Tag: My life in advertising

Learnings

Go for the customer, and for the customer alone. Forget the wholesalers, jobbers, retailers, etc.

Chris Labs

And if customers want your product, the jobbers and retailers will flock by dozen to carry your product. They will come to you. Many of the wrecks in advertising come from trying to sell things over and over. One first sells to the jobber, and he demands a large percentage. Then he tries to sell to the retailer. He wants free goods and extra margins. Never forget that. Jobbers and retailers have their own brands. What trade they can influence is never directed toward products you control. If they can influence sales, they make four times as much on products … Continue reading Go for the customer, and for the customer alone. Forget the wholesalers, jobbers, retailers, etc.

Copywriting

In national advertising, every word is worth 10$. Every word that is worth less should be cut.

Chris Labs

Never repeat. A salesman who wastes his time might cost 1$ per hour. But an ad which does like things is wasting $10 per word. That can make the difference between profit and loss. Most success comes through efficiency. Most failures are due to waste. -My life in advertising, p.115 Continue reading In national advertising, every word is worth 10$. Every word that is worth less should be cut.

Learnings

Where economy is a necessity most people like to defy it.

Chris Labs

When silk shirts cost $15 they became so common among laboring men that other classes went to broadcloth. My experience on cosmetics prove that a low price on perfumes, etc., does not appeal to the girl who should economize. She demands what the “best people” use. Many people around me, working at small wages, consider cost far less than I do. Suggest a thingto them because it is economical and you arouse opposition. You hurt their pride. But direct your appeal to those who do not consider cost and they like to be included. -My life in advertising, p.111 Continue reading Where economy is a necessity most people like to defy it.

Copywriting

No advertising campaign can educate readers into a new habit profitably, none.

Chris Labs

No one can profitably change habits in paid prints. Instead, the advertiser comes in when those habits are changed. He says “Here is the right method”. Converting new users was a very expensive proposal. No new user would pay us in his lifetime the cost of his conversion. -My life in advertising, p.95 Continue reading No advertising campaign can educate readers into a new habit profitably, none.

Learnings

It is just as hard to sell at a half price as at a full price to people not converted.

Chris Labs

Instead, offer a free sample to those interested. Ask them to fill a request for a free sample. Ex: Inquiries for free samples may cost 25 cent each. Ask 10 cents for the samples, and the inquiries may cost you $1.25 or more. To gain that 10 cents you may be losing one dollar. -My life in advertising, p.94 Continue reading It is just as hard to sell at a half price as at a full price to people not converted.