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50 Thi ngs I ve Learned i n 50 Years

By J ohn Capl es
Vi ce Presi dent, Batten, Barton, Dursti ne
& Osborn, I nc.





Edi tors Note: On September 7, 1925 J ohn Capl es began hi s
career as a copywri ter wi th Ruthrauff & Ryan, an adverti si ng agency that
speci al i zed i n handl i ng mai l order accounts. I n 1927 he moved to BBDO
where he i s sti l l acti ve.
The famous ad They l aughed when I sat down at the pi ano,
and other wel l -known campai gns were ori gi nated by J ohn Capl es.
He has wri tten copy for many nati onal l y known products and has
supervi sed adverti si ng research for Du Pont, General El ectri c,
U.S. Steel , L ever Brothers, L i berty Mutual I nsurance, Phoeni x
Mutual L i fe I nsurance, The Readers Di gest, Uni ted Frui t,
Goodri ch Ti res, U.S. Navy Recrui ti ng, The Wal l Street J ournal
and others.
Capl es has taught adverti si ng at Col umbi a and at the
A dverti si ng Cl ub of New York. He i s the author of four books on
adverti si ng and i n 1973 was el ected to the Copywri ters Hal l of
Fame. I n 1975 the fourth edi ti on of hi s book Tested A dverti si ng

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Methods was publ i shed by Prenti ce-Hal l . Thi s book has al so
been publ i shed i n J apanese and I tal i an. I n thi s arti cl e J ohn tel l s
some of the thi ngs he has l earned i n hi s l ong career concerni ng
headl i nes, copy, copy testi ng and account handl i ng.

Headl i nes
1. The Headl i ne i s the most i mportant el ement i n most
adverti sements.

2. The best headl i nes appeal to the readers sel f-i nterest
or gi ve news. Exampl es:
The secret of maki ng peopl e l i ke you
Do you have these symptoms of nerve exhausti on?
A nnounci ng a new fi cti on wri ti ng course
How a new di scovery made a pl ai n gi rl beauti ful

3. Someti mes a mi nor change i n a headl i ne can make a
di fference i n pul l i ng power. A mai l order ad for a book on auto-
mobi l e repai r had thi s headl i ne:
How to repai r cars
The pul l i ng power of thi s ad was i ncreased 20% by changi ng
the headl i ne to read:
How to fi x cars
3.

4. Re-casti ng a headl i ne can make a bi g di fference i n
response. Here i s the headl i ne of a couponed ad sel l i ng reti re-
ment annui ti es:
A vacati on that l asts the rest of your l i fe
Here i s the headl i ne of an ad that pul l ed three ti mes as
many coupons:
A guaranteed i ncome for l i fe
The l osi ng headl i ne attemp ts to be cl ever by cal l i ng reti re-
ment a vacati on. The wi nni ng headl i ne i s a strai ghtforward promi se
of a benefi t.

5. L ong headl i nes that say somethi ng are more effecti ve than
short headl i nes that say nothi ng. A book publ i sher had di ffi cul ty sel l i ng
a book wi th the ti tl e Fi ve A cres. Thi s book was transformed i nto a
best sel l er by changi ng the ti tl e to: Fi ve A cres and I ndependence.
A nother publ i sher had a book enti tl ed Fl eece of Gol d. The
sal es of the book were more than quadrupl ed when the ti tl e was
changed to Quest for a Bl onde Mi stress.






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6. I n wri ti ng headl i nes, the copywri ter shoul d try to
break the boredom barri er. How I became a star sal esman
was the headl i ne of a successful ad for a course i n sal esmanshi p.
The pul l i ng power of the ad was i ncreased by changi ng the headl i ne
to H ow a fool stunt made me a star sal esman.

Copy
7. Wri te your copy to the si xth grade l evel . Si mpl e
l anguage i s not resented by educated peopl e. A nd si mpl e l anguage
i s the onl y ki nd that most peopl e understand. When you read over
your copy, say to yoursel f: Wi l l thi s be understood by my barber
or by the mechani c who fi xes my car?

8. What you say i s more i mportant than how you say i t.
Mai l order adverti sers do not use expensi ve artwork or fancy
l anguage.

9. I l l ustrati ons that show the product i n use or the reward of
usi ng the product or servi ce are usual l y the most effecti ve.
Exampl es: I n an ad for a bi cycl e, a pi cture of a boy ri di ng a
bi cycl e shows the product i n use. I n a reti rement i ncome ad, a
pi cture of a happy coupl e si tti ng on a beach i n Fl ori da shows the
reward of usi ng the servi ce.


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10. There are two forces at work i n the mi nds of your
prospect. (1) Skepti ci sm, and (2) The desi re to bel i eve. You
can do your prospects a favor by gi vi ng them evi dence that what
you say i s true. Your cl i ent wi l l al so benefi t by getti ng i ncreased
response.

11. Speci fi c statements are more bel i evabl e than general i ti es.
A n exampl e of a speci fi c statement i s the famous sl ogan for I vory
Soap 99 44/ 100% pure

12. I ncl ude testi moni al s i n your ads. Two ads for a fi nanci al
publ i cati on were spl i t -run tested i n Readers Di gest. The ads were
i denti cal except that one contai ned four bri ef testi moni al s buri ed i n
the copy. The ad wi th the testi moni al s produced 25% more sal es.
Some of the most successful mai l order ads have been bui l t enti rel y
around testi moni al s. Exampl es: I was a 97 pound weakl i ng ...
How I i mproved my memory i n one eveni ng.

13. L ocal i zed testi moni al s i n l ocal medi a are especi al l y
effecti ve. Seven couponed ads for a publ i c uti l i ty were tested i n
New Haven newspapers. One ad featured a testi moni al from a New
Haven woman. Thi s ad outpul l ed al l the others. A newspaper campai gn
f eaturi ng l ocal testi moni al s for a packaged l aundry soap rai sed the
sal es of the soap from fourth pl ace to fi rst pl ace.

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14. A ds that i nvol ve the reader are effecti ve. For exampl e,
the best pul l i ng ad for a book of eti quette showed a pi cture of a man
wal ki ng between two women. Headl i ne: Whats wrong i n thi s
pi cture? A successful ad for a course i n I nteri or Desi gn had thi s
headl i ne: Can you spot these 7 common decorati ng si ns?

15. Strai ghtforward ads usual l y outpul l cute ads. Two
couponed ads sol i ci ti ng subscri pti ons for a dai l y newspaper were
tested by mai l order sal es as fol l ows:

A d No. 1
Headl i ne: Take i t from me thi s
i s the newspaper for you.
I l l ustrati on: Pi cture of a smi l i ng newsboy
offeri ng the reader a copy of
the Ti mes.

A d No. 2
Headl i ne: How to get the Ti mes
del i vered to your home
I l l ustrati on: No i l l ustrati on. J ust headl i ne
and copy
Resul ts: A d No. 2 outpul l ed A d No. 1 by 190%


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16. I n wri ti ng copy, dont merel y tel l your prospect the
benefi ts he wi l l get by buyi ng your product or servi ce. You
shoul d al so tel l hi m what he wi l l l ose i f he doesnt buy.

17. Put your best foot forward i n your copy. A copywri ter
asked my opi ni on of an ad he had wri tten. He sai d: I saved the
best benef i t ti l l the end and used i t as a punch l i ne i n the l ast
paragraph. I sai d: Put your best benefi t i n the fi rst paragraph.
Otherwi se the reader may never get to your l ast paragraph.

18. A voi d humor. You can entertai n a mi l l i on peopl e
and not sel l one of them. There i s not a si ngl e humorous l i ne i n
two of the most i nfl uenti al books i n the worl d, namel y, the Bi bl e
and the Sears Roebuck catal og.

19. I f you want to dri ve home a poi nt, you shoul d say i t
three ti mes. For exampl e, suppose you are maki ng a free offer.
A t the begi nning of your copy, say I ts free. I n the mi ddl e
of your copy, say I t costs nothi ng. A t the end, say Send no
money.





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20. You can someti mes combi ne two successes to make
a super success. For exampl e: Seven ads for house pai nt were
tested for pul l i ng power. Here are the headl i nes of the two most
successful ads:
1. New house pai nt made by (name of manufacturer)
2. Thi s house pai nt keeps whi te houses whi ter
These two headl i nes were combi ned as fol l ows:
New house pai nt made by (name of manufacturer)
keeps your whi te house whi ter
A campai gn wi th thi s theme sol d more house pai nt than any
previ ous campai gn.

21. Long copy sel l s more than short copy. The more you
tel l , the more you sel l .

22. Wri te more copy than you need to fi l l the space. I f
you need 500 words of copy, begi n by wri ti ng 1,000 words. Then
boi l i t down to a conci se, fact-packed message.

23. You can often i mprove the pul l i ng power of an ad by
setti ng a ti me l i mi t. Retai l adverti sers i ncrease sal es by setti ng
a cut-off date. Readers Di gest, i n sel l i ng subscri pti ons, frequentl y
uses such phrases as: Return thi s card before October 31 .


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24. Spel l out your guarantee. The word guarantee has
been used so many ti mes i t has l ost much of i ts force.
Here i s a cl assi c exampl e of a spel l ed-out guarantee:
Thi s i s my own strai ghtforward agreement that you
can have my coachi ng materi al i n your hands for 10
days exami nati on and readi ng before you make up
your mi nd to keep i t. You are to be the sol e judge.

You can return the materi al for any reason, or for
no reason at al l , and your deci si on wi l l not be questi oned.
Your refund check wi l l be mai l ed to you i n ful l by the very
next mai l . Thi s agreement i s just as bi ndi ng as though
i t had been wri tten i n l egal terms by a l awyer.

25. You shoul d ask for acti on at the end of your ad. Tel l
the reader what you want hi m to do. Someti mes i t pays to offer
a reward for acti on. I n sel l i ng a 10-vol ume worl d hi story, the
Book-of -the-Month Cl ub offers a free book to new members who
enrol l at thi s ti me.

26. Peopl e who buy once are your best prospects for
buyi ng agai n. I used to wri te ads for a publ i sher who sol d l i ttl e
bookl ets by mai l for 25 each. The peopl e who bought the bookl ets


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were good prospects for th e publ i shers $5 books. A nd a number of
the fol ks who bought the $5 books were l ater i nduced to buy the
publ i shers $25 l i brary. The same pri nci pl e appl i es i n fund rai si ng.
Peopl e who gi ve once are the best prospects for gi vi ng agai n.

27. The copywriters job does not begi n at 9 a.m. Nor does
i t end at 5 p.m. Hi s job i s wi th hi m al l the ti me. Some of hi s best
i deas come to hi m whi l e he i s shavi ng i n the morni ng, whi l e he i s
ri di ng on a bus, or at l unchti me, or whi l e he i s wal ki ng al ong the
street, or someti mes i n the mi ddl e of the ni ght. He shoul d have
paper and penci l handy at al l ti mes. He shoul d wri te down i deas
the mi nute they occur. Otherwi se some of hi s most preci ous thoughts
wi l l be l ost.

Testi ng
28. The key to success i n adverti si ng (maxi mum sal es per
dol l ar) l i es i n perpetual testi ng of al l vari abl es.

29. Over the years, many methods for testi ng copy have
been devi sed. Opi ni on tests, readershi p tests, eye camera tests,
pupi l ometer tests, recal l tests, comprehensi on tests, coupon tests,
i nqui ry tests, atti tude tests, etc. Most of these tests produced
useful i nformati on.


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30. Here i s a si mpl e test. When you wri te a pi ece of
copy, put i t asi de and read i t over the next day. You wi l l al most
al ways be abl e to i mprove i t.

31. A nother si mpl e method i s to ask somebody to read
your copy al oud. I f he stumbl es over a sentence, say to yoursel f:
Thats not hi s faul t. I ts my faul t. I must make the sentence
better.

32. I f you want to get an associ ates opi ni on of an ad you
wrote, dont show hi m just one ad. Chances are he wi l l try to
pl ease you by sayi ng: I ts good. That gets you nowhere. Show
hi m two ads and say, Whi ch i s better?

33. Testi ng ads by aski ng peopl e for thei r opi ni on i s hel pful .
However, i t can be mi sl eadi ng. Many wi l l not vote for al l -type
ads. Most bel i eve that an ad i s not good unl ess i t has a pi cture.
Thi s i s not so. Some of the best-pul l i ng mai l order ads have had no
pi ctures.






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34. I n an opi ni on test, peopl e hesi tate to reveal thei r
sel fi sh moti ves. For exampl e, i n an opi ni on test of l i fe i nsurance
ads, an ad wi th the headl i ne What woul d become of your wi fe i f
somethi ng happened to you? outpul l ed an ad wi th the headl i ne
To men who want to qui t work some day. When these ads were
subjected to a mai l order sal es test, the resul ts were reversed.

35. Do not di scard opi ni on testi ng because i t i s someti mes
i naccurate. Opi ni on testi ng has one bi g advantage over mai l order
tests. You can ask the respondents why they voted for a certai n
ad. You can fi nd out i f the copy i s understood or mi sunderstood.
You cannot do these thi ngs i n a mai l order test.

36. The best tests, i f properl y handl ed, are sal es tests.
Mai l order adverti sers have an advantage i n thi s respect. Every
mai l order ad i s a sal es test. I n mai l order, you can test copy,
medi a, posi ti on i n medi a, and season al l by sal es resul ts.
Hence, mai l order adverti sers know a great deal about the
real i ti es of adverti si ng. Much of thi s knowl edge i s appl i cabl e
i n those forms of adverti si ng whi ch cannot be accuratel y tested.





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37. The most accurate test i s a mai l order spl i t-run
test where two ads A d A and A d B are tested under i denti cal
condi ti ons. Many publ i cati ons offer spl i t-run copy testi ng. They
do thi s by spl i tti ng the press run. A d A runs i n hal f the ci rcul ati on.
A d B runs i n the other hal f of the ci rcul ati on same i ssue, same
page, same posi ti on on the page. I f a news deal er has 100 copi es
of the publ i cati on, 50 copi es wi l l contai n A d A and 50 copi es wi l l
contai n A d B. Thus each ad has an equal chance to get resul ts.

38. Testi ng copy i s fun, exci ti ng, rewardi ng. I recal l
worki ng on ads for a fi nance company that offered smal l l oans.
Several of us wrote ads and we tested them i n newspapers by
counti ng phone cal l s from prospects. For exampl e, one ad woul d
say Tel ephone thi s number and ask for Mi ss Smi th. A nother
ad woul d say A sk for Mi ss Mi l l er, and so on. Thus we coul d
tel l exactl y how much busi ness each ad brought i n. Then each
copywri ter woul d bet a dol l ar that hi s ad woul d wi n. Testi ng
copy became a game we al l enjoyed. I t was as thri l l i ng as
betti ng on a horse race. We l earned a l ot. A nd the cl i ent
benefi tted.





14.
A ccount Handl i ng

39. When you are sol i ci ti ng a new account, dont tel l
the ad manager how bad hi s ads are. You may be tal ki ng to the
man who wrote the ads.

40. I n starti ng work on a new account, you are someti mes
faced wi th the tough probl em of beati ng the cl i ents best ad an
ad that he has used successful l y for years. How do you proceed?
One way i s to i ncl ude i n your ad every good thi ng i n the prospects ad
pl us some good thi ngs of your own. A nother way i s to test,
not just one new ad but ten new ads. Your chances of fi ndi ng a
wi nner are i ncreased tenfol d.

41. Here i s a phi l osophy you can use when your ad i s
competi ng wi th somebody el ses ad. I f your ad wi ns, you can say
to yoursel f: My experi ence pai d off. I f your ad l oses, you
can say, I l earned somethi ng.
Socrates used a si mi l ar phi l osophy i n regard to marri age.
He sai d: I f a man has a good marri age, that i s a good thi ng.
I f he has a bad marri age, he becomes a phi l osopher, and that i s
a good thi ng.



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42. Cl i ents often ti re of ads before the publ i c does.
Hence adverti sers who cannot measure sal es resul ts frequentl y
demand a new campai gn every year or so. Mai l order adverti sers
repeat an effecti ve ad ti l l i t wears out. Max Sackhei ms famous
ad Do you make these mi stakes i n Engl i sh? ran for 40 years
before i t wore out.

43. Be honest. I recal l servi ng an adverti si ng manager
who was the smartest cl i ent I ever met. I sai d to mysel f: I can
never fool thi s man. I f I thi nk a quarter page ad wi l l be more
effi ci ent than a ful l page ad, I must tel l hi m so, even though the
agency makes onl y one fourth as much commi ssi on. I f I try to
mi sl ead hi m, he wi l l see through me. A fter that he wi l l never
trust me. Thi s pol i cy of honesty pai d off. I t was a happy account
to work on for ei ghteen years. A fter I stopped servi ng thi s man,
he conti nued to recommend my servi ces to other adverti sers.

44. Be fl exi bl e. I used to take trai n tri ps to Hartford to
present new ads to the adverti si ng manager of a l arge i nsurance
company. I t was a happy rel ati onshi p. The ad manager became
one of my best fri ends. We usual l y agreed on ads. But someti mes
we di sagreed. I n those cases, I argued al l morni ng for my poi nt
of vi ew. But after l unch, I woul d remark: There may be some-
thi ng i n what you say. When I get back to my offi ce, I l l try i t
your way.
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45. Be di pl omati c. A successful account executi ve sai d
to me: I f the ad manager i s i n a rejecti ng mood, I dont show
hi m any more new ads that day. I keep them i n my bri ef case
and show them to hi m some other ti me.

46. Dont feel bad i f your cl i ent revi ses your ad. He wi l l
l i ke the ad better and hi s revi si ons may i mprove i t.

Mi scel l aneous
47. Bruce Barton, former head of BBDO, gave thi s advi ce:
Be pol i te to everybody, even the Western Uni on messenger. You
never know when he may turn up as a cl i ent. I f you are goi ng to
be mean to somebody, be mean to the chai rman of the board. He
wont be around very l ong.

48. Get out and meet new peopl e whenever you can. Dont
spend al l your ti me wi th comfortabl e ol d croni es. One ti me I
was havi ng l unch wi th a BBDO associ ate. A man stopped at our
tabl e. I t was Roy Dursti ne who was then presi dent of BBDO.
He sai d: You men cant make any money tal ki ng to each other.




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49. Al ex Osborn, former vi ce chai rman of BBDO sai d:
Never have an open break wi th anyone. The memory of the
break wi l l l i nger on l ong after the object of di sagreement has
been forgotten.

50. Fi nd work you enjoy. My earl i est ambi ti on was to
make enough money so I coul d reti re at forty. But at twenty-fi ve,
I had the good fortune to get i nto adverti si ng. Now that I am i n
my seventi es, I never want to reti re. The secret of happi ness i s
enjoyabl e work pl us hel pi ng others.