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In some cases I seek the help of the research department and get them to do a split-run on a battery of headlines. Split testing headlines in the 1950s? I wond

In some cases I seek the help of the research department and get them to do a split-run on a battery of headlines. Split testing headlines in the 1950s? I wonder how many others were doing this in that era.

klbarry 15y ago
Lester Wunderman, the father of direct marketing, spoke about split testing existing in the 1930s and earlier in his autobiography "Being Direct: Making Advertising Pay". I cannot recommend this book enough for anyone interesting in mass persuasion.
gruseom 15y ago
Claude Hopkins was doing A/B testing as early as 1910. He had people send out different versions of direct-mail ads, which they would correlate with sales. http://www.amazon.com/Life-Advertising-Scientific-Classics-Library/dp/0844231010 http://www.amazon.com/Life-Advertising-Scientific-Classics-L... I recommend this book. Apart from this and other techniques that he pioneered astonishingly early (we know that's true because the book came out in 1923), it's striking how many brands Hopkins created that are still household words today (Goodyear, Palmolive, Quaker). The book is also a plain good read.
- pospischil 15y ago
  For those who prefer electronic versions, My Life in Advertising is available on Google Books for free: http://books.google.com/books/about/My_life_in_advertising.html?id=jvhCAAAAIAAJ http://books.google.com/books/about/My_life_in_advertising.h... Scientific Advertising is also available for free (as a pdf): http://www.scientificadvertising.com/ScientificAdvertising.pdf http://www.scientificadvertising.com/ScientificAdvertising.p...
  - SoftwareMaven 15y ago
    I'm saddened that this is one of the last things to enter the public domain in the US.
    - deleted 15y ago
      [deleted]
  - VMG 15y ago
    only in the US it seems (says "no ebook available" in germany)
mattm 15y ago
Read the book "Why We Buy." This guy has built his career on doing A/B testing in actual department stores.
GigabyteCoin 15y ago
Comparing results and running with what works best? (aka split testing) I don't think that alone is a novel idea in the slightest. Every human does it at one time or another. Be it choosing their favorite toothpaste or selecting the advertising slogan that will win you the honor of being called "The Father of Advertising".

klbarry 15y ago

Lester Wunderman, the father of direct marketing, spoke about split testing existing in the 1930s and earlier in his autobiography "Being Direct: Making Advertising Pay". I cannot recommend this book enough for anyone interesting in mass persuasion.

gruseom 15y ago

Claude Hopkins was doing A/B testing as early as 1910. He had people send out different versions of direct-mail ads, which they would correlate with sales. http://www.amazon.com/Life-Advertising-Scientific-Classics-Library/dp/0844231010 http://www.amazon.com/Life-Advertising-Scientific-Classics-L... I recommend this book. Apart from this and other techniques that he pioneered astonishingly early (we know that's true because the book came out in 1923), it's striking how many brands Hopkins created that are still household words today (Goodyear, Palmolive, Quaker). The book is also a plain good read.

pospischil 15y ago
For those who prefer electronic versions, My Life in Advertising is available on Google Books for free: http://books.google.com/books/about/My_life_in_advertising.html?id=jvhCAAAAIAAJ http://books.google.com/books/about/My_life_in_advertising.h... Scientific Advertising is also available for free (as a pdf): http://www.scientificadvertising.com/ScientificAdvertising.pdf http://www.scientificadvertising.com/ScientificAdvertising.p...
- SoftwareMaven 15y ago
  I'm saddened that this is one of the last things to enter the public domain in the US.
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
- VMG 15y ago
  only in the US it seems (says "no ebook available" in germany)

mattm 15y ago

Read the book "Why We Buy." This guy has built his career on doing A/B testing in actual department stores.

GigabyteCoin 15y ago

Comparing results and running with what works best? (aka split testing) I don't think that alone is a novel idea in the slightest. Every human does it at one time or another. Be it choosing their favorite toothpaste or selecting the advertising slogan that will win you the honor of being called "The Father of Advertising".