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| One of the first rules of direct marketing is that
you can't sell anything if you can't get them to open the
envelope. Great envelope copy is the beginning of a great
direct mail piece. The subtitle of this book almost kept me from opening it up. I mean, who wants to be seen buying a book subtitled, "How to market a product nobody wants?" Aren't you already thinking, "Why would Craig read this book unless nobody wants to buy QuickVerse?" The fact of the matter is that I found the title interesting. I figured that a book on selling something nobody wants would have some good advice to help us sell products that people do want. My suspicions were correct. Jon Spoelstra finds himself the president of the New Jersey Nets, the NBA's least successful team (by any measure). His job is to fill the arena for every game, even though New Jersey was fielding the worst team in the league. He managed to improve attendance dramatically through inovative marketing techniques that apply to just about any situation. Things had gotten pretty bad at the Nets organization. Spoelstra joined up and immediately figured the best source for new season ticket sales was past season ticket holders. When he asked for a list of the last five years' purchasers, he was told that there was no such list. It seems the office personnel deleted the season ticket files from the computer after every season in order to minimize disk space usage. This book is well-written. Each chapter begins with an appropriate anecdote and ends with a quiz that reinforces what you've just read. No sports background or interest is necessary. If you're involved in marketing or sales, I'm sure you'll find it interesting. |
Ice to the
Eskimos