Claude C. Hopkins: The science behind making millions in advertising
by Andrew Campbell
I don’t think many copywriters enter the ad industry believing they’re going to be paid millions, never mind millions every year, but in 1907 one copywriter came along demanding just that… and he got it too!
That man was Claude C. Hopkins, a legendary copywriter who worked in the early 1900s on behalf of many companies, including: Bissell Carpet Sweeper Company, Swift and Company and Dr Shoop’s Patent Medicine company.
It was only after making some very successful ads for Schlitz beer that his fortunes grew astronomically. He was 41, and was approached by the advertising agency, Lord and Thomas. He agreed to work there full-time after being offered a wage of $185,000 – the year was 1907 – by today’s standards that comes in at a whopping $2 million. Nice if you can get it eh?
So what made people think he was worth all that money?
The world of advertising Hopkins worked in didn’t play to the delicate balancing act of strategy and creativity we have today, in the early 1900s advertising was more like the Wild West, there were no rules or foundations to build any advertising project from. Copywriters were a law to themselves and it took brave men like Hopkins to clean our beloved industry up and give it more structure.
It was Hopkins philosophy that made him stand apart from other copywriters. He believed that all advertising is salesmanship and therefore should always be measurable on its results. And that’s exactly what he always did, he measured his results on cost per customer and cost per sale – Hopkins called it scientific advertising.
He was the first to use techniques such as key coded coupons, premiums, free samples, mail order and copy testing. This helped him quantify the impact of each ad he made. What he found to work he kept and turned into a principle in how other ads should be constructed. Before long he had built a foundation on how to make better and more effective ads.
He also insisted copywriters acquire detailed knowledge of clients’ product and produce brief, dry, reason-why copy that was aimed at a specific audience. He believed the more reasons someone could give to buy the more likely a sale.
By adding a strong element of analysis and science to his work, businesses felt more confident investing their money into Hopkins advertising techniques. It didn’t feel like quite so much of a gamble. Everything was quantified; results good or bad were better understood, which made advertising more credible and a more effective tool for growing a business.
Why was it revolutionary?
For Hopkins, advertising was as much a science as it was an art form. In the early 1900s that was pretty out there thinking – Hopkins talked about scientific advertising in an industry where they applied very little science. And not only did his methods draw in new business it influenced other agencies and copywriters to follow suit.
In 1923 Claude C Hopkins published a book on his findings in the advertising industry called Scientific Advertising. This book covers topics such as, how advertising laws are established, mail order advertising, headlines, psychology, strategy, budgeting, and more advanced subjects like negative advertising and how to test an advertising campaign. His book is still widely read today by students and marketing professionals.
Hopkins has also influenced some of biggest names in the industry one of them being advertising legend, David Oglivy, who shared his enthusiasm for meticulous research.
When asked about Hopkins book, Scientific Advertising Oglivy had this to say, “Nobody should be allowed to have anything to do with advertising until he has read this book several times. It changed the course of my life.”
Okay, so art direction wasn't his strength but his writing surely was.
In the 1960s, American advertising executive, Rosser Reeves developed the ‘USP’. A strategy that requires finding a product’s strongest characteristic and solely focusing on it. A method that was highly successful for both Reeves and the agency he worked at, Ted Bates.
However, Reeves couldn’t take all the credit for this idea, its initial development can be found in work by yes, you guessed it, Mr Hopkins. Traces of Reeves approach can be seen in arguably Hopkins most famous work that was for Schlitz beer. At the time, a beer’s purity was of absolute importance to consumers – so that is what breweries claimed in their ads. However, no one had ever bothered to explain how or why their beer was pure.
So Hopkins began researching how breweries purified their beer. Rather than just sitting at his desk or nipping down to the library, this guy spent several days in a brewery. With his newly acquired insight he created an ad that gave fact after fact to justify how Schlitz made its beer so pure. It didn’t matter that the competition could say the same thing; Schlitz had said it in a unique way first and had effectively robbed the competition of their purity claims.
Pretty clever stuff.
Anything we can still take away today?
In our tough economic climate, the cost effectiveness of advertising spend is arguably scrutinised more than ever, which is why Hopkins work is still just as important today. Hopkins was the first copywriter to test headlines, offers and propositions against one another to ensure better results were always met. All methods that are still a vital part of any direct marketing.
So even though his ideas are now over 100 years old, they’re still as relevant today as they were then. He was a visionary who believed in thorough research with quick snappy copy that always gave as many facts as possible to why you should buy.
What made him even more admirable though was his courage to always take responsibility for his work and its results. He never rested on his laurels even when his analysis was showing his ideas to be working, the same amount of research and care would be taken on every project.
So yeah, I might be a little jealous of this man’s pay cheque but I’m also very grateful for him bringing a little sanity to our industry and for setting a standard we now have the pleasure in maintaining.
Tags: Advertising, Award Winning Advertising, Bissell Carpet Sweeper Company, Classic Advertising, Claude C. Hopkins, Copywriter, David Oglivy, Direct Marketing, Direct Marketing Agency, Direct Response Advertising, Dr Shoop’s Patent Medicine company, Internet Agency, Lord and Thomas, Manchester Advertising Agency, Online Marketing, Online Marketing Agency, PPC Agency, Responsive Advertising, Rosser Reeves, Schlitz beer, Scientific Advertising, Ted Bates
