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By John Caples
Vice President, Batten, Barton, Durstine
& Osborn, Inc.
a n d o t h e r w e l l -k n o w n c a m p a i g n s w e r e o r i g i n a t e d b y J o h n C a p l e s .
He has written copy for many nationally known products and has
and others.
M e t h o d s ” w a s p u b l i s h e d b y P r e n t i c e -H a l l . T h i s b o o k h a s a l s o
Headlines
advertisements.
2. T h e b e s t h e a d l i n e s a p p e a l t o t h e r e a d e r ’ s s e l f-i n t e r e s t
D o y o u h a v e t h e s e s y m p t om s o f n e r v e e x h a u s t i o n ?
4. R e-c a s t i n g a h e a d l i n e c a n m a k e a b i g d i f f e r e n c e i n
ment annuities:
A v a c a t i o n t h a t l a s t s th e r e s t o f y o u r l i f e
many coupons:
T h e l o s i n g h e a d l i n e a t t e m p ts t o b e c l e v e r b y c a l l i n g r e t i r e -
of a benefit.
short headlines that say nothing. A book publisher had difficulty selling
a book with the title “Five Acres.” This book was transformed into a
best seller by changing the title to: “Five Acres and Independence.”
sales of the book were more than quadrupled when the title was
Copy
is the only kind that most people understand. When you read over
8. What you say is more important than how you say it.
language.
u s i n g t h e p r o d u c t o r s e r v i c e a r e u s u a l l y t h e mo s t e f f e c t i v e .
you say is true. Your client will also benefit by getting increased
response.
12. In c lu d e t e s t i mo n i a l s i n y o u r a d s . T w o a d s f o r a f i n a n c i a l
publication were split -run tested in Reader’s Digest. The ads were
the copy. The ad with the testimonials produced 25% more sales.
S o m e of t h e m o s t s u c c e s s f u l m a i l o r d e r a d s h a v e b e e n b u i l t e n t i r e l y
f e a t u r i n g l oca l t e s t i m o n i a l s f o r a p a c k a g e d l a u n d r y s o a p r a i s e d t h e
14. Ads that involve the reader are effective. For example,
Ad No. 1
is t h e n e w s p a p e r f o r y o u . ”
the Times.
Ad No. 2
and copy
best benefit till the end and used it as a punch line in the last
and not sell one of them. There is not a single h umorous line in
two of the most influential books in the world, namely, the Bible
three times. For example, suppose you are making a free offer.
A t t h e b e g i n n in g o f y o u r c o p y , s a y “ I t ’ s f r e e . ” I n t h e m i d d l e
of your copy, say “It costs nothing.” At the end, say “Send no
money.”
8.
a super success. For example: Seven ads for house paint were
tested fo r pulling power. Here are the headlines of the two most
successful ads:
A campaign with this theme sold more house paint than any
previous campaign.
21. Lon g copy sells more than short copy. The more you
22. Write more copy than you need to fill the space. If
you need 500 words of copy, begin by writing 1,000 words. Then
b o i l i t d o w n t o a c o n c i s e , f a c t -p a c k e d m e s s a g e .
a c u t -o f f d a t e . R e a d e r ’ s D i g e s t , i n s e l l i n g s u b s c r i p t i o n s , f r e q u e n t l y
u s e s s u c h p h r a s e s a s : “ R e tu r n t h i s c a r d b e f o r e O c t o b e r 3 1 ” .
9.
H e r e i s a c l a s s i c e x a m p l e o f a s p e l l e d -o u t g u a r a n t e e :
i t h a d b e e n w r i t t e n i n l e g a l t er m s b y a l a w y e r . ”
25. You should ask for action at the end of your ad. Tell
the reader what you want him to do. Sometimes it pays to offer
B o o k -o f - t h e - M o n t h C l u b o f f e r s a f r e e b o o k “ t o n e w m e m b e r s w h o
26. People who buy once are your best prospects for
buying again. I used to write ads for a publisher who sold little
booklets by mail for 25¢ each. The people who bought the booklets
10.
the folks who bought the $5 books were later induced to buy the
People who give once are the best prospects for giving again.
2 7 . T h e c o p y w r it e r ’ s j o b d o e s n o t b e g i n a t 9 a . m . N o r d o e s
it end at 5 p.m. His job is with him all the time. Some of his best
paper and pencil handy at all times. He should write down ideas
the minute they occur. Otherwise some of his most precious thoughts
will be lost.
Testing
29. Over the years, many methods for testing copy have
useful information.
11.
copy, put i t aside and read it over the next day. You will almost
better.”
wrote, don’t show him just one ad. Chances are he will try to
please you b y saying: “It’s good.” That gets you nowhere. Show
H o w e v e r , i t c a n b e m i s l e a d i n g . M a n y w i l l n o t v o t e f o r a l l -t y p e
T h i s i s n o t s o . S o m e o f t h e b e s t -p ull i n g m a i l o r d e r a d s h a v e h a d n o
pictures.
12.
“To men who want to quit work some day.” When th ese ads were
i n a c c u r a t e . O p i n i o n t e s t i n g h a s o n e b i g a d v a n t a g e o v e r m a i l order
tests. You can ask the respondents why they voted for a certain
mail order ad is a sales test. In mail order, you can test copy,
H e n c e, m a i l o r d e r a d v e r t i s e r s k n o w a g r e a t d e a l a b o u t t h e
3 7 . T h e m o s t a c c u r a t e t e s t i s a m a i l o r d e r s p l i t -r u n
c o n d i t i o n s . M a n y p u b l i c a t i o n s o f f e r s p l i t -r u n c o p y t e s t i n g . T h e y
page, same position on the page. If a news dealer has 100 copies
3 8 . T e s t i n g c o p y i s f u n , e x c i t i n g , r e w a r d i n g . I r eca l l
say “Telephone this number and ask for Miss Smith.” Another
ad would say “Ask for Miss Miller,” and so on. Thus we could
tell exactly how much business each ad brought in. Then each
benefi t ted.
14.
Account Handling
3 9 . W h e n y o u a r e s ol i c i t i n g a n e w a c c o u n t , d o n ’ t t e l l
the ad manager how bad his ads are. You may be talking to the
ad th a t h e h a s u s e d s u c c e s s f u l l y f o r y e a r s . H o w d o y o u p r o c e e d ?
not just one new ad but ten new ads. Your chances of finding a
c o m p e t i n g w i t h s o m eb o d y e l s e ’ s a d . I f y o u r a d w i n s , you c a n s a y
S o c ra t e s u s e d a s i m i l a r p h i l o s o p h y i n r e g a r d t o m a r r i a g e .
a good thing.”
15.
4 2 . Clients o f t e n t i r e o f a d s b e f o r e t h e p u b l i c d o e s .
who was the smartest client I ever met. I said to myself: “I can
efficient than a full page ad, I must tell him so, even though the
mislead him, he will see through me. After that he will never
trust me.” This policy of honesty paid off. It was a happy account
t o w o r k o n f o r e i g h t e e n y e a rs . A f t e r I s t o p p e d s e r v i n g t h i s m a n ,
your way.”
16.
him any more new ads that day. I keep them in my brief case
46. Don’t feel bad if your client revises your ad. He will
Miscellaneous
48. Get out and meet new people whenever you can. Don’t
spend all your time with comfortable old cronies. One time I
He said: “You men can’t make any money talking to each other.”
17.
been forgotten.”