My Life in Advertising and Scientific Advertising (Advertising Age Classics Library)

Hopkins's career began at the dawn of advertising and copywriting. As his career progressed so did advertising and he gives us a behind the scenes look at many advertising campaigns from the late 1800's-1920's. Hopkins almost single-handedly helped take copywriting out of its "swaddling clothes." Of equal interest is his personal history. He was raised in a strict religious home and expected to become a minister. But at age 17 he delivered a sermon that revealed his true beliefs, which were more liberal than his mother's, and he said it was the defining moment of his life. Not once, however, does he criticize his parents or his upbringing and he credits his mother for his advertising and copywriting skills. Hopkins launched his career in Grand Rapids, Michigan and eventually moved to Chicago, and other cities, for bigger and better jobs. Yet he says that he wondered if remaining in Grand Rapids and living a quiet life wouldn't have been the better choice. He remained connected to normal, real people even after becoming affluent and said he learned much about contentment from them. Hopkins's attitude is very different from most authors of modern business and personal finance books, where it's all about the money. Scientific Advertising is, as you already know, must reading for advertisers and copywriters. The chapters are short and address very specific topics: headlines, letters, individuality, telling a full story, and, my favorite, service. "The good salesman does not merely cry a name...He pictures the customer's side of his service until the natural result is to buy." In this book you will not only learn about advertising but you will encounter a humble man who remained detached from the trappings that advertising can sometimes present.

By far, this two-in-one edition published by McGraw-Hill of Claude Hopkins' two seminal works on advertising is the best. The other editions that I've seen mainly of "Scientific Advertising" (published a lot more recently than this one) are, in my opinion, sloppy and carelessly put together: full of errors and omissions. Not so with this book. Here, you get a very clean and clear reprint of the 1966 edition. More than 300 pages of Claude Hopkins' unparalleled wisdom based on decades of field-tested experience in the trenches. It makes for great reading (without all the errors of the later editions)! "Scientific Advertising" is a handbook of best practices, a field guide to what works best. "My Life in Advertising" is a business biography (autobiography) that contains priceless accounts of both victories and defeats, wins and losses, throughout Hopkins' career. We all can learn from both the mistakes and the milestones attained by this gifted and dedicated master! I'll admit I was a little surprised to find that there is no mention anywhere that 1966 marked the 100th anniversary (CENTENNIAL) of Hopkins' birth! Oh, well. A small and forgivable oversight. This fascinating volume makes a terrific (and inexpensive) textbook on direct-response advertising and copywriting. Much to learn from this pioneer of modern advertising that still applies today. If I were you, I wouldn't hesitate one minute to get this book -- specifically THIS EDITION -- into your marketing and copywriting library. Pronto!

Claude Hopkins is one of the first, if not the first, successful direct-response marketing practitioners (from what I understand). All the the direct-response copywriting and marketing giants that came after him (people like David Ogilvy) studied his work and recommend it to serious students of the subject. Of the two books, Scientific Advertising is more useful. It presents the rules of successful advertising. Some of it you may already know from other books. If so, it will still remind you what to do in your own marketing endeavors and strengthen your belief in it. The other book, My Life in Advertising, shares biographical details and famous case studies. It’s worth reading too.

My Life in Advertising and Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins is a very inspirational book! Mr. Hopkins proselytizing the "gospel" of great advertising. He introduced innovative ideas such as coupons, ad testing, and risk reversal. I would recommend this book to any business major who can learn by Mr. Hopkins' example on how to persevere in spite of challenging obstacles.

Decades ago, before everything became complicated, new ideas abounded for those looking for them. This guy takes us to the edge of the subject matter and one can easily see, that for its time, he had much success with the concepts shared. Some of the core data is timeless, so I do recommend this for anyone in the business.

Claude Hopkins dedicated his life to advertising. To least you can do is read this book

El libro habla de los principales conceptos a considerar para anuncios efectivos. Evitar corazonadas, ejecutar planes prueba -error, aprender de los resultados y replicar a mayor escala. Te lo recomiendo si estás en el mundo del marketing SEM

The book is very well written. I can recommend it fully. Timeless advice for crative people in advertising. Will read it again.

Many may dismiss this book simply because it was written nearly 100 years ago, but believe it or not - basic human nature has not changed in that 100 years.

If you're new to the copywriting world, the two texts bundled here will give you the timeless principles. The language may be slightly archaic, but press on and you'll find some great gems. Hopkins was one of the earliest pioneers of direct response, and you'll be surprised how much of his insights have been lost through time. Do yourself a favour and get this copywriting classic. Scientific Advertising gives you the condensed principles, while My Life In Advertising allows you to see the stories which these principles were developed from.