What you can learn from the Mafia, a toilet bowl, a successful madam – and other business lessons

What a desperate old sod I must be!


I’ve been in marketing one way or another for over 50 years, but I still happily sit through EADIM talks hoping I’ll learn something – and I usually do.

In the last 90 minutes I have learned – between bouts of laughter – from the marketing techniques of the Mafia, the New York Madam Sydney Biddle Barrows, penis enlargement ads, how the postman helped a firm sell more dog food, parking spaces for women, a simple way to discover your USP – and why there are images of flies in the toilets of some of the world’s biggest airports.

If I had the time to write down all the examples I’ve heard during these three days I know I’d come up with literally hundreds of good ideas from the most unexpected, even bizarre places.

Why am I telling you this? Because if ever you have to explain to people what works in marketing – or anything else – don’t just rely on the usual case histories and examples. Such predictable stuff doesn’t stick in the memory.

For instance an hour ago Ales Lisac – who used the examples I listed above – analysed the techniques of a carpet seller in Istanbul to look at questions like whether you should discount your offer or try to give something away.

I always get surprises during these days: I just discovered that not only had Ales interviewed Ms. Barrows: so had Tony Gedge, one of our delegates who advised dentists on how to market their services.

About the Author

In 2003, the Chartered Institute of Marketing named Drayton one of 50 living individuals who have shaped today’s marketing.

He has worked in 55 countries with many of the world’s greatest brands. These include American Express, Audi, Bentley, British Airways, Cisco, Columbia Business School, Deutsche Post, Ford, IBM, McKinsey, Mercedes, Microsoft, Nestle, Philips, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, Unilever, Visa and Volkswagen.

Drayton has helped sell everything from Airbus planes to Peppa Pig. His book, Commonsense Direct and Digital Marketing, out in 17 languages, has been the UK’s best seller on the subject every year since 1982. He has also run his own businesses in the U.K., Portugal and Malaysia.

He was a main board member of the Ogilvy Group, a founding member of the Superbrands Organisation, one of the first eight Honorary Fellows of the Institute of Direct Marketing and one of the first three people named to the Hall of Fame of the Direct Marketing Association of India. He has also been given Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Caples Organisation in New York and Early To Rise in Florida.

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