Xref: utzoo alt.sys.sun:3222 comp.unix.sysv386:6236 comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc:7748 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!asuvax!mcdphx!fishpond!fnf From: fnf@fishpond.uucp (Fred Fish) Newsgroups: alt.sys.sun,comp.unix.sysv386,comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc Subject: Re: BRU advertisement?? Keywords: fraud,mail,bru Message-ID: <102@fishpond.uucp> Date: 22 Mar 91 15:34:00 GMT Followup-To: comp.unix.sysv386 Lines: 102 Since EST does not get or receive netnews, I am posting the following message at the request of Jeff Groves. Note that as a major stock holder in the company, and the author of the product in question, I have some interest in this "marketing fiasco", but all questions and comments should be directed to Jeff. He does get email at estinc!jeff. -Fred -------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, 21 March 1991 Greetings, Please direct all flames regarding the "fake" Denver Computer Journal article to me. If you're curious about what caused this brouhaha, I will send you a copy of the infamous mailing piece. Call 602-820-0042 or uucp me at estinc!jeff The letter received by Gray Watson was part of a very small direct marketing test. Only 250 letters were mailed. I selected names from various Unix mailing lists. The test was a dud -- no good leads (or sales) were generated. Here's what happened: I was looking for a new way to promote our Unix Backup and Restore Utility called BRU. We've been selling it for over six years (mostly through ads in Unix World and Unix Review). I wanted to send out a copy of our review from the December 1990 issue of Unix World magazine (which was very positive). Copyright restrictions prevented me from making copies of the Unix World article. They prefer to sell us reprints at 40 cents per copy, which is too expensive for a mass mailing. So I wrote my own "article" and created my own publication, the "Denver Computer Journal." Obviously, I could not use the name of an existing publication, that would be illegal. Everything I wrote in my article was accurate. Of course, I made our product sound good. An ad for BRU was also on the same page. A few handwritten notes were written on the page in blue ink (they were actually printed, but they looked handwritten). They said "CALL THESE GUYS, THIS IS A GREAT PRODUCT -- JEFF" and a line pointed to the ad. I also added the following at the bottom of the page, "P.S. HAVING A GREAT TIME IN COLORADO, SEE YOU SOON!" I got this idea from several direct mail promotions that I have received. Usually, they consisted of a "fake" article printed on newsprint, along with a handwritten note signed by John or Bob or somebody. This method has worked very successfully for other products, notably for promoting seminars. I think that Chase Revel (who started Entreprenuer magazine) came up with the idea, or maybe he stole it from someone else. In direct marketing, you have to test to see if it works. So my secretary and I spent several hours hand-addressing and stamping about 250 envelopes. This promotional method may have worked for others ... but it was a real dud for our product. When sending direct mail letters, the goal is to first get the attention of the reader, and then try to make a sale (or generate a lead). I seemed to accomplish the first goal, but I failed on the second. I got only one inquiry and two complaints -- not the kind of results I like. I mailed the letters from Colorado because I was planning a trip there. The trip was postponed, so I mailed a big envelope full of stamped letters to the Boulder postmaster with instructions to postmark them in Boulder. I used a Boulder P.O. Box as the return address in order to get any bad address returns (usually about 5% to 10% for most mailing lists). The box belonged to a friend of mine name Jeff Fergus -- so the letter was actually mailed by a guy named Jeff (which is also my name). My "brilliant" marketing idea did not work. Like most direct marketing test mailings, it failed. I think I underestimated the intelligence of my readers and made them mad ... which is not a good way to sell. So now it's back to the drawing board for the next marketing idea. I am sorry to anyone who was offended by this mailing. If you have any additional questions, complaints or comments, please direct them to me. Sincerely, Jeff Groves Director of Marketing (ex-Marketing Genius?) Enhanced Software Technologies -- # Fred Fish, 1835 E. Belmont Drive, Tempe, AZ 85284, USA # 1-602-491-0048 asuvax!mcdphx!fishpond!fnf