Simon McMurtrie
Chairman, Riviera Travel and formerly Group CEO, Laithwaite’s Wine
Proper direct mail
I specialise in strong direct mail packs that produce, almost always, impressive results. In many cases my packs have become established controls even after many years. I work across all sectors – fundraising and finance being particular enthusiasms – but I’m comfortable with wine, books, fashion, subscriptions, furniture, food, travel, china figurines and jewellery, politics and membership, and almost anything else that requires a direct mail pack that produces excellent results. I always write each pack and you work directly with me with support from my team. And where appropriate, I’m happy to talk about creating a pack on a shared risk, shared reward basis.
John Watson
Chairman & Group Chief Executive WPN Chameleon
Testimonials
“
With an unrivalled 50 years’ experience, John retains a fresh and unique ability truly to get inside the head of the target customer for a product or service. His copy as part of an overall direct marketing strategy captivates an audience such that they can only do one thing: respond! Having worked with John for over a decade, he has no equal, whether selling wine, furniture, books or travel. Or the need to donate to a charity.
“
The DM professional’s DM professional, John knows more, sees more and gets more done than the rest of us, charmingly, reliably. My mentor when starting my agency in the 1980s, he is still.
Ken Burnett
Former agency head, author and fundraising enthusiast
“
John is ‘the expert’s expert’; in my 40 year career in direct mail I have always admired (and envied!) John’s skill to create mail packs which leave me thinking ‘I wish I’d done that’ and even more importantly ‘I wish I’d thought of that’.
Judith Donovan CBE
Chair Strategic Mailing Partnership, Chair Royal Mail Letters Advisory Board, Chair Keep Me Posted and Chair DIY Direct Marketing
“
Direct mail is central to all omni-channel marketing. John is direct mail. He knows how to market a concept in an attractive and persuasive way, which makes customers buy. That’s the key – action!
Joanna Reynolds
MD The Folio Society, inaugural Chair DMA
Work
Over 50 years, I’ve learned a lot about the things that work. And the things that don’t. I’ve learned that copy, even in this digital world, is what makes the big difference (sometimes more than double). I’ve learned that ‘pretty’ is rarely successful. I’ve learned that what wins awards rarely wins response. I’ve learned that getting people to call, or click, or send in a coupon, is probably the hardest, most challenging task in advertising. And actually, the most enjoyable one too.
