A man walks into a majestic office building with Independence Hall just 100 yards away.
Independence Hall is where the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution were debated and signed just over a century earlier.
The man is about to create another document that’s as important to marketing as the Constitution and Declaration of Independence are to American history.
It’s 1898, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The building is the old Penn Mutual Building.
Who is this man and what is he about to write down?
The man is named E. St. Elmo Lewis and is related to the great explorer Merriwether Lewis.
The “E.” stands for Elias.
He runs The Advertisers’ Agency.
From E.’s experience in advertising, he formulated the slogan “attract attention, maintain interest, create desire” and he later added “get action”.
This was the groundbreaking AIDA formula that’s still used today in marketing.
It’s seen as the first marketing funnel, the #1 secret of successful marketers I foreshadowed.
The funnel starts wide at the top and narrows as people leave the funnel.
You first attract attention and then some of those people maintain interest.
Some of those prospects create desire for your product.
Finally, some of those folks take action and buy your product.
This principle of a marketing funnel has persisted for over 125 years! I urge all marketers to study AIDA as part of their journey.
Here’s a good book written by Lewis: https://www.amazon.com/Credit-Man-His-Work/dp/1018228446/ref=sr_1_6
I don’t know of a good biography of Lewis. Perhaps someone should write one!