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Reality in Advertising Hardcover – July 20, 2015

by Rosser Reeves (Author)

64 ratings

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Rarely has a book about advertising created such a commotion as this brilliant account of the principles of successful advertising. Published in 1961, Reality in Advertising was listed for weeks on the general best-seller lists, and is today acknowledged to be advertising's greatest classic. It has been translated into twelve languages-French, Japanese, Spanish, Dutch, German, Italian, Portuguese, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Hebrew-and has been published in twenty-one separate editions in fifteen countries. Leading business executives, and the advertising cognoscenti, hail it as "the best book for professionals that has ever come out of Madison Avenue." (For typical comments see back of jacket.) Rosser Reeves says: "The book attempts to formulate certain theories of advertising, many quite new, and all based on 30 years of intensive research." These theories, whose value has been proved in the marketplace, all revolve around the central concept that success in selling a product is the key criterion of advertising. In the course of explaining his own hard-headed approach, Mr. Reeves shows why the ad campaigns for many products are just so much money poured down the drain. He has some devastating things to say about advertising's misguided men: the "aesthetes" and the "puffers" who put art and technique ahead of the client's sales; and he punctures many of the misguided philosophies which lower the efficiency of advertising, rather than raising it. But even more important is the thoroughness and clarity with which he explains many of the mysteries of how to write advertising that produces these sales. Here, in short, is a concise, forcefully written guide that has been called "a 'Rosetta Stone' for the advertising business"- an essential book for anyone who works in advertising, or uses advertising extensively. It is today required reading in hundreds of great corporations and many of the world's leading business schools.

Print length

170 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Widener Classics
Publication date

July 20, 2015
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.56 x 8.5 inches
ISBN-10

098269413X
ISBN-13

978-0982694138
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Widener Classics (July 20, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 170 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 098269413X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0982694138
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.5 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.56 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,744,702 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,502 in Advertising (Books)
- #9,677 in Marketing (Books)

Customer Reviews:
64 ratings

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3 star		7%
2 star		3%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Steve R

How to Write an Effective USP (Unique Selling Proposition) and Use Them Profitably.

Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2018

Verified Purchase

Unknown today, but by a few, Reeves is more important than ever. More important to understanding the fundamentals of advertising than even David Ogilvie! It's the only book that focuses on the mythic USP ... unique selling proposition. He also re-introduces two critical advertising metrics: penetration (the percentage of people who remember an ad vs the total number who saw the ad), and usage-need (the percentage of people who actually bought the product vs those who saw the ad). Reeves writes one to one-and-a-half page (very) short chapters, so it's an easy and enjoyable read with very, very sharp and understandable messages growing-out of a good USP, and effective advertising practices. Plenty of good, real examples. MUST READ!

6 people found this helpful

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Zach

Cool book from Madison Avenue

Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2020

Verified Purchase

I got this in a set of what I've been told are good primers on advertising and I was pretty pleased with the amount of new information in it - and I've been a copywriter for a while (with a bachelors degree in marketing).

I also started watching Mad Men after reading this and noticed three or four nods to things mentioned in this book in the pilot episode. I haven't gotten into the Ogilvy books yet, the anecdotes might be in there as well, but I'm convinced the writer possibly read this book before writing the episode.

One person found this helpful

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Yassin Shaar

Timeless advertising principles. Will make its followers richer.

Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2018

Verified Purchase

No none sense or BS. Straight up facts, data and what REALLY works in advertising (for past, present and future).

A book to read over and over (and apply).

Anyone involved in advertising, growth hacking, CRO, marketing etc. and is interested in finding out how to move the needle of their campaigns should pick this up.

The chapters are super easy to read. The author did a great job distilling it to its essence and stripping it out of all the fluff and fillers (as ALL books should be!)

The only thing that's missing, which would've made this my favorite book of all time, is actual marketing collateral and ads.

That said, the examples are good enough to give you directions.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Susanna Hutcheson

An advertising classic that is as important and useful today as it was in the sixties

Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2009

Verified Purchase

Rosser Reeves was a dynamic and powerful copywriter one of the few in 1960 inducted into the Copywriters Hall of Fame. There's a reason for that: He knew and practiced reality in advertising. He stripped away the myths that were long held and that are still held today. He provided his clients with the practice of good principles that you'll read in this book.

Any copywriter or advertiser who is not fortunate enough to own a copy of this book is a sad character indeed. It is a gem. If you have to pay $300 for it, buy it. In your hands you'll own the most dynamic truth ever written about selling your clients products and services and writing great copy, making advertising pay major dividends.

You say this book was written in 1960. How valuable could it be today? Perhaps more valuable than many books being offered up by contemporary writers. What you discover in this book are practices that most people no longer use. That's sad because they're taking money, profits, off the table. They're losing market share. Advertisers are paying for sales copy and ad campaigns that will never work because big egos are involved.

While many of the books written today about advertising on the Internet, for example, will be outdated in a few years, this book, I venture, will never be outdated. While many copywriters today attempt to be great writers who are admired by their peers; writers who are puffy and more interested in selling their own skills than their client's products, Rosser Reeves was interested in one thing --- selling every widget he could for his clients. That's what this book is all about. That's why I love it and value it. That's why it is indeed a classic.

In the book, Reeves shoots down many of his contemporaries. He shoots down myths. Yes, he talks about the unique selling proposition, which he helped make famous. The USP is remarkably important. Yet few copywriters even bother to discover their client's USP. They're not salespeople. They want a showcase for their own so-called talent and not a tool with which to sell products. Trouble with all this is, you simply can't sell without having a handle on the USP.

Reeves wrote copy to sell. He didn't write to win awards. He knew that awards were unimportant. He gives the example of two television commercials that the advertising community said were terrible. They laughed about them and explained how they would make them better. And yet, these two commercials made their advertisers rich --- they outsold all other commercials that the ad people thought were so great. You see, ad people are not good judges of what's good. The consumer is the ultimate and most effective judge. The consumer is the only award that counts.

I've read some unkind reviews about this book. I challenge anyone to find a greater book for the advertising professional. I have some four decades of advertising experience under my belt and I learn each time I read this book. I value the words as if they were freshly found gold coins. If I had a choice of being a copywriter like Rosser Reeves and one of these "gurus" of today who is so in love with his own words and style and wants to showcase his own talents, I'll choose to model after Reeves.

For in the end, advertising and copywriting is about selling the client's product or service to as many consumers as possible. And that's what Reality in Advertising is all about.

VERY highly recommended.

- Susanna K. Hutcheson

27 people found this helpful

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KShrop

Good insight into advertising rules

Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2021

Verified Purchase

A summary of the ways that advertising needs to be more like a science experiment than based on personal opinion. Good read with short chapters.

One person found this helpful

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P. S. Paluska

I plan on reading it again and seeing it as a constant companion and would definitely recommend it highly as a must-have for any

Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2017

Verified Purchase

I found Rosser Reeves' book a thoroughly enjoyable read with plenty of stimulating ideas and strategies in advertising that should stand the test of time. Media, marketing, and the means of transmitting advertising messages will surely continue to change as time goes by but the concepts that drive clear communication and start conversations around brands I believe will remain fairly consistent. Reeves gives the reader lots to think about, and what's more, implement in the real advertising world. I plan on reading it again and seeing it as a constant companion and would definitely recommend it highly as a must-have for any creative person's library.

3 people found this helpful

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Russell Lundstrom

A classic

Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2020

Verified Purchase

If you are reading this you are interested in copy, marketing, advertising.
This a classic.
Not much more needs to be said.

One person found this helpful

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Sesh

Thanks

Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2021

Verified Purchase

Thanks

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Top reviews from other countries

Gary G.

THE BEGINNING OF MODERN ADVERTISING

Reviewed in Canada on June 5, 2016

Verified Purchase

Rosser preceded Ogilvy, Bernbach, etc. He discovered the obvious nut of our business...the USP! If you don't know what USP is, then buy the damn book. And obviously you are under 50.

One person found this helpful

Bruno M.

a bible for marketing. Glad I got a copy!

Reviewed in Canada on June 13, 2018

Verified Purchase

a bible for marketing. Glad I got a copy!

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