Greetings friend entrepreneur and fellow business builder marketing wizard Jim Ackerman here with another episode of Good, Bad and Ugly ads. This is the program where you're presented an ad specimen and you have some time to critique it and then in the next episode I critique the same ad specimen and you can compare how your critique measures up with the marketing wizard, huh? Okay? And then at the end of the episode we present you with the next ad specimen for the next program. So where are we this time? The last time it was a pair of ad specimens actually that we had you critique both from American Express. Here they are. You remember that it was in test of a postcard versus a letter package with very similar messages in both cases. This is the message side of the postcard. The message on the address side is very similar to the message on the message side both driving you to a website. We're using Treg's I was that the letter package almost was treated as a postcard as if if I don't open this letter I'll still get a message. Notice that the back carries a very similar message just like the postcard did. In other words they're driving you to the website even if you decide not to open the letter. When you open the folded postcard this is the message that you get and we'll talk about the message but take a look at the layout. A lot of reverse type that's hard to read. My prediction is that's less effective but it's a simple straightforward message again driving you to the website for more. On the other hand when you open the letter package this is what you get and there's a similarity here to the postcard in both the message and the layout in fact in spite of the fact that the layout is not in reverse type and is more in letter form but the message itself is very similar. Very interesting. So what I believe we can safely conclude here is that American Express is primarily testing can we do this by envelope package or is it better to do it by postcard package. Now let's look at the merits of both pieces on their own. Here again is the message side of the postcard and look at that headline. Quasi emotional appealing to the need to feel important helping your dreams grow. The reverse type here doesn't bother me much because there's not that much of it but look right on this message side they're already driving you to the website as if you won't even flip the thing over. If you do flip it over or see this side first the message is almost identical. The headline's missing but all the terms are right there and still driving you to that website. You know the outside of this postcard is almost like they don't expect you to open it but there are advantages to a folded postcard mainly you get much more space to deliver your message. Unfortunately American Express does this in all reversed Sansaer of type making it difficult to read but again their goal is the website. Two intriguing things to me about this letter package they treated the envelope exactly like they treated the postcard again driving people to the website but they also decided not to put the most emotional headline on the address side of the envelope instead they put it on the back. Don't you agree with me that my reason for saving just started kindergarten is more far more emotionally compelling than just an interest rate in terms. Now as you look at this letter that came in at number 10 envelope and you may have to stop the video to really examine it word for word you'll notice that it is personalized but you'll also notice that it's very short not a lot of detail not a lot of benefits they give you two options to respond go to the website or call the toll free number. I got to tell you this whole thing worries me a little bit it's like American Express has gone a throw in their hands up in the air and said you know we can't get anybody to read anything in the mail anymore so we're just gonna default de facto send them to the website or do whatever we can to send them to website because that's where the real action is taken place. The reason why this worries me is that American Express does a lot of marketing and a lot of testing of many different things and if this is the kind of thing that they're looking at and testing there's probably a message in it for the rest of us. In other words the idea of sending a mail piece that is designed to send people directly to the website is probably a good idea for you to test in your marketing as well. There are some flaws in this one but give American Express credit for testing and working to find something that works in a very difficult economy I call it good that's my verdict. Now let's take a look at the next specimen for the next episode something else that came to my mail a lumpy package here's what it looks like. Well I'm gonna take a look at the mail. Yep, a bill, a catalog, a vial pack. And how about this? A lumpy package. You ever get one of those in the mail? It looks like I'm the guy who's gonna be getting a free pen. Let's take a look at the pieces of this piece. By the way can you see the dimension of that? Looks like there might actually be more than one pen in there. They're shown me five or six pens here. It's lumpy all the way across. There's a couple of pens there. Let's see what kind of free goodies I'm getting. So we slide it open and that little piece of paper stays with the package and here is the rest of the package. We open it up and surprise, surprise, we're not gonna get four pens. We're only gonna get one. Take a look at the way that's put together. Little plastic things specifically designed to make it look like there might be more inside than that what there really is. And then illustration of the pen, order form, no sales letter, just straight forward, an order form, you've got the sample pen, what are you gonna do with it? What do you think of this package? Is it good, bad or ugly? So there's your next episode specimen. Examinate carefully, think it through and see how you and I match up in your evaluation of whether this one is good, bad or ugly. Meanwhile go ahead and subscribe to my channel, leave your comments below and don't forget to enter our contest. The more people you refer to become subscribers to either the good, bad, and ugly channel or marketing speaker Jim A, the greater your chance of winning. And what could you win? Well anything from an audio CD set all the way up to a $7,200 coaching program. Here are all the rules and details on the contest and I'll see you next time on another episode of Good Bad Nugly Ads where we help you get more customers who will pay you more money more often the fastest easiest most cost effective ways possible.