Commonsense Direct Marketing

IF you know about Drayton Bird, then you know he's a bit of a legend. If you don't know about him, well then what are you doing in marketing/advertising? But seriously, this book is a goldmine of marketing ideas and advice that are designed to get results. If results matter to you, then get this book. If you want fancy marketing and branding theory, then this is not for you. It's a big book packed with tips on what to do and how to do it. All delivered in Bird's irascible and highly amusing style. As the name implies, it's about direct marketing. In other words the hard nosed approach towards getting the sale and the profit. It should be required reading for all marketers and advertisers, but sadly it isn't. That makes it a secret weapon for those of us in the know.

Drayton Bird is a master of the written word. What was good advice for marketers then is STILL good advice today. If you're marketing in the real world, this book is a must-have; and if you're efforts are more internet based, I recommend the revised version "Commonsense Digital and Direct Marketing"

I own an earlier edition of this book, written before the internet stuff was added. Still, Drayton Bird is a fine writer and he explains things lucidly and he has hella' experience and knows of that which he writes. He has a good sense of humor. Sort of droll. No book can cover it all, but this one does a good job of touching on major points any direct marketer should really get a grasp of. It isn't until about half-way through that Bird gets into Copywriting but he covers a lot of ground quickly in this area. If you write copy you SHOULD read a lot of books and read a lot of copy - one book doesn't do it. It's not obvious to everyone but there are some "copywriters" out there that don't actually know marketing very well. They are best avoided if you are paying for copy, and this book will help you a lot if you are thinking of writing your own copy or thinking of hiring somebody to do it for you. Favorite quote (of many): "If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys" Funny guy, that Bird.

I read a number of marketing books before this one,but after read Drayton's book I understand how to create and execute a direct campaign.The best side is,I think, the simple words due to the writer experience in the marketing business .If you are looking for the best combination of experience and easy reading with a ''How to...'' aproach ,this book is the best.

Every good idea in a book deserves a wipe of a highlighter pen. My copy of this book ended up with over half of the page real estate in fluorescent yellow. Why? It's full of excellent tips, encouragement and dry humour for anyone who communicates in print - and that's most of us. And for once, the testimonials are accurate; his ex-employer, David Ogilvy (of Ogilvy & Mather fame) says "Drayton Bird knows more about direct marketing than anyone else in the world. His book about it is pure gold". His only deviates from his own advice once - there is no address to reply to him. Apart from that, I recommend this to all my friends - and hide it from my enemies!