Global Brand Development

Let's blow the lid off the biggest -- and most costly -- advertising myth of all time. If you'll give me five minutes, we can do that right now.

Did you know… that the purpose of advertising is NOT to "get attention"? Despite what so many ad agencies have told their clients, that is merely a deceptive smoke screen.

Why would they tell you that? It's easy -- if they succeed in "getting attention," they’ve fulfilled their mission! Then they can justify the exorbitant fees they charge you. More importantly to them, they don't want you to hold them accountable for results.

The most common mechanism they use is "image advertising." Known in the trade as "institutional advertising," it often uses a beautiful photo or illustration showing off the product, with just the product name or brand name. It may also have an address at the bottom. And that’s about it.

It's the advertising equivalent of cotton candy -- it looks impressive yet it’s nothing more than hot air and a little sugar.

The real purpose of advertising should be to either generate a sale, or get your prospect to take the next step in your buying process. That may be making a credit card purchase, calling you for an appointment, requesting your brochure or opting in to your email list.

This type of advertising is called "Direct Response" advertising. That's because your ad or sales piece is written and designed to generate a sale or other response directly from your ad. It elicits a direct response to your call to action.

Naturally, getting attention is important. It is not, however, the end game as some ad agencies would have you believe. Instead, getting attention is just the first step in the process of leading your prospects to buy from you.

With direct response, then, you’re doing several things image advertising doesn't do. You’re providing more information -- enough so that the reader or listener can either make a buying decision, or request more information. And there's a clear call to action, telling the reader (or website visitor, or listener on radio or TV) precisely what to do next.

With image advertising, you have no idea how many sales (if any!) resulted from your ad because there is no way to track the results. With direct response, you can track the response and know exactly how many sales or information requests came from your ad.

What does that mean to you? It means you can stop pouring your money into wasteful ads and media that don’t work. You can compare the results from different publications or Google ads to see which are pulling in sales and which are not.

This lets you reallocate funds from non-performers into other marketing channels. You can also test different headlines or body copy to see which is more profitable. A whole new world opens up to you, and nothing is a mystery anymore!

It also means that an ad agency can no longer hide behind the phony "get attention" banner. You’ve just been set free from wasteful advertising that burns through your budget like there’s no tomorrow.

We specialize in ONLY Direct Response Marketing --
both Copywriting and Strategy, online and offline

At Global Brand, we treat your budget as if it were our own funds on the line. We work hard to make sure your direct response advertising is pulling in profits for you as quickly as possible. We hate seeing one single dollar wasted on ineffective, do nothing, image advertising.

And we don't stop there. We are expert at not only Direct Response Copywriting, but Direct Response Strategy as well. This is critically important, because it helps ensure that your longer range marketing plans are carefully thought out to match your company’s strengths, goals, and functional capabilities.

With your new strategy, you can enter new markets. Create new revenue streams. Revamp existing products to sell into other markets. Add profitable new distribution channels. Grow in ways that make sense to you, and nicely match your company's long-term goals.

This professional strategic planning gives you the most efficient and effective use of your budget, because you won’t constantly be wondering what to do next, and where to invest marketing funds. You'll have a much clearer path to follow. And you may even sleep better at night. (smile)

We're not right for everyone. We sometimes must turn away prospective clients even though we may personally like them. Reasons vary.

Sometimes it's a prospect's reluctance to abandon Image Advertising because it looks pretty. We believe it's unethical to take your money for producing advertising that we know is wasting your money. Therefore we will not engage in Image Advertising.

Other times it's because a client has not established a realistic budget. We can do a lot given half a chance, and yet even we can't multiply zeros. Nobody can.

We have turned away clients because the product cannot live up to its claims. We also don't engage in projects of questionable morality.

In most cases, though, we can analyze your current marketing and advertising efforts, identify the weaknesses, and give you options on how best to correct underperforming areas. Then, we'll help you convert them into blockbuster sales programs.

I will also tell you the truth about your own advertising. That is my responsibility to you. Look… people tell me I'm a really nice guy, yet I'm also very direct when it comes to uncovering your company's vulnerabilities in marketing. I would be of no value to you if I were to sugar-coat the weaknesses I find.

My purpose is to align our goals and your goals and work together as partners to build your sales revenue and net profits. If you'll allow me, I'll make sure you never again waste one penny on ineffectual fluff. And that your marketing strategy and advertising efforts are working in harmony to constantly, steadily grow your revenues.

In some cases, if your marketing efforts aren't paying off like they should, just eliminating the wasteful expenditures from your current advertising more than pays for our involvement. And the rest -- growing sales from new, more effective advertising -- is gravy.

If all this sounds sensible to you, pick up the phone, punch in 818-522-1970, and let's talk about your company, its goals, what’s working, and what isn't. There's no obligation on your part. As we chat, however, some intriguing new ideas you can use may bubble up to the surface. And you may consider adding Global Brand to your team.

Partnering with us is like having your own branding, marketing and copywriting experts right down the hall. How cool would that be?

All the best,