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Breakthrough Advertising
This is not a book just for copywriters and other advertising experts but a book for every business owner, marketing expert or anyone who needs to increase sales.
The reason why is because it deals with how to channel the forces in the marketplace which control sales.
Put simply, Gene's book addresses the universal problem of all copywriting: How to write a headline — and an ad that follows it — that will open up a whole new market.
The reason why is because it deals with how to channel the forces in the marketplace which control sales.
Put simply, Gene's book addresses the universal problem of all copywriting: How to write a headline — and an ad that follows it — that will open up a whole new market.
236 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1966
About the author
Eugene M. Schwartz
39 books86 followersAn advertising copywriter whose specialty was direct-mail campaigns, Mr. Schwartz was the author of 10 books, including “Breakthrough Advertising” and “The Brilliance Breakthrough.” He wrote some of the most celebrated lines in direct-mail advertising, such as “Give Me 15 Minutes and I’ll Give You a Super-Power Memory,” which launched the first book of the memory expert Harry Lorraine.
He was born on March 18, 1927, in Butte, Mont., and studied at the University of Washington. He moved to New York City in 1949, joining the advertising firm of Huber Hoge & Sons as a messenger boy and working his way up to copy chief. In 1954 he went into business on his own.
He was born on March 18, 1927, in Butte, Mont., and studied at the University of Washington. He moved to New York City in 1949, joining the advertising firm of Huber Hoge & Sons as a messenger boy and working his way up to copy chief. In 1954 he went into business on his own.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 99 reviews
August 10, 2014
A classic book on copywriting and advertising that I try to re-read every year or two. This book is more highlighted and underlined than any other book I own.
December 19, 2013
Phenomenal book to break down the elements of copywriting.
At first this book will seem overwhelming but the more I read it, the more my copy improves.
I will definitely be rereading this several times over the next year.
At first this book will seem overwhelming but the more I read it, the more my copy improves.
I will definitely be rereading this several times over the next year.
December 10, 2012
I sometimes get stuck when writing anything.
I keep this book on top of Webster's English Usage.
I finally have found a book that lays out the critical tool set useful to the copywriter. When I get myself stuck or feel like I am in a corner, I will take a quick flip through this book and suddenly POP! the door is open!
You know what I mean.
I highly recommend this book.
I keep this book on top of Webster's English Usage.
I finally have found a book that lays out the critical tool set useful to the copywriter. When I get myself stuck or feel like I am in a corner, I will take a quick flip through this book and suddenly POP! the door is open!
You know what I mean.
I highly recommend this book.
November 13, 2013
Only reason it's 4/5 is because this book is very outdated. The concepts are timeless but uses old language/examples. Luckily human nature has not changed much since the writing. I had to translate the knowledge into modern language and have applied the concepts in digital marketing... Especially helpful in identifying and breaking down market segments, split testing, and improving copy.
August 21, 2019
Actually worth the hype and the money (I payed 475€ for it)! because this is a book based on reality on experience not to theory or someone who chooses that one example can demonstrate a „law“. This is the best book on advertising I have ever read and one of the best on psychology actually.
Highly recommend.
Highly recommend.
December 29, 2019
An amazing book that you need to read at least several times to grasp everything. This book is unavailable everywhere, so it's not easily accessible, but once you have it, it will be one of the best investments you've ever had (especially if you're into marketing)
Read
April 18, 2012One of the best marketing books of all time.
June 14, 2021
Probably good marketing advice but reading it made me want to barf
January 2, 2021
It is very dated. But it is a great resource for those who, like me, want to learn more about copywriting.
April 5, 2020
A great read for aspiring copywriters.
June 25, 2016
ناشر هذا الكتاب يزعم أنه جلب الملايين للأشخاص الذين قرؤوا هذا الكتاب.
مع أنني مررت على الكثير من أمثال هذه الجملة التي فقدت معناها والتي أنا صرت واثقاً أن الوحيد الذي يجني هذه الملايين هو المؤلف نفسه. لكن في حالة هذا الكتاب تحديداً أنا أوافق الناشر 100%، هذا الكتاب على الأقل سيضيف صفراً إلى مكاسبك السنوية.
مؤلف الكتاب هو كاتب إعلاني لرسائل البريد المباشرة. مهنة تبيع المنتجات عن طريق رسالة بريد. هذه المهنة لا ترحم، إذ لا يوجد لمساعدتنا محل يعرض البضاعة لتظل تتذكره كلما مررت بجانبه، ولا موظفين لتتفاعل معهم وتستفسر أكثر، ولا ممثل علاقات العملاء للإجابة عن استفساراتك، ولا منتجات للتجربة لتتأكد بنفسك، باختصار لا توجد أي مساعدة خارجية. هي هذه الرسالة إما أن تبيعك المنتج مباشرة أو أن ترميها في سلة المهملات وتنساها للأبد.
إذن فإن عمل الكاتب التسويقي يجب أن يكون كاملاً ومتقناً ��إلا فإنه لن يجد عيشه، وفي هذا الكتاب يخبرنا الكاتب الأسطوري يوجين شوارتز عن كل التقنيات والنظريات التي اعتمد عليها ليبيع ملايين المنتجات فقط عبر كتابة رسائل بريد.
يوجين في هذا الكتاب لا يخبرنا عن آرائه أو نظرياته الخاصة وما يحب هو أو يكره بل عن تجاربه ونتائج دراساته التي هي مبنية على السوق والزبائن والجمهور. فهو كان مهووساً بالنتائج وبدراسة كل إعلان تم نشره وتأثيره على الآخرين سواء كان هو كتبه أم لا.
مع أن هذا الكتاب مكتوب لأمثالي الذين يعملون في مجال الكتابة الإعلانية Copywriting إلا أن قراء الكتاب الذين جنوا الملايين من ورائه كانوا يعملون في مختلف المجالات. وذلك لأنه في الحقيقة لا يتحدث عن الكتابة وحسب، بل هو يشرح كيف تفتح سوقاً جديداً لمنتجك أو الخدمة التي تبيعها وكيف توصل الرسالة الصحيحة لتخترق السوق وتدمر المنافسة بشكل كامل.
الكتاب يدخل في صلب الموضوع مباشرة. التسويق ليس أن نصنع الرغبة في المنتج. هذا شيء أضخم منا جميعاً ولا توجد شركة على الكوكب يمكنها فعل ذلك. وذلك لأن الرغبة يولدها المجتمع، الرغبة هي الأحلام والآمال والمخاوف التي في داخل المجتمع.
إذا أردنا اختراع رغبة جديدة فنحن مضطرون لتعليم السوق. وميزانية التعليم عالية جداً إلى درجة أنه لا توجد شركة على الكوكب يمكنها تحمل هذه الميزانية. وفي الواقع فإن التعليم غير مربح أصلاً.
إذن ما هو التسويق؟ التسويق هو أن نربط بين رغبات الناس الموجودة أصلاً وبين منتجنا. الرغبات والآمال والأحلام موجودة بالفعل في السوق وهي المحرك الأساسي لنا إذن لماذا لا نستغل قوتها الهائلة والجبارة ونوجهها نحو منتجنا الذي يحققها جميعاً ويحل مشكلات زبائننا التي يعانون منها؟
التسويق هو أن نبرز منتجنا كأفضل حل دون كذب أو التواء أو تزوير للحقائق. بل بذكر المميزات كاملة وبكل وضوح وشفافية ومن ثم إيصال هذه الفكرة بشكل بسيط وسهل الفهم.
عندما تحاول الشركات تثقيف الزبائن فهي تعلمهم. ومشكلة التعليم أننا بالكاد نحصل على زبون مقابل كل 100 ننفقها. بينما إذا استخدمنا تقنيات الإعلان فإننا نحصل على 100 زبون مقابل كل 100 لأن الإعلان هو تضخيم لرغبات السوق الموجودة بدلاً من المقاومة ضد التيار ولذلك فأن نتائجه أيضاً مضخمة وبالغة التأثير.
أنصح كل من لديه مشروعه الخاص أن يقرأه فهو بالتأكيد سيضيف صفراً على الأقل إلى أرباحك.
أنا بالنسبة لي قرأته مرة من الغلاف إلى الغلاف وأنا الآن أدرسه بشكل عميق ومفصل، فمجرد قراءة لن تفيدك مثل ما تفيدك الدراسة العميقة.
مع أنني مررت على الكثير من أمثال هذه الجملة التي فقدت معناها والتي أنا صرت واثقاً أن الوحيد الذي يجني هذه الملايين هو المؤلف نفسه. لكن في حالة هذا الكتاب تحديداً أنا أوافق الناشر 100%، هذا الكتاب على الأقل سيضيف صفراً إلى مكاسبك السنوية.
مؤلف الكتاب هو كاتب إعلاني لرسائل البريد المباشرة. مهنة تبيع المنتجات عن طريق رسالة بريد. هذه المهنة لا ترحم، إذ لا يوجد لمساعدتنا محل يعرض البضاعة لتظل تتذكره كلما مررت بجانبه، ولا موظفين لتتفاعل معهم وتستفسر أكثر، ولا ممثل علاقات العملاء للإجابة عن استفساراتك، ولا منتجات للتجربة لتتأكد بنفسك، باختصار لا توجد أي مساعدة خارجية. هي هذه الرسالة إما أن تبيعك المنتج مباشرة أو أن ترميها في سلة المهملات وتنساها للأبد.
إذن فإن عمل الكاتب التسويقي يجب أن يكون كاملاً ومتقناً ��إلا فإنه لن يجد عيشه، وفي هذا الكتاب يخبرنا الكاتب الأسطوري يوجين شوارتز عن كل التقنيات والنظريات التي اعتمد عليها ليبيع ملايين المنتجات فقط عبر كتابة رسائل بريد.
يوجين في هذا الكتاب لا يخبرنا عن آرائه أو نظرياته الخاصة وما يحب هو أو يكره بل عن تجاربه ونتائج دراساته التي هي مبنية على السوق والزبائن والجمهور. فهو كان مهووساً بالنتائج وبدراسة كل إعلان تم نشره وتأثيره على الآخرين سواء كان هو كتبه أم لا.
مع أن هذا الكتاب مكتوب لأمثالي الذين يعملون في مجال الكتابة الإعلانية Copywriting إلا أن قراء الكتاب الذين جنوا الملايين من ورائه كانوا يعملون في مختلف المجالات. وذلك لأنه في الحقيقة لا يتحدث عن الكتابة وحسب، بل هو يشرح كيف تفتح سوقاً جديداً لمنتجك أو الخدمة التي تبيعها وكيف توصل الرسالة الصحيحة لتخترق السوق وتدمر المنافسة بشكل كامل.
الكتاب يدخل في صلب الموضوع مباشرة. التسويق ليس أن نصنع الرغبة في المنتج. هذا شيء أضخم منا جميعاً ولا توجد شركة على الكوكب يمكنها فعل ذلك. وذلك لأن الرغبة يولدها المجتمع، الرغبة هي الأحلام والآمال والمخاوف التي في داخل المجتمع.
إذا أردنا اختراع رغبة جديدة فنحن مضطرون لتعليم السوق. وميزانية التعليم عالية جداً إلى درجة أنه لا توجد شركة على الكوكب يمكنها تحمل هذه الميزانية. وفي الواقع فإن التعليم غير مربح أصلاً.
إذن ما هو التسويق؟ التسويق هو أن نربط بين رغبات الناس الموجودة أصلاً وبين منتجنا. الرغبات والآمال والأحلام موجودة بالفعل في السوق وهي المحرك الأساسي لنا إذن لماذا لا نستغل قوتها الهائلة والجبارة ونوجهها نحو منتجنا الذي يحققها جميعاً ويحل مشكلات زبائننا التي يعانون منها؟
التسويق هو أن نبرز منتجنا كأفضل حل دون كذب أو التواء أو تزوير للحقائق. بل بذكر المميزات كاملة وبكل وضوح وشفافية ومن ثم إيصال هذه الفكرة بشكل بسيط وسهل الفهم.
عندما تحاول الشركات تثقيف الزبائن فهي تعلمهم. ومشكلة التعليم أننا بالكاد نحصل على زبون مقابل كل 100 ننفقها. بينما إذا استخدمنا تقنيات الإعلان فإننا نحصل على 100 زبون مقابل كل 100 لأن الإعلان هو تضخيم لرغبات السوق الموجودة بدلاً من المقاومة ضد التيار ولذلك فأن نتائجه أيضاً مضخمة وبالغة التأثير.
أنصح كل من لديه مشروعه الخاص أن يقرأه فهو بالتأكيد سيضيف صفراً على الأقل إلى أرباحك.
أنا بالنسبة لي قرأته مرة من الغلاف إلى الغلاف وأنا الآن أدرسه بشكل عميق ومفصل، فمجرد قراءة لن تفيدك مثل ما تفيدك الدراسة العميقة.
March 1, 2015
Eugene proves people never change. Times may change and technology but the inner soul of humans will not. What worked in Caesars time still works today. The main thing this book portrayed is how most things are just a recreation of something that has already been created. The problems people have with marketing are mainly how to get attention and keep the interest of the reader or viewer. Eugene explains how to do this while making your product unique even though your audience is aware it may be purchased somewhere else. In a world of parity this book shows you how to stand out.
There is a special formula for obtaining uniqueness. Precisely that is what's in this book. These principles will hold true forever. There's no wonder Breakthrough Advertising sells for such a high price on Amazon. I would recommend it highly to anyone in sales or anyone in the 'people business' of any kind. To be blunt, everyone on the planet needs to read this book. It will help you communicate your ideas much more effectively.
There is a special formula for obtaining uniqueness. Precisely that is what's in this book. These principles will hold true forever. There's no wonder Breakthrough Advertising sells for such a high price on Amazon. I would recommend it highly to anyone in sales or anyone in the 'people business' of any kind. To be blunt, everyone on the planet needs to read this book. It will help you communicate your ideas much more effectively.
May 9, 2021
A copywriting classic. First published in 1966, but some things just don't change.
Quick tips:
1. Don't create demand, channel it.
2. Don't educate, advertise.
3. Find your customers where they are, not where you want them to be. Talk to them how they want to be spoken to, not how you want to talk.
4. Know your customer more than they know themselves.
Quick tips:
1. Don't create demand, channel it.
2. Don't educate, advertise.
3. Find your customers where they are, not where you want them to be. Talk to them how they want to be spoken to, not how you want to talk.
4. Know your customer more than they know themselves.
August 24, 2019
The best copywriting book I have read. It is a must read.
April 28, 2020
The best book on advertising!
January 30, 2024
Highly recommend everyone to read this book to sell your product and understand how you're being sold a product.
February 25, 2023
He was very clever—he exchanged his copywriting for access to mailing list names and promoted his own books to them!
You see, people don’t change: only the direction of their desires do. They cannot be made to want anything, nor is it necessary to create want. All that is necessary is to be able to channel those wants into the proper products that offer legitimate satisfaction for them.
In copy writing they are the hopes and fears and desires of millions upon millions of men and women, all over the world.
the copy writer does not create the desire of millions of women all over America to lose weight; but he can channel that desire onto a particular product, and make its owner a millionaire.
no formula works twice.
rewriting somebody else’s headlines won’t make you a copy writer.
what is analysis? It is a series of measuring rods, check-points, signpost questions that show you where a particular force is going, and enable you to get there first.
Analysis is the art of asking the right questions and letting the problem dictate the right answers.
Let’s get right down to the heart of the matter. The power, the force, the overwhelming urge to own that makes advertising work, comes from the market itself, and not from the copy. Copy cannot create desire for a product. It can only take the hopes, dreams, fears and desires that already exist in the hearts of millions of people, and focus those already-existing desires onto a particular product. This is the copy writer’s task: not to create this mass desire—but to channel and direct it.
We can dene this Mass Desire quite simply. It is the public spread of a private want.
Publicly there are enough of them to repay us the cost of advertising, manufacturing and selling, plus a profit.
Mass Instinct. The desire of women to be attractive, or men to be virile, or men and women both to keep their health. In this case, the instinct never fades—the desire never changes. The copy writer’s problem here is not to pick out the trend—it is there for everyone to see. His job is to distinguish his product from the others that were there before it—to create a fresh appeal—to build a stronger believability—to shift desire from the fulllment offered by one product to that offered by another.
your headline—though it may never mention your product —is the rst vital step in recognizing this mass desire—justifying and intensifying it—and directing its solution along one specic path. 3. And then you take the series of performances that are built into your product—what your product does—and you show your prospect how these product performances inevitably satisfy that desire.
In reality, every product you are given to sell is actually two products. One of them is the physical product—the steel, glass, paper or tobacco that the manufacturer has shaped into a particular pattern, of which he is justly proud. The other is the functional product—the product in action—the series of benets that your product performs for your consumer, and on the basis of which he buys your product.
The physical product does not sell. People do not buy the steel in a car, the glass in a vase, the tobacco in a cigarette, or the paper in a book.
The important part of your product is what it does.
ll these facts can only be used, later on, to document and reinforce the primary performance that you promise your reader in your headline, in the following ways: By justifying your price. This is the common-sense theory that the longer the car, the more tubes in the television set, the more stitches per inch in the suit, then the greater the number of dollars your product can command
Tell your prospect the weight of steel in your car’s door, and he’s more likely to believe that your car will protect his life if he should have an accident on the highway. Tell your prospect the number of times your plant removes the impurities in your face cream, and she’s more likely to believe that your cream will remove the impurities in her skin.
yet your ad can feature only one of these performances; can effectively tap only one mass desire at a time.
Every product gives you dozens of keys. But only one will t the lock.
You now know where you are going to start—with your market; and where you are going to end—with your product. The bridge between these two—their meeting place—is your ad.
1. What is the mass desire that creates this market? (Which we have already discovered.)
2. How much do these people know today about the way your product satises this desire? Their State of Awareness.)
3. How many other products have been presented to them before yours? (Their State of Sophistication.)
Your headline has only one job—to stop your prospect and compel him to read the second sentence of your ad. In exactly the same way, your second sentence has only one job—to force him to read the third sentence of your ad.
But how much aware is that prospect of that desire? How close is it to the surface of his consciousness? Is he aware only that a problem or need exists, or is he aware if they can be satisfied? And if he is aware that a means of satisfaction exists, does he realize that it lies in your group of products, or specically in your product by name, or more specically in your product at a given price?
a) To reinforce your prospects desire for your product;
b) To sharpen his image of the way your product satises that desire;
c) To extend his image of where and when your product satises that desire;
d) To introduce new proof, details, documentation of how well your product satises that desire;
e) To announce a new mechanism in that product to enable it to satisfy that desire even better;
f) To announce a new mechanism in your product that eliminates former limitations;
g) Or to completely change the image or the mechanism of that product, in order to remove it from the competition of other products claiming to satisfy the same desire.
the execution becomes more and more important than the mechanics.
“When doctors feel rotten—this is what they do” . Or by mystery, “Now! Run your car without spark plugs!” Or by wonderment, “Who ever heard of 17,000 blooms from a single plant?”
combine all three elements—the problem, its solution, and the removal of the usually expected limitations:
“Shrinks hemorrhoids without surgery.”
And there are headlines which promise to prevent a future problem, before it can occur:
“Look, Mom! No cavities!”
You may know the general area of the problem—for example, people’s embarrassment at speaking poor English.
“Do YOU make these mistakes in English?”
Each of these stages is separated from the others by a psychological wall. On one side of that wall is indifference; on the other, intense interest.
a headline which will work to a market in one stage of awareness will not work to a market in another stage of awareness. Nor will it work, even to a market in which it has been successful, once that market passes on to a new stage of awareness.
1. Price means nothing to a person who does not know your product, or want your product. Therefore, eliminate all mention of price, or price reduction, in your headline or prime display type.
2. The name of your product means nothing to a person who has never seen it before, and may actually damage your ad if you have had a bad model the year before.
here is an example which has inspired the man who strives against the odds of circumstances to make his place in the world.
For every ounce of energy gained by stimulation, by whipping the nerves to action, an ounce of reserve strength is drained … But repeated withdrawals exhaust any reserve. Physical bankruptcy.
Avoid stimulants.
Borrowed Energy Must Be Repaid!
WITHIN THE CURVE OF A WOMAN’S ARM
A frank discussion of a subject too often avoided. A woman’s arm! Poets have sung of its grace; artists have painted its beauty. It should be the daintiest, sweetest thing in the world. And yet, unfortunately, it isn’t, always. There’s an old offender in this quest for perfect daintiness—an offender of which we ourselves may be ever so unconscious, but which is just as truly present. Shall we discuss it frankly? Many a woman who says, “No, I am never annoyed by perspiration,” does not know the facts … Of course, we aren’t to blame because nature has made us so that the perspiration glands under the arms are more active than anywhere else. Nor are we to blame because … have made normal evaporation there impossible. Would you be absolutely sure of your daintiness? It is the chemicals of the body, not uncleanliness, that cause odor. And even though there is no active perspiration —no apparent moisture—there may be under the arms an odor… Fastidious women who want to be absolutely sure of their daintiness have found that they could not trust to their own consciousness; they have felt the need of a toilet water which would insure them against any of this kind of underarm unpleasantness, either moisture or odor. To meet this need, a physician formulated Odorono—a perfectly harmless and delightful toilet water…
only a small fraction considered themselves interested enough or capable enough to respond to a direct promise headline: “Save up to $100 a year on your TV repairs!” Most were afraid they could not make the repairs themselves. Therefore, the market must be broadened to include the non-handymen owners, by exploiting the existing resentment against TV service contracts. The solution:
WHY HAVEN’T TV OWNERS BEEN TOLD THESE FACTS
To sell music lessons by correspondence to a greater audience than would respond to a direct “Play Real Tunes on the Piano in Five Days” approach. The solution:
THEY LAUGHED WHEN I SAT DOWN AT THE PIANO. BUT WHEN I STARTED TO PLAY!
The idea of bad breath was too insulting to be taken by the public “straight.” The solution:
OFTEN A BRIDESMAID BUT NEVER A BRIDE
Projecting the Result of an Accomplishment to Attract People Who Would Be Frightened Away by the Work Implied to Achieve It
To broaden the market for home correspondence courses
HERE’S AN EXTRA $50, GRACE—
“I’m making real money now!” “Yes, I’ve been keeping it a secret until pay day came. I’ve been promoted with an increase of $50 a month. And the first extra money is yours. Just a little reward for urging me to study at home. The boss saw my spare time training has made me a valuable man to the firm and there’s more money coming soon. We’re starting up easy street, Grace, thanks to you and the I.C.S…”
And, if it is an effective headline, and it works, then it too will become outdated as your market moves on to a new stage of awareness.
In effective advertising, though styles may change, strategy does not.
if you are the rst in your particular market, with your particular product—then you are dealing with prospects that have no sophistication about your product at all. In other words, they have never received any information about such a product before. Once you get them interested, they are likely to become much more enthusiastic, believe much more of what you have to say, and buy that much more readily. Remember, your story is brand-new to them.
your strategy in approaching this market—is equally simple:
1. Be simple. Be direct. Above all, don’t be fancy. Name either the need or the claim in your headline—nothing more. Dramatize that claim in your copy—make it as powerful as possible. And then bring in your product; and prove that it works.
(though it’s fairly certain that he must have become a millionaire). But all he had to say in his headline was a simple statement of the direct desire of millions of women:
“NOW! LOSE UGLY FAT!”
If you’re second, and the direct claim is still working—then copy that successful claim—but enlarge on it. Drive it to the absolute limit. Outbid your competition.
“LOSE UP TO 47 POUNDS IN 4 WEEKS—OR RECEIVE $40 BACK!”
“I AM 61 POUNDS LIGHTER … NEVER A HUNGRY MINUTE.”
an advertiser brought out a Floribunda Rose—using this headline with startling success:
“PICK 25—50—100 ROSES FROM THIS ONE MAGNIFICENT PLANT!”
It worked. And so, some years later, a special variety of cushion mum swept the country with this headline:
“SIX HUNDRED MUMS FROM A SINGLE BUSH!”
And, one year later, this headline carried the process to what are probably the absolute limits of Mother Nature:
“WHO EVER HEARD OF 17,000 BLOOMS FROM A SINGLE PLANT?”
Headlines double and triple in size. Words begin to lose their meaning—“whiter-thanwhites” appear. The prospect becomes confused—then skeptical.
Your prospects have now heard all the claims—all the extremes.
One factor is vital here. That is the restorative power of the market you are dealing with. It may be a market based on a constantly recurring mass instinct, such as reducing. It may be a market based on an unsolved technological problem, such as spark plug replacement. It may be a market that periodically wishes to renew or improve its purchases, such as cars, homes, appliances. In all these cases, the desire never fades; the market continually renews itself.
Women still want to lose weight.
these women are hoping to find a new product—a new headline—that promises them a new way to satisfy that age-old desire.
Here the emphasis shifts from what the product does to HOW it works.
“FLOATS FAT RIGHT OUT OF YOUR BODY!”
“FIRST WONDER DRUG FOR REDUCING!”
Below it, in smaller type, in either a subhead or the body copy, came the mechanism that accomplished the claim.
“I AM 61 POUNDS LIGHTER … NEVER A HUNGRY MINUTE.”
Read the Astonishing Experience of New York Food Expert with the Famous Eat-and-Reduce Plan.
“FLOATS FAT RIGHT OUT OF YOUR BODY!”
Released for the first time! The amazing scientific discovery that melts up to 37 POUNDS off men and women —without starvation diets, without a single hungry moment —without even giving up the foods you love!
“FIRST WONDER DRUG FOR REDUCING!”
Used successfully by thousands of physicians! Lose as many pounds as you like without diets, without exercise, without giving up the kinds of food you love to eat!
This Fourth Stage strategy can be summarized like this: If a competitor has just introduced a new mechanism to achieve the same claim as that performed by your product, and that new mechanism announcement is producing sales, then you counter in this way. Simply elaborate or enlarge upon the successful mechanism. Make it easier, quicker, surer; allow it to solve more of the problem; overcome old limitations; promise extra benets. You are beginning a stage of embellishment similar to the Second Stage of Sophistication described above. The same strategy will be effective here.
How to Revive a “Dead” Product
The emphasis shifts from the promise and the mechanism which accomplishes it, to identication with the prospect himself.
its headline, “WHY MEN CRACK …”
“PHILIP MORRIS—ALL THE HARSHNESS BAKED OUT!”
“CHESTERFIELD—REGULAR AND KING-SIZED TOO!”
“NINE OUT OF TEN DOCTORS PREFER LUCKIES!”
But eventually the mechanisms lost their potency, and the government ruled out the health claims; and in the early Fifties the industry faced a Fifth Stage market. But a new marketing tool—Motivation Research—had shown them how to reach this market without mechanisms or claims, without even headlines, simply by projecting strong visual identications with the virility that the public had accepted in a cigarette. For example, any of the Marlboro “Virile Men” ads.
She has her face turned toward his, and her words make up the entire headline
“BLOW SOME MY WAY.”
Filter cigarettes had always existed, as a small, specialty market. But now they were expanded into a mass market.
First Stage:
“KENT’S MICRONITE FILTER TRAPS TARS BEFORE THEY REACH YOUR LIPS”
Second Stage:
“20,000 FILTER TRAPS IN VICEROY!”
Third Stage:
“PARLIAMENT—THE MOST IMPORTANT ¼ INCH IN SMOKING TODAY— NO FILTER FEEDBACK!”
Fourth Stage:
“TAREYTON—DUAL FILTER FOR DOUBLE THE PLEASURE!”
And the Fifth Stage—in an industry-wide stroke of genius—right back to the avor again: “WINSTON TASTES GOOD LIKE A CIGARETTE SHOULD!”
“IT’S WHAT’S UP FRONT THAT COUNTS!”
“L & M HAS FOUND THE SECRET THAT UNLOCKS THE FLAVOR!”
And so it goes. In industry after industry. Thee same life cycle for each market. The same deadly challenges. The same willingness to adapt rather than perish.
The most obvious way, of course, is simply to state the claim in its barest form. “Lose Weight,” or “Stop Corns,” for example. And if you are the rst in your eld, there is no better way.
1. It can strengthen the claim—by enlarging upon it, by measuring it, by making it more vivid, etc.
2. It can make the claim new and fresh again—by twisting it, changing it, presenting it from a different angle, turning it into a narration, challenging the reader with an example, etc.
3. It can help the claim pull the prospect into the body of the ad—by promising him information about it, by questioning him, by partially revealing mechanism, etc.
there are general patterns that most of them follow. Here are some of these guideposts for your own thinking:
1. Measure the size of the claim:
“20,000 FILTER TRAPS IN VICEROY!”
“I AM 61 POUNDS LIGHTER …”
‘WHO EVER HEARD OF 17,000 BLOOMS FROM A SINGLE PLANT?”
2. Measure the speed of the claim:
“FEEL BETTER FAST!”
“IN TWO SECONDS, BAYER ASPIRIN BEGINS TO DISSOLVE IN YOUR GLASS!’“
3. Compare the claim:
“SIX TIMES WHITER WASHES!”
“COSTS UP TO $300 LESS THAN MANY MODELS OF THE LOW-PRICED THREE!”
4. Metaphorize the claim:
“BANISHES CORNS!”
“MELTS AWAY UGLY FAT!”
5. Sensitize the claim by making the prospect feel, smell, touch, see or hear it:
“TASTES LIKE YOU JUST PICKED IT!”
“THE SKIN YOU LOVE TO TOUCH!”
6. Demonstrate the claim by showing a prime example:
“JAKE LAMOTTA, 160 POUND FIGHTER, FAILS TO FLATTEN MONO PAPER CUP!”
“AT 60 MILES AN HOUR, THE LOUDEST NOISE IN THIS ROLLS ROYCE IS THE ELECTRIC CLOCK!”
7. Dramatize the claim, or its result:
“HERE’S AN EXTRA $50, GRACE—I’M MAKING BIG MONEY NOW!”
“THEY LAUGHED WHEN I SAT DOWN AT THE PIANO—BUT WHEN I STARTED TO PLAY …”
8. State the claim as a paradox:
“HOW A BALD-HEADED BARBER SAVED MY HAIR!”
“BEAT THE RACES BY PICKING LOSERS!”
9. Remove limitations from the claim:
“SHRINKS HEMORRHOIDS WITHOUT SURGERY!”
“YOU BREATHE NO DUSTY ODORS WHEN YOU DO IT WITH LEWYT!”
10. Associate the claim with values or people with whom the prospect wishes to be identied:
“MICKEY MANTLE SAYS: CAMELS NEVER BOTHER MY THROAT!”
“9 OUT OF 10 DECORATORS USE WUNDA-WEAVE CARPETS FOR LONG LIFE AT LOW COST!”
11. Show how much work, in detail, the claim does:
“NOW! RELIEF FROM ALL 5 ACID-CAUSED STOMACH TROUBLES—IN SECONDS!”
“RELIEVES CONGESTION IN ALL 7 NASAL PASSAGES INSTANTLY!”
12. State the claim as a question:
“WHO ELSE WANTS A WHITER WASH—WITH NO HARD WORK?”
“COULD YOU USE $25 A WEEK EXTRA INCOME?”
13. Offer information about how to accomplish the claim:
“HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE!”
“HERE’S WHAT TO DO TO GET RID OF PIMPLES FAST!”
14. Tie authority into the claim:
“BOSS MECHANIC SHOWS HOW TO AVOID ENGINE REPAIR BILLS!”
“HERE’S WHAT DOCTORS DO WHEN THEY FEEL ROTTEN!”
15. Before-and-after the claim:
“BEFORE COLDENE A CHILD GOT OVER A COLD AFTER 5 DAYS OF ACHING, SNEEZING, WHEEZING, DRIPPING, SUFFERING, COUGHING, CRYING, GAGGING, SPITTING.”
“WITH COLDENE A CHILD GETS OVER A COLD IN FIVE DAYS!”
16. Stress the newness of the claim:
“ANNOUNCING! GUIDED MISSILE SPARK PLUGS!”
“NOW! CHROME PLATE WITHOUT HEAT, ELECTRICITY, MACHINERY!”
17. Stress the exclusivity of the claim:
“OURS ALONE! PERSIAN LAMB ORIGINALS—$389.40!”
“ONLY GLEEM HAS GL-70 TO KEEP TEETH CLEAN ALL DAY LONG WITH ONE BRUSHING!”
18. Turn the claim into a challenge for the reader:
“WHICH TWIN HAS THE TONI? AND WHICH HAS THE $15 PERMANENT?”
“DOES SHE OR DOESN’T SHE? HAIR COLORING SO NATURAL ONLY HER HAIRDRESSER KNOWS FOR SURE!”
19. State the claim as a case-history quotation:
“LOOK, MOM—NO CAVITIES!”
You see, people don’t change: only the direction of their desires do. They cannot be made to want anything, nor is it necessary to create want. All that is necessary is to be able to channel those wants into the proper products that offer legitimate satisfaction for them.
In copy writing they are the hopes and fears and desires of millions upon millions of men and women, all over the world.
the copy writer does not create the desire of millions of women all over America to lose weight; but he can channel that desire onto a particular product, and make its owner a millionaire.
no formula works twice.
rewriting somebody else’s headlines won’t make you a copy writer.
what is analysis? It is a series of measuring rods, check-points, signpost questions that show you where a particular force is going, and enable you to get there first.
Analysis is the art of asking the right questions and letting the problem dictate the right answers.
Let’s get right down to the heart of the matter. The power, the force, the overwhelming urge to own that makes advertising work, comes from the market itself, and not from the copy. Copy cannot create desire for a product. It can only take the hopes, dreams, fears and desires that already exist in the hearts of millions of people, and focus those already-existing desires onto a particular product. This is the copy writer’s task: not to create this mass desire—but to channel and direct it.
We can dene this Mass Desire quite simply. It is the public spread of a private want.
Publicly there are enough of them to repay us the cost of advertising, manufacturing and selling, plus a profit.
Mass Instinct. The desire of women to be attractive, or men to be virile, or men and women both to keep their health. In this case, the instinct never fades—the desire never changes. The copy writer’s problem here is not to pick out the trend—it is there for everyone to see. His job is to distinguish his product from the others that were there before it—to create a fresh appeal—to build a stronger believability—to shift desire from the fulllment offered by one product to that offered by another.
your headline—though it may never mention your product —is the rst vital step in recognizing this mass desire—justifying and intensifying it—and directing its solution along one specic path. 3. And then you take the series of performances that are built into your product—what your product does—and you show your prospect how these product performances inevitably satisfy that desire.
In reality, every product you are given to sell is actually two products. One of them is the physical product—the steel, glass, paper or tobacco that the manufacturer has shaped into a particular pattern, of which he is justly proud. The other is the functional product—the product in action—the series of benets that your product performs for your consumer, and on the basis of which he buys your product.
The physical product does not sell. People do not buy the steel in a car, the glass in a vase, the tobacco in a cigarette, or the paper in a book.
The important part of your product is what it does.
ll these facts can only be used, later on, to document and reinforce the primary performance that you promise your reader in your headline, in the following ways: By justifying your price. This is the common-sense theory that the longer the car, the more tubes in the television set, the more stitches per inch in the suit, then the greater the number of dollars your product can command
Tell your prospect the weight of steel in your car’s door, and he’s more likely to believe that your car will protect his life if he should have an accident on the highway. Tell your prospect the number of times your plant removes the impurities in your face cream, and she’s more likely to believe that your cream will remove the impurities in her skin.
yet your ad can feature only one of these performances; can effectively tap only one mass desire at a time.
Every product gives you dozens of keys. But only one will t the lock.
You now know where you are going to start—with your market; and where you are going to end—with your product. The bridge between these two—their meeting place—is your ad.
1. What is the mass desire that creates this market? (Which we have already discovered.)
2. How much do these people know today about the way your product satises this desire? Their State of Awareness.)
3. How many other products have been presented to them before yours? (Their State of Sophistication.)
Your headline has only one job—to stop your prospect and compel him to read the second sentence of your ad. In exactly the same way, your second sentence has only one job—to force him to read the third sentence of your ad.
But how much aware is that prospect of that desire? How close is it to the surface of his consciousness? Is he aware only that a problem or need exists, or is he aware if they can be satisfied? And if he is aware that a means of satisfaction exists, does he realize that it lies in your group of products, or specically in your product by name, or more specically in your product at a given price?
a) To reinforce your prospects desire for your product;
b) To sharpen his image of the way your product satises that desire;
c) To extend his image of where and when your product satises that desire;
d) To introduce new proof, details, documentation of how well your product satises that desire;
e) To announce a new mechanism in that product to enable it to satisfy that desire even better;
f) To announce a new mechanism in your product that eliminates former limitations;
g) Or to completely change the image or the mechanism of that product, in order to remove it from the competition of other products claiming to satisfy the same desire.
the execution becomes more and more important than the mechanics.
“When doctors feel rotten—this is what they do” . Or by mystery, “Now! Run your car without spark plugs!” Or by wonderment, “Who ever heard of 17,000 blooms from a single plant?”
combine all three elements—the problem, its solution, and the removal of the usually expected limitations:
“Shrinks hemorrhoids without surgery.”
And there are headlines which promise to prevent a future problem, before it can occur:
“Look, Mom! No cavities!”
You may know the general area of the problem—for example, people’s embarrassment at speaking poor English.
“Do YOU make these mistakes in English?”
Each of these stages is separated from the others by a psychological wall. On one side of that wall is indifference; on the other, intense interest.
a headline which will work to a market in one stage of awareness will not work to a market in another stage of awareness. Nor will it work, even to a market in which it has been successful, once that market passes on to a new stage of awareness.
1. Price means nothing to a person who does not know your product, or want your product. Therefore, eliminate all mention of price, or price reduction, in your headline or prime display type.
2. The name of your product means nothing to a person who has never seen it before, and may actually damage your ad if you have had a bad model the year before.
here is an example which has inspired the man who strives against the odds of circumstances to make his place in the world.
For every ounce of energy gained by stimulation, by whipping the nerves to action, an ounce of reserve strength is drained … But repeated withdrawals exhaust any reserve. Physical bankruptcy.
Avoid stimulants.
Borrowed Energy Must Be Repaid!
WITHIN THE CURVE OF A WOMAN’S ARM
A frank discussion of a subject too often avoided. A woman’s arm! Poets have sung of its grace; artists have painted its beauty. It should be the daintiest, sweetest thing in the world. And yet, unfortunately, it isn’t, always. There’s an old offender in this quest for perfect daintiness—an offender of which we ourselves may be ever so unconscious, but which is just as truly present. Shall we discuss it frankly? Many a woman who says, “No, I am never annoyed by perspiration,” does not know the facts … Of course, we aren’t to blame because nature has made us so that the perspiration glands under the arms are more active than anywhere else. Nor are we to blame because … have made normal evaporation there impossible. Would you be absolutely sure of your daintiness? It is the chemicals of the body, not uncleanliness, that cause odor. And even though there is no active perspiration —no apparent moisture—there may be under the arms an odor… Fastidious women who want to be absolutely sure of their daintiness have found that they could not trust to their own consciousness; they have felt the need of a toilet water which would insure them against any of this kind of underarm unpleasantness, either moisture or odor. To meet this need, a physician formulated Odorono—a perfectly harmless and delightful toilet water…
only a small fraction considered themselves interested enough or capable enough to respond to a direct promise headline: “Save up to $100 a year on your TV repairs!” Most were afraid they could not make the repairs themselves. Therefore, the market must be broadened to include the non-handymen owners, by exploiting the existing resentment against TV service contracts. The solution:
WHY HAVEN’T TV OWNERS BEEN TOLD THESE FACTS
To sell music lessons by correspondence to a greater audience than would respond to a direct “Play Real Tunes on the Piano in Five Days” approach. The solution:
THEY LAUGHED WHEN I SAT DOWN AT THE PIANO. BUT WHEN I STARTED TO PLAY!
The idea of bad breath was too insulting to be taken by the public “straight.” The solution:
OFTEN A BRIDESMAID BUT NEVER A BRIDE
Projecting the Result of an Accomplishment to Attract People Who Would Be Frightened Away by the Work Implied to Achieve It
To broaden the market for home correspondence courses
HERE’S AN EXTRA $50, GRACE—
“I’m making real money now!” “Yes, I’ve been keeping it a secret until pay day came. I’ve been promoted with an increase of $50 a month. And the first extra money is yours. Just a little reward for urging me to study at home. The boss saw my spare time training has made me a valuable man to the firm and there’s more money coming soon. We’re starting up easy street, Grace, thanks to you and the I.C.S…”
And, if it is an effective headline, and it works, then it too will become outdated as your market moves on to a new stage of awareness.
In effective advertising, though styles may change, strategy does not.
if you are the rst in your particular market, with your particular product—then you are dealing with prospects that have no sophistication about your product at all. In other words, they have never received any information about such a product before. Once you get them interested, they are likely to become much more enthusiastic, believe much more of what you have to say, and buy that much more readily. Remember, your story is brand-new to them.
your strategy in approaching this market—is equally simple:
1. Be simple. Be direct. Above all, don’t be fancy. Name either the need or the claim in your headline—nothing more. Dramatize that claim in your copy—make it as powerful as possible. And then bring in your product; and prove that it works.
(though it’s fairly certain that he must have become a millionaire). But all he had to say in his headline was a simple statement of the direct desire of millions of women:
“NOW! LOSE UGLY FAT!”
If you’re second, and the direct claim is still working—then copy that successful claim—but enlarge on it. Drive it to the absolute limit. Outbid your competition.
“LOSE UP TO 47 POUNDS IN 4 WEEKS—OR RECEIVE $40 BACK!”
“I AM 61 POUNDS LIGHTER … NEVER A HUNGRY MINUTE.”
an advertiser brought out a Floribunda Rose—using this headline with startling success:
“PICK 25—50—100 ROSES FROM THIS ONE MAGNIFICENT PLANT!”
It worked. And so, some years later, a special variety of cushion mum swept the country with this headline:
“SIX HUNDRED MUMS FROM A SINGLE BUSH!”
And, one year later, this headline carried the process to what are probably the absolute limits of Mother Nature:
“WHO EVER HEARD OF 17,000 BLOOMS FROM A SINGLE PLANT?”
Headlines double and triple in size. Words begin to lose their meaning—“whiter-thanwhites” appear. The prospect becomes confused—then skeptical.
Your prospects have now heard all the claims—all the extremes.
One factor is vital here. That is the restorative power of the market you are dealing with. It may be a market based on a constantly recurring mass instinct, such as reducing. It may be a market based on an unsolved technological problem, such as spark plug replacement. It may be a market that periodically wishes to renew or improve its purchases, such as cars, homes, appliances. In all these cases, the desire never fades; the market continually renews itself.
Women still want to lose weight.
these women are hoping to find a new product—a new headline—that promises them a new way to satisfy that age-old desire.
Here the emphasis shifts from what the product does to HOW it works.
“FLOATS FAT RIGHT OUT OF YOUR BODY!”
“FIRST WONDER DRUG FOR REDUCING!”
Below it, in smaller type, in either a subhead or the body copy, came the mechanism that accomplished the claim.
“I AM 61 POUNDS LIGHTER … NEVER A HUNGRY MINUTE.”
Read the Astonishing Experience of New York Food Expert with the Famous Eat-and-Reduce Plan.
“FLOATS FAT RIGHT OUT OF YOUR BODY!”
Released for the first time! The amazing scientific discovery that melts up to 37 POUNDS off men and women —without starvation diets, without a single hungry moment —without even giving up the foods you love!
“FIRST WONDER DRUG FOR REDUCING!”
Used successfully by thousands of physicians! Lose as many pounds as you like without diets, without exercise, without giving up the kinds of food you love to eat!
This Fourth Stage strategy can be summarized like this: If a competitor has just introduced a new mechanism to achieve the same claim as that performed by your product, and that new mechanism announcement is producing sales, then you counter in this way. Simply elaborate or enlarge upon the successful mechanism. Make it easier, quicker, surer; allow it to solve more of the problem; overcome old limitations; promise extra benets. You are beginning a stage of embellishment similar to the Second Stage of Sophistication described above. The same strategy will be effective here.
How to Revive a “Dead” Product
The emphasis shifts from the promise and the mechanism which accomplishes it, to identication with the prospect himself.
its headline, “WHY MEN CRACK …”
“PHILIP MORRIS—ALL THE HARSHNESS BAKED OUT!”
“CHESTERFIELD—REGULAR AND KING-SIZED TOO!”
“NINE OUT OF TEN DOCTORS PREFER LUCKIES!”
But eventually the mechanisms lost their potency, and the government ruled out the health claims; and in the early Fifties the industry faced a Fifth Stage market. But a new marketing tool—Motivation Research—had shown them how to reach this market without mechanisms or claims, without even headlines, simply by projecting strong visual identications with the virility that the public had accepted in a cigarette. For example, any of the Marlboro “Virile Men” ads.
She has her face turned toward his, and her words make up the entire headline
“BLOW SOME MY WAY.”
Filter cigarettes had always existed, as a small, specialty market. But now they were expanded into a mass market.
First Stage:
“KENT’S MICRONITE FILTER TRAPS TARS BEFORE THEY REACH YOUR LIPS”
Second Stage:
“20,000 FILTER TRAPS IN VICEROY!”
Third Stage:
“PARLIAMENT—THE MOST IMPORTANT ¼ INCH IN SMOKING TODAY— NO FILTER FEEDBACK!”
Fourth Stage:
“TAREYTON—DUAL FILTER FOR DOUBLE THE PLEASURE!”
And the Fifth Stage—in an industry-wide stroke of genius—right back to the avor again: “WINSTON TASTES GOOD LIKE A CIGARETTE SHOULD!”
“IT’S WHAT’S UP FRONT THAT COUNTS!”
“L & M HAS FOUND THE SECRET THAT UNLOCKS THE FLAVOR!”
And so it goes. In industry after industry. Thee same life cycle for each market. The same deadly challenges. The same willingness to adapt rather than perish.
The most obvious way, of course, is simply to state the claim in its barest form. “Lose Weight,” or “Stop Corns,” for example. And if you are the rst in your eld, there is no better way.
1. It can strengthen the claim—by enlarging upon it, by measuring it, by making it more vivid, etc.
2. It can make the claim new and fresh again—by twisting it, changing it, presenting it from a different angle, turning it into a narration, challenging the reader with an example, etc.
3. It can help the claim pull the prospect into the body of the ad—by promising him information about it, by questioning him, by partially revealing mechanism, etc.
there are general patterns that most of them follow. Here are some of these guideposts for your own thinking:
1. Measure the size of the claim:
“20,000 FILTER TRAPS IN VICEROY!”
“I AM 61 POUNDS LIGHTER …”
‘WHO EVER HEARD OF 17,000 BLOOMS FROM A SINGLE PLANT?”
2. Measure the speed of the claim:
“FEEL BETTER FAST!”
“IN TWO SECONDS, BAYER ASPIRIN BEGINS TO DISSOLVE IN YOUR GLASS!’“
3. Compare the claim:
“SIX TIMES WHITER WASHES!”
“COSTS UP TO $300 LESS THAN MANY MODELS OF THE LOW-PRICED THREE!”
4. Metaphorize the claim:
“BANISHES CORNS!”
“MELTS AWAY UGLY FAT!”
5. Sensitize the claim by making the prospect feel, smell, touch, see or hear it:
“TASTES LIKE YOU JUST PICKED IT!”
“THE SKIN YOU LOVE TO TOUCH!”
6. Demonstrate the claim by showing a prime example:
“JAKE LAMOTTA, 160 POUND FIGHTER, FAILS TO FLATTEN MONO PAPER CUP!”
“AT 60 MILES AN HOUR, THE LOUDEST NOISE IN THIS ROLLS ROYCE IS THE ELECTRIC CLOCK!”
7. Dramatize the claim, or its result:
“HERE’S AN EXTRA $50, GRACE—I’M MAKING BIG MONEY NOW!”
“THEY LAUGHED WHEN I SAT DOWN AT THE PIANO—BUT WHEN I STARTED TO PLAY …”
8. State the claim as a paradox:
“HOW A BALD-HEADED BARBER SAVED MY HAIR!”
“BEAT THE RACES BY PICKING LOSERS!”
9. Remove limitations from the claim:
“SHRINKS HEMORRHOIDS WITHOUT SURGERY!”
“YOU BREATHE NO DUSTY ODORS WHEN YOU DO IT WITH LEWYT!”
10. Associate the claim with values or people with whom the prospect wishes to be identied:
“MICKEY MANTLE SAYS: CAMELS NEVER BOTHER MY THROAT!”
“9 OUT OF 10 DECORATORS USE WUNDA-WEAVE CARPETS FOR LONG LIFE AT LOW COST!”
11. Show how much work, in detail, the claim does:
“NOW! RELIEF FROM ALL 5 ACID-CAUSED STOMACH TROUBLES—IN SECONDS!”
“RELIEVES CONGESTION IN ALL 7 NASAL PASSAGES INSTANTLY!”
12. State the claim as a question:
“WHO ELSE WANTS A WHITER WASH—WITH NO HARD WORK?”
“COULD YOU USE $25 A WEEK EXTRA INCOME?”
13. Offer information about how to accomplish the claim:
“HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE!”
“HERE’S WHAT TO DO TO GET RID OF PIMPLES FAST!”
14. Tie authority into the claim:
“BOSS MECHANIC SHOWS HOW TO AVOID ENGINE REPAIR BILLS!”
“HERE’S WHAT DOCTORS DO WHEN THEY FEEL ROTTEN!”
15. Before-and-after the claim:
“BEFORE COLDENE A CHILD GOT OVER A COLD AFTER 5 DAYS OF ACHING, SNEEZING, WHEEZING, DRIPPING, SUFFERING, COUGHING, CRYING, GAGGING, SPITTING.”
“WITH COLDENE A CHILD GETS OVER A COLD IN FIVE DAYS!”
16. Stress the newness of the claim:
“ANNOUNCING! GUIDED MISSILE SPARK PLUGS!”
“NOW! CHROME PLATE WITHOUT HEAT, ELECTRICITY, MACHINERY!”
17. Stress the exclusivity of the claim:
“OURS ALONE! PERSIAN LAMB ORIGINALS—$389.40!”
“ONLY GLEEM HAS GL-70 TO KEEP TEETH CLEAN ALL DAY LONG WITH ONE BRUSHING!”
18. Turn the claim into a challenge for the reader:
“WHICH TWIN HAS THE TONI? AND WHICH HAS THE $15 PERMANENT?”
“DOES SHE OR DOESN’T SHE? HAIR COLORING SO NATURAL ONLY HER HAIRDRESSER KNOWS FOR SURE!”
19. State the claim as a case-history quotation:
“LOOK, MOM—NO CAVITIES!”
January 28, 2016
Fantastic book that is always going in and out of print. I got it on Google Play pretty cheap. This book is a classic staple in advertising, anyone who is looking to improve their copy writing skills (persuasive writing) should read this and learn from the lessons Schwartz offers. Though dated, the examples are still relevant even to this day.
December 31, 2017
By far the most sophisticated book on marketing I've ever read. Schwartz was ahead of his time! A big take away from this book is that it is not the job of the marketer to create desire. Rather, you must unearth already existing desires and channel them into action towards your product/service.
December 27, 2018
Out of date and tired marketing techniques that I read for a client. Only useful for clickbait types of ads online. Not recommended unless you honestly don't know anything about marketing. Don't fall for the fact that it's overpriced on Amazon. You can get an online version easily.
June 15, 2020
This books wins on three important counts for me:
1. It is the oldest business book I have ever read
2. It is the most expensive book I’ve ever bought
3. It is the only book I’ll ever need for copywriting
1. It is the oldest business book I have ever read
2. It is the most expensive book I’ve ever bought
3. It is the only book I’ll ever need for copywriting
November 26, 2023
A good book but the fake scarcity certainly provides a halo effect. It’s like a cultural thing for those of us deep in the marketing and advertising space. This book is just treated like it’s the Bible of our industry and I can only assume because of its price tag and difficulty to find.
November 24, 2015
wow. great book. best book on copywriting and marketing ive ever read.
August 30, 2017
If you're in any of these fields, go, buy this book, and read it. It will change your views.
- Marketing
- Advertising
- Selling
- Non-fiction writing
- Marketing
- Advertising
- Selling
- Non-fiction writing
March 13, 2021
Wowww! What a classic! I feel like I have to lower the rating of every copywriting book I've read before this now that I've finally read this. Like a lot of older copywriting books, the examples and language are dated. In this book particularly, it is difficult to read because it is sooo DENSE. Dense with useful information. It really makes you stop and think about it. There is something game-changing on every other page. Sometimes multiple on one page!
This really is the bible or direct response advertising. As I was reading it, I was getting flashes of VSLs, infomercials, regular brand ads, car salesman pitches that I had been previously exposed to. It connected many parts of advertising and copywriting I was never able to previously connect. It put a name to copywriting mechanisms I had unconsciously used (and introduced me to 100 new ones).
I will be studying my notes and mindmaps and re-reading this book for the rest of my life. You are better off REALLY digging into this book than reading 10 other copywriting books or watching different copywriting gurus youtube videos and courses. I found that many of these copywriting gurus got everything in their course from this book. They simply repackage it in a more modern and easily digestbale format.
After reading this, I feel like I have stepped up my copywriting game by 5 levels. Now, it's just a matter of practicing and writing copy every day so that I can writing copy using all these new tools with 'Unconcous competence'. If you write ads or are a business owner who advertises, you should stop what you're doing right now and pick up a copy of this book.
Shoutout to Boardroom Inc. for reprinting this book!
This really is the bible or direct response advertising. As I was reading it, I was getting flashes of VSLs, infomercials, regular brand ads, car salesman pitches that I had been previously exposed to. It connected many parts of advertising and copywriting I was never able to previously connect. It put a name to copywriting mechanisms I had unconsciously used (and introduced me to 100 new ones).
I will be studying my notes and mindmaps and re-reading this book for the rest of my life. You are better off REALLY digging into this book than reading 10 other copywriting books or watching different copywriting gurus youtube videos and courses. I found that many of these copywriting gurus got everything in their course from this book. They simply repackage it in a more modern and easily digestbale format.
After reading this, I feel like I have stepped up my copywriting game by 5 levels. Now, it's just a matter of practicing and writing copy every day so that I can writing copy using all these new tools with 'Unconcous competence'. If you write ads or are a business owner who advertises, you should stop what you're doing right now and pick up a copy of this book.
Shoutout to Boardroom Inc. for reprinting this book!
April 13, 2020
It's a refreshing book for me, after reading books on behavioral economics. This book has an in-depth analysis on how a good copy is made. I found it helpful because of the specificity it contains. The thing with copy, is that it's made to be read by our intuitive minds, which makes it difficult to dissect in first read. Eugene Schwartz gave a good generalization and definition on what constitutes a well-written copy. I know nothing about the author, his career, on why he is a credible man for this kind of book, but I was able to relate his ideas to several books that I've read, and from there, I know that despite the lack of scientific research in this book, I still consider it reliable. It was able to touch on several cognitive biases like anchoring and social proof. Upon reading this, I realized the persuasion methods are the same in all fields, be it on advertising, making a pitch, or basically arguing with another person. This is why breakthrough advertising is helpful even if you are not an advertiser. It contains concepts that if you understand well enough, can be scaled to any situation.
I will probably reread this and have the seven techniques of breakthrough advertising ingrained in my mind so that it will be unconsciously embedded in my actions, my conversations, and especially in my future copies.
I will probably reread this and have the seven techniques of breakthrough advertising ingrained in my mind so that it will be unconsciously embedded in my actions, my conversations, and especially in my future copies.
March 20, 2017
Amazing book! One of the top classics in ad copywriting. 70+ years old but still useful!
Eugene M. Schwartz goes into the detail of copywriting for printed ads for newspapers, magazines and direct mail business. There was no Internet back at his time and I believe that most people didn't even own a TV set. However, it's a wonderful book full of good, detailed advice on how to write successful ads and most of the principles can be still applied today.
It really opened my eyes and helped me realize some serious mistakes I've done in advertising my services (although it's product oriented) and for that reason only I would happily rate it as 5. However, I'm taking into account that many of the tricks presented are of no use today, especially on the Internet so I will give it a 4.
I am not a copywriter but I do write my own ads and this book helped me a lot. I've been writing promotional articles and some web ads for my business and now I can see why many of those have failed miserably! I strongly recommend the book to anyone writing ads and promotional material, not only people in the ad business and copywriting.
Hard to find and it might be outrageously expensive for most people, but if you can find a copy at a price lower than 100 dollars or euros it's good value for money. Wonder why it is out of print for so long.
Eugene M. Schwartz goes into the detail of copywriting for printed ads for newspapers, magazines and direct mail business. There was no Internet back at his time and I believe that most people didn't even own a TV set. However, it's a wonderful book full of good, detailed advice on how to write successful ads and most of the principles can be still applied today.
It really opened my eyes and helped me realize some serious mistakes I've done in advertising my services (although it's product oriented) and for that reason only I would happily rate it as 5. However, I'm taking into account that many of the tricks presented are of no use today, especially on the Internet so I will give it a 4.
I am not a copywriter but I do write my own ads and this book helped me a lot. I've been writing promotional articles and some web ads for my business and now I can see why many of those have failed miserably! I strongly recommend the book to anyone writing ads and promotional material, not only people in the ad business and copywriting.
Hard to find and it might be outrageously expensive for most people, but if you can find a copy at a price lower than 100 dollars or euros it's good value for money. Wonder why it is out of print for so long.
November 15, 2022
Get your copy of This ebook
Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene M. Schwartz
was first published in 1966—what seems to be three lifetimes ago. It was put out by Prentice-Hall, a marvelous house: it sold only a few thousand copies. But since it was published I have had people coming to me regularly to tell me that the directlv credit reading this book with
their making millions of dollars.
This is amazing enough, but even more remarkable is the fact that—when I look back on it—not a single one of these people was a copywriter. Here is a book that is called Breakthrough Advertising . . . and yet was used by men who were not in the business of advertising at all, to make more money than most of us ever dream of accumulating.
How did this happen?
Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene M. Schwartz
was first published in 1966—what seems to be three lifetimes ago. It was put out by Prentice-Hall, a marvelous house: it sold only a few thousand copies. But since it was published I have had people coming to me regularly to tell me that the directlv credit reading this book with
their making millions of dollars.
This is amazing enough, but even more remarkable is the fact that—when I look back on it—not a single one of these people was a copywriter. Here is a book that is called Breakthrough Advertising . . . and yet was used by men who were not in the business of advertising at all, to make more money than most of us ever dream of accumulating.
How did this happen?
August 3, 2019
I've learned a lot from some incredible marketers and copywriters, and this is the book they all point to as a "copywriting masterclass." It takes everything I've learned through following other people's processes, but goes deep into the reason for it, how every part of an ad fits together to strengthen the whole, and the research / knowing your audience that has to go into everything you create for them.
It says a lot that even if the writing of some of the sample ads seems corny or even scammy today, that the best parts are still emotionally resonant. These lessons work because of how people work.
This is an all-time great. Dense with useful information, and I know I'll use it as a reference for the long term.
It says a lot that even if the writing of some of the sample ads seems corny or even scammy today, that the best parts are still emotionally resonant. These lessons work because of how people work.
This is an all-time great. Dense with useful information, and I know I'll use it as a reference for the long term.
January 28, 2020
Clearly one of the best books you can get for copywriting! The book is a masterpiece in a sense of how to think about writing text that sells. I found it very informative and basically it helped me to think more deeply about the customer funnel and how the prospect acts in that funnel and what message should be delivered from the brand side. It is much more than copywriting which brilliant guide! I will surely come back to this book in a year or earlier just to analyze my perception which I received today with the one I will have later. Hands down!
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