On this Halloween 2023…I’m reposting a piece that I originally published w-a-a-a-y back in 2014. How things have changed in the world since then!
What’s somewhat terrifying however…
…is that many marketers appear not to have heeded these warnings.
Perhaps even more frightening is that many contemporary marketers seem completely unaware of the fundamental principles of marketing that these giants of the past talk about.
The shocking result is that…
…far too many marketers are wasting far too much money on advertising that does not produce results.
So…to avoid that ghastly fate…read on for some marketing wisdom from beyond the grave….
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Halloween is here once again…
…and this is traditionally a time when it’s believed the spirit world draws closer to our own world.
So, if we could communicate with some of the marketing giants of the past who have passed over…
…what might they have to say?
What wisdom might they remind us of…
…and would they have any TERRIFYING WARNINGS about the state of modern-day marketing?!?
Let’s start with one of the early giants of direct response marketing…
…the great Claude Hopkins.
In his classic book “Scientific Advertising” Claude set out his vision for the future of advertising and marketing…
“The time has come when advertising has in some hands reached the status of a science. It is based on fixed principles and is reasonably exact. The causes and effects have been analyzed until they are well understood.
The correct methods of procedure have been proved and established. We know what is most effective, and we act on basic law.
Advertising, once a gamble, has thus become, under able direction, one of the safest business ventures.”
I think it’s fair to say that Claude would be disappointed, to say the least, that his ideas and principles…his scientific methods…have been largely forgotten in today’s mainstream advertising and marketing world.
He would probably be HORRIFIED at the vast amounts of money spent on advertising with absolutely no effort to track and record the results!
If you haven’t already read “Scientific Advertising” then you can save yourself from the horrors of money BLEEDING out of your bank account because of ads and marketing that doesn’t work…
…by simply reading my introduction to Claude’s strategies and techniques in…
Next…could this spectral figure be Bruce Barton? A GIANT in his lifetime…
…these days remembered by few…and fewer still know of…
The Seven Lost Secrets of Success: Million Dollar Ideas of Bruce Barton, America’s Forgotten Genius
Bruce might whisper to us about…
1. Revealing the business nobody knows
2. Using a god to lead them
3. Speaking (and writing) in parables
4. Daring people to take the upward path
5. The one element missing
6. Giving yourself away
7. Sharpening the knife
…and who knows what else? After all, this was a man who was not only hugely successful in advertising but also a best-selling author, leading philanthropist and with access to US presidents.
Finally…for the moment…here are some words of wisdom…along with some serious WARNINGS about the folly of much mainstream advertising…from a man widely regarded as The King of Madison Avenue
The following video is an in-house talk Ogilvy gave to the direct-response group at his agency Ogilvy & Mather. Although Ogilvy was best known as a classic “Ad Man”, he was always strongly supportive of direct response methods and indeed referred to direct response marketing as his “first love” and also his “secret weapon”.
Indeed, in the early days, his agency was largely built on the back of a direct mail campaign and later with a classic series of direct response style ads.
In this video he sets out his views…backed by his successful experience, of course…about the importance of direct response methods, especially being able to know exactly what is working.
He describes direct response as the realm of “knowledge and reality” versus the “ignorance” that abounds in general advertising.
I’m not sure when this video was made but Ogilvy passed away in 1999. From his comments about computers and credit cards I would guess this is from sometime in the 1970s. So 30 or 40 years ago.
And yet if the shade of the great man were to return to walk the corridors of a modern-day advertising agency…I think it’s fair to say that he would be MORTIFIED to discover that his advice and WARNINGS (including the most DANGEROUS word in advertising!) have been…well, ignored.
The GOOD NEWS about all of this, of course, is that you can take advantage of this wisdom from beyond the grave. In doing so, you’ll be on the side of knowledge and reality…which will put you w-a-a-a-y ahead of most so-called professionals in the world of contemporary marketing and advertising.
Happy Halloween!