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December 22, 2006:

    Do your letters over a general manager's signature draw personal replies from the customers? The better letter you write, the more replies you'll get--and that's the way it's supposed to be. But here's an oddity: the format can suppress replies. If your format is just a letter--nothing more--and makes the GM sound like a super guy, you have a good chance to get replies. But if your letter is surrounded by coupons and ads, your reply chances diminish, no matter how well you've written. A letter alone whispers to the customer, "This is personal communication, and it deserves a reply." A letter surrounded by ads looks like an ad itself--and customer seldom reply to an ad.

December 11, 2006:

    If you've written to the same rated players with pretty much the same offer for a couple of hundred times, how do you start the letter? Since I went full time in my own business writing casino direct mail, I've faced that problem thousands of times. Okay, so I exaggerated a little. It just seems like thousands. But the lead paragraph IS the most important one in the letter--and you'd better have a good one. Remembering my pal, the late Andrew Byrne, I'll usually put the offer there. One of Andy's famous rules was, "Fire your big guns first." But now and then I'll use favorite leads from my days as a newspaper sports editor--the quote lead, the exclamation lead, the question lead, the two-word lead, the story lead. But even then I almost always work in the offer. Sometimes I'll write 15 or 20 leads before settling on one. Other times I'll sit down and hit it on the first try. But it's never easy.

December 1, 2006:

    Nothing beats a personal relationship. Not a slick advertising campaign, not a multimillion dollar skyscraper, not free rooms, not free meals, not even the best odds in town. And in my opinion the GM or president of the casino is the key person. I always recommend that the top executive sign all the outgoing customer mail because he or she is the one person least likely to leave and move down the street for a few more bucks. But when you're trying to endear the GM to your customers you can't send mail that looks and reads like advertising over this person's signature. The GM must sell in a low-key manner, writing as if to a good friend. Tell your writers that to form a relationship, write talking--not writing. They'll understand (borrowed from my "15 Principles of Casino Direct Mail").

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November 20, 2006:

    Here's an E-mail prediction I made in "Secrets of Casino Marketing" when I wrote it in 1997. "One day, when E-mail is the norm and personal letters are passé, some casino marketing director, somewhere, will rediscover the power of the letter. 'Look at this,' she'll say. 'Response is huge and some of the customers are actually writing back to thank us. I think we've just revolutionized casino marketing.' Could such a thing really happen? You're damn right it could. I guess you can tell I'm a direct mail guy. And I'll stay one until the Net proves me wrong.

November 11, 2006:

    In 1927, Elmer Wheeler was an ad salesman for the Los Angeles Herald. Puzzled when his best sales arguments elicited a "So what" response, he made a study of the words and sentences that would improve it--and thus began a monumental contribution to the art of selling. Ten years later his landmark book, "Tested Sentences That Sell," changed the art of advertising. Mr. Wheeler had discovered the power of benefits and summed it up in one memorable sentence, "Sell the sizzle, not the steak." He maintained that every product had a "sizzle." You just had to find it. He once told vacuum cleaner salesmen not to sell suction. "Sell cleaner rugs,"said Wheeler. Get the idea? Now see if you can write a dozen sentences of gambling "sizzle."

November 1, 2006:

    Who has the easiest path to success--someone who is humble, down-to-earth and modest, or someone who is positive and assertive? Baylor University did a study of 200 college students, says Newsmax.com, and the winner was humility--pretty much the opposite of the personalities in the political races we're seeing these days. Dr. Wade Rowatt., who led the study, said humility was "A positive quality associated with self-esteem, well-being and even performance." According to Rowatt, every top athlete in every sport was associated with humility. In a second study, Rowatt confirmed that college students who showed humble traits got higher grades. Could all this research be applied to lift response from casino direct mail and e-mail? Of course. Letters that speak modestly, one human being to another, beat the heck out of those screamers that shout "exciting!" in every paragraph. (For a bit of related opinion, see "Quote of the Month.)

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October 21, 2006:

    More from reading comprehension expert Colin Wheildon, featured in last week's Tips. "Magazine editors and art directors argue that sans serif body type is clean, ucluttered and attractive. And so it is. But they also argue that any difficulties with comprehension, should they exist, will pass as people become more and more used to seeing and reading sans serif. People will grow to live with it, and it will soon become comprehensible to all, and all will eventually love it. This is nonsense. It's analogous to saying that instead of feeding your children Wheaties, you should feed them wood shavings because they'll get used to them. In tests on sans serif body copy versus serif body copy, the following: with serif body copy, "Good" comprehension was 67%. With sans serif body copy, it was 12%. The conclusion is that body type must be set in serif type if the designer intends it to be read and understood.

October 12, 2006:

    "Got to have color in your ads." That's what most ad people tell their clients--and it's true to a certain extent. Here's what reading comprehension expert Colin Wheildon wrote following his landmark study on color in ads (hint: his title is, "Any color, as long as it's black"). Wheildon said, "Consider this page. It looks like any other page with its ordinary black type printed on ordinary white paper. Now consider the type blue. Eight of ten readers would say the blue page was more attractive; nine of ten probably would describe the black page as boring. But ask these people to read the two pages and we're in a different ball game. Seven of ten would digest the message on the black page. But only one of ten will display good comprehension on the blue page. Spot color in logotypes is fine. For headlines and copy, no."

October 1, 2006:

    More on print ad headlines, as promised last month. There are two types of headlines--direct and indirect. Direct headlines are almost exclusively the property of the direct marketing industry for a simple reason: their ads increase sales and can prove it. An example of as direct headline is, "Las Vegas casino unveils a radical slot machine; if it doesn't pay off, it gives back your money." That's a headline I wrote in the mid-80s to announce Lady Luck's "Win or your money back" campaign. Do you have any trouble understanding what the ad is about? Of course not. Indirect headlines, by comparison, are almost exclusively the property of general ad agencies for a simple reason: they don't have to prove their ads sold anything, so they can hide the offer and get as cute as they want to. Here's an example: "I did it for us." Do you know what the ad is about? Not a chance (it's for a computer learning center). So can you think of even one reason why you would ever use an indirect headline? If you do, let me know.

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September 22, 2006:

    The most important single element in a print ad is the headline. Too bad so many ad agencies and clients ignore that simple fact. Look through your newspaper or any of the magazines you take and read the headlines. Chances are more than three fourths of them are clever plays on words or some meaningless line the headline writer thought was hilarious. Too bad. They hide the offer. A good headline (the kind you find in most direct response ads) includes a benefit or a promise--and it's almost never short. How about this one advertising binoculars, for example: "You can look a sparrow in the eye from 100 yards away, and see him blink." If you're in the market for binoculars you're going to read the ad that follows. Sometimes, though, shorter is better. I saw a headline for the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas that had just three words: "Single Deck Blackjack." (More headline truisms in October.)

September 12, 2006:

    Your casino is breaking ground for a new building. Or maybe you're buying another casino--or being bought. So you've decided to hold a press conference and put your president or GM up there to make the announcement. Sounds like an easy way to get some PR for the joint, but it could wind up as big trouble. The press is not always on your side. And if they hold some kind of grudge against your property they can be plenty nasty. So before you put the big guy on the podium, go over some possible press questions with him. Make sure he knows when they're trying to trap him. Have him prepared to answer everything but tell him to defer to you if he has the slightest doubt. You can duck the question or give a prepared answer. Bottom line: be prepared for anything.

September 1, 2006:

    In his classic "Direct Marketing," Ed Nash writes the following: "Your customer is not a statistic. All market data can tell us is who our audience has been...it shouldn't be a surprise, but often is, that years of positioning a product toward older people, for example, eventually results in a research study showing that older people have been buying the product. It doesn't show us what could have been, or still could be...the buyer is not packaged in neat demographic profiles waiting for your message to arrive...there is only one common denominator you can count on: interest in your product." Ed was not only brilliant--he was clever. A line on the front of his book reads, "Sell just about anything to just about anyone."

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August 24, 2006:

    The 7th anniversary of David Ogilvy's death passed quietly on July 22. This advertising genius has an odd legacy. He brought the essentials of selling to the business, but nobody seemed to notice. His pronouncements remain valid even today, but he is scorned by many in advertising because he was a direct marketer, not a generalist. But see for yourself as he compares advertisements to editorial copy: "There is no law that says advertisements have to look like advertisements. If you make them look like editorial pages you will attract more readers. Roughly six times as many people read the average article as read the average advertisement. Very few advertisements are read by more than one reader in 20. I conclude that editors communicate better than admen." After Ogilvy says it, there is no room left for rebuttal.

August 13, 2006:

    The late David Ogilvy in his book "Ogilvy on Advertising," wrote the following about TV commercials. "Copywriters specify that the commercial should be shot in Bali when it could equally well be shot in the studio for half the price. They insert expensive animation into live-action commercials. They insist that original music be composed for background purposes, as if there were nothing suitable in the whole repertoire of existing music. Worst of all, they use expensive celebrities when an unknown actor would sell more of the product. I have no research to prove it but I suspect that there is a negative correlation between the money spent on producing commercials and their power to sell products." Then he added, "The easiest way to reduce the cost of a commercial is to cut actors out of the storyboard. Every actor you cut will save you between $350 and $10,000, depending on how long you run the commercial." Pretty strong words, right? They were written in 1983. Nobody listened.

August 1, 2006:

    Charles Givens, millionaire author of Wealth Without Risk, says he was a flop early in his career trying to sell real estate at Beach Mountain. A more experienced salesman pointed out the problem. "You're out there trying to sell mountain dirt," he told Givens. "Nobody wants to buy mountain dirt; they want to buy dreams." I've used that story in lectures and columns for 30 years trying to convince casinos to sell dreams, not product. Most of the time it's been a thankless persuasion. How many times have you seen casinos advertise their slot machines by name, as if everyone reading the ad knows exactly what they're talking about? How many times have you seen "Loose Slots" or "Liberal Slots" or "More Jackpots?" Advertising individual machines or phony claims is a waste of time and money. You can't assume that customers and prospects will dream automatically. You have to paint the picture for them.

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July 24 2006:

    "Once a month in Direct magazine, veteran adman Thomas Collins writes a column named "Makeover Maven," in which he turns a truly terrible general ad into a direct response masterpiece. You'd think Tom would face a challenge each month--but turning turkeys into gold is a cinch for this pro. In the June issue, for example, he attacked an ad for a hardwood floor company. Its full page featured a huge wooden pair of bare feet and 11 words of almost unreadable copy (in script). Tom's "makeover" ad showed two shots of the product, used two headlines and 149 words of copy. The tip? If you want to sell something, tell how it benefits the purchaser. And if you use a picture, make sure it enhances the copy and helps prove the claims you make. Casino ads are notorious for unproved claims including the old standby, "Loose slots."

July 12, 2006:

    Earlier this month I wrote about famous old ad slogans that consumers could see in their minds. Among them was one for Timex watches, one of the first big television advertisers. The TV spots set out to prove the validity of their famous line, "Takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'." On the old Steve Allen Tonight Show, Timex unveiled the wildest spot in the group. A pitchman (remember, this was a LIVE spot) standing next to a huge vat of water extolled the merits of the watch while assistants attached a Timex to the blades of an outboard motor and lowered it into the vat. Vah-rooom! The motor roared to life for a full 10 seconds. The pitchman, still selling like a pro and looking straight at the camera, ordered the motor raised, then turned the propellor blades as he groped for the watch. A look of pure horror crossed his face as he realized the watch had vanished, but his pitch never stopped. "And if that Timex was still attached," he said, "it would still be ticking--and next time I'll prove it to you." Allen laughed so hard he nearly fell off the stage. "Do you really think there's going to be a next time?" he yelled So what's the tip here? It's simply "Be bold," but test your ads before you run them. P.S. They ran the same spot a few days later on the Allen show. This time it worked--but it wasn't half as funny.

July 1, 2006:

    "Plop plop, fizz fizz, oh what a relief it is"..."Good to the last drop"..."Whole beef patty, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun"..."Takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'." I'll bet you know the product that each of those famous advertising slogans refers to. Most of them were written before the ad industry's infatuation with "Branding" began. If I quoted a bunch of the latest slogans you probably wouldn't know one of them. So if you're considering a slogan for your casino, take a tip from the past. Make your slogans word pictures--something that your customers and prospects can see in their minds. Make it a guarantee or a promise--something you can back up. And forget brevity. Short copy may look cool, but it's hard to summon a vision in two or three words. P.S. For those born after 1980, the slogans advertised Alka Seltzer, Maxwell House Coffee, McDonalds and Timex watches.

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June 23, 2006:

    Name the three most important sentences in a casino direct mail letter. If you said first sentence, last sentence and first sentence of the P.S., give yourself a star. The first sentence is key; if it hooks the reader you have a chance. The last sentence is important because it should tell the reader exactly what you want him to do (Phone for reservations now...Bring in the coupon today...Be here for the drawing at 8 p.m.). You must be specific. The first sentence of the P.S. is important because it can restate the offer in a different way. It can succeed where the body of the letter failed.

June 12, 2006:

    How long should a paragraph be in a casino sales letter? It depends. Are you actually trying to sell the reader, or just writing down everything you can think of and hoping something might interest him? The first thing to remember is that most customers and prospects scan your mail; they don't read it word-for-word. To make your point to those who scan, hold your paragraphs to two or three lines. That way, they absorb information as they scan. Long paragraphs are common in casino direct mail (I've seen up to nine lines) but don't kid yourself. A little voice in the reader's mind says, "Too long. Too hard to read." And they skip it.

June 1, 2006:

    Now and then an art director will call me out after one of my nasty comments on body copy set in sans serif type. Some art directors love sans serif type faces such as Helvetica because they look so "clean" and "cool." No offense intended, but that's the viewpoint of an amateur who believes design is more important than comprehension. Newspapers, books and most magazines are set in Roman (serif) type faces for a reason. Research has shown they're far easier to read and understand. To ignore such a basic rule when you're trying to sell something is either arrogance or stupidity.

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May 22, 2006:

    Are you up to date on Web marketing language? Okay then, what do you call the point at which customers on your list stop responding? Michael Greenberg of Chief Marketer calls it an "inflection point." What, you thought "inflection" referred to modulation of the voice? Then take a look at Webster's third definition of "inflect," which is "to bend or turn from a direct line or course." Pretty sharp guy, this Greenberg. So the next time you're in a casino marketing meeting trying to figure out a way to resurrect about 25,000 inactives, say something like "We've simply got to recognize inflection points before they happen." Hah! The meeting will go right on as if everyone in the room knew exactly what you meant. Afterwards, they'll scurry for their dictionaries. Next month maybe I'll write about "metrics." You do know what that means, don't you?

May 12, 2006:

    Some casinos ask their casino hosts to send customer notes in their own handwriting because they think it's more personal. Yes, it's personal, but handwriting is much harder to read than computer typing, it doesn't look professional and you don't have the benefit of a spell-checker. The better presentation is a computer typed letter, personally signed in contrasting ink, with a short, handwritten note under the signature ("Miss you, Bill," or some such). You have to watch the tone of the letter, too. You want the customer to think of the host as a friend, not as a salesman. When the customer thinks you're trying to sell him something, you damage the relationship. (from my first book, Casino Marketing).

May 1, 2006:

    The lowly postcard is routinely disparaged, but it's still out there, supporting and reinforcing casino promotions. Poor thing--all it does is sell. It's fast (you can get one out to your list in a couple of days). It's inexpensive. And who can resist flipping it to see what's on the back (especially if you a put a teaser on the front). Many of today's casino promotions are complicated; they last for days or weeks, with multiple drawings on certain days. You can't sell that kind of promotion with a single mailing package. You need the postcard to follow up. But make sure the headlines and copy on the back are filled with benefits. You might even give away a trinket or slot points to customers who bring in the card. Whatever you do, don't knock it.

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April 21, 2006:

    I've been asked to repeat my sacred rules for disposing of--I mean, answering--those requests for money and comp vacations that pour into every casino in the known world every week. (1) If the letter is addressed to a title (for example, "Marketing Director") throw it away (2) If you open it and find a letter reproduced by a copier, throw it away (3) If it's a personal letter, written to you, reply with your standard "Sorry, no budget" letter (4) If the general manager personally brings it it to your desk, says he thinks it's a worthy cause and "Would like to help these people," ask him if that's an order. After all, these little dribs and drabs add up, and they usually come out of your marketing budget.

April 10, 2006:

    Your customers are smart. They don't believe a "Limited time offer" because most of them have no expiration date. But when you change to a "Limited number" and get specific, they make up their minds fast. Here's how I used the tactic in a last-minute letter selling rooms on a slow weekend: "I have 68 rooms remaining for the weekend, but when they're booked, that's it. If you'd like to have one them, phone today. By May 20, they'll all be gone and I'll have to disappoint you." The casino filled all 68 rooms With rated players. Specifics sell; generalities are just not good enough. (From my first book, Casino Marketing.)

April 1, 2006:

    Are you up to date on Web marketing language? Okay then, what do you call the point at which customers on your list stop responding? Michael Greenberg of Chief Marketer calls it an "inflection point." What, you thought "inflection" referred to modulation of the voice? Then take a look at Webster's third definition of "inflect," which is "to bend or turn from a direct line or course." Pretty sharp guy, this Greenberg. So the next time you're in a casino marketing meeting trying to figure out a way to resurrect about 25,000 inactives, say something like "We've simply got to recognize inflection points before they happen." Hah! The meeting will go right on as if everyone in the room knew exactly what you meant. Afterwards, they'll scurry for their dictionaries. Next month maybe I'll write about "metrics." You do know what that means, don't you?

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March 22, 2006:

    The Internet has become the most powerful force on the planet. So why can't the pros make Web sites easier to read, easier to comprehend and easier to navigate? To look at the type on many Web sites, you'd think the designers were terrorists trying to give half the country eyestrain. Modern, sans serif type predominates. Too bad the designers have never read the studies which show that sans serif type is so hard to read that comprehension drops off as much as 60% compared to traditional Roman type faces. As far as navigating, can't tell you how many times I've gone through the buying process only to be asked for my "Password." What password? It's my first time on the site. And while I've seen the lines that ask, :"Forgot your password," I seldom see lines that say, "Need a password? Click here."

March 12, 2006:

    Tell the truth. Have you ever read all the way through your insurance policy, a stock solicitation or even any set of rules and regulations that runs a page or more? Those examples, in particular, are loaded down with 60-word sentences and legal booby traps. About 30 words into a sentence you realize you've already forgotten what you just read. The mind says, "Please don't put me through this," and that's that. Here are six more cruel barriers to comprehension: any paragraph more than four lines long; the failure to indent the first line of a paragraph; the use of sans serif type; more than 70 characters in a line; letters printed in anything but black type on white paper, and reversed out copy. Better check the stuff you're mailing.

March 1, 2006:

    Most direct mail writers will tell you that successful sales letters start with the offer--and you can't go wrong that way. The late Andy Byrne, my close friend and direct marketing genius, would sometimes open like this: "The voucher I've enclosed is worth $100 in cash--or more." But another equally successful writer, the late Bill Jayme, used to start his letters with sentences like this: "She pulled herself up on the ledge, being careful not to disturb the cobra sleeping there." In both cases they hooked readers immediately, pulling them into the letter. Andy's lead hits you between the eyes; Bill's lead tickles your sense of adventure, and proves that the offer can be hidden if you work it into a compelling story. The secret is knowing your audience.

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February 20, 2006:

    First, the myth: You have to give away the store to drive in business. Now, the fact: The customer wants personal attention as much as she wants a comp--maybe even more. Now, the rationale: It's easy to give things away. The challenge is to sell something at a fair price. The problem casinos face when they give comps is the same problem retailers face when they discount their merchandise. Rather than build loyalty, the discount destroys it. Customers who were once locked into your store wind up running to competitors because they give steeper discounts. Does that sound familiar? (From my first book, Casino Marketing, now in its third printing)"

February 11, 2006:

    I call it "The Impossible Promise." Casinos make such hopeless covenants all the time. Sad to say, this strain of hype infests direct mail as well as general advertising. In a mailing package we come across the following from a famous casino: Concentrate on every creature comfort...indulge your palate in a dazzling array of tastes...pamper your body...experience the attention to detail. Do we grasp the meaning of the words? Yes. Do we prefer to have information fed to us in such [pretentious doses. No. Net result, "yawn." (From my first book, Casino Marketing, now in its third printing)

February 1, 2006:

    I see a lot of good casino floor promotions geared to traffic. But I don't see many geared to occupancy. Too bad. If you can develop a promotion that lasts a week or so and keeps the players busy with every game in the house, occupancy will follow. And while occupancy may be outnumbered by locals for such an event, it will carry the promotion. Can you imagine 60 percent of your hotel filled with rated players? Heavy player occupancy also gives you an opportunity to prove that all those nice things you've been promising your players are true. You pay off by giving houseguests their own drawings and perhaps their own cocktail parties. They'll love it.

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January 24, 2006:

    In my opinion, a "person to person" approach will deliver more casino revenue than a "company to audience" approach. I wrote that line in one of my IGWB columns in 1989. In those days it was daring and unproved. Now every major casino agrees with me. So how come most aren't doing it? Sure, they all send as ton of direct mail, but most of it is about as personal as an old sneaker. We all think we're unique, and we are. And when we're told that over and over by a company, damn if we don't start believing it. So look at your own casino mail? Is it about the customer (person to person) or is it about the casino (company to audience)?

January 12, 2006:

     Why do customers complain? Who cares? The main thing is to take action. Complaining customers, right or wrong, must be handled quickly. Making them wait for an answer just makes them madder. And the longer they stew the more they get committed to their beef--until finally, you couldn't change their minds with a crowbar. So here's a tip to handle those customers who go home fuming and write you nasty letters: have some pre-written letters of your own covering every situation and get those babies in the next outgoing mail. And please--no corporate speak. If you're wrong, admit it in the opening sentence. And even if you're right, say you're sorry.

January 1, 2006:

     As usual, your faithful reporter will cover the Super Bowl commercials again this year. Then I'll test your powers of retention. I'll describe several commercials and ask you to name the sponsor. But it's hardly a fair fight, and I can guarantee with confidence that you'll be lucky to get even one. TV commercials these days are meant only to entertain--not to sell--so the sponsor's logo or slogan sometimes gets only a second or two on screen. The late David Ogilvy once called the shift from selling to entertaining, a "curse." So the tip here is to watch carefully and learn--for you will see millions of ad dollars wasted before your very eyes.

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