Tony Attwood's work has totally re-written the notion of how direct mail works.  His views and theories have gradually crept into the mainstream of direct mail - although of course thousands of writers and companies have failed to pick up the new direction that Tony's work offers.

Gaining attention

Tony turned gaining attention into the fundamental of direct mail - he has said many times that the key issue is not to get attention, but rather to "grab the reader by the throat and not let go".   The "grab the reader by the throat" became a central part of the lexicon of direct mail, and the notion arose that it was necessary to go much further than simply announcing what one had to sell.

Building on his experience with the notorious Bad Ad project (in which Tony invited 400 subscribers to the Creative Direct web site to forward him the worst direct ads that they found) Tony analysed what made these adverts so bad and eventually came up with the idea that there are only five ways to write really good advertising: 

From here Tony did two things - he wrote numerous examples of direct mail illustrating each approach, and he started to develop an entire theory of direct mail which would explain in complete detail why some direct mail worked and some didn't.

Tony's view of the underlying basis of direct mail is found in his famous three laws of direct mail:

(There is more on this at http://www.theory.bz/start_here.htm)

Tony subsequently developed a complete theory from these laws.  Links to some of the most significant theoretical elements are given below:

The examples of Tony's work, and the background to his approach can be found on a variety of websites.

	The Fundamental Laws of Direct Mail - the most fundamental elements of direct mail which affect everything else.
	The Standard Theory of Direct Mail makes it possible to predict why one mailshot works and another doesn't.
	The Library - a collection of some of the most insightful articles in the practice of direct mail, its theory and practice.
	The 100 Ways - a web site that works backwards, taking traditional direct mail topics and then seeing how they relate to the Standard Theory and the Three Fundamental Laws.  It was from this site that the Standard Theory emerged.
	The A to Z of Direct Mail - a regularly updated list of around 100 articles and details of mailing lists on every aspect of direct mail from Announcement Advertising to the XZ Theory drawn from across the MIE sites.

THE PRACTICE

	Writing and designing direct mail to meet the demands of the Standard Theory of direct mail and accord with the three fundamental laws.
	Good Ads - examples of adverts that follow the theory and laws
	Bad Ads - example of those that do not - and where they fail
	Dirty tricks used in direct mail - what gives direct mail a bad name

DIRECT MAIL INFORMATION

	Postal News - what Royal Mail is up to, and how their latest activities affect successful direct mail
	Mailing lists, available for immediate download on line - plus guidance and background
	Email mailing lists - email lists of schools and businesses
	Cutting the cost in half using the Filtered Database Technique
	Solo mailing  - the issues and factors involved in posting mail in the UK
	"I spoke to my designer and he said it was rubbish" - FAQs, comments, and why some people in the direct mail industry really don't like us revealing all these insights.

SPECIALIST SITES CONCERNING SELLING TO SCHOOLS AND  PARENTS (sponsored by the School of Educational Administrators)

	Selling to schools and parents - the starting point
	Solo mailings to schools
	Shared mailings to schools
	Selling to parents
	School books - selling books into schools
	Public relations when selling to schools
	Educational tales and rumours  - what people love to believe about direct mail but which is not true - the antithesis of the three laws.

Last modified: October 18, 2006