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Title: Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene M. Schwartz, Martin Edelston ISBN: 0-88723-298-1 Publisher: Bottomline Books Pub. Date: 2004 Format: Hardcover |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (2 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The Express Train to Marketing Mastery
Comment: It's late May 2004 and I'm preparing the final teleseminar for a new copywriting program I'm putting together. As I searched my brain for what to recommend to my students for further study, one book kept coming up: this one.
It takes a lot of sophistication and direct-marketing experience to appreciate the real genius of Gene Schwartz. Don't kid yourself - this book isn't easy. I know easy, because that's what I specialize in.
However, Mastery is not easy. On the other hand, information that will lead you to Mastery in marketing - especially, mastery in copywriting - is rare to the point of being almost non-existent.
But this book contains exactly that information.
Who should get this book? Let's start with who shouldn't. If you want run-of-the-mill yet valuable, money-making information about copywriting, get books by John Caples and by all means, get Vic Schwab's "How to Write a Good Advertisement." They're available on Amazon.
If you want to learn about branding, grand strategies and other B-school versions of marketing, forget this book. It's not for you.
The person who should get this book is the person who would like to create a million-dollar business with an idea, a product, or a division of an existing business. There is simply no other resource that will show you how to do that with marketing.
I recently spent some extremely valuable time with a corporate consultant who bills at $25,000 a day to help companies dominate markets and create new ones. I don't know if he's ever read "Breakthrough Advertising," but I can say that his level of thinking indicates he _owns_ the material in this book.
The re-publisher of "Breakthrough Advertising," according to Schwartz, hired Schwartz to write a sales letter that started his business. Rumor has it that the re-publisher's business now takes in a nine-figure income every year.
What's my point? That Gene Schartz has DONE what I am saying this book can do for you. In this book, you should be warned, he makes distinctions that, frankly, are beyond the understanding level of most business people, even most smart entrepreneurs.
So if you get this book, it's not a handy reference or a quick read. Not if you're going to get anything out of it, that is.
This book is a commitment.
And if you can't understand what's in it when you first get it, there's no need for despair. Because the path of Mastery is about growth of vision, skill and capacity through repetition of basics, ideally under the tutelage of a mentor who is also a Master.
Meaning, read it several times. Take notes. Ponder. Tinker. Look for examples. Try the ideas. Then go back to it again.
Gene Schwartz, I'm sad to say, is no longer with us on this Earth. But he and his wisdom live on in this book.
He can be the mentor who will guide you to your next level of business achievement.
Rating: 4
Summary: Very Good, but Dated, Ad Guide by One of the Masters
Comment: Eugene Schwartz is one of copywriting and advertising's legends. His story is well known among copywriters: He started in mail order as a delivery boy in 1949 and became a junior copywriter before the end of that year. By 1951, he was a copy chief and became the president of his own mail order firm in 1954. He skills as a copywriter led him to become one of advertising's highest paid consultants (Rodale Press once paid him a commission of $54,000 for four hours work).
This book is considered by many to be a classic on copywriting in general and mail order copywriting in particular. It is also legendarily reputed to be the "most stolen" book from public libraries and it is claimed that there are only 130 copies to be found in the world. I'm not sure about that claim as my local library came up with a 1966 copy with no problem and the librarian indicated that other copies were available from other libraries. She also had never heard of it as being the "most stolen" book in public libraries.
This is the most recently published edition and it appears to have been published, in part, because of the reputed difficult of finding copies. The price of $95.00 would seem to reflect a pent-up demand for it (more on that later).
"Breakthrough Advertising" is excellent in its analysis of advertising and the marketplace. Schwartz was an advocate of the idea that advertising could not create demand but it could channel it to a certain product. He referred to demand as "Mass Desire" and believed that there had to be some level of desire before a product could be offered and sold profitably. An example he uses is that of weight loss. There is a huge mass desire to lose weight and, as a consequence, a demand for weight loss products. The job of the copywriter, according to Schwartz, is to tap into that demand and channel it to the particular product the copywriter is selling.
Schwartz continues throughout the book to analyze the make-up of a good advertisement, focusing heavily on the headline as being the make-or-break item of any good advertisement. He then continues in a discussion and analysis of the body of an advertisement as well as giving his opinion on some aspects of layout. He admittedly doesn't spend much time on the subject of layout, but his discussion of layout is quite revelatory.
Schwartz's work isn't necessarily a great revelation today. Most other books I have read on the subject of advertising and copywriting recognize many of the same principles he discusses. In fact, you can read on everything he touches upon in other more modern, and cheaper, sources. That being said, the book is still a worthwhile read. Schwartz has an engaging writing style and he does a great job of breaking his chapters down into subtopics and subheadings (a direct mail technique he obviously is employing in his book). Anyone with an interest in copywriting and advertising should take the time to read and learn from Schwartz. You will no doubt learn something about the craft of copywriting that you previously were unaware of.
Now as to the price of the current edition, if you are like I normally am and just have to have a book on your shelf, you might want to go ahead and buy it. I personally found the price prohibitive and did not purchase it. Instead, I checked the library's copy out and took a lot of notes. I would love to add this book to my library, but not at a cost of $95.00. I really think someone is gouging those with any interest in Schwartz's work at that price, but I guess there are more than enough individuals willing to that price for them to offer it at $95.00.
The price seems even more prohibitive given the fact that most of the information is available from other sources and the fact that the writing is somewhat dated.
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Title: Get Anyone to Do Anything: Never Feel Powerless Again--With Psychological Secrets to Control and Influence Every Situation by David J., Ph.D. Lieberman ISBN: 0312270178 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 01 May, 2001 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Breakthrough Advertising: How to Write Ads That Shatter Traditions and Sales Records by Eugene Schwartz ISBN: 0932648541 Publisher: Boardroom Classics Pub. Date: 01 June, 1984 List Price(USD): $50.00 |
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Title: Reality in Advertising by R. Reeves ISBN: 0394442288 Publisher: Random House Trade Pub. Date: 01 March, 1961 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: A Technique for Producing Ideas (Advertising Age Classics Library) by James Young ISBN: 0071410945 Publisher: McGraw-Hill Pub. Date: 21 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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Title: My Life in Advertising and Scientific Advertising (Advertising Age Classics Library) by Claude Hopkins ISBN: 0844231010 Publisher: McGraw-Hill Pub. Date: 11 January, 1966 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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