Does "Junking it Up" Work?

I sign up for marketing mailing lists for restaurant owners as "David's Diner" sometimes to see how other marketing professionals market to restaurant owners. (Incidentally, i'm also David's Steam Cleaning and David's Remodeling)

Anyway, I received a postcard woth a personal url from Rory Fatt, a marketer of the Dan Kennedy, long copy, "junk it up" school.

Here's the link: http://davidflash.restaurantstimulus.com/

Personal urls are high tech as are the social media links integrated into the page, but production values are "junked up"

I was recently reading a book called "It: How Churches and Leaders Can Get It and Keep It" by pastor Craig Groeschel of lifechurch.tv in which he introduced me to Kathy Sierra's Imperfections curve.

Seems like the optimal user experience (reader experience? mailer audience experience?) is when production values are about 70% of the smoothest, "most professional" production values. http://arnolds.wikispaces.com/the+Imperfections+curve,+on+user+happiness+versus+production+values+%28Cathy+Sierra%29

What have been your experiences related to the concept of "Junking it Up" in ads or websites?

SIMPLE = GOOD

Looking through old emails today...ran across this golden nugget that I sent to the Texas Gold team back in the day...it's by Luke Sullivan from his book, Hey Whipple Squeeze This: A Guide To Creating Great Ads...definitely blog-worthy...enjoy:

If you take away one thing from this book, let it be the advice in this section. Simple is almost always better. Maurice Saatchi, of London’s M&C Saatchi, on simplicity: “Simplicity is all. Simple logic, simple arguments, simple visual images. If you can’t reduce your argument to a few crisp words and phrases, there’s something wrong with your argument. There’s nothing long-winded about ‘Liberte, egalite, fraternite.’”

Simple is hard to miss.

I’ve always thought a stop sign is a perfect metaphor for a good ad. It makes me stop. It is relevant. It has one word. And most of all, it is simple. It says “STOP.” It doesn’t say, “Please bring your vehicle to a speed not exceeding zero miles per hour at this coordinate in space and time as there is other vehicular traffic moving in a direction perpendicular to your own and may intersect with your vehicle’s current trajectory.” It says “STOP.” There is no introduction to stop. No asterisks are needed to understand stop. And stop needs no snappy wrap-up. So how is a stop sign different from a good ad in a magazine? I’m turning the pages and suddenly right in my face is a big, simple, relevant message. How can I ignore it?

Simple is more believable.

A simple ad is more effective because there is less in it for a reader to object to. Fewer things to pick away at. Presented with a simple ad, a reader sees less chance for duplicity or subterfuge. It’s like a magician on a bare stage doing amazing tricks right before your eyes with no props and no curtains to hide behind.

Simple breaks through “advertising clutter.”

If not with simplicity, how else would an ad break out of a cluttered TV or print environment? Should you do clutter that is more clever? Or perhaps clutter that has a better design? Clutter that is more strategically correct? No. The only effective antidote to clutter is simplicity. How can anything else but simplicity break out of clutter?

Selected excerpts from pages 69-72 of Hey Whipple Squeeze This: A Guide To Creating Great Ads by Luke Sullivan.

Get Top Performance from Your Advertising...

...when you advertise with the Top Direct Mail Brand.

I have worked with new clients who were initially reluctant to try advertising with Valpak because of less than impressive experiences with other direct mail media.

While they usually end up more than satisfied with their results with Valpak, there may be a number of reasons that the ad in the competing medium did not perform as well, including the look/feel, ad copy and promotional offer featured in the ad.

But even if the AE with the other medium took their time to recommend a good program and see it through to successful execution (which they might not be trained to do like Valpak reps are via our national award winning Coupon University education programs), the likelihood of beating a the return from a Valpak ad is usually slim to none.

The main reason Valpak works better is because Valpak is better known. Valpak's television and radio commercials along with endorsements from the likes of Bobby Flay, Martha Stewart and Ellen Degeneres keep Valpak in the national spotlight. As do internet syndication deals with the likes of Google and Microsoft.

In addition to having larger national footprint (meaning new movers are more likely to have been getting Valpak where they used to live), Valpak offers are proven by independent market research most likely to be:

Recognized- 9 in 10 adults (92%) receiving Valpak are aware of it.

Retained- 84% of those using Valpak coupons keep them to use in the future

Redeemed- Consumers are 26% more likely to redeem Valpak offers than other co-op direct mail brands. Specifically, Valpak offers are 48% more likely to be redeemed than Red Plum and 35% more likely to be redeemed than Money Mailer.

As we say in Texas, it ain't braggin' if it's true. I encourage you to call me today at 979-587-2828 or email me at david.flash@gmail.com to discuss how Valpak of Austin, Kansas City, San Diego, Sacramento or St. Louis can help you grow your business.

Speaking of being true...here's the research: Directions in Research (DIR), a national market research firm based in San Diego, California was commissioned to conduct telephone interviews. Simultaneously, online surveys were collected from eRewards, a renowned global market research firm, and by SurveyGizmo, a Widgix Software Company that performs web marketing and research. An equal number of surveys were collected with each methodology. All interviews were conducted in Marck of 2008 with a random, representative sample of adults residing in Valpak mailing areas across the continental us. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.1%. All competitor information was gathered from consumers aeare of the competitor.

Predicting Coupon Response

I am often asked to give prospective clients an estimate of the response I think they will receive. Many have heard that they should expect a certain percentage response and this is simply not reality.

Any coupon marketing Account Executive who promises a percentage return is full of beans! I have clients in the food business who pull a few percent coupon return and clients who sell $10,000+ home improvement jobs who may "only" book 4 or 5 jobs of 100,00o pieces mailed. In both situations, the clients are more than happy with their return on investment. In fact, the home improvement client with only a small fraction of a percent responding to her ad is actually netting a much larger return on investment in terms of initial profit dollars.

I do share specific success stories with prospective new customers, but never predict or guarantee their response. I also share that response to coupon advertising is impacted by 3 main factors:

1. Ad Design: It must portray you in a positive and professional light and also clearly and quickly communicate what you have to offer to prospective customers.

2. Offers: Offers must be attractive enough to get consumers to call. The better the offer, the better the response (as long as pricing is believable...too low may make consumers think it's a bait/switch).

3. Strength of Brand: All things being equal, the stronger brand wins. This is why an ad for Papa John's will pull a better response than an ad for "Joe's Pizza" even if the "Joe's" ad features the same or stronger offers.

While there is no sure-fire way to predict response for a new client, by looking at realistic success stories, and comparing how their proposed ad will stack up against the ad from the success stories, a new client can get a good idea of what they can expect from their coupon campaign.

Marketing in Today's Economy: Kiyosaki Says "Go Big or Go Home"

When economic times are tough, it can be easier than ever for smart marketer to grow market share to stay afloat and emerge larger and more profitable than ever before when the next economic boom hits.

The reason why is simple: when businesses shut down in tough times, their loyal customers who never would have left them now must find somewhere new to shop, eat, get the car washed, etc... The best businesses at attracting these "orphaned" customers will not only stay in business, they will have a larger customer base that they will profit from for years or decades to come.

Following is a quote from a recent Entrepreneur.com article by Rich Dad / Poor Dad Autor Robert Kiyosaki on the importance of marketing harder in hard times:

A few days ago, I spoke at a luncheon with approximately 500 local business leaders. I began with these words: "I have good news and bad news. The good news is you will have fewer competitors next year because many of your competitors will be out of business. The bad news is you might be one of those out of business."

I then showed them my local newspaper, pointing to the headline "Businesses Are Struggling." I opened the newspaper and said, "I can tell you who will be in business." I pointed to a full-page ad for a local appliance store. "I'll bet money that this business will be here next year. Why? Because this business is advertising more aggressively than its competition."

In previous issues of Entrepreneur, I've written about the importance of advertising and promotion. I've shared my rich dad's lesson that when business drops off, many entrepreneurs listen to their accountant's advice and cut back on advertising and promotion. That's the worst thing you can do. When times get tough, your job is to promote more, not less.

Advertising bigger is even better if you are tracking your return on investment so that you can cut marketing programs that aren't working and increase your investment on the ones that are. The Valpak envelope is not only a great direct-response customer acquisition medium, your return on investment totally trackable either by coupon redemptions or with our new phone call tracking system.

Martha Stewart Endorses Valpak On Air and In Blog

Following is my recent post from the Valpak of Austin website about the latest national Valpak on-envelope promotion with Martha Stewart. Great promotions like this set Valpak apart in its ability to connect with its core audience of female household desision makers and net better results for its clients than the plethora of non-branded or "me too" cooperative mailers out there.

Martha Stewart and Valpak have joined forces for the to promote the "Martha's Cooking School Sweepstakes."

Some of the great prizes are: a trip to New York City to see "The Martha Stewart Show" and attend the first day of our Cooking School series, a $250 gift card from Macy's, a complete collection of cookware and cooks' tools from the Martha Stewart Collection at Macy's and Martha's newest book, "Martha Stewart's Cooking School."

In addition to promoting the entry form in the Valpak envelope on her show, she is promoting the sweepatakes and the blue envelope in her popular blog:

Recently, on my TV show, I introduced the "Martha's Cooking School Sweepstakes," which you can enter at marthastewart.com/cookingschool. Valpak is helping to spread the word about this sweepstakes by mailing 43 million blue Valpak envelopes all across the country. Spin the Wheel of Good Things! You can win instantly! Too bad they're not allowing me to play –- I love a good sweepstakes!

The sweepstakes promotion with Martha Stewart is a win for Valpak advertisers. Valpak households are 20% more likely to watch The Martha Stewart Show than the average U.S. household according to Simmons Market Research. That's why we know the Valpak audience will be watching Martha - making our product relevant to our consumers.

A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats

Today, coupons and savings are a hotter topic than ever before for businesses and consumers alike. As America's top coupon brand, Valpak has been receiving tons of exposure in the press. This translates into an even more exposure for our advertisers to a highly responsive audience.

In fact, because our advertisers are seeing such great response and more businesses than ever are seeking measurable advertising that can prove itself profitable, Valpak of Austin just mailed the biggest envelope ever in our 30 year history!

Having more ads in than ever in the Valpak envelope means there's even more valuable content for our loyal audience. This is bringing even better response for all of our advertisers. As they say, a rising tide lifts all boats!