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Being Direct: Making Advertising Pay [Hardcover]

Lester Wunderman (Author)

4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.

4 new from $75.60 7 used from $37.86 2 collectible from $97.75

	Amazon Price	New from	Used from
Hardcover Hardcover Available from these sellers. Publisher: Random House Published: December 30, 1996	--	$3.47	$0.01
Hardcover, September 2004 Hardcover Available from these sellers. Publisher: Direct Marketing Association, Inc. Published: September 2004	--	$75.60	$37.86
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Paperback Paperback Available from these sellers. Publisher: Adams Media Corp Published: June 1998	--	$12.95	$2.60

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Lester Wunderman's Being Direct: Making Advertising Pay truly is both informative and entertaining. It combines an extraordinary personal history of "direct marketing" with a remarkably candid look at the field's most acclaimed practitioner. Written in an easy-going and deliberately persuasive style obviously honed during Wunderman's six decades in the trenches, the book shows his skill developing and gaining acceptance as he creates revolutionary advertising programs for future corporate stalwarts like the Columbia Record Club and American Express. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Born in a Bronx tenement, Wunderman started his own advertising agency with his older brother in 1939, at the age of 19. It went under two years later. With a never-say-die attitude, he learned the ropes, and by 1959, Wunderman, Ricotta & Kline (WRK), which he had founded a year earlier, was the world's largest agency specializing in mail-order advertising. A collector of African art, conversant with Spinoza and Marshall McLuhan, Wunderman credits his 1972 meeting with the chief of Mali's Dogon tribe as the key to his understanding of kinship and power-sharing-insights that led him to merge WRK (now Wunderman Cato Johnson, which he chairs) with a larger general agency, Young & Rubicam. Highly skimpy on personal detail, this career-oriented autobiography is a seasoned pro's detailed casebook of direct-marketing hits and misses. Wunderman's campaigns helped launch the American Express card, boosted Time Inc.'s magazine division circulation, devised interactive media to sell Lincoln Continentals and made the zip code an accepted part of the postal system. His account of these and other legendary feats is high-energy. Photos not seen by PW. Author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

Hardcover: 350 pages
Publisher: Direct Marketing Association, Inc. (September 2004)
ISBN-10: 1931361436
ISBN-13: 978-1931361439
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds

Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #688,869 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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	91% buy the item featured on this page: Being Direct: Making Advertising Pay by Lester Wunderman Hardcover 4.3 out of 5 stars (10)
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Customer Reviews

10 Reviews

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
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Average Customer Review

4.3 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting guide to the history of direct marketing, November 17, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Being Direct: Making Advertising Pay (Hardcover)

This book is interesting particularly for the evolution of direct marketing that Wunderman describes--and to a large degree, instigated. Readers will notice a tendency for Wunderman to toot his own horn, but don't worry; it doesn't ever become obnoxious.

The book would be good as a general guide as to what works and what doesn't--and why--in direct marketing. If a company is looking at direct marketing as a possible direction, this would be a good place to start to get an idea of what is involved, and what it takes to be successful. It may or may not help the reader that Wunderman describes using his techniques in marketing both goods (flowers) and services (credit cards).

In the end, you get more history from it than hard, specific tips. A very good read, but don't expect it to be "100 tips to direct marketing success". The hints are there, but you'll need to dig them out.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Getting experiences in Direct Marketing by reading, March 4, 1998

By	61823082@at.ibm.com (Vienna, Austria) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Being Direct: Making Advertising Pay (Hardcover)

As a Direct Marketeer I was really impressed by Wunderman's clear, sophisticated, simple book that is REALLY about direct selling ! For a Direct Marketing "freshmen" it helps to think about what you should think about. And for profis it is a treasure of Direct Marketing strategies that allready worked.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the MAN!, February 15, 1998

By	warren@laserpage.com (Rialto, Southern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Being Direct: Making Advertising Pay (Hardcover)

What a story! Wunderman invented so many of the marketing techniques we take for granted. Now he shares the inside story on how it did it. An inspiring trip through some of the greatest marketing ever.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Well written and full of lessons for any marketer
Since the book is over ten years old, I bought myself a used copy. It's terrific. I'm not sure the book is in print anymore but either way, the copy I bought was in such great... Read more

Published 15 months ago by B. Crosland

5.0 out of 5 stars How to understand the philosophy and practice of direct mail.
If you are looking for a book that will give you the top 10 list of how to make your advertising pay, then this is not the book for you. Mr. Read more

Published on April 17, 2008 by Bernie L. Malonson

5.0 out of 5 stars A look at the changing business-consumer relationship
Now in an updated second edition, Being Direct: Making Advertising Pay presents the wisdom and practical experience of advertising legend and direct marketing pioneer Lester... Read more

Published on January 8, 2005 by Midwest Book Review

3.0 out of 5 stars The Evolution of Direct
Wunderman provides a glimpse into a long and prosperous career in the direct advertising industry. Emphasizing the journey and the road to discovery rather than the actual... Read more

Published on July 24, 2001 by J. Jensen

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Account of Direct Marketing's Contribution to Business
Being Direct uses many different company and industry examples to outline the development of the Direct Marketing industry. Read more

Published on May 14, 2000 by guy-72

2.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful bio and story--little "how to" on direct marketing
Lester Wunderman, the father of direct marketing, is a great salesman and has a super story to tell. If you want to know more about Mr. Read more

Published on March 7, 2000 by Russ Emrick

5.0 out of 5 stars Not A Stuffy How-To Only, A Juicy Story Of How It's Done!
Lester's tale really gives you an inside look at how the entire 'Direct' movement started and his place in it's history. Read more

Published on December 25, 1999 by Mark James

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