Notes

Outline

“Fortuitous Mistakes: How controlled failure can lead to success”

About Johnson Direct Full service direct response agency Clients: Microsoft Business Solutions, WW Grainger, Allstate Motor Club, GE Financial Assurance, Research Products, WPS, Pitney-Bowes, Humana, among others

A quick story How did this all come about?

A Quote… “Name the greatest of all inventors. Accident.” -- Mark Twain

“Famous” consumer mistakes Brown ‘n Serve Rolls Popsicles Coca-Cola Silly Putty Ivory Soap Levi’s Jeans Cracker Jack Kellogg’s Corn Flakes Slinky

Famous business mistakes Liquid Paper Rayon Post-It Notes Stainless Steel

“Famous” marketing Marlboro cigarettes

What we’ll cover Why failure may be your best path to success   10 “Rules”  A Few Case Studies  Start to think differently – like a child?

Current Consumer Trends 3,000 media impressions daily* Media fragmentation Consumer fragmentation, too     (Coke 33-20; Pepsi 23-13)^ More research and consultation done today Growing consumer (prospect) power  * The Economist ^ “There’s No Business That’s Not Show Business” Page xvi

Media Options Then Print PR Broadcast Telephone Mail Face-to-face Now Print PR Broadcast Telephone/Cell phones Mail Face-to-face Internet, Intranet, extranet E-mail Websites/Microsites SEO Blogs E-newsletters Product placements

Increased # of Impressions 6 to 7 meaningful impressions today before you are on a prospects radar screen! Thus, different marketing perspective needed -- The Economist

Marketing Shift Then Campaigns Lists Broadcast Monologue Groups & Segments Intermittent Contact Promotional Involuntary (opt-out) Now Programs/Relationships Integrated Customer Databases Interactive Dialogue Individuals Sustained Contact Informational, educational, Entertaining & promotional Voluntary (opt-in)

The Model

Remember… We learn more from failure than success The more you control failure, the better you’ll become

Dare to be different Need to think differently today – now more than ever to grow and prosper

Innovate “Innovation comes when we shift our focus away from “the right answer and toward asking ‘is this the right question?’ and ‘What are some different ways of looking at this problem?’” -- Michael Gelb How to Think like Leonardo Da Vinci

Quote “If you don’t learn from your mistakes, there’s no sense making them” -- Anonymous

Keep in mind Successes usually don’t teach us much Breakthroughs come from learning and risk-taking

Radical thinking? “If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not taking risks, and that means you’re not going anywhere…The key is to make errors faster than the competition, so you have more chances to learn and win” John W Holt, Jr Celebrate Your Mistakes

Recent Study… 60% have negative opinion of marketing 61% feel amount is out of control 65% feel constantly bombarded 59% feel marketing has very little relevance  Direct Newsline, 4/15/04 and Yankelovich Partners

Accountability Opportunity 27% test “occasionally” 34% “seldom” 15% “never” 8% “don’t need to test” Why??? People cited Lack of time & budget

No Testing Test is a four letter word If you test a lot, test some more Test big things for big results Lists Offers Messaging

Key Relevance If it’s relevant, it will likely be worth considering

WHY? Over-communication We seek/crave simplicity Thus, child-like thinking

No Plan Set marketing objectives to measure against Identify KEY messages Know what lists/media to test and test others Test offers with messaging, but do test offers Consider market research Make budgetary decisions and test all you can Define niche, own it Establish credibility and relevance

Mailing Lists/Media Spend twice as much time on list/media research and testing than you do on creative Research and find the worst lists/media possible Run “What if scenarios” Look for “un-harvested prospects”

LSS Thinking like a 3-year old WELS, Missouri Synod, ELCA Lot of research Different direction

Results 6% response rate > $100 average gift

WHS Best prospecting list, other than house list?

No Letter I still get many, many packages at home/work without letters. Letter is your salesperson Letter make direct mail personal

A Weak Lead Start with a short sentence – 15 words or less Test Headlines/Johnson Box Test emotional copy platforms as leads

No Offer How can you REALLY differentiate your offer? How can you re-position your offer What’s the most outlandish and yet believable offer you can make? What’s the “no way” offer you can make? Sell benefits A benefit ties the product feature to the customer needs. If there is no need, there will be no sale.

WIIFM Pretend you are the prospect Don’t do what everyone else is doing! Visualize the prospect doing what you want them to do

No/Weak Call to Action Ask for the order – at least twice Understand the power of the web today

One-Dimensional Presentation Consider dimensional/shaped mailings Multiple attempts Surprise factor Integration

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Unprepared to Respond Be prepared on the web, email, phone and reply card fronts Be ready to test copy/scripts Fulfillment testing often overlooked Lose MORE business by being ill prepared

BCBS

BCBS

Results A test matrix was set-up to map and track the performance of both mailers. The multifaceted mailer was sent to 75,000 recipients. The results: 858 leads a 1.14% response

Then, the mistake The self-mailer was sent to 50,000 recipients. The results: 1,091 leads a 2.18% response

Another Shift Web playing a KEY role Consumer has more control

Statistics 80% of Chrysler’s prospects are coming from online inquiries. “800 numbers are just falling off a cliff” - Bonita Stewart   Director of Interactive Communication   Chrysler   2/11/04 AdAge.com

More Statistics “Brands such as Kimberly-Clark Corp’s Huggies, have shifted 50% of their marketing budgets to relationship programs, much of that online” --Grad Conn, Grey Global Group

Ask Yourself What will change if I play it safe? What “lift” in response am I likely to see?

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Keep Trying… "A diamond is a lump of coal that stuck with it."

Insurance Example Corporate color was Burgandy Brochure Printed in Hot Pink

Huh? “We made too many wrong mistakes” -- Yogi Berra

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A final thought… “Intelligence is not to make mistakes, but quickly to see how to make them good.” -- Bertolt Brect

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Questions? Grant A. Johnson Johnson Direct www.johnsondirect.com