Claude C. Hopkins (born 1866) was one of the great advertising pioneers, he believed advertising existed only to sell something and should be measurable and justify the results that it produced.

Hired by Albert Lasker owner of Lord & Thomas advertising in 1907 at a salary of $185,000 a year, Hopkins insisted copywriters researched their client products and produce reason-why copy. He believed, that a good product was often it's own best salesperson and as such he was a great believer in sampling. Albert Lasker (1870?-1950) is often considered to be the founder of modern advertising. ...

To track the results of his advertising he would he used key coded coupons and tested headlines, offers and propositions against one another. He used the analysis of these measurements to continually improve his ad results, driving responses and the cost effectiveness of his clients advertising spend.

His classic book, "Scientific Advertising," was published in 1923, following his retirement from Lord & Thomas, where he finished his career as president and chairman. He died in 1932.

External Links

• http://scientificadvertising.blogspot.com - online copy of Scientific Advertising
• http://pge.rastko.net/etext/100010 - a downloadable copy of Scientific Advertising from Project Gutenberg