The Life of Alfred Politz

Alfred Politz was a marketing and advertising researcher born in 1902. Though he does not appear as a well-known figure in advertising today, upon closer examination, the impact of his contributions remain. Probably one of the most significant is in the area of survey research. Politz is credited with the development of the random sampling method.

Though typically remembered as a marketing research practitioner, Politz also made contributions to advertising and advertising research -- many of which were considered breakthroughs at the time. His specific contributions may no longer be significant; however, his high ethical standards coupled with "out-of-the-box" thinking, are arguably revolutionary -- even by today’s standards.

At the age of 15, upon the suggestion of physicist Max Planck (founder of quantum theory), Alfred Politz attended Humboldt University in Berlin. By age 22, he obtained his doctoral degree in Theoretical Physics. After graduating from Humboldt University, Politz began to write short stories, which eventually led to his success as a journalist. His interest in writing in turn, led to a position as advertising director of a large publishing company called Rudolph Mosse, which also owned one of the largest advertising agencies in Germany. Before his thirtieth birthday, Politz began to develop his own advertising theories. One article in particular, "Advertising Psychology and Technique: Theory and Practice of Modern Advertising," challenged the conventional wisdom of advertising. The article was highly critical of advertising practices and effectiveness.

In the early 1930’s Politz started his own marketing consulting firm called Politz Werbeberatung. At the same time, Politz was developing a growing disgust with the rise of Nazism in Germany. Although he seemed very interested in his biggest client, MUCH A.G., he undoubtedly viewed this client as a ticket out of the country. It wasn’t long before he began conducting experimental marketing and advertising for the company in both Germany and Sweden. In the mid-1930’s, after many trips to Sweden spending time carefully building relationships, Politz fled Germany for Sweden. Then in 1937, along with his doctoral degree and eight years of experience in marketing and advertising research, he arrived in New York.

Politz more or less abandoned the study of physics. While in Germany, he felt a physics background would make him susceptible to military recruitment. In the United States, he felt the government would be suspicious of a non-Jewish German with a physics background coming to live in America. For this reason, Politz focused his efforts on marketing and advertising in the United States. He struggled financially until he got a position as technical director with Elmo Roper Opinion Research Company in 1940. It was here that Politz began to question sampling procedures. This drove him to develop theories of his own -- theories he subsequently gave lectures on and published. He was then hired by Compton Advertising as their research director. Compton’s biggest client was Proctor & Gamble. Following a few intense confrontations with P&G’s research director about their research practices, Politz decided to start his own business, Alfred Politz Research. By the 1940’s and 1950’s Politz was a dominant figure in advertising media research.

Though Politz was the acclaimed developer of innovative sampling techniques, he was never comfortable taking the credit for this development. He claimed he merely "applied" these concepts to commercial research. Whatever the case, these methods were further developed and used by the U.S. Census Bureau, and continue to be used in marketing research today.

According to Edwards Deming, Politz "was a brilliant, articulate, scientifically trained immigrant who made a significant and lasting contribution to the world of marketing." (Hardy, 1990, xvii) Said to have "accomplished a near revolution in marketing research during his thirty-year tenure in the United States," (Hardy, 1990, xi) he was known for his insights into sample surveys and interviewing techniques. One of the great contributions Politz made to research were his findings followed by unique and thorough interpretations and recommendations. Eugene Olson, research director of International Cellucotton (Kimberly-Clark), regarded Politz as "far ahead of the rest of the field with his methods and techniques." (Hardy, 1990, p. 5) Likewise, Dr. Daryl Lewis of New York University, claimed Politz carried his research function beyond his contemporaries and that this function "ended only when he had helped the client’s decision-makers make maximum use of the new facts which his company had unearthed." (Hardy, 1990, p. xii)