Direct magazine's Curmudgeon-at-Large has done it again this time with a scathing analysis of how bad advertising--based on false notions of "creative," over- produced and under-thought-out sales appeals, and just plain stupidity and dishonesty--are costing all of us--business people and consumers, sellers and buyers--a lot of money needlessly. Lewis unmasks the incompetents and charlatans of advertising and shows how they are costing us—all of us, consumers and business people alike—money. Long known for his humorous unmasking of the ""poseurs and reprobates"" of marketing, Lewis uses those same tactics to drive home the serious, bottom-line point: Stupid and unethical advertising costs money. Poorly conceived or misleading or downright dishonest offers increase buyer skepticism. Increased buyer skepticism decreases response. Lower response ultimately means lower profitably, which inevitably translates into higher costs for marketers and higher prices for buyers. But Lewis does more than just pillory his adversaries. He provides guidance for the reader who wants to avoid the costly mistakes of other marketers and to spot the phony offers and dishonest operators among us. Coverage includes: · Online ""messup"": phony ""fear or sympathy"" offers; spam scams; outrageous claims. · ""0% interest"" offers that excite absolutely nobody: low credibility approaches; the same old tired ""pre-approved"" offers; the costly overuse of ""free""; · Customer Elimination Management (misplaced and mis-applied CRM): processes that forget the customer; standardization that fits nobody’s standard; costly and customer-alienating charges and offers. · Tired old executions: worn-out cliches; clever instead communicative copy and presentations; re-tread and irrelevant celebrities; and offers with non-existent benefits.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Herschell Gordon Lewis, aka Curmudgeon-at-Large, is generally regarded as one of the greatest copywriters of the past 50 years. He is author of 27 books, including On the Art of Writing Copy, Marketing Mayhem, The Advertising Age Handbook of Advertising, Selling on the Net, and Sales Letters That Sizzle. He has written for many trade publications, including Direct, Direct Marketing Magazine, DM News, and is the copy columnist for Catalog Age/Multichannel Merchant. He has addressed advertising and marketing audiences all over the world. In 2003 he was inducted into the Direct Marketing Hall of Fame.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good book about horrible copywriting and poor marketing,
By The Marketing Guy Who Drives Sales -r (Charlottesville, VA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Asinine Advertising (Paperback)
Herschell Gordon Lewis's book, " Asinine Advertising: How Stupid and Unethical Advertising Costs You Money", is an enjoyable read.
Mr. Lewis is one of my favorite authors. His "On the Art of Writing Copy" has a prominent place on my bookshelf and his column, "Curmudgeon-At-Large", in Direct Magazine causes me to read the publication starting at the back each and every month (just before I go tearing through to see if there is a Tom Collins article). "Asinine Advertising" offers great case studies in truly horrible advertising. While this book is more of a comment on poor copywriting and lack of creativity in many advertising departments, it serves as a reminder that we must all guard against the tendency to create marketing communication messages that sound similar to other current ones we've heard recently rather than concisely communicating true benefits using a new, fresh and personal communication style. In the new world of email spam, Herschell points out that many business communications across just about all media are taking on the same characteristics of spam--and he builds a strong case. While readers of Direct will be familiar with much of the first half of the book because it seems like it's been covered in his column before, there is enough fresh material here to keep you engaged--and laughing at the absurdity of it all. While the $22.95 price plus $7.00 "Freight/Handling" for the 132-page paperback might someday itself earn its own chapter in the book, I won't complain too loudly because I've spent more on much lesser book offerings in the past. Don't buy this book if you are looking for "How to" information or a formula for writing good advertising, but by all means if you get a kick out of seeing bozos skewered, then sit back and enjoy the [quick] read. ~Review by the author of the e-book, "How to Build and Manage Your Brand (in sickness and in health)."
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
