[Steve Chapman]

Hi all,

Have been reading "Outrageous Advertising" by Bill Glazer, I think it was Ian Harper who recommended it a while back,

One of the key things he advocates is doing handwritten direct mail with offers, doodles etc and gives various examples in the book,

My question is, has any one attempted to do it this way with the handwritten style as opposed to straight forward print etc ?

I want to give it a go but a little voice inside me says that its too amercian and not for british customers ?

I keep thinking my customers will think i've gone nuts   although they may think that already  

That may be just me and it might work really well but just wondered if anyone had any results from such a strategy..

Other things offered are sending out coasters, holiday postcards / a nickel ( probably a penny to you and me ) etc

The book is quite interesting but do think theres quite a difference between us and our usa cousins when its comes to marketing ideas !

Am I right or wrong ?

Regards
Steve

[derek west]

anyone can write this crap and say it works, people buy these books thinking its the answer but it aint. i could easily write a full book on outrageous marketting, anyone could, just think up some stupid, different or "outrageous" ways to contact people and write them down.

heres a quote from one of these so called books

"a great way of getting peoples attention is to learn how to juggle then stand in the middle of town on a soap box and start juggling, then when they appraoch you tell them they can have a free carpet cleaning audit for free, yes free. just put your name and number on the list and for free we will give you a free audit to tell you, for free, what condition your carpets are in, all this for free" .............."now watch me juggle 3 balls" mazin.

taking from the new book, ludicrously tasty advertising, by day "V" lately.

[David_Annable]

Hi

Its got to be better to do something instead of nothing, so any mail shot is a good idea. Personally i think it should reflect what you do, as the customer deals with you, not what someone else tells you to do.

Dave

[clinton]

Just send a small letter saying its been so and so since we cleaned your carpets and upholstery etc.

Might work over there but not so sure it will here steve.

Maybe give it a go

[Helen]

 The doodle thing was all the rave at the start of last year. We did a mailshot early last year, probably about February/March time and got didly squat return.
Quoted for a job last week (and got it) ....How did you find our name? and they promptly get out last years doodle mail shot....so we can't say it didn't work, but can we say it did?
Again it is hitting the target at the right time, so if anyone can come up with that formula....please share
Personally I think the handwritten approach is too time consuming, although with my scruffy script, it might bring a load of calls to say they can't understand what it is
I don't know whether there is a difference between USA marketing and UK marketing, because all we see is "this really works try it" as Derek says, anyone can write this stuff. At the end of the day we will believe what we want to believe.

[Mike Halliday]

this....?

[Steve Chapman]

Yep 

It looks pretty scruffy and amateurish, but there is something compelling about it 

Question is does it work

steve

[clinton]

Think your going to have to try some steve and see what works for you.

It did make you look mind and got your attention at what mike has posted.

[Mike Halliday]

I think like a lot of the American marketing it  goes over the top, if the full letter is handwritten and 'outrageous' then none of it is 'outrageous'

if you use it sparingly within a normal typed letter then it will have more visual impact, you should use it to emphasize your call to action or special offer

[wynne jones]

I would hazard a guess the people who have tried the most marketing ideas that didn't work are the ones who are making the most money now.

[Steve Chapman]

Mike,

That was kinda what I was thinking, maybe take some elements from it and adapt to our market.

Some of whats in the book is good but like you say maybe a little over the top, but I still think different is good in marketing terms, even if it just gets the customer to look at it a little longer than other regular mail.

Also the book is informative in terms of using headlines, offers and deadlines, so unless you've actually read it you cant really say its rubbish 

After reading some of the book i was amazed how quite alot of businesses do already employ this type of advertising, its not really outrageous though just a little bit different to the norm, but it must be working for some otherwise they woudnt plough there money into it.

Regards
Steve

[Mike Halliday]

I came across this 3 yrs ago and since then i have noticed it used a lot in every day marketing,

mostly it is just a handwritten circle around a special point then want to highlight or they use it like a student would use in on his course notes where he put comments in the border or underlines or highlight a specific sentence.

i bet if i look through my wifes magazines or todays papers I can find an example of it being use....I have a look

[Steve Chapman]

That just sounds like an excuse to read Cosmopolitan to me 

steve

[garry22]

There is a very successful windsurfing / snowboard shop in this country and I've known the owners for years.

They used to send out a handwritten, photocopied list of stuff for sale each month. It used to shift stock like crazy.

Then.. some "marketing expert" told them it wasn't good for their "professional image" and they stopped using it. Whenever I talk to people about it, nearly all recognise it and miss it.

To be honest, if your marketing message is crap / boring / the same as everyone else, it does not matter how you send it out to people.

[wynne jones]

Think you are right Garry.

The corporate/brand thing often makes things less likely to be read and doodles smilies etc catch your eye because they are different. Even opening your mail can be enlightening with some companies printing 'handwritten' fonts, off square stamps etc.

 

[garry22]

anyone can write this crap and say it works, people buy these books thinking its the answer but it aint. i could easily write a full book on outrageous marketting, anyone could, just think up some stupid, different or "outrageous" ways to contact people and write them down.

I think you'll find that Bill Glazer has the sales results (in ordinary retail goods) to back up anything he says.

[derek west]

just my views, take em or leave em. i'm fine either way, aint gonna effect me none.

[Mark Lawrence]

I would hazard a guess that the yank public are maybe a bit more gulible, whereas over here we spot junk mail and dont fall for it so easily?

Mark

[Carpet Dawg]

I would hazard a guess that the yank public are maybe a bit more gulible, whereas over here we spot junk mail and dont fall for it so easily?

Mark

Or its cos we are a nation of miserable, grumpy poos  

[Dennis]

]

Or its cos we are a nation of miserable, grumpy poos  

Or we are more sophisticated.