27 July 2009
5 must read books on advertising - the classics
This article lists The True Advertising Classics. As you might assume the list isn't my bright pick but David Ogilvy's. I added his Confessions to that list as it is still a groundbreaking book on advertising. Even after 40 years. I admit having only read 1 of them so far. But, as the mailman snails his way to our offices, my hunger grows.
Scientific Advertising - by Claude Hopkins (1866-1932)
"Copywriters must acquire detailed knowledge of client products and produce brief, dry, reason-why copy. A good campaign is fueled with couponing, premiums, free samples, mail order and copy test test testing."
- Find it on Amazon
Tested Advertising Methods - by John Caples (1900-1990)
"The average American is, mentally, 13 years old. Therefor every copywriter should use words expected to find in a fifth-grade reader. Next to that I strongly oppose humor."
- Find it on Amazon
Reality in Advertising - by Rosser Reeves
"Practically every product has a number of benefits that might be claimed. Commonly one of the benefits is more popular than the others, even more popular than the others combined. Therefore, it's imperative to do everything to make people understand the most important benefit, to achieve credibility and to avoid distractions. The aim is to have as high a percentage of people as possible take out of an advertisement what the advertiser intends to put into it. This is most likely to be achieved if a claim is articulated and proven with credible evidence—in a brief commercial, some kind of dramatic demonstration."
- Find it on Amazon
The Hidden Persuaders - by Vance Packard
"What Makes Us Buy, Believe — And Even Vote — The Way We Do. An Introduction to the New World of Symbol Manipulation and Motivational Research."
- Find it on Amazon
Confession of an Advertising Man - by David Ogilvy
"If it doesn't sell, it isn't creative."
- Find it on Amazon
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This is a fabulous post. I do many of these things already, but look forward to implementing the others. I will definitely try to read these 5 books.
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