Scientific Advertising

"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." — Advertising legend David Ogilvy
Scientific Advertising begins with a simple declarative statement: "The time has come when advertising has in some hands reached the status of a science. It is based on fixed principles and is reasonably exact. The causes and effects have been analyzed until they are well understood." And in 21 concise chapters, Claude C. Hopkins covers the essence of good advertising. 
Beyond the points to be made about telling a story using headlines and art, being specific and providing vital information, and using samples and testing campaigns, this book clearly demonstrates why Hopkins was an expert on the best marketing policies. Almost a century after its initial publication, this little volume remains useful to those entering any area of the business world. More than an account of Hopkins's thoughts about good salesmanship, it is a window into a bygone era and the early decades of the American business of advertising.

Claude C. Hopkins (1866–1932) ranks among the advertising industry's greatest pioneers. A brilliant copywriter, he was earning more than $150,000 a year from the Chicago advertising agency Lord & Thomas in the decade before World War I. Hopkins used new techniques like risk-free trials and money-back guarantees to promote many of the firms he worked for, including Swift & Company, Quaker Oats, Palmolive Soap, and Pepsodent.

Contents

Foreword by John Grafton
1. How advertising laws are established
2. Just salesmanship
3. Offer service
4. Mail order advertising--what it teaches
5. Headlines
5. Psychology
7. Being specific
8. Tell your full story
9. Art in advertising
10. Things too costly
11. Information
12. Strategy
13. Use of samples
14. Getting distribution
15. Test campaigns
16. Leaning on dealers
17.  Individuality
18. Negative advertising
19. Letter writing
20. A name that helps
21. Good business