In this episode of Marketing Without Rules, Lewis Vandervalk sits down with John Dwyer, a direct response marketing expert from Australia who has spent decades helping businesses break free from price-based competition through creative incentive strategies. 

John shares the legendary story of how he convinced Jerry Seinfeld to become the spokesperson for an Australian bank's "get a home loan, get a free vacation" campaign, which resulted in the bank tripling their home loans within the first year while never advertising interest rates. He reveals his "Happy Meal Toy" philosophy; the same principle McDonald's uses with low-cost, high-perceived-value incentives that take customers' eyes off price. 

John demonstrates how service businesses can implement this strategy, sharing case studies including a turf farm that sold out of grass in six days by offering premium beer with purchases, and a hardware store that doubled revenue competing directly against a massive chain store using vacation incentives. 

The conversation covers his Facebook contest formula that generates hundreds of qualified leads for as little as $30 per day, including the "Ugliest Back Fence Contest" that produced six months of hot leads in three days for an aluminum fence company. John explains how his vacation incentive program works, offering $1,000+ value vacations for $50 cost, and how businesses can use these as both lead generation tools and conversion closers. 

Throughout the episode, he emphasizes that successful marketing isn't about having the best product or lowest price… it's about creating irresistible offers that make price irrelevant.

Resources Discussed on the Episode:

https://theinstituteofwow.com/

https://vacationsincentive.com/

https://fbcontestblueprint.com/

https://bookofwow.com/

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction to Marketing Without Rules

01:07 Direct response vs. traditional advertising: The calamari principle

05:31 The Jerry Seinfeld bank campaign: Chasing a celebrity for six months

12:15 The Happy Meal Toy philosophy: Low cost, high perceived value

18:26 How persistence and a bad Crocodile Dundee accent landed Seinfeld

22:27 Case study: The turf farm that ran out of grass in six days

25:38 Why the most expensive bank in Australia never advertised rates

28:45 The vacation incentive program: $50 cost, $1,000+ value

32:20 Facebook contest formula: 900+ leads for $200 spend

38:15 The hardware store vs. Bunnings: David beats Goliath

41:10 Real estate revolution: Personalized home valuations

43:11 Final advice: Never compete on price, always add value

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