This document provides an overview of a training course on evaluating creative work for direct marketing. It introduces the two instructors, Alan Rosenspan and Carol Worthington-Levy, who have extensive experience in creative direction and award-winning work. The course will cover how to evaluate creative for print, digital, and other media, with opportunities for questions throughout. It also shares a case study on redesigning the marketing approach for a teen travel program to generate more interest and response through targeted, multi-channel creative work. The goals are to help participants get the best creative, know what to look for and avoid, and motivate their teams to do their best work.

1. Welcome to the DMA‘s
Creative Certification Course
Part One
Evaluating Creative
Wed., Oct. 17, 2012 ; 1:00 – 4:00 pm
Presented by
Alan Rosenspan &
Carol Worthington-Levy

2. Scope of the Course
• How to Evaluate Creative
• How to Get Great Print Work
• How to Get Great Digital Work
• Questions & Answers
throughout, breaks as needed
2

3. Alan Rosenspan
 Creative director in three countries, for O&M and
Digitas
 My teams have won over 100 Awards – including 20
DMA Echo Awards for results.
 More importantly, a working creative director and
direct marketing consultant
 Client list has included American
Express, Ancestry.com, Bank of America, Capital
One, Embrace Home Loans, Humana, HSBC, Life Line
Screening, Oreck, Princess Lines, Scotts Lawn
Service, Viking River Cruises, many others
3

4. Carol
Worthington-Levy
 Wears three hats – Design/art director, writer and
creative director/consultant
 A stickler for responsive design: has read it all, tested it
all, and even attended a seminar in Switzerland to learn
what will encourage response… or crush it!
 Recently sold her multichannel marketing partnership – yay!
 Possibly one of the only 8-time DMA Echo winner in
3 categories: Mail, Catalog and Online/digital
 Clients: AAA Auto Clubs, 5.11 Tactical, Adventures Cross Country teen
travel, Wine of the Month Club, Jacuzzi, French Toast School
Uniforms, Hewlett-Packard Printer Division, Niman Ranch premium
meats, Comcast, American Isuzu, Intuit, BMW and more
4

5. Two points of view
 Carol‘s primary  Alan‘s background is
background is art copy
 Carol is from the  Alan is from Boston
West coast
 Carol has an  Alan is from Boston
impeccable sense of
style, design, color…
5

6. But more importantly
 We are both working creative directors and direct
marketing consultants
 We are both teachers and students of direct
marketing
 We both believe in great creative work
6

7. Who are you?
• You want to learn more about how to develop
winning creative
• You want be a better manager and motivator
of your team or your agency
• You want to be able to better evaluate
creative before investing a lot of time and
money
7

8. Introductions
• Your name and what you do
• You biggest challenge…
• What makes you unique?
– “I think I am the only person in this room who…”
8

9. Before we begin…
• Judgement call
• The truth about evaluating creative…
• Backgrounds and introductions
9

10. What do you think?
10

11. 11

12. 12

13. 13

14. 14

15. 15

16. What do you think?
• What‘s your overall reaction?
• Do you think it will work?
• What do you like?
• What do you think might be improved, or
what would you do different?
16

17. 17

18. 18

19. 19

20. 20

21. 21

22. The Truth about
Evaluating Creative
• You are an excellent judge of creative
• You are intuitive and thoughtful…
• …when you stop to actually think about it in a
critical way
22

23. Case History
Adventures Cross Country Teen Work Travel
(ARCC)
Building a multichannel
creative and marketing effort
23

24. ARCC was founded 30 years ago by two
wise educators who saw promise in taking
teenagers on work/travel adventures
24

25. Their catalog was
being used for
direct mail — and it
was too expensive
• Even good response
could not make up for
bad ROI
• Big catalogs make poor
lead generators because
they‘re too hard to get
through
25

26. Plus the catalog was designed
by a creative who made it
‗pretty‘ but too hard to read
Tip: Reversing type
out of a solid dark
color can reduce
comprehension to
as little as 10% of
what it could be
26

27. The world had changed: a new approach
was needed to reach parents and teens
who would be good prospects
• Mail costs and printing have
gone up $$$
• People are SO busy
• Email and websites are better
for teens
• In-person presentations are
ideal to answer questions of
concerned but interested
parents
27

28. ARCC multichannel program
• Instead of sending the catalog out first… Send self-mailer
28

29. Self mailer …
• Quick-reading piece
• Highlight the learning and
mentoring aspect for
parents
• Show fun and adventure
for the teens
29

30. Self mailer breaks the concept down into
short, easy pieces
• Plug in testimonials
by impressed parents
30

31. Includes an intro that
shows the
founders, and says
‗in their own words‘
their vision for ARCC
• Prominent call to action keeps
the parent thinking about next
steps
31

32. Break down the barriers
one by one… using
abbreviated schedules to
tease
• ―I don‘t know whether we‘ll have
time this summer…‖
• ―They may not go places my kid
wants to go…‖
• ―My son loves to swim and boat —
will there be anything for him?‖
• ―It‘s important for my kid to have
experience that colleges will take
notice of.‖
32

33. Postard
campaign
• Prospecting lists
used for the self
mailer can also be
used for the cards
• Send to customers
from prior
years, who are
likely to be ―pre-
sold‖
• The cards highlight
locations of in-
person presentations
in their exact
geographic area
33

34. Reinforce the
vacation-
classroom
concept, plus
testimonials
from students
34

35. We create many touchpoints: highly targeted
and focused — and each with a specific goal
Print catalog is
sent to respond
to requests
Seminars are
powerful Mailed brochures
touchpoints! reach targeted lists to
Mailed cards invite families to drive traffic to
special presentations held near web, phone and
their home, or online catalog request 35

36. The material did not exactly match
the catalog…
• Brand concerns: how different can we make
an effort and still have it recognized as a brand?
• We had response reasons to choose different
fonts, different treatments, etc.
• In the long run, the ‗brand look and feel‘ they
had was counter-responsive…
• Our approach was to do what we knew was the
‗right thing‘, and go for the response
36

37. What do you think?
• What‘s your overall reaction?
• Do you think it would work?
• Why or why not?
• Questions about the methodology or approach
37

38. Success
The campaign served several purposes…
• Generated interest among those who never
heard of ARCC
• Educated parents and kids about what‘s
available
• We didn‘t get deeply into the topic of the
competition… why start educating the reader
that there IS competition?
• Cannot share numbers… but client came back
for the following year‘s campaign!
38

39. 39

40. 40

41. 41

42. 42

43. 43

44. 44

45. Our goals
 How to get the best creative work
 What to look for; what to watch out for
 Checklist on ―How to Evaluate Creative‖
 How to motivate people to do their best work for
you.
45

46. Section 1:
How to Get The Best
Creative Work
46

47. • How can you tell if it will work in
advance?
• How to give useful and welcome
feedback
• Timing & Budget Questions
47

48. First, a definition
 What is the best creative work?
 You‘re not looking for work that
makes you laugh, or may win an
award show
 You‘re looking for creative work
that‘s going to generate response
48

49. • Does it have to be new?
• Does it have to be different?
• What are some signs of good
creative?
49

50. Does it have to be new?
• Not for the sake of being new
• New in this category
• It must be relevant to the product
and the market
50

51. 51

52. Does it have to be different?
• Not for the sake of being different
• Good creative should tell you
something you don‘t know…
• …or make you think of something in
a new or different way
52

53. 53

54. 54

55. • But it should never, ever take away
from the message
• Or worse, send the wrong message
55

56. 56

58. 7 Key
Elements
to Look For
58

59. 1. Does a
Big Idea
Burst
Through?
59

60. The first question to ask of any direct mail
piece, advertisement or press release
60

61. ―Without a big idea,
your advertising will pass
like a ship in the night.‖
-David Ogilvy
“In direct marketing,
the ship will sink.”
61

62. Why are big ideas so important?
 A big idea cuts through the clutter
 A big idea can multiply your success 10 times
over
 You only need one
 It costs more to do a bad idea than to do a big
idea
62

63. What is an Idea, anyway?
 An idea is a change
 ―I have an idea; let‘s do things the way
we‘ve always done them before!‖
 The bigger the change, the
bigger the idea
63

64. Letter to Ministers in Germany
 They were concerned about declining church
attendance
 They wanted to ―wake up‖ ministers – and invite
them to a discussion about the problems
 They used a very simple letter – with just one
sentence!
64

65. 65

66. 66

68. 1700 Views!
1700 Views!

69. 69

70. 70

71. 71

72. 72

73. 73

74. How do you know if it‘s
a big idea?
 Is it a new idea? Or new in this category?
 Is it relevant to the product?
 Does it make you think?
Not ―what are they talking about?‖ but
about your relationships, your job, your
life, your future…
74

75. How do you know if it‘s
a big idea?
 Does it make you feel?
Emotion is stronger than logic
 Is it credible? Do you believe it?
 Does it stand out from others in it‘s category?
75

76. 2. Does a
single-minded
message
come through?
76

77.  People have a hard time ―getting‖ even
one thing
 It‘s not because they‘re dumb; they‘re
just busy
 Make sure your message breaks
through the clutter – by focusing on
one message
77

78. The ―Bed of Nails‖
Approach
78

79. 79

80. 80

81. 3. Is the Creative
Focused on
People?
81

82. One of the great secrets...
 Most companies focus on their
products...or worse, themselves
 The best companies focus on their
prospects and customers
82

83. Ancestry.com
 The world‘s largest genealogy
company
 Has access to over 3 billion
records, and will help you search
 Their most successful direct mail and
e-mail
83

84. 84

85. 85

86. 86

87. But make them look good
 Don’t show your prospects as
―dumb‖
 Don’t make fun of them…
 Make them into heroes – like
Kodak
87

88. 88

89. 89

90. 90

91. 91 91

92. 92

93. 93

94. 4. Does it have
an arresting
Visual?
94

95. The Power of Visual Thinking
 People remember less than 10% of what
they‘re told (and it‘s always the wrong
10%)
 ―Follow my directions carefully‖
 People remember more than 50% of what
they see
 They even make it up - to fill in the gaps
95

96.  Show and tell
 Show me what you‘ve got
 Show me what you‘re made of
 “Show me the money‖
96

97. 97

98. 98

99. 99

100. 100

101. 101

102. Imagine a Harley
Davidson Motorcycle
parked inside a great
cathedral
102

103. 103

104. 104

105. 105

106. 5. Does it have
a compelling
headline?
106

107. Headlines are Critical
 They should have your key benefit in them
 80% of people read that – and nothing else
 Subject line in e-mail even more important

 Johnson box serves the same purpose
107

108. 108

109. 109

110. WFNX – 101.7
• Alternative Rock Station in Boston
• How can they capture the tone of
their station in a billboard?
110

111. 111

112. 112

113. 6. Is it
involving?
113

114. What Barnes & Nobles
knows
114

115. 3 Proven Ways to
Involve People in your
Advertising
 Ask questions or quiz them
 Use an involvement device
 Use the word ―you‖ – a lot
115

116. 116

117. 117

118. 118

119. 119

120. 120

121. 121

122. 122

123. 123

124. 124

125. 125

126. 6. Is it
―campaignable?‖
126

127. ―Campaignable?‖
 Is it just a one-shot, or can you build
a long term campaign around it?
 Does it easily lend itself to other
media?
 A big idea can last for years…
127

128.  Antwerp Zoo in Belgium was looking
to boost attendance
 Their elephant got pregnant
 Send out a birth announcement?
 …or create a campaign?
128

129. 129

130. 130

131. Congratulations, it‘s an elephant!
 Multi-media campaign started right after conception
 Turned all of Belgium into proud parents
 Millions of people followed her 22 month
development from inception to birth – including her
first ultrasound photograph!
131

132. 132

133.  Kai-Mook became the first elephant born on
the internet on May 17, 2009 – weighing a
healthy 100 kilograms.
 Zoo attendance more than doubled – over
300,000 new visitors
133

134. 134

135. Absolut Best Campaign
 First ad appeared in 1980; still going strong 1500+ ads later
 Created by Geoff Hayes of TBWA
 Ads have become collector‘s items; thousands of people write in
requesting their favorite
 Rolled out ―In an Absolute World‖ in 2007
135

136. 136

137. 137

138. 138

139. 139

140. 140

141. 141

142. 142

145. Judge for yourself:
Do these upcoming examples meet that list
of criteria?...
• Big idea
• Single-minded message
• Focused on people
• Arresting visual
• Compelling headline
• Involving
• Campaignable
145

146. • Target market: Web
programmers and
webmasters for
medium to large sized
businesses
• They hate getting
junk mail
• We‘re going to ―sell‖
them a web portal for a
new research site
• Client doesn‘t believe
that mail works
146

147. • Big idea: make
your website
charismatic, lik
e Elvis!
147

148. • Letter
148

149. • Brochure:
Only Elvis can
draw as
many
people to
your site…
149

150. • Reply with
Offer: a limited
edition Elvis
collection that
everyone
wants, even
programming
geeks
150

151. Comcast … see if this mailer meets
the criteria
• Single-minded message
• Focused on people
• Arresting visual
• Compelling headline
• Involving
• Campaignable
151

152. Home entertainment: Comcast
• VIP invitation
gets
attention
• They flip it
over…
152

153. Home entertainment: Comcast
• Concept:
you can
have your
own private
film festival
in your
home —
how??...
153

154. • Challenge: Comcast high speed internet might at first not seem
like entertainment as much as for email and website access. But
Comcast wanted to position it as a way to download movies
154

155. • This
positions
the reader
as a VIP
when they
get
Comcast
high
speed
internet
155

156. Did it fit these criteria?
Do you think it worked?
• Single-minded message
• Focused on people
• Arresting visual
• Compelling headline
• Involving
• Campaignable
156

157. Isuzu B2B mailing: does this meet the
criteria too?
• This Isuzu truck is a huge seller
• It’s especially well sized for two
industries: light
construction, and the food
industry
• Challenges: how to get
companies with fleets to
consider buying several instead
of just one
• Budget $90,000
157

158. • Targeted two
Isuzu Fleet campaign markets ONLY
• Created a
mailer for
each, that is
very specific to
that industry
• This one
is light
construction:
This truck can
carry ―6000
pounds of
cement‖
158

159. Isuzu Fleet campaign
• This truck can
carry about
6,000 lbs of
cement –
sized specifically
for typical
construction
load
• Of course it‘s
absurd – the
box is 12 in.
wide
159

160. Isuzu Fleet campaign
• A dimensional package
needs all the hardworking
elements that traditional
flat mail does!
160

161. “500 gallons of Tomato Paste enclosed”
• This one is
for the food
service
industry
• Typical load
for this
industry
would be
500 gallons
of tomato
paste
161

162. Sent out 3000 boxes
per targeted market
• Campaign cost $90,000
• We sold 140 trucks
• Bottom line - $4.2 million in sales
• New leads generated for future contact
• Huge ROI
162

163. Isuzu B2B fleet mailing: does it meet
our criteria?
• Single-minded message
• Focused on people
• Arresting visual
• Compelling headline
• Involving
• Campaignable
163

164. One last example: The Wayfarers
Walking Tours
Does it have…
• Single-minded message
• Focused on people
• Arresting visual
• Compelling headline
• Involving
• Campaignable
164

165. Wayfarers had a very expensive catalog
they were mailing
• Too expensive for
prospecting:
beautiful
production
values, heavy
paper, etc
• Response not high
enough when
going to cold
prospects
165

166. Mail is great for lead generation to travelers
• Costs a fraction of a catalog
• You can actually get to the point much
faster, generate more action
166

167. The big idea:
A walking tour is
different —
and this difference
gives you a more
wonderful vacation
167

168. Roll fold self mailer releases information
gradually
168

169. Targeted a high end audience who
loves travel
• Emphasized great meals
• Showed people becoming friendly
• Emphasized that the most memorable
adventures are best experienced close up
• The journey is as important as the destination
• Response: 5% to cold mailing lists
• Strong respondents converted in high numbers
169

170. The Wayfarer’s mailing: does it meet
our criteria?
• Single-minded message
• Focused on people
• Arresting visual
• Compelling headline
• Involving
• Campaignable
170

171. How Mick
Jagger
briefed Andy
Warhol for
“Sticky
Fingers”
album cover
171

172. 172

173. The Secret to Getting Great
Creative
 Creative people always have choices. They can‘t always
decide what they will work on; but they can always decide
how much of their effort and heart they will put into their
work.
 Your goal is to make them want to go that extra step for
your projects, your product , your company – and of
course, for you.
173

174. Where the Best
Creative Work Begins
174

175. Briefly speaking
• Successful creative starts with a well thought-
out brief or Creative Strategy Form
• It doesn‘t end there – but it starts there
• The more time and effort you put into your
brief – the more likely you are to get effective
work
175

176. The Briefing Meeting
• A brief should never simply be handed-out or
e-mailed.
• It should be an interactive process; with the
final brief emerging from the meeting
• You need to encourage comments and
questions – and get the answers as soon as
possible
176

177. Your Role in Briefing
Creative
 To initiate the project and provide the
information necessary to complete it
 To be an ―expert‖ on your business; or to get
the answers they need before the work is
completed
 To be open to new ideas and solutions
 To give constructive and specific feedback to
help improve the work (when necessary)
177

178. Not Your Role
 To dictate the work
 To withhold information or fail to provide it on a
timely basis
 To not have the answers
 To create false deadlines or emergencies
 To abuse creatives in any way, shape or form
178

179. The Role of Creatives
 To represent the consumer‘s point-of-view
 To be an ―expert‖ on their business – advertising
and direct marketing
 …and to become an ―expert‖ on the clients
business
 To come up with big ideas
179

180. Not the Role of Creatives
 To give the client only what they asked for…
 To postpone the work and do a last-minute
scramble
 To give up, or do less than their best
 To think that that account people, or
clients, aren‘t smart or good at their jobs
180

181. The
Death
of an Agency
181

182. The Creative Strategy
Form
182

183. The Creative Strategy Form
 Every company has a different format
 It is a blueprint of the job -- and a contract
 It should be developed, agreed on and signed by everyone
involved in the project - particularly the most senior person
 It can be used to evaluate work
 It has to be simple, understandable – not just filled with
jargon
183

184. 184

185. The Creative Strategy Form
1. Project Description
 What are we doing? Why?
2. Objective
 What are we trying to achieve?
 What do we want people to do?
 Be as specific and realistic as possible
3. Target Audiences
 The more specific, the better
185

186. The Creative Strategy Form
4. Main message and proof
 What is the single most important reason that someone
will buy our product or respond to our mailing?
 Why should anyone believe you…?
186

187. The Creative Strategy Form
5. Offer
 What do they get?
 What do they have to do to get it?
6. Key points
 What other benefits do we need to communicate?
7. Ways to Respond
 Did we make it easy?
 Did we give them a choice?
8. Tone and Manner
 Consistent with the product?
187

188. The Creative Strategy Form
9. Mandatories
 Legal, logo, etc.
10. Budget
 How much do we have?
 Let the value of the customer drive the budget
11. Schedule
 How much time is left?!!!!
188

189. 189

190. Put time on your side…
 You want to give creative people time to do their
best…
 ..but you also want your project to stay top-of-
mind
 Plus you don‘t want them to forget anything, or
worse, do it at the last-minute
190

191. Think in stages
 Ideally, you want them to come back with rough
ideas within 5-7 days
 This keeps your project fresh in their minds and
motivates them to get started right away
 After this first meeting, you can give them more
time to refine, make changes, add to the mix
191

192. Two questions you must answer
12. What is the target market currently using/doing?
 Understand their mindset
 Are they using a competitive product? Making do
without?
 Why should they switch to yours?
13. “You know you need it when…”
 When does someone know they need your product?
 Puts you in their shoes
 Identifies points of pain
 You‘re looking for agreement...
192

193. Reviewing the
Work
193

194. Best Practices
 Allow them to finish their presentation, before
you jump in
 Start by acknowledging how much work has been
done, and what you like
 Review the brief to make sure that everything
important has been addressed
194

195. Be constructive
 See the big picture first – don‘t nitpick
 Never get personal. Not ―I don‘t like that
headline‖ but ―Does this headline have the main
benefit?‖
 Go through the Checklist with them
195

196. Moving ahead
 Take the time to provide thoughtful, useful
feedback
 This is your first exposure to the work; they have
been at it for days
 Resist the urge to change for change‘s sake
196

197. 197

198.  Never say ―The client will never buy this…‖
 Don‘t try to anticipate what others will say or
think; give your own opinion
 Remember you are all on the same side
198

199. How do you know
if it will work
before it goes out?
199

200. ―You cannot judge
direct marketing.
It judges you.‖
- Denny Hatch
200

201. Besides…
 ―Creative‖ packages don‘t usually work
 The ―ugly‖ stuff almost always seems to win
 Even the best work seems to produce a
disappointingly low response
201

202. How do you know…?
 The only guarantee in direct marketing is a
moneyback guarantee
 It can be very surprising what works and what
doesn‘t
 However, if you use the following checklist, you
will maximize the probability of success
202

203. Checklist
12 questions to ask about
any creative execution
203

204. 1. Is it on strategy?
2. Is it appropriate to the product
and the positioning?
3. Is there a big idea?
Does it come through?
4. Does it have a striking visual or
graphic?
204

205. 5. Do the offer and main benefits
come through quickly and clearly?
6. Does the offer stand out?
7. Is it believable? Are claims
supported with facts or
testimonials? Is there a
guarantee?
8. Does it include a strong call to action
in every element?
205

206. 9. Does it make you think or make
you feel
10. Will it stand out from others in this
category?
11. Are all the elements working as
hard as they can for you?
12. The big question:
would you respond?
206

207. These are all the
ways to evaluate
creative for regular
advertising.
But direct marketing
has to work even
harder
207

208. We have to get people to
act
 Go to our website
 Call a toll-free number
 Send in an application or response form
 Bring something into a store
208

209. 1. It must be 100% absolutely clear
• Above all, it must be clear and easy-
to-understand
• If people don‘t ―get it‖ – you lose
• You need to be direct in direct
marketing
209

210. 2. It must have a compelling offer
• ―If you want to dramatically improve your
response, you must improve your offer‖ – Axel
Anderson
• They must know exactly what you want them to
do, and how
• They must have an urgent reason to act now
210

211. 3. Credibility is king
• We need to prove what we claim
• We must use numbers, specifics, facts, lists
• Testimonials are critical
• One false note can kill response
211

212. 212

213. The rest of the
Scott‘s LawnService
case-history
213

214. 214

215. 215

216. 216

217. 217

218. 218

219. 219

220. 220

221. 221

222. 222

223. 223

224. 224

225. 225

226. 226

227. What do you think?
• What‘s your overall reaction?
• Which package did you like best?
• Which do you think worked best?
• Why?
227

228. We told you that
you’re an excellent
judge of creative!
228

229. Thank you!
Alan Rosenspan
& Carol Worthington-Levy
See you tomorrow at
Part 2: Creative Rules that Work for Print
Thursday Oct 18, 2012 — 8:30am - 12:00pm
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