Sources
There are lots of books on copywriting and the ad trade, if you’d like to find out more about how it’s done. Here are a few that I find myself coming back to time and again.
Hey Whipple, Squeeze This
Sullivan, Luke: New York, 1998
ISBN 0-471-29339-3
One of the first books I read on the road to making myself a career in this trade, and a good job I did. Still makes me laugh, and nothing I’ve learnt or encountered since has contradicted anything in here. Luke S writes with style, humour and from a position of deep knowledge.
Ogilvy on Advertising
Ogilvy, David: London, 1983
ISBN 1-85375-196-0
The big ‘I am’. Legendary copywriter David Ogilvy is one of the great voices of advertising, and doesn’t he know it. An extended sermon on the merits of ‘scientific’ advertising, this book is often ponderous and always heavily didactic. But is there anyone out there who would seriously argue with any of its conclusions? A classic.
Tested Advertising Methods
Caples, John and Hahn, Fred: Paramus NJ, 1997
ISBN 0-13-095701-1
Yes, yes, bloody yes. To anyone who thought copywriting and the ad trade in general were about anything other than selling, I hope you find an employer who’ll bankroll your vanity. This book is brilliantly forensic, full of good sense and practical guidance for creating EFFECTIVE advertising.
Cutting Edge Advertising
Aitchison, Jim: Singapore, 1999
ISBN 0-13-012897-X
A more interesting take on the trade than many, and not tied to a particular school of thought, like Ogilvy, Caples, etc. Questions a lot of pet assumptions and bits of cod ad trade wisdom, and gives them a good worrying. Some brilliantly enlightening interventions from the likes of David ‘God’ Abbott, Tim Delaney, Indra Sinha, John Hegarty and others.
On Brand
Olins, Wally: London, 2003
ISBN 0-500-51145-4
Anyone who has ever used the word ‘brand’ in any kind of professional context and has not yet read this, really ought to. A brilliant guide to what is almost becoming a swear word for its overuse and the lack of understanding that infects it, this is great reading from the master himself. Shame it didn’t come out in time to save Naomi Klein the embarrassment of writing No Logo. Arsey and opinionated too, which is a bonus.
My Life in Advertising & Scientific Advertising
Hopkins, Claude: Illinois, 1966 & 1998
ISBN 0-8442-3101-0
The bible of the scientific school. On the cover of my edition, David Ogilvy has written: “Nobody should be allowed to have anything to do with advertising until he has read this book seven times. It changed the course of my life.” A typical Ogilvy statement, but the thinking in this is so sound, you have to feel he has a point. Although I’ve only read it three times.
The Craft of Copywriting
Crompton, Alastair: London 1979, many times reprinted, although now apparently out of print
ISBN 0-09-168031-X
I’ve never met a copywriter who hasn’t at least flicked through this at some time or another, and it’s still one of the best primers on the craft. Although a lot of the material harks back to the days of wine and roses, where budgets were as fat as copywriters. But it’s still packed with good ideas and useful insights, and still seemingly an inspiration for many other ‘how to’ copywriting books.
