David Ogilvy – 

Ogilvy on Advertising

David is one of the best known of all advertising men – and for good reason, his agency is one of the top in the world. He has applied the wisdom of the classic ad men (such as the others in this tape se) and shown that it works successfully to sell products, even in current times.

And he has gone on to break new ground. There are secrets revealed in Ogilvy on Advertising that you won’t find anywhere else. “If you are lucky enough to have some news to tell, don’t bury it in your body copy.” “The headlines which work best are those which promise the reader a benefit.”

Claude Hopkins – 

My Life in Advertising

Considered by many to be the father of modern advertising, this book is one of the most revealing when it comes to basic, immutable advertising techniques that are still valid today and, in fact, will probably never change.

People have made millions by following his advice. He started at Lord & Thomas in 1908 at $1,000 a week and was paid as much as $185,000 in one year – a sum based upon a percent of the profits his ads brought in to clients. Here’s just a sample of his wisdom.

Argue anything for your own advantage and people will resist you to the limit. But seem unselfishly to consider your customers’ desires and they will naturally flock to you.”

Albert Lasker – 

The Lasker Story

Ogilvy said Lasker has made more money in advertising than anyone else. It is no wonder when you consider that during the depression his personal income was $3,000,000.00 per year from Lord & Thomas – the agency he headed and owned.

Lasker was personally responsible for bringing Claude Hopkins, John E. Kennedy, and the concept of “Salesmanship-in-Print” to the world, something for which we should all be thankful. Few people realize what a genius this man was but this tape set is very revealing in that regard.

Lasker seldom gave talks or published anything. The transcript of this talk to his staff was barely saved from extinction by an astute editorial director at Advertising Age who said that “nothing we have ever published has given the staff of Advertising Age so much instruction and pleasure as “The Lasker Story.”

“You can tell from a lot of the advertising today that the art department gets it up first and then someone writes the advertising to go with the art. With us, we first must get our headline, because the headline in the end, today as 25 years ago, is 90% of all there is to an ad.”

Fairfax Cone – 

With All Its Faults

“The first rule of good advertising, as we saw it, was that it must immediately make clear what the basic proposition is. Few if any people have either the time or the inclination to try to solve the puzzle of obscure advertising promises.”

Rosser Reeves – 

Reality in Advertising

He invented the Unique Selling Proposition, an extremely powerful concept that can turn many losing ads into winners. “The consumer tends to remember just one thing from an advertisement — one strong claim, or one strong concept.”

Alvin Eicoff – 

Or Your Money Back

Eicoff created direct response television and this is the work which revealed his secrets, just as easily applied to print or radio.

“…Set forth the problem, explain the solution, and then demonstrated why a specific product best meets that solution.”

“The potential customer should feel a strong personal identification with the problem presented, reflexively nodding his head in acknowledgement.”

Leo Burnett – 

Communications of an Advertising Man

“To change advertisements is cheaper than to change human nature. The successful advertiser knows how human nature works and sets it to work for him.”

“Don’t tell the people how good you make the goods, tell them how good your goods make them.”

“Ideas are more important than words.”

Maxwell Sackheim – 

My First 65 Years in Advertising

He created the Book-of-the-Month club and invented the “till-forbid” mechanism still used today. He also wrote one of the longest running ads of all time: “Do You Make These Mistakes in English?” It ran for 40 years, always making a profit.

“The slickest writing, the finest paper, printing and art work can’t make a good idea out of a bad one or an attractive offer out of a poor one. Of course, the thought in the headline is more important than any word- – but the right words make the thought penetrate.”