Interview with the Father of Honest Ad: John E. Powers
John E. Powers is possibly the first full time copywriter. (Before him, there was no profession as "copywriting." Usually, business owners delegated a rookie to write an ad... or the person responsible for buying ad space would write one...) . He influenced John Kennedy and droves of other master copywriters of his time!
In the late 1890s, Powers earned $100 a day writing copy (he wrote 1 sales letter a day, everyday)!
In 1895, a reporter from "Printers' Ink" (a magazine for advertisers) calls Powers for an interview. And it goes something like this:
Powers: I don't care for an interview.
Reporter: Do you read printers' ink?
Powers: Never read any of those advertising publications. They ain't worth reading.
Reporter: Well... how do you go about writing your copy?
Powers: The first thing one must do to succeed in advertising is to have the attention of the reader. That means to be interesting. The next thing is to stick to the truth, and that means rectifying whatever's wrong in the merchant's business. If the truth isn't tellable, fix it so it is. That is about all there is to it.
No wonder, Powers is called the "Father of Honest Ads."
Action Summary:
Be honest. Honesty always works best in the long term.
If your product has a flaw in it, fix it. Don't try to cover it.
Only two things to do for successful advertising: 1. Win and keep people's attention. 2. Tell them (the truth) about your product.
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