Claude C. Hopkins (1866–1932) was an American advertiser and author. He introduced the slogan in advertising and popularised the use of test campaigns, especially using coupons in direct mail, to properly attribute marketing spend.

Biography

Claude C. Hopkins was born in Hillsdale on April 24, 1866, received his education at Ludington and later attended a commercial school in

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

.
He worked for various advertising companies, including Bissell Carpet Sweeper Company, Swift & Company, and Dr. Shoop's patent medicine company. According to David Ogilvy, in 1907, at the age of 41, Hopkins was hired by

Albert Lasker Albert Davis Lasker (May 1, 1880 – May 30, 1952) was an American businessman who played a major role in shaping modern advertising. He was raised in Galveston, Texas, where his father was the president of several banks. Moving to Chicago, he be ...

, owner of

Lord & Thomas Foote, Cone & Belding (FCB), is one of the largest global advertising agency networks. It is owned by Interpublic Group and was merged in 2006 with Draft Worldwide, adopting the name Draftfcb. In 2014 the company rebranded itself as FCB. Paren ...

advertising, at a salary of $185,000 a year (). Hopkins insisted copywriters research their clients' products and produce "reason-why" copy. He believed that a good product and the atmosphere around it was often its own best salesperson, and, so he was a great believer in sampling.
To track the results of his advertising, and then tested headlines, offers, and propositions against one another. He used the analysis of these measurements to improve his ad results, driving responses and the cost effectiveness of his clients' advertising. While working for the Bissell Carpet Sweeper Company, Hopkins sent out five thousand letters recommending carpet sweepers as Christmas presents – one thousand people sent in orders. He also convinced Bissell manufacturers to offer more variety of carpet sweepers, such as making them with twelve different types of wood. Following these changes, Bissell sold two hundred fifty thousand in three weeks.
Hopkins has been credited with popularizing tooth brushing, as a result of his campaigns for

Pepsodent Pepsodent is an American brand of toothpaste with the minty flavor derived from sassafras. The brand was purchased by Unilever in 1942 and is still owned by the company outside of the United States and Canada. In 2003, Unilever sold the rights t ...

.
His book '' Scientific Advertising'' was published in 1923, following his retirement from Lord & Thomas, where he finished his career as president and chairman. This book was followed, in 1927, by his autobiographical work ''My Life in Advertising''. He died in September 1932 at Spring Lake.

External links

Scientific Advertising
Free Online Copy - All 21 Chapters & author photo

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopkins, Claude C. Marketing people Marketing theorists Advertising theorists 1866 births 1932 deaths