Tree did using 1 step advertising to a cold list, selling tens of millions of dollars worth of books as opposed to someone’s Internet sales letter that brought in a million bucks– and of course that was all done through JV’s, so who knows if the sales letter was really good or not.
To me there is no comparison in the skill level needed to succeed with one as opposed to succeeding the other way.
Michael S. Winicki
Author of “Killer Techniques to Succeed with Newspaper, Magazine and Yellow Page Advertising” http://www.bignoisemarketing.com/mikesbook.html
“How To Make Your Computer As Easy To Use As Your Telephone”
Here’s an Internet sales letter worthy of placing in your swipe file.
It was written several years ago by the gifted ad writer and newsletter publisher, Stuart Goldsmith. I had to dig the sales letter up from archive.org since it’s no longer online. The product, for which the sales letter was written, is the now out-of- print book by Dan Peña, “Your First Hundred Million.” (Dan was partially the inspiration for Michael Douglas’ character, Gordon Gekko, in the 1987 film, “Wall Street.”)
What I like about Stuart Goldsmith’s sales letter is it flips conventional marketing and copywriting wisdom on its backside.
Take the headline.
Can You Afford The World’s Most Expensive Money-Making Book?
Conventional wisdom says you can only charge so much for a book. About $30 US is the ceiling. But what if it’s the “world’s most expensive money making book?” £285 or almost $600 US isn’t such a stretch in this case. Simple yet brilliant product positioning which parallels the author’s unique positioning.
Then there’s the Joe Karboesque opener:
I am writing today to try and sell you an extraordinary book.
And with that sentence, I’ve just broken the number two rule of sales letter writing – I’ve told you up front what I’m selling, instead of warming you up first. If you think that’s unusual, in just a few more sentences I’m going to break the number one rule as well.
Disarmingly direct, isn’t he? What’s the number one rule and how will he break it?
And finally, let me break the one rule of sales letter writing you should never break…
Sales letters like this are normally heavy on the guarantee. They promise unconditional and instant money-back if you don’t like the product for any reason.
Want to know what the guarantee is with world’s most expensive moneymaking book?
Zippo. Nada. Zilch.
When I read the sales letter five years ago, I liked this “non-guarantee” so much, I not only bought the book but an entire inventory of VHS cassette seminars from Guthrie Castle. (I resold them for a then much appreciated 500% return. Thanks Dan and Stuart!)
Then there’s Dan’s positioning which is crush your feelings crass while telling you the rare, stone cold truth no smooth talking guru knows let alone dares to tell you.
You can clap and sing along with these ‘gurus’ or … you can listen to a guy who built a $400 million value starting from just $820 and a leased fax machine. Your choice.
So why should you buy this book?
One reason only. You want to make this sort of money too.
You should now have two questions in your mind: “Who is this guy?” and “Does he walk the talk?”
Here are some answers. Dan Peña has built from scratch more dollar value than any other personal development or business success coach who’ll ever try to sell you a book or tempt your sorry ass into a seminar. He’s lost more money on just one bad deal than a lot of those slick-suited guys on the ‘feel-good-get-rich’ lecture circuit ever made in their whole careers.
Next are the qualifications to buy the book.
What do you need in order to qualify for a copy of this book? Just this:
If you’re a man, you need balls. If you’re a woman, you need feminine grit.
That’s all you need. That’s all Dan started with when he was a worthless, doofus punk in a Los Angeles ghetto. He’d already flunked out of school and was drifting aimlessly, broke and getting into trouble. No silver spoon in Dan’s mouth, let me assure you of that! But he had two outstanding qualities – he was fearless, and he wanted success badly.
If you’re a scared, lifeless timid, apathetic little rabbit shivering in your burrow, then save yourself £277 right now. You don’t need or want this book.
I’ve touched on the main points but there’s a good deal more copy to learn from. The entire letter can be found here. After the latest rounds of lifeless Internet promotions, Stuart Goldsmith’s copy is as much a kick in the backside today as it was five years ago.
Bowling isn’t nearly as popular as it was twenty or thirty years ago but it’s still a deep market with a passionate core.
This ad for Andy Carter’s “Bowling Improvement Method” was a frequent and long running display ad in newspapers all across the country in the 1970’s.
Andy’s ad strikes the core of the bowling market just as sweetly as it did in its heyday…besting most of the bowling ads one finds online today.
This is Gary Halbert’s 1979 ad copy for a book of the same title.
Gary wrote several ads for Milburn Publishing, founded by Frank Sarcona, out of leafy Maplewood, New Jersey.
One of the takeaways here is to make sure your i’s are dotted and t’s crossed before getting into weight loss advertising.
Even First Amendment protection was not enough to keep this publisher out of hot water with the Postal Service for misrepresentation in advertising.
The company later got the U.S. Attorney’s office on its back for failure to honor refunds.
The Amazing Diet Secret of a Desperate Housewife
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Diet pills are something I prefer to stay as far away from as possible as a marketer. Not only are there intense regulations and oversight that varies drastically from state to state and country to country but at any moment, a law suit (or worse) can come crashing down on the promoter’s head.
I may not have the risk tolerance for it but I know several successful pill marketers who take advantage of the built in back end aspect of this product.
Anyway, the two-page-spread to the left has been going strong in the women’s magazines for the last two years.
I must say I’ve never seen anything like it.
The ad fronts a several year old British tabloid article with the headline, “Britney’s diet pills.” The photo shows her reaching for a fallen vial of pills…claimed to be that of the advertiser.
Certainly an unusual proof mechanism in a direct response ad — one worth millions to the diet pill producer.
Notice the yellow highlighted disclaimer. “The republication of this article is not intended to and does not constitute a commercial endorsement or approval of Zantrx-3 by Britney Spears.”
Britney Spears Diet Pills Ad 01
Britney Spears Diet Pills Ad 02
Gary claims this ad netted three quarters of a million dollars during its lifetime of ten or so years.
A classified version of this ad buried in the back of the Canton,Ohio newspaper supposedly led to numerous inquiries to the newspaper by its readers…and a request by the harried staff that Gary cease running the ad.
This full page ad appeared in many big city newspapers like the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, though with seemingly limited insertions.
Note the double coupon at the bottom of the ad.
The coupon on the left was forwarded by Gary to the Social Security Administration and the coupon on the right was for ordering the book: “How To Collect Social Security at Any Age.”
This seems like one of those cases in which a bundled offer hikes response appreciably.
Today, most of us here in the States get a little bit jittery anytime someone inquires about our social security number. Keep in mind, this was 1973 and identity theft wasn’t really a concern. So Gary’s offer was a convenient way to obtain this data in an unwired age.
One wonders if an analogous offer of government information could be made successfully today through print ads.
Here is: “How To Collect Social Security at Any Age.”
“TheGaryHalbertLetter.com” The greatest copywriting newsletter archive on the planet!
John Newtson over at Clayton Makepeace’s corner sent the most delectable snack over the Thanksgiving Holiday: magalog and mail insert scans from the biggest names in the business including, Dan Rosenthal, David Deutsch, Parris Lampropoulos, Gary Bencivenga, Arthur Johnson, Gary Halbert, Eric Beutel, Donna Bair Stein, Kent Komae
and two most welcome magalogs from the legendary copywriter, Jim Rutz.
My Flashget download manager is busy munching away at all those lovely bytes as I type.
Here’s the Makepeace magalog feast. Big thanks to John Newtson.
Here is an ad from Hume Financial written 25 years ago.
When I first came across these ads a few years ago, I knew there were some heavyweight pens behind them.
Here’s how I discovered more.
I was lucky to be an attendee as well as exchange a few emails with Gary Bencivenga around the time of his landmark seminar in New York in 2005. Several of my early subscribers told me my enthusiasm for his event infected them sufficiently to become B-100 “top guns” as well.
In addition to meeting all the mega-talented attendees over meals and cocktails, as well as “coping” with Bencivenga’s two day brain dump, the seminar was a memorable homecoming for me.
With plenty of revelry on Friday night, I was most surprised the next day when Bencivenga called my name during a dazed moment to talk about my product.
To this day, I have no idea what rambling utterances I made before some of the most talented marketers and writers in the world. Perhaps, I’ll muster the courage to play the final seminar DVD.
Anyway, in one of those emails, Gary mentioned he had written a successful direct mail package for Hume which was condensed into a winning space ad. His ad was one in a series of a dozen or so. Gary didn’t know who the other writers were beyond they were the top copy talent of the 1980’s. He categorized these ads as “all uniformly great.”
Take a look at this ad. Everything flows like an ensemble. It’s unlikely you’ll see a better order coupon…I mean No Risk Enrollment Form. By the way, this one isn’t Gary’s.
A few weeks ago I posted an ad from the pioneer of copywriting fascinations: Mel Martin. My subscribers wanted more so here goes.
There is no area in copywriting that’ll pay you bigger dividends faster than crafting great bullets. And who better to learn from then Mel Martin.
It took me over two years to turn these ads up.
Here’s Mel Martin’s: “For people who are almost (but not quite) satisfied with their own cooking — and can’t figure out what’s missing.”
