The World's Famous Direct Mail Marketing Piece (or So They Say) & What You Can Gleam From It...

Guest Contributor: Shannon McCaffery
Shannon's Posts - Shannon's Site


Have you ever heard of Martin Conroy? Don't worry if you haven't. Because if you're not in the advertising world, its most likely you have no idea who he is. In fact, Martin is quite famous because of a letter he wrote back in 1974 for the Wall Street Journal. This is a very famous letter in the advertising world and considered a classic of direct-mail marketing. It's been reused and rewritten and reared as one of the best pieces of advertising among those in the marketing business. This letter was first sent out in 1974 and since then has been mailed continuously for over 28 years. It was sent to millions of people in the course of nearly three decades. It's alleged that it had a longer life than any other direct mail piece ever.

I'm mentioning this for a few reasons. First, I just wanted to pay tribute to Martin Conroy for his brilliant letter. He was an advertising executive and has since passed away. He was 84 years old. He was revered because he created the most enduring ad campaign of all time.

The beauty of what he created was in its simplicity. It was just a letter, a simple two page letter that was a subscription pitch for the Wall Street Journal. It was written in plain language and had an interesting similarity to a fairy tale. It's a wonderful story. That's the real key here, it's written like a story and is a very simple tale and interesting read.

The second reason I'm mentioning this letter is because something most interesting. The Journal never kept any statistics on the letter's effectiveness. As I've mentioned in previous posts about the importance of monitoring, tracking and testing your advertising, I'm amazed that this was never measured. In some ways because of its sheer longevity, the direct mail experts say that is its own testament to its effectiveness.

I just want to note here, unless you've got a lot of money to burn, I would highly encourage you to ALWAYS monitor, track and test your advertising! Here's a glimpse at the first paragraph:

"Dear Reader:
On a beautiful late spring afternoon, twenty-five years ago, two young men graduated from the same college. They were very much alike, these two young men. Both had been better than average students, both were personable and both-as young college graduates are-were filled with ambitious dreams for the future. Recently, these men returned to their college for their 25th reunion..."

Want to read more and see what ideas you can "borrow" for your advertising? Discover the amazing secrets of this great direct mail piece. Check out the WHOLE letter by going to this link-
http://www.MarketingImplementer.com/WSJ_Letter.php You won't be disappointed by what you discover.

This should be something you keep in your swipe file of good copy, great story and a direct mail piece that really worked. My philosophy is keep a swipe file of really good ads that work. When I'm creating something new, I get out my swipe file and generate some awesome ideas for some killer sales copy.