Claude C. Hopkins

That's actually a very old idea.

You and I have talked about David Ogilvie, Albert Lasker, Claude Hopkins.

In any case, they tried to get away from the company and basically have like a spokesperson, even if it wasn't the founder.

But they wanted, they said people identify with people, not products and not companies and essentially were what? 60 years later than, you know, Albert Lasker and Claude Hopkins were applying that same exact idea to all kinds of different products.

He just happens to apply it to his own product.

So you need a spokesperson for mass appeal.

Consumers and the media identified products and policies with the people who pitched them." That's actually a very old idea.

Uh, you and I have talked about David Ogilvy, Albert Lasker, Claude Hopkins.

In any case, they tried to get away from the company and b- basically have, like, a spokesperson, even if it wasn't the founder.

But they wanted-- They said people identify with people, not products and not companies.

And essentially, we're, what, sixty years later than, you know, Albert Lasker and Claude Hopkins, uh, we're d- we're applying that same exact idea to all kinds of different products.

He just happens to p- apply it to his own product.

So you need a spokesperson for mass appeal.

right, and then the last question I have for you, Astrid, if you could have dinner with one person from the past or the present, who would it be and why?

Give me Claude Hopkins.

He's probably most well-known as the author of a book called Scientific Advertising.

But the man has reshaped so much of society, both directly and indirectly, that I can't help but think of the guy every time I'm brushing my teeth or drinking orange juice.

It's a sizzling package, product or service with a perceived value five to ten times greater than the actual price.

Okay, so you get an idea of what I'm talking about here? Claude Hopkins is known as one of the fathers of marketing and advertising.

He wrote a book called Scientific Advertising.

I think he wrote it in the 1950s.

There are, in every industry, there are going to be universal lessons and principles.

So it doesn't mean that you study a legend from, I don't know, from the early 20th century and then you go, oh, yeah, I don't do anything digital because, you know, Claude Hopkins didn't do anything digital.

It's all print.

Oh, I'm going to copy his Schlitz beer ad.

Like, just so important.

I know he was like a big ad guy, but the man had... a soft part of his heart for copywriting.

He was a huge, huge student of Claude Hopkins who had preceded him by many, many years.

I think Scientific Advertising is probably like a 100-year-old book by now.

Yeah.

Are you a Claude Hopkins fan? Because he writes a lot about direct mail.

He's also, he's got these books that are over 100 years old.

And he has a lot about direct mail.

Don't tell me it's impossible to make a donut shaped letter.

If you think so, email me and I'll email you a quote from the late great Claude Hopkins.

And it's kind of hilarious.

All right.

You know, They Laughed When I Sat Down at the Piano but Then When I Started to Play, you know.

I, I read Claude Hopkins.

I read those guys.

Um-