History of Advertising & Direct Response: Claude Hopkins Ramps It Up Another Notch

Dear Business-Builder,… But Claude Hopkins did leave out one
The other day, a subscriber e-mailed me to inquire ifteeensy-weeensy little fact: Pretty much every
my direct marketing agency, Response Ink, wouldbrewery made its beer just like Schlitz did!
build a website for him.In reality, Schlitz’ beer wasn’t one iota purer
Now, although Response Ink is definitely NOT lookingthan its competitors’ brewskis were. But by
to add new clients to our line-up at this time, thebeing the first to tell the public about the steps
subscriber’s company has an intriguing, evenbeer-makers took to ensure purity – and by
ingenious business model -- and so my curiosity gothaving his client take ownership of those techniques
the better of me.in consumers’ minds – Hopkins convinced the
I agreed to take the call, and a few days later, theentire nation that Schlitz really was the purest beer
subscriber and his two bosses – the partnersaywhere.
who own the company -- joined Julie, Daniel and meMore than that: By making Schlitz the first brewery
on our conference bridge.to reveal how beer was made, Claude Hopkins
As we talked, it quickly became clear that, instead ofROBBED competing breweries of their purity claims!
searching for the best marketing strategies and salesAfter his ads ran, any brewery that claimed its beer
copy money could buy, the principals werewas pure without substantiation was crushed by the
price-shopping us!specificity of Hopkins’ ads ...
And so I politely quoted our admittedly outrageous… And any competitor that attempted to
price -- which includes a commission on each sale wesubstantiate its purity claims would just come off
produce … let them off the hook by apologizinglooking like second-rate, “me-too” breweries!
that we couldn’t get their site done in the timeRESULT: In no time flat, Schlitz soared from
alotted … and politely wished them good luck.America’s fifth biggest-selling beer … to
At this moment -- unless I miss my guess --NUMERO UNO!
they’re now discovering the joys of workingClaude Hopkins described his strategy beautifully in his
with the lowest bidder: A company that agreed tobook My Life in Advertising:
their deadline and quoted them a dirt-cheap price.“This is a situation which occurs in most
My prediction? These guys are about to endure aadvertising problems. The article is not unique. It
painful and costly object lesson in the true value ofembodies no great advantages. Perhaps countless
great marketing.people can make similar products. But tell the pains
Here’s what typically happens next:you take to excel.
The lowest bidder proves (surprise, surprise!)“Tell factors and features which others deem
incompetent. The sales copy stinks, the web pagestoo commonplace to claim. Your product will come to
are ugly and virtually unreadable, functionality is limitedtypify those excellencies. If others claim them
and the third, fourth, fifth, etc. drafts blow theafterward, it will only serve to advertise you.
deadline to smithereens.“There are few advertised products which
The lowest bidder is fired. The next-lowest bidder iscannot be imitated. Few who dominate a field have
hired and starts all over again from scratch. This stepany exclusive advantage. They were simply the first
is often repeated two or three times until a websiteto tell certain convincing facts.”
– of sorts – is finally finished.HOPKINS ON HOPKINS
Months after the initial deadline, the website finallyAlthough Claude Hopkins may be best-known for his
goes live and promptly proceeds to disappointSchlitz campaigns, he also pioneered sampling, the use
everybody with pathetic sales.of coupons, and replaced reckless claims with money
Pity.back guarantees and much, much more.
Whether from hubris or ignorance, these otherwiseIn fact, he reveals so many powerful copywriting
very bright men are making one of the mosttechniques in My Life in Advertising and Scientific
common blunders in the business world. Believing thatAdvertising, nearly all of today’s top writers still
they have built “a better mousetrap,” theyworship the ground he walked upon.
expect the world to automatically beat a path toIf you have not read him – or have not read him
their door.lately – I strongly suggest that you surf over to
They evidently understand they need sales copyand remedy this situation post-haste.
– although they’re probably not sure why.Here are just a few gems from Hopkins’ gifted
And they’re certainly ignorant of the fact thatpen:
great marketing can often produce many times theOn Salesmanship …
sales, revenues and profits that mediocre, luke-warm“Advertising is multiplied salesmanship.
promotions do, thus multiplying the size of their“Its principles are the principles of salesmanship.
business in a fraction of the time.Successes and failures in both lines are due to like
To “penny-wise, pound-foolish” guys likecauses. Thus every advertising question should be
these, marketing strategies and copywriting areanswered by the salesman’s standards.”
merely a commodity – just another business“The only purpose of advertising is to make
expense – no more important to theirsales.
company’s success than ink cartridges, yellow“It is not for general effect. It is not to keep
pads or toilet paper.your name before the people. It is not primarily to aid
One can only hope that sooner or later, theseyour other salesmen.
“penny-wise, pound-foolish” guys will have an“Figure it's cost and result. Accept no excuses
epiphany: That they will finally realize that greatwhich good salesmen do not make. Then you will not
marketing strategies and sales copy combined withgo far wrong.”
flawless execution is AT LEAST as essential to their“Many of the ablest men in advertising are
success as the quality of their product is – andgraduate salesmen. The best we know have been
quite possibly, even more so ...house-to-house canvassers. They may know little of
98 YEARS AGO, ALBERT LASKER ALREADY KNEWgrammar, nothing of rhetoric, but they know how to
WHAT THOSE POOR GUYS ARE LEARNING NOWuse words that convince.”
…“When you plan and prepare an advertisement,
You might have seen my earlier article –keep before you a typical buyer. Your subject, your
“History of Advertising & Direct Response: Johnheadline has gained his or her attention. Then in
and Albert’s Excellent Adventure” – andeverything be guided by what you would do if you
saw how Albert Lasker used John E. Kennedy’smet the buyer face-to-face.
assertion that good advertising is merelyOn long copy vs. short copy …
“Salesmanship in Print” to revolutionize our“Some people say, ‘Be very brief. People will
industry.read but little.’
Advertisers begged for a coveted spot on Lord &“Would you say that to a salesman? With a
Thomas’ client list – and happily paid theirprospect standing before him, would you confine him
truly outrageous fees -- because they knew the trueto any certain number of words? That would be an
value of great sales copy.unthinkable handicap.”
Whether they sold washing machines, Palmolive soap“Mail order advertising tells a complete story if
or Lucky Strikes, every company that experiencedthe purpose is to make an immediate sale. You see
the L&T’s sales miracles knew full well theyno limitations there on amount of copy.
were due to great sales copy – and that the“The motto there is, ‘The more you tell the
enormous multiples this great sales copy producedmore you sell.’ And it has never failed to prove
were well-worth paying for.out so in any test we know.”
Lasker knew it too. That’s why he gladly hired“When you once get a person’s attention,
John E. Kennedy for a whopping 205 times morethen is the time to accomplish all you ever hope with
than he was paying another copywriter at the time.him.
… And it’s why in 1908, Lasker jumped at the“Bring all your good arguments to bear. Cover
chance to hire a 42-year-old copywriter namedevery phase of your subject. One fact appeals to
Claude C. Hopkins for a mind-boggling $3.7 million asome, one to another.
year in 2006 dollars.“Omit any one and a certain percentage will lose
Mr. Hopkins had already carved out a stellarthe fact which might convince.”
advertising career using the very “Salemanship inOn what mail-order advertising teaches…
Print” and “Reason-Why Advertising”“The severest test of an advertising man is in
principles Kennedy and Lasker so fervently believed inselling goods by mail. But that is a school from which
– and his brilliant copy took sales of numeroushe must graduate before he can hope for success.
products to the moon — including Pepsodent,“There cost and result are immediately apparent.
Quaker’s Puffed Wheat and Chevrolets.False theories melt away like snowflakes in the sun.
HOW TO MAKE ANY PRODUCT FEEL TRULYThe advertising is profitable or it is not, clearly on the
UNIQUEface of returns.
Of all his great campaigns, Claude Hopkins is probably“In mail order advertising there is no waste of
most famous for the campaign he created for Schlitzspace. Every line is utilized. Borders are rarely used.
beer in the early 1900s.Remember that when you are tempted to leave
In those days, a beer’s purity was of paramountvaluable space unoccupied.
importance to consumers – and knowing this,“In mail order advertising the pictures are always
most breweries claimed – but never really provedto the point. They are salesmen in themselves. They
-- that their beers were the purest available.earn the space they occupy. The size is gauged by
Mr. Hopkins reasoned that he could lift Schlitz headtheir importance.”
and shoulders above the competition by proving hisOn the importance of specificity…
claims beyond the shadow of a doubt. Instead of“Platitudes and generalities roll off the human
merely claiming purity, he would trumpet the reasonsunderstanding like water from a duck. They leave no
why Schlitz was purer than the rest.impression whatever.
To do that, he needed to become an expert on the“The weight of an argument may often be
brewing process. And to do that, he would have tomultiplied by making it specific. Say that a tungsten
visit the brewery.lamp gives more light than a carbon and you leave
Now, picture this … here’s a guy who makessome doubt. Say that it gives three and one-third
millions writing sales copy – arguably the greatesttimes the light and people realize that you have made
word-juggler of his time – and he realizes thattests and comparisons.”
second-hand research isn’t enough.On genius and hard work …
Hopkins could have simply visited a library (remember“Genius is the art of taking pains.
them?) to do his research on the brewer’s art.“The advertising man who spares the midnight oil
Or better yet, he could have saved several valuablewill never get very far.”
days of his time and just sent an eager youngOn testing …
apprentice to the brewery to do his research for him.“Almost any question can be answered, cheaply,
But, no. Hopkins understood that, to write the mostquickly and finally, by a test campaign.
compelling sales copy possible, he needed a deeper“And that’s the way to answer them- not
personal understanding of the product. He needed toby arguments around a table. Go to the court of last
experience the sight, smell and sounds ofresort - the buyers of your product.”
beer-making first-hand (and hopefully taste the finalOn negative advertising …
result!) -- and get answers to every question that“Show the bright side, the happy and attractive
sprang into his mind.side, not the dark and uninviting side of things.
Only, after his enlightening tour of the brewery,“Show beauty, not homeliness; health, not
Hopkins began writing his sales copy – describingsickness. Don’t show the wrinkles you propose
in meticulous detail the 4,000-foot-deep artesian wellsto remove, but the face as it will appear. In
from which Schlitz drew its water ... the wood pulpadvertising a dentifrice, show pretty teeth, not bad
filters that ensured the water was 100% pure ... theteeth.”
spotless plant and “clean rooms” with theirOn manipulative advertising …
filtered air ... how Schlitz’s bottles were sanitized“Any studied attempt to sell, if apparent, creates
with germ-scalding steam … and more.corresponding resistance.