Andy Owen - Direct Marketing 1

Andy Owen & Associates is one of the world's most respected direct marketing consultancies, offering advice, guidance and support in all aspects of contemporary and strategic marketing.

The company has been involved in direct marketing for over 25 years.

In that time, we have worked for clients large and small and in most sectors of industry and commerce. Our vast experience and expertise is not just enjoyed by UK and European companies. We also work in three other continents too.

We create effective campaigns that not only achieve the objectives of the client, but also fit within that client's overall marketing mix, to produce a measurable return on marketing investment.

Put simply, we help our clients sell more

Our advice is always realistic and entirely practical. This means we will never propose a marketing approach that is difficult to implement or originate creative or copy that forgets how to sell.

In direct marketing, it is all about results.

The experience we have gained over the two decades and more we have been in direct marketing is experience that consistently makes us better at what we do.

Experience that, we believe, is extremely rare.

And, experience that is available to you.

ARTICLE

The master, John Caples once said "What good is all the painstaking work on copy if the headline isn't right? If the headline doesn't stop people, the copy might as well be written in Greek." How true that is... If the headline of a letter or ad is poor, the best copywriter in the world can't write copy that will save it. They haven't got a chance. because, if the headline is poor, no one will even venture into the copy. It will not be read. and copy that is not read will not sell. End of story... On average, five times as many people will read the headline of your ad and letter, than read the body copy. therefore it is absolutely essential that the winning idea, the proposition, must be in the headline, not in the copy. If it's not, there will be no selling proposition to 90% of your audience. So, if you have news to tell, don't bury it in your body copy, which nine out of ten people won't read. State it loud and clear in your headline. ...just think about that for a minute, next time you consider your next headline... One of my all time favourite headlines was written by Jerry de la Femina:

"If you've got a dollar, and you've got piles, send me your dollar and we'll get rid of your piles. Or, you can keep your dollar and keep your piles". Headlines, which work best, are those that promise a benefit. Also, those that contain news. The very best contain news of benefits... Finally, try if possible, to use the brand name in your headline. Not always possible, but recommended if you can. because, if you don't, nine out of ten people will never know what product you are promoting. Remember, the best headlines are really just selling ideas expressed in the simplest possible words. No frills. No adjectives. No attempts at cleverness. As Caples said, decades ago. "The best headlines appeal to basic human desires such as the desire for self¬ improvement, for good value, for peace of mind, and for security in old age. These appeals have worked successfully for years, and can be expected to work successfully in the future" Nothing much has changed, has it? It won't either...