Will Marlow - Filed under 'David Ogilvy'

Don't forget about your launch party

"Like babies, products get the most attention when they're new." David Ogilvy

Seth Godin regularly writes blog posts that are so good that it's worth writing reactions to them. He did that the other day, when he wrote about the danger of premature shipment. He accurately pointed out that we don't live in a world where you work, work, work, and all your work culminates in a single grand opening or a launch party that drives most of your results. Rather, we live in a work, release, revise world where you ship quickly and often, get feedback, make your product better, and constantly build toward success.

What's the danger in this? Sometimes we underhype the actual launch party. Because it's no longer any big deal to us. This is definitely a problem, and I've noticed that good publicists are now in the position of reminding their clients that the launch is still a great (maybe the best) opportunity to grab attention for your product or business.

It used to be easy to celebrate milestones, because there were so few of them. Now, the nature of business has changed, and the constant communication we have with customers via Twitter and other social media has made us feel blase about big events. Whatever you need to do, don't miss out on opportunities.

Soon I'll write the next installment in my Clean Social Media Methodology series.

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Will Marlow co-founded AlumniFidelity which provides a Web 2.0 fundraising platform to colleges, nonprofits and secondary schools. He is also an Internet and social media marketing consultant. He’s working with clients such as UVA, the College of William & Mary, the University of Oklahoma, Bowling Green State University, Randolph Macon College, and he loves nothing better than a thorny marketing challenge. He would love to help you market your business on the Internet, boost the fundraising numbers for your school or nonprofit, or sellout your next big event. Email him at will@alumnifidelity.com.

Filed under // David Ogilvy Seth Godin

Comments [1]

How many books about your field have you read?

Until you've got a better answer, you copy. - David Ogilvy

One thing I love about having a blog is that it is a phenomenal way to keep a record of things that are important to you. (Note: this isn't the only reason to have a blog, but it's definitely a huge benefit.)

For example, I was reading David Ogilvy's book, Ogilvy on Advertising, last night when I came across a passage referencing an interaction he once had with a lackluster subordinate. He asked the subordinate copywriter how many books on advertising he had read. The subordinate responded that he preferred intuition over knowledge. Ogilvy responded with a quote from King George V's private surgeon, who remarked that the thing that distinguishes a great surgeon from other surgeons is that a great surgeon "knows more than other surgeons do." I agree that in any field I can think of, a broad base of knowledge is a key ingredient to success.

But for someone like me, who can much more easily recall the contents of books than their titles, I refer to the "My reading list" blog post to remember all the business and marketing books that I liked the most. I just added Ogilvy on Advertising to that post. He has a lot of good ideas to copy.

Will Marlow co-founded AlumniFidelity to help his clients reposition their fundraising to benefit from Web 2.0 technology and marketing techniques. He’s working with clients such as UVA, the College of William & Mary, the University of Oklahoma, Bowling Green State University, Randolph Macon College, and he loves nothing better than a thorny marketing challenge. Email him at will@alumnifidelity.com.

Filed under // David Ogilvy Reading Reading lists advertising