Target Marketing Denny Hatch's Blog Blogs

The Internet Can Make You a Chump—Forever!

Sat, 25 Sep 2010 13:39:15 EDT

By Denny Hatch
IN THE NEWS Limbaugh Taken In: The Judge Was Not Loaded for Bear PENSACOLA, Fla. — Anyone listening to Rush Limbaugh’s radio show Tuesday could be forgiven for thinking that Judge Roger Vinson has the federal government dead in...

Do You Know Where Your Customers Are?

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:54:30 EDT

By Denny Hatch
Imagine people sitting in a bar boozing at 8:00 a.m. It's OK. Most of these morning drinkers work the night shift and this is their cocktail hour. What's more, they want their TV news during prime time when they are having breakfast and...

Beware Publicity Hounds

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:39:39 EST

By Denny Hatch
My private electronic archive of news stories contains nearly 50,000 items, indexed and cross-indexed, going back five years when I started my e-zine, BusinessCommon Sense.com. The point of the e-zine is to take current news stories and connect...

The Yin and Yang of Dealing with Good and Lousy Customers

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 03:51:22 EST

By Denny Hatch
One of the most fascinating figures in modern retailing is Bradbury H. (Brad) Anderson, a Northwestern Seminary dropout who went to work for a small midwestern music store called Sound Music. Over the years, Anderson turned the little shop into...

Two Words That Wrecked an Otherwise Superb e-Sales Pitch

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:44:53 EDT

By Denny Hatch
[NOTE: All names and numbers have been changed to protect the inept.] "Always see a salesman once," said my first boss and mentor, children's book publisher (and ace salesman) Franklin Watts. The reason is obvious:...

Zicam's P.R. Crisis and the Mixed Message

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:44:50 EDT

By Denny Hatch
In yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer , I was struck by a full-page ad for Zicam, a cold remedy I had never heard of. The headline and text were set in bold white sans serif type reversed against a bright red background. I immediately dismissed...

HULU.COM: An Intriguing Advertising Opportunity

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:44:42 EDT

By Denny Hatch
When I read that Hulu is drawing huge audiences , I went to the Web site and clicked on a movie—"Abel Raises Cain." It is a 82-minute documentary about professional hoaxer Alan Abel, who was famous in the late 1950s for...