Being direct
by Lester Wunderman · first published 1996
6mentions
2recommended by
3HN commenters
2010–2022first – last mentioned
67% recommend33% neutral
Lester Wunderman is an advertising legend, the pioneering father of direct marketing, to whom we owe the ubiquity of the American Express card, the creation of the Columbia Record Club, and the high profile of L.L. Bean. The visionary marketing techniques Wunderman conceived and perfected over his long and brilliant career transformed the advertising industry and will shape the interactive marketplace of the future. Here is his own story, in his own words, of how he did it - how he learned to make advertising pay. Direct marketing is a strategy for putting manufacturers directly in touch wit
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Being Direct by Lester Wunderman. Best book on direct marketing in the world IMO. I currently do high level marketing consulting, would not have happened without thia book. Way better than Ogilvy on Advertising.
on “Ask HN: What are the best books you've read that few others have?” ↗…believe me, the ad industry has known about brain science since the 1920s. Google "A Century of the Self" and Edward Bernays. And direct marketing has had astounding data mining capabilities for decades ("Being Direct" by Lester Wunderman is a good reference here).
on “ Creativity doesn't need a muse. It needs a drill sergeant.” ↗Another book that is an auto-biographical business book is Lester Wunderman's Being Direct. Wunderman pretty much invented the direct marketing industry and relationship marketing. It's easily in my top three books I've ever read.
Being Direct by Lester Wunderman is a great intro to the world of direct marketing.
on “Ask HN: What single book is the best intro to your field for laypeople?” ↗"Being Direct: How to make advertising pay" by Lester Wunderman is my favorite marketing book.
on “How to create advertising that sells” ↗To save others a search, here's the book on Amazon. I'm surprised I've never heard of it before, even though I have Ogilvy & Tested Advertising Methods: https://smile.amazon.com/Being-Direct-Making-Advertising-Pay...
on “Lester Wunderman, Father of Direct Marketing, Has Died” ↗