Marketing Direct

About The Author

Claude C. Hopkins was an advertising genius who lived almost a century ago. Although he was the highest paid copywriter of his day, he was more than just a great ad writer. He was a visionary who turned advertising on its head by using scientific principles to test which ads worked...and which failed.

For Hopkins, if you aren't testing the market by measuring how well (or poorly!) your ads are doing then your advertising is a hit or miss gamble. In his book SCIENTIFIC ADVERTISING he shows you how to remove this gamble from your advertising.

It's all here. From making small controlled tests with a limited budget to split copy testing of headlines and short copy vs. long copy.

Not just another memoir of advertising jargon and personal opinion. This is test marketing wisdom that has stood the test of time. Indeed, what you get today from any of the notable marketing gurus is simply a repackaging of what Claude Hopkins said nearly a century ago.

Heed his words. They are as relevant today as when first published in 1923.

"Nobody, at any level, should be allowed to have anything to do with advertising until he has read this book seven times."
- David Ogilvy

"If Claude Hopkins was alive today, he would absolutely dominate internet marketing."
- Lance Jepsen
Author of: Internet Marketing:Profits That Lie Hidden In Your Website

Chapter 17

Individuality

A person who desires to make an impression must stand out in some way from the masses. And in a pleasing way. Being eccentric, being abnormal is not a distinction to covet. But doing admirable things in a different way gives one a great advantage.

So with salesmen, in person or in print. There is uniqueness which belittles and arouses resentment. There is refreshing uniqueness which enhances, which we welcome and remember. Fortunate is the salesman who has it.

We try to give each advertiser a becoming style. We make him distinctive, perhaps not in appearance, but in manner and in tone. He is given an individuality best suited to the people he addresses.

One man appears rugged and honest in a line where rugged honesty counts. One may be a good fellow where choice is a matter of favor. In other lines the man stands out by impressing himself as an authority.

We have already cited a case where a woman made a great success in selling clothing to girls, solely through a created personality which won.

That's why we have signed ads sometimes—to give them a personal authority. A man is talking—a man who takes pride in his accomplishments—not a "soul-less corporation." Whenever possible we introduce a personality into our ads. By making a man famous we make his product famous. When we claim an improvement, naming the man who made it adds effect.

Then we take care not to change an individuality which has proved appealing. Before a man writes a new ad on that line, he gets into the spirit adopted by the advertiser. He plays a part as an actor plays it.

In successful advertising great pains are taken to never change our tone. That which won so many is probably the best way to win others. Then people come to know us. We build on that acquaintance rather than introduce a stranger in strange guise. People do not know us by name alone, but by looks and mannerisms. Appearing different every time we meet never builds up confidence.

Then we don't want people to think that salesmanship is made to order. That our appeals are created, studied, artificial. They must seem to come from the heart, and the same heart always, save where a wrong tack forces a complete change.

There are winning personalities in ads as well as people. To some we are glad to listen, others bore us. Some are refreshing, some commonplace. Some inspire confidence, some caution.

To create the right individuality is a supreme accomplishment. Then an advertiser's growing reputation on that line brings him everincreasing prestige. Never weary of that part. Remember that a change in our characteristics would compel our best friends to get acquainted all over.

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