Although David probably had deceitful marketing practices in his sights with this gem, I believe it holds equally true for communication aimed at what marketers perceive to be the sweet spot – the big mass in the fat part of the bell curve.

So even though some parts of the industry keep plugging away shouting increasingly similar messages to disengaged and disinterested customers, the future of advertising is surely not more of the same.

Digital has removed one of the most important features of the old media model - scarcity.  There are now more channels and more available spots than you could ever possibly want.  And if you can’t find something suitable, you can just create your own.

What this has meant for consumers, is an incredible overload of advertising messages shouting the same old slogans and messages that we’ve been hearing for years on every other channel in existence. Being the adaptable creatures that we are, we have compensated for this by becoming extremely adept at blocking out the hundreds if not thousands of unwanted messages and interruptions we are exposed to every day. 

So where does that leave us? As marketers, how do we get our important and valuable messages through to those customers who want, or need to see them?  And how do we make sure we don’t add to the unwanted pile of advertising communication, but instead work to create deliberate and appreciated value?

Well we can start by getting to know them - and I don’t mean getting to know the customer persona developed by the planning team helping to tailor messaging aimed at that fat part of the curve.  I mean really get to know them, as individuals, as people, as valuable customers. 

Our senior digital planner likens it to dating.  If you’re intent on going straight to third base on your first outing – the likelihood of failure is understandably high.  But if you take a longer term view – get to know your date, work out what you have in common and what each of you might have to offer the relationship, chances are you’ll be invited back.

Digital is the key enabler for developing these types of rich and value based relationships with your customers.  Understanding the various merits of each channel is an important part of building your own customer relationship strategy.  

Take social media channels for example.  The following table outlines the value profiles of some of the more popular social media platforms in use right now.  

So not surprisingly, understanding your specific objectives is a critical part of the channel selection process.  As the saying goes, “if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will do.”

To paraphrase Helge Tenno - we need to be harnessing the mechanics and dynamics of online conversations and these various channels, in order to create buzz, attention and interest in the ‘value’ our brands bring to the table.  The objective however, is not to interrupt conversations but contagiously ignite them.

One caveat.  Not only is the customer not a moron, they are also no longer silent.  They have a voice and they’re not afraid to use it, so treat them with respect at all times.

Taking a look through my daily email is an exercise in frustration at the best of times. Even after filtering out all the spam for Viagra, multi-level marketing scams, and direct messages from Twitter peeps telling me how to add 5,000 followers in 1 week, I’m still left with a raft of communication to wade through and filter for relevancy.

Not surprisingly, I deal with work issues first and following that, if there’s any time left in the day, I’ll take a look at my subscription email.  This is stuff that at some point in time, I’ve felt was worthy of my limited attention and that I’ve consciously invited into my inbox.

So, if you’re trying to sell me something, you’d call that a pretty warm lead.  You might want to take a little time to make sure you’re talking to me about something I’m actually interested in even.  Logically, that would probably result in the best ROI on each piece of communication sent – win/win for everyone.  Right?

Well, for many of these companies, logic doesn’t seem to apply.  Even after I’ve signed up for information on one product I’m still getting promotional messaging for another completely unrelated product, for which I’m not even remotely interested.  And they should know that already, because I told them!

Note to all email marketers – your audience does NOT want to receive an ongoing stream of undifferentiated messages targeted at the masses.  They expect you to know them – even just a little.

According to Forrester Research “The top reason for unsubscribing from marketing messages was irrelevance: An overwhelming 74% of consumers unsubscribe for this reason.”

Mike Weston from email marketing specialist Lyris recently posted a great article on the 8 building blocks of email relevance.  He talks about relevance existing in four dimensions: “The right message, to the right person, at the right time, in the right channel.”

So it’s not as easy as just acquiring an email address and permission to communicate.  You need to cover off a lot more bases or risk losing these potential customers through what can only be described as indifference to their specific, and stated needs.

Imagine your wife taking the time to tell you about the new perfume she really likes, only for you to deliver a power-tool for her birthday.  Even if she likes power tools, this is unlikely to go down particularly well for you.  If a customer volunteers information (any information) then it makes sense to use it.  If you fail to personalise communication based on the information you already have, they won’t bother handing over any more.  Ignore it for long enough, and they’ll start ignoring you.

Email marketing is a place where lazy direct marketers flourished for awhile.  Why? Because the cost of sending out a campaign was so much lower than the traditional fold and post version of direct marketing, they sank to playing a numbers game.  The cost of sending more and more stuff into the ether simply wasn’t a barrier.  Even working on ever decreasing return ratios it was getting the job done.

Perhaps tellingly, Nigerian scammers use the same technique to good effect – but it’s hardly an approach that’s going to build an enduring customer relationship.

It’s been said that direct marketing is experiencing a renaissance in the digital age.  That's not because we can mass market more efficiently.  It's because we can now personalise advertising to individuals cost effectively.

So before you hit the send button, make sure you’ve done everything in your power to be relevant to every single person about to receive your message.

If you haven’t – you’re wasting their time. 

Most successful businesses are built around repeat customers – not one-time purchasers.  To create repeat customers you have to make sure you are putting the right offer, in front of the right people, at the right time.

This has always been a fundamental marketing principle, but advances in technology have now made it a necessary survival skill.  Whether we’re talking about digitally revitalised direct marketing, or more sophisticated loyalty based programmes, we’re seeing more and more brands beginning to explore this space in an effort to bring their customers closer by offering increased value to the relationship.

At Ogilvy we’ve recently launched REDBOX our own integrated database marketing solution, which is currently running loyalty programmes for BP’s Wild Bean Café, Life Pharmacy, Placemakers and others.  These programmes are making a real difference to these businesses by providing us with invaluable insight into actual buying behaviour and alerting us to potential sales or marketing issues in close to real-time.

Dynamicbusiness.com featured this 7 step plan to creating customer loyalty on a post a couple of years back.  I thought it was a nice simple way of structuring a high-level approach to programme development.   Hope they don’t mind but I’ve re-worked it a little as follows: