Tested Advertising Methods (5th Edition) (Prentice Hall Business Classics) 5th Edition

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.

I have read this book twice cover to cover and refer to it almost everyday. If I could have given this book 6 stars I would have done it without reservation.I have ordered and read at least 4 different books on copywriting and advertising in the last year. Most of the books have good ideas, but none of them describe the methods of writing headlines the way Caples does. He spends 4 chapters on it and let me tell you when he is finished you will know it cold! Personally that would have been enough to sell me on the book, but he doesn't stop there. He talks about scientific advertising to make sure you are writing ads that sell and not waste money. In addition, he talks through how to write the first paragraph and how to structure the copy. Finally, he spends time to talking about how to improve the selling power of copy.Since I have read this book my ability to write copy has reached a whole new level. If you are in this field or responsible for writing copy I would advise you that this is a book you MUST own.

This book is incredible. It's the one book of the many David Ogilvy recommends in his book as required reading and that's coming from David Ogilvy! John Caples was a copywriting and advertising legend so you will learn how to write copy from one of the best ever. As if the original book wasn't fantastic as is, Fred E. Hahn has updated it up to 1998. Even though this book was written well before the Internet burst on to the scene and it was last updated in 1998, it doesn't matter it's still the best book out there for anyone serious about being a successful Internet Marketer. With this book you will have front row access to 58 years of John Caples tested advertising methods which you can apply to your Internet marketing projects. I was so impressed with the material in this book that I went and bought John Caples four other books. For Internet marketers you will learn more from this $11 book than any Internet marketing so called guru course out there. Save your hard earned cash and buy this book instead.

Absolutely LOVE this book. Although some content might seem outdated, it is full of incredibly creative and effective marketing truths! It has helped me increase my response rate to my advertising 10 fold! Buy it- Read it- Use it !

This book is full of practical tested advice and real examples. The first five chapters alone convinced me this was worth the money. I highly recommend this book for anyone who needs to advertise anything. Real examples are the most helpful and there are plenty included.

This book is a jewel that every marketer or member of an ad agency should have as a reference. It does not lose time in trying to be creative. It's quite the opposite, with the author defending what he defines as "scientific" advertising, the type of advertising that wins sales as opposed to ad awards. It provides clear explanations on concepts of written copy and tests every different type of ad you can imagine - short copy x long copy, ads with picture x ads without picture, etc - to provide the reader with a quite good idea on the types of ads that really work in generating sales.The only caveat of this book: it does not mention techniques that work better in radio and TV.

Excellent source for learning what "works" in the areas of writing advertising copy. Whether writing printed content, online advertisements for products or blog entries for information, this book is filled to the brim with honest, proven information and no nonsense methods.Written by one of the gurus from the glory days when newspaper and other forms of hard-copy were the best way to reach the masses, it explains the hows as well as the whys of writing effective advertising content. Today, in many cases the delivery vehicle has changed from paper to a computer or cell phone screen. The target however, the human mind, remains the same.