E. St. Elmo Lewis

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Elias St. Elmo Lewis (March 23, 1872–March 18, 1948) was an American advertising advocate—he wrote and spoke prolifically about the potential of advertising to educate the public. He was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame posthumously, in 1951.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Lewis was born in Philadelphia as son of Enos Rees and Mary Bartram Lewis. He descended on maternal side from John Bannister Gibson and John Bartram, on paternal side from the same family as Meriwether Lewis.[1] His middle name, St. Elmo, was derived from the eponymous novel by Augusta J. Evans published in 1866.[2] Lewis was educated at North Broad Street Select School in Philadelphia, later renamed into "Eastburn Academy" after its founder, then at the University of Pennsylvania where he edited the "University Courier" in 1893 and 1894. In 1895, he was the editor of an arts publication called "Moods" while acting as a junior partner and business manager for a printing company.[3] He founded an advertising agency in 1896 called The Advertisers' Agency which was located in the old Penn Mutual Building in Philadelphia.[4] Its business slogan - "Ask Lewis about it" - gained proverbial fame. He took charge of the Diphtheria Antitoxin advertising of the H. K. Mulford Co. in 1896.[5] In 1901, Lewis was selected by the Peirce School in Philadelphia to conduct the Peirce School of Advertising.[6][7]

Lewis worked at the National Cash Register Company from 1902 to 1903,[8] then as advertising manager to the Burroughs Adding Machine Company from 1905 to 1914.[9] In September 1903, he joined the staff of The Book-Keeper as assistant general manager and as general managing editor of the journal.[10][11] In June 1910, Lewis was elected president of the newly founded National Association of Advertising Managers at their first regular meeting at Hotel Pontchartrain in Detroit.[12] He had conceived the idea of forming a select organization of advertisers as early as Summer 1908 and wrote a letter to Alfred Darlow, advertising manager of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, to ask for his cooperation.[13] Lewis joined the Campbell Ewald Co. as advertising and sales counsel in 1915.[14] He was offered the presidency of the Art Metal Construction Company (Jamestown, NY) in February 1916, but declined in order to take up work with Campbell-Ewald.[15] He was associated with that company until 1926.[16]

Lewis was married to Maude R. Wherry and had two children. In the early 1940s, the couple moved from Detroit to St. Petersburg, Pinellas County (FL), "on doctors' orders", as the Highway Traveler noted in 1946, "to take care of an overworked heart." He died there on the 18th of March 1948.

[edit] Advertising Principles

Since 1925 when the Psychology of Selling and Advertising by Edward K. Strong, Jr. was published, it became commonplace to attribute the authorship of the AIDA model to Lewis. According to Strong, Lewis formulated the slogan attract attention, maintain interest, create desire in 1898, adding later the fourth term get action.[17]

The following table summarizes Lewis' evolving idea concerning the principal functions of advertising:

Year Model Source
1899 to catch the eye of the reader, to inform him, to make a costumer of him The Western Druggist, 21 (February), p. 66
1903 attract a reader, interest him, convince him The Book-Keeper, 15 (February), p. 124
1908 attract attention, awaken the interest, create the conviction Financial Advertising, Indianapolis: Levey Bros. & Co.
1909 attract attention, awaken the interest, persuade / convince The Bankers' Magazine, 78 (April), pp. 710-711

A quote in the December 1897 issue of Fame - A Journal for Advertisers testifies that Lewis contemplated about advertising principles even prior to 1898:

E. St. Elmo Lewis writes in the Advertiser and Publisher (Syracuse): "If I can't catch my reader's attention with my caption, and then write the rest so as to hold it, I'll stop. The logic of a multiplicity of display lines is false."[18]

Two elements from the 1898 slogan were already present, "attract attention" and "maintain interest" (=sustained attention, see below).

In his book Financial Advertising Lewis gave the subject the most detailed treatment. Its appearance was scheduled for Fall 1907,[19] but was postponed when a financial crisis, the so-called Panic of 1907, hit the United States. From the initially planned 600 pages the book grew to almost 1000 pages. The original components from the 4-part slogan attract attention, maintain interest, create desire, get action were scattered around the pertinent chapters on advertising principles.[20] In addition, Lewis used language variants in order to express the same idea, e.g. "create demand" for "create desire", or "hold interest" for "maintain interest".[21] It is therefore convenient to differentiate between the 4-part advertising slogan, which was initially targeted toward an educational audience,[22] and the 3-part advertising model in which variable features are assigned to its components.[23]

"The three elements in any successful advertisement must occur to any man who will analyze the advertisements that have appealed most strongly to him," wrote Lewis at the beginning of his discussion of advertising principles. The first requirement is to attract attention. "If we cannot gain the reader’s attention it is manifestly impossible for us to interest or convince him."[24] From this principle Lewis derived two hypotheses, namely that the reader is “attracted in proportion to the strength of the personal appeal to him” and, secondly, "favorable attention is conducive to close attention."[25] In accordance with William James’ definition of interest as sustained attention, Lewis postulated furthermore that an attention attractor should "hold the mind long enough to let it [the attention] merge into interest, without the conscious effort of the reader."[26] This constitutes the second component of the model, awaken the interest. As a third requirement, the advertisement "must convince the reader of the reasonableness and correctness of its claims and arguments – it must make him consciously assent to its logic and conclusions."[27] To that principle Lewis assigned the step "get action" from the original slogan. As the advertisement produces conscious assent, it arouses to action. A classic strategy to "get action at once" is to furnish the advertisement with a coupon which the reader is required to fill out. "The coupon is to advertising what the ready order-blank and fountain pen are to the salesman." [28]

The influence of Harvard professor William James on Lewis was profound.[29] The idea of mental states merging into each other can be traced back to James' concept of the stream of consciousness in general and his distinction between substantive and transitive states of mind in particular.[30] Having introduced this idea into advertising theory marks Lewis' lasting contribution, regardless of which elements were added later to the model or in which order the elements were arranged. Apart from this, James' influence extends to Lewis' terminological usage as well (e.g. "mental machinery" and others).

In retrospect, Lewis wrote about his career in the advertising business:

For a good many years, I have been interested in the whole merchandising, selling and advertising field from the consumer's standpoint. Way back in 1898 I urged the development of advertising, merchandising and selling plans on the basis of consumer research, because I believed long ago with Ruskin[31] that the end and purpose of production was consumption, and, inasmuch as the art of consumption was a far more difficult art than production, I urged that the consumer devote more time to the consumption than to the production side of his problem.[32]

[edit] Other work

A rather neglected source in the history of organizational behavior is Lewis' book Getting the most out of business, which ran through six editions in the first four years after its appearance in 1915. Based on a series of twelve articles written for The Caxton under the title "The New Gospel of Efficiency," he reformulated in this work the ideas of the Efficiency Movement in a systematic manner. Lewis contrasted the schools of scientific management by Frederick Winslow Taylor and Harrington Emerson (1853-1931) and called for the "development of the whole man for the whole business":

The emotional and temperamental sides of the Thinker and Doer are just as much facts to be reckoned with in business as the items in the physical inventory, therefore, the individuality of the unit must be recognized.[33]

In 1911, Lewis gave a speech before the American Bankers Association, titled "The Savings Idea and the People," advocating that savings bankers adopt a policy of "aggressive conservation," wherein they recognize that in order to make savings a national trait, they must acknowledge that "they are here as an economic necessity, representing the principle of the conservation of human effort, and that in order to conserve they have a duty for which they must fight, educate, plead and teach the people..."[34]

[edit] Anecdotes

The March 1905 issue of Ad sense narrates the story of how Lewis' life was once threatened by an unknown "would-be-murderer":

Several weeks ago some illy disposed person sprinkled arsenic in the food which was being served in the Alhambra cafe and several deaths were nearly recorded. Just about the time that Mr. Lewis and the rest of the residents of the Alhambra Flats had succeeded in getting most of the poison out of their systems, they again had their lives placed in jeopardy by the unknown assassin, who this time resorted to fire as a means of accomplishing his hellish purpose. Providence again intervened, and Mr. Lewis and his fellow residents escaped with their lives and several pair of pajamas. All personal property, however, was destroyed by the fire, and the managing editor of the Business Man's Magazine was so unfortunate as to lose his magnificent French bulldog.[35]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ A. N. Marquis, The Book of Detroiters, Chicago 1914, p. 305
  2. ^ E. E. Calkins, Louder please! The autobiography of a deaf man, Boston 1924, p.38: "The name was not uncommon among those whose birth-year is in the neighborhood of 1868, and strange to say, nearly all became advertising men. E. St. Elmo Lewis says he can account for fourteen."
  3. ^ "E. St. Elmo Lewis, Editor of Moods," Current Literature, 18 (August), p. 105
  4. ^ Marquis, 1914, p. 305: "Began in advertising business in Philadelphia, Sept. 1896." Without exception, all ads for Lewis' agency state 1896 as the year of its establishment. For a description of the building on Chestnut street, erected in 1891, see "The new home of the Penn Mutual", in: Philadelphia and popular Philadelphians, Philadelphia 1891, p. 94-95
  5. ^ "Successful Medical Advertising," Printers' Ink, Vol. 20, August 4, 1897, p. 31: "Antitoxin was a new thing. It had no history - it had to fight the prejudices of professional conservativism. Everybody said it was going to be a failure. Mr. Lewis thought differently."
  6. ^ E. St. Elmo Lewis, "My little talk last month," The Spatula, 1901, p. 765; E. St. Elmo Lewis, "Five years ago I started in business," The Book-Keeper, 14, October 1901, p. 7
  7. ^ "Advertising as a Fine Art," The American Printer, November 1901, p. 228: "The Peirce School of Philadelphia is the first important American business college to introduce the practical study of advertising as part of its curriculum."
  8. ^ "E. St. Elmo Lewis," Ad sense, December 1902, p. 513: "The National Cash Register Company, of Dayton, Ohio, has commissioned Mr. E. St. Elmo Lewis, the Philadelphia advertising specialist, to reorganize and conduct their advertising and publication department at Dayton, Ohio. (...) Mr. Lewis' work with the Cash Register Company will in no way affect the E. St. Elmo Lewis incorporated company in Philadelphia, and this business will be carried on as heretofore".
  9. ^ "Lewis leaves Business Man's Magazine," Ad sense, May 1905, p. 490; "E. St. Elmo Lewis leaves Burroughs Adding Machine Co.", The Bank Man, May 1914, p. 46
  10. ^ The American Printer, October 1903, p. 159: "E. St. Elmo Lewis has become managing editor of the Book-Keeper, Detroit. His business in Philadelphia is incorporated and will be continued by those formerly interested with him."
  11. ^ Ad sense, 15(5), November 1903: "Mr. Lewis has been traveling for the past six months, since his resignation as director of publications and advertising manager for the National Cash Register Co., studying business conditions and arranging with well known writers and conspicuous figures in the business world, for special features for The Book-Keeper during the coming year."
  12. ^ "E. St. Elmo Lewis, President Advertising Managers' Association," Trust Companies, Vol. 11, July 1910, p. 51
  13. ^ Norfolk Weekly News, August 28, 1908. For details about the mission of the organization, which was later renamed into "Association of National Advertisers", see "The proposed Association of Advertising Managers", Printers' Ink, Vol. 71, June 30, 1910, p. 60
  14. ^ "E. St. Elmo Lewis maps out future activities," Michigan Manufacturer and Financial Record, December 11, 1915, p. 6
  15. ^ "E. St. Elmo Lewis at big dinner," The Cincinnatian, March 13, 1916, p. 5
  16. ^ "E. St. Elmo Lewis Leaves Campbell-Ewald", Printer's Ink, March 4, 1926, p. 12
  17. ^ E. K. Strong, Jr. The Psychology of Selling and Advertising. New York 1925, p. 349 and p. 9.
  18. ^ Fame - A Journal for Advertisers, Vol. 6, December 1897, p. 442
  19. ^ "A noteworthy work on financial advertising," Trust Companies, Vol. 4, April 1907, p. 238; "Bank Advertising," The Bank Man, Vol. 2, April 1907, p. 49; "New Book on Financial Advertising," The Bankers' Magazine, Vol. 6, June 1907, p. 845; "A Book on Financial Advertising," The Banking Law Journal, Vol. 7, July 1907, p. V
  20. ^ "Attract attention" p. 95, et passim; "maintain interest" p. 126, et passim; "get action" p. 165, et passim
  21. ^ cf. R. Riedl, "AIDA-Formel," in: G. Ueding (Hrsg.), Historisches Woerterbuch der Rhetorik [Historical Dictionary of Rhetoric], Darmstadt 1992, Vol. 1, pp. 293-94.
  22. ^ "Lewis used the slogan (...) in a course he was giving in advertising in Philadelphia," Strong, 1925, p. 9
  23. ^ Riedl, 1992, p. 293
  24. ^ Lewis, 1908, p. 95
  25. ^ Lewis, 1908, p. 95 & 121
  26. ^ Lewis, 1908, p. 105
  27. ^ Lewis, 1908, p. 162
  28. ^ Lewis, 1908, p. 176
  29. ^ J. W. T. Knox, "Lewis - Builder of Business," The Caxton, 11(4), January 1911, p. 14: "He is an admirer of William James rather more than of Hugo Munsterberg. Lewis is so far a follower of the great exponent of pragmatism as to apply the what-is-it worth test to all that he reads and writes."; see also Strong, 1925, p. 9
  30. ^ W. James, The Principles of Psychology, New York 1890, Vol. 1, Ch. 9; W. James, Psychology, New York 1892, Ch. 11; cf. Riedl, 1992, p. 286
  31. ^ J. Ruskin, Unto this last, New York 1866, p: 117: "(...) consumption absolute is the end, crown, and perfection of production; and wise consumption is a far more difficult art than wise production."
  32. ^ Pennsylvania Co-op Review, 1936
  33. ^ E. St. Elmo Lewis, Getting the most out of business, New York 1917, p. 370. Lewis phrased his criticism of Taylorism succinctly as follows: "The principal objection to Dr. Taylor's method is that it lacks 'humaneness' - it accents the machine idea of the worker." (p. 340)
  34. ^ E. St. Elmo Lewis, "The Savings Idea and the People", in Proceedings of the Thirty-Seventh Annual Convention of the American Bankers Association, New York 1911, pp. 633-651.
  35. ^ "By Poison and Fire," Ad sense, Vol. 18, March 1905, p. 279

[edit] Selected Bibliography

As a young advertising agent, Lewis took charge of several advertising columns in pharmaceutical and printing journals:

  • The Spatula ("The Struggle for Publicity", 1897-98)
  • The Western Druggist ("Side Talks about Advertising", 1899)
  • The American Printer ("Publicity for Printers", under the pen name "Musgrove", 1900-01)
  • The Book-Keeper ("Advertising Department", 1901-03)

Books

  • (1897) The Heart of It, Philadelphia: The Advertiser's Press [contains theory and practice of drug advertising]
  • (1904) The Credit Man and his Work, Detroit: The Book-Keeper Publishing
  • (1908) Financial Advertising, Indianapolis: Levey Bros. & Company
  • (1914) Efficient Cost Keeping, Detroit: Burroughs Adding Machine Company (3rd edition)
  • (1915) Getting the most out of Business, New York: The Ronald Press
  • (1935) A Special Training Course for Chevrolet Service and Parts Managers, Chicago: Argus Press
  • (1936) Going to make a Speech? New York: The Ronald Press

Journal Articles

  • (1899) "Side Talks about Advertising," The Western Druggist, 21 (February), 65-66
  • (1903) "Advertising Department: Catch-Line and Argument," The Book-Keeper, 15 (February), 124-128
  • (1909) "The Duty and Privilege of Advertising a Bank," The Bankers' Magazine, 78 (April), 710-711
  • (1910) "More Science in Advertising," Printers' Ink, 70, (January 26), 58-61
  • (1910) "Developing Exact Knowledge about Advertising," Printers' Ink, 72, (August 11), 17-19; (August 25), 65-70
  • (1911) "Creative Salesmanship," Ford Times, 5 (November), 58-61
  • (1911) "New Gospel of Efficiency," The Caxton, 37-38
  • (1916-17) "The Six Principles of Scientific Salesmanship," Engineering Magazine, resp. Industrial Management, Vols. 52-53 [article series in eight parts]
  • (1918) "Propaganda as a Modern Part of Advertising," Advertising and Selling, 28 (June), 11, 59
  • (1920) "What if there should be a Brotherhood of Consumers," Printers' Ink, June 3, 8-12
  • (1925) "Making the Advertising Man to See the Customer's Viewpoint," American Industries, May, 44-45
  • (1930) "Problems of the Consumer," Brick Clay Record, 76(8), 519-522
  • (1937) "A Critique of Consumer Cooperative Theory and Practice," Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 191, 192-201

References

No monograph has been written up to date on E. St. Elmo Lewis. The article "Lewis - Builder of Business" by J. W. T. Knox, who was a close friend to Lewis, contains important biographical details.

  • (1895) "E. St. Elmo Lewis, Editor of Moods," Current Literature, 18 (August), 105
  • (1897) "E. St. Elmo Lewis - Advertising," The Inland Printer, 19 (May), 185
  • (1901) E. St. Elmo Lewis, "Five years ago I started in business," The Book-Keeper, 14 (October), 7
  • (1910) J. H. Collins, "Lewis and the Adding Machine," Printers' Ink, 71 (April 20), 3-6
  • (1911) J. W. T. Knox, "Lewis - Builder of Business," The Caxton, 11 (January), 11-20
  • (1914) A. N. Marquis, The Book of Detroiters. Chicago: A. N. Marquis, 305-306
  • (1916) Who's Who in Advertising. Detroit: Business Service Corporation, 43-44

[edit] External links

Lewis' papers are archived at Michigan Historical Center:


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