Malcolm Auld - Direct Mail and Marketing first principles - How digital marketing leads us astray from effectiveness - S3 Ep11

Brain-hurt scale = 6/10. "I very frequently get the question: 'What's going to change in the next 10 years?' And that is a very interesting question; it's a very common one. I almost never get the question: 'What's not going to change in the next 10 years?' And I submit to you that that second question is actually the more important of the two -- because you can build a business strategy around the things that are stable in time." Jess Bezos. 

In a rapidly changing marketing landscape it's very easy to get distracted by everything new. It's exciting. It's buzzworthy. It has political capital (to an extent). 

This has led to an explosion in different digital media, and tech tools. All claiming they have the secret sauce to effective marketing. So why do so many of these investments fail to translate reliably into commercially valuable outcomes? 

Therefore, what's more interesting to me, are the fundamental parts of marketing which don't change. Because, if you understand those, you can apply them to everything you do. Any channel. Any execution, any context - and be confident that it will be somewhat successful.  

So, today we're talking with Malcolm Auld.

"Omg John why are you talking to a 'boomer'?" 

Shock horror ladies and gentlemen - people with lots of experience, often know what they are talking about. 

So who better to talk about the first principles of great marketing and direct mail, than the person who published the first book in the world outside of North America on email marketing. He's been there for the first dot com, and now here for the second. He’s worked in some of the largest agencies in the world and the smallest. Started his own agencies. Lectures at University. Worked in senior marketing and board positions for both large and small businesses. B2B, B2C, B2G. Product and services. Online SaaS and traditional. Digital media and traditional. You name it, he’s done it. And yes, he's not a millennial, futurist, Web3.0, cryto-bro, cyber hustler. Thank god. 

In this episode, you'll find out interesting things like:

What is direct marketing? What is direct mail?

Why DTC is a concept that is over 150 years old and which company pioneered the format.

Why A/B testing is also a decades old concept used in the advertising industry by another 'boomer' exec. 

Find how the historical tussle between the direct marketing and brand advertising agencies started, and why it continues to blindside marketers to this day - to the detriment of everyone.

Find out why digital marketers would benefit from studying direct marketing inorder to prevent making mistakes and spending time discovering things which have already been discovered. 

Why should retailers cease offering free delivery?

Why you should still send printed bills and invoices to your customers instead of electronically?

Why do some of the biggest, fastest growing tech companies use direct mail to acquire and sell to customers, including Amazon, Google, PayPal, Ubereats, Dinnerly, Doordash, Sonos, and Hellofresh, -

Which form of direct mail is the fastest growing marketing channel in North America, second only to TikTok?

What led to the bomb squad blowing up one of Malcolm’s direct mail pieces on prime-time TV?

Which channel did David Ogilvy use the most to acquire new clients for his agency?

Do people still read long form copy or are they too time poor?

Why is understanding the Hemingway and Flesch reading scores critical to your success in selling anything, to anyone?

And sure the topic is Direct Mail or Direct Marketing, but there’s so much more gold in here for new marketers, junior marketers, senior marketers and everyone else in between.

Ignore the wisdom espoused in this episode to your own detriment.