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Conference CalendarAOOITKWM. CONFERENCE DETAILS are published in the MMicctins NM as Soon asthey are avai|able. In additiori, printed conference brochures also are mailed toAMA professional and associate members, dfspending on their interest, abouteiqht^weeks before each ever>t. ^ :

N M : TO be assured of advancer.^istration for, any AMA national or divisional(not chapter) conference, maii.a check, made out to the name of that conference,to: Conferences, American Marketing y\ssociation Registrar, Suite 200, 25D S.Wacker Dr., Chicago, IL 60606. To qualify for early reduced registration fees,payment must be received by registrar three weeks prior to the opening day of theepnfereocrlisted below. ^

Rffwidi: Full refunds will be granted for any cancellation received by the AMA" ' - " ' three weeks prror to opening day. A handling/service charge will bepenaiBseised thereafter at the rate at $T5 per programPraiKMi dntrpMiili responsible for programming each Conference also

listed oeLow. Thoseinterested in the programming aspects of these national anddivisional conferences should contact these people in writing. ,

Markctin3 News

Od. 17-18PhiladelphiaAMA Sympnium onDsveioping Naw SwyicesSponsored by AMA's Services MacketHigPlanning Committee at Vilianova Univer-sity. Chairman; William R. George, Asso-ciate Professor, Vilianova University,1714A Bainbridge St., Philadelphia, PA19146, (215) 545^3143. Enrollment limited.

Ocl 23-25Arlington. Va. > .13th Aumui AB-Cnim ^MtrkeNng CnrftmiMSponsored by Agricultural-ChemicalMarketing Research Section of AMA's

jyn10,1983

tmgrJa)

Direct^Marketin3 MemoWant tb write scintillating copy?Take tiie Daie Carnegie courseBY LAUREN R. JANUZ .' . . ;D i r ^ RMpoiiM Marketing ConMiltaot - ; - .

THE BEST DIRECT MAIL C G P Y W R I T I N G ^ COURSE is not ^direct mall coursfe at all. It is the Etele Carnegie Saks Cpurse. and it

AMA natloital and ^division coitferenG8sJuly 5-8Atlanta3nl AniNial Faculty ContortiunSponsdred-by AMA^s Marketing Educa^

.tion Division with Georgi a State Univer-sity in the Omni Hotel. Theme: "Interna-tional Marketing." Chairmen: James 0.Goodnow, Director, Institute of Interna-tionat Business, Georgia State Univer-sity, University Plaza, Atlanta, GA 30303,(404) 658-2723; and Nicholas C. William-son, Associate Professor of Marketing,

,Georgia State University, UniversityPlaza, Atlanta, GA 30303, (404) 658-2740.Fee: $315. including board and mate-

I not room. Enrollment limited.

Aug. 14-17-Darbani. Mich.Summer Ilirfcating Educaton'CoirferannSponsored by AMA s Marketing Educa-tion Division in the Hyatt Regency Hotel.Cochairmen: Patrick E. Murphy, Associate

PhliadeiDhto

Professor of Marketing, College ot Busf-ness Administration, Marqu^ng tiniver^sity:6d6N. 13th?t::MnwaukeeTWI53233,(414) 224-3311; and Eugene R. Laczniak,Associate Professor,_College of SusiMssAdministration, Marquette University,606 N. 13th St., Milwaukee, Wl 53233,(414) 224-7024. Fees: AMA members $80early, $ ^ late; nonmembers $95; AMA

"students $ ^ (sessions only). Proceed-ings not included in fee. Conference alsofeatures exhibits.

0cL2-M. isV8gasFourth Annual Mahcsting RasaarchCoflfarMicsSpoflsocfil by AMA'& Marketing Research Division in the Las Vegas HiltonHotel. Chairman: Bob Whitelaw, DivisionManager, American Bell Inc., 5 Wood Hol-4PW Rd., Room 3-E56, Parsippanyl NJ07054, (201) 581-4845. Fees: AMAmembers $2i90 early, $340 late; non-niembers $340; AMA students $30 (ses-sions only).

Industriaf Marketing Division atStouffer s Natrorral Center Hotel. Chair-man: Ronald P. Upovstty, -Marketing

flanager, Maritz Inc., 1375 N. Highwayr / fen ton , MO 63026, (314) 225-1334.

Tentative fees: A K ^ members $160 early,$170 late: nonnnembers $190; AMA stu-dents $25 (sessions pnly).

draws much of its v^lue from the text-hoqk, TTie 5 Great Rules of Selling, byPercy H. Whiting. The book teaches sales-people to

Other (non^MA)conferencos of interest

SapL 1M4-Tol(yoJMAIIA Intarnationai Markating CwitarancaSponsored by Japan^iarketing Associa-tion at the Hotel Okura, for the 25th anni-versary of the JMA. Theme: MarketingBreakthrough for Tomorrow: Jundamen-tals of Society and Business." Will exam-me marketing issues from a global per-spective. Simultaneous translation(Japanese-English) provided. Fee:120,000 yen (about $510). Contact: MaryHenneman, AMA, Suite 200, 250 S.Wacker Dr., Chicago IL 60606, (312) 648-0536.

Parlin Award goes to founder ofFederal Express delivery serviceTHE S9TH CHARGES CeolidgeParlin Award recently went to Fred-erick W. Smith, founder of FederalExpress Corp., Memphis, who builthis attemative mail delivery serviceinto a S800 million success in }us( (6yean.

Tiw Parlin Award, presented an-nually by the AMA's PhiladelphiaChapter, recognizo^ individuals whohave made outstanding contributionsto the field of marketing.

Established in I94S by the AMA inassociation with the Curtis PublislunjgCo. and the Univenity of Pennsylva-

nia's Whaiton School, the award isregardedas one of the tiighest market-ing kudos, and its namesake, Pariin, isconsidered by many to be the father ofmarketing research.

- The idea for Federal Express wasconceived by Smith in the mid-l 960swhen he was a student of internationaleconomics at Yale University. Aftergraduation, he served in Vietnam as acombat pilot in the U.S. MarineCorps throu^ twoiours of duty. ~^

Federal Express operates a fleet ofjets as well as 4,500 radio-dispatchedvam. The company employs 13,000

THE SPOTLIGHT SHINES

S GROUPITIES

atesearchEnclosed Mail

of New York,104 GALLERIA, 100 MAIN STREET

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. 10601

(914)997-7200

Frad#rick W. Smith

people and completes more than170,000 door-to-door deliveries ofitems each^weekday in the U.S. andPuerto Rico. It also serves Canadathrough a licensing agreement wittTanother firm. AJ^

InternationalBookshelfG/obMcan //: Dmognphlc,Social and Bconomic IndlcatonFor th0 CotmtrlM ot tha Wortd;HMory and Pn/actlona to 2000Comprehensive international trade and in-vestment information in two volumes. Vol-ume I lists 26 nations which offer best oppor-

Turntiis for tufufeTrade and investment. In-cludes demographics, national Jncome, eco-nomic condition, natural resources, invest-

the prospect, talk benefits, use showman-shiprand make the prospect want to be-Cpipe a ciistomer.

.i . These principles are dealt with at greatlength by Whiting, and this column is de-voted to an examination of some of thebasics. One chapter deals with five fun-xlatnental steps of the selling process: at-tention, interest, conviction, desire, andclose. These also are the key steps tO4vrit- lat-wfi ning good direct mail letter qapy. l-awwn R. Januz

"Unless you get your prospect's attention, why bother to make yourpitch at all?" Whitingobserves, and this rule sadly is overlooked by many copywriters. Instead of huffing and puffing about the merits of the

_coniipany or some olher matter of little interest to the prospect, a goodletter should get right to the point and say what the company will do forthe customer. A strong benefit should be stressed in the headline ind first"paragraph to get the prospect's attention.

"If a prospect is interested because he believes that your product orservice will benefit him in some way, he gladly istens," Whiting states, soit is important to arouse the prospect's interest

Next, conviction must be created by giving tn^rospect enough factsto justify a purchase decision. This means providing a coniplete descrip-tion of what the product will do, its accessories, the size and weight of theproduct (if pertinent), and a listing of some~of the tasks it will do.

THE PROSPECT MUST BE REMINDED THAT he or she islacking the benefits the product supplies. Once that is done, a word -picture can be painted to deV elop strong desire. Testimonials andendorsements from satisfied customers are an option, or the letter canexplain why the prospect will be unhappy if he doesn't act now and buythe product. .,

If desire isn't developed, efforts to close a sale will be weak andprobably won't work. A simple way to develop desire is to enlarge onthemost important benefit, which is protnised in the headline aind firstparagraph. - '

The closing must incite immediate action, or aD the preceding workinay go for naught. Getting the prospect through the direct mail letterand down to the point of making a buying decision is what writing goodcopy is all about.

TIM final step in the direct mail writing process is to add a postscript.The theory^f the P.S. is that many recipients of direct mail look at theheadline first, then glance at the P.S. to see if the letter is of any interest.If it is, they will go back and read the rest of the letter.

SOME OTHER VALUABLE TECHNIQUES for improving directmail letter copy follow.

Does the headline on the outside of the envelope entice the prospect toopen it? Does the headline on the letter motivate the prospect to read therest of the letter, or does it merely expound on benefits that the prospectprobably isn't interested in? The writer must put himself in the prospect'sshoes. If he can look at the letter objectively and not be drawn to read it,

letter won't work on a cold audience or to its full potential whento a list of one's own customers.

Is the most important benefit presented right awa'y? If the best is savedfor last, many potential buyers will have been lost already.

If |he most important fact is presented first and the letter still seemisdull, it may be because the product should not be marketed by mail. Noamount of terrific copy will sell the proverbial marketing dog.

Care must bexerdsed to avoid overstating product benefits. If claimsare so incredible that the prospect doesn't believe anything said in thecopy, the item will not be ordered. * '

Formula letters bring in more orders than most ndiiJTormuIa letters.The formula can be the Whiting approach (attention, interest, convic-tion, desire, close) or some