Book Tamers| book reviews

When David Ogilvy says that nobody should be allowed to have anything to do with advertising before reading Scientific Advertising seven times and that this book has changed his life, there’s nothing to add. You just read it. When a name with such resonance in the advertising field expresses this kind of precious opinion, anything else would be out of place.

In our country, Scientific Advertising, published in 1923, appeared in a book that contains Claude Hopkins’ autobiography, My life in advertising, that was written four years later. I think this is a good strategy, meant to persuade especially the skeptics that Scientific Advertising is indeed a reference book in this field.

Claude Hopkins` Life

Reading this book, some strange things happened to me. First of all, even Hopkins’ autobiography appears to be like a handbook, which teaches you how to be successful in life and in advertising. Hopkins tells the story of what he did to support himself at the age of 9, giving details about his first selling experiences that happened around that same age. He explains his way of thinking, his way of approaching things, mentions all the companies he promoted and how he ended up in that situation.

Apart from this, there are two important facts: concerning life in general, one must work in order to succeed. Although he doesn’t recommend anyone to do so, he says that his work day started at 6 am and ended at 2 pm. His resistance, for 35 years, was due to his love towards work that was like a game to him.

Claude Hopkins` Work

When he talks about advertising, he says that the road to success runs through common people. Hopkins always thought that he had an advantage because he went from an average and poor person to a wealthy individual. And he often admonishes those who try to sell things without knowing the target, those who don’t try to find out what are the wishes and the needs of the regular people.

The second strange thing is that although both books seem to be a pair of handbooks (Scientific Advertising is actually a handbook), I didn’t perceive them as such; there was no stiff speech or never ending examples, no mathematical calculi or other obstacles found in science books. In his own way, Hopkins made his books accessible to common people.

As for “the book that has to be read seven times”, I would like to praise the fact that the rules are structured in clearly entitled short chapters and exact explanations. Also, Hopkins says that any advertiser should take into account that they are not to be cheered at, but to sell. All advertisers should consider that.

Written by Raluca