My Newest Launch: WhichTestWon's First Annual Testing Awards

With one big huge caveat, I love, love, love marketing and advertising awards. They're inspiring, galvanizing, career-building, and just plain fun for everyone involved. I still keep the very first award I won, DMAW's 1992 Bronze MAXI, propped up near my desk.

I learned a big lesson from that award though (hence the caveat.) I'd actually submitted two of my campaigns, both marketing high-priced business information, for the DMAW awards that year. The first was a one-page, personalized letter that was faxed to prospects. Recipients could respond by jotting their credit card number in an already personalized little order form at the bottom of the page and faxing it back. The personalization of a mass-fax campaign was pretty technically advanced at the time. (In fact I didn't know any other marketer who'd tried it.) Response rates were insane. We got way more than 1000% ROI. I was sure I'd win an award for this campaign!

Secondly, as more of an afterthought than anything, I also submitted a dimensional campaign. The package was a little cardboard box which contained a 4-color brochure, letter, order form, and a floppy disc containing a demo of the product we were offering. As always with dimensionals, costs were really high per piece. The campaign broke even, but that's it.

Guess which campaign won the award? Yeah, the dimensional that barely broke even.

I was shocked. Thrilled to have won something of course, but upset. It felt like a miscarriage of justice. I really wanted to bitch out the judges. What is wrong with you people? I felt my personalized mass fax-marketing campaign was the idea that deserved the publicity. Other B2B marketers could have copied it and made a lot of money. Arrgh!

That's when I learned that for most marketing and advertising awards, the shiny, bright "creative" object is the one that catches the judges' eyes and wins. Measured results don't matter, actual data doesn't matter. The black-and-white, one-page fax had no chance against a colorful box full of stuff.

Now I only take awards seriously when I know the nominations form *requires* response data. (A shocking number of awards entry forms do not ask for any data!) That doesn't mean that creative, strategy, competition, and other circumstances shouldn't be taken into consideration. You judge on a combination of elements. But data must be an important one of them.

So, it will be no surprise to you that my newest launch - WhichTestWon's Annual Testing Awards - requires results data. I totally understand that many companies do not want their data blared to the universe, so I also included a 'Keep my data private' checkbox on the entry form. The judges will be able to see your data, but they are sworn to secrecy!

The judges are web analytics guru Avinash Kaushik, copywriting guru Bob Bly, Vertster CEO Scott Miller and myself. We're all equally obsessed with testing creativity and results data.

If you have conducted an A/B test or multivariate test for your company or for a client since January 1, 2008, that worked out well, please do enter. Nominations are free. Deadline Friday November 20th.

My Eyes Are Bleeding and Everything's Late

My fall launch projects are 7-8 weeks off schedule. The new service was supposed to be completely live in early September. And you know, it's coming along. But, it won't be ready until late October.

What's slowing things down? It's not my team's fault, it's my own. Here I am just as I was precisely 10 years ago, sitting at the computer, working, working, working on my launch. I'm smarter now, right? Well, not brain cell-wise, but in experience, god yes. Plus, I took 4 months off before starting this new company so I'm rested. So that should make up for an extra decade of just plain age.

Nobody told me. I really didn't know. For gosh sakes, I'm only in my mid-40s! But, turns out starting a new online publishing company when you are in your mid-30s vs when you're in your mid-40s are very different things. Physically.

I'm just more relaxed in some inner cellular way. Still ambitious and driven, but able to take things slower, to savor the moments. Also, after a few 10 hour days at the computer, even with anti-glare devices, etc., it feels like my eyes are bleeding. Ow, ow, ow.

Anybody, who says that print will be extinct someday, does not have eyes older than 45. Now I understand why big important executives spend more and more time in in-person meetings as they age. It's not that they can't use their computer, or don't realize its communication efficiencies, their eyes are hurting.

Lesson learned. Actually two. One is, if you want older businesspeople to read anything on your site, make the type much larger. And it better be black on white. Secondly, when you start new businesses as you age, allow more give in the schedule for the "I am aging" factor.