LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

IT'S REALLY VERY SIMPLE…

It's obvious what went wrong with the MIT Sloan Management Review's e-mail promotion: It's virtually impossible to profitably sell an $89-a-year subscription with a one-step promotion online (Newsline, September).

What the marketer should have done was offer, in the e-mail, a free special report — a downloadable PDF of one of its articles. Then, via auto-responder, send an e-mail conversion series to those who downloaded the free report, attempting to upgrade them to the free issue offer.
Bob Bly
Copywriter
Dumont, NJ

Ken Magill wrote an interesting article about the MIT Sloan Management Review's e-mail campaign. What fascinated me the most is what was missed when diagnosing the problem.

So many marketers forget, when developing B-to-B campaigns, that people don't magically transform when they go to the office. Some of the same people who buy trashy supermarket magazines, shop for bobble heads on eBay, and (gasp!) search for dirty pictures on the Internet are professionals of all types.

In other words, the click-through response rate for the “Sexiest Manager Alive” campaign was so high because prospects wanted to see some sexy managers (or see if they made the list). Once they made it to the landing page, they were quickly disappointed and left.

We all know the majority of people stop reading after the headline. In this case, the second headline takes a moment of concentration to get the gist. “What doesn't go into our magazine is as important as what does.” So what doesn't go into the magazine? Sexy managers, unsexy managers, or articles about sexy managers?

It's just my theory, but most of the time when you hear galloping, the sound is coming from horses and not zebras. E-mail marketing is like any other marketing communication; the message has to be crystal clear without study or further explanation.
Kevin Pawlowski
Senior Product Manager
Tech Spray L.P.
Amarillo, TX

GET WITH THE PROGRAM

First, thanks to Direct for its coverage of recent happenings in the insert media industry (“Still Standing,” September). As Larry Riggs' article states, there's been steady growth in the industry — particularly in the number of new companies testing the medium.

I do want to point out one thing, though: the term “alternative media” has been dead with industry insiders for some time.

Nearly four years ago, Leon Henry was very aggressive in pulling together all the major insert media players to reinvent this marketing channel's identity. The term “alternative” no longer was appropriate. For many, this was a significant marketing channel, not an alternative one — not to mention that the word also didn't describe very well what the medium is. In October 2002, “insert media” was adopted as this channel's official name.

Today, nearly every insert media firm identifies with this change — especially those quoted in the recent article. For those in the marketing community at large, the term alternative media is either outdated or not a part of the marketing lexicon at all.

Again, Direct's support and coverage of insert media is deeply appreciated.
Rob Stanton
Vice President,
Business Development
Stanton Direct Marketing Inc.
Elmira, NY

Great article on insert media and thanks for the quote.

However, I would be remiss if I didn't call to Direct's attention that placing the article under the “alternative media” heading does not help all of us in the insert media industry who are pushing the new nomenclature.
Leon Henry
Chairman/CEO
Leon Henry Inc.
Hartsdale, NY

CANNON'S ON TARGET

Re Loose Cannon, September: What eggsactly is going on here?

Don't these big corporations know that eggscruciatingly bad puns are the birthright of all copywriters? How dare CBS eggzeks think they can scoop the coop and keep the rest of us out of the henhouse! How can we earn a living — are we supposed to go bacon for our breakfast?

Copywriters of the world unite — let's tell those hard-boiled corporate types that they are toast!

(P.S.: Not to butter you up, but it was a good column.)
Lauretta Harris
Write Communications Inc.
Scarsdale, NY

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