Contributed by Lee MarcStein

  • Another Reason Direct Mail Response Is Atrophying

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    Veterans like me know that response to our direct mail is never going to be what it was decades ago. ...

  • Advice to Direct Marketers from the Doobie Brothers

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    "Listen to the music," they sang. And why should direct marketers listen to the Because the great composers are masters ...

  • Mine!

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    My youngest grandchild, Samantha, will turn two at Thanksgiving She's just starting to speak words adults can recognize. Of course, ...

  • But George, There's Another Side to This

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    I've been accused of having marketing foresight. Here's On September 19th, the entry on my George Carlin daily calendar pad ...

  • Is Short Copy Better for Marketers?

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    Classic direct response copy .... direct mail and print .... was always long "Mail order" was part of the culture ...

  • Talk About Foresight!

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    My last post was about how much foresight Ted Levitt had when he published "Marketing Myopia" in 1960. That ...

  • In Memoriam: Goodbye to the Godfather of Consumer Centricism

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    I saw in this morning's obits that Theodore Levitt, former Harvard Business School Professor, had died. Think about this: ...

  • Confessions of a Hypocrite

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    So this current post is the other shoe dropping, the confession, the session with my shrink.

  • Is Nothing Sacred?

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    The other day, my wife and I went shopping for bikes. We knew we wanted "Comfort Bikes" had a price ...

  • 2-5-7-8...How We Gonna Differentiate?

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    In a world where everything is commoditized, the key to success becomes DIFFERENTIATION. That's becoming more difficult to achieve...

  • People Who Need People

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    There are two kinds of people in the U.S. No, not Red Staters and Blue Staters, but people who ...

  • The Profit of Doom

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    It's my theory that MOST of the people who respond to direct marketing efforts are optimists

  • Good Gravy

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    Gravy isn't good for your arteries, but it is good for direct marketing efforts. It bubbles up naturally from your ...

  • Stealing Second Base

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    One of my favorite quotes for years has been %3Cstrong%3E"you can't steal second base with one foot on first." Too ...

  • Where AND When

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    I'm sitting in the living room listening to Sinatra singing "Where or When" and think I'm in the perfect place ...

  • Is This Where I Came In?

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    If this is where I came in 42 years ago (I started when I was six), why did I stay ...

  • Dirty Laundry and Clean Relationships

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    I've spoken numerous times on "Creative Strategies in the Age of Disbelief." One of the key premises is that DECEPTION ...

  • My Visit to Uncle Giuseppe's (or Lester Loses Some Luster)

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    I am blown away by the sights and sounds. Beautiful displays of prepared foods, more kinds of asiago and other ...

  • A Rose by Any Other Name

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    When I started in direct marketing in 1964, not only were there no blogs and Internet, but there wasn't even ...