About the Author

Claude C. Hopkins 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. He worked for various companies and advertising firms. At the age of 41, he was hired by Albert Lasker owner of Lord & Thomas advertising in 1907 for $186,000 a year the current equivalent of $4.7 million a year. Hopkins insisted copywriters researched their client products and produce reason-why copy. He believed that a good product was often its own best salesperson and as such he was a great believer in sampling. To track the results of his advertising he used key coded coupons and then 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.