Is an advertisement an art gallery or a market place? (Great Quotes on Advertising, 7)

On testing

Well, I turned to Ayer & Son, because they had as a slogan, “Keeping Everlastingly At It Brings Success.” … I met one of Ayer’s men. “Now,” I said, “here, let me ask you this. Supposing I start wrong and I keep everlastingly at it. Where is that going to get me?” “Well,” he said, “what they meant was keeping everlastingly at it right would achieve success.” —Lasker, The Lasker Story, As He Told It

You cannot follow your own opinion alone, because copywriters have often found that products aren’t always bought for what they’re sold for; that people may be buying a product for reasons and purposes they have discovered for themselves; and that these most telling sales angles … had not even been put into the copy at all, or had been told in a whisper when they really rated a shout.  —Schwab,   How to Write a Good Advertisement

On layout

Is an advertisement an art gallery… or a market place? There’s more Stop! if some busyness is added—and if people don’t stop they can’t shop. —Schwab,   How to Write a Good Advertisement [ellipsis in original]

Great designers seldom make great advertising men, because they get overcome by the beauty of the picture—and forget that merchandise must be sold. —James Randolph Adams

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