UC-NRLF ^B EflD SEb SAMPaON ■ Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/advertiseedOOsamprich ^ Advertising is a chain of ideas, carefully linked together, force- fully expressed, and scientifi- cally calculated to produce a cumulative reaction upon a definite group of people. ADVERTISE! BY E. SAMPSON Advertising Manager for The Daniels & Fisher Stores Company, of Denver ILLUSTRATIONS BY L. P. BITTERLY D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO \^ ^ 6t>^ \ e> ^ Copyright, 1918, By D. C. Heath & Co. 1l8 ADVERTISE! Advertising supplies almost every great lack; from the lack of personality to the lack of business; from the lack of a vocation to the lack of interest. The word "advertise" brings to-day a special mes- sage of hope to the human race, for it is the whole solution of the Reconstruction Period. It is impossible to succeed in any walk of life to- day without a knowledge of the value of advertising. A calling in itself, it is the gateway to innumerable other vocations. In the broader sense advertising includes the very clothes you wear and the way you speak. Whether you are a buyer of advertising or a student of advertising or only a reader of advertising, it be- hooves you now as never before to understand its principles, for consciously or unconsciously it is one of the ruling forces of your life! 412849 Note to Teachers and Students Answers to questions at the conclusions of the chap- ters of this book should be retained and filed in folders, in order that work may be compared and revised from time to time. This will enable the student to note his progress and to work out a thorough course in ad- vertising. Outside reading may be suggested by the instructor with special attention to the reference books mentioned. IV CONTENTS Chapter Page I. The Point of Contact 1 II. The Advertising Appropriation 6 III. Advertising Strategy 12 rV. The Acid Test of Advertising ?n (/ V. Danger Signals in Advertising 44 VI. Laying out a Newspaper or Magazine Ad- vertisement 52 . VII. Designing the Layout 69 VIII. Writing the Headline's 79 IX. Wording the Advertisement . . : 95 X. Comparative Prices in Advertising 101 XL Putting in the Ginger 108 XII. Optimism and Humor the Seasoning of Good Advertising 114 XIII. Local Color in Advertising 120 XIV. Suggestion in Relation to Advertising .... 126 XV. The Eye in Advertising 137 XVI. What Advertising Demands 148 XVII. The Advertising Letter 157 XVIII. The Advertising FoUow-Up 177 XIX. Booklet, Folders, Etc., Direct Adver- tising 181 V CONTENTS Chapter Page XX. Program Advertising 188 XXI. Bill Board and Street Car Advertising. ... 195 XXII. Systematizing an Advertising Office. ..... 201 XXIII. Cuts in the Making 213 XXIV. "Putting it Ove. " in the Magazines 221 XXV. "Cash Money" Returns in Advertising. . 233 Index 241 VI THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF ADVERTISING Be Human, Be Interesting, Be Easy to Understand. Be Easy to Read. Be Humorous, when you can. Be Unusual, Be Unexpected. Be Tempting, Be Subtle, Be Positive. vu ADVERTISE! CHAPTER I THE POINT OF CONTACT First of all it is necessary to find a human point of contact with the reader of your adver- tisement. The most shop-worn tradition of advertising IS " dignity/' There is a certain stilted style of statement, adopted by many concerns, which, for interest, reminds one of a legal document. Such advertisements strut into the light of publicity much in the fashion of the vestrymen walking down the aisle in church with the collection plates. These advertisements always look the same, are usually set in the same kind of type, have very much the same wording and are addressed to and are probably ignored by about the same people. Advertising based solely upon dignity re- sembles an austere, cold individual who always seems to be *' wearing his face.'' There are people like this. They never say one single human thing. They leave one wondering what 1 ADVERTISE! they would be like if they broke down and were natural. Dignity is a sort of cloak. There is a cold, formal indifference about it. There is a dis- tinct withdrawal in it. It lacks warmth, and it fails to find the point of contact. On the other hand, in order to be interesting one does not need to be undignified, but dignity certainly ought not be the principal impression conveyed by an advertisement. The advertise- ment which successfully holds the interest of its readers may let dignity take care of itseK. ** Reason Why Copy,*' or the argumentative style of advertising, often fails to make the point of contact. There is no appeal to reason in "It Floats," that remarkable piece of advertising put out by Ivory Soap. Nebular as a soap bubble, there is a subtle, convincing suggestion in those two little words, that against all your reason per- suades you that a floating soap possesses a superiority over one that will not float. Here is a splendid illustration of advertising that reaches a human point of contact beyond reason • — an advertisement so good that it can and should be used as long as the soap is manu- factured. There is an elusive quality about 2 THE POINT OF CONTACT that advertisement '^ It Floats '' that is the direct product of advertising genius in its most con- densed and strongest form. Advertising should be a response to human needs. In order to become master of effective advertising, it is above all necessary to study life — to find out the thousand and one ways by which the desires of people for advertised articles may be aroused. Life is full of effective advertisements which never find their way into print, because no real .advertiser is on the spot to see them. Other advertisements remain unwritten because the writer has no imagination and cannot see the romance and human. interest in the article. The real reason to-day for a great deal of the much-condemned sale advertising is that writers of advertising have failed to create the demand on any other score than that of price. They have not even glimpsed the possibilities of the thing to be advertised. There is no question that sale advertising will have to be moderated and treated solely for its news value, and that the day of the fake ad- vertiser is past. While there is undoubtedly nearly as much exaggeration on the part of the exposers of fraudulent advertising as the ex- 3 ADVERTISE! posers claim that there is on the part of the advertisers, still the bargain instinct of the buy- ing public has been much over-worked, and it behooves the advertising writer to study every phase of advertising which will promote his skill. Much of the present-day advertising is too cold and too removed from the understanding of the customer. Practically every one of the great department stores of America offends in the matter of using terms which at least half of their customers do not understand. The great majority of these stores advertise to their own customers instead of advertising for new busi- ness — they take the interest of their readers for granted. A great many of the national advertisers of food products never even mention where their product may be purchased. A large per cent of advertising, both local and national, is so monotonous and stereotyped that it is certainly less than 50 per cent effective. Fixed ideas are ruinous to advertising. The man or woman who is afraid to change has no business in the advertising field, because ad- vertising is the survival of the newest and the most unusual. 4 THE POINT OF CONTACT Suggestions for Study 1. Cut out 20 advertisements from newspapers or maga- zines and note carefully points which appeal to you. 2. Determine the points of contact. 3. Suggest for each advertisement three new points of contact. 4. Cite three instances from life which would make good advertisements. 5. Examine some article of merchandise, write a minute description of it, and name three facts upon which an advertisement might be based. CHAPTER II THE ADVERTISING APPROPRIATION Just as various buyers go to the market to buy shoes, women's clothing, men's clothing, and the like — so the advertising manager of a concern buys its space. With him rests the responsibility of investing his advertising appropriation so that it will bring the largest possible return. It is his judgment which determines just how every penny of his yearly allowance is to be expended, and the first questions that present themselves for the consideration of the advertising expert are the following: 1. What is the amount of the appropriation ? 2. What territory is to be covered ? 3. What classes of people are to be reached? 4. What media are to be used ? 5. What is the general scheme or plan of advertising ? The scheme or plan is then directly developed from the appropriation, and it is quite possible that the first question asked the advertising expert will be, what in his judgment is a fair appropriation. 6 THE ADVERTISING APPROPRIATION It is extremely desirable that the appropria- tion be made with a view to certain well-estab- lished advertising principles which are developed from the most successful advertising campaigns. If the appropriation is too large, it will eat an unfair hole into the profits of the business. It will become an over-advertised business — which usually means that it is a poorly advertised business, because the real advertising expert is too well acquainted with the appropriation to advise a concern against its own interests. On the other hand, if the appropriation is too small, it will fail to hit the mark. It will stop short of success and deprive the concern of its just returns, probably convincing its owners of the futility of advertising. The advertising percentage varies directly with the territory to be covered, the duration of the past advertising, and the age and success of the busi- ness. If the territory to be covered is large, the appropriation may have to be increased. Or, an appropriation may be cut by determining to reach fewer people, or by advertising in a certain limited territory. It is far better to take certain territories and carry on a thorough, systematic, follow-up plan of advertising than to attempt 7 ADVERTISE! to reach a larger mass of people with scattered spurts of publicity. As advertising is cumulative in its effect, a concern which has been advertising for a long period of years may allow far lower percentages than one whose advertising is beginning. That is, advertising percentage should diminish with time, until a certain level is reached. An established concern that is beginning to advertise may figure its reputation as an adver- tising asset. The age and success of a business have a tendency to decrease its advertising expenditures to a certain definite level. The percentages allowed by successful business men for advertising are based upon the business of the past year, save in cases where new projects are under way, when increased percentages must be used. The advertising appropriation varies from 2 per cent (low) to 20 per cent (high) of the sales, in some instances going lower than 1 per cent, and in some other cases being a direct capitalized investment in a business. Department stores usually make allowances for departments based upon their past year's business and varying from 2 per cent to 5 per cent. Where a business is new and is becoming 8 THE ADVERTISING APPROPRIATION established, 15 per cent is not a high appropria- tion, and 5 per cent is a low one. In the case of proprietary articles, the advertising is so large and important an asset and so directly deter- mines the success or failure of the article, that the appropriation may be either directly capi- talized or may be made in a lump sum and charged to deferred expense over a period of ten years or more. Sometimes in order to advertise a business it may become necessary to completely reorganize it. This is the case where a small business is being carried on at its full capacity and where the demand without advertising is greater than the output. Here is a wonderful opportunity for the advertising man to get right into the heart of the business, reorganize it with further capital and make a fortune through advertising. The selection of media depends entirely upon the appropriation and for several important reasons. The first reason is that the advertis- ing expert must make the biggest showing, the loudest noise for his money, in the most effective way possible. Then the planning must be done with a view to the advertising of competing concerns. If the appropriation is far out of scale with competing concerns, it may be wiser 9 ADVERTISE! to choose different media which will not draw the enemy fire. In considering the appropriation it must always be borne in mind that space is definite merchandise. The successful advertising writer must have his medium before him just as defi- nitely as a pair of shoes or any other tangible article of merchandise. It is always a drawback to the advertiser when he does not get this view of his advertising. If you cannot think of space in any other tangible way, picture it as a lasso reaching from your article to your customer — so many definite yards of rope. Let your rope be long enough, and let the hand which directs it be skillful. Suggestions for Study 1. What concern in your city is the most extensively advertised ? Does it use newspaper, billboard, street car or direct-by-mail advertising, or all of them? About what proportion of its appropriation would you estimate is placed in each medium ? 2. Name half a dozen established concerns in your city which are not classed as regular advertisers. Which of them do you think could be profitably advertised ? 3. Is the most effectively advertised concern in your city the largest advertiser ? 4. If you were the advertising manager of the most largely 10 THE ADVERTISING APPROPRIATION advertised concern in your city, tell briefly the media you would choose to advertise the business. Would you by this means reach the greatest number of people the most effectively ? 5. Very briefly summarize the present plan of advertising used by the concern, giving your ideas roughly as to what classes of people you think they are reaching through their present advertising plan ? 6. Can you think of any missing links in the plan ? How does your plan compare with it ? 7. If you were spending $5000 advertising some financial investment, through what medium or media would you reach (a) doctors; (6) business men; (c) working men? 11 CHAPTER III ADVERTISING STRATEGY Far more important than the actual writing of the advertisement, is the planning that is done before the advertisement is written. Given a choice between a good plan with a poor advertisement, or a good advertisement with a poor plan, take the former. Single pieces of advertising are rarely success- ful. It is the prolonged, systematized, carefully planned campaign of advertising that gets the business, and such a campaign cannot possibly be prepared without careful study. The advertising man must be a general, if he has the brain to direct the selling, and this he should have in order to write the kind of copy that builds a business. Market conditions at home and abroad, dis- tribution, and merchandise all require the most detailed consideration. You cannot separate the merchandise and the advertisement. The advertisement that tells nothing, sells nothing; therefore, you must know your merchandise. You must know it as well as the man who makes it — and add to it 12 ADVERTISING STRATEGY a poetry of imagination, which the other may not possess. If the merchandise does not back up the ad- vertisement, the advertisement will be a failure. Further than this, it will financially kill the man who advertises. It behooves the advertising writer to deal in plain facts with his clients — to tell them the truth about what is wrong with the merchandise, or the service, or distribution — if there is something wrong — before the adver- tising is written. This means, of course, that a good advertising man is a good merchandiser. Taking advantage of market conditions is another feather in the advertiser's cap. There are psychological waves that sweep over the country from time to time, and the advertiser, like the politician, must take full advantage of every change of public opinion. The man who first conceived the idea of Guaranteed Hosiery made a master move in advertising strategy, and ushered in a new ad- vertising era among hosiery makers. He forced the hand of his competitors. So does every advertiser who thinks ahead of his copy. The difference between the planned advertise- ment, and the advertisement without plan, is that the latter constantly echoes and follows in 13 ADVERTISE! the footsteps of the former. The man who plans the advertising is the past master of the game. Suggestions for Collecting Data Preliminary TO Writing Advertising Note. — No exact rules can be given on this subject. The advertising writer must steep himself in the facts about the article. These few suggestions, which must be varied with the article under consideration, are made merely to give the student of advertising an idea of his under- taking. 1. Name of the article. 2. Name of its manufacturers. 3. Minute description of the article, giving: (a) Size (b) Color (c) Style ' (d) Material (e) Points in workmanship. 4. Comparison of the article with other articles made by- other manufacturers. Wherein does it excel? Wherein is it inferior, if at all ? 5. The selling arguments in use. 6. Other possible selling argmnents, derived from a study of the article. 7. Any slogans in use, or any particular phrases which the manufacturers wish to feature. 8. The advertising plan,* giving: * If you are to direct the publicity you will make the plan — from a study of the data, but if you are merely writing the copy, the plan should be before you. 14 ADVERTISING STRATEGY (a) Mediums in which advertisements are to be placed (6) Number of follow-up advertisements in each medium (c) List of direct advertisements to be used, such as letters, house organs, folders, etc. 9. Collection of all the advertising which has been used by the company in the past. 10. Careful study of distribution, present and future. Here is an analysis of data preparatory to making a plan: 'Regarding Blank Shoe Company: After studying the notes, I conclude as follows: 1. That the thing they most need and, up to this time, have lacked, is system in their advertising. 2. That this system of advertising must be simple, easily comprehended by all their dealers and prospective dealers, and must touch at all points. Plan A Go over the advertising material which they have on hand carefully and plan out in detail three distinct follow-up systems to customers; one for men's '*Sir Knight" shoes, one for women's "Solastic" shoes, one for children's "Webster" school shoes. (This will enable them to ask dealers for a men's list, a women's list, a children's list^ etc.) It may be that they will have on hand enough good material to use. It may be that their 15 ADVERTISE! material is too general, (This is probable, from samples.) Thus to women, we should talk style; to men, style and comfort; for children, wear, etc. We should then give them copy for a series of letters and little booklets for these three systems which they could print themselves. Then, when they do get a customer's list, see that each one on the list gets each piece of advertising. One could tell better just how many pieces of matter would go in each system if he could "size up" what they have and knew a little more about the shoes. Probably five letters and two booklets should go to the dealers. They should undoubtedly use direct matter. Plan B The first part of this plan is identical with Plan A. Dealers and prospective dealers are to be reached by two systems of direct advertising: 1. To dealers — letters, cards, special advertising offers. 2. To prospects — letters, booklets, cards, folders, etc. Also space in Drygoodsman. Here is the sort of plan used by The Chappe- low Advertising Agency of St. Louis, This Agency is justly celebrated for its very careful study of data and its very keen analysis in plan 16 ADVERTISING STRATEGY making. It has built some very big accounts and this particular plan is of especial interest because of the way it brings out the fundamental principles of advertising and makes the reader realize the truth and insight of the writer of this plan. A Plan for Increasing Sales * Speaking broadly, there is only one way in which you can hope to increase sales, and that is by getting new customers. Yes, you can get more business from your regular and occasional customers, but that has its limitations. Suppose you consider the matter of securing entirely new customers — firms or individuals who have never bought anything from you but whose trade you would particu- larly like to have. There are just three principal things that influence trade : Quality — price — service. In which of these do you excel ? Does every dealer in your territory who is not doing business with you, but whose trade you want, fully realize all the advantages you have to offer? Isn't it true that these people are sending their orders elsewhere — possibly to cities outside of your immediate territory, simply * By special permission of Mr. B. E. Chappelow. 17 ADVERTISE! because you have never made a real, earnest, persistent, and consistent effort to secure their business ? The chances are that you have sent these non-customers a hastily dictated letter from time to time or an occasional piece of printed matter. But the fact still remains that they are not buying from you. Now, isn't it probable that the whole trouble may be that you haven't put your shoulder right up against the wheel and pushed with all your might and all your enthusiasm.^ Most likely you haven't had the time to develop new busi- ness through systematic advertising. Few busi- ness men have, and not every man has the knack, training, and experience which are absolutely necessary to make "direct advertising" a posi- tive selling force. Briefly, this plan explains just how you can go after new business in a logical, systematic, and common-sense way — week after week — month in and month out — and at the same time be relieved of practically every detail. If intelligently carried out, this plan will secure enough new customers to make it the most profitable trade-developing investment you ever made. Get that fact firmly fixed in your mind before going any farther. 18 ADVERTISING STRATEGY While this plan will work hand in hand with salesmen or solicitors, enabling them to increase orders of present customers as well as securing new ones, a similar method can be profitably carried out in a territory not covered with sales- men or in a purely local business, or in a business where no salesmen are used. Thus you can reach prospective customers who are now inaccessible. If every one of your salesmen is a "thorough- bred" business-getter, the very best in the trade, and if no other house has even one man in the same class, then there is no occasion for you to do otherwise than to collect just the orders you want. But, as you know, all jobbers and manu- facturers are practically on the same basis, for all salesmen are more or less alike. They work about the same way, and they play about the same way. While your salesman is getting a big order from one man, your competitor's salesman is doing the same thing next door or in the next town. Unless you have a very distinct advantage in price, quality, or service you are on a dead level with the other jobbers and manufacturers. The problem, then, is to make your house and your goods a little more conspicuous than the 19 ADVERTISE! others — to lift yourself above the horizon of commonplaceness. Solicitors or salesmen cannot do this, for a number of good and sufficient reasons. Even your best man at times gets a little bit stale and falls into a routine. He sees certain people be- cause he knows their orders are certain. But he hasn't any time to experiment. A traveling salesman can only do so much in a day, and part of each day is spent in catching trains. That uses up energy. Getting about from town to town costs both time and money. Likely your men spend more time in getting ready to push your business than they actually do in talking to customers. When a salesman gets a fat bunch of orders he is liable to knock off a bit early to celebrate, even when there might be one or two small orders just around the corner. You cannot expect many traveling men to work hard all day and lie awake all night thinking out new schemes for increasing your bank account. Then the average salesman misses quite a number of good prospects — people on the side streets or in little towns on a branch road. The point is, your representatives need help from the Home Office. They need you to back 20 ADVERTISING STRATEGY up their daily efforts. Also, the time between their visits needs bridging. By starting a campaign of printed salesman- ship you are right at your prospective customer's elbow just as often as you please at a very economical cost. No matter what the condi- tions may be, each piece will be planned and written to fit those conditions. Further, each piece will so carefully fit in with each succeeding piece that one logical, cumulative advertising chain will be constructed. And the results will be cumulative because as the campaign pro- gresses you will get results not only from present advertising but also from all the advertising that has gone before. The specific way of writing, designing, and printing the various integrals of your business- getting system can be determined only after a careful and thorough study of the necessities in your case. Some parts might be clever and in a lighter vein, while other parts will be the in- evitable copper-riveted facts that must compel belief — if properly told. Your advertising will be distinct and different. It can not fail to lift you head and shoulders above your competitors. Now, suppose you make up a list of one thousand or more firms or individuals whose 21 ADVERTISE! trade you ought to have. You can't go per- sonally and tell these people the "hard facts," but you can get at them effectively and economi- cally and make them first understand, then believe, then buy. At regular specified inter- vals you tell them just the things they ought to know and in such a way that they will not only read and believe, but actually watch and wait for your advertising, just as a woman waits for the store "ads" in the Sunday newspapers. This can positively be done if you go at it right — and at a very insignificant cost. But you don't stop then. You keep right on holding tight to the advantage you have gained. You demonstrate to the customer that his interests are your interests and that your rela- tions go beyond the mere filling of his orders. You gain his confidence. You induce him to look at your business connection as a personal one. He begins to think that you are the only people in "the trade." Then you are. And all the time your advertising keeps alive this per- sonal relation. At the regular intervals your salesman stops and gets the business. He does not have to argue. It's there waiting for him. Or it comes in by mail even with your compet- itor's salesmen personally trying to head it off. 22 ADVERTISING STRATEGY While we have been talking about helping the salesman make his territory more profitable, we repeat once more that the right sort of direct advertising can be profitably used in a business where no salesmen are employed, or in a territory where no salesmen go — or to dealers that your salesmen never see. Out of one thousand prospects, you won't get a thousand customers. No! You won't even get five hundred customers. But, suppose this plan brings you only 80 or 90 new customers — well, won't that many entirely new customers be a profitable addition to your business ? [Details of plan follow: of interest only to the concern addressed.] Here is a small "plan, fully developed, for Real Estate Dealers, Plan for Advertising Berkeley Gardens Please note that this plan is based upon: (1) Curiosity. (2) Love of home and family. (3) Thrift instinct. The letters, which are to be sent to a specially prepared list of men in varied occupations, to have special insert paragraphs to be used in each letter to meet the definite case of the man ad- 23 ADVERTISE! dressed. The last letter, No. 4, bears the bona fide signature of a laboring man who bought a tract of land on this plan. It is, of course, to be used only in letters to laboring men. Newspaper ads to commence two days after the first letter is in the mails. On the comple- tion of the newspaper series of ads, a booklet containing all the newspaper ads is sent, reca- pitulating the whole series of arguments. A striking feature of this plan is the human interest which is developed throughout the series of advertisements, and which makes it remark- ably different from the ads run by the average real estate concern, and raises its effectiveness. Letter No. 1 Dear Mr. Jones : factory Several men in your bakery are going to buy Berkeley plant Garden tracts and own homes that will bring them regular, steady yearly incomes. This extra money will come to them in addition to their wages and will, keep on piling up to their credit at their savings banks. * We are going to build these men attractive bungalow homes — just two blocks from city car lines, within two blocks of city schools, yet outside of the city tax boundaries. 24 ADVERTISING STRATEGY All that these fellow workmen of yours will pay us is $10 down and $10 a month, they will then secure a rent- free, income-earning, ideally located home. They are making this big, important move at the very nick of time — when food is going up, when foodstuffs are at a premium and when the government regards every food producer as a patriot and is willing to do anything to help him along. Now, it occurred t j us that you, too, are the type of man to whom such a plan would appeal. We know you won't want to see the other boys of the Columbia Tire & Leather Co., get ahead of you. Just ask the fellows around you which ones are going to buy these tracts and you will find the most ambitious of them are going to make the move. We only have a few of these tracts left and we are selling them on an average of one a day. One hundred families are already living on them, making money — and would not give their income-earning homes up for anything. If you want one, or are open-minded enough to look into this proposition, if you are willing to be shown and willing to make some more coin to salt away, let us take you out in our Columbia tired automobile and show you the place, introduce you to the residents and put the whole home plan before you. But don't let that whistle blow many times before you call us up. Telephone Champa 1516. Sincerely yours. Fill out the enclosed appointment card if you prefer. 25 ADVERTISE! Letter No. 2 Dear Mr. Jones : , If the Columbia Tire and Leather Company ran its business the way you run your home, severe losses would result. It is not to any piece of extravagance on your part that we refer, but just to that constant leak of money in little ways, that continued omnipresent rent to pay; that every- month grocery bill to meet; and all these countless httle expenses that keep you and your family from getting the things you would honestly Uke to have and by every right ought to have. Why, money flies past so fast these days that a man can scarcely see the tail feathers on the eagles as they sail past! Now, we are not writing this letter and pointing out this condition to depress you. On the other hand now is the time and here is the way to help yourself right out of this condition and put yourself in the way of becoming one of the rich, prosperous, successful citizens of the com- munity. Berkeley Garden tracts are solving the problem for your fellow workmen and can solve yours, if you will make up your mind to make that first small initial effort. $10.00 down is all you need to pay and the reason we can ask for such a small first payment and can afford to build you a home on this installment plan is that every single solitary one of the present settlers to whom we have sold these tracts are thriving and prospering, have made all their payments and would not sell their income-earning homes for any sort of expensive city home. In other words we are assured of your success if you undertake to own a rent- 26 ADVERTISING STRATEGY less home. And more than this most men rather Uke to see their money rolhng along, snow-ball fashion. When there is a great big generous savings account back of you you can look any man in the eye on a very satis- factory basis. Just twenty-three minutes from the city, two blocks from car lines and city schools — yet outside the city tax boundaries. That's where Berkeley Garden Homes are. We are selling the tracts one a day. If you want one, or think you might want one, get a hold of a telephone and call Champa 1516, or drop us the enclosed postal card. The card or postal commits you to nothing more than aif good automobile ride in the fresh air. We want to show you the Gardens — whether you buy or not, we want you to see them. Sincerely yours. Letter No. 3 Dear Mr. Jones : • I wouldn't ask another man to do something I would not want to do myself. I built myself a home right out at the entrance to Berke- ley Garden tracts — and I am farming my land and I am mighty glad. I am glad every time I sell the products of my place. It is the cleanest, most certain money a man can make. I defy any man to find the same sort of thriU in any other way that he gets from walking around his own place and knowing that he owns it and everything on it. If there is any way to insure yourself against the mis- fortunes of life, if there is any way to cultivate the habits 27 ADVERTISE! of thrift and saving that go to make the best citizenship of this country — a country home is that way. Nearly every rich city man has such a home some place — in case every- thing goes wrong — and every single working man that owns a home in the country and produces and sells his products from our Garden tracts is prospering. Isn't it an especially attractive opportunity to have an income-earning home, just 23 minutes from the city center, to be just two blocks from the car lines and schools, to have the good fresh country air and country life, and yet to be able to go right on with your present job? It puts a different face on a man's life when his home is an asset, when he knows he is going to be able to get something out of it rather than putting all he can earn into it. Of course there is another side to this thing right now when the government is calling on all of us men at home to produce food products. Most men have the idea that sometime they will have a place in the country with chickens, and vegetables and t^e like — secretly it is what we sons of mother earth all want — it is the natural life — this life of the open. Now we feel that the time is here when we ought to have the place and do our bit in the way of producing. When you pay us your first $10 you become a Berke- ley Garden tract owner. You pay the rest in monthly installments. We will build you a home on the same easy installment plan and your home will begin earning for you at once. I am glad I own a country home. So long as I live I hope to have a place in the country. You will feel the same way when you become the owner of a country place. 28 ADVERTISING STRATEGY How about it ?• Can I have the pleasure of taking you for a ride in my automobile and showing you the Gardens ? Telephone me at Champa 1516, or drop me the return card. You are committed to nothing but seeing the place. Very truly yours. Letter No. 4 Dear Mr. Jones : Yes! I'm one of 'em. Justin Walker he asked me if I would drop you a line and tell you honestly whether I was satisfied with my Berkeley Garden tract home. He wanted me to say just how I felt about it and whether it was the way he repre- sented to you — or whether he was just kidding you along. Honest, so help me — it's great! Say, you ought to have seen my crops last year! Why, I own this place clean. I don't have to pay one darn red cent to nobody! I can look my boss in the face and tell him to go to, — because I have got this here place right back of me, — and the wife and me are going to get us some automobile this year. Maybe I'm especially enthused because I was one of these here fellows that was always gitting into debt. My money never seemed big enough to stretch around — but now it's different, and I'm glad and you could not buy my place from me because I want to stay right here. I'd Uke to have you for a neighbor and wish you'd come. ^ Yours truly, (Address) 29 ADVERTISE! Appointment Card Justin C, Walker ( ) Street City L.A.* The initials, L. A., L. B., and L. C, on cards will key them; 3 sets Mr. Walker: You can take me to see Berkeley Gardens Income-Earning Homes Evening Sunday (Signed) Daytime Address You may call for me at 30 This little girl says goodby to her pet chick- en every morning when she leaves her Berkeley Garden Home for her two block walk to school. Wouldn't you rather bring up your children this way? Wouldn't you rather give them fine, robust constitutions built in the fresh-aired, wholesome country life? Wouldn't you rather have them grow up on a place that was all theirs, a rent-free, income-earning home, where they could see before their eyes the lessons of thrift due to the foresight of their mother and father? Mothers and fathers who take their children to Berkeley Gar- dens are giving them the^very best start in life. Plenty of open country, an intimate acquaintance with nature, a place for the favorite pets, congenial, industrious neigh- bors, city schools just two blocks away, and all the city advantages within street car distance — all these things are ideal f^r child develonment. If you are a far-seeing mother or father you will he interested enough to call up Champa 1516 and let us tellyou theplan. SlOjOO Down Secures You a Tract- ready -for this year's crops. We build a bungalow to suit yout" taste and let you pay on the same easy installment plan. Let OS take you oi|t in our automobHe and show you Bericeley Gardens. You can ask any one of more than one hundred home owners just what they think of their Berkeley Garden hcmies. JUSTIN C. WALKER 1717 Champa Street Telephone Champa 1516 ADVERTISE! This fellow's Berkeley Garden bcome Earning Home got him a raise of $10.00 a week! If he had quit his job two years ago he would have had no money to meet his rent and his grocery bill. He knew it. So did his boss. (Bosses always know when a man has to have his job I) Then he paid us $iaoo down, got a Berkeley Garden Tract, had us build him a bungalow and moved into a rent-free, in- come-earning home. Right from the start he made good — made good as he had never hoped to make good before. No rent, no grocery bill, and a neat little income from that Berkeley Garden Home — he was inde- pendent ! And just as soon as he no longer needed his job— his job began to need and cling to His boss felt the change and he raised him. If you went in to ask for a raise tomor- row would you have the nerve to make good your bluff and quit — in case of refusal ? Get a Berkeley Garden Income-Earning home behind you and watch it push you straight into success. One a day are selling— so you will have'to speak quickly — for no one of the lOO home owners would sell you his at any price. Telephone CJiampa 15 16 and let us take you out in our automobile and show you the Berkeley Garden Homes. Justin C. Walker 1717 Street. 32 ^^Andto think that I own this Berkeley Garden home and everything on it! fj He had a masterful, prosperous air as he looked over his place. He ought to have had, because he knew that it was the foun- dation of his fortune. He would have made you wonder why you paid rent, and . grocery bills, and lived a cramped city life when you might be right out there next to him in the open, making the same sort of start in a rint-free, income-earning home! It's the very nick of time to secure one of these Berkeley Garden tracts — But khere are not very many left now^ Any of you men who get the idea of this thing in mind must speak up quickly as we are selling them so fast that we will have to quit advertising them in a short time — and you couldn't buy out one of the established home owners for twice what he paid us. It's profitable, that's why. It's healthy, tool Let us take you out and show you. We will ride you out In the automobile any time you say. Justin C. Walker TehphoM Champa 1S16 1717 Champa Street ADVERTISE! -^'^^^m He bought his Automobile with the income from his Berkeley Gar- den home. |T KEEPS lots of fellows step- ping^ sidewisc just to meet their regular monthly grocery bill and rent. An automobile oftert means a mort- gage on the home of the man who owns one. Now, how much better off do you think this fellow, who has a fine coun- try place, just twenty-three minutes from the heart of Denver, within two blocks of city street cars and schools— a rent-free home — a grocer-free home — a home that supplies him, instead of constantly draining him to his last re- sources? A satisfied feeling of thrift and sav- ing is enough to make any man care- free and give hint the wherewithal to indulge himself in the many pleasur- able things of life. Why not put yourself on the same easy basis, get rid of your expensive way of living, and get yourself one of these income-earning homes? Ten dol- lars down makes you the owner of a Berkeley Garden Tract ready for this year's crops, and we will build you a bungalow on the same easy install- ment plan. Let as show yoa in the aatomobUe. Justin C. Walker Telephone Champa 1516 1717 Champa Street, City 34 *You Berkeley Garden Home Owners are the sort of men we want in America " Denver citizens, you ought to congratulate every single Berkeley Garden Home ow^er. He is complying with the demand of the President. He is producing foodstuffs, and yet going right on with his regular job. He is an Eight- cylinder Citizen! We need more men like this and there are a few more tracts in Berkeley Gardens for such men. Teelphone Champa 1516 and let us take you out aild allow you to talk to the residents already there. Justin C. Walker 1717 Champa Street Telephone Champa 1516 ADVERTISE! Suggestions for Study 1. Collect series of advertisements used by the most successfully advertised concerns in your city. 2. Pick out the underlying thought of each advertisement. 3. Determine how many ideas are presented in each ad- vertisement. 4. Is the same idea or are the same ideas presented in each advertisement ? 5. To how many groups of people do these advertisements appeal? 6. Sketch out briefly what you think was the plan of this campaign. 7. Examine the product and see if you can think of any new idea or ideas consistent with the plan. 86 CHAPTER IV THE ACID TEST OF ADVERTISING Suppose a piano concern engaged you as its advertising manager, and you were about to submit your first advertisement to the firm. Suppose the piano business were new to you, and the firm were new to you, and you wanted the job — how would you write your first adver- tisement ? You might go to a professor of psychology who knew nothing about pianos^ and write an advertisement that he would tell you was * ' psychologically ' ' perfect . You might go to a professor of music, who knew nothing of psychology, and write an advertisement that he would assure you was musically perfect. You might write an advertisement praising the piano factory or the genius of its owners, that would be very soothing and satisfactory from their point of view. By any one of these three methods you would produce the average advertisement, whose prin- cipal fault is not that it is not good enough — but that it is far too good! 37 ADVERTISE! Few of the piano buyers of the world are psychologists, a small percentage of them are musicians, and none of them own a piano busi- ness. The men and women who are going to read your advertisement know nothing about "asso- ciation of ideas," or the "laws of attention." Many of them never looked inside of a piano and would not know a sounding board if they saw one. Few of them have ears trained to recognize an over-tone. Many of them never even heard of Chopin. None of them care whether the piano factory is large or small, or whether the owner walks to work or rides in a limousine. But practically everybody has at one time or another sat down in front of a piano and picked out "Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater." Now here is a simple little incident, drawn from common experience — amusing or pathetic, as you make it, but easily grasped by every man, woman, or child. It might be a child making its first attempt at melody. It might be a man, worn by the day's care, sitting down in front of an instrument and diverting his mind from the dollars-and-cents grind. It might be an old THE ACID TEST OF ADVERTISING "Peter, Peter, Piunpkin Eater I" 89 ADVERTISE! person turning back once more to the simple things of childhood. However you may employ it, and whatever you may add to drive home your message about the joy of pianos and the superiority of your pianos, you have met your public at a point of contact, where you at once get their interest and their understanding. You have an ad that contains an element of human interest. The Acid Test of a good advertisement is this: Does it contain an element of real, live, human interest? Is there something about it as familiar as your favorite chair in your own home? Something that reminds you of the first tree you ever climbed; the first girl you ever kissed; some familiar humorous or pathetic, present or past incident that pertains to each and every being who walks on two legs and has the gift of language. Maybe it's something that arouses your curiosity or tells you what you didn't know, in a simple but surprising way — but there has to he a central idea about an advertisement that is positively certain to grip the interest of any reader whose eye happens upon it. As a piece of literature ^or art it may be bad 40 WANTED EOVCPiTBO t>t\^t4 -FOR ^ HIGH SAl-AaieO POSITION O h ''But I ain't had no training!'' 41 ADVERTISE! and still be a good advertisement, if it has this one essential human-interest point. Suppose you were advertising for a corre- spondence school, you might use bad grammar with telling effect. Make a picture of a business house on which is a sign reading, "Wanted, educated man for high salaried position." A man with his hands in his pockets is standing sadly in front of the building, saying, ''But I 'aint had no training." That's a good ad, because it emphasizes his lack of education. It is exactly what the man would say. It is true to life. It sends your point home. How much better than an ad- vertisement that told you about the "Handicaps of a lack of education." It is because of these simple things that go " beneath the skin," that an inelegant ad written by a blacksmith often does ^business where the polished advertisement, fresh from the psychological laboratory, fails to pull. The trouble with a great deal of advertising is that there is too much so-called "psychology" in it, and too little plain common sense. The advertising writer steeps himself in sciences, and goes at his subject from a formid- able, unfamiliar angle. He is letter-perfect, 4^ THE ACID TEST OF ADVERTISING art-perfect, even type-perfect — but he talks the foreign language of the would-be-learned. He aeroplanes over the heads of his readers. * Not every advertising man is a psychologist. Not every psychologist is a successful advertiser. There is grave cause for the business man to shake his head and cry, "Let's cut out this theory stuff. Put the punch in it, 'give it a kick' — make it red-blooded." Suggestions for Study 1. Select six advertised articles which you regularly pur- chase, such as soap, shoes, household utilities, food, candy, and determine why you prefer each to other articles of the same class. 2. Determme whether or not the advertisements of the articles cover the reasons for your preferences. * 3. Study each article and write in 100 words the reasons for your preference. 4. Cut your themes to 50 words. 5. Cut them to 25 words. 6. Can you put them into 10 words each ? 7. Can any of them be expressed in one or two words? 43 CHAPTER V DANGER SIGNALS IN ADVERTISING The greatest of all advertising dangers is that your advertising will not be read. Most advertisers go upon the mistaken theory that when an advertisement is written, space is paid for, a booklet published, a letter sent, — an audience is assured. A newspaper or a maga- zine can guarantee its circulation, but no publi- cation can guarantee readers of advertising. The mere fact that a costly advertisement, occupying large space, is published in The Saturday Evening Post, is no guarantee that it will be read. Neither is this a sign that it is a good advertisement. Some very poor advertise- ments are published in the most costly publica- tions, while a large proportion of all advertising is probably less than 50 per cent efficient. And all this is largely due to the mistaken idea that advertising, once written, is sure to be read. The sad, silent fate of advertising that is never read is scarcely to be realized, because no one says anything about it, and the people who pay for it go on taking it for granted that it is 44 DANGER SIGNALS IN ADVERTISING read. This is particularly true of spasmodic advertisers, who have so little to waste and are so profligate. It is pitiful to see people throw- ing money away in advertising when it is not only probable, but certain from the very outset, that they will never get a response. Advertising is like any other kind of business investment. It must pay dividends and it ought to pay right from the start. The adver- tising that does not pay that way is at least weak, if not a positive failure. ' You can put it down as a fact that a common- place advertisement, in fine print, is certain not to he read. If you are a second Shakespeare, and yet know nothing about display, or type arrange- ment and size, your advertising will still have small chance of being read. In newspaper or magazine advertising, in a choice between good display and good copy, the readers will give preference to the display, be- cause it will *' catch the eye," because they have weak eyes, and because, being easy to read, it entails less work. (See chapter on "The Eye in Advertising.") Advertising writers may show as much originality in display as in copy. Common-placeness is the first danger in copy- 45 ADVERTISE! writing. It disguises under the *' glittering generality," hackneyed articles on "service," on "quality," and the long familiar rows of super- latives, meaning nothing. If you want to avoid being common-place, make your advertising as different as possible from the advertising you read. To get away from the common-place, you don't have to be "clever," or to be "funny," or to be particularly deep — all you need to aim at is to be human. Think of the real, down- right, common sense reasons why the people you are advertising to might want the thing you are advertising. Think of the reasons you know they already have, arid think of others they might have if they only thought of them. Take for example the advertising of chairs. The usual way to advertise chairs is to list prices, or to describe the sort of chair, talking of its various good points. Now you can think of a hundred reasons for buying new chairs. For example, think of the homes where every chair in the house hits you between the shoulders, or places you in some awkward position. Think of the men who would stay at home evenings if they got into comfortable, inviting chairs — the sort they are sure to find at the club, or in a 46 DANGER SIGNALS IN ADVERTISING hotel lobby. Think of the beaux who would linger longer if the chairs were so comfortable they hated to go. Think of the setting the right sort of chair can give the clever hostess, showing her to the best advantage in her most fascinating poses. Think of the really wonder- ful, vital, radical changes in lives that the out- fitting of one home with really comfortable chairs might make! When you've thought about this simply human side of chairs, and injected it into your copy, you will have a chair advertising campaign that will grip readers! Suppose, again, you were advertising wall- paper! Who has ever gone into the becoming and unbecoming sides of the wallpaper business ? Why, a woman with only a small degree of vanity might be inspired to repaper her whole house when called upon to consider the wallpapers from this point of view! Make plain and easy to understand every- thing you want your readers to remember — and that means your entire advertisement from start to finish. Many writers attempt to be so clever that no one knows what they are driving at, except a few of their competitors who are not possible customers. 47 ADVERTISE! All forms of negative advertising are danger- ous, because they nearly always produce the exact opposite of the effect desired. Here are a few examples: A man desiring to advertise real estate wrote an entire booklet on the possibility of getting cheated on a mining investment. He told about salted mines and fake promotion schemes in such detail that the reader was sure to be impressed with his deep knowledge on this for- bidden subject, and he closed his booklet by stating that his real estate was not this sort of proposition. Probably no one but the author arrived at the real estate exit ! A safety deposit vault company, desiring to advertise that if the whole world were to burn it would still be standing, attempted this thing on bill boards. The direct suggestion was this — put your valuables in that vault and you would be assured of destruction by fire. You see the associated ideas in all this nega- tive advertising are bad and dangerous. Avoid them like poison. Advertising that does not consider the public's prejudices is dangerous. You are writing to narrow-minded, argumentative people, with set, pre-conceived ideas, just as much as you are 48 DANGER SIGNALS IN ADVERTISING writing to broad-minded citizens, but one thing is certain, that you, the advertising writer, must be broad-minded enough to take all this into account. Don't start any controversies with your would-be customers. Catholic and Prot- estant; Jew and Gentile; Democrats and Repub- licans — all these people have money to spend, and you must keep in mind their weak points, for they compose your reading public. Just as the newspaper goes through copy to take the libel out, so you should go through your copy to take out every line that might offend any reader. There is another problem for you: You must be inoffensive, but you must be strong. You must not have it said of your advertising that the best thing about it is that "there's no harm m it. You are not in the publicity business as an advertising writer. Get all the publicity you can, because it will bring you good indirect returns, but what you have to produce is direct, easy-to-put-your-finger-on returns, and you must not let money slip away, hoping that people will talk about you, when what you need is to have them buy your goods. Talking about goods and buying goods are not the same thing, and it takes many times the amount of publicity — 49 ADVERTISE! whole fortunes of it — to accomplish the work of a well-planned advertising campaign. You must reckon with the future in advertis- ing a business. Advertising is a veritable magician's wand for any one expert in the art and reckless of a good name. This has been demonstrated time and again, by fake medical schemes, anti-fat concerns, etc. Advertising is like a mint for a man who knows how to write it. But, some people, fortunately for the world, are particular as to how they make their mon<3y. Despite the articles on the necessity for the truth in advertising, there is a surprising amount of honesty and truth in business, when you con- sider the great temptations offered to depart therefrom. Consider the reputation of your concern, in every piece of copy you write. It would be possible to start a great advertising campaign that would bring immediate returns but would mean the future ruin of a business. There is too little calculating in advertising. Take for example a butter concern that put a butter horse in a dry goods window during a horse show week. Crowds stood in fascinated awe before the man who moulded the horse in the window. The concern flattered itself, as did the dry goods house, that they were getting 50 DANGER SIGNALS IN ADVERTISING an immense amount of publicity. So they were — but they paid for it. Women began to talk, and said, *'Well, if that's the way they handle their butter, we don't want it." Men stopped eating butter at restaurants. Make your meaning clear. You should take enough space to make plain what your advertise- ment is about. Generally this is not so much a matter of space as a difficulty of statement. People do not spend much time thinking — certainly not about advertising. Do not take one single thing for granted with your readers. Be very easy to understand in everything you say, and say as little as possible. Every word costs money. Suggestions for Study 1. Look rapidly through three magazines and newspapers and select the three advertisements which compelled your attention. 2. Determine whether your eye was caught by type, wording, illustration, or combination. 3. Select six advertisements published in negative word- ing and substitute positive wording. 4. Pick out advertisements that you think would offend prejudices and change them so that they will not. 51 CHAPTER VI LAYING OUT A NEWSPAPER OR MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENT If you were a tailor about to fashion a new suit, the first thing you would do would be to take the measurements of the person who was to wear it and make a pattern. Without measurements and a pattern you might have too much material, or too little material, and you would have positively no assurance that the garment you made would fit the person who was to wear it. No good tailor would ever think of guessing about the size! The entire style of a garment depends more than anything else upon the fit. Just so does "the style of an advertisement" (its general appearance) depend upon the fitting of the type matter, cuts, etc., into the space. Also upon the space depends the cost of your advertisement! And because the space is the most valuable of materials, it is necessary at the start that you have an exact pattern. To make your pattern, or layout, you will find it convenient to have the following tools: a drawing board; thumb tacks; a "T" square; 5^ LAYING OUT AN ADVERTISEMENT a triangle; one or more rulers; manila paper in newspaper-sheet sizes; editor's pencils; art gum; scissors and paste. It will be of great assistance to mark the backs of rulers into columns, also to mark your "T" square and triangle into columns and agate-line rulings. A newspaper column is ^^ inches wide in most papers. This is the standard measurement, but a few papers and many magazine columns vary. Newspapers and magazines measure width by columns and depth by the "agate line." The best way to fix the agate line in your mind is to remember that there are 14 agate lines to the inch. It is a fourteenth of an inch. Thus, if a newspaper rate w^ere 10 cents per agate line, it would be $1.40 per inch. If your advertisement measured in depth so many inches plus a frac- tion of an inch, you would be billed for 14 lines for each inch, plus as many lines as the fraction of an inch equalled. The agate line is a convenient standard of depth measurement and should become as familiar to you as "peck," "pint," "inch," or any other common measurement. After pinning your paper to your drawing 53 ADVERTISE! board by putting a thumb tack through each corner, the first thing to decide is the size of your ad. First measure off your width, then after point- ing off the depth draw the border Une of your advertisement. You must remember that many papers and magazines have rules as to required depth. For example, in some cities an ad may not be wide and shallow. Newspapers require that an ad 3 columns wide must be 60 lines deep, 4 columns wide, 100 lines deep, etc. This information you must have in order that your advertisement may meet requirements. If you are not sure, it is better to be on the safe side and plan your advertisement to be deeper than it is wide. In general, you will find this shape more pleasing to the eye and admitting of better proportion in layout. After making your outline, determine next where your cuts go, if you are using cuts. The name of the firm, often known as a " signa- ture" or *' signature cut, " is entitled to a position that attracts immediate attention (unless you have reason for concealing the identity of the advertiser) . In a small advertisement — say anything under 100 lines deep by 4 columns 54 LAYING OUT AN ADVERTISEMENT wide — the name may well go at the bottom of the ad. In larger ads it is well to place it at or near the top. (See chapter on "The Eye in Advertising.") You will now have a general idea as to how much matter — always called "copy" — you can write. You will next write your copy. The only indication that the printer has as to how you wish this copy set-up (as it appears in paper) is the way you mark the copy and the layout. To go back to our tailoring illustration, remember that the style of your advertisement is just as important as the style of a garment. Most people would rather wear a stylish gar- ment of inferior material than an ill-fitting garment of good material. So, no matter how good the copy you have written, unless your layout is equally good, or better, you will have a poor, perhaps an unreadable ad; you will be at the mercy of the printer — and even the best of printers is seldom paid to furnish you original layouts. Make up your mind to conquer this layout business. It is hard, because it is technical. But it is infinitely worth your while. The various parts of your copy are known as 55 ADVERTISE! "takes." You should number your takes, 1, 2, 3, etc. Put corresponding numbers on your layout, or where you wish this copy to appear. It will be an advantage to the printer to have your copy legibly written, on one side only, on paper of uniform size, if possible to have one "take" to the sheet. If you cannot write your copy this way in the original, you can cut it and paste it to make each "take" separate. Write the instructions on the "take" as to how that particular "take" is to be set. You can work out your own system of making this plain, but if your copy is typewritten, instruc- tions may be either noted in pencil or written with red ink or typewriter ribbon. While your various takes carry your specific instructions to the printer, your layout must have all the general instructions. Your lay- out should give the printer or the foreman an exact picture of how your ad will look when set. As in handling your proof, so with your lay- out, make your instructions on the margin and circle them. Draw a line from a part to be ruled in ("boxed"), indicating what rule you wish used. The smallest rule is a hairline, and the rules go, as the type, in "points." If your type is LAYING OUT AN ADVERTISEMENT very light, then you should use light rules, unless there is something you wish to stand out from the ad. If your type is heavy, you should use 3, 4, or 6-point rules, as the case may be. Also, you must indicate what border rule you wish used about the advertisement. As a general thing, this should be about a 3-point border, at least, in order to make it distinct from other matter. Then indicate your margins (white space) about cuts, copy, etc. , Draw the outline of cuts and mark which they are, or number them, or paste proofs of them on the layout. Draw in the lines for your heads and copy just as they are to go. Let this lay- out be a real picture. Nothing but the drawing and the numbers of your takes must be on it. Write the instructions in the margin. If you have never laid out an advertisement, do not let this dismay you. Do not let printers persuade you to leave it to them. It is better to make a few initial mistakes iand get your experience. You will soon become accustomed to the technical part of it, and you will never learn unless you keep doing it yourself. Re- member, you can always correct your proofs. On your first advertisement layout, you had better give these instructions: 57 ADVERTISE! "3-pt. border rule all around ad; 1^-pica margin about ad, boxes, and cuts." If you are using a large head, leave at the top of your ad a space the size of your type. That is, suppose you were using a 36-point head, then leave a 36-point space, or half an inch, at the top of your advertisement. Your greatest difficulty will be in estimating your space. In order to do this, you must become familiar with the various sizes and sorts of type. You will learn a great deal by getting acquainted with the printers and by actually seeing them handling your job. This you will readily find occasion to do. But, before you can acquire this information from the school of long experience, there is much about type that you will need to know, and which if you do not know, perhaps no one will ever tell you. Type is based on the "point system. You can get the best conception of a "point" by remem- bering that there are 72 points to the inch. Therefore, 36-point type is one-half an inch tall, 72-point is an inch tall, etc. Get this fixed firmly in your mind, as it will do much to help you in your type study. Printers generally adopt pica as a standard of 58 LAYING OUT AN ADVERTISEMENT measurement. Thus they rule by pica, a column being 12 J picas wide. Pica is 12-point type, or one-sixth of an inch. It is twice the size of nonpareil, or 6-point. You can obtain from a type foundry a pica ruler which will be of assist- ance in your work of measuring. "Body" type is the type in which the body of your matter is set. This, of course, is much smaller than your heads. Body type in books, papers, etc., is 8-point, 10-point, or 12-point. Anything below 8-point is very hard to read. (See chapter on "The Eye in Advertising.") Printers also use the term "em" for type measurement. Thus they speak of so many "ems," referring to "ems" of the size of type used. In order to figure out just how much matter will go in a given amount of space in a certain size type, you must count all the letters and spaces. After a short time you will readily learn to estimate with your eye for smaller type, that is, 8 or 10-point. But, your first difficulty will be to make your heads short enough to display well. You can quickly measure the depth of type by remembering that 72-point is an inch. If you had a head of two lines of 36-point, two 59 ADVERTISE! lines of 24-point, one line of 18-point and four lines of 12-point, you would have a head of ^3^ inches deep (not allowing for the white space between the lines). The following type table gives a carefully worked-out estimate of the number of letters and spaces contained in various widths and depths in the different sizes of commonly used types. You will find this table invaluable for everyday use. Copy it on your typewriter, paste it on pieces of cardboard, and keep it in your oflSce for daily reference. It will save you from many typographical pitfalls. Type Table 8-PoiNT Body Type Across 1 col l^col 2 col 1 inch 1 \ inch 2 kich Depth 2 lines \ inch 3 lines | inch 4 lines \ inch 5 lines f inch Letters and AUowing margins space at sides . .29 li picas . .47 2 picas . .71 3 picas . • 17 1 i picas ..23 2 picas .31 3 picas and so on, about \ of an inch for each additional line; 9 lines to every inch. 60 LAYING OUT AN ADVERTISEMENT 10-PoiNT Body Type X = Across Letters and Allowing margins spaces at sides X 2 inches 20 li pi X 2 inches 18 2 p X 2 inches 16 3 p: X 1 col 28 lip Zlcol 24 2 p Zl col 20 3 p X l\ col. (3|-i in.) 42 1| p X \h col. (31-i in.) 40 2 p X U col. {S\-\ in.) 33 3 p Z2col 54 l^p Z2col 52 2 p X2col 46 3 p X n col. (5f iA.) 75 Up Z2^col 73 2 p X2^col 69 3 p cas cas cas cas cas cas cas cas cas cas cas cas cas cas cas X3col 91 1^ picas X 3 col 89 2 picas Z 3 col 85 •• .3 picas Caps 10-point Bold face x \h cols. . .34 letters and spaces 10-point Bold face x 2 cols. . . 40 letters and spaces 10-point Bold face x 3 cols. . . 65 letters and spaces Depth 2 lines | inch 9 lines 1| inch 3 lines \ inch 11 lines W-l inch 5 lines f inch 14 lines 2 inches 7 Imes 1 inch 18 lines 2^-1 inch 61 ADVERTISE! 12-PoiNT Body Type X = Across Letters and Allowing margins spaces at sides X \\ inches 13 1 ^ picas X \h inches . 10 2 picas X 1 1 inches 6 3 picas X 2 inches 19 1 ^ picas X 2 inches 16 2 picas X 2 inches . 13 3 picas X 1 col 24 \\ picas X 1 col 22 2 picas XI col 32. 3 picas X l^col 38 1| picas X 1^ col 36 2 picas X 1^ col 32 3 picas X2col 50. 1^ picas X 2 col 48 2 picas X 2 col 42 3 picas X 2^ col. (5im.) 66 2 picas 3 picas X2icol 62 Depth 2 lines I inch 6 lines 1^ inch 3 lines ^ inch 7 lines . \\ inch 4 lines | inch 8 lines \\ inch 5 lines | inch 9 lines 1^ inch 1^ pica em margin is almost tV inch 2 pica em margin is almost yV inch 3 pica em margin is almost \ inch 62 LAYING OUT AN ADVERTISEMENT 14-PoiNT Body Type X = Across cols. Letters and Allowing margins spaces at sides Z2 col 40 li picas Z 2 col 38 2 picas X 2 col 35 3 picas X 3 col 57 3 picas X 4 col 86 3 picas Depth Depth Depth 2 lines, | inch 6 lines, 1 \ inch 10 lines, 2 inches 18-PoiNT Body Type Z 4 col 87 3 picas Depth 3 lines f inch Headlines 12-PoiNT Heads X = Across cols. Letters and spaces X 1 inch 10 Flush X 2 inches 21 Flush 1 col 18 Easy licol 26 Easy 2 col 42 Easy 2^ col 56 Easy 3 col 62 Easy 18-PoiNT Heads XI col 13 Easy X 1^ col .20 Easy 63 ADVERTISE! X 2 col 26 Easy X ^h col 34 Easy XS col 38 Easy X 4> col 61 Easy X 5 col 68 Easy 24-PoiNT Heads Z3col 26 Easy Z4col 42 Easy X5col 56 Easy 36-PoiNT Heads Z 3 col 20 .Easy Z4col ^ 28 Easy X 5 col 37 Easy X 6 col 40 Easy 48-PoiNT Heads Z3col 14 Z4col 21 Z5col 27 Combination Heads 48 on top Approximate depth 1-48, 1-36, 1-24 2^ inches 3 picas 36 on top ' Margins 2-36, 2-24, 1-18 and 4-12. .4f inches h inch 2-36, 2-24 2i inches 3 picas 1-36, 2-24 1| inches 3 picas 1-36, 1-24, 1-18 21 inches 3 picas 1-36, 1-24 If inches 3 picas 1-36, 1-18 li inches 1| picas 64 LAYING OUT AN ADVERTISEMENT 24 on top 2-24, 2-12 2t^ inches 3 picas 1-24, 1-18, 2-12 If inches 1^ picas 1-24, 1-18 11-^^ inches 3 picas 1-24, 3-12 If inches 3 picas 1-24, 2-12 1 i, i inches 1 ^ picas 1-24, 1-12 1| inches 1 ^ picas 18 on top 6-18, 3-12 3^ inches 3 picas 3-18, 3-12 2i-H inches 1^ picas 2-18, 2-12 li, J inches 1| picas 1-18, 2-12 If inches 1 1 picas 1-18, 1-12 IxV inches 1^ picas 1-18, 1-12, etc. The type table was compiled by E. Da vies Morley, and is very useful in estimating. The author has devised a ruler for the same purpose. Suggestions for Study 1. Cut out six advertisements. Paste them on a large sheet of paper and mark opposite the various head- ings and takes the size of type used. 2. Cut out a large department store advertisement in dupUcate. Cut up one and retain one for compari- son. Take a large sheet of paper, the size of the advertisement, and briefly mark in a new layout, pasting the various takes with their headings on separate pieces of paper (of uniform size) and marking corresponding numbers on the big layout sheet or dummy. 3. Could you improve the headings by making any of them larger or smaller .^^ In your opinion is there 65 1 (s 5g .55^ ^ ^ ?^ 1 K! ?5 ^53 i^ ^ =5 (fi N o t- -4-> c > < I 0: 4) > JO .2 0^ * S ^ "^-t o 0) it II ?^- JS -8 ^ C f « H ft A il - s 2 < s S i « ;; CO I ^ -^ = ^ 1 1 •5 < CO 4> 'Be 4) 2 < I ^ 4) i S H H "13 5Ci Ssi ^X) <3^ ^ ^ '^'^ ADVERTISE! sufficient white space in this big advertisement in its original form? Is the type in any place too small for you to read easily ? Are there any lines of type in the advertisement too long to be read at a glance ? 4. Cut out a book review. Rewrite as an advertisement and make a layout four columns wide by 140 agate lines deep. 5. Cut out an advertisement and make a new layout for twice the space used. Mark up the same wording and rearrange with illustration, if any, to fit your new layout. 6. Make another layout for the same advertisement occupying half its original space. If you cannot get in all the words rewrite the advertisement, re- taining the sense. Reference. — See American Type Foundry Specimen books. 68 CHAPTER VII DESIGNING THE LAYOUT If you were arranging the furniture in a room, you would not put a piano, a davenport, and a library table on one side of the room, and a frail chair on the other. If you did, the room would look too "heavy" on one side. The furniture arrangement would throw the whole room "out of balance." Bal- ance is the arrangement of weight, either actu- ally or optically, that establishes equilibrium. Every human being has an instinct for bal- ance. Unconsciously employed, this feeling for balance is a matter of self-preservation. It is literally the thing that keeps you on your feet. Consciously used, it is an artistic principle. Whenever or wherever this feeling for balance is upset, the eye is displeased, and the effect, even though not analyzed,- is unpleasant. It gives the observer the same disturbed feeling as though he saw a building about to topple into the street, or some one getting off a street car backwards. So if your advertisement is going to be attrac- tive, you must reckon with balance. 69 ADVERTISE! The simplest way to obtain balance in your advertisement is to make it exact. You can place on one side of your ad just the same sort of display that you place on the other side. You can make the optical weight even. In an exactly balanced advertisement everything cor- responds: boxes, heads, size of type, amount of reading, cuts, and white space, exactly the same on both sides of the ad. This is a very neat advertising arrangement. If you are a beginner and unaccustomed to balance, it may be well to start with the principle of exact balance in mind. It has the disadvantage of sameness, but is infinitely better than an ad out of balance. Theoretically, there are three points of bal- ance: the center, the top, and the bottom. The center is the usual point of balance. You can best fix this in mind by imagining a "teeter-totter." Too much weight at either end will disturb the stability. So, you must avoid making a center-balanced ad top-heavy or bottom-heavy, just as carefully as you avoid throwing the sides out of balance. Were you to select the more unusual points of balance, the top or bottom, you should remember that an ad balanced from the top is like hanging a curtain. It must seem to be 70 DESIGNING THE LAYOUT suspended. Therefore it will appear well if you leave white space at the bottom. An advertise- ment balanced at the bottom must seem to rest solidly, like a building on its base, therefore you can leave a good white space at the top, to increase this effect. You will, however, deal in the main with advertisements balanced at the center. The sameness of the usual exactly balanced ad is monotonous, and monotony is a thing to be avoided by every possible means. In order to obtain variation and maintain good balance you may: balance cuts with boxes; heavy type with boxes or cuts; shapes against cuts or white space; or you may place a large group at balanced distance. Color will balance by intensity. In your newspaper work you are dealing with white space, black type, gray type, gray half-tones, and black line drawings. A gray group should be twice as large to balance a black group, etc. You will also have to be careful to see that your white space is distributed in balanced amounts through your advertisement. When you have mastered the theory of balance, you will have conquered your first great artistic obstacle. 71 ADVERTISE! There are many other ideas that you may borrow from the artist to make your advertising appear to better advantage; practically all of the fundamental principles of design can be usefully and effectively employed in advertising. For example, you should never break an adver- tisement at the center, with box, line, cut, or any optically striking type. Put this display either above or below the center, and you will greatly increase the effectiveness of your work. You may use the golden proportion, in boxing or general layout, "The shorter is to the longer, as the longer is to the whole," with good effect. You will find 1, 3, or 5 cuts, or spots of any sort (type, boxes, etc.), more effective than the even multiples. In placing boxes, rules, and type groups, you can easily arrange to have line follow line. You can also choose shapes that will go together and make the whole effect of your ad like one harmonious design, balanced, yet varied. You will find certain shapes, certain types, certain heaviness or lightness of type, cut, etc., particularly suited to the subject which you have to handle. For example, perpendicular lines denote dignity, strength, etc.; horizontal lines are restful; diagonal lines show action. Heavy 72 DESIGNING THE LAYOUT type is suited to coal, machinery, etc. ; light type for millinery, flowers, jewelry, etc. You will choose border rules and box rules of thickness corresponding to the thickness or blackness of the type you are using, and your cuts will go with type and rules. The more experienced you become, the more "finicky" you will be in these little details. Above all, you will insist that the printer follow your instructions to a line. You will realize that a box loses its value when your ad is a series of boxes. You may use circles, squares, triangles, and other shapes for em- phasis. You will remember that size of type, color, shape, and position are the four means of emphasis, and you will not use more than one to emphasize any one thing. You will thus avoid a common fault — over-emphasis. In regard to the type, you must insist that your ad be not set in more than one face of type (unless you particularly specify it for emphasis or in combination). Many advertisements look like a page from a type specimen book. Insist upon designing each and every layout, and by carefully observing these rules you will find the appearance of each successive adver- tisement more and more attractive. 73 ADVERTISE! Suggestions for Study 1. Cut out three advertisements illustrating exact bal- ance, varied balance, top balance, bottom balance. 2. Cut out half a dozen advertisements and copy these designs on layout papers — indicating type and heads by fine Hues — illustrations, etc., with pen- ciled shapes. 3. Rearrange the layouts in several pleasing designs and compare your new layouts with the originals. 4. Make three original layouts for advertisements to occupy quarter-page space in newspapers. 5. Refer to the work you did with newspaper layouts in the preceding chapter and see if you can think of more pleasing layouts. 6. Glance at the advertisements you have collected for your study and note the good points of design. 7. Write an advertisement to occupy a page space in your favorite magazine and lay it out with (a) exact balance, (6) with varied balance, (c) with balance at top, {d) with balance at bottom. Note. It will be well to sketch out your size space before writing the advertisement. You may find it convenient to change your wording to suit your grouping — thus keeping your design in mind from the outset. Reference. — See Principles of Advertising Arrangement, by Frank Alvah Parsons. 74 Bottom Balance 76 Exact Balance 77 CHAPTER VIII WRITING THE HEADLINES Much of your success as an advertising writer will depend upon your skill in writing headlines or '* heads." In its final analysis, the principle of advertis- ing writing is almost identical with that of head-writing, the art of condensed statement. From first to last you will have to get a great deal into a very little space. Therefore you will try to say much in a few words. You will need to choose your words carefully and learn to use one word where you formerly used ten. Yet, with all this, your ad must not seem curt. It must not read like a telegram. But when completed you should have the assurance that you could not have said the same thing and left out one word — that every single word was needed. In writing heads, it is necessary to adjust the head to the width of the space. Even if you have so much money to spend in advertising that you can write your whole ad without glancing at a layout, yet when it comes to th<: 79 ADVERTISE! head, you will be compelled to stop and consider the layout. There are three ways in which you may tell your story in an advertisement; in your copy, in your cuts, and in your heads. The best writer tells it in all three ways, so that he who runs may read. Your heads should emphasize points which pertain most vitally to your copy and which will most surely interest your readers. A good way to practice writing your first heads is to take a newspaper article (called "story"), cut off its present head, and write, in a few words, a statement of what the story- contains. Compare what you have written with what the newspaper copy-reader has written and note the difference between your heads and his. Now this newspaper copy-desk man is a clever fellow, and you will have to write a very good head to improve upon his. Count the letters and spaces in his head and in your own. When you have reached the point where you can write as good a head as the newspaper man, that will fit in, as his does, to the required number of letters and spaces, you have learned to write heads. Nothing but constant practice will teach you this art. If you will make a habit of reading newspaper 80 WRITING THE HEADLINES heads, you will find that every head tells the story in a few words, or hints at it in such a way as to arouse your curiosity. Many people never do anything but *' glance at the headings in the paper." They are news-gleaners. Now if these people will only glance at headings in actual news stories, think how interesting you will have to be to compel them to read advertising! You must write better heads than the news- paper man, better heads than the magazine man, better heads than the author! You must surpass all these trained writers, in head writ- ing, or how can you hope to induce your public to read your advertisements in preference to their literary matter ? Make up your mind to excel in head writing. Your heads must be remarkably good. They may even be startlingly sensational. The heading Satisfied Employees Give Good Service is poor, because " service " is hackneyed, and the whole thing tells you what the man who wrote it wants to preach to you about. But the heading She was Always so Kind over a human-interest story about a good sales- woman retired by Wanamaker's, tells the same story in a way that "goes straight home." 81 ADVERTISE! You can get a great deal of human interest into your heads. You can address your heads to certain faiUngs that you know every human being possesses. As a matter of principle, avoid generalities. The man who advertises men's clothing with th^ headline "Anxiety" is not a particularly good student of human nature. One is amazed to find a heading advertising camouflage for a steamship company to the effect that men in South America buy their clothing in the United States ! If "durability" were a commodity, instead of a rather dull word, it would certainly have a big sale, as page after page is devoted by the most profligate of advertisers to "durability." The Saturday Evening Post fairly screams that staid word from its advertising columns. Make your head tell specific facts, Dont talk about them! Tell them. Break right into the most exciting part of your story! Feature the unusual! Suppose you had but a few words to say, and had to interest the person you were ad- dressing, you would not waste time or money on commonplaces. Then don't do it in your ad. You will find that the most common head you will use will be the news head. Tell something WRITING THE HEADLINES interesting in this head. Here are a few ex- amples of news heads that get the business: He Hurried to Chicago for Sixits & Overcoats for Men Mr. Mason's Automobile will go through the best part of Detroit on the way borne to Belmont Place! Little Dutch Girls Sometimes wear as many as Seventeen Petticoats! Clothes that will stand the Test of the most Strenuous Political Discussion! If you lived in Soho your Rank would be determined by the Sort of Parasol you carried! Mr. Jonas Hanway was the First Man to walk the Streets of London under an Umbrella. Future Man will Sleep Less — says Edison Pick Your Favorite From These 50 Good Style Skirts! Biff! Bang! Whizz! A Whirl! and a Jig! Toyland Opens Tomorrow! Your practice in rewriting heads for newspaper stories will teach you to make them effective. You will learn that the head must pertain to the 83 ADVERTISE! copy and must fill the reader with the desire to read what is written beneath. If you fail to catch the passing interest with your head, you will never get your advertisement read unless your reader is looking for it. (In that case the office boy might as well write the advertisement!) Much of the "punch" of advertising goes into the head. It must be convincing. It must be believable. For example, the writer who spends $5.00 displaying in large type the line: It is a fact is clearly wasting his money. It tells the reader nothing. It is a "glittering generalty," and of course, it is followed up with something that is very obviously not a fact. Right here is one mistake advertising writers are prone to make. They forget that the reader is shrewd, often suspicious, and has often been duped and misled by "gold brick" advertising. Very strong heads may be written that appeal to the bargain spirit, without using the word bargain, or making unbelievable claims for the merchandise. » V Before That Run of Winter Colds, X Get Your Family Supply of Handkerchiefs \ 84 WRITING THE HEADLINES Many clever appeals may be made to home- makers and home-lovers. Take for instance these heads: The Proper Settings in the Home Enhance Every Charm of Woman! Dark Haired Women! Light Haired WomenI Red Haired Women! Here are ideas for all of you I Plan your Porch Settings with Poster Color Effects Make Your Home Cool and Restful by Taking Out the GLARE! That Gift to the Home A Comfy Chair for Father's Christmas Great Breezy Sale of Housefumishings That Whistles in Like a March Wind ^ In your heads you can always effectively appeal to the vanity of either woman or man, particularly the former. These are heads that appeal to the vanity: A Man Ought to Choose such a Conspicuous Thing as his Hat with Care! Is your Outing Costume Picturesque or Grotesque? 85 ADVERTISE! Putty-Colored Complexions are Not Becoming! 999 Times out of looo, it's the Well Dressed Woman the Men Admire! Some Hats take Ten Years from a Woman's Age! Madam, Are You Correctly Dressed for the Street? Nothing in a Woman's Wardrobe is More Important Than her Every Day Suit A Poor Corset Would Ruin the Figure of Venus Herself Many people are easily appealed to by super- stitions; for instance: These Lucky Elephants Carry Good Luck in Their Trunks Good Luck for Those Who Wear Everything New Easter Your heading may be very unusual and arouse curiosity. These heads are also usually newsy in tone; for instance: Several Men Have Bought Human Hair Switches Women Dare Not be Bald! 86 WRITING THE HEADLINES Unfortunately for Hirsch, he was a German in Paris, when War Broke Out! How Many Will Come Back? Would He Linger Longer in a More Comfortable Chair? With proper illustrations (cuts) you can make good conversational headings. Say the things people would naturally say; for instance: " Yes, Mamma got Papa that Comfortable Chair at (name of store) " " Does a Man Take Off His Hat in This Store? " " My Wife travels 107 Miles to save Money Shopping at (name of store) " " Say, what will you take for those Two Lots of yours in Belmont Place? " " There's Mrs. So-and-so in Another New Hat I " If you want to carry out some central idea, you may have all your heads written to fit in. For example, in a one-page Christmas ad the words "Love," "Joy," "Peace," and "Merrie Christmas," were lettered in old English, and all sub-heads were written to give the advertise- ment the real Christmas spirit. 87 ADVERTISE! Before or after you have written your head, you will have to decide upon its shape. When you become expert, you will know the shape while you are writing the head, but at first you will probably have to write the head and then adjust it to the space. First come your great heads for a full-page advertisement, which must be strong; and if they are good, straight-from-the-shoulder, selling copy, they will more than pay for the space used for their display. There are six distinct types of plain heads. These are shown in outline on page 89. One line in large type is called a "ribbon" head. These heads may be combined in various ways, or set as "fancy combination" heads. Pyramids look well under sliding heads, as in newspaper use, etc. In general, similar heads on corresponding parts of advertisements are used for balance, and the entire ad has a neater appearance if the heads are uniform. But a variation may be used for emphasis with telling effect. At the beginning you will do well to use the simplest effects. WRITING THE HEADLINES Type of Heads Type 1. The Even Line Head Type 2. The SUding or Step Head Types. The Pyramid Head Co^ "0 - CC ^^^ S: Type 4. The Side Head (set flush on either side) Type 5. The Hanging Indention Head Type 6. The Title Head ADVERTISE! Suggestions for Study 1. Cut the single column heads off a half dozen news- paper stories and write headings with the same number of letters and spaces. (The "space" be- tween the words is counted as one letter.) 2. Cut out three stories whose headings are written in two columns and write new headings for two col- umns — in same number of letters and spaces. (In each instance compare your heads with the originals for interest.) 3. Consult the page on type, and note the sizes indicated and where capital letters ("caps") are used. 4. Write three pyramid headings for (a) a three-column advertisement, (6) for a four-column advertisement, (c) for a six-column advertisement. 5. Write three sliding or step heads for the same ads. 6. Write three even and flush headings for three adver- tisements of from one to six columns inclusive. 7. Write two hanging indentions and title heads for any advertisement in your collection. 8. Write a "freaked" heading combining the pyramid and step heading. 9. Cut out the headings of six advertisements and change the wording and style of heading. (Fit your type to the space without reference to the original.) 10. Referring to former layouts and advertisements, can you improve the headings? 11. Write (a) a news head; a sensational head; (6) a head that will arouse curiosity; (c) a head that arouses vanity. Note. It will be advisable to make small layouts before writing* your heads, drawing them in roughly with pencil. 90 II 3«, (f Once Upon a Time a Man Received a Christ- mas Present and Left It Unopened Upon the Top of His Desk for Six Whole Months! — But hewas hardly human. — Or perhaps he suspected that it was the unsmokable! — ^Next worst to the imsmokable is the unwearable. —Now Daniels & Fisher^s Men's Shop has thQ sort of things a man wants and wears. Note the Hiunan Interest of this Heading 91 9« I 6 s e o bo V i ^Jl as g in >» bo si « *^ • a "• .tS _ i§ lis "" § c « S ..a iSJI ADVERTISE! I to S I I oe » CO ^ ,2 -a o r9 04 CHAPTER IX WORDING THE ADVERTISEMENT One word may make or mar an advertisement. In good advertising copy, there is nearly always some one word that stands out, marked above every other word for its originality, daring, fitness — or all three. Without that word, the advertisement would be a weak, flat, ordinary piece of work. Usually this word is a short, easily-understood word, used with a peculiarly happy aptness. Such a word may bristle with action, or allure with subtlety, but in its final analysis it carries with it indirect suggestion that is worth whole written columns of the usual sort. To attain desirable brevity in advertising, the study of words is indispensable. Instead of using more words, use words that imply and suggest more. Replace long, hard-to-under- stand words with short, forceful, catchy terms. Be sure that the wording of your advertise- ment makes the meaning perfectly plain. It is far better that your advertisement should be commonplace than that it should be misleading or above the heads of the readers, Just as the 9^ ADVERTISE! budding newspaper writer is warned against "fine writing," so the advertising student must be warned against attempting "literature." No educated person is offended by the use of famihar, simple language, but long words of Latin or Greek origin, or classical or literary references, will go right over the heads of your buying public. While you must very often hint at your meaning, you must hint in such a way that no one will mistake you. Take, for example, that Gold Medal Flour advertisement — "Eventu- ally — Why not now.^" The words "Why not now," send home the indirect suggestion of ' ' Eventually . ' ' Indirect advertisements are tell- ing, because they say so little — and the less they say the more people will remember. This is the great power of the "slogan" or the catch phrase. But an indirect advertisement is gener- ally a flash of inspiration. If your indirect •work does not plainly convey just the meaning you want to give it, make the advertisement direct. Be sure it is plain and easily understood by every reader. (See the chapter on "Suggestion in Relation to Advertising.") The tendency of every advertising writer is to exaggerate, If he honestly believes what he 96 WORDING THE ADVERTISEMENT is writing, he is tempted to over-state in order to convince. Unfortunately this has the opposite effect. An exaggerated statement does not carry conviction. A man will be more impressed with the statement, "better than most 25-cent tobacco," than he will by the claim, "the best tobacco on earth." Note the advertisements for accountancy and other business courses offered to the ambitious through magazine advertisements. Young men exclaim in the advertisements, "And now I make $100,000 a year!" The advertisements always ask if you want a $50,000 a year position, or would like to make $1000 a week. This is not only sheer exaggeration, but it is bad advertising, because few young men or women are so conceited or so ignorant as to believe that such tremendous salaries would be paid them after taking the courses offered. It would be £ar better to place a more reasonable sum before their eyes — say $52.50 a week — something believable. It is too big a jump for the mind of a man behind some counter — from $15 a week to $50,000 a year. Should such a thing actually happen to a young man after a short period of study, he might become un- balanced mentally! The advertising man may 97 ADVERTISE! think in terms of "$50,000 a year," but he is $45,000 over the heads of his most ambitious readers, and frequently more. The advertising writer who keeps his state- ments within the bounds of possibihty will find himself almost refreshingly original! The man who writes a strong advertisement must believe what he writes. He must be an optimist. The man whose copy put 3-in-One Oil on the list of advertising successes was always thinking of new uses for 3-in-One. This man personally used 3-in-One so extensively that his fellow workers in the agency that handles the account said he shaved with it and used it as salad dressing ! Keep away from "glittering generalities." Don't claim "world-beaters" and "best-on- earths." It is so easy to say you have the "best something or other in the world," and to describe it in glowing superlatives. That is just what all your competitors are doing, and just what wearies the reading public. Make your statements specific. Give actual facts, and you will find them far more convincing. A man who is going to buy a hat will be more easily enticed by an advertisement of a hat ^'that looks well at any angle you wear it" — 98 WORDING THE ADVERTISEMENT than by the advertisement of "the best hats in town." The Chicago store that advertised a "Sale of Merit," overlooked the fact that "Merit" is something you cannot sell, and would have created more interest and been less common- place had it merely said "A Sale of Women's Suits." "A Petticoat that is wide enough to walk in, but won't gather under your skirt," is far better .than an advertisement, "See Our Wonderful New Petticoats." Give specific facts. They are far more inter- esting. Also, they are more difficult to write, because the writer has to know something about what he is writing. You will find hundreds of hackneyed words that you should omit; for example, such as "service" and "quality." Such words used in a heading are ineffective, because they have been worked to death, and every reader will think he knows what you are going to say without reading it — hence he will skip it. Cut out every unnecessary word. Suggestions for Study 1. Select twelve advertisements which depend for their interest upon the use of some original phrase. 99 ADVERTISE! 2. Indicate the strongest word used in each advertisement. 3. What one word in all twelve would make the strongest appeal to you ? 4. Write down twelve words which you might use in ad- vertising each of the following articles: tea, bread, automobiles, stockings, chairs, pianos, real estate, books, kitchen stoves, rugs, jewelry, embroideries, tacks. 5. Select six advertisements from newspapers and sub- stitute for their present wording, statements which, in your opinion, would be more convincing. Give the reasons for your changes. 6. Make a list of twelve unusual but easily understood words which you think might be used to advertise articles. 7. Write opposite each of your words the sort of appeal connected with it — or the mental picture. References. — Handbook of Composition by E. C. Wool- ley; Business English by Rose Buhlig. 100 CHAPTER X COMPARATIVE PRICES IN ADVER- TISING All comparative prices, or no comparative prices? On this question nearly every adver- tiser seems to be an extremist. The man who permits no comparative prices in his advertising says right out that the one who does is a Har. Most of the much discussed "truth in adver- tising" circles round this one debatable question. But, verily, truth is stronger than compara- tive prices, and the same fellow who assumes the "holier than thou" attitude on comparisons, will turn other tricks, perhaps, to make his profits higher. There is no question that the comparative price business has been overdone, and that the public is tired of the continual sale. It has lost its force through its monotony and its evident lying. The public has lost confidence. But there has also been gross exaggeration as to the extent to which stores have gone in this question. There are, at times, good reasons why articles are reduced and sold at actual cost 101 ADVERTISE! or less than cost. Sometimes a store becomes overstocked; sometimes the weather brings about a situation where it is better to let go; sometimes a manufacturer is forced to sell. There are scores of reasons why good, honest sales may and actually do take place. Human nature, despite all discussion, has not changed, and never will change as to the bargain instinct. Every man and every woman loves a bargain. All store advertising should be dealt with from a news viewpoint. Everything that hap- pens, or is about to happen, in a store is of news interest to the public. The best advertising investment possible for a store lies in its new, just received merchandise, with the full profits on. These things, properly displayed and ad- vertised in a tempting, descriptive, newsy man- ner, will be sure to sell at their full face value, and there will be far less need for sales which eat into profits and increase the cost of advertising. Many store advertising managers figure that the old merchandise should be advertised. New merchandise, they argue, will take care of itself. While they are advertising their perennial sales of old merchandise, at reduced prices, no one hears a word about the new things coming into 102 COMPARATIVE ADVERTISING PRICES the store, which get old before they are men- tioned ! New articles should be used to pique the curiosity of the public, and to tempt people through their very freshness and desirability. Much more space may be profitably given to a new article, with its full profit on, than to an old article reduced in price. To quote the former price of a given article is merely to state a fact. To describe this ^.rticle when old as though it were new, and try to foist it off as a new article, is a deception — and a waste of advertising space. Suppose you are to advertise a lot of hair combs that are selling for $1.00. For some reason you reduce them to 50 cents. The strongest argument for these combs is the price argument, "$1.00 combs for 50 cents." Everybody knows the sort of comb you mean. You state the fact and leave the public to do the rest — and they do it. Yet, the no-com- parative price extremist will split hairs, over the fact that these combs are not worth $1.00 to him, or he would sell them for $1.00. Even if he is using these combs as a bait to get people into his shop, he still has conscientious scruples about telling the plain price truth about them, 103 ADVERTISE! and is obliged to launch into a quarter-column or so of unprofitable space to tell people they are actually $1.00 combs without mentioning the $1.00. In advertising women's wearing apparel, the price argument has, perhaps, been most abused. This is largely because the advertising writer has lacked the ingenuity to be tempting. Once make the clothes sufficiently desirable in your advertising, and it will be necessary to say very little about the price — providing always that the buyer is in constant touch with the market and the merchandise backs up the advertising. But when weather, market conditions, or a special purchase brings about a sale, this may and should be advertised, and comparative prices may at such times be profitably used. The public will soon be able to discern the store that is following an honest advertising policy, and comparative prices may be used by such a store without fear. Suggestions for Study 1. Analyze an advertisement of the largest department store in your city and select a price argument which might have been presented as news. 2. Examine some article of merchandise advertised, such as lace, silk, hose, gloves; note the quaUty and 104 COMPARATIVE ADVERTISING PRICES selling points. Go to your public library and look up some references on the subject under your con- sideration. After saturating yourself with the facts concerning the article, write half a dozen advertisements. 3. Referring to the advertisement, determine about what proportion of the space is devoted to the price argument. 4. How many articles in the advertisement are pre- sented as new merchandise ? 5. About how much of the advertisement would have a news interest for you ? -6. Would the advertisement impress you as presenting better merchandise or less expensive merchandise as its chief appeal ? 7. Compare the advertisement with those of other stores, in the same issue of the same paper. Note the difference in price interest and news interest. 8. Do any of the advertisements offer you an irresistible attraction, and if so, is this based on price or news interest ? 9. Which displays of prices do you consider most attractive ? 10. Collect ten different price displays which stand out. 11. Note carefully statements that fail to convince you of their truth and give your reasons. 12. Rewrite the statements noted in the previous question and make them convincing, — stating why you have made the changes. 105 Delighted Wee Spectators Watch Toyland's Wheels Whirl Round This is surely an age when things mov« in cycles — tricycles, bicycles, ▼elooipedes, etc. Life is just one round of merry motion— one great big -wonderful wheel. Toyland is just full of wheels. They whirr, whirr, whirr from 8:30 a. m. to 5:30 p. m. Bring the kiddies — and if you want to dwell for one gro^vn-np moment in a magic land of imag- ination, come yourself. Be sure to come 3*ourself ! There is something rafe and sane and real about Toyland not to bo found many other places. LONG LEGGED MAMIE WANTS Tricycle Girls that grow fast need a lot of fresh air, too, and when Mamie meanders forth, day after Christ- mas, on a brand new Daniels & Fisher tricycle, she will be filling her lungs with the sort of air that will help her toward a plump young womanhood. No prices are used in an ad- vertisement of this kind 106 sis ^ <1^ m "•?, s. a> d Poia-b Boi+om of /,dveri-isemeat Points of Optical Interest in «n Advertisement 143 ADVERTISE! arrests the eye, and important arguments or news items on the right are most certain to hold attention. As the eye has to read all the rules and dots in an advertisement, the simpler the effect and arrangement, the better. The forceful -writers are those who use simple words. The most telling advertisers use type as clear as English. There has been a lot of talk about the necessity for telling the truth. But truth crushed into 8-point type has little chance against a bold assertion with a lot of white space made by a less truthful competitor. Once an assertion is made in type, it is accepted as truth. Man has respect for the word he sees in print. He may be told a fact by many salesmen, but it comes home to him as the truth when he sees it in print. Type carries authority. That is why in advertising a reputation is built by printed repetition. But the print must be easy to read. It must please the eye. The simple type effect means good taste. It indicates and marks the best as does "the simple manner," "the simple garment," "the simple life." But anyone who has striven for sim- plicity has early learned to distinguish it from the unfinished product called "easy." Sim- 144 THE EYE IN ADVERTISING I (a.scj. Pimouni^ of Space eye will reaxL at- ono, f ixatiorv 3>^ inchu Length of line oj- tc/pe ei^e will read a+ c^ne -^vXaWoa. Shapes ?ancL forms thcutr oHnact the ec^e ('nvolontar/la other Optical Features of an Advertisement. 145 ADVERTISE! plicity is the art that conceals the art. It need not scream in twelve varieties of type, nor pound in black face, nor boast in caps, nor strive for attention in italics. It does not topple over with big heads, nor lose its balance, nor grab for space at the sides. The ad of simple type effect has a quiet, posi- tive tone; not too low, not too loud, but distinct, clear, apart from and yet of its surroundings. It rivets the eye. It fascinates, beckons the curiosity, and easily, noiselessly, but surely, sends the message straight home! Suggestions for Study 1. Glance through three newspapers and cut out the six advertisements that are most attractive to your eye. Mention what points are of optical interest, and also note the design of the layouts. 2. Collect three advertisements with lines set in 8-point or 10-point type wider than four inches. Make new layouts and arrange to break this type-matter into groups not wider than 3^ inches. 3. Collect a dozen advertisements which present some one striking optical feature and write original adver- tisements of the same subjects. Make new layouts and substitute optical effects which you consider as striking as the original. 4. Write an advertisement employing in a conspicuous 146 THE EYE IN ADVERTISING way (a) a circle, (6) a square, (c) three 4-point rule stripes. 5. Pick out six advertisements; which you consider too crowded. Rewrite them and make layouts for the same spaces without injuring the sense or effective- ness. 6. Go through the advertising in three magazines and select six small advertisements that "stand out" on the page and tell why. 7. Glance through a dozen magazines and newspapers. Put them aside and write briefly what you have remembered of the advertisements. Compare your notes with the advertisements and determine, if possible, why each one was remembered. 8. What advertising in your city has the strongest appeal to the eye of the reader ? 9. Select ten advertisements that you think may be read by an old lady without her glasses. 147 CHAPTER XVI WHAT ADVERTISING DEMANDS OF THE ARTIST In its last analysis an advertisement is an idea. However striking the display or the illustra- tion, the advertisement depends for its appeal upon the idea about which it is planned. So the first thing that advertising requires of art is to present the central idea. Take as an example that remarkable adver- tisement for the Victrola, "His Master's Voice." The idea for that illustration was most evidently in the mind of the writer of that masterpiece of suggestion. Both copy and illustration say the same thing. They are linked so closely together that the idea hits the reader in a flash. It is a dynamic advertisement. The association of art and advertising is con- ditioned by certain things which the advertiser must bear in mind. It is impossible for an artist to create a picture which is not clear in his own mind. It must be made so clear to him that he cannot help presenting it. 148 ADVERTISING DEMANDS ON ARTIST The appeal which the picture is to make, and in a general way the scheme of the picture — the way in which the advertising writer visual- izes the picture in his own mind — should be indicated, and certain general instructions or suggestions as to style should be made, but the actual technique of the artist's skill should be left undisturbed, if the picture is to be the artist's best work. The man who sits down before his artist and says, "Put a mountain here, and a tree there, and a bear here," cannot get good art work. If he knew how to draw the picture, he would draw it himself. A good artist knows far better how to produce the required effect. The best advertising writers try to get en rapport with the artist. Human interest should be the striking feature of advertising art, as of advertising writing. Something taken from life, from common, every- day, ordinary experience, is far more certain to appeal than some drawing that is merely "good composition" or ideally artistic. When the advertising writer has learned to plan his illustration, he can see hundreds of striking, forceful pictures that are certain to sell, on any walk along a business street. He must 149 ADVERTISE! first learn to think in advertising pictures. These pictures, when developed by an artist, must be simple, because they must be as sugges- tive, as condensed, as the copy. Not a line, not a rule, in the advertisement that is not positively necessary. The reader must catch the illustra- tion at a glance, just as he gets the copy at first sight. At the same time the illustration must be sufficiently striking to arrest attention. And what is more striking than some experience common to us all ? A man winding up his watch before going to bed; a woman trying on a hat before a mirror; a baby upsetting a work basket; a man presenting his best girl with a bouquet of flowers; a woman offering a man a piece of cake she has just baked: some such human point of contact is certain to excite interest, from its very familiarity. Just as the landscape artist learns to half- shut his eyes and see a picture, so the advertising artist must be able quickly to visualize an article to be advertised. The ideal advertisement is one in which the copy and the drawing are equally forceful and each tell the same story; but when one is stronger than the other, the stronger should take 150 ADVERTISING DEMANDS ON ARTIST precedence. If the illustration tells the story in a more forceful, suggestive, striking way, then the wording should be subordinated, or vice versa. Suppose you were handling the advertising for a remedy known as "Miracle Mud," like anti- phlogistine, used for colds, etc. You might have your artist picture a man opening the can of "Mud" and at the same time opening the front of his shirt; or a woman opening the can and bending over a sick child; or a doctor hold- ing out the can to a patient, pointing to the patient's chest; or a nurse in the act of applying the "Mud." Put any of these illustrations on a bill board with the wording "Miracle Mud," and you would give the most casual passer-by a good idea of what you were advertising and its uses, though you say nothing more. But see what the advertiser and artist have done to this unknown remedy (which we call for illustration "Miracle Mud"). Together with the exact illustration of the can, are the words "Miracle Mud — the Easy Way." This gives no one the slightest clue as to the mystery of what Miracle Mud is. It might be a shoe blacking to remove mud; it might be some sort of paint; it might be a 151 ADVERTISE! fertilizer. A good imagination might think of a hundred different possibiUties, but no one would ever guess from the copy and illustration that it is a remedy. Here is an absolute waste of good advertising, and all because the advertising writer and the artist both failed to see the picture. In this "Miracle Mud" illustration, the pic- ture might have told the whole story and made effective even such weak copy as "The Easy Way." Even poor copy, reinforced by a good strong illustration, will often "go home." The copy and the illustration should always say the same thing. They may say it in the same way, they may say it in different ways, but both should do it in a very simple, easy-to-under- stand way. The writer of an advertisement has to learn to say in a line what the writer of a story would say in a whole chapter. The advertising artist must learn the same ratio of condensed drawing, for while advertising obeys certain principles of art and literature, it must be far stronger than either in its suggestive power. The attention of advertising readers can never be taken for granted. From first to last, it must be snatched and held against their will. 152 ADVERTISING DEMANDS ON ARTIST The only way you can hold anyone's involun- tary attention is by being interesting, unusual, unexpected. The copy has to be all of these, so should the art work. Think of the new ways of showing things. The more new things you can picture, the greater will be the success of your advertising art work. Do not allow one more border line, ornament, line, dot, or detail in any drawing you use than is absolutely necessary to suggest the idea at which you are aiming. Strive constantly for brevity in expression. Illustration as well as copy must conform to optical laws. Contrasts in the illustrations should be strong. Black and white effects may be skillfully employed, as may strong optical shapes such as circles, squares, and arrows. Where hand-lettering is used, remember that upper and lower case letters are always easier to read than upper case capitals. The artist, with an eye to the fitness of things, likes to put nice, square letters into nice, square space — capital letters, because they look better. But the ad- vertising writer must be firm and insist on lower-case letters because they read easier. In any case, where the artistic effect injures the advertising force, art must give way. It 153 ADVERTISE! must be willing to allow advertising poetic license. The "gaze" movement is an important optical law of advertising art. The eye of the reader follows the eyes of the figures in the illustration. Therefore the object of the advertisement should be the object of the gaze of the figures, when- ever feasible. Any illustration at the left of the reading will serve to arrest the eye, as it reads from left to right. Illustrations facing the reading matter attract the eye to the reading. Illustrations should very seldom if ever he facing out of the copy, and they should he looking at the things they are doing. As the whole aim of the advertisement is to incite the reader to action, the figures in the drawing should be in action, not still life effects, but doing something. Artists should be urged to study such technical things as how to make a line of figures seem to move, etc. Space is too valuable to waste on merely ornamental drawing. Humor may well be employed by the adver- tising artist, but it must be objective and not subjective humor. The reader must be made to feel a sense of amusement at common experience — not that he is being made fun of, or is liable 154 ADVERTISING DEMANDS ON ARTIST to be amusing, if he acts in response to the advertisement. Illustrations are nearly always misleading when an attempt is made to present a negative idea. Aside from their weakness, it is practically impossible to use negative illustrations without killing the force of the advertisement. Take, for instance, a carpet house that uses a large elec- tric sign, using the Dutch Cleanser illustration, on which they advertise "Carpetman does not clean carpets this way." In the first place, the observer would naturally infer that the sign was an advertisement for its originators, Dutch Cleanser; next, seeing the name "Carpetman" (this is not the real name), with the illustration, he would jump at the conclusion that he did clean carpets the very way he says he does not clean carpets. But even if the observer has time to think about the matter at all, and reads the denial — how does Carpetman clean carpets .f* Maybe he cleans them by other even less sani- tary methods — the advertisement does not deny them. See that the advertising picture Is as unusual as possible, without sacrificing its legibility. There is everywhere too much sameness in advertising art work. Think of women's ap- 155 ADVERTISE! parel. What an undiscovered field lies here for advertising art development. The average il- lustration looks like a catalogue cut, yet Vogue has a way of exaggerating the fashions that makes pictures interesting and characteristic. Surely others might think of more ways. Weigh and criticise every illustration as care- fully as the copy. Space and cuts cost money. Suggestions for Study 1. Select twelve advertisements in which the illustration and the copy are not linked together, and suggest changes. 2. Suggest six striking advertisements in which copy and illustration are linked closely. 3. Rewrite the last six advertisements about different ideas, with notes as to illustrations for them. 4. Give twelve instances from your experience of the past week which would furnish ideas for advertisements and illustrations. 5. Cut out twelve advertisements where the illustrations are too detailed and indicate suggestions for new illustrations of less detail. 6. Select six good advertisements in which the illustra- tions tone in with the display, color of type, etc. 7. Suggest a series of six new ideas for advertising the following: (a) Cream of Wheat, (6) Ivory Soap, (c) Campbell Soups. 8. Give brief instructions for illustrations for your advertisements. 156 CHAPTER XVII THE ADVERTISING LETTER The nearest approach to actual, personal salesmanship is the letter. While a step more remote than a personal conversation, it has the advantage of accessi- bility and none of the disadvantages under which the ablest of salesmen is bound to labor — such as personal antagonism, moods, etc. When a small amount of money is to be ex- pended, a letter plan is by far the most effec- tive means of advertising. It is one of the few ways in which results may be obtained and traced with a very limited expenditure. When large campaigns of advertising are car- ried on, the letter should be an important sup- plementary feature. Considering the importance of the letter, it has received a relatively small amount of con- sideration in the advertising field. Of all advertising, the letter is probably the most difficult piece of work; as a proof of this, note the hundreds of thousands of poor, un- interesting, ineflfective advertising letters that are sent out. 157 ADVERTISE! Did you ever see a druggist prepare a dose of castor oil ? He suspends it between palatable concoctions in so skillful a manner that the medicine is down before the victim knows it. That is the way an advertising letter should be written. The advertising should be sandwiched in between such an interesting personal begin- ning and ending that the reader is impressed even after he realizes that it is a piece of advertising. It is not always necessary that he should realize this at all — for the letter may be used by those who have not yet dared other more open forms of advertising. If the letter does not get the attention of the reader with the opening sentence, it is a failure. The first three to ten words must arouse interest. This first sentence must go smashing like a brick against the dull disinterest of the reader's mental state. It must be as rousing as a burglar-alarm in the middle of the night! It must stimulate him like a cold shower in the early morning! Then there must be in this letter a paragraph or a few words that are warm, friendly, and soothing. These are not compliments **laid on thick," but a few delicately chosen words that fairly coo to the natural vanity which every human being somewhere possesses. 158 THE ADVERTISING LETTER Another feature of this letter must be the special paragraph that gives facts. This must be actual information — not a general statement. These facts must be true and interesting. This is the technical paragraph of the letter. In conclusion, the letter must incite the reader to action. Before the reader puts this letter aside he should do something definite about it. This paragraph should urge him on, spur him, goad him, if necessary beat him, but make him do it. The whole letter should have an air of extreme sincerity, as though the writer wrote from his inmost convictions. This is such a hard thing to imitate that it is really necessary that the writer be thoroughly convinced before writing advertising letters. An insincere person should not attempt them. In order to make the first paragraph forceful, make it very short and begin on the "y^^" side. If possible make your first word "you." People are most interested in themselves. Note these opening "you" paragraphs: You have moved, but you are not settled! You come first. Decidedly you should be graduated in a blue or black suit. It's only fair that you should get first pick. 159 ^ ADVERTISE! Another good beginning is some simple human- interest opening such as: So often women say to us, *' If I'd only known that you were having that sale!" That's the worst of it! Things get worn out and broken. Or a letter may begin in some unusual way, such as one of these: It isn't every day you get a letter from a man past eighty. - Not by a darn sight ! Hello yourself. Sometimes a letter is opened with a story. One very clever letter writer used often to use incorrect grammar to make his letters sound more natural. In adopting a letter plan it is best to have all the letters written and approved before the first one goes into the mails. These should be planned for dates, at intervals of a week or ten days apart. The letter plan should be a whole, complete system of selling, and not a hap- hazard, hit-or-miss campaign. A fair test list is 5000; 500 receiving regular mailings is better than 50,000 receiving spas- modic letters. Often people ask how many letters may be 160 THE ADVERTISING LETTER sent to the same person without response. One man responded only upon receipt of the 17th letter. And his order was a good one ! An effective letter plan is to have the first letter signed by the sales manager or treasurer; the third by the secretary; the fourth by the vice president; and the fifth by the president, etc. Of course, all the letters should be perfectly multigraphed, filled in to match, and signed in a different colored ink, unless each letter is an original which is usually too expensive a process. The lines should not be longer than four or five inches, spacing single between lines and double between paragraphs — (save in very short letters). The letter may be as long as its interest will allow. The average letter should be contained in from a half to a full page, but a letter may be so good that it can stand two pages — (very few letters are so good). Letters written to people living in the country may be longer. Desirable effects are often obtained by using tinted or personal stationary of some sort. 161 ADVERTISE! Suggestions for Study 1. Note the advertising letters following this chapter and pick out the "special technical paragraphs." 2. Note the beginnings of the letters and determine what is the initial appeal of each letter. 3. Note the closing paragraph of each letter. Are the concluding suggestions direct or indirect ? 4. Make a collection of six other good advertising letters and compare them with the examples. Are the opening sentences of collected letters as good as the examples given in the book? Are the concluding paragraphs as strong.'^ Find the special technical paragraphs in your letters and tell whether these paragraphs make the points of the letters clear. 5. Referring back to the notes which you made on the subject of "Honey," write a series of six follow-up letters urging the use of honey and basing your appeal upon the fact that honey is predigested sweet. Bring into your special paragraphs the various ways in which honey may be used in cooking. 6. Out of your collection of advertising, select matter upon six different subjects and write six letters upon each subject, after carefully studying the data. 7. Write a series of follow-up letters soliciting subscrip- tions for Vanity Fair. 8. Write a second series upon the same subject, with the first letter purporting to come from an artist em- ployed on the staff; the second from a staff writer; the third from the editor; the fourth from the owner. 162: THE ADVERTISING LETTER 9. Give twelve instances where, in your judgment, follow- up letters might be effectively employed. Baby's First Business Letter Dear Little New Baby: You've begun to want things before you can talk! Perhaps you want a pretty new carriage cover, another best Sunday dress, an extra blanket or a beautiful new rattle! Your mother — who is going to be the most wonderful and wisest person in your world, for many years to come — knows far better than we, — just what you want. If she will come into the Baby Department of our store, 2nd floor, she can find everything for you there. These articles are dainty and inexpensive. In response to this letter we will sell her a pair of our fine 25c. knitted bootees with fancy trimming for 19c. Very truly yours. The By (Signed) M. K. Rodman. P.S. Mother! As this is the first business letter your baby receives, why not keep it among his mementos ? A Human Interest Letter Everybody laughed ! — when the antique chair collapsed with the gentleman who had so proudly entered the drawing-room, a moment before. 163 ADVERTISE! Everybody laughed ! — when the lady tripped on a hole m the library rug. Everybody laughed! — when a friend tried to pull down the shade and it tore instead of puUing. Everybody laughed! — when the cracked tea-cup broke in the hand of the pretty debutante. But these were not funny things. They were perfect tragedies of mortification to the hostesses and to their unfortunate guests. Who could have foretold that *'the last straw would break the camel's back" in the full hme- light of publicity ? You know, it's the way things always do happen. Look about your own home and see if there is anything on the verge of giving out, right now, because we are starting our great February Clearance in every one of our great household departments. These sales give everyone that once-a-year opportunity for house over-hauling. From pots and kettles, in our basement house furnishing department, to carpets, rugs, draperies, china and furni- ture, we've not omitted a thing for the home, from this great sale. The sale starts Monday, February 1, and that's not a day too early for you to come. Look your house over right now and see what's out of order. Antique furniture is charming in fiction, but Berkey & Gay is more substantial in every day life. Very truly yours, Melvin Leonard 164 THE ADVERTISING LETTER A Different Letter to Girls Dear Miss Brown: , An ill fitting or shabby pair of shoes is enough to spoil rj-ACv any girl's graduation. 1 ^ As you go on in life you will find this one thing true — it is the little things that continually mar the perfect day. "h Now here you are approaching a very important occa- sion in your life, one of those times when you want things to run as smoothly as greased wheels — most particularly those things pertaining to your personal appearance. You are anxious, your mother is anxious, and we too are anxious that you should appear at your very tip-top best at the moment of your graduation, when you will be sub- jected to critical and careful observation. And it's just such a time as this when one little thing — such as the shoes, before mentioned, a sash askew, an unbecoming hair arrangement, or a poorly chosen dress — will spoil the day for you. . ' Don't let this happen. — ^'^-^. li^^K The Blank Company is headquarters for girls' apparel. We pride ourselves that there is not a thing for girls, commended by good taste, that we have not in- cluded in our stock. From our ready-to-wear apparel to our unusual selection of fabrics suitable for graduation dresses; from our shoe department to our hair-dressing salon, we are fully prepared to assist you in appearing at your best. And right here we want to say when a girl is awkward it is because she is not properly dressed. Every girl has a style of her own, and we study that style to give it individual distinction. -^ You can make your wardrobe as inexpensive as you 165 ADVERTISE! choose, for good taste is not at all a matter of spending a lot of money. Just come in and tell us about the things you need and let us begin suggesting. Sn Our Miss Berggren will be pleased to devote individual time and attention to your needs and to tell you about the several things we are offering you girl graduates, at special prices. (/^ We suggest that you attend to these things right now, before the hurry and rush of the last moment. Why not come in today ? ^ With congratulations, Very truly yours, The Blank Company Four Letters that Pulled Business from Men Dear Mr. Fulton: If a blind man on a dark night picked out a necktie for you in The Bright Men's Shop, it would be a good tie! The only neckties we have are good ties. We carry no poor ties, no homely ties, no atrocious ties. Of course, your personal taste counts for a great deal in picking out ties — but it is good to know that you are shopping where you cannot make a mistake — either in pattern or material. Most dealers in neckties have advanced their prices, because silks are going up — but we are selling our ties from the very same qualities of silk at the same prices as before. You cannot find elsewhere so large and good an 166 THE ADVERTISING LETTER assortment of ties at 50c. Our ties at $1.00 and more are unexcelled. Why not pick out a few new ties now ? Very truly yours, ^ The Bright Men's Shop By (Signed) C. C. Carney P.S. You will find our Wait-on- You-in-a-Jifly service most convenient. 2 Dear Mr. Martin : , He put his laundry mark on some of our $1.00 shirts three years ago and is still getting them home every week, fresh and like new. We call that an acid test for ^hirts. If our shirts can give such good service, if they offer the choicest selection of patterns in addition, then they must be the sort of shirts you want to buy. We want you to appreciate our shirts — because we think them exceptionally well assorted. We have the staple patterns and a lot of snappy novelties, as well, both soft and stiff cuffs. The prices range from $1.00 to $10.00. And just a word about collars: The man who buys collars for us is a crank on ~tEe~subject. We know that most men are particular about collars — and we are pre- pared to meet the demands of any man in Toledo on the collar question. Just come in our Arapahoe Entrance and name the sort of collar and see how quick you will get it. Our Wait-on- You-in-a-Jiffy service is especially planned for you busy men. The separate Arapahoe Street en- 167 ADVERTISE! trance makes our Men's Shop an entirely distinct store for men. "Here's your change and thank you'* — almost before you get the words out of your mouth. Very truly yours, The Bright Men's Shop By (Signed) C. C. Carney 3 Dear Mr. Ebright: Are there holes in the sox you have on at this moment ? If so, we have picked out the opportune moment to say a word to you about good hosiery for men. The fact that sox are hole-less is only a third of the story. The other two-thirds is that they are well dyed, with pure antiseptic dyes, and that they fit your feet and ankles. You may be wearing perfectly new hosiery that is uncomfortable and hard on your feet. We are finicky on the subject of foot comfort. We believe our Interwoven hosiery is the very best on the market today. The yarn from which these sox are made is very fine and soft. Your feet are never irritated. The sox keep their shape, hug the ankle, and stay up. We have the various weights and colors — though the majority of men buy black now. Why not give yourself this one luxury of plenty of these good sox? Stop in our Men's Shop on your way home tonight and buy yourself some and give them a trial. Very truly. The Bright Men's Shop By (Signed) C. C. Carney 168 THE ADVERTISING LETTER 4 Dear Mr. Cassedy: Have you put your warmer weight underwear on yet? V This letter is just to remind you — the way your mother used to do — that it is high time to provide your- self with winter underwear. 3 There's a lot of "horse sense" in this change of under- wear with changing weather. No need to let your tem- perature go down with the thermometer. If you do, you are sure to lower your vitality and decrease your efficiency. vJWe keep practically every good variety of underwear on the market in our Men's Shop, underwear that sells from $1.00 the suit, up. Some men prefer wool, some part wool, and still others find a heavy weight cotton warm enough. You can best judge of the proper weights when you have so many varieties from which to choose. '^ The healthiest men tell us that they have different weights for every season, and change according to the weather. This helps to keep the skin active and elimi- nates poison from the system. \f We have men in our Men's Shop well up on this under- wear subject. Five minutes intelligent conversation with one of these men may save you no end of colds and ill- , advised purchases. We know you are a busy man, and we will take the least possible time in helping you select your underwear. •^Why not stop in today? Very truly yours, The Bright Men's Shop By (Signed) C. C. Carney 169 ADVERTISE! Advertising Advertising Dear Mr. Makepeace: Your business is different. And you feel it can't be advertised. So that's settled. Then let us advertise one-eighth of your business. To explain: The Chattanooga Roofing & Foundry Company manufacture and catalogue over 1400 items. They sell to retailers. They sell to jobbers. They sell to con- tractors. They sell to consumers. In fact, they have at least eight separate and distinct businesses all rolled up in one. Nothing on earth could advertise that whole immense complex business. But — four years ago we commenced advertising a little side line made in one corner of their factory — a corner about 20 X 20. Today "tin shingles" is one of the biggest parts of their plant. Nothing in business life is absolutely permanent. The big end today may be the little thing tomorrow, and vice versa. Maybe one little thing that you manufacture has possibilities that you have never even dreamed about. A good honest "specialty" backed by common-sense advertising could make you rich — easier and quicker — than anything else on earth. Are you dead sure you haven't such an opportunity hidden away in some dark comer of your office or plant ? Sincerely, The New Advertising Co. 170 THE ADVERTISING LETTER Yes, He Got the Orders! Dear Sir: I'm almost eighty years old, but I'm going to write a letter. I hope you'll read it all. You see, it isn't every day that you get a letter from a man who ha§ made rockers, chairs, and settees for almost three-fourths of a century. I learned the cabinet-making trade at the bench when a boy. I learned it right. But soon I said to myself, *'Go west, young man," so I went west, clear to St. Louis, U. S. A. That was 60 years ago. And my seven-story chair factory is almost on that same spot to-day. I grew up and my factory grew up too. Then, I brought my sons up in the business. I worked hard myself, I worked them hard. They were willing to work hard. They are all oflScers in this Company to-day. But first they showed me that they had learned the busi- ness from A to Z — and that they could sell our line out on the road, against any and all competition. I have also trained here a faithful, loyal band of em- ployees — men I am proud to call my friends. My men "stick." For instance, my chief designer has been with our house twenty-five years, and the foreman of the factory the same length of time. But they're all my "boys" to me. I take great pride in seeing sons working with their fathers in the different departments here. And their grandsons are coming along! We have all grown up together. That's what has helped to put Conrad's Chair Company where it is to-day. And my company will go right on growing. Why? Listen — we are constantly improving upon our manu- 171 ADVERTISE! facturing facilities and adding new designs. Some of us may be old hands at the business, but you'll find that our line is always strictly up-to-date. Furthermore, "Conrad's Chairs" sell and satisfy. They always sell quickly and give the dealers a good honest profit. They satisfy the dealers and customers because they're all made in our regular honest and careful way. They get new customers, always, invariably. Let me give you a few other reasons: First of all, quality. In the sixty years we have been manufacturing we have never cut quality for the sake of economy and extra profits. And we never will. Everybody in the trade knows well that Conrad's never misrepresents. We buy the best woods and season them in our own lumber yards one or two years. We also have our own dry kiln. Then with the latest and best woodworking machinery we combine absolute honesty of workmanship. Although we fill orders promptly, there is no rough, hurry-up work in making our goods. For instance: We bend all our underlockers. We double groove parts of our wood seats, in addition to glueing them. We use largely the bent continuous post construction for the backs, because it is a strong, lasting method. We pass on new designs every week, thus our styles are always up-to-the-minute. Every rocker is absolutely true, restful, and reliable. Every model is actually rocked in by expert inspectors before it is allowed to leave the factory. And that same rigid inspection applies to everything else made here. I guess you see now why Conrad's Chairs Sell and Satisfy — ■ why we hold our customers, year after year, some of them -^ and their sons — as long as we have been in business. 172 THE ADVERTISING LETTER Now, in closing, I am going to ask you to do an old man a little personal favor. It will take you only a minute. I asjc you to tell me on the enclosed postal card if you read this letter. And I would like to have you tell me frankly if you can suggest any way in which we can improve our rockers and other goods. That is very important. It is for our mutual benefit. It will also, naturally, be a matter of great pride to me if I can get an order from you now for anything in our catalogue. I would just like to show my sons that the "old man" can still sell goods. Will you help me show them that ? It certainly would please me. You can write your order on the enclosed card. I thank you for the courtesy in reading this letter, and I wish you all happiness and prosperity. Yours sincerely, A Closing Letter - . Dear Sir: You hate a quitter. So do I. Here goes my twelfth letter. I may fall down — but I won't he down. Not till you tell me to. When business is hard to get, you and I both appreciate it just that much more. Give me a minute. Listen — I have one of the largest in the United States. [Selling argument] This letter is too long ? All right, we'll quit, — but right here and now you've GOT to do one of two thmgs: 173 . ADVERTISE! Either tell me on this prepaid reply card to come and see you — or tell me "Why." Thanking you for reading this letter, and thanking you in advance for signing and mailing the enclosed card. Yours for quahty printing. A Closing Letter that Pulled Dear Sir: I guess I must be like that recruit down in Jefferson Barracks. He couldn't hit the target at any distance. Finally, the enraged lieutenant yelled: "Attention! Fix bayonet! Charge the target!" Must I charge right into your private office, back you into a corner, and choke out of you the reason why you never paid any attention to my letters to you? You never wrote. You never signed a mailing card. You never did a thing. And that HURTS. All I've been trying to do — all I AM trying to do — is this. Get a chance to talk to you for ten minutes. Is there any law against that ? I just want to prove to you that the is the peer of any in the United States, — on Quality — at Fair Prices. Won't you "come across" with those 600 seconds for me? How can you lose by getting wise even if you never give me a solitary order ? Here's the appointment card. Use it. USE IT NOW. Yours hopefully, P.S. This is a very small thing, isn't it ? 174 THE ADVERTISING LETTER Curiosity Pulled a Big Response Here "After burning the midnight oil, and translating ItaUan we've composed an essay entitled *What is the Western Man Short on!'" This rather startUng revelation deals in plain, frank facts, and so interested our printer that he read when he should have been printing and so delayed our work. But now we are ready and we have a copy for you. If you dare to read this essay, return the enclosed card to our advertising manager, who will see that you get your copy promptly. Very truly yours, Chicago Men's Store (Signed) Samuel B. Wheeler (Card Enclosed) Dear Sir : Please send me your essay entitled: "What is the Western Man Short on?" (Signed) (Address) Firm address on reverse side of card. 175 ADVERTISE! There's Truth in this Letter "r/ia^s the worst of it!" Things in your house get broken, worn out, lost, and out of date They do in everyone's house. There is not a single, solitary house in this city where something is not out of order or harmony, at times. Either the sun has faded the front parlor rug, or the laundress has broken the ironing board, or something! Now, here's the best of it! Every February our five great house furnishing depart- ments hold a great sale for home-makers, a once-a-year opportunity for house overhauling. The time for this sale has now arrived and more vigorously than ever before these big departments are taking hold with the avowed intention of giving to every housekeeper just what she is looking for in every article she may wish or desire, and at most inducing prices. Starting down in our basement, house-furnishing department, beginning with all the pots, pans, laundry, kitchen articles, etc., this sale sweeps through our big, beautiful rug and carpet department, our drapery section, our china department and finally embraces our great floor of fine furniture. We have not omitted a single home requirement. We honestly believe this is the most comprehensive sale of this character ever held in this city. But we want to prove this statement to you. Why not give your home, right now, this once-a-year over-hauling? On the verge of the Spring season, why not take immediate advantage of this sale and replenish, refurnish and refresh your home ? Visit every on? of our House Departments. Even if 176 THE ADVERTISING LETTER your home does not need a single new article — there is, at least, some new idea that you can glean from this sale which we are holding expressly for your benefit. The sale starts Monday, February 2. We are taking special pains to notify you before making our advertising more general. Why not be among the first-comers ? Very truly yours. The Jennings Co. By A. B. Cox Extracts from Some Letters that Brought Business "If you are not too tired, too old, or too rich to make more money — write us." "Any kind of answer is better than the dark, thick silence that has entombed you to date." "Whatever you want you can do except twirl your thumbs and keep still." " Criticize, — jump on the price, kick about the looks or quality, if you think any of these things are wrong, — scare our office cat into a spasm or poke fun at the color of our hair —i anything — but don't keep still." 177 CHAPTER XVIII THE ADVERTISING FOLLOW-UP Suppose a man were to fall in love with a pretty girl, and call upon her just once, what chance would he have to win her? He would have to call, and keep calling, and telephone, and send flowers, and in all the various ways in which men do those things prove that he was "in the running" and "on the job," before he could dare to put her feelings to the test. Yet, there is no woman whose favor is more fickle, more difficult to win, or more elusive than that of the buying public. This is why advertising requires as much skill as trout fishing; the hook must be con- stantly baited, and the bait must be continually changed. In nearly every city there is a great per cent of business men whose advertising is never seen. Ask any hundred people about any one of these concerns, and they will assure you that they do not advertise. But ask the proprietors, and they will assure you that they do. Consult the books, and you will find that all the way from $1000 to $5000 a year is paid out for "adver- 178 THE ADVERTISING FOLLOW-UP tising." The newspapers refer to these men as "sleepers." And so they certainly are! It is a positive insult to the science of advertising to call such a waste of good money — advertising. Single pieces of publicity, a letter here, a booklet there, a newspaper advertisement oc- casionally, cannot properly be termed advertis- ing, because they accomplish none of the results of advertising. They only serve to convince the perpetrators that there is nothing to be gained through advertising. Advertising experts execute such pieces of work at a detriment to their own calling. The whole secret of advertising lies in the follow-up. Effective advertising is a chain of ideas, care- fully linked together, forcefully expressed, and scientifically calcidated to produce a cumulative reaction upon a definite group of people. Where one letter will fail, ten letters will succeed. Where a month's newspaper adver- tising will fall flat, a year's advertising will show a splendid result. And best of all, the advertising done in past years becomes an actual asset, so that the years of past advertising have a cumulative effect. Before the first advertisement appears in 179 ADVERTISE! print, the follow-up should be planned, and when possible, should be prepared. When advertising is written in this way, it has a unity which it can never have when a single piece of copy is pre- pared at one time, and another at another, etc. In fact, there should be some one central idea about which the whole thing revolves, and this can be best planned out when the work is pre- pared, all at once — or at least when one part of it, covering any one particular phase, is prepared at once. Your follow-up may be of the same kind or of different kinds; that is, you may have a letter plan of six letters; or you may have a letter and six house organs and one letter; or a letter and two folders and two letters, and a card and a letter; or it may be all newspaper copy, or news- paper and letters and street cars, etc. But the big point is this — link it all up, make it all bring home your point, step by step. Reach your public by every effective means. Remember that one man reads the paper, an- other the street car card, another opens his mail, while another reads his theatre program, still another will see that bill board. And the man who reads your advertisement in all these places is none the worst prospect — in fact, he is surer. 180 THE ADVERTISING FOLLOW-UP But do not scatter your fire. If you cannot afford to do all of these things effectively, do the things you can afford thoroughly. Do not spread your advertising money out thin. Con- centrate and follow up. If it is the letter — send sixteen letters if necessary to 5000 men — ■ and land them. If your advertising is properly written, you will be surprised how many you will actually close by this means — not merely interest, but close! ' You will naturally select the most appropriate means for the thing you are advertising. Small, inexpensive articles — anything under $1.00 — will sell by mere publicity, but things which require more detailed explanation must be more carefully thought over. Whatever your proposition is, make your plan first, and by whatever means you advertise — FOLLOW UP! Suggestions for Study 1. What follow-up plan of advertising would you use if ypu were opening up a new department in the largest store in your city ? 2. What would be your follow-up for live list of 5000 prospects for an automobile ? 3. How would you plan to add a thousand new customers to the principal drug store in your city ? 181 ADVERTISE! 4. If you were selling stocks and bonds, how would you spend $10,000 to advertise to doctors and dentists? 5. If you were a printer, what would be your general plan of advertising and follow-up ? 6. If you were opening a brand new department store in your city, what would be your general publicity plan and follow-up? What per cent would you appropriate for this work ? (See chapter on " The Advertising Appropriation.") 7. If you were putting on the market a new face powder, what would be your advertising scheme ? 8. How would you procure distribution for your face powder; through trade journal advertising? Through direct advertising ? Or through salesmen, exclusively ? Or through salesmen and a follow-up plan ? If the latter, what would be your plan ? 9. How would you create a demand or your product? Would you use street card advertising, magazine advertising, bill board advertising, or a combina- tion? 10. What original plan of advertising would you suggest for a grocery and market ? 182 CHAPTER XIX BOOKLETS, FOLDERS, ETC, DIRECT ADVERTISING Direct advertising, under which may be classed booklets, folders, letters, cards, etc., offers the best means of telling the advertising story in detail. ' It is only when it is necessary to go into details that the booklet and the folder assume an important place. Barring the catalogue, which has a more or less limited use, the booklet and the folder offer the best means of telling the whole story. This is where the advertiser liter- ally sits down and tells them all about it. Right here is where your gift as a story teller will come in — for the booklet or the folder simply must sustain the interest. There is probably no place where there is a greater waste of good advertising dollars than in the publishing of poorly written, cheaply printed, badly distributed advertising matter of this type. Some of it never goes out of the offices of the companies who print it. Nearly every oflSce cherishes in its closets uncirculated adver- 183 ADVERTISE! tising, which "is somehow or other beUeved to be getting business — though how it can get business on the top shelf of an office closet, it is difficult to imagine! The next largest percent- age goes straight into the waste paper basket of the recipient. Why ? Because it's dull. It's just as dull as some person whom you know is a bore, and who is going to pin you in a corner and tell you a long, tiresome story that you know all about before it is started. But nobody has to read advertising. No, indeed! That's the worst of it. The people who pay for it seem to have confidence that they will, but they will not. If you do not believe this, go into any office building and examine the waste paper baskets. Or better yet, do this — hand out your folder or booklet to a friend and watch him. If he puts it in his pocket, your advertisement is doomed. It is only when he says, "Well, well, what's this.^" that you may know you have his interest. If he glances at it, count upon it he will glance again, and then if it continues interesting, he will read. But how interesting it must be — interesting in title, color, design, and illustrations! As a general thing, the booklet should have 184 BOOKLETS AND FOLDERS some startling title. It should pique curiosity rather than satisfy it. There are three ways in which the booklet or folder should tell the story: In the illustrations, in the headings, and in the reading matter proper. To do this is to make for unity and interest, and to give the least chance for escap- ing attention. The whole thing should be so plain that even a casual glance will give the reader some idea as to what you wish to con- 'Vey, and will tempt him to read further. It must be easy to read — printed in good, legible type (see the chapter on "The Eye in Advertising"). It should be well balanced; it should be well designed; and when colors are used, these should be artistically employed. The styles in booklets and folders vary from year to year, and it is well to keep in touch with these new, up-to-date printing fashions, for the very shape of a folder or booklet may be an asset. When the subject is one which permits a touch of humor, this may be employed judiciously in the illustration or text, or in both. But no matter how dead-in-earnest the booklet is, it simply must be a gripping, well-written, appeal- ing piece of work in order to bring returns large 185 ADVERTISE! enough to pay for its publication. Practically everything that has been said of other advertis- ing matter applies to the booklet or folder — except the fact that it may be more wordy. The lay-out or dummy should be made on the same principle upon which you lay out a news- paper advertisement. After having well in mind your subject matter, — your photographs, illustrations, notes, fac-simile letters, etc., — first determine upon the size or form. You will find that your booklet will run in multiples of four pages, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 32, etc., and this may or may not include your cover. After having determined its size and shape, have your printer make you an exact dummy — or furnish you with the paper in order that you may make one yourself. On this dummy you must first select the places for your cuts. These will appear better if uniform in size, and either arranged in a uni- form manner or balanced. Draw on the dummy outlines of the exact size of the cuts, indicating them by letters, and mark in your copy by number. Try not to get too much copy to a page; it will display to better advantage if there is not too much reading matter. 186 BOOKLETS AND FOLDERS While you may have several typewritten pages for your first booklet page, this is all "Copy (1)" — according to your indication to the printer. You can either pin your pages together or mark on each page "Copy (1)." Besides this instruction to the printer, your text should be numbered straight through in the usual way. Paper of uniform size should be used. By turning over to your printer a nice, clean, well-calculated lay-out, which will fit into .the space, you will save hours of time, save money, and get a more satisfactory job from start to finish. Get your proofs and read them each time carefully — read backwards in case you are not certain of catching every error. Folders and catalogues should be handled in exactly the same way. The more famihar you are with printing papers, the better you will be able to judge effects. Papers are much like materials. It is part of the business of the advertising expert to study papers and their uses. The booklet or the folder usually makes a bad preliminary piece of advertising matter. It is better as a part of a follow-up system. When you send a booklet, folder, or catalogue upon 187 ADVERTISE! request, you are certain of interest at the start. You may advertise it by letter or otherwise. It is possible to make a booklet a very beauti- ful and interesting piece of advertising, one that will be called for and retained. , Similar to the booklet in many respects is the House Organ — a form of direct advertising popular with many wholesale concerns. The House Organ is a little monthly magazine, which is sent to dealers, subscription free, for six months or a year. In lay-out and size it pre- sents the same booklet problems — but it differs in its style of copy. The House Organ must be chatty, confidential, and newsy. The advertis- ing must be cleverly sandwiched in between rhymes, apropos jokes, news, etc. Cleverly edited, the House Organ is sure to get near to the trade and prove a big business getter, particularly when coupled to a strong letter campaign. Whatever form of direct advertising you use, be sure to put every piece of advertising matter in circulation, and FOLLOW UP! 188 BOOKLETS AND FOLDERS Suggestions for Study 1. Collect a dozen booklets and folders that in your opinion are good pieces of advertising. 2. Select the best three in printing, color, type, and design. 3. Which one in your opinion has the most attractive title.? 4. Which one is the best written ? 5. In which booklet does the writer tell the story most clearly, in pictures, copy, and headlines ? 6. Select from the collection a booklet which you think you can rewrite in better style. 7. Suggest a new cover design, different paper, and color schemes. . 8. Rewrite this booklet, giving a new place for illustra- tions, layout, and headlines, and write the story in another way, using about the same number of words, or changing the size or style of your layout to fit your text. Reference. — Some Notes on Catalogue Making, by Samuel Greydon. 189 CHAPTER XX PROGRAM ADVERTISING The program is the proper place for amusing advertising. Only the advertising writer with a good sense of humor should use the theatre program at all. Through the program the advertiser reaches the leisure classes in their moments of relaxation, and it may be very effective advertising if properly done. But the great glaring fault of nearly all program advertising, the reason why it has not reached half its possibilities is that it takes itself too seriously. If you are sitting in a theatre on the edge of your seat waiting for the curtain to go up to find out what is going to happen in a thrilling second act, you will not employ the interval in reading a serious, finely printed article on life insurance. You might, however, turn over the pages of your program and glance at anything that struck you as unusual. Now, as a matter of fact, most people between the acts of any good show are thoroughly bored. If the dialogue in the show is good, they cannot 190 ' II i. d ^^^^ 1 ^^^^^^ciffH ^\J / ^ 1 rvj ^ 2,900 Hours in Bed? That is the average time spent in bed by the average individual during tne year. What wonder Better Built Beds make saner, happier individuals! You owe yourself one of these comfortable Better Built Beds. Ail Bedding on sale, including Ottermoor Mattresses. The Daniels & Fisher Stores Co. 191 ADVERTISE! keep up a conversation that is good enough by comparison. They are keenly, though sub- consciously aware of their own short-comings. Then the air in the theatre is generally heavy, the lights are bright, and the whole atmosphere of the place between the acts is conducive to slumber. But — and here is where the adver- tiser profits — one must not slumber, one must appear animated, charmed and delighted, and the poorer the show is, the greater is the boredom and the more strenuous the effort to relieve it. A large part of the audience read or glance at the program. Any advertiser who will go at theatre program advertising, meeting the mood of his audience with the same sort of mood, will get results. Any advertiser who will say something startling will be welcomed. Any advertiser who will cause a smile between the acts, or furnish a subject for conversation, will not only be blessed but remembered. But, remember, program advertising must be very short, and written for the casual glance. It must be contented with scant attention, if it plants an indirect suggestion. The program is a splendid place for the florist, the hair dresser, the taxicab or omnibus company, 192 How glad he wais he had bought that Good Tie in Daniels & Fishefs Men's Shop! A very Human Situation in this Program Advertisement 193 ADVERTISE! the dry goods store, the restaurant, the grocer, the confectioner, the miUiner, the modkte, and others. We would not advise it for advertising an undertaker, or for a serious business proposi- tion which is going to make a man think. He has come to the theatre to get away from that sort of thing. If, however, something humorous may be inserted by any concern (burying the undertaker) it will get results. Suggestions for Study 1. Obtain three theatre programs and glance through them, selecting the six advertisements that first attract your attention. 2. Rewrite each one of these advertisements, suggesting appropriate illustrations. 3. In your city, name three business concerns which you think might profitably use theatre progam ad- vertising. 4. Write a series of six program advertisements for each of these concerns, with suggestions as to illustra- tions. 5. Select six wordy program advertisements and rewrite the copy so that each advertisement is limited to ten words. 6. To what class of people would you appeal in program advertising ? 7. What desires would you attempt to awaken in theatre- goers in advertising automobiles, hair dressing parlors, restaurants, department stores? 194 The Face that Fascinates-" — cared for by our Beauty Salon, is free from hair, moles or other blemishes. We remove them painlessly, permanently, po- sitively by multiple electric needle. Only a graduate operator will work on your face. Make an appointment now. Remember .you will never have another face. The Daniels & Fisher Beauty Salon Ninth Floor, Tower i Subject Matter Excellent for Program Advertising 195 ADVERTISE! 8. What sort of business could be built by advertise- ments used in programs exclusively ? 9. How would you link program advertising to a cam- paign for a department store ? 10. Would you use in program advertising the same text that you use in advertisements appearing for the store in other media? Would you advertise the same departments that you advertise elsewhere, or different departments ? 196 CHAPTER XXI BILL BOARD AND STREET CAR ADVERTISING The bill board and the street ear card possess certain decided advantages. They condense advertising to its briefest, hence its most powerful form. They are repetitious. They have color — that all powerful attrac- tion for the eye. Almost without exception they are cheerful. These two splendid means of advertising should not be used in place of newspaper adver- tising. They should be used either for entirely different lines, or supplementary to newspaper copy. Both the bill board and the street car card excel for suggestive copy. For any article that must make a name for itself — a name which will be capital in itself — there is no better way of advertising. They familiarize the public with any name in a very short time. To plant and fix one name in the mind of the public, the bill board and the street car card, 197 ADVERTISE! either separately or together are without their equals. In all cases where an inexpensive article, with good distribution, is to be advertised, either the street car or the bill board is a splendid medium. But, it must be made clear how the article may be purchased — what stores carry it, or if all stores. The most glaring fault of this sort of advertising is that it aims at sheer publicity and fails to supply the connecting link that makes the purchase the logical conclusion. A splendid example of street car copy is that of the Omar Cigarettes. The spelling of the words with smoking cigarettes, keeping always the same number, was an excellent idea; also the showing of the tobacco leaves, the coloring, etc. No detail was slighted. In a national campaign, such as this, success is to be largely attributed to the fact that the cards are changed every few days, and that different cards are used in differ- ent cars, so that riders get a constant change of good copy. This makes the campaign as newsy as the newspaper. A street car is often the last shot at the pur- chaser. A man on his way down town remem- bers that he is out of cigarettes. He sees the Omar advertisement, and asks for them at the 198 BILL BOARDS AND STREET CARS first drug store. This same mental process applies to any small, inexpensive purchase which does not involve deep deliberation. There is probably no better medium for tempting the appetite than the street car card. This has been tested and proved by some of the largest food advertisers in the world. Because of its high suggestive possibilities, it is a splendid medium for flower shops, musical concerns, col- leges, etc. The more condensed the street car copy is, the more powerful is its suggestion. Also, it is well to be specific. One very pretty floral card which read, "Why not send her flowers.^ Vio- lets, 75c per bunch," might far better have read, "Why not send her Violets.^" and then men- tioned the special in the corner. This not only cuts out words, but comes directly to the point and makes the suggestion more fragrant because of the word "violets" instead of "flowers." (You don't smell "flowers," but who can forget the odor of "violets.^") This little illustl-ation is just by way of showing the subtleties of street car copy. Recently the department stores of the country have looked rather favorably upon the street car card. It lacks newsiness for the store as 199 ADVERTISE! a whole, but undoubtedly can do its share in building up certain departments and adding to the fundamental advertising policy of "being everywhere thought of." Both in street cars and bill boards, the ad- vertiser should aim to dominate. This may be done either by space or attractiveness of copy — the latter being by far the less expensive method. The bill board may well be considered the brass band of advertising. It has come in for more than its share of criticism, but this may be largely due to the fact that bill boards have been so hopelessly and unnecessarily ugly and so dull. Sheer publicity they have provided, but, with a few rare and effective exceptions, they have lacked a real human interest. The bill board is best when isolated. One bill board all by itself is worth twenty-five members of bill board groups. The copy, as in the street car, should be very condensed and suggestive, the coloring unique. The bill board should be changed as frequently as once a month. In political campaigns, it may be changed as often as a paper goes to press, if necessary. Of course, a difference in the character of handling either street car or bill board advertis- 200 BILL BOARDS AND STREET CARS ing, must be made, depending upon whether these are the sole means or the supplementary means of advertising. In foreign countries many of the bill boards are real works of art. There has been a marked improvement at home of recent years, and the time will soon come when the bill board, with its cousin, the electric sign, will win its way into public favor and increase its advertising force to the A^th degree. Suggestions for Study 1. Name half a dozen bill boards and half a dozen street ear cards that impress you as good advertise- ments. 2. Write six street car cards for a flower shop, limiting your copy to not more than 15 words and preferably less. 3. Note the best display of the name of the manufacturer on the street car cards in present use in your city. At what point on the card does the name appear .^^ 4. Obtain a collection of street car cards from the office of the Street Car Advertising Company in your city, and re-write the text for each card, suggesting new illustrations, layouts, and color schemes. 5. Write six striking bill board advertisements for the leading automobile concern of your city, with special reference to the chapter on "Local Color." Suggest color schemes, illustrations and layouts. 201 ADVERTISE! 6. Visit your local bill posting concern and carefully note the processes by which posters are constructed. 7. Plan a campaign of bill posting and street car adver- tising to cover your own city, introducing a new cereal. 8. Figure the cost of this campaign, including the printing, getting your figures from the bill posting and street car advertising concerns and from your printer. 9. Write the copy for the above campaign, originating a taking new name for your product, planning the illustrations, copy, and color schemes. Reference. — See Poster Advertising, by G. H. E. Hawkins. 202 CHAPTER XXII SYSTEMATIZING AN ADVERTISING OFFICE In order to catch the fleeting returns by the coat-tails, the wise advertising manager will get everything possible in black and white. To avoid endless confusion he will keep a definite check on everything to spare himself the unnecessary humiliation of being called a liar or playing the part of an easy mark. He will insist that all promises or requests made by him or to him concerning advertising, or other detail of his department, be made in writing. To lay down an arbitrary rule concerning the systematizing of any ofiice would be a waste of time. Systematizing is an art in itself, and the system that may be worked out in one oflfice might be a complete failure in another. Some people — there may be successful ad- vertising writers among them — have no gift for system, and it would certainly pay them .to employ experts and to adopt useful suggestions for simplifying the details of their work. So many papers and so much really useful inf orma- 20S ADVERTISE! tion of all sorts may be kept by the advertising writer in a get-at-able way that he suffers a real loss of actual time and money if he fails to make use of this greatest of aids to efficiency. There are a few practical suggestions, however, which may be of assistance to the advertising writer. First of all comes the indispensable loose-leaf filing system. This may be used either by letters or numbers, with a little cross-indexed card file, which may be conveniently placed on the top. It is easy to collect all sorts of informa- tion, from clippings to literary references, from the cost of making electros to the latest war map, or the newest type of folder, or a good story, or piece of information that would work into the advertising. With one or more such files, and a good cut cabinet, the desks may be kept like men-of-war cleared for action. If there are many people with whom the advertising writer has to deal, it is well to have a folder for each one of these people, and all correspondence or work referring to that in- dividual should go in his own folder, which has either a letter or number in the cross-index file. Correspondence, of course, occupies separate files and is kept in the usual way, ^04 SYSTEMATIZING AN OFFICE Advertisements are far more conveniently kept and handled in dated loose-leaf files than in clumsy scrap books, and in every way the loose- leaf system will be found more sanitary, elastic, and easily handled. No advertising should be sent for publication without a definite order. This order should state the name of the concern ordering the advertisement, in clear type at the head, the name of the publication, the date of publication, the number of cuts to be used, the space to be occupied, the border rule and margins to be used, the position (if any definite position has been promised), and the price to be paid for the advertisement. Any form desirable may be arranged, but all this information should be specified. Keep a copy of this order. It is the only definite check you have upon the adver- tising you place. All orders should be numbered and you will find it better to have the order that goes to the publication and the order you retain a different color. You know that the business oflBce of a news- paper or magazine is a very busy place. There are so many orders, and such unlimited oppor- tunities for things to be misunderstood, that your best protection and your only real protec- <^05 ADVERTISE! tion is in making things very plain. Consider, for example, the advertising of a great political campaign, when no check is kept. An un- scrupulous publication may, and often has, inserted advertising without any order, verbal or otherwise, and collected payment. This is blamed on the advertising writer, and he de- serves it too, for it is a necessary part of his business to keep a check on what he is doing. However unnecessary this matter of having your copy accompanied by an order may seem, the day is sure to come when you will be thank- ful that you have observed the precaution. When a large, temporary campaign, such as political work, is being conducted, it is well that every order should have an original and two copies (all three in different colors). One goes to the publication, one is kept by the advertising man, and one is placed in the hands of the treasurer or general manager. It is but natural that in case of a business dispute, your opponent, who may be a publisher, buyer, or correspondent, should protect himself. Then why should not you forestall the evil day with written orders, and make it known that you never make the slightest promise except in writing ? 206 ? "•£■1 s J.s-^ pc ns S! •1^ l^l-B 5 TJ V c ■" S «J u fe J^l kj 5-3 -Q j^ ^ ■u^ z 5 s« B ^o e §•- S c " 'f °^ . > flj ^ a -o 13 2^ • o 88 S 2 "u-c — S 2P 8 «> .._c > e otect e, oi he t dad less i TTiis pr duplicat py, and t a decide the busin a n V^M en form, uld be i ith the c< es will b : needs o •iJ^s^ ^ <" w:r: ^ " M V CL^JS made in er blank 1, togeth ir the du nged to ways be The ord ublicatioi colois fo y be cha rs D.*- fl r^ c * c c ^ ns should his order, nt to the ing differe orm that i CO 1 1 3 1 icatio n of ne se Usi toff. ■ 1^^ ^ c VM ?-i°£° S-- to p koran once ithe (D Z Q 2 E - u.a _u S W> 00 « > °.iir -c i-^i < '5i J. en JS QQ ^.2 M C t -2:1 I ^: < -Si 4) :ss ^1 I-- 207 ADVERTISE! Where copy of various descriptions is sent into your office, it is well to have some definite receptacle, such as a wire basket, for instance, hung in some conspicuous place, in which all copy must be placed. In department stores, a system of requisitions may be very nicely worked out and will save end- less friction. Have these requisitions in differ- ent colors, so that you can see at a glance what the request is for: advertisement, window, sign card, booth, or what-not. These requisitions should state at the top what the request is for and at what date it should be sent to your office. In the case of copy, the dates upon which requi- sitions must be sent in for the different days' advertising should all be stipulated clearly. Each should be signed by the person sending it in, and should state very definitely the time when the advertisement, window or other object is wanted. A tag notice for sales may be made out, to send in two weeks or more in advance of the sale, so that you may visit the department. This system commits the person writing the request definitely to what is wanted and keeps you in close touch with all the people with whom you are working. On your part, you should reply to these ^08 1 3 ^^* "O c/5 i j3 "^ .a ^ e ^g ^y ^■5 Qi^ ^ J^ ^.s ^* V ^ L. rt* S CO LLJ u .S*"^ 52 ■■1'° •■^ 11 05 * c X ^ la '^ 1^— S>^ "•e ^ r£v5 S ^f^ l^ ^^ J^ CO — « A. '^1 ^ '■^i ^ ^ si ^^ J^^ a ^ v2 E _ o ^M g-^ ;i.| ^iH C<} 11 O 3 ^ ? H O 2 CO O H CO >^ <: D O >^ > < X ADVERTISE! requests with other sHps giving answers. Here again you employ a color system so that the slips from the advertising office to the buyer are as quickly distinguished by him as his are by you. For example, in a system that has stood the active test of successful use, all requests for advertising are made on long yellow paper; requests for booth dates are on short orange slips; sale notices on bright red; window re- quests on pale blue; booth notices on rose pink; window card requests on pale pink; etc. In replying to these, window notices are sent on light green; booth dates on long red slips; etc. All slips are placed in folders in the advertising office. The slips go in the folder of the person making the request and bear the statement as to whether or not the request was granted. There are several other systems which may be useful, such as keeping a loose-leaf card ffie of all the competitive sales, or other advertising, done during the various months of the year. This will enable you to anticipate competitors in making up your plans. You may utilize these card ffies, likewise, for any other information which you use month after month and year after year. Having this information at your fingers' ends will save hours of scattered energy. 210 s u 4) (d bo O I d ■w- -t/^ -te^ o 13 •I a ^ ^ c3 c .§ .1 "S CO V6 o 00 § •l V4m 4J o i % J2 -^ i .s ST ^ s ?3 M CO 00 V .b ^ -2 6 a 1 00 E % .a 8 > o B o ^ o 00 S t o c r <^ c ^^ o rt : s -TJ -« C OJ ^ c^^^ v i^ o I OQ 1 I o g a •S ^ -S •S ^ 3 ^1 ^.| send ds a :1 a > tn ^s "^ .23 will ofth M V 1 1 v« ^ « .9* 1 ^ 00 i) RY i dows, space ig M upon U .S ^ •s >. > ? ^'^-B u (d .23 « Adv medi Vk z .6 cu 211 ADVERTISE! An excellent way to prevent the loss of cuts is to pull a proof of the cut on 9^ x 11 manila cards. These will fit into your file drawers, or may be kept in piles on a cupboard shelf. When- ever a cut goes out of your office, note on the card the date and the name of the concern having the cut. When it is returned, note date in ink of another color. This makes a complete record of your cuts. Various cards for keeping track of sales made through advertising may be worked out, but these must fit the individual case. The same is true of cost-per-reply advertising cards. Where direct advertising is used, lists of names are best kept in card files, and in making these lists color schemes may be employed to denote whether people are married or single, young or old, professional, etc., according to the divisions required. Keeping up a good active mailing list is sure to assist in any advertising campaign. The various cards may tell what advertising has been sent, when, and what return has been realized. Any short cuts that save time or relieve you of detail are certain to assist in your advertising work, and once you have grasped the idea, you will accept the help. But remember, too much 212 CQ a: 1 I T3 > O I Q a ^»« S^ s? -« § 0^ & 0) -*i» 5 fl flS o es 00 ^ pQ 1m 09 3 « 9 5 < O 0. « •I T3 tA a -♦^ :h « •PN a; C5 iend t idvanc ^ DQ QQ S > Q < 213 -o ^ CO u 2Pve ^ § S .S § .S w to S o, i:| ADVERTISE! red tape is worse, if anything, than no system at all. To be good, your system must be one that you are willing to stick to. It must be followed implicitly, and not once in a while. Plan your system to suit your own individual case, and then work your plan for all there is in it. Suggestions for Study 1. Visit some concern that sells office furniture and note briefly what pieces you would want to furnish an advertising office. (This is important as you may some day be called upon to select your equipment at short notice.) 2. What sort of information would you collect for your advertising files ^ List a few of the subjects under which you believe you might file interesting and valuable information. 3. If you have a desk of your own, plan a place for every- thing now on or in your desk, so that the only thing on it will be the work which concerns your immediate attention. 4. Visit some office and note six suggestions for saving time and labor through system. 5. As advertising manager of some large concern, how would you arrange your time in order to save time in which to be alone and plan your work ^ 6. How would you keep track of your business engage- ments from day to day ? 7. Name six things which you now trust to your memory which might be better trusted to memoranda. 214 CHAPTER XXIII CUTS IN THE MAKING Cuts are the most definite piece of merchan- dise that the advertising expert has to sell. Ideas are intangible. A piece of typewritten copy may look valueless — yes, even the best of copy. Even a drawing is handicapped by its bulkless, flat appearance. But a cut is a real, definite piece of workman- ship — as much as a clock, or a bicycle, or any other article of merchandise. This is probably why there are so many thriving Cut Services. It is instinctive for the merchant to appreciate the thing that has weight and bulk. Any one who will take trouble to step into a big engraving plant will get a far better con- ception of the work of the advertising expert when he sees ideas taking form under the skilled fingers of the mechanic. Many of the advertising fraternity themselves would get a far better understanding of their own work and its details were they to spend more time in the engraving departments — or as they might be termed, laboratories. It is 215 ADVERTISE! hard to imagine the amount of chemical knowl- edge necessary to produce a cut. With any drawing or photograph the first thing to determine is what size it shall be made. Usually drawings are made for half reductions. Sometimes they may be reduced to one-third, or one-fourth, but seldom less than a fourth. The best way to tell how Veil a drawing will reduce is to look at it through a reducing glass. Engravers have these glasses, which may also be obtained from any optician. In the case of an enlargement, you must consider the blemishes and whether you are going to lose the fine points of your detail. But the majority of cases with which you are to deal are reductions. When you have considered your space and how much of it you are to devote to your cut, then make up your mind as to the reduction and mark on your drawing or photograph, "Reduce to 2 cols, wide" — or whatever the width of the reduction may be. Should you wish to determine what the exact size of your cut will be when complete, point off your width at the bottom of your drawing from right to left. Draw a perpendicular line at the left hand extremity of your measurement. Then draw a diagonal line from the left hand 216 / / / / / / / / / / / / ^/ / / / / / / 1^^ ^ / — F O rt To Mark Drawing for Reduction Hold drawing to the light and sketch its out-lines on the back. Draw a diagonal line from the right-hand lower corner to the upper left-hand corner. From the right- band lower corner measure the desired width on the bottom line. Draw a perpen- dicular line from the left-hand extremity of the new measurement. The point at which this perpendicular line intersects the diagonal line is the height of the pro- posed reduction 217 ADVERTISE! corner through the drawing. At the point where it intersects with the perpendicular Hne you will have the height of your cut. This gives you the exact measurements and is very useful while the cuts are still at the engravers and you are laying out advertising. (See illustration.) While outside of a book devoted exclusively to that subject, it is impossible to explain in detail the work of the engraving plant, a general idea of the different styles of cuts will be of interest and value. The zinc cut is the simplest and least expen- sive sort. This is made from pen and ink draw- ings and is particularly effective in newspaper work, or wherever there is need of sharp con- trast and simple lines. It may be used in several colors when these colors are flat poster effects. The color work in flat tones is also less expensive and takes less time to print than other color work. In making a zinc, the drawing is photographed on the sensitized zinc. This is then rolled in ink, and topped with dragon's blood powder, which ''cleaves" or backs up about the edges of the inked impression of the drawing. The zinc is then given an acid bath, the acid eating away the metal save about the edges of the drawing. 218 CUTS IN THE MAKING The zinc is then baked, powdered, and bathed until it is eaten to a sufficient depth. When it is finally completed, it is routed out on a routing machine. This completed cut is not usually mounted for a newspaper. Newspapers use "floats." For other presses, the cuts are mounted on wooden blocks. Write "mounted" if you wish your cut mounted, otherwise it will be made a "float." A photograph or wash drawing calls for a half- tone. The half-tone is a piece of work as deli- cate as the mechanism of a watch, and its pro- duction may well be compared to the most delicate work done by the jeweler. At the same time the making of a half-tone requires photo- graphic and chemical knowledge. The photo- graph for a half-tone is taken through a screen. This screen is a glass ruled with a diamond into a great number of fine lines. The glass is ruled diagonally and is cut in the middle and placed together to make perfect little square spaces which show up through a magnifying glass as very fine dots. The cameras are very delicately adjusted to bring out the high lights in fine half-tone productions. The size of the ruling of the screen determines the fineness or coarseness of the half-tone. The 219 ADVERTISE! proper screen for the cut depends upon the quahty of the paper on which it is to be used. Newspapers use very coarse screen cuts — a 40- or 50-hne half-tone (meaning a half-tone taken through a screen ruled with 40 or 50 lines to an inch). Other screens used are: 60, 65, 80, 85, 100, 120, 133, 150, 175. (There are other screens, but these are the most popular.) Many magazines, such as the Ladies Home Journal, etc., use a 133 screen. This is the screen used popularly on glazed paper, on which much of the advertising is printed. But here again the screen to be used depends upon the grade of enamel or coated paper which you are to use. It is very important that you should consult the engraver freely and tell him for just what purpose you are going to use the cut. Half- tones are never used on rough papers except in offset printing or rotary photogravure. In making colored illustrations the usual screen used is 150 lines. These colored illus- trations are made in a series of half-tones which are printed one over the other — in process work. Usually four plates are used, but often as many as nine or more are required for very fine work. Good eflFects may be obtained with three colors. CUTS IN THE MAKING After making a key plate the engraver works from this, the three primary colors used being yellow first, then red, and last blue. The fourth plate is black. Lithography and photo-lithography (processes of engraving on stone, zinc, and aluminum) are used in the production of letterheads and posters, etc. For fineness of detail in this class of work they are unexcelled. In considering the amount of work which goes into the making of good cuts and the expert knowledge that is required of the skilled work- men, the cost of their production is compara- tively small. Suggestions for Study 1. Visit an engraving plant and write an account of the information which you obtain. Do not attempt to make your account "Uterary," but give every fact as you observed it in such a way that another advertising writer might base advertisements upon your information. 2. For what purpose would you use a zinc cut ? 3. For what purpose would you use a half-tone cut ? 4. Take three drawings and mark as directed, for reduc- tions as follows: \ reduction, \ reduction, 2 inches wide. 5. How high will your completed cuts be ? 221 ADVERTISE! 6. Obtain from your printer samples of paper which will reproduce 150-line half-tone cuts, 133-line half- tones, 120-line half-tones, 85-line half-tones. Note the varied texture of this paper. 7. When would you order your cuts " mounted ? '* 8. In reducing cuts for a booklet would you make them uniform in width, if possible ? 222 CHAPTER XXIV "PUTTING IT OVER'' IN THE MAGAZINES If it were definitely known of a certain man that he read the Saturday Evening Post every week, it would be comparatively easy to tell a great many things about his intimate life. Such a man would be personally very clean. He would use Ivory soap in his bath, Pears' soap for his toilet, and Williams' soap to shave with. His skin would be delicately fragrant from talcum powder. He would undoubtedly at one period or another have used Pompeiian massage cream. His teeth would be in a remarkable state of preservation because of his large collection of tooth brushes and their regular and scientific use. He would also have the best tooth preparations on the market — pastes and powders by turns. He would shave with a Gillette safety razor. This Saturday Evening Post reader would begin his morning by eating Cream of Wheat breakfast food. He would specify Campbell soup on his menu. If he was not a smoker, he would be an inflexible — almost an impossible man. But the chances 223 ADVERTISE! are that with a decent disposition this man would be a smoker. He would chew Spearmint gum. One of the chief ambitions of this man's life would be to own the finest automobile in the world with all its accessories. If there is any doubt in your mind that this is a true picture of a Saturday Evening Post reader, meet one and find out. A man is the product of suggestion, direct and indirect, and so clever are the suggestions of the advertisements of a magazine, that that magazine comes to play an important part in the life of its readers. If high cost is an indication of high class, the very best advertising in the world is run in the magazines. There should be about the same distinction between newspaper advertising and magazine advertising that there is between newspaper writing and magazine writing; the magazine advertisement should be a more polished piece of work in every respect. It comes before an audience that has time to give it a more leisurely consideration. Further than this, magazine advertising is the fringe of high class writing, and as such receives the consideration of the readers of H. G. Wells, Robert W. Chambers, and their ilk. The mag- azine is retained longer than the newspaper. It 224 IN THE MAGAZINES is read in a more painstaking way. It makes up in permanence what it loses in news value. Distinctly a class proposition, the first prob- lem is the proper placing of magazine advertis- ing. Which magazine or magazines will appeal to your particular prospective purchasers.^ If you were advertising an automobile, you might pick the Saturday Evening Post with its tre- mendous circulation. If you were to advertise books, you would probably choose such a magazine as Current Opinion, A mail order proposition might suggest to you Vogue or Vanity Fair. You might have an article such as a typewriter, an electric reading lamp, or a breakfast food, when you might use all these magazines in combination. Before you write your copy the first question to decide is whether or not you are going to specify position. The position places are the back cover, the inside of the front and back cover, and the advertisements before the reading matter and after the reading matter. The back cover has the highest attention value and the inside of the covers the next, and so on. Extra charge is made for these positions. The prac- tice of running the advertisements of reading 225 ADVERTISE! matter, which many magazines are now follow- ing, is of great value to the advertiser. In making your layout, marking the type, etc., the same rules apply which hold good in newspaper advertising. Sometimes the column widths of the magazines vary, but these should be measured, or measurements on the rate cards noted. The paper on which a magazine is printed is so much betteV than that of the newspaper that better cuts may be used with telling effect, while the fact that the magazine is read in a more leisurely manner permits the use of illustrations of a more detailed character. But in exact ratio as the cost of the space goes up, so should the character of the copy go up. Not only is the space more costly, but you are competing for attention with the best writers of the present day, as known to the magazine editors and the reading public. The manu- facturer who exploits his product in the magazine should be willing to pay the top price for the highest grade of expert advertising advice and service that the country affords. He should steer clear of all commonplace advertising. His copy should be not only convincing, it should also be fairly hypnotic. S26 IN THE MAGAZINES Magazine copy should not be a combination of several mens half-baked ideas; it should be the result of one mans knowledge of his subject, and gripping, compelling power as an advertising writer. In many instances magazine advertisements sacrifice strength to artistic effect. This comes about primarily from the fact that the copy and the illustration are not linked together closely enough. It may be because the copy is pre- pared in some agency where the copy-writer and the artist are both working out a third person's idea, or that the copy has been written to fit the illustration, or that there is the blending of several half-baked ideas as previously men- tioned. But the result leaves the reader guess- ing as to whether the advertisement is written for embroidery or chocolates. Then there is a lack of the "red-blooded punch" in much of the advertising, which again suggests that too many people have gone over the copy and killed the idea. But chief of all is the fact that suggestion — that great dynamic force of all good copy — ■ is not used in its most powerful form — the indirect suggestion. Wherever indirect suggestion is employed, you have masterpieces of advertising copy that stand 227 ADVERTISE! the test of time. Two classics that run year in and year out and will never be surpassed for their products are: "Good morning, have you used Pears' Soap?" and that wonderful piece of human-interest copy, "His Master's Voice." In the Victrola advertisement is that remarkably skillful linking of the idea and the illustration. Both say the same thing — and both say it so that it goes straight home to the reader at the very first glance. Peculiarly happy in their choice of advertising writers have been the great tobacco concerns. No finer example of advertising skill appears in the magazines than the advertisements for Velvet Tobacco, Prince Albert, Fatima, Omar, and the rest. These advertisements are com- pelling, usually full of suggestion, appealing in illustration, tempting to the last degree, and in every way perfect pieces of workmanship. The soap advertisements have always, like Ivory, floated on top of the advertising wave. Little Fairy is as dainty and delicious in copy as in illustration; and good old scrubby Sapolio has always been in the front ranks of the leading advertisers. The tooth-brush advertisements, while smaller, 228 IN THE MAGAZINES are remarkable for their clear, fine copy of a serious, straight-from-the-shoulder type. These advertisements are educational, too, and have, without a doubt, actually improved the teeth of magazine readers. An adroit piece of copy was used by one of the tooth paste advertisers in the wording, " Consult your dentist regularly and use ." The dentists themselves are now doing more to explain to patients the proper means of cleaning the teeth and the proper brushes to use, and emphasizing the fact that "a clean tooth never decays." It is not im- probable that they have been influenced by the advertising campaigns for clean teeth. Another advertising campaign that has been run in comparatively small space, but very effectively, is for rubber heels. The rubber heel advertisers use gripping copy in which the suggestion is usually rather clever. The very name "Cat's Paw," suggests a soft, velvety tread, and more than this — for it implies all the grace of carriage so characteristic of the cat. Among other extremely interesting magazine advertisements, from a psychological point of view, are those for the large public service corporations. The Telephone Company has been steadily making friends with the public ADVERTISE! through advertising. Rather more recent are the advertisements of the Pullman Company. This advertising does more than create a friendly feeling in the minds of the public. It has a tendency actually to bring about better service, and more considerate treatment throughout, for these corporations begin to think out better service from the time that they begin to speak to the public. The time will soon come when more of them will come into print. With the right kind of advertising and plenty of it there will come a far better understanding between capital and labor. Anyone who has glanced through the adver- tising in magazines appealing to the more studious readers is sure to be impressed by the remarkably clever advertising that is done for books. A large proportion of the advertisements are far better than the books. They beckon with the promise of wild tales of adventure, with knowledge as condensed as a food tablet, with striking instances of daring deeds, and fascinat- ing editions by famous authors. One can gain a very fair smattering of good literature, and keep well posted on the gist of many of the books, by merely reading the advertisements. Most of these book advertisers are exceptionally 230 IN THE MAGAZINES clever students of the science of advertising. Occasionally, however, one does run across an advertisement for books that reads like a patent medicine advertisement. Every magazine has its own particular class of readers. Probably the Saturday Evening Post is the best "mixer," and even it has a pretty definite following. It pays to study these readers and to have a fairly accurate composite picture of the sort of person addressed before the magazine copy is written. For example, one would hardly write an advertisement to women in Popular Mechanics, nor should one write to men in Good Housekeeping, This seems a self-evident statement, and yet from time to time there appear advertisements in Good House- keeping addressed to women in decidedly mascu- line language. An advertisement that talks of bringing "the consumer and the dealer closer together" is not worded in such a way as to bring home the thought of reducing the grocer bill to the average woman, nor does it tempt her, as would a suggestive food advertisement, worded for women. Advertisements that de- scribe the construction of an article are not so good for women as those that tell what are the results of the construction. Faults in such 231 ADVERTISE! advertisements are undoubtedly due to the fact that a great many men who write advertising do not quite grasp the psychology of women. The layout of most magazine advertising is strikingly good. The paper on which maga- zines are printed permits the use of half-tones and wash drawings, and most advertisers not only spend more money on the art work, but use a more detailed style. The great objection is that in too many instances the copy is written for the drawing — and there is a lack of co- ordination — also a lack of idea in the illustra- tion itself, which seems to be used because it is pretty rather than because it is strong. In its last analysis the difference between magazine advertising and other forms of adver- tising is entirely superficial. One may have better paper, better art work, better layout — but the main, gripping, vital thing is the " punch " in the copy. Not every magazine advertiser really, honestly, and convincingly "puts it over" in the magazines. It is pretty safe to say, too, that the strong, effective masterpieces of magazine advertising were the work of one advertising expert and one only. A thought less subtle, a word less strong, and such adver- tisements sink to the level of the ordinary. 232 IN THE MAGAZINES Sometimes one sees, too, a spark of this particu- lar sort of genius, a startling piece of advertising work, in a letter, a circular, or flashing like a lost diamond in some inconspicuous little ad- vertisement. Many a man has it right in his hand and does not even see his advertising opportunity. He fails to "put it over" — from a lack of understanding, a lack of faith, — or both. To "put it over" in the magazines, the manu- facturer needs confidence in his product, con- fidence in his medium, and confidence in his advertising manager. Suggestions far Study 1. In which magazines would you advertise a new face powder selling at 25 cents a box ? 2. In which magazines would you advertise a new face powder selling at $4.50 a box ? 3. Originate a name for the $4.50 face powder and write advertisements to appeal to three distinct groups of readers: fashionable women, extravagant women, inteUigent women. 4. Cut out of current magazines 12 examples of good advertising and give in detail the points in which these advertisements excel. 5. Re- write each advertisement for the same magazine in which it appeared, presenting a new idea cal- 233 ADVERTISE 1 culated to appeal to the sort of people who read that magazine. 6. Write six advertisements addressed to women about a new stove, getting your data from current stove advertising and naming the magazines in which your new advertisements are to appear. 7. Cut out advertisements addressed to men about some new automobile accessory and rewrite these advertisements. 8. Write six advertisements to men and six advertise- ments to women on the subject of your favorite tooth paste. 9. In writing candy advertising, would you address women or men ? 10. Name six articles advertised for men which exclude women as purchasers. 11. Name 20 articles purchased by women, excluding men purchasers. 12. Name six articles for men commonly purchased by women. 234 CHAPTER XXV "CASH MONEY'' RETURNS FROM ADVERTISING Too many advertisers are contented to expect a return from their advertising at some indefinite future time. Just as the prospector is always expecting to strike it rich, so men who advertise without knowing just why, or what they are doing, hope to wake up some day and find their mail full of money or their shops crowded with eager customers. Of course, some day some heir to your estate may get a return on something you advertise with high hope, but this is cold comfort. Remember, advertising is after all a plain dollar-and-cents business proposition, and you had much better take your money and buy yourself an automobile, or something you will get some solid pleasure out of, than to invest in luxurious advertising. Advertising becomes a luxury when you can- not set a definite time for the returns to come in. Publicity, while eventually forceful, is very much more costly than advertising, just for this 235 ADVERTISE! reason — that you cannot set any definite time for the returns to come in. Of course, there is an element of gambhng in all advertising — which may be what makes it one of the most fascinating of all business games. Perhaps your offer will not take with the public, perhaps the advertisement is not strong enough, or is too strong, or your strategy is poor — or maybe all of these things are poorly planned. If the advertisement does not pull, don't wait. Don't send good money after bad. Do some- thing at once. The length of time within which you should expect your returns depends upon the nature of your business and how long you have been advertising. Advertising is cumulative, and the back force of many years of advertising will keep any concern going ahead for a time. For example, if you have a national street car adver- tising campaign, the end of a year should show good returns. If it is a newspaper campaign, with news elements, your returns should be more rapid; while if it is a letter plan, your returns should be immediate. Then again some types of business require longer time to work them out than others. Usually the compensation for the man 236 CASH RETURNS FROM ADVERTISING who plays a long game is higher — but this is as it should be, as he has longer to wait. In the dry goods business, returns must be realized each and every day. Here advertise- merits may be keyed and mistakes of policy most readily determined. In cases where the merchandise backs up the advertisement, and the advertisement is written with a straight- from-the-shoulder sense of earnestness, the re- turns will come as they should come — daily — at once. If they do not come — something is wrong. What applies to dry goods, applies to any other retail business. In nationally advertised products, such as automobiles, hosiery, food products, etc., a long campaign to make the public familiar with the article is necessary, and at least a year's time is required before one may reasonably expect to realize on the advertising. In some of these propositions, it is estimated that the investment will return itself at the end of the first year, and that thereafter the concern may look for "vel- vet." Where the risk is smallest it is often the most urgent to get immediate returns. The man who has only $500 to invest in advertising can 237 ADVERTISE! seldom afford to wait as long as the man who invests $25,000 or $50,000. In such cases a letter plan, properly handled, will bring immedi- ate returns. It is the duty of the advertising man to refuse to handle any business from which he does not believe a reasonable return may be expected. With the proper handling, advertising is more certain in its outcome than either law or medi- cine, with which professions it may fairly claim to rank. Suggestions for Study 1. Choose any concern which you may make a subject of study at first hand, — some local concern, if possible, and one that may be nationally advertised. 2. Secure full data for an advertising campaign. 3. Fix an appropriation. 4. Make an advertising plan in detail. 5. Prepare a complete system of follow-up advertising, carrying out your plan in every phase, and be sure that every piece of copy is linked to the plan. 6. Compare your newspaper advertisements, magazine, billboard, street car, and other advertisements with previous work and criticize it carefully. 7. If possible, have some interested artist illustrate your ideas. 8. Try to sell your whole plan or part of it to the concern. This last step will be the final test of your ability. 238 VARILD. (Xldium) PR1CL5. 5TYLE PP1CL5 KLA50/\WHY SrZL COLOU QUAUTY ^LA30/\ABLLAt35 ADVERTISING LOW PElCt These Groups represent the Buying Public Much of the department store advertising appeals only to group 3, 6ne of the two smaller groups. This is perhaps the least desirable group, as it comprises 239 ADVERTISE! people who make a business of shopping and are known in stores as "swaps." It may be noticed in the advertising of clothing that the life of a given style is 60 days. This time may be divided into periods of 20 days each. During the first 20 days advertisements should appeal to groups 2 and 1 ; during the second 20 days to groups 1, 2, and 3, and during the last 20 days to groups 3 and 1 — with special stress on the appeals in the order given. 240 INDEX Acid test of a good advertisement, 40 Action produced by suggestion, 134, 155 Agate line as a measurement, 53 Advertising, definition of, 179; dominating in street cars and bill boards, 200; element of gambling, 236; ineffective when haphazard, 178-179; luxurious, 235; without salesmen (Chappe- low Plan), 16-23; wasted, 183- 184 Advertisements, filing collections of, 205 Appetite, tempting the, 199 Appropriation, as a whole, 6-11; as basis for plan, 6; in relation to other business features, 7; percentages allowed, 8; depart- ment store appropriations, 9; out of scale with competitors, 9, 10; "Suggestions for Study," 11 Analysis, data necessary for plan- ning, 15 Art associated with advertising under certain conditions, 148; condensing drawing, 152; getting ideas for illustrations, "Sug- gestions for Study," 156-157; humor in, 154; rules for gaze movement, 154; when art weakens advertisement, 153 Artist, directing the, 149 Artistic principles of arrangement, 72,73 Attention, involuntary caught through the eye, 140 Attention involuntary, ways to hold, 153 Average advertisement, too good, 37 Balance in advertisements, 69-71; illustrated, 75-78 Bargain instinct, overworked by advertisers, 4, 102 Beauty doctor, advertising with reference to localities, 123 Bill board, brass band of adver- tising, 200; isolation of, 200; difference in handling of, 200- 201; practice in writing copy for, "Suggestions for Study," 201- 202 Booklets, titles of, 184-185; ways to tell the story in, 185; humor in, 186; marking copy for, 187; proof reading, 187; advertising preliminary to mailing, 188 Brevity, a feature of indirect sug- gestion, 132; in street car and bill board advertising, 197 Campaign of advertising, plan- write-sell, "Suggestions for Study," 238 241 INDEX Cats Paw rubber heels, as an ex- ample, 229 Central idea and how to obtain it, 108, 109; of the advertisement necessary, 40 Chairs, the advertising of, 46 Chappelow Advertising Agency, preliminary advertising plan, 16-23 Clearness, necessity for in state- ment, 51 Closing point in an advertisement, 110 Closing point of sale not attained through reason, 128 Closing point for salesman, 130 Color in balance, 71 Column, paper and magazine width, etc., 53 Comparative prices, when they may be used, 103; when they show lack of ingenuity, 104 Commandments, the command- ments of advertising, vii "Copy," definition, 55; how to mark it for printers, 56; linked to art works, 150 Corporation advertising, 230 Correspondence school, advertising exaggerated, 97; ideas for ad- vertising, 41-42 Costly advertisements, sometimes not effective, 44 Customers lose through failure to mention place where article may be bought, 134 Cuts as definite merchandise, 215; making color cuts, 220; pre- venting the loss of, 212; placing them in the advertisement, 54 Data, collection of, preliminary to advertising, 14 Danger, the greatest affecting advertising, 44 Department stores, advertising requisitions for, 208; failures to create new customers, 4; returns from advertising of, 237 Dignity, shopworn tradition of, 1 Direct advertising, 181-187; prac- tice in preparing "Suggestions for Study," 188-189 Depth, rules as to requirements, 54 Drawings, marking for reduction, 216 (illustrated, 217); how to reduce them, 216 Eye, making friends with the eye, 137; prejudices of, 138; sustain- ing optical interest, 138, 139; large type for, 140; amount of type eye can read at one fixa- tion, 141; size of type preferred, 141; breaking long paragraphs for the eye, 142; preference for lower case type, 142; points of optical interest illustrated, 145; practice in pleasing, "Sugges- tions for Study," 146-147 Engraver, consulting the, 220 242 INDEX Engraving plant, getting familiar Half-tones, 219 with, 215; work in, 218; "Sug- gestions for Study," 221-222 Fatima, as an example, 228 First advertisement, point of view in writing, 37 Fixed ideas ruinous in advertising, 4 Flowers, the advertising of, 199 Food advertisers, failure to men- tion place of purchase, 4, 198 Follow up, concentration of, 181; study of follow-up methods, "Suggestions for study," 181- 182; effectiveness of, 179; plan- ning and preparing, 180 Folders, 181-187 Fraudulent advertising, exag- gerated, 2 Funk and Wagnals, advertising an example, 112 Furniture advertising, ideas for, 46 Future, of a business important consideration, 50 Gaze movement, the, 154 Gold Medal Flour advertisement, an example, 96 "Golden Proportion" in designing layout, 72 Guaranteed Hosiery, an advertis- ing strategy, 13 Good Housekeeping, as a medium, 231 "Heads" or head lines, short but not curt, 79; practice in writing, 80-82; hackneyed heads, 81; rule for writing, 82; examples of, 83-87; styles of heads (illus- trated), 89; practical work in writing, "Suggestions for Study," 89 Human, being human in your ad- vertising, 46 Human Interest in the art work, 149 Humor, objective and subjective, 115, 116; necessity for, 117; practice in using, "Suggestions for Study," 119 House organ, the, 188 Illustrations of magazine adver- tisements, 232 direction, not to be used at expense of clearness, 96 Interest sustained in direct ad- vertising, 183 Inexpensive articles, the adver- tising of, 198 Ivory Soap, as an example, 228; "It Floats," a subtle advertise- ment, 2 Laws of individuals and masses, 126 Layout, originality of, 55; practice in, "Suggestions for Study," 65- 68; magazine copy, 232 243 INDEX Letters, length of lines, 161; how long to make them, 161; prac- tice in letter writing, "Sugges- tions for Study," 162; complete letters as examples, 163-177; plan for signing, 161 Letter plan effective, 157; import- ance of letter, 157; opening sen- tence of, 158; special paragraph of, 59; "you" paragraphs, 159; letter plans as a whole, 166; test lists for, 160 Life, as a source of advertising, 3; full of forceful advertising pic- tures, 149 Linking copy and illustration, 148 Little Fairy Soap, as an example, 228 Liesure classes, advertising to, 190, 224 Lithography and photo-lithog- raphy, 221 Local color, its effect in adver- tising, 120-124; practice in using it, "Suggestions for Study," 124-125 Magazine, contrasted with news- paper, 224; as class medium, 225; favored positions in, 225; layouts for, 226; paper used in, 226; cost of space, 226; char- acter of copy for, 226; predomi- nating in ads for, 227; "punch" in, 227; difference in advertising, 232, order blank for adver- tising in, 209; practice in writing, 244 233-234; difference in adver- tising, 232 Market conditions in relation to planning advertising, 13 Measurements of advertisements, 52-65 Media in relation to appropriation, 9-10; reaching readers through variety of, 180 Men's clothing stores, letters for, 166-169 Merchandise, study of in relation to plan, 12; distribution and service, 13; data necessary, 14; poor merchandise a failure, 13 Merchandising, advantage of ad- vertising new merchandise, 103 Monotonous advertising in- effective, 4 Monotony of balance in adver- tising, 71 Money, sometimes thrown away in advertising, 45 Nationally advertised products, advertising returns of, 237 Name, making it conspicuous, 197 Names, card files for lists of, 212 Negative advertising dangerous, 48; in "Suggestions for Study," 51 Negative statements, eliminate, 109-110 Negative ideas in art, bad, 155 Newspapers, order for advertising INDEX Omar cigarettes, as an example, 198 Optical laws in art work, 153 Optimism, pulling power of, 114 Over emphasis to be avoided, 73 Papers, study of, 187; magazine paper, 226 Past advertising, bearing on ap- propriation, 7, 8 Pattern, its similarity to layout, 52 Pears' soap, as an example, 128, 133 Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater, in advertising, 38-39 Piano advertising, 37-40 Pica, standard of measurement, 58-59 Planning system, 214 Plan, depending on appropriation, 6; necessity for plan, 12; differ- ence between advertising with plan and without plan, 13; collection of data for plan, 14; analysis before making plan, 15- 16; preliminary written plan of The Chappelow Agency, 16-23; fully worked out original small plan, 23-35 Political advertising, keeping checks of, 206 Point system in type, and explana- tion, 58 Prince Albert tobacco, as an ex- ample, 228. Prejudices of readers taken into accoimt, 48-49 Points of contact, 1-5; "Sugges- tions for Study," 5 Program advertising, glaring fault of, 190; examples of, 191, 193, 195; practice in writing, "Sug- gestions for Study," 194-195 Pullman Company, the advertising of, 230 "Psychology," too much so-called psychology in advertising, 42 Psychologists, not all advertisers, 43 "Psychologically" perfect ad- vertisements often poor, 37 Publicity, its distinction from ad- vertising, 49-50 "Quality," a hackneyed term in advertising, 46 Readers of advertising, not guaranteed, 44 Real estate dealers, plan and ad- vertising complete, 23-35 Reputation of concern necessary consideration, 50 "Reason Why Copy" in relation to point of contact, 2; over emphasizes reasonableness, 127 Results of advertisement pre- dicted, 126-127 Returns, necessity for tracing them, 49; from advertising at definite time, 235 Requisitions, forms illustrated, 207, 209, 211, 213 245 INDEX Retail business, returns from ad- vertising, 237 Rubber heels, the advertising of, 126 Sale advertisements, lacking in imagination, 3; treated for news value, 3 Sales, competitive, keeping track of, 210 Sapolio, as an example, 228 Saturday Evening Post, advertising sidelights on readers of, 223; as a "mixer," 231; dull headlines in, 82 Screens used in making cuts, 219, 220 "Service," a hackneyed term in advertising, 46 Shapes, variety of designing lay- out, 72 Shakespeare in advertising, 128- )~ 129 Shoe advertising, a new idea for, 123 Signatm-e cut, its place in the ad- vertisement, 54-55 Space of advertisement, 52-65 Slogan, its power, 96 Soap advertising, 228 Street car cards, for department stores, 199; style of copy for, 200; practice in writing copy for, "Suggestions for Study," 201- 202 Style of advertisement, in appear- ance, 52 Strategy in advertising, 12-36 Suggestion at "closing point," 131; suggestion defined, 127; direct, explained, 128; direct, preva- lence in advertising, 129-130; differentiated from "Reason Why Copy," 132-133; law of, 129; indirect (suggestion) ex- amples, 128-129, 132; when lacking in clearness, 133; prac- tice in use of, "Suggestions for Study," 135-136; suggestion in bill board and street car copy, 197; examples, 228; in magazine copy, 227-228; its effect on people, 223-224 Suggestibility of people, 126; two kinds of, 128 Systematizing, practice, "Sugges- tions for Study," 214 Tea advertising, new ideas for, 110, 111 Temptation in advertising, 108; practice in, "Suggestions for Study," 113 "Teeter Tooter," as explanation of balance, 70 Telephone company, the adver- tising of, 229 Terms not understood used by de- partment stores, 4 Theory sacrificed for common sense, 43 Thinking in advertising, pictures, 150 246 INDEX Time for returns from advertising, 236 Tobacco advertising, as an ex- ample, 228 Tools needed by the advertising writer, 52, 53 Tooth brush, the advertising of, 228, 229 Type, authority of, 144 Type sizes, illustrated, 66, 67 Type table, 60-65 Understanding of customer, 4 Ungrammatical advertisements ' sometimes effective, letter, 4, 29,41 Velvet Tobacco, as an example, 228 Victrola advertisement, as an ex- ample, 148, 228 Wall paper, advertising ideas, 47 Women's wearing apparel, price appeal hackneyed, 104 Wording advertisements, practice in, "Suggestions for Study," 99- 100 Words, study of, 95 Zinc cuts, 218; floats or mounts, 219 247 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. Fin< OCT 23 1947 O&f 29 1947 f 3gJan58Jz IN STACKS JAN 1 6 1958 REC'D LD JAN 17 1338 300ct5ttFG LD 21-100m-12,'46(A2012sl6)4120 FEB 2 1^^^ REC'D LD DEC 5 - 1961 YB '18535 r >/ ^■•■••'••'' UNIVERSITY OF CAUFORNIA LIBRARY