Is your offering REMARKABLE enough? Learn from this "Marvel's" tip on how to capture your target market's attention!

Monday: MicroBusiness and Marketing Marvels

FROM THE DESK OF MILES EVERSON: Happy Monday, everyone! We hope you all had a great weekend. Let’s start the week with enthusiasm by talking about another “Marketing Marvel.” Every Monday, we feature outstanding individuals and highlight their industry-related experiences, contributions, and insights. Today, we’ll focus on the pioneer of “Scientific Advertising.” Keep reading to know more about this “Marvel’s” philosophy and how it could be used to sell products or services, measure results, and justify marketing campaigns by performance. CEO, MBO Partners Chairman of the Advisory Board, The I Institute

Is your offering REMARKABLE enough? Learn from this "Marvel's" tip on how to capture your target market's attention! Claude Hopkins: The Father of Scientific Advertising Mobile marketing. Virtual reality (VR). Marketing automation. Social media marketing. Nowadays, marketers have a tendency to focus on the newest and buzziest ideas, and look at the “giants” upon which the industry stands. The thing is, these marketers sometimes miss out on what is truly beneficial for their brands because they’re too focused on keeping up with the hype. Claude C. Hopkins, one of the geniuses of modern marketing, lived way before any of these strategies existed. He’s one of the most influential advertising professionals in history, and his teachings were based on concrete data. No wonder his name resided in a sweet spot for influencing the marketing industry up to this day! As he once said: “Advertising, once a gamble, has thus become, under able direction, one of the safest business ventures.” Let’s take a quick look at his humble beginnings… Hopkins was born in Hillsdale on April 24, 1866. He received his early education at a school in Ludington and later on attended a commercial school in Grand Rapids. After graduating, Hopkins worked for various advertising companies, including: Bissell Carpet Sweeper Company Swift & Company Dr. Shoop’s Patent Medicine Company It was through these jobs that Hopkins developed a keen sense for marketing and discovered his passion for making a positive contribution to the industry. In 1907, Hopkins worked at Lord & Thomas advertising for a salary of USD 185,000 a year (equivalent to nearly USD 6 million in today’s currency). There, he insisted copywriters should research their clients’ products and produce “reason why” copy. He believed a good product and the atmosphere around it were often the best “salespeople,” and so he strongly encouraged the use of sampling to measure the effectiveness of his ads. As a modern advertising pioneer and author, Hopkins introduced the idea of slogans in advertising and popularized the use of test campaigns, especially using coupons in direct mail, to properly attribute marketing spend. Finding the REMARKABILITY of an Offering In his “Scientific Advertising” book, Hopkins detailed his experiences and lessons on effective marketing. One of the points he mentioned there was finding the remarkability of a product or service to capture customers’ attention and convince them to make a purchase. He further explained his point through this real-life experience with a client… H.P. Crowell, the founder of The Quaker Oats Company, was struggling to sell a couple of his products, namely the “Puffed Rice” and “Wheat Berries.” Every marketing guru he consulted told him to just drop the products from his catalog because selling them wasn’t feasible. As the last straw, Crowell approached Hopkins for help. Hopkins’ response was different from the other marketers Crowell talked to. Instead of telling the businessman to simply abandon his low-selling products, the modern marketer did a detailed research in hopes to find some remarkability that could be used to promote the offerings. What Hopkins meant by remarkability here was something that could arouse curiosity in a consumer’s mind—something unusual, interesting, and attention-worthy. So, what happened next? Through research, Hopkins learned how Professor A.P. Anderson accidentally discovered “puffed rice.” Because of that, Hopkins himself studied the process of making puffed grains. He was astonished to see grains being shot from guns to make puffed rice during that time! Ting! Suddenly, he saw the remarkability of puffed rice: It was shot from the gun! That idea led to the phrase, “Food shot from the gun,” which was used as a slogan to advertise Quaker Oats’ product. What else? Hopkins believed personalities appeal to consumers more than company names because it provides authenticity. He said if marketers could make a person famous, they would be making his or her creation/s famous too. So, to further promote puffed rice, Hopkins included Professor A.P. Anderson’s name in his ads. Through these research-backed collaterals, Hopkins transformed the fate of Quaker Oats’ product and made consumers curious about the remarkable science behind it. See? That’s the power of remarkability in an offering! — Hopkins’ “Scientific Advertising” philosophy states in the advertising world, ads can be filled with friction and talk about things that matter more to businesses than to consumers. Sure, they could grab attention, but do they inspire customers to act on the call-to-action? According to Hopkins, there’s nothing wrong with keeping up with the latest marketing trends to promote an offering. However, businesses must also ensure they’re showcasing what’s in it for their target market and not just showing off for the sake of staying on-trend. Truly, marketers owe Hopkins for some of the marketing techniques and principles they use today! By putting himself in his target audience’s shoes, he understood their needs, desires, and behaviors, and advertised effectively and scientifically. … and even though he’s already passed, his marketing concepts still ring true in an ever-changing business landscape. Take note of Hopkins’ remarkability principle and apply it to your next marketing copies and techniques! Hope you’ve found this week’s insights interesting and helpful.     Stay tuned for next Monday’s Marketing Marvels! For the past few years, the success of Epic Games, a.k.a. Epic, has been attributed to the popularity of its video game, “Fortnite.” This sentiment only got stronger when a report revealed the company was valued at USD 31.5 billion. Learn more about Tim Sweeney and Epic Games on next week’s Marketing Marvels!