LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Kind Words for Kris

I thought Kris Oser’s article “Strong Medicine” (DIRECT, January) was outstanding. It was obvious she’d done a lot of research. Jay Bolling’s quotes were very much on target.

One of our engineers immediately pasted the story on our lunchroom reading-wall and it’s generating lively discussions around the office. It seems our managers don’t always see eye to eye on these issues – imagine that.

But are CRM purchasers answering customer e-mail? Given the immense power of CRM systems, we’re surprised to find that many Fortune 500 firms are still slow to answer [it]. Our internal research shows that slow customer response results in abandoned shopping carts, canceled orders and high product returns. Ouch!

Hopefully, articles like Kris writes will motivate readers to fully utilize the power of their CRM systems.

Thanks for a great issue. Rest assured that the Omaha tech community is reading DIRECT. Mitch Johnson
CEO
E-Mail Solutions
Omaha, NE

‘Muddling’ Maven?
Re: The Makeover Maven (DIRECT, January) Yes, I agree that the Yahoo! ad could be improved. However, your remuddling would never have made the grade in a freshman design class.

Your ad is so text-heavy it has slipped into that gray area of advertorial.

There’s not one thing on your page that would attract a reader to stop and slog through your voluminous text. Poor headline type, no logo recognition and poor use of badly selected art.

The purpose of advertising is to attract readers’ attention, leave an impression of your product or service and hopefully have them use your product. Your remuddlings usually fall woefully short on all counts.

Kenneth Quail
Cahners Printing Group
New York

Tom Collins replies: Some of the most wildly successful ads in history have been far more “text-heavy” than mine. Remember, I’m approaching this as direct response advertising, not brand advertising. Building a brand for Yahoo! Shopping doesn’t do a darned bit of good if readers never do anything about it.

I’ve slipped into the “gray area” of advertorials? What’s gray about advertorials? Do you mean like David Ogilvy’s classic ad for KLM Airlines, “Surprising Amsterdam”? Some of the very best print advertising seems more like editorial than advertising because it doesn’t hit readers over the head, but invites them in.

I agree that my ad wouldn’t attract most readers…only those who are interested in shopping on the Web. I think they’d be keenly interested.

Badly selected art? I had to use the product art that Yahoo!’s Web site provided.

Poor typography? Maybe. But how do you go about proving it?

But I’m glad you wrote anyway. There isn’t enough discussion these days of what constitutes good advertising.

No Response
Re: Hot Creative (DIRECT, December 2000) Criteria for the Caples don’t include response rates. Entries are scored solely on the submitted solutions to encountered real-world marketing problems. The judges must be hands-on senior creatives because it takes solid experience to be able to either identify with the “problem” or to appreciate the “creative intelligence” (or lack thereof) of the solution. We feel response statistics, virtually impossible to verify, can also be influenced by far too many variables outside the control of the creative team.

Andi Emerson
President
The John Caples International Awards Inc.
New York

Lighten Up
Judging by Herschell Gordon Lewis’ recent column (Curmudgeon-at-Large, Nov. 1, 2000), I presume that he has never actually joined Blockbuster Rewards. It happens to be a great program, especially for those who frequently rent movies.

I’ve saved a lot of money in the program, since they print out all kinds of coupons for future rentals with each purchase receipt for Rewards members. Also, concerning the “reversed 6-point type,” I have never met a person who actually even reads that little paragraph…so, most likely, that would not have much of an effect on a customer’s decision to sign up for the program. It’s $9.95 – it’s not like we’re signing our lives away.

Maybe Mr. Lewis should stop and think about how much he scrutinizes things. If you can’t see the forest for the trees, then you’re not getting the most out of life. As the saying goes, “Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.”

More power to Blockbuster…as long as they’re saving me money, I’m behind them 100%.

Jennifer Nacci Martin Labbe Associates Ormond Beach, FL

A New Look for Polo.com
Re: Hot Creative (DIRECT, January) Jonathan Boorstein’s Polo.com critique was interesting and informative, but given recent updates to the site, DIRECT’s readers might find a bit of a disconnect between this story and what they see when they go to Polo.com today.

We’re listening to what people have to say about the site and are working on even more refinements. So check it out.

Jackson Lynch
Director of Communications
Ralph Lauren Media
New York

Correction
In “E-mail Makes the A-List” (DIRECT, December 2000), Bigfoot Interactive chief executive officer James Hoffman was incorrectly identified as chief executive of Bigfoot.com, a separate company.