Hoo boy, I am sticking my neck out here! Ready for the chopping block I am - but it needs to be said and here it is: "Marketers - wake up! Get back to basics and get original"

So what is this all about?

The other day I got an e-mail from a marketer: Intriguing subject line, but also a little disconcerting. "Leon, Don't ever trust me again". Wow, this is really thin ice stuff. I must say it really intrigued me. A powerful statement and unique. Methinks that this marketer had a lot of faith and kudos' to him for a very original opening headline.

So what did I do? Of course I opened the mail and had a look!

Why did I open it? It was a mail from one of my trusted marketing acquaintances in the marketing world. It was from someone that has built credibility and trust with me over a period of time. And yes, the headline or subject hooked me - why should I now suddenly not trust this marketer?

Yes it worked

Now comes the crunch - why, o why must everyone copy - like sheep, I tell you.

In the next 24 hours I received another bunch of mails with the same heading/subject from other marketers! O dear me - how un-original can you get - A flock of sheep following a leader! My unsubscribe button worked overtime. It now was becoming an irritation - not an attention grabber.

Come on marketers - it worked for the original creator of this headline. It is a unique headline - like a signature, but for the originator only. Not for copycat purposes.

What has happened to creative marketing? What has happened to re-packaging? What has happened to original thinking? What has happened to you, dear fellow marketers? I am using a specific example of an e-mail in this article, but unfortunately it happens all the time. I see this happening continuously - the same marketing messages/headlines/subject coming through from different marketers. It is so obvious.

The originator of this created a great attention grabbing headline/subject for the marketing e-mail. It also worked for him because he had already built a trust relationship with his customers. Because it was so unique, it stood out - like a brand.

Other marketers that copied this - word for word I must add - fell flat on their faces - it worked against them as it was obvious that there was not even a hint of originality in their thinking. By all means copy the method, even the manner, but copying the exact words as well ?

So please marketers - be wary of what you copy. And when you copy someone's message please check the spelling.

Please marketers - be original, be yourself, take a little time to be creative - repackage the message to fit your style and your list.

Please marketers - be aware that you have customers on the other side and not just a list of names that needs to be fed regurgitated copy.

Please marketers - stop copying and start marketing to your customers!