Being Direct : Making Advertising Pay

Rating:
Summary: An interesting guide to the history of direct marketing
Review: 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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Summary: Great Account of Direct Marketing's Contribution to Business
Review: Being Direct uses many different company and industry examples to outline the development of the Direct Marketing industry. Wunderman does a good job, in a somewhat autobiographical way, as he demonstrates how direct marketing found its niche in the marketing world. Direct Marketing, due to mistaken perceptions among marketing industry experts and large advertisers, took many years to gain recognition. Wunderman asserts that Direct Marketing was, at first, seen as essentially no more than direct mail order advertising. Industry reluctance changed, however, as advertisers and marketing industry experts began to see that through direct marketing an advertiser could better know its customer segments and achieve better sales and profitability results by better catering to those customers' needs. Accordingly, Wunderman provides many examples to prove that the subtitle, "Making Advertising Pay", is certainly an appropriate descriptor for Direct Marketing.

This book is written in a story-like narrative that makes it a pretty quick and easy one to read.

Rating:
Summary: Great Account of Direct Marketing's Contribution to Business
Review: Being Direct uses many different company and industry examples to outline the development of the Direct Marketing industry. Wunderman does a good job, in a somewhat autobiographical way, as he demonstrates how direct marketing found its niche in the marketing world. Direct Marketing, due to mistaken perceptions among marketing industry experts and large advertisers, took many years to gain recognition. Wunderman asserts that Direct Marketing was, at first, seen as essentially no more than direct mail order advertising. Industry reluctance changed, however, as advertisers and marketing industry experts began to see that through direct marketing an advertiser could better know its customer segments and achieve better sales and profitability results by better catering to those customers' needs. Accordingly, Wunderman provides many examples to prove that the subtitle, "Making Advertising Pay", is certainly an appropriate descriptor for Direct Marketing.

This book is written in a story-like narrative that makes it a pretty quick and easy one to read.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful bio and story--little "how to" on direct marketing
Review: 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. Wunderman's life or the history of direct marketing then this book is for you. However, the book promises to deliver on "making advertising pay" and it simply doesn't. What techniques you learn about direct marketing are antidotal and have to be mined from a lot of ore. The first few pages enumerate Mr. Wunderman's 19 principles which is about the only direct how-to we get.

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Summary: Not A Stuffy How-To Only, A Juicy Story Of How It's Done!
Review: Lester's tale really gives you an inside look at how the entire 'Direct' movement started and his place in it's history. I loved the format of this book; being story formatted made it read much easier than many of the dry books out there on Direct Marketing and Advertising. This book should be a part of any real marketers collection. It's thick with timeless tips and techniques you may glean from it's pages.

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Summary: A look at the changing business-consumer relationship
Review: 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 Wunderman, perhaps best known for his guidance behind the ubiquity of the American Express card, the creation of the Columbia Record Clob, and the well-known L.L. Bean. Although Being Direct focuses especially upon successful direct marketing, the experiences recounted within the pages are critically important to any business striving to get the most out of its advertising budget. From inventing new direct marketing media to how to successfully start an advertising agency to speculations of changes in the future and more, Being Direct is an eye-opening look at the changing business-consumer relationship from the point of view of a man who not only adapted to modern revolutions of information technology, but put them to use for success beyond anyone's dreams.


Rating:
Summary: This is the MAN!
Review: 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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Summary: The Evolution of Direct
Review: 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 destination, this book outlines how and when key direct marketing concepts were created, where he employed them, and the results which were achieved. I liked this book but it did take me some time to plow through it. I struggled to remain focused through parts of the book but, overall, it was a pretty enjoyable read.