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Why Did Claude Hopkins Say Specific Claims Beat Vague Ones? · Founders

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#430 How to Write Ads That Sell

Claude Hopkins was the greatest copywriter of all time. His ideas were so valuable that when he wrote them down in a book the founder of his advertising firm locked the manuscript in a safe for 20 years. When the book was finally published it sold over 8 million copies. David Ogilvy said that nobody should work in advertising until they had read the book…

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Notes

  1. Why Did Albert Lasker Lock Scientific Advertising in a Safe? at 1:44

    David Senra says Albert Lasker locked Claude Hopkins's book Scientific Advertising in a safe for 20 years because it gave away the firm's secrets. Full answer

  2. Why Did Claude Hopkins Say to Stay Close to the Money? at 16:03

    David Senra, reading Claude Hopkins, says the counsel is to get off the expense side of a business and stay close to the money. Hopkins started as a bookkeeper. Full answer

  3. Why Did John Powers Advertise That a Clothing Store Was Bankrupt? at 20:06

    David Senra, reading Claude Hopkins on John Powers, says Powers told a clothing store on the verge of bankruptcy that the only way out was to advertise the… Full answer

  4. Why Did Claude Hopkins Say Not to Deal With People in the Mass? at 27:30

    David Senra, reading Claude Hopkins, says the everlasting argument was against dealing with people in the mass. Full answer

  5. How Did Claude Hopkins Advertise Schlitz Beer? at 29:37

    David Senra, reading Claude Hopkins, says Hopkins advertised Schlitz by printing purity steps the brewery had treated as ordinary. Full answer

  6. How Did Warren Buffett's Letters Lead to Claude Hopkins? at 36:05

    David Senra found Claude Hopkins by reading Warren Buffett's shareholder letters, where Buffett kept calling David Ogilvy a genius. Full answer

  7. Why Did Claude Hopkins Say to Sell Painkillers, Not Vitamins? at 40:52

    David Senra, reading Claude Hopkins on Pepsodent, says sell a painkiller, not a vitamin. People will do anything to cure a trouble, and little to prevent it. Full answer

  8. What Is Advertising According to Claude Hopkins? at 46:48

    David Senra, reading the salesmanship chapter of Scientific Advertising, says advertising is salesmanship. Full answer

  9. How Much Can Changing a Headline Multiply Ad Returns? at 55:53

    David Senra, reading Claude Hopkins, says changing the headline can multiply an ad's returns by five to ten times. Full answer

  10. Why Did Claude Hopkins Say Specific Claims Beat Vague Ones? at 59:18

    David Senra, reading Claude Hopkins, says specific claims beat vague ones. Platitudes and generalities roll off with no impression. Full answer

  11. Where Did David Ogilvy Find the Rolls-Royce Clock Headline? at 1:01:58

    David Senra says David Ogilvy found the Rolls-Royce headline in an obscure engineering document that was not written as an ad and was not meant for the… Full answer

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