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Personal Finance Gives New Meaning to 'Bold' In a world full of docile, namby-pamby marketers, we're thrilled to come across something as brazen as this. It's a #10 package from a finance newsletter--usually a pretty dry package as these things go. Oh, most financial newsletters will bombard you with a six- or eight-page letter touting their expertise, and maybe--just maybe--a "sample issue" enclosed that's really a specially-prepared issue containing their best work. Let's face it, if you're a financial prognosticator, you don't want people to catch you in a mistake that you might make in a real issue, do you? Well, do you? Apparently Personal Finance never heard that one. In fact, they've not only enclosed a real issue--they tell you so in a teaser on the outer envelope. At first glance, we thought this marketer had made a serious error; what if there were incorrect predictions in the issue? Of course, we also realized that many recipients might not even realize that the marketer had made an error, might not think of checking the issue for predictions and recommendations that had already gone awry. Well, just in case that happens, Personal Finance has carefully explained the entire thing in its simple, two-page letter. That's right--they've invited the reader to give them a critical examination, so confident are they in their financial expertise. Here's the copy: If you give advice like that in your Johnson box,
you'd better be pretty confident in your product. Evidently
Personal Finance is
confident and then some. The theme is carried out on the order form, where the headline--in "action" read, we're happy to note--says, "YES! I'm impressed you had the guts to send me a current issue!" The package then turns to a standard financial newsletter offer, with a choice of terms and premium assortments, along with a "Quick Reply Bonus Gift." The back of the form is cleverly used to showcase "expert" and reader testimonials, always a strong selling technique. Well! Not only has Personal Finance broken a cardinal rule of finance newsletter marketing, they've turned it to their advantage and bragged about it right up front. It's a brilliant copywriting turn by veteran Ken Scheck, and qualifies as the most in-your-face financial package we've seen in probably 10 years. We know there are no vague, empty claims here--the kind that usually populate such packages--because they've invited us to catch them at that game. And unless you're Gary Hart, you don't normally invite folks to catch you in a mistake and then proceed to deliberately perpetrate that mistake! Ah, you're asking, but can such a thing work? Sure can. It's been the control for Personal Finance since early this summer, having defeated a magalog, and holding off challenges from other pieces such as a standalone effort. "We think it sets subscriber expectations appropriately," notes Jeanne Jennings, product manager for publisher KCI Communications. It certainly does--and the bonus is, renewal rates are higher than with other packages, too. It's risky...but financial newsletters are a dime a dozen. If you're on the lookout to make yourself stand out in the crowd, or blow away a tired control, you might consider stepping out on that limb yourself. After all, you have perfect faith in your product, don't you? Well don't you? |
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