Best way to advertise – Revealed by a 1920s Classic.

[pulse]

Best way to advertise – Educate your prospects.

I am reading a book by Zig Zaggler on strategies of closing the sales. One
point made by him again and again is – The fear of loss is far greater than
a hope for gain.

And , let me remind you a very important fact before I go any further.

Marketing is Salesmanship in Print [ or TV and Internet for that matter ].

How has this fact , the fear of loss is far greater than any hope for gain,
has anything to do with advertising?

Actually, if the people to whom you are advertising scared of trying the
product or service you are advertising , then this would mean no sale and
no sale implies that you just wasted the money on that advertisement.

The biggest cause of fear is lack of knowledge.

Most of people who are scared of sitting in an airplane and being a victim
of air crash are mainly those who have only seen shows like Air Crash
Investigations and some films depicting these crashes.

If someone was to ever show them exact statistics about the percentage of
crashes that take place relative to the number of flights daily, they would
perhaps not be scared of boarding a plane.

Educating your clients is nothing new or something untested. In fact, this
technique was one of the pet secrets of the Advertising Legend of all
times – Claude Hopkins.

Let me demonstrate the whole thing using an example of campaign created by
Claude Hopkins for Schlitz Beer because of which it turned from the #5 beer
brand to #1 beer brand in matters of months.

In the 1920s , nearly all the beer companies were advertising on the same
lines. Their unique selling preposition was purity in the process of brewing.
Some companies were even using double page ads to stress on just these four letters – PURE.

But there was a problem with all this. All this money being spent on
advertising like this was going down the drain. Nothing was making any
impression on the buying public.

And , that was till Claude Hopkins stepped in.

Claude was hired by the then Number 5 brand – Schlitz Beer. The first thing
which Claude did after taking over the reigns of the marketing campaign was
to take a tour of the factory were beer was brewed.

The first thing which Claude was shown was the plate-glass rooms where
beer was dripping over the pipes so that beer could be cooled without any
impurities. Next came the huge and expensive filters filled with white-wood
pulp so as to provide a superior filtering process.

Claude was told about how every pump and pipe was cleaned twice to
ensure purity and how each bottle was sterilized four times before being
filled with beer.

Hopkins was also shown the 4000 foot deep well dug to provide the
cleanest and purest water even though the factory was right next to
Lake Michigan , which at that time was clean enough to provide clean
water.

Claude was also shown the mother yeast cell, which was a result of
1200 experiments to bring out the best flavor. And , he was also told
that all the yeast used to make Schlitz beer was developed from the
original yeast cell.

After this factory tour Hopkins asked the manufacturer that why don’t
they tell people about all this? The answer - “Because every beer
manufacturer follows the same method..

To this Hopkins Replied, “ But, others have never told this story… . Claude
Hopkins went on to create an advertising campaign explaining how the beer
was made at Schlitz.

And the rest is History. Schlitz went from 5th place in the market to a tie for
1st place in a matter of months.

Yes, he told the same story which anyone could have told but he gave his
prospects a reason to believe his claim.

I could summarize this whole article in just one line , which I urge you to
read before you create your next advertisement campaign.

Explain the HOWs , WHATs and WHYs of your business in detail and you
not only have an easy sale but also a satisfied and a loyal customer for life.

Want to see the ad we are talking about? Yes, We somehow got our hands on this classic and extremly rare ad. Take a look at Schlitz Beer Ad created by Claude Hopkins.
_________________________________________

This article was written by staff at PulseToday.com - Marketing Forums.

[sadhana444]

Since the 18th amendment to the US constitution prohibiting the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol was ratified on January 16, 1919, and went into effect one year later until it was repealed by the 21st amendment on December 5, 1933, this story about the marketing success of Schlitz sounds suspect.

http://www.archives.gov/national_archives_experience/charters/constitution_amendments_11-27.html

Further, no mention of this campaign is mentioned in the following comprehensive narrative of the history of Schlitz:

http://www.chiptin.com/schlitz/index.htm

[pulse]

Since the 18th amendment to the US constitution prohibiting the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol was ratified on January 16, 1919, and went into effect one year later until it was repealed by the 21st amendment on December 5, 1933, this story about the marketing success of Schlitz sounds suspect.

http://www.archives.gov/national_archives_experience/charters/constitution_amendments_11-27.html

Further, no mention of this campaign is mentioned in the following comprehensive narrative of the history of Schlitz:

http://www.chiptin.com/schlitz/index.htm

The story has been picked from Claude Hopkins autobiography and just for the record -> Claude Hopkin's copy, notably his Schlitz beer slogan, "The beer that made Milwaukee famous," led Lord & Thomas' Albert Lasker to hire him (for $185,000 a year) in 1907.

And, if you don't know, Claude Hopkins was perhaps the most respected Ad Man of his time and hence his autobiography and his own book Scientific Advertising has been read millions of times... if there was any untruth in his stories and facts laid out there then they would have been busted long-long time ago.

Further, no mention of this campaign is mentioned in the following comprehensive narrative of the history of Schlitz:

http://www.chiptin.com/schlitz/index.htm

Most companies do NOT consider Ad Campaigns to be their history... However, here's a scanned version of the REAL ad that appeared in the newspaper then -

[img]http://img295.echo.cx/img295/1474/index16mn.jpg[/img]

Also, US is not the only country in the world where Schlitz marketed its brand or where beer is consumed.

[sadhana444]

The point of your story and it's usefulness in marketing and advertising is great, thanks.
In that regard, it doesn't matter if the story is really true or false.

To maintain credibility as marketers, however, I think it's important to verify the stories we tell. My point is that your story states that these events take place in 1920, and, in fact, prohibition was in effect from 1920 to 1933, and no American Breweries made, sold, or transported beer during that time. It's certainly true that beer was consumed in other countries, but Schlitz didn't make it during that time.

"After the Prohibition law went into effect in 1919, JSBCo. [Joseph Schlitz Brewing Co.] had to cease its brewing operations. During the 14-year dry spell, president Alfred Uihlein tried to seek profitable alternatives to brewing beer, maintaining hopes in the meantime that the Prohibition law would be repealed. He (as well as Pabst and Miller) kept every mechanism in the brewery in working order while the company experimented with various ventures, including the ill-fated Eline Milk Chocolate Bar operation (an estimated $17 million loss to the company). (Eline's Milwaukee Old Style Cocoa tin with paper label. 4.75" x 3.25" x 2.25"). During Prohibition, Schlitz replaced the word "beer" with "brew" and temporarily changed its name to the Schlitz Beverage Company and its slogan to "Schlitz- the name that made Milwaukee famous". When Prohibition ended it took back its former name. Despite the candy venture set-back, Schlitz survived the Prohibition years by becoming involved in wise land investments, banking interests, an aluminum venture, sale of interest in the American Tobacco Co. , and manufacturing malt syrup, for cooking and baking (and for the needs of the wildcat brewers in the homes) and soft drinks."

http://www.chiptin.com/schlitz/history4.htm

This extensive history site of Schlitz DOES talk about its ad campaigns, and does not mention your story.

The ad copy you supply is interesting, and seems to suggest it was actually published in 1898, rather than the 1920s. In the 1890s, Schlitz was the number 2 beer, and went to number 1 in December 1902. http://www.chiptin.com/schlitz/history3.htm

Historical records seem to indicate that Schlitz stayed in this number 1 spot until prohibition.

Furthermore, historical accounts suggest that the slogan "The beer that made Milwaukee famous" came from one of two sources: a smaller brewery in Milwaukee (Blatz), or, in 1893, from Baron Alfred von Cotzhausen, president of the Milwaukee Fine Arts Co.; a lithographing firm that made beer labels for Schlitz.

http://www.chiptin.com/schlitz/legends.htm

It's good to know that the source of your story comes from the autobiography of Claude Hopkins. I would suggest two points: first, the fact that his book has been around a long time doesn't guarantee it's accuracy, and second, the fact that he wrote it in his autobiography also doesn't necessarily guarantee its accuracy.

You might have a good marketing opportunity to further research this story and refine its accuracy.

[pulse]

Thanks for explaining your point! You have told me something that I didn't know about at all (I am not an American :) ).

I would suggest two points: first, the fact that his book has been around a long time doesn't guarantee it's accuracy, and second, the fact that he wrote it in his autobiography also doesn't necessarily guarantee its accuracy.

However, my point was that this has been one of THE most widly read books - David Ogily recommends it in his books (along with Scientific Advertising, for which he had said "Nobody, at any level, should be allowed to have anything to do with advertising until he has read this book seven times") and so does Yanik Silver!

So, if this book has gone through such scrutiny, don't you think that if the facts were wrong then they would have come out then and there? :)

Anyway, I really would re-research what you have said.

All the best!