''Scientific Advertising'' is a book written by

Claude C. Hopkins 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 ...

in 1923 and is cited by many

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

and

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to empha ...

personalities (such as

David Ogilvy David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

, Gary Halbert, and

Jay Abraham Jay Abraham (born January 8, 1949) is an American business executive, conference speaker, and author. He is known for developing strategies in the direct response marketing industry in the 1970s. In 2000, '' Forbes'' listed him as one of the top ...

) as a "must-read" book.

Overview

The book is cited as being the original description of the process of split testing and of coupon-based customer tracking and loyalty schemes. In the book, Hopkins outlines an advertising approach based on testing and measuring. In this way losses from unsuccessful ads are kept to a safe level while gains from profitable ads are multiplied. Or, as Hopkins wrote, the advertiser is "playing on the safe side of a hundred to one shot". The book is widely considered the foundation of direct marketing.

Reception

According to Paul Feldwick, it has sold over eight million copies. David Ogilvy wrote that "Nobody should be allowed to have anything to do with advertising until he has read this book seven times. It changed the course of my life."David Ogilvy: Ogilvy on Advertising. Pan Books (London and Sydney). 1983, p. 203 (without "at any level")

In media

In the TV-series ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on the cable network AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 92 episodes. Its ...

'', season 1 episode 11, the character

Peggy Olson Margaret "Peggy" Olson is a fictional character and the female lead of the AMC television series ''Mad Men'', and is portrayed by Elisabeth Moss. Initially, Peggy is secretary to Don Draper (Jon Hamm), creative director of the advertising agency ...

reads Scientific Advertising to prepare herself for work. She is a

copywriter Copywriting is the act or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. The product, called copy or sales copy, is written content that aims to increase brand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or ...

References

External links

Scientific Advertising PDF VersionSEO & SEM For Scientific Advertising
1923 non-fiction books Non-fiction books about advertising {{advertising-stub