For This Copywriter,
Studying Packages That Didn’t Work
Provides the Clues for a Winning Promotion
CG: Lee, please tell us about yourself. What was your
job prior to becoming a copywriter?
Lee: Copywriting was my first full-time job. I had completed
30 credits of graduate school in American literature and I intended to
teach on the college level. I was getting married, though, and needed a
daytime job.
CG: Did you know what copywriting or direct response
was… before you became a copywriter?
Lee: No, I had no idea about what copywriting was or
even about direct mail. I had never taken a marketing course - or even
a business course - in college.
CG: How did you become a copywriter?
Lee: I had wanted to get a job as an editor. I couldn’t
find anything and I needed a job of some kind. A relative got me an interview
at Prentice-Hall to become a library sales representative. They offered
me the job, but I turned it down because of the travel involved. They were
nice enough to have me take a copywriting test for their College Department,
and somehow I passed.
CG: Were you self-trained or did someone help you? Did
you have a mentor of some type?
Lee: I was basically self-trained. On my first day at
Prentice-Hall, I was handed a sheet of copy guidelines developed by Richard
Prentice Ettinger, the company’s former chairman. Prominent among the ten
rules: “Never use humor - there is nothing funny about separating a man
from his money.” Very early on, I started reading The Reporter of Direct
Mail Advertising and my bible was Dick Hodgson’s Direct Mail and
Mail Order Handbook.
A Well-Experienced Copywriter
CG: How long have you been writing copy?
Lee: I broke in as a copywriter in 1964, 42 years ago.
There were several years on the agency side when I was not writing any
copy, and that’s one of the reasons I left the agency business.
CG: What was the first project you worked on as a copywriter?
Lee: I do not remember the first project. In the College
Department at Prentice-Hall, you did mostly self-mailers to try to get
professors to adopt the textbook. The first one could have been the classic
McGregor and Burns text on American government.
CG: What was your worst failure as a copywriter?
Lee: Over 42 years, I’ve had many efforts that didn’t
generate any response. In a majority of these cases, there were other factors
involved – poor product concept, bad list strategies, lack of an offer.
On a pure copy basis - not looking at results, but at how the copy met
the creative brief - my worst failure might have been a promotion for Belmont
Race Track. The agency I was with had this as a long-time account and was
between regular writers. I just kept striking the wrong tone, misunderstanding
what is in the typical bettor’s head.
Arming Himself With a
Wealth of Information
CG: Lee, let’s talk about your methodology. What’s the
first thing you do when you get an assignment - study old controls, research
the subject matter, talk with the editor?
Lee: It’s always a combination of activities to get myself
steeped in the company and its product or service. I not only study old
controls, but test packages that were miserable failures. Many direct marketing-focused
companies do not have customer research, or any kind of market research.
That means I will seek general research about the topic from magazines
in the field, and also spend some time in online research. In the particular
case of this control, I did have a one-on-one conversation with the founder
and editor.
CG: What do you need the client to supply you with for
the project?
Lee: Sample product, testimonials and case histories,
profiles of the customer base, any research they’ve done. Many of my smaller
clients don’t give me creative briefs, so we fill one out together – either
in a phone conversation or via email. I’ll also want samples of controls
and flops - as already indicated - plus list usage histories, and any data
on offer testing.
CG: How do you research… or get to know the target audience?
Lee: There are a number of ways I get to know the target
audience. Testimonials and customer correspondence are helpful for learning
concerns and language. I visit web sites of other marketers targeting the
same audience to get an idea of their approach and of course look at direct
mail from others targeting the audience. Then I’ll talk to people I know
in the target audience. For example, if I’m working on a package for customer
management software, I’ll talk to colleagues, friends who use it.
Concept Statements
Get the Project Rolling
CG: How do you come up with the theme or idea for the
promotion?
Lee: In most cases, I come up with three or four themes
in the form of concept statements. These briefly position the product or
service and then describe the components of the package. For example, two
different concepts for a hearing aid manufacturer might look like the ones
below (only partial concepts shown). So the client decides which of the
three strategies to pursue. And sometimes, we take elements from all of
the concepts.
CG: Do you develop the headline first or start with
the body copy?
Lee: I always start with the headline. One reason is
that the concept behind the headline has already been outlined in the concept
statement. I’ll play around with both tone and length but the message is
the same. The envelope is always first, the letter always second. Sometimes
I’ll move to the response form before I do the brochure (if there is one).
CG: After you finish a draft… do you let it rest for
a day or so and then re-read and make edits?
Lee: I may let the envelope teaser copy, Johnson box
and letter opening rest for a day. Once I start on the body copy, I’m pretty
well locked into the project. I may read through the body copy once and
make some minor edits, but I normally edit as I’m writing.
Knowing When
to Put Your Pen Down
CG: How do you know when the copy is done, and you can
submit it to the client?
Lee: To me, copy is never really done. You can always
improve it. You submit it when you know that for the time you have been
given, it’s your best shot. You ask yourself, “If I had another day, would
the changes I might make really improve response?”
CG: Do you specialize in writing for certain products?
If so, which ones?
Lee: I’ve had success in a number of different areas:
insurance and financial services, publishing and information services,
business software and services, consumer lead generation and fundraising.
I generally stay away from jewelry and other merchandise, health products
and astrology-type offers.
CG: How would you characterize your style of writing
(great at creating a conversational tone, strong on offer, etc.)?
Lee: I don’t have a single style. I change styles to
mesh with the target audience and nature of the product or service. One
client in the healthcare arena, when she was considering using me, said,
“You write differently than we do. Our packages talk about our products.
You write to the prospect and talk about his/her situation.”
From Test Suggestions to Project Design
CG: Do you make suggestions on what things the client
could test on your package… such as alternative headline, lead or offer?
Lee: When I submit concept statements first, that gives
clients an idea of key elements to test. Then within a particular concept,
I may suggest tests of outer envelopes, leads or offers.
CG: How involved are you in the design?
Lee: That really depends on the client and project. I
prefer delivering the whole package – selecting and working with the designer
– and in those situations I’m intimately involved in design decisions.
But, often, I either work with the client’s in-house people or outside
designers they pick. That sometimes translates into my not seeing the design
until it’s too late. With clients who are national, heavy mailers, that’s
okay… but with start-up mailers, they don’t know the difference between
direct mail design and annual report design.
A Control That Has Lasted Three Years
CG: What are the statistics on this package… such as
how long it has been a control, number of times mailed, how much it beat
old control?
Lee: It has been a control for about three years, and
has mailed nine times. The same shell was used for other continuing education
programs issued by the same publisher. It beat the old control by 20% in
net response and did considerably better than that in cost per new enrollee.
The old package was much more expensive, and the premium offered cost the
mailer much more, as well.
CG: Did you develop the theme of this package… or in
conjunction with others?
Lee: I came up with the idea of mailing an “Explanation
of Benefits” package. I thought that was the best way to focus the psychiatrist’s
attention on time and cost savings. The previous control certainly had
those two benefits present, but they weren’t as clearly etched.
CG: What was the goal… to bring on new subscribers,
increase the pay-up rate, expand theuniverse of lists…?
Lee: The goal was to acquire new enrollees to the program,
but at a lower cost than the control was doing.
The Factors That Create
a Winning Promotion
CG: What’s the driving force behind this promotion?
Lee: I think there are a few things. For the busy psychiatrist,
we’ve made the pertinent information, the benefits, extremely accessible.
For the anal in the group, we provide details in the brochure. The second
factor is the pricing. By this time, the client had tested discount pricing
in his previous mailings, so the heavily discounted cost per credit – emphasized
a few times on the Explanation of Benefits sheet – really helped.
CG: What emotion were you tapping (exclusivity, fear,
greed, prestige, etc.)?
Lee: Previous packages had emphasized fear (falling behind
in state-mandated continuing education), but we shied away from that. Greed
was more important – not just saving money, but, just as critically, saving
their precious time. With increased insurance paperwork, psychiatrists
have less time for themselves.
Developing A USP and Credibility
CG: Did you come up with the idea of the chrome pen
as a premium?
Lee: Yes, that was my idea. Psychiatrists, our target
audience, are among the few who still make use of a pen. The client liked
the idea on its own, and it was much less expensive and easier to ship
than their previous premium (smoked salmon).
CG: How were you able to build credibility for this
product?
Lee: It was relatively easy in this case. The company
had been doing this program for 20 years and had approval from all the
big medical/psychological associations. Then there was the panel in the
brochure with the entire faculty. And the iron-clad guarantee that the
client already had been using.
CG: Is this product unique to the marketplace? If not,
how did you make it stand out fromthe competition?
Lee: There are two other direct competitors, and many
indirect ones – other ways (including cruises) to pick up CME credits.
We differentiated by hammering that it’s at-home study, easy-to-do and
worthwhile.
CG: Did you pick the color of the carrier?
Lee: It looks different on the PDF’s. It’s actually a
brown kraft. I picked it because it works well with the “Explanation of
Professional Benefits” teaser copy.
CG: In your opinion, why is this package working so
well for so long?
Lee: I’d have to say first that the official envelope
works well with this audience. The prior control was very promotional.
Second, we layered the information content. The “Explanation of Benefits”
sheet highlighted the basic offer and what the program does; the brochure
gave great depth of content. Third, a very clear and easy response form.
Easy to Work With… But
Determined to Get a Control
CG: Now that you see the package in print, if you could
change anything about this package, what would that be and why?
Lee: There are always things to change, but here I would
have pushed the client to spend more money on the brochure. Adding another
panel would have given the copy more breathing room and dignity. The other
thing was to try this in a 9” x 12” envelope.
CG: What’s it like to work with you on a project?
Lee: I stopped being an “angry young man” about 25 years
ago. I’m a pussycat to work with – flexible, on-time on about 95% of my
assignments, and almost always on-strategy. I found that being a nice guy
helps business. BUT, if I feel that the client’s revisions are going to
damage response, I’ll fight like hell.
CG: If you could choose another career besides copywriting,
what would that be and why?
Lee: It’s a bit late in life now. When I turned 50, I
seriously thought about going back to school and becoming a psychotherapist,
but the psychologists I talked to told me I was crazy. And there was the
very early dream of teaching American literature on the college level.
And the never-ending dream of being a great American novelist.
CG: What advice would you give up-and-coming copywriters
to help them learn their trade?
Lee: Study control packages. Figure out what makes them
work by comparing them to packages going to the same market which have
not worked. Same thing with email. Read the classics – Caples, Herschell
Gordon Lewis, Rosser Reeves – because many of the principles still apply.
