Strategies and Solutions for Profitable Direct Marketing
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March 12, 2010 From Denny Hatch
Two stories about publicity hounds smacked me in the face and got me to wondering what would happen if an employee or associate of mine got into the business of self-promotion for the sake of self-promotion to the detriment of the company or society.
March 5, 2010 From Denny Hatch's Business Common Sense
The In the News story at right is a stunning admission by the president of Toyota—a dozen words that describe his giant corporation being totally out of control: Some people just got too big-headed and focused too excessively on profit. Who are “some people"? Let’s call them a cabal, which the OneLook Dictionary defines as “a clique (often secret) that seeks power, usually through intrigue.” Since 1999, this cabal has been responsible for a reported: 2,262 instances of unintended acceleration 815 crashes 52 deaths. “We did realize that it was not good that pedals were not returning to their proper positions,” said Toyota’s quality control chief, Shinichi Sasaki, “but we took some time to consider whether we needed to take market action.” Parse that. “We did realize ... but we took some time ..." The message here to all businesspeople—from lone wolves to the CEOs of giant corporations: For Pete’s sake, if you're CEO of anything, don't hide behind the words “we,” “us” and “our.” Don’t use them in copy. Don’t use them in speeches. “We,” “us” and “our” are code for, “It wasn’t my decision alone, so I don’t have to take responsibility.” Or, in the words of the late Freddie Prinze Sr., "Eez not mai yob." When the Philippines fell to the invading Japanese armies in 1942, Gen. Douglas MacArthur didn't say something half-baked and corporate such as, “We shall return,” or “America shall return”—meaning if the Japanese won the war, it wasn’t his fault. He electrified the world with three iconic words: “I shall return.”
December 2009 From Denny Hatch's Business Common Sense
I'd always admired golfing great Tiger Woods for three reasons: (1) his brilliance on the golf course, (2) his impeccable elegance, and (3) his tightly controlled and shadowy personal life about which I was delighted to know nothing beyond the fact that he lived in Florida and owned a megayacht. Initial reports out of Florida on Friday, Nov. 27, by the usually reliable Associated Press described Woods as being seriously injured in a car accident. As so often happens, the pathetic, aggressive media—more anxious to get it out than get it right—got it dead wrong. He had minor facial lacerations and was released from the hospital later that day. "Media is the plural of mediocre," said Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jimmy Breslin. When I read that the Woods’ Escalade sped out of the driveway in the wee hours of the a.m., hit a fire hydrant and ended up hugging a tree with Woods unhurt, I assumed it was some kind of domestic spat and thought no more about it. This was none of my business. But quickly the story began to grow legs and snowball. The world watched transfixed as a reputation, a marriage and a billion-dollar enterprise imploded. Being a businessperson, my thoughts were (and are) continually with Woods’ sponsors—Nike, Gatorade, Accenture, Gillette and the others—who were paying $105 million a year for pure excellence and got themselves a serial adulterer. How should the Woods organization have dealt with them?
The Yin and Yang of Dealing with Good and Lousy Customers
December 15, 2009 From Denny Hatch
For years I used to quote the statistic that a satisfied customer will tell three people, while an unhappy customer will tell 11 people. This was B.I. (before the Internet). Today, an unhappy customer can go online and reach tens of millions of people around the world with an angry message.
December 15, 2009 From Denny Hatch
For years I used to quote the statistic that a satisfied customer will tell three people, while an unhappy customer will tell 11 people. This was B.I. (before the Internet). Today, an unhappy customer can go online and reach tens of millions of people around the world with an angry message.
November 10, 2009 From Denny Hatch's Business Common Sense
Of the eight key copy drivers—the emotional hot buttons that make people act—the most mysterious is exclusivity. I never really understood exclusivity until Bernie Madoff’s $50 billion Ponzi scheme put a spotlight on it. As Laurence Leamer wrote in The Huffington Post: It was an honor having him handle your fortune. He didn't take just anybody. He turned down all kinds of people, and that made you want to give the man even more of your money. When he took your fortune, he told you that he would tell you nothing about how he achieved his returns. He was a god. He had the Midas touch. Web sites have been built on this exclusivity thing. Among them: Gilt.com, RueLaLa.com and HauteLook.com. They offer to “members only” the same upmarket designer merchandise sold by Saks, but at deeply discounted sale prices during specific time periods. Saks is fighting back with an exclusive online “private event” that the CEO of HauteLook.com calls “the new way of retail.” It ain’t new. Saks is engaging in a technique as old as the hills. It’s called good, ol'-fashioned, time-tested, accountable direct marketing.
How to Launch a Business Instantly
September 29, 2009 From Denny Hatch's Business Common Sense
From Warren Buffett’s Stunning Video Testimonial I have to tell you I now have nine suits all made in China; I threw away the rest of my suits. Our directors, my partner Charlie Munger, Walter Scott, Ron Olson and even Bill Gates now, are wearing suits made by Dayang Trands. And they know and love Madam Li for what she’s accomplished. As a matter of fact I think maybe Bill Gates and I should start a men’s clothing store and sell the suits made by Madam Li. I think we would be great salesmen, because we love them so much. The suits we’ve received that have been made in China we’ve never had to alter a quarter of an inch. They fit perfectly. We get compliments on them. It’s been a long time since I got compliments on how I looked. But since I’m wearing Madam Li’s suits I get compliments all the time. So maybe Bill and I can start a clothing store. And if we sold the suits made by Dayang Trands someday we might even be rich, who knows. Warren Buffett's testimonial on the 30th anniversary of Madam Li Guilian’s company was released over The Wall Street Journal’s digital network on Sept. 10 as a YouTube-type video. Dalian Dayang Trands Co. stock jumped 70%. Because I work at home, I haven't bought a new suit in five years. After that endorsement, I lusted after a Trands suit. No dice. They're available only at the 20 Trands stores in China—mostly in secondary cities, the brand wasn't even widely known in China—or by mail to the very rich who know the owner, Madam Li, and have access to a great fitter. What we're looking at is not only the greatest testimonial in the history of the world, but also a marketing opportunity that gives me the tingles.
September 29, 2009 From Denny Hatch's Business Common Sense
From Warren Buffett’s Stunning Video Testimonial I have to tell you I now have nine suits all made in China; I threw away the rest of my suits. Our directors, my partner Charlie Munger, Walter Scott, Ron Olson and even Bill Gates now, are wearing suits made by Dayang Trands. And they know and love Madam Li for what she’s accomplished. As a matter of fact I think maybe Bill Gates and I should start a men’s clothing store and sell the suits made by Madam Li. I think we would be great salesmen, because we love them so much. The suits we’ve received that have been made in China we’ve never had to alter a quarter of an inch. They fit perfectly. We get compliments on them. It’s been a long time since I got compliments on how I looked. But since I’m wearing Madam Li’s suits I get compliments all the time. So maybe Bill and I can start a clothing store. And if we sold the suits made by Dayang Trands someday we might even be rich, who knows. Warren Buffett's testimonial on the 30th anniversary of Madam Li Guilian’s company was released over The Wall Street Journal’s digital network on Sept. 10 as a YouTube-type video. Dalian Dayang Trands Co. stock jumped 70%. Because I work at home, I haven't bought a new suit in five years. After that endorsement, I lusted after a Trands suit. No dice. They're available only at the 20 Trands stores in China—mostly in secondary cities, the brand wasn't even widely known in China—or by mail to the very rich who know the owner, Madam Li, and have access to a great fitter. What we're looking at is not only the greatest testimonial in the history of the world, but also a marketing opportunity that gives me the tingles.
Write It Right!
September 15, 2009 From Denny Hatch's Business Common Sense
When I started reading The New York Times on Sunday, Aug. 30, my brain kept bumping into articles that were making no sense. Was the problem myself, having just turned 74? Or was it poor writing and editing on the part of the Times. After careful analysis, I discovered that editorial excellence in The New York Times has deteriorated right along with its finances. Poor writing in print media—memos, white papers, letters, reports, newspapers and books—is relatively harmless. “Today’s $1 newspaper is tomorrow’s birdcage liner,” wrote Doc Searls, blogger, columnist and co-author of “The Cluetrain Manifesto.” But if our written material—riddled with mistakes and non sequiturs—makes it to the Internet, it can plague us all the way to the grave and beyond.
September 15, 2009 From Denny Hatch's Business Common Sense
When I started reading The New York Times on Sunday, Aug. 30, my brain kept bumping into articles that were making no sense. Was the problem myself, having just turned 74? Or was it poor writing and editing on the part of the Times. After careful analysis, I discovered that editorial excellence in The New York Times has deteriorated right along with its finances. Poor writing in print media—memos, white papers, letters, reports, newspapers and books—is relatively harmless. “Today’s $1 newspaper is tomorrow’s birdcage liner,” wrote Doc Searls, blogger, columnist and co-author of “The Cluetrain Manifesto.” But if our written material—riddled with mistakes and non sequiturs—makes it to the Internet, it can plague us all the way to the grave and beyond.
Famous Last Words : Direct Mail Redux?
August 2009 From Target Marketing
For more than 35 years, my wife, Peggy, and I have been saving our direct mail for inclusion in the giant Who’s Mailing What! Archive of samples in more than 200 categories—consumer, business and nonprofit.
August 2009 From Target Marketing
For more than 35 years, my wife, Peggy, and I have been saving our direct mail for inclusion in the giant Who’s Mailing What! Archive of samples in more than 200 categories—consumer, business and nonprofit.
June 2009 From Denny Hatch's Business Common Sense
Are financial services companies planning to screw over their most affluent customers as a result of the recent credit card legislation? In October 2008, I wrote in these paragraphs: Take a gander at this paragraph from a Wall Street Journal story by Robin Sidel on Oct. 20, 2008: “AmEx recently slapped a $1,100-a-month spending limit on John and Monica Bell's platinum AmEx charge card. The reason: AmEx customers who pay with plastic at the same places where Mrs. Bell shops and have the same mortgage lender have poor repayment histories, according to a letter sent by AmEx.” The couple pays $450 a year for the card—which promises "no pre-set spending limit." The couple routinely spent $5,000 a month—that's $60,000 a year—and has never been late with a payment. If the data goons are allowed to start treating blue-ribbon American Express Platinum Cardmembers like chronic deadbeats, what will happen to the rest of us? AmEx CEO Ken Chenault was punished for his perfidy. In the first quarter of 2009, his customers reduced spending by 16% and his net was down 55%. On May 19, AmEx announced it would ax 4,000 employees (on top of the 7,000 canned last October) and scramble to cut $800 million in expenses. A personal note to Ken Chenault, Visa, MasterCard, et al: When you allow bean counters and data analysts to make marketing decisions, you'll be punished. Now is the time to study the masters of customer relationship magic. And a good place to start is with Annemarie Victory.
May 2009 From Target Marketing
You can call it barbecue, barbeque, BBQ or just plain ’cue. Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue, of course, calls it business. In particular, it’s a family business that started in 1957 when the Fiorella clan opened the first of its barbecue restaurants in Kansas City, Mo., called Smoke Stack Barbecue. In 1974, the eldest Fiorella son, Jack, added another branch to the family trade by opening his own operation, which he later distinguished by renaming it Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue, introducing hickory wood to the grilling process and adding seafood to the more traditional pork, poultry and beef offerings.
