The Ad That Changed Marketing Forever: A Wall Street Case Study

Discover the groundbreaking High-Value Content (HVC) strategy conceived by Louis Engel in 1948. Working for Merrill Lynch, Engel proposed an audacious 6,540-word newspaper ad – a concept initially ridiculed and dismissed by his bosses.

Undeterred, Engel convinced them to “just test it”. The result was astounding: a single ad in a regional newspaper pulled in 5,000 leads in its first week in 1948, requiring readers to physically mail in their details.

This undeniable success led to its publication in The New York Times, where it generated over 3 million responses, providing Merrill Lynch with millions of prospective clients. This wasn’t just an ad; it was a revolution.

This document explores Engel’s ingenious strategy and the powerful copy that propelled Merrill Lynch to unprecedented success, forever changing the landscape of marketing and proving the enduring power of valuable, in-depth content. Includes a high-resolution copy of the original ad.