The You-Beaut Double-Or-Nothing Deal!!!
Take a chance, Honey!
I was once part of an ad agency’s National Creative Centre of Excellence.
During a flat patch, I devised a brilliant promotion to drum up business.
It didn’t work. But by golly it was brilliant.
I table it here, in case you’re the deutronium to my Jupiter 2.
Given the right mix, this tactic could enrich us all.
Audience
The ad agency had account managers. Their job was to commission recruitment ads to fill position vacancies for client companies.
In those days, a decent newspaper ad cost around $5K in media space plus $1-2K in design, copywriting, artwork, administration and placement.
Sometimes, a job was advertised thrice on the trot with zero result (other than an embarrassed account manager and a very unhappy client).
The You-Beaut Double-Or-Nothing Deal!!! sought to remove this pain.
Deal
The offer was simplicity itself:
- Give us your most hideous chronic vacancy; the one nobody can fill.
- We’ll write you a killer ad to land the perfect candidate.
- If we fail, you don’t pay a cent.
- If we succeed, you pay us double.
I sent the email and braced for a torrent of new work.
Apart from a few bemused commenters, no-one reacted.
I was so surprised by this, I resent the email.
But all I got back were phrases like:
- unprofessional
- client won’t like it
- unacceptable risk
- a bit whacky
- not in the budget
- don’t have the authority
Fail
And so the deal died at birth.
Clients kept on forking out $6-7K for the same old ads.
With the same old non-results.
How Come That?
Was it corporate torpor or personal terror that killed all comers?
Maybe a bit of both.
Was it something I said?
Or did the offer lack some critical element?
I still reckon this deal has legs.
At Lentil as Anything, you pay for what you think your meal is worth – even if that’s nothing.
Whacky? Perhaps.
Unprofessional? Certainly.
But front of mind when it comes to switched-on restaurants?
My oath!
Your Turn
Think about your business, your clients and your risk profile.
Could it, them and you give The You-Beaut Double-Or-Nothing Deal!!! a go?
If not, why not?
If so, when?
Imagine the joy of regaling us with your success story.
Winner winner: chicken dinner.
Roll up! Roll up!
Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Here’s some excellent further reading from Winston Marsh:
http://blog.winstonmarsh.com.au/?p=876
With a title like ‘Hooray for Telstra!’ how can you NOT read it?!
The double or nothing idea is a bewdy Paul! Just re-tweeted it out to my followers with the suggestion that they use the idea in their business. BTW thanks for the praise about the Telstra thoughts.
Thanks heaps, Winston – and you’re most welcome.
Anyone who can get me to read a positive article about a telco has GOT to be a Master. And it gave me the chance to show I’m not deaf to praise where it’s due.
It’s always an honour to have you among us. Best regards, P.
Paul
Lots of great ideas here! You got me thinking, but in a different direction. How many outstanding ideas do folks in sales and marketing roles have that never see the light of day? Is there a way we should capture all this genius for prosperity?
Julian (@JulianTSmith)
Thanks, Julian. I suspect there are 200-300 fabulous ideas currently held captive in the minds of our readers.
I can sense them in the gloom. Shifting. Breathing.
All we need do is find the right way to unlock the door and
BOOM!!!
I think you’re running hard up against ‘policy’ here. It’s policy to pay $7K for one ad, no matter how many ads it takes. Policy is necessary. But it’s how you apply it that counts. I’d take creatively applied policy any day (e.g. your double or nothing deal).
Conversely, I know of an agency that applies a 100% surcharge for 24-hour turnarounds. The large organisations with which they deal are invariably disorganised, and invariably require last-minute work. And they pay double without blinking … because it’s policy.
Great points as usual, Ad.
How I’d LOVE to pull off that surcharge!
Lately I’ve been toying with a concept (provisionally) titled: The Never-Never Deal.
Half-price copywriting, but the deadline is up to me.
That way, if I’m utterly becalmed on a Wednesday arvo, I can dust off a pending job and do it then.
50% of $120 is rather better than 100% of nothing.
But would this damage my brand as a top-notch provider? Hmmm …
Thanks for getting me/us thinking!
Celine Dealine?
Meet you half way?
Half-fling?
Oh dear. Now I can sense Stephen in the gloom. Shifting. Breathing.
Ha! Didn’t want the viewers to doubt your Psychic prowess there Celine ;-P
I reckon you guys have already and very well sucked the marrow out of this one. But may I suggest a bit of genetic splicing?
Deal no 1 – No response = half-price, or another attempt at no extra charge and full-price.
Deal no 2 – ‘Celine Deadline Free’ = half price
Deal no 3 – 24 hour turnaround = Surcharge
Deal no 4 – Great Success = normal price
Though I understand the sentiment behind the ‘great success = pay double’ thing, isn’t great success what you are offering in the first place? If you are going to charge double, just charge double. There are some with the means to deal in rarefied atmospheres with top-shelf personalised service in most industries…aren’t there?
Personally, I hate complex deal briefs. I don’t have a Fly-by Card, or a Woollies Card, I don’t like wading through Telco Hair-splitters or buying calculation why it’s better to buy 18 New Releases and 200 Weeklys on a Tuesday. I just want what I want, I don’t mind paying for a good job and I don’t want to have to comprehend the micro-nuances of your business to be able to use it.
Well, that’s my 2 bob’s worth. And because it was at such short notice, well call it 4 ey? ;-P
Cheers
Stephen G
PS Still breathing…
I like your sane and simple methodology so much Stephen, let’s make it a fiver! Thanks a lot!
If I were in a slow patch I would give it a whirl!
Im a bit busy at the moment *engaged signal*
Great article Paul, I think it could fly…
Hi.
Thanks for commenting.
All our bloggers are busy right now.
Your comment is important to us.
Please hold.
…
Do you know the way to West Brunswick
Ya da da-dah
Da da da daaa dah
Adam is right about ‘policy’
Everyone is so scared to show any initiate. If it doesn’t work and we pay nothing, great. If it does and we pay double then the account manager will get his/her arse kicked.
So I would suggest that you charge half for ads that work twice as well. That’s the corporate way.
Oh hang on, strike that we have a policy about blog entries. Try this:
Nice blog Paul thankyou for your valuable and useful insight. Blaghhh.
Sorry a bit jaded this week. I’m in Hong Kong talking innovation and the Chinese companies are all running scared from increasing prices, improving exchange rates and post GFC gluts. So it’s back to the same old boring stuff that won’t sell anyway……..
Hi, Malcolm. Any time you want to really live life by going halves with me in that jumping castle business, just say the word. Tricky trips to foreign climes will be a thing of the past! Come back soon …
G’Day Paul,
I like the idea of the double or nothing deal. I seem to remember reading some research once that said “buy one get one free” beat the pants off equivalents such as “Half-price,” “50% off” and the like.
Dare i be so bold as to say that the quality of a job ad depends on the quality of the job analysis. David Ogilvy himself couldn’t overcome a poor job analysis.
Curmudgeons like me also believe that the best job ad attracts only one candidate; the perfect one.
Hordes of applicants are the first sigh that the ad’s lousy.
Make sure you have fun.
Regards
Leon
I like your thinking, Leon. Are you perhaps writing the book I should have started three years ago? It sounds awfully good!
Thanks for sharing Paul.
having also done a stint on the recruitment side, I suggest that whether the idea has legs or not, no one will sign up for it. Not just because of those reasons stated, but because: if you fill the role, someone will pay double. That will be questioned. Someone will have the spotlight on them. No one in HR likes the spotlight on them. I don’t think anyone in that entire industry ever strives to stand out – it’s the industry culture.
As a side note, Lentil as Anything is broke, and has only survived by not paying its own bills: http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/melbournes-soul-is-in-danger-of-disappearing/. Not sure the best example to use.
Great to hear from you, Alex. Thanks very much for your view (and that enlightening link). I didn’t know about the non-bill paying thing, but your take on HR meshes with much of what I saw in that field. Perhaps we can get some more HR types to defend their faith! Best regards, P.