Jean Gazis Copywriting & Content Services

I stumbled across (ha! - I was targeted by-- ) this terrific bit of online advertising for the Honda CR-V. I followed a link from the top of my Gmail that said "Are you craving pizza? - www.honda.com - Whatever you're craving, the Crave Reader can guess. Try it out." (Note: The links don't seem to go to the same page now. I don't know why they wouldn't leave the ad up, but apparently they didn't.)

Who can resist an Internet quiz?

I came across this interesting article in Chief Marketer's "Marketing ROI" e-newsletter. The gist of it is that the current trend in marketing is towards analytics, which are of course very important, but not meaningful unless balanced with compelling content.

"Customers see only the creative elements of marketing, the content, and they expect it to be good... Ultimately, human beings react to content.

One of the last pieces of sales collateral I wrote when I worked for Ziff-Davis Central Ad Sales almost ten years ago (!) was about the need for continuous advertising and marketing during slow business periods, headlined Slow Times Call for Fast Action.

Fast forward to the current downturn, and – what do you know? – the very same advice turns up in The Entrepreneurial Mind blog on my Google Reader, linking to a newspaper article titled Don't ease up on marketing in these slow economic times.

I said: "Coasting is no way to win a race. During a period of slow sales, one of the first things you may be tempted to do is cut costs by reducing your advertising budget. It may seem like an obvious move, but it’s the wrong move... you can’t get something by doing nothing. When times are good, advertising is important. And when they’re not so good, it’s essential. A strong marketing program — selling to new customers, expanding into new markets, increasing ad spending — will solidify your customer base, take business away from less aggressive competitors, and position your business for future growth."

He says: "One of the expenses that entrepreneurs are tempted to cut back on is marketing. However, a weak economy is not the time to cut back on communicating with your existing and potential customers... With customers cutting back on their spending, small business owners must fight even more aggressively to maintain their revenues. That is why marketing and advertising become more important than ever."

I still think that was one of my best pieces. It's nice to see that it's as true as ever.

Celebrate Brooklyn! Program Ad for Business Consulting Firm

Sponsor ad for Celebrate Brooklyn! concert series printed programs and website. Corporate logo, ad concept, copy, and graphic design.


Celebrate Brooklyn! Program Ad for Counseling Services

Sponsor ad for Celebrate Brooklyn! concert series printed programs and website. Copy adapted from yellow pages ad, design, typography, layout.



Concert Program Ad for Technology Consulting Firm

Sponsor ad in programs and on website for Celebrate Brooklyn! concert series. Concept, copywriting, and graphic design.

I've let my public radio membership lapse but I will rejoin one of these days. Meanwhile I sent in a website suggestion, and I think they're going to use it:

I've been scanning business cards collected from various networking events to get the contact info into a database. I can see why someone might want a two-sided card to put a nice big logo or tagline on the back. But why, why, WHY would anyone design the card so that the actual business name and URL – or worse, their name and title – don't also appear on the front of the card at all? That is just stupid, people!

Effective Marketing Rule #1: Put all the information people want where they can get it easily!

American Demographics Always fascinating.

DMA Guidelines Quick Reference page

Newsletter Biz: the Newsletter on Newsletters

Survey Monkey Do-it-yourself market research.

Constant Contact Online email newsletter management service.

This is from the Chief Marketer newsletter/website, and has several good suggestions for small business PR.

"The public relations profession has long based its rationale for being on delivering “credibility” to clients via positive media coverage. This has traditionally meant coverage in the business and trade press, news and personality magazines, programs, etc. But in our digital age all this scatter shot media exposure has been distilled to a single word – “Google,” both verb and noun, which has emerged as one’s most important credibility quotient.

I just got this in an email newsletter:

"Members-Only Special Offer: Get a Free Sierra Trading Post Catalog - Click Here"

Now there's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, NOT! Is there anyone who doesn't get that thing, frequently, unsolicited, in their junk mail?

In more useful content, the newsletter provided a link to Hiking New York City.

"To turn visitors into users your homepage needs to make them feel the way they will feel when they use your service - happy, satisfied, excited." - Andy Rutledge