Who
is John Caples?
He wrote the book on direct response creative. Literally.
It’s called Tested Advertising Methods, and it’s a seminal
work.
(He wrote 4 other books, too.)
You’re
familiar with his principles, even if you’re not familiar with his
book:
“The best headlines are those that appeal to a reader’s self-interest.”
“The NEXT best headlines are those that give news…”
“Long copy pulls better than short copy.”
You’ve heard them before — probably in your first
few days in the business. Well, John Caples DISCOVERED them.
A pioneer in copy testing, Caples discovered the do’s and don’ts
of creative over a career that spanned 58 years — 56 of them at BBDO.
He won countless awards, among them election to the Copywriters Hall of Fame in 1973 and to the Advertising Hall of Fame in 1977.
Today, the most prestigious marketing creative award in the world is the John Caples International Award. Visit their site at www.caples.org and see some of the greatest direct marketing, and the most creative, produced today.
John Caples would be proud of these creatives. At WLC we're humbled by the privilege of being among them three times. Thanks, John, for being such an inspiration to all of us.
