John Caples is one of advertising's greats, the author of many people's choice for the most successful ad of all time*; Vice President of BBDO for many years; and AdAge's #21 on its list of 100 Top People of the 20th Century. The world's most prestigious creative marketing award is named after him: The John Caples International Award.
He wrote several books, but Tested Advertising Methods is both his most popular and his most useful. I can't imagine a copywiter (and by that I mean anyone who ever writes copy) working without it. First, he explains that advertising is not a science, because you can never predict public opinion with guaranteed results. But you can use a scientific approach to your ads, and by testing, testing, testing them with first one headline and then another, first one offer and then another, you can arrive at an ad that is probably going to be successful. This book tells you how to do that.
Five of its 18 chapters are dedicated to writing headlines, which is as it should be. "If the headline is poor, the copy will not be read," he tells us, and offers 29 different formulas for writing good headlines. Other chapters that stand out, deal with "appealing to the masses," and "the right appeal." The chapter on small ads tells not only how to write them, but what sort of products to write them for.
Caples includes many famous ads, reproduced in full and accompanied by his notes on why they did or didn't work. They're a treasure chest for anyone who does his best learning by example. Many of them will sound old-fashioned ("Here's an Extra $50, Grace. I'm making real money now!"), but their basic principles are solid, and it just takes a little imagination to re-work them for today's audience.
I have a healthy collection of books on advertising, marketing and copywriting, including many of the classics. But if my library caught fire, this is the book I would try to save.
* "They Laughed When I Sat Down At The Piano..." written for the U.S. School of Music by Caples in 1921.
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Top reviews from other countries
Sean
A classic alongside Breakthrough Advertising
Reviewed in Singapore on July 4, 2021Amazon Customer
When I write adwords ads or help out with landing pages I always turn to this book.
Reviewed in Canada on March 11, 2015Paul Simister
A direct response marketing classic
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 3, 2015