EARL READE OBERN LIBKAKY LIBRARY THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA PRESENTED BY GEORGE OBERN XIII 1 K-8-T Modern Business A Series of Texts prepared as part of the Modern Business Course and Service Trade Mark t7nttarf Statet and Great Britain Marca Rtuutra.ta. M. J f. Alexander Hamilton Institute Modern Business Texts Prepared as part of the Modern Business Course and Service 1. Business and the Man 2. Economics The Science of Business 3. Business Organization 4. Plant Management 5. Marketing and Merchandising 6. Salesmanship and Sales Management 7. Advertising Principles 8. Office Administration 9. Accounting Principles 10. Credit and Collections 11. Business Correspondence 12. Cost Finding 13. Advertising Campaigns 14. Corporation Finance 15. Transportation 16. Foreign Trade and Shipping 17. Banking 18. International Exchange 19. Insurance 20. The Stock and Produce Exchanges 21. Accounting Practice and Auditing 22. Financial and Business Statements 23. Investments 24. Business and the Government EDITOR-IN-CHIEF JOSEPH FRENCH JOHNSON EDITORS, WRITERS AND CONSULTANTS C See list on page V of Volume 1 ] Advertising Campaigns By Mac Martin Lecturer, University of Minnesota Modern Business Texts VOLUME 13 Alexander Hamilton Institute New York Copyright, 1917, by Alexander Hamilton Institute Copyright in Great Britain, 1917, by Alexander Hamilton Institute All rights reserved, including translation into Scandinavian Latest Revision, 1922 Made in U. S. A, PREFACE In the Modern Business Texts the study of adver- tising is divided into three parts. First, in the Text on "Marketing and Merchandising," there is a com- plete presentation of the things that have to be con- sidered by anyone who has anything to market before he sends out his salesmen or prepares his advertising. That Text treats of the plan behind the campaign. After a manufacturer or dealer has studied the things that must precede any selling campaign trade rela- tions, the product, the market and the methods of reaching the market he decides to use either personal salesmanship or advertising, or both, to sell his goods. The Text on "Advertising Principles" shows what advertising can do for his business, guides him in choosing the right advertising appeal and treats of what may be called the technique of advertising, writ- ing the copy, preparing the illustrations and getting the advertisement before the public. There is much more to advertising, however, than the making of a preliminary study and the writing of advertisements. The advertiser has to consider problems of organization, methods of identifying his roods, his relation with agencies, the selecting of me- diums, distribution, dealer cooperation and a host of vi PREFACE other things, all of which have an important part in the complete campaign. The present Text deals with the many essential parts of an advertising campaign which have not been considered in preceding Texts in the Modern Business Series. It gathers all the di- verse considerations of the advertisers, shows their relation one to another and binds them into a unified whole. Thruout the Text the point of view is chiefly that of the manufacturer, because the manufacturer's ad- vertising campaign is inclusive of all advertising problems his dealers', as well as his own. Most of the subjects treated, therefore, will be of interest to the dealer as well as to the manufacturer. MAC MARTIX. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I SECTION 1. The Struggle of Business PACK 1 2. The Campaign a Modern Development . 1 3. Objects of Campaigns 2 4. The Time Required 4 5. Effect of the Campaign on the Advertiser . 5 6. Effect of the Campaign on Salesmen 7 7. Effect of the Campaign on Dealers .... 8 8. Effect of the Campaign on Consumers . 9 9. Effect of the Campaign on the Product 10 10. The Campaign as a Great Educator .... 12 11. Advertising and Selling Expense 13 12. Campaigns that Cut Manufacturers' Costs . 15 13. Campaigns that Have Cut Retailers' Costs . 15 14. Experience the Best Guide 16 CHAPTER II ANALYSIS OF DK.MANI) A\D COMPETITION 1. Preliminaries of the Campaign 18 2. Developing Demand 19 :j. Educational Campaigns 19 4. Diverting Demand 20 5. Demand and the Repeat Element 22 6. Advertising with the Season 24 O vii viii ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS SECTION PAGE 7. Advertising Against the Season 24 8. Competition 25 9. Comparison of Good-Will 26 10. Comparison of Advertising 27 11. Studying a Competitor's Folio w-Up .... 28 12. Correcting Errors by Studying Competitors . . 29 13. Comparison of Sales Policies 30 14. Comparison of Freight Advantages .... 31 15. Relative Importance of Competitors .... 31 CHAPTER III THE ADVERTISING APPROPRIATION 1. How Much to Spend for Advertising .... 34 2. The Value of Records 34 3. Time Required to Reduce Selling Cost Per Unit . 35 4. When Advertising Begins to Bear Fruic ... 37 5. Basing the Appropriation on a Specified Amount . Per Unit of Expected Sales 38 6. Basing the Appropriation on a Certain Amount Per Possible Purchaser 39 7. Basing the Appropriation on the Amount of Capi- tal Available 40 8. Basing the Appropriation on Cost Per Inquiry and Per Sale 41 9. Basing the Appropriation on a Proportion of the Profits of the Previous Year 42 10. Basing the Appropriation on Amount Spent the Previous Year 43 11. Basing the Appropriation on the Space Desired . 44 12. Basing the Appropriation on a Certain Per Cent of Gross Sales 45 13. Retailers' Appropriations 46 CONTENTS ix SECTION PAGE 1 k Determining the Proper Percentage .... 47 15. Apportioning the Appropriation 49 CHAPTER IV METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION 1. Necessity of Identification 52 2. Packages Make Advertising Possible .... 53 3. Methods of Identifying the Product .... 54 4. Shape as a Means of Identification .... 54 5. Color as a Means of Identification .... 55 6. Methods of Identifying the Advertising ... 56 7. Names and Trade-Marks 58 8. Typical Characters 60 9. When Typical Characters Are Inadvisable . . 62 10. Advantages of a Slogan 62 11. Typographical Means of Identification ... 63 1'J. Individual Style in Illustrations and Copy . . 64 13. I'niform Colors 64 14. Position in Publications as a Means of Identifica- tion 54 1 ">. Relative Value of Different Methods of Identifica- tion 65 CHAPTER V THE ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT 1. The Director of the Department 68 2. Attributes of Advertising Manager .... 69 3. Responsibility for the Advertising .... 70 4. Functions of an Advertising Department ... 71 5. Systems of Organization 73 6. A Large Advertising Department 71 7. Small Advertising Department 77 8. Territorial Advertising Departments ..... 78 x ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS SECTION PAGE 9. Cooperation with Sales Department .... 79 10. Obtaining First-Hand Information in the Field . 81 11. The Advertising Department and the Advertising Agency 82 CHAPTER VI THE ADVERTISING AGENCY 1. What an Advertising Agency Is 84 2. What an Advertising Agency Does .... 86 3. History of the Advertising Agency .... 88 4. Publishers' Representatives 90 5. Agency's Service to Publisher 90 6. Agency's Service to Advertisers 92 7. The Outsider's Viewpoint 94 8. How Agencies Are Organized 94 9. How an Agency Works 96 10. Obtaining Information for the Campaign . . 97 11. Planning the Campaign 98 12. Producing the Advertisements 100 13. Relation of Agency to Advertiser 101 14. The Advertising Agent's Compensation . . . 102 15. The Meaning of "Recognition" . . . . . 105 16. How an Agency Secures Recognition . . . .106 CHAPTER VII ADVERTISING MEDIA 1. Place of the Medium in the Campaign . . . 109 2. One Medium Alone Seldom Sufficient . . . .110 3. Advertising Media Defined ... ... 110 4. How Media Are Selected Ill 5. Circulation 112 6. Three General Classes of Media 114 CONTENTS xi !"N . PAGE 7. Kinds of Direct Media 115 8. Letters 115 9. Sampling and Demonstrating . ... 116 10. Booklets 116 11. Catalogs 117 12. House Organs 118 13. Novelties - 119 CHAPTER VIII ADVERTISING MEDIA (Continued) 1. Periodicals 121 2. Newspapers 121 3. Magazines 122 4. Farm Journals . 123 5. Trade, Technical and Class Publications . . . 124 6. Foreign Language Publications 125 7. Directories 125 8. Theater Programs 126 9. Signs 126 10. Dealers' Signs 127 11. Posters 127 12. Painted Bulletins 128 13. Electric Signs 129 14. Railway Signs 130 15. Theater Signs 131 16. Why There Are Not More Media 132 CHAPTER IX WEIGHING CIRCULATION 1. The Value of an Advertising Medium .... 134 2. Cost Per Possible Purchaser 135 3. Discovering the Typical Purchaser .... 137 xii ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS SECTION PAGE 4. Geographical Conditions 138 5. Social Conditions 140 6. Circulation Statements 142 7. History of Circulation Statements .... 144 8. Duplication of Circulation 145 9. Extent of Duplication 147 10. Subscription Price as Barometer of Purchasing Power 148 11. The Flat Rate 150 12. Preferred Position 150 13. When to Use Preferred Position 151 CHAPTER X WEIGHING PRESTIGE 1. The Meaning of Prestige . . . ' . . . .153 2. Prestige of Direct Media 153 3. Prestige of Signs 154 4. How Prestige Works 155 5. Factors in Prestige 156 6. Editorial Policy 157 7. Circulation Policy .158 8. Morning and Evening Papers 158 9. Sales and Subscription Magazines .... 159 10. Advertising Policy 160 11. Typical Advertising Policies 162 i CHAPTER XI LETTERS AND DIRECT ADVERTISING 1. Components of Direct Advertising . . . .166 2. Advantages of Mail Campaigns 166 3. The Uses of Direct Advertising 168 4. Compiling the Mailing List 169 CONTENTS xiii SECTION PAGE ">. Getting a Correct List 172 6. Keeping Lists Up-to-Date 173 7. Filing the Mailing Cards 174 H. Sales by Mail 175 9. Raking the List 175 10. The Trial Campaign 176 11. Tests of Follow-Up Series 177 12. Taking the Average of a Series 179 CHAPTER XII SAMPLING 1. Extent of Sampling 181 2. General Classes of Sampling 182 3. Sampling Thru Distribution by Other Manufac- turer, . 182 i. House-to-House Sampling 182 .">. Sampling in Public Places 183 6. Sampling Where Representative Groups Are Con- gregated 184 7. Demonstrating in Consumers' Homes .... 184 8. Lectures and Sampling 185 9. Sampling in Restaurants 185 10. Sampling Influential Groups 185 11. Sampling Direct by Mail 186 12. Sampling at Factory "House Warmings" . . 187 13. Sampling by Using Premiums 187 14. Sampling Thru Dealers 187 1 ~>. Sampling with Coupons 188 16. Samples Free with Purchases 189 17. Sampling in Delivery Packages 190 18. Sending Samples with Other Goods .... 190 19. Sampling at Demonstrations 190 20. Compensation to Cooperating Dealers . . . 191 xiv ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS CHAPTER XIII HOW PERIODICALS ARE USED SECTION PAGE 1. Place of Periodicals in the Campaign .... 194 2. Kinds of Newspaper Advertising 194 3. How Newspapers Are Used by Manufacturers . 196 4. Size of Newspaper Advertisements .... 197 5. Amount of Space Used in Newspapers . . . 199 6. Use of Magazines 200 7. Use of Farm Journals 202 8. Use of Trade, Technical and Class Publications . 204 9. Use of Foreign Language Publications . . . 206 10. Use of Directories 207 11. Size of Space in Periodicals 207 CHAPTER XIV THE USE OF SIGNS 1. Window Trims 211 2. The Window Trim and National Sales Week . . 212 3. The Use of Counter Display 213 4. How to Get Dealers to Use Signs 214 5. Most Profitable Fields for Window and Counter Display 216 6. Cooperating with Dealers in Buying Signs . . 217 7. The Use of Posters 219 8. Use of Painted Bulletins 220 9. Use of Street-Car Cards . . 221 10. Parades as Advertising Mediums .... CHAPTER XV CAMPAIGNS TO OBTAIN DISTRIBUTION 1. Four Kinds of Campaigns 225 2. Should Advertising Precede Distribution? . . 225 3. Starting on a Small Scale 227 CONTENTS xv BECTIOX 4. A Flour Campaign ......... 228 5. Distribution for an Article of Limited Consump- tion ............ 231 6. Dangers of Overstocking ....... 231 7. When Distribution Preceded Advertising . . . 232 8. Using Established Good-Will to Obtain Distribu- tion ............ 234 CHAPTER XVI CAMPAIGNS TO OBTAIN DEALER COOPERATION 1. Place of Dealer in the Campaign ..... 236 2. Three Periods of Dealer Cooperation .... 237 3. Period of "Bluff the Dealer" ...... 238 4. Period of "Help the Dealer" ...... 238 5. The Spirit of Sales Cooperation : . . . . 240 6. Influence of Quality of Goods ...... 240 7. Profit as an Inducement to Cooperate .... 241 8. Importance of Quick Stock Turnovers . . . 241 9. Educating the Dealer and His Sales People . . 241 10. Campaigns to Increase the Sales of Related Prod- ucts ............ 243 11. Three Kinds of "Dealer Helps" ..... 244 12. Dealers' Newspaper Advertising ..... 245 13. Advertisements that Represent the Dealer . . 246 14. Furnishing Parts of Advertisements .... 247 15. Assistance in Dealers' Direct Advertising . . . 248 16. Manufacturers' Consumer Advertising . . . 249 17. Dealers Meet Advertisers Half-Way .... 251 CHAPTER XVII MAIL-ORDER CAMPAIGNS 1. Kinds of Mail-Order Campaigns ..... 253 2. The Mail-Order Specialty Advertiser .... 255 XIII 2 xvi ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS SECTION 3. Requirements of Mail-Order Specialty House . . 256 4. Influence of Style Centers 257 5. Costs of Mail-Order Specialty Advertising . . 258 6. Using Records in Choosing Media .... . 259 7. Difficulties of Specialty Mail-Order Selling . . 260 8. Selling by Mail to Get Distribution . 262 9. Department Store Mail-Order Campaigns . 264 10. General Mail-Order Distributors .... . 265 11. Mail-Order Successes and Failures . 266 CHAPTER XVIII PUBLIC SENTIMENT CAMPAIGNS 1. A New Use of Advertising . .... 268 2. The Campaign Versus the Press Agent . 268 3. Political Advertising Campaigns . 270 4. Advertising for Fair Play . 272 5. Advertising to Win Strikes . 273 6. Advertising for General Good-Will . 274 rt Cooperative Public Sentiment Campaigns . . 275 8. Advertising a Charity . . 275 9. Cooperative Campaigns for Specific Industries . 276 10. Advertising a City . 278 11. 281 12. o Advertising National Needs . 283 13. Modern National Advertising . 284 CHAPTER XIX THE TRADER'S CAMPAIGN 1. Classes of Distributors . 286 2. Development of Jobber Advertising . 286 3. Jobber's Gain Thru Advertising . . ... . 288 4. Media for the Jobber . 288 5. Retailer's Advertising . 289 6. What Is Advertising 1 289 CONTENTS xvii SECTION PACK 7. An Advertising Policy 290 H. What Makes Poor Copy 291 9. What Makes Good Copy 292 10. Types of Retail Advertising 29.3 11. Small Store Advertising .. 294 12. Choice of Media 294 13. Chain Store Advertising 295 14. Featuring of Price 296 1"). Advertising Methods 296 16. Department Store Advertising 297 17. Choice of Media : . . 297 18. Methods of Appeal 298 CHAPTER XX THE CAMPAIGN AS A WHOLE 1. Final Problems of the Advertiser 301 2. Changing the Plan to Bring Results .... 301 3. A Selling Plan that Was Wrong 302 4. Adapting Campaign to Local Conditions . . . 304 5. Unifying the Campaign 805 6. "Selling'* the Advertising to the Salesmen . . 306 7. "Selling" the Advertising to Dealers .... 308 8. Putting the Organization Behind the Campaign . 309 9. Two Fundamental aws of Advertising . . .310 10. The Point of Diminishing Returns . . . .311 11. Cumulative Effect of Repetition 313 12. The Family Resemblance of Advertisements . . 315 APPENDIX CHARTS 1. Organization of an Advertising Agency . . .319 2. An Advertising Campaign 320 3. Classification of Advertising Media ... Index ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS CHAPTER I THE PURPOSE OF THE CAMPAIGN 1. The struggle of business. The word campaign signifies carefully planned and carefully coordinated effort. Its significance in war and in business is the same. The advertising campaign includes everything done by an advertiser to promote sales thru publicity, all planned in advance, and every part is designed to fit into the other parts so that there will be no con- flicting effort, no friction simply a smoothly running machine directed toward the goal of increased sales. 2. The campaign a modern development. The idea of uniting all the advertising of an organization into a strongly centered campaign is one of the latest developments of modern business. Thirty years ago an advertisement was an advertisement. It was thought of as nothing more than a brief announce- ment on paper. Advertisements were seldom changed. There was seldom a single underlying thought drawing together all parts of the publicity of a business. Today we find remarkable examples of 2 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS unity. While there is more variation in copy and more change in advertisements than there used to be, the same purpose and the same ideas run thru all the publicity of an advertiser. We find advertisers creating an atmosphere around themselves and their goods which is the same in each advertising medium. A typical example is that of Cluett, Peabody and Company, manufacturer of Arrow Collars and Arrow Shirts. The style of lettering used for the words "Arrow Collars" is the same in all advertisements. There is a similarity in the style of illustrations and in the tone of the copy. This is noticeable whether the advertisement appears in a magazine, on a street- car card, or on a window display. The same illustra- tions are used in different forms, sometimes with a group of figures and sometimes with a single figure, in street-car cards, posters, window cards, and in every one of the other varied forms of advertising which the company uses. There is a unity of im- pression, a unity of purpose. Each advertisement supports its fellows. Each is a part of a complete campaign. 3. Objects of campaigns. While thirty years ago most advertising was thought of merely as general publicity, today every advertising campaign is backed by a definite purpose for the accomplishment of a specific object. We have begun to know why we advertise. Some campaigns are purely educational; others are purely competitive. Occasionally we find a campaign which seems to 1MRPOSE OF THE CAMPAIGN 3 have no close relation to the promotion of the busi- ness of the advertiser. The Literary Digest spent thousands of dollars in full page advertisements in the leading newspapers of the country to raise money for the starving children of central and southeastern Eu- rope. The practical man asks: "What does the Literary Digest get out of it?" The Literary Digest gets a valuable list of possible subscribers and a cer- tain amount of prestige thru being associated with a worthy enterprise. A manufacturer of tarred roofing conducts an ad- vertising campaign for the sale of bird houses at cost, and one asks, "What does this manufacturer of roof- ing obtain by such advertising?" While he obtains the same sort of prestige secured by the Literary l)i(/fxt in his bird club advertising, he also has the satisfaction of knowing that he is sampling his roof- ing, from which the bird boxes are made, to all the individuals purchasing these boxes. These illustrations demonstrate the truth of the old adage that there are more ways than one to kill a cat. In each case there was a specific object for the cam- paign, tho at first glance that object may seem to have had little to do with the business of the advertiser. The motive behind the effort remains in the back- ground. The promotion of the advertiser's business was no less attained because the means were indirect. In these days it is not enough to advert iv just for the purpose of selling goods. The merchandising 4 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS plan which is the foundation of the advertising must first be carefully studied. This will determine the purpose of the campaign. The principal object of the new concern may be to obtain distribution. The object of the old, well-established concern may be either to secure more dealer cooperation or to create more consumer demand. An advertising campaign without a purpose is like a ship without a destination. 4. The time required. Altho an advertising cam- paign ordinarily is planned for a year, it should be ex- tended over a sufficient length of time to enable the advertiser reasonably to expect the result desired. Too many advertisers become discouraged just when they are on the point of succeeding. An advertising agent was asked once how long he thought it would be necessary to test the advantages of advertising for a particular product. Before an- swering he asked the advertiser, "How often does the same consumer buy your class of products?" He was told the consumer reordered every three to six months; He pointed out to the prospective client that if he advertised continuously for six months and secured all the business in his market, he would then just have a chance to catch each buyer on his next order. In other words, if each buyer were fully convinced by the advertising, six months would only allow each one an opportunity to purchase once. The advertising campaign was started on the six months' basis. At the end of four months the ad- vertiser became discouraged. The agent reminded PIRPOSE OF THE CAMPAIGN 5 his client of his estimate, and asked the privilege of .sending a letter to a selected list of the advertiser's prospects. With this letter the agent sent a return postal, on which one of the questions asked was, "How often do you order a product of this kindf The return postals showed that, while the shortest time was three months, the longest was three years, and the average was eleven and one-quarter months. Other questions asked on the card were: "In what quantities do you order?" and "If you were ordering today, what brand would you specify?" The an- swers to these two questions indicated a volume of business that would have been equal to a 150 per cent increase in the advertiser's annual business if the buyers had been in a position to order at that time. Yet the advertiser was ready to admit that his ad- vertising campaign was a failure. He had not given the advertising time to show results. 5. Effect of the campaign on the advertiser. When a manufacturer decides seriously to undertake a planned advertising campaign, he immediately changes from the position of letting himself be sold advertising to the position of buying advertising. Undoubtedly the greatest waste in advertising today is indiscriminate purchasing of space and of materials. In many businesses those items of expense which can- not rightly be charged to production or distribution are charged to the advertising department. This de- partment has to bear the burden, for example, of donations and eliaritv which have no direct relation to 6 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS advertising, but are charged to it because the adver- tising account is elastic. When one lays out an ad- vertising campaign, he plans all expenditures, and nothing can creep in that does not definitely bear on his purpose. A campaign is something tangible. The advertiser planning a campaign begins to weigh values. He begins to establish a policy. He sends his order for advertisements in certain media un- solicited, because, from the data he has before him, he feels that these media will bring him the greatest return on the money invested. A certain manufacturer spent $40,000 a year in advertising without any definitely planned campaign. One of the items was $5,000 for flange signs. The reason he spent $5,000 was because the price in five thousand lots brought the sign down to one dollar each, while, if he had purchased in one thousand lots, the signs would have cost two dollars each. When the signs had been in the manufacturer's possession for over three years, his salesmen had not as yet been able to find five thousand dealers who would use them. Five hundred signs could have been purchased for $1,250, thus saving the manufacturer $3,750. Such examples of waste are often found among concerns having no definitely outlined advertising campaigns. When a manufacturer outlines and attempts to conduct an advertising campaign, he knows exactly where and when he is spending his money. He keeps accurate record of the returns. He begins to have greater faith in advertising as the returns materialize. PURPOSE OF THE CAMPAIGN 7 He begins to see bigger possibilities in his business. He learns to plan ahead. The concern which defi- nitely lays out and carries forward an advertising campaign has made its first step toward advertising success. The day of profit in hit-or-miss advertising has gone. Without the campaign there is little chance t'<>r success. 6. Effect of the campaign on salesmen. The con- cern which buys its advertising space on the hit-or- ni iss basis, has no opportunity to inspire its sales force with a rcali/ation of what it is doing. Adver- tising makes it possible for salesmen to close sales quickly. Advertising gives salesmen confidence. A manufacturer who had been buying advertising by the hit-or-miss method determined on a definite campaign for the sale of one of his products, and at a convention at the beginning of the season outlined the campaign to his salesmen. After describing the campaign and the new merchandising plan behind the advertising, he asked each salesman to establish his own quota of sales which he expected to make during the year with the assistance of the advertising. To the manufac- turer's surprise and pleasure, the quotas established by the salesmen themselves totaled a 500 per cent in- crease in his business on the article advertised. That the salesmen were not far wrong in their estimate is indicated by the result at the end of the year, which .showed an actual increase of 025 per cent. This ex- ample of the effect of the campaign on the salesmen is especially interesting when it is realized that the 3 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS advertiser spent no more money in the campaign than he had spent the previous year under the hit-or-miss "buy what is presented" method. 7. Effect of the campaign on dealers. One of the first questions a dealer asks a salesman is, "What as- surance will I have of consumer demand? Is the article going to be advertised and how?" The old reply, "Oh, my company is spending a large amount of money in advertising," is no longer convincing. Dealers, familiar with the powerful influence of adver- tising, wish to know the media used, the amount of Space contracted for, and the quality of the adver- tisements themselves. Without a definite campaign laid out in advance, salesmen are unable to give deal- ers this information And on this ground alone, dealers often refuse to stock the goods. When the campaign is laid out in advance and dealers are told of the advertising, when and where it will appear, they are in a position to take advantage of the advertising of the manufacturer to call the at- tention of the public to the fact that they distribute the article advertised. Many dealers are willing to spend their own money to connect their stores as dis- tributing centers with national advertising. Advertisers often arrange special advertising "drives" for limited periods, keeping dealers in- formed of the dates of these special efforts in the cam- paign. During the "drives" increased space may be taken in the national magazines and also in the news- papers and in other media, in specific localities. PURPOSE OF THE CAMPAIGN 9 This unusual effort encourages dealers to mention the advertised article in their own newspaper advertise- ments and to trim their windows with the articles ad- vertised. Advertisers are beginning to learn that they cannot expect much dealer cooperation with- out definite campaigns planned well in advance, and without giving notice to their dealers of their plans. 8. Effect of the campaign on consumers. The steady, persistent flow of the river wears away the rock. Advertising is powerful, but the power of ad- vertising must be used as the suggestion of a friend, not as the command of a superior officer. Most of us cannot tell what particular influence first induced us to buy any of the advertised products we are now using. Many people use Ivory Soap as a matter of course. They cannot tell what advertisement per- suaded them to use it or what advertisement persuaded their parents first to use it. They somehow feel, however, that when they are using it they are using the popular soap, the pure soap, the soap which it is customary to use. The Procter and Gamble Com- pany might stop advertising for a time, and many of us would still continue to use Ivory Soap. It would not be long, however, before the standing which Ivory Soap has in the minds of many people today would be forgotten. A new generation would spring up unfamiliar with the Ivory Soap advertising. Com- petitors would have been educating this generation to demand their soaps, and in time (in a shorter time . 10 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS than most of us realize) another soap would probably become the popular favorite. Popularity of a product cannot be gained by spas- modic advertising. Back of the advertising there must be a plan ; there must be a purpose a unity of purpose. And there must be continuity. The pub- lic likes to purchase the popular article. The public likes to know why. The public likes to be constantly reminded. Constant repetition is a great aid to mem- ory. To the persistent advertiser the public gives that intangible yet supremely valuable asset known as good-will. The good-will of a business is like the char- acter of an individual. Seemingly it may be as firm as the rock of Gibraltar, and yet it may be entirely destroyed in a day. James Pyle's Pearline was ad- vertised persistently from 1877 to 1907. In 1904 the appropriation amounted to $500,000. In 1907, the last of the Pyle family had died and the business was being conducted by the representatives of two estates. It was felt that Pearline was sufficiently well known to allow the company to discontinue ad- vertising for a few years. The experiment proved fatal. In 1914, the Procter and Gamble Company bought James Pyle's Pearline, thus saving the com- pany, it is said, from actual bankruptcy. 9. Effect of the campaign on the product. When one is in the limelight, he must live up to the reputa- tion created for him, or expect failure more quickly than if he remained in the shadow. Advertising PURPOSE OF THE CAMPAIGN 11 creates popularity for worthy products only. Ad- vertising will only accelerate the failure of an un- worthy product. As soon as a manufacturer puts his name on his product, he feels an added personal re- sponsibility for its quality. Trade-marking and ad- vertising have, perhaps, done more to improve the quality of merchandise than any other influence, not excepting pure food laws and factory regulations. Mr. Myron McMillan of the J. T. McMillan Com- pany, packers, recalls a case in point. When he first began to advertise Paragon Bacon, he chose street- car cards as a medium so that he might be able to show slices of bacon in the actual colors. He em- ployed a noted artist to paint a picture of his bacon. The proper proportion of fat and lean strips made everyone's mouth water. The card had been in the street car but a few days, when, on talking with his superintendent, Mr. McMillan learned that his prod- uct did not look like the picture on the street-car card. The superintendent said: "Nobody cuts bacon that way." Mr. McMillan replied: "I advertised this bacon because I thought it was the finest bacon that could be made. Here I find in my own packing house a man who knew how to improve the quality and had not told me of it. The cards are in the street cars, and we must deliver the quality represented. I don't care what it costs; as long as we are advertising this bacon cut to waste, if necessary, but give us the cut represented in the pictures." The new cutting was so popular that it has never been changed to this 12 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS day, and the J. T. McMillan Company finds the pub- lic is perfectly willing to pay the additional price which allows the packer to cut to waste in order to present the perfect slice. When the product is once advertised, the wise manufacturer realizes that it must always be kept up to standard and that his success depends on keeping up the quality rather than on taking advantage of a reputation made thru advertising. Improvement in quality gives talking points for advertisements. There is no question that the automobile was brought to perfection more rapidly thru the yearly seeking of manufacturers for new talking points for their advertisements than it would have been if the auto- mobile had not been advertised. 10. The campaign as a great educator. Advertis- ing campaigns have educated the world to the use of the automobile. In twenty years persistent, care- fully planned advertising has educated the nation to the use of porcelain bath tubs. Advertising cam- paigns have explained the uses of new inventions, have described new discoveries, have pictured new methods. In a story entitled: "A World Without Advertising;" prepared for the Associated Advertis- ing Clubs of the World, Mr. Forrest Crissey makes the following interesting prophecy : All these calamities involved in A World Without Ad- vertising are small and scarcely to be considered when com- pared with the blow that would be dealt to education by such a holocaust of elimination. Aside from the common school PURPOSE OF THE CAMPAIGN 13 system of the United States advertising is undoubtedly the greatest educational force in existence. Perhaps even this exception is debatable but advertising has no need to claim more than its own in any field and it can do and will gladly do for the common schools for formal education far more than it has ever been asked or permitted to do. Tin- re is in man an impulse for larger living that is the \i TV seed of progress. The individual, the community, the nation in which this impulse is undeveloped, faces certain stagnation. Nothing else stimulates this natural hunger for an expanding experience in every rightful direction as does advertising. Always it prompts man to move forward, to want more things, better things, finer things. It is the official advance agent of Invention, of Science, of Art and of Education. 11. Advertising and selling expense. In the Text on "Marketing and Merchandising" a chapter is de- voted to the consideration of the effect of advertising on the selling price of the thing advertised. This is so important a subject, and one which so vitally concerns the future of advertising and the attitude of the public toward all publicity, that it is well here to give addi- tional illustrations of the influence of advertising on prices and to review the arguments which definitely justify advertising as a legitimate, economical, and generally beneficial method of marketing. The first thing an advertising campaign is expected to accomplish is volume of sales. In obtaining vol- ume the advertiser usually finds that he also de- creases his selling cost per unit. Suppose you and a certain competitor are each making annually a mil- lion boxes of your products. Assume that you each XIII 8 U ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS have been doing no advertising, but have sold thru salesmen alone, and your salesmen have cost you $100,000. This is a selling cost for each of you of ten cents a box. You each make a net profit of $50,000, or five cents a box. Now suppose your competitor decides to put forth an extra effort to increase his volume and to popular- ize his brand by advertising. A salesman can take an order for ten dozens just as easily as he can for one-twelfth of a dozen if the demand has been created. One of the purposes of advertising is to create de- mand. Suppose that next year, or the year after, your competitor appropriates $100,000 for advertising, making his total selling expense $200,000. But in doing this, the advertising so increases his volume of sales that he is able to dispose of 4,000,000 boxes. If it costs him $200,000 to sell 4,000,000 boxes, his sell- ing cost is now five cents a box, while yours, without advertising is still ten cents. He not only makes four times the gross profit that you make, because he sells four time? as much, but he makes another profit of five cents for every box sold, because he can sell a box at half what it cost you to sell one. How will this affect you? You may not notice the effect while times are good and you and your com- petitor maintain the same price. But let a crisis come, or let your competitor see that he can increase his volume of business still further by lowering his price to the consumer, and he can practically put you IMKPOSE OF THE CAMPAIGN 15 out of business any time he wants to. He holds you in the hollow of his hand. You are beaten any time he says the word. Thru advertising he has cut his cost to a place where he can make a good profit and still sell at a price below your actual cost. 12. Campaigns that cut manufacturers' costs. When Hart, Schaffner & Marx began to advertise, the house was doing an annual business of $1,500,000. Ten years later this had increased to $15,000,000. An interesting comparison of selling costs and amounts spent for magazine advertising by four ready-to-wear clothing manufacturers was compiled by Printers' Ink about the time Hart, Schaffner & Marx reached the fifteen million mark. The selling costs include cost of salesmen only, the percentages are based on total sales. Magazine Selling Advertising Cost Hart, Schaffner & Marx $85,000 2% to 3% B. Kuppenheimer & Co 49,000 1% Samuel W. Peck & Co 29,000 6% Alfred Benjamin 24,000 1% 13. Campaign* that have cut retailers' costs. Re- tailers are not slow to realize that this same power which cuts manufacturers' costs will also cut their costs. Hy spending a sufficient amount in advertis- ing tlu-v can so increase their volume of business that, wliile the gross profit of each item may be decreased, the net profit will increase. The following figures are taken from records of the 16 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS actual experiences of one of the retail distributors of Hart, Schaffner & Marx clothing company. First Half Second Half 1918 1918 1919 Percentage of advertising appropria- tion to sales of previous period 2.40% 6.35% 9.46% Percentage of sales of current period to sales of previous period 63.78% 126.40% 197.80% Percentage of advertising expenditure of current period to sales of current period 3.77% 5.00% 4.78% Gross Profit 41.40% 38.60% 37.70% Net Profit 4.81% 8.24% 11.02% 14. Experience the best guide. Advertising is a subject which is very much alive. It has few tradi- tions, and only a slowly growing body of principles. Two advertising experts may recommend entirely dif- ferent solutions of the same advertising problem, and both of the solutions may be right. Two campaigns, to accomplish the same thing, have often been con- ducted in entirely different ways, both proving suc- cessful. Because of this plastic state of the art of ad- vertising because the one best campaign for a given advertiser must still be partly a matter of opinion it is impossible to lay down a set of hard and fast rules for the planning of advertising campaigns. And yet certain general principles have been developed from experience. The advertising world has begun to compare experiences, and to find that in planning a campaign the advertiser or his agent usually asks him- self certain fundamental questions which must be adequately answered before any campaign can be properly launched. It is our purpose in the follow- PURPOSE OF THE CAMPAIGN 17 ing chapters to outline some of these questions and to tell how the answers to them have affected the re- sults of actual campaigns. We are to give the rec- ords of tangible results, rather than the opinions of individuals. The reader will be expected to draw his own conclusions as to how the basic questions should be answered in planning a campaign for the business in which he is most interested. REVIEW Why is a planned campaign preferable to intermittent adver- tising? What are some of the things to be done in obtaining unity in an advertising campaign? What effect does volume of sales have on selling expense? What is the relation of advertising to volume and expense? Do people like to buy advertised goods? Why? Why is it dangerous to advertise a product unless it is of high and stable quality? Can you think of any commodity besides automobiles which has been perfected largely because of advertising? CHAPTER II ANALYSIS OF DEMAND AND COMPETITION 1. Preliminaries of the campaign. Advertising is costly, and frequently considerable time must elapse before returns can reasonably be expected from the investment. The advertiser who would avoid expen- sive and ruinous mistakes should know definitely in advance just what he plans to accomplish and what obstacles are to be overcome in so doing. When ad- vertising was regarded rather as a gamble than an investment there were few preliminary investigations before campaigns were launched. Even today ad- vertising in the dark is not unknown. Stories are told of concerns which have conducted newspaper cam- paigns to sell electric toasters and electric flat irons in cities not equipped with electric light and power. The importance of investigation before the formu- lation of selling plans and policies has been clearly set forth in the Modern Business Text on "Market- ing and Merchandising." The product must be care- fully tested. Its selling points must be listed. Trade channels must be selected. Competition must be reckoned with. Problems of the trade-mark and the package must be solved. 18 DEMAND AND COMPETITION 19 4 These are only a few of the matters to be consid- ered in an exhaustive analysis that should be under- taken to determine the whole sales policy and the marketing campaign, whether thru salesmen or thru advertising or thru a combination of the two. Many of these matters have received attention in the earlier volumes of the Text. At this point the reader is asked to consider those which present special prob- lems for the advertiser. Questions now to be consid- ered group themselves chiefly about the analysis of possible demand and the analysis of competition. 2. Developing demand. In whatever manner the sales policy may associate personal salesmanship and advertising, the immediate object of the latter is to develop a demand for the advertised product. Ac- cording to circumstances the problem of the adver- tiser may be (1) to create a demand for an article which is familiar to the public; (2) to extend the use of an article already known, or (3) to attract to the particular product advertised a part of the demand which already exists. Of course it must be under- stood that demand is not limited and is in most cases susceptible of expansion so that the second and third aspects of demand creation tend to merge into one another. 8. Educational campaigns. When the article is entirely new the advertiser must incur a large ex- pense in what he terms educational effort. He must familiarize the buying public with the uses of the article and the service which it can render to the buyer. 20 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS Most of us can recall when such articles as Dicta- phones, Thermos bottles, cash registers and washing machines were distinct novelties. That they are no longer such is due in large part to persistent adver- tising. Scarcely less will be the necessary outlay when the advertiser seeks to extend the use of a product by bringing what has been deemed a luxury into the cate- gory of necessities. Ten years ago automobile manu- facturers featured the convenience of the automobile to the physician, who, by using it, could make his ordi- nary calls quickly, and its necessity in urgent calls in which a life was in danger and the old fashioned buggy too slow. They showed how the automobile enabled the business man to make more money in his business and get his family out in the open air. Such adver- tising effort has made the automobile a necessity to one-fifth of the families of the United States. The Curtiss Company and Glen Martin in advertising airplanes are now educating the public along the same line. Instead of talking about the airplane as a luxury for touring travel or of emphasizing the mechanical difference between their planes they show the advantages of a plane to a business man in saving time and expense in traveling to keep most important engagements. Thru such painstaking analysis of the possible de- mand advertisers not only build up business but lead the world to require the highest standards of living. 4. Diverting demand. If, on the other hand, the DEMAND AND COMPETITION 21 article is simply a new brand of a class of goods al- ready on the market, the advertiser must focus his attention upon plans to attract to his own product patronage which has perhaps heretofore gone to com- peting brands. He must show why his product is superior in quality. He may emphasize its lower price, but he always seeks by persistent repetition to associate his particular brand with the species of arti- cles to which it belongs. Many of us have to think twice to recall that there are corn flakes other than Kellogg's, or rubber heels other than O' Sullivan's. Again, the advertiser may, by putting his brand on the tip of everyone's tongue, induce people from idle curiosity to compare his much vaunted goods with other brands with which they are already satisfied. Nevertheless, the chief purpose of the advertiser in these cases is permanently to divert a demand already existing. Of course, no business organization need subsist entirely upon diverted demand; the possibility of developing new demand always exists. Tho candles are an age-old product, a new candle industry might conceivably depend largely upon developed demand. In its advertising the new industry might contrast the fierce, glaring light of electric bulbs with the mel- low, golden glow of the candle till in the end no host- ess would regard her dinner table complete without its array of candles. Spaghetti, a household article for centuries, may thru energetic advertising assume as large a place on the American menu as that which 22 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS it now occupies in Italy. Rice might be pushed to the place it occupies in oriental lands. A few years ago a number of toilet soap companies sought, by combining, to save the advertising ex- pense which they believed had previously served merely to divert demand from one to another of the companies. When the companies curtailed their ad- vertising, the demand for toilet soaps dwindled seri- ously. 5. Demand and the repeat element. In investi- gating the yearly demand for any product, it is im- portant to consider how much time will elapse before a satisfied customer will come back for more. Is the product of such a nature that but one sale can be made to a customer during his lifetime, or will he buy once a year, once a month, or once each week? Is the product a fad or novelty? Failing to study the demand in advance, one might get well under way in a campaign and then suddenly discover that every person in the territory who cared to buy had purchased and that further sales must wait for a new generation. Not infrequently it costs more than the selling price to gain the confidence of a customer. In most businesses the profit is in the reorder. The business which will have a new market of already-convinced customers every six months may need a different advertising policy from the one that must wait a year for repeat orders. In utilizing this repeat element, great ingenuity has sometimes been employed. One method success- DEMAND AND COMPETITION 2:j fully used is that of a "family of products." The world was made familiar with Quaker Oats, and read- ily accepted Quaker Puffed Rice and Quaker Puffed Wheat. Every one knows the "57 Varieties," now increased to a yet greater number. After a reputa- tion for one product has been established, it is easier to create a demand for another product under the same family name than to start with an entirely new name and make a reputation for it. The manufac- turer of a group of products of common characteris- tics bound together by a common name can offset the lack of "repeat" in the individual members of his line by the demand he can create for other members. In some cases the "familv" is small and its mem- tf bers have quite a close resemblance one with another, while in other cases the family has grown so large that only the name appears to hold it together. Under such talismanic names as Armour's and Beechnut we find grouped products as diverse as lard and grape juice, bacon and chewing gum. None the less the advertising effort spent upon one member of the fam- ily accrues to the advantage of all that bear the name. It was felt that advertising without a record of success to feature would be unprofitable. The fact that National Cash Registers were not advertised at first may have been quite as much the result of such a policy as of the influence of convention in the days when advertising was less common. Evidently there is a time as well as a place for ad- vertising. 24 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS 6. Advertising with the season. Time figures strategically in the development of demand for that immense class of goods subject more or less to sea- sons. For advertisers of goods of this class sold thru dealers, the dealers' season figures as prominently as the consumers' season. These seasons are identical for some products automobiles, for example. For others, such as wearing apparel, six months or more may elapse between two seasons. Knowing this, the advertising man plans accordingly. His "dealer literature" and his "consumer literature" he pre- pares at the same time, with a view to showing the dealer reproductions of the consumer literature to fol- low. The salesmen in visiting the dealers use this to advantage. In some cases their whole selling talk wisely centres about what the manufacturer plans to do to develop consumer demand. 7. Advertising against the season. Manufactur- ers and dealers are beginning to question whether in certain cases there is any real reason for a seasonal demand. They seek thru advertising to overcome slack seasons, using advertising in an attempt to do what electricians call "superimposing the peak upon the valley." That is, they are trying to raise the sale in the dull season, and lower it, if necessary, in the good season, to make a more even output the year round. Thru advertising California is selling walnuts in summer and lemons in winter, when before there was practically no sale for these products in these seasons. Advertising makes business grow in seasons that without it would be dull. DKMAM) AM) COMPETITION 8. Competition. It is not enough for the manu- facturer to study the possible demand for his prod- uct. He should know as accurately as possible what others, his competitors, are doing to satisfy that de- mand. Such knowledge if reliable and accurate is useful not only in advertising but, as explained in the Modern Business Text on "Marketing and Merchan- dising", in determining the entire sales policy. Much that passes for information concerning what competitors are doing is mere gossip and practically worthless. It is difficult to obtain reliable informa- tion about one's competitors, but that should not de- ter one from spending time and money to secure defi- nite information so far as possible concerning them. Of course if the purpose of seeking this information is blindly to copy others in advertising and other policies it is so much time and money wasted. Con- structive business policies may be built upon research but not on imitation. Too many manufacturers are prone to sweep aside the question of competition with the egotistical re- mark "\Ve have no competitors." This no doubt would be important if true, but it is rarely true. If true, it does not follow that the advertising should be wholly of the constructive and educational type rather than purely competitive. But the remark is seldom true since the fact that another concern may make an / article inferior in quality to yours, or one that is sold at a different price, is no proof that it does not com- pete with yours on the market. The wise advertiser 26 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS will study his competing products and their selling points just as carefully as he does his own. 9. Comparison of good-will. One should ascer- tain as nearly as possible the amount of advertising which each competitor has done and the amount of good-will which each has obtained thru his advertis- ing and thru the satisfaction which his products have given. A manufacturer whose plant is estimated to be worth about two million dollars recently remarked: "If I were forced to choose between sacrificing my plant and the good-will which this company has es- tablished thru continuous advertising for the last twenty years, I should willingly say, 'Burn down the plant. I can obtain capital to rebuild it tomorrow, because our advertising has created a demand which has a bankable value and will bring new capital.* This is our strongest bulwark against competition. A new plant can be built in ninety days. But our ad- vertising has taken years, and no amount of capital could substitute for the impression it has made." It is important, therefore, that the advertiser determine how long each competitor has been established and how long each has been advertising continuously. Merely a list of the advertising schedules of one's competitors, however, will not necessarily provide a basis for an estimate of the good-will each enjoys. One should learn of the friendships which competi- tors have established with the trade and with consum- ers, together with the methods employed to obtain . DEMAND AND COMPETITION 27 these friendships. Only in this way can the new ad- vertiser intelligently lay plans for the building up of good-will for his own name and for his own prod- ucts. 10. Comparison of advertising. It is well to have a scrap-book and to keep in it copies of the advertise- ments of competitors. There is no particular advan- tage in referring to it daily but, at the end of the year, by comparing it with the records of your own sales and those of your competitors you will have a basis for judging the value of competing advertising which is far better than mere opinion or hearsay. In planning a campaign it is always advisable to list the publications in which each competitor has ad- vertised and to find out how much each publication has been used. In active competition a manufacturer always tries to reach the same buyers that his competi- tors are reaching. Do not jump at the conclusion, however, that just because a competitor is using cer- tain publications his investment is proving profitable. An advertising agency recently planned a national campaign for a manufacturer who at first insisted on using every medium his principal competitor was using. The agent found that in many publications the competitor had contracts for but one insertion, and, from the nature of the product and the medium, the agent was certain the competitor lost money. On more thoro investigation, the agent found that the competitor was simply a plunger and that he had no plans or records to guide him in his advertising. He 28 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS found, however, that another, a much younger and smaller competitor, kept very careful records of re- turns. The advertising schedule of the small com- petitor proved to be a much hetter guide for the new advertiser than the list of media used by the larger and more important manufacturer. A large western paint house recently decided to ad- vertise in farm journals. It wanted to dominate the field. Fourteen competitors had been using farm journals for many years. The paint manufacturer asked his advertising agent to obtain for him sched- ules of the advertising of all his competitors for the five years previous. These schedules showed that all the competitors began to advertise in the first weeks of February. So he ordered his advertising to com- mence the middle of January. He also made his ad- vertisements a little larger in size than those of any of his competitors. By making a careful investiga- tion and by doing the things to which a study of com- peting advertising logically pointed, he was able to dominate his field from the beginning. 11. Studying a competitor's follow-up. A com- mon method of keeping track of competitive adver- tising consists simply in responding to a competitor's advertising and in keeping accurate record of the way in which the competitor answers and follows up the inquiry. The inquiry is usually made in the name of some one who might be considered a possible pur- chaser. As each letter or piece of literature comes in, it is dated and compared for appearance, quality, and DEMAND AM) COMPETITION 29 the impression it creates with other literature received from other competitors. By this method an adver- tiser is able to learn the following facts in relation to competition : a. How promptly inquiries are answered. b. How many pieces of literature are sent to each prospect. c. The quality of letters used whether all in- quiries are answered with personal letters, multi- graphed letters or printed literature. d. The cost of a competitor's follow-up. This can IK- roughly estimated by adding the cost of postage to the probable cost of the letters and the other adver- tising literature that is received. e. The relative emphasis given to each sales argu- ment. This is an interesting test. A complete set of i-nch competitor's literature is taken and the sales ar- guments of each listed. Then a record is made of the proportion of space used for each argument and the order in which the arguments are introduced. Such a test often reveals some most valuable facts. f. How completely the sales organization cooper- ates with the advertising department. 12. Correcting errors by studying competitors. A manufacturer of trucks wanted to know the sales and advertising methods used by his competitors. He found that while he was using form letters to answer inquiries, twelve of his fourteen competitors were using personal letters and referring in these letters to trucks they had sold to buyers located in the citv or XIII 4 30 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS district from which the inquiry came. This led to his keeping an accurate record and a set of testimonial letters for every truck he sold. He found that eight of the fourteen competitors spent a dollar and a half on each inquirer in letters and booklets. The most striking discovery was made in studying the dates on which the different pieces of literature were received and the promptness with which the district representa- tives of his competitors called on the inquirer. Twelve of the fourteen competitors sent a sales representative to call on the inquirer before he received or could have received a letter from the manufacturer in reply to his inquiry. This clearly indicated that these twelve manufacturers did not wait for the mails, but were in the habit of wiring their district agents on receipt of inquiries from responsible persons. The manufac- turer who conducted the investigation had not been doing this. He had been losing considerable busi- ness in his own territory, but until he made this an- alysis he could not understand why. 13. Comparison of sales policies. Advertising, the putting of one's sales arguments on paper, has probably had more to do with developing sales poli- cies and the ideals of business than any other force. A non-advertiser usually follows the crowd. But as soon as advertising is undertaken, definite sales poli- cies must be chosen and adhered to. Many advertis- ing campaigns have had for their purposes the reme- dying of some particular sales conditions. One manufacturer has a competitor who is in the DEMAND AND COMPETITION 31 habit of overselling. It might seem that to avoid sub- stitution by dealers, the only way to meet such com- petition would be to oversell also. But the sales manager, realizing the weapon he would have by pur- suing a different policy, instructs his men to under- sell rather than oversell, and to make a talking point of it. The advertising man, seeing his advantage, calls the attention of the public to the fact that his goods in the dealers' hands are always fresh ; and the policy of competitors is thus made to pay handsome returns. 14. Comparison of freight advantages. In the distribution of many commodities, such as building materials and household furniture, some competitors have great advantages over others in freight rates. In determining on advertising campaigns to reach new territories, it is desirable to compare freight rates in these cases and to choose for extensive advertising those territories in which one has at least equal ship- ping opportunities with competitors. A map show- ing the location of each competitor and the territory into which he can economically ship, is helpful in choosing advertising mediums. Such a map should be compared with the circulation records of each ad- vertising medium in each territory that is considered. 15. Relative importance of competitors. In plan- ning an advertising campaign one should decide whether he is in a position to dominate his field, so far as the force of advertising is concerned, or whether it would be better for him to use smaller space, per- 32 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS haps more frequently, relying for the supreme com- petitive efforts on the sales force. The A Company manufactures a specialty for farmers. It finds that 75 per cent of the business in its line is now done by one competitor. The remain- ing 25 per cent is divided among fifteen other small concerns of which the A Company is one. The lead- ing competitor has used educational copy and large space in agricultural publications for five years. The business of the A Company will not warrant compe- tition with the leader either in size of appropriation or in amount of space used. The A Company's ad- vertising manager decides under these conditions to take smaller space but to appear in the agricultural publications regularly, always appearing in each is- sue in which his chief competitor appears. The copy is intended to bring inquiries at low expense, rather than to make sales, on the theory that a farmer will wish to investigate more than one make of the par- ticular specialty before he buys, and that if each ad- vertiser receives an inquiry or a proportion of the inquiries, he must leave the closing of the sale to his sales force. An entirely different plan of procedure was adopted by a maker of men's furnishings. On investi- gation he found that while one competitor stood out head and shoulders above all others, this competitor actually controlled only 25 per cent of the market; the investigator controlled 12 per cent; another com- petitor controlled 10 per cent; and the rest of the DEMAND AND COMPETITION 33 market was divided among 30 competitors controlling in no case more than 7 per cent each. The leader in the field, while spending a certain amount for adver- tising, did not spend in proportion to the amount of business controlled. The manufacturer in question decided that there was an opportunity for him to be- come the leader in his line. While he was not the leader in volume of sales, he determined that his advertising should have the appearance of leadership. He employed a famous illustrator to make all the illustrations for his advertisements. All the type was hand-lettered by the best designers. His cuts were in every way superior to those of his competitors. The size of space used was carefully planned to be larger and more commanding than that of his com- petitors. This plan was consistently followed thruout all the advertising, and today this manufacturer con- trols over 70 per cent of the business in his line. REVIEW How does an advertiser determine the advertising policy which will develop the best demand for his goods? What is meant by calling advertising educative? Give specific instances of advertisers who have improved the standards of living. Why is it easier to market the younger members of a "family" of products than it is to establish a demand for the first-born? Should the good-will created by advertising be added to the company's assets? How would yon figure its value? What facts may be gleaned from competitors' advertising cam- paigns and put to your own advantage? CHAPTER III THE ADVERTISING APPROPRIATION 1. How much to spend for advertising. The an- swer to the question, "How much will it cost to ad- vertise?" is much like the answer to the question, "How much will it cost to build a house?" A house may cost all the way from a few hundred dollars to a few million dollars, depending on what the owner needs or thinks he needs. If it is only shelter he wants he may obtain it very cheaply, but mere shelter is not the only consideration. Before a man starts to build a house, he usually has in mind an approximate price which he hopes will build for him a house repre- sentative of his social standing. Even in the same social group, two men may spend widely varying amounts for their homes, depending on their tastes and the size of their families. In advertising, the amount of the investment depends on the purpose to be achieved, on the actual or desired position of the advertiser in his field, and on his individual tastes and preferences. 2. The value of records. Some mail-order adver- tisers have kept records for years,, so they feel they can tell within a few hundred dollars the amount of business that may be secured from any given appro- 34 ADVERTISING APPROPRIATIONS 35 priation. In this chapter we shall discuss the differ- ent methods employed by leading advertisers in de- termining their annual advertising appropriations, and shall leave the reader to choose what he considers the best method to follow in planning an advertising campaign for any product that he might wish to ad- vertise. 3. Time required to reduce selling cost per unit. Advertising requires three things: time, money and intelligence. At the start of a campaign, advertis- ing seldom pays; it usually takes time to produce satisfactory results. As the farmer plants his seed and waits, knowing full well that, if the seed is right and the soil is right, the harvest will come; so the ad- vertiser invests his money and waits, knowing full well that, if his advertisements are intelligently pre- pared and if he has chosen his market and his plan carefully, time will bring the harvest. When the Russell-Miller Milling Company began to advertise Occident Flour, the officers knew that successful advertising does three things: First, it increases the asset of good-will in a busi- ness. Second, it produces volume of sales, which usually results in decreased manufacturing cost per unit. Third, by increasing the volume it ultimately de- creases the unit selling cost. As none of these things comes in a minute or a month, the advertising expense was neither imme- diately listed as an asset nor charged to selling ex- 36 pense. The first appropriation was for $600,000, one- third of this to be spent annually for three consecu- tive years. "Our expenditure for advertising," said Mr. H. S. Helm, the general manager, "was undertaken with no thought or expectation of an early harvest on the seed sown. It was considered at the start that ma- terial returns should not be conservatively looked for short of three years' continuous advertising. "The undertaking was looked upon and treated as an investment in good-will and insurance on business already established. It was perfectly plain that the current business, or that of the very near future, could not stand an increase in per barrel selling cost to ab- sorb the advertising expense. We therefore made our appropriation covering a period of three years and prepared to charge the advertising out as ex- pended from past earnings and surplus until such time as it could be charged to the current selling cost without increasing the per barrel selling cost." Six hundred thousand dollars, on an intangible and new venture, taken right out of past profits, re- quires nerve, as every advertising man knows; but the results have already proved the soundness of the theory; the selling cost per barrel so decreased that instead of waiting three years, after the end of the second year the company charged the advertising expense as part of the current selling expense. And still the investment in good -will, because it is real good-will, goes on drawing compound interest. Dur- ADVERTISING APPROPRIATIONS ing the first two years of national advertising, the increase in sales was more than five times the increase in selling expense. 4. When advertising begins to bear fruit. An in- teresting example of the way advertising affects the sales curve is shown in the accompanying illustra- tion, taken from the records of the business of the Courtsey of Way Sagless Spring Company. Way Sagless Spring Company. From the begin- ning of 1910 to the middle of 1912 the advertising appropriation in dollars greatly exceeded the sales of springs. After the middle of 1912, while the ad- \rrtising appropriation constantly increased, the sales curve increased at a much faster rate. Since 38 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS 1916 sales in springs have not increased in the same ratio as sales in dollars. The drop in advertising in 1918 is reflected in sales tho it was in part due to the difficulty in securing raw material. Experiences such as this lead advertising men to believe that in the be- ginning the amount of the appropriation cannot be expected to have a direct ratio to the resulting sales. 5. Basing the appropriation on a specified amount per unit of expected sales. In attempting to insure permanent sales success some advertisers base their appropriations on a certain number of cents per unit of expected sales. They reason rightly that it is not enough to sell to jobbers and retailers alone. They must help the dealers to make sales to consum- ers. It is worth a certain amount per unit to assure the dealers that consumers will know of the product and will demand it. The Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company sold 12,000 "Delco" starters to manufacturers in 1912. At the beginning of 1913, this company had already contracted with manufacturers for 25,000 systems. It decided that it could afford from sales expense a dollar for each system sold to educate the public to the merits of the starter. There- fore the first advertising appropriation was $25,000. The advertising was so successful, however, that the company actually sold 37,000 systems during 1913. The advertising appropriation has been increased each year on the basis of the number of systems con- tracted for, but the price of the system and the ap- ADVERTISING APPROPRIATIONS 39 propriation per unit have decreased, so that today the advertising appropriation is probably less than fifty cents a machine. The Creamette Company plans to spend ten cents a case in advertising Creamettes. Each year the adver- tising appropriation is based on an amount equal to ten cents a case of expected sales. By following the sales curve the company is able to estimate approxi- mately the number of cases it should sell during the year. 6. Basing the appropriation on a certain amount per possible purchaser. Other advertisers look at the problem from the angle of possible purchasers rather than sales. They consider advertising purely as memory insurance. Except in cases of very season- able articles, one can never tell just when his pros- pects are thinking of buying. If an advertiser feels certain that his possible customers will remember his brand favorably whenever they are ready to buy, he may feel that his sales are more than half made. These advertisers consider it worth so much per buyer per year to be sure that their products will remain in the memories of their possible customers. Coca-Cola, with its annual advertising appropria- tion, which is said to be more than $1,000,000, spends in this country of 106,000,000 people approximately a cent a year a prospect for memory insurance. A manufacturer of ornamental iron and bronze, which is used only in large buildings, spends two dollars a year a prospect for such insurance. There are in 40 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS this country only 1,000 architects with whom he can do business profitably. His advertising costs $2,000 a year. Most of it is spent in reaching architects direct by mail. Coca-Cola, on the other hand, may be purchased by anyone, and everyone is a possible customer. When Coca-Cola makes a sale, the ex- change is for a nickel. When the other man makes a sale, the sum involved runs into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. One can afford to pay more per unit. The other can afford to pay more in the total. Ivory Soap is another example of a product with a practically universal appeal on which is spent ap- proximately a penny a possible purchaser a year. Wm. Wrigley, Jr. is said to spend two cents a person a year to advertise his gums. His adver- tising appropriation is reported to amount to $2,500,- 000 annually. 7. Basing the appropriation on the amount of capi- tal available. The average advertiser is not, how- ever, in the financial position of the Coca-Cola Com- pany, the Procter & Gamble Company, or William Wrigley, Jr. The question with him usually is, "How much can I afford?" In such cases the adver- tising campaign must be planned to fit the conditions. Even the largest national advertisers commenced in a small way. They planned their advertising cam- paigns to cover one city or one district ; then, as their business grew, they extended the advertising until they finally secured national distribution and were ADVERTISING APPROPRIATIONS 41 able to make their appropriations on the basis of na- tional demand. In studying the different methods of determining the appropriation, one must bear this fact clearly in mind: It is just as unprofitable to spend too much as it is to spend too little; and the more quickly an advertiser can get his business into a condition in which it is possible to fix his advertising appropria- tion on some carefully selected and tested basis, the more certain will be his success. 8. Basing the appropriation on cost per inquiry and per sale. Probably the most scientific method of determining the appropriation is that adapted by a certain mail-order specialty house. They know ex- actly how much they can afford to spend to make a sale. After years of careful record keeping, they know what proportion of inquiries can be turned into sales and the cost of the follow-up literature for each inquiry. These advertisers usually place contracts for only a few advertisements in a publication at a time, carefully checking the cost pr inquiry, and dis- continuing the advertising whenever the cost per in- quiry proves excessive. A certain mail order advertiser can afford to pay $50 for his average sale and still make a reasonable profit on each sale. Each year he estimates the amount of investment his capital will allow him to make on this basis and the amount of business he can handle. He instructs his advertising agent to place advertising on this basis. His records show that he 42 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS turns 5% of his inquiries into sales. Whenever the in- quiry cost is more than $2.50, a publication is cut off the list and whenever the inquiry cost is less than that amount more space is used in that publication. Each week the advertiser furnishes the agency with a report of his inquiries and sales to date. The agent adds or cancels publications, increases or decreases space and changes plan of appeal as these accurate records of returns indicate. In some publications the adver- tiser can only afford to use one column, four inch space while in others he uses pages and in one publica- tion he uses as many as four pages in each issue. Most mail order advertisers know what it has cost them per sale during a period of years and with these records they buy the increase in business which their available capital and conditions justify. 9. Basing the appropriation on a proportion of the profits of the previous year. An increase in the ad- vertising appropriation is one of the most definite in- dications of a desire to grow. Some advertisers at the end of the year, instead of putting the profits of the business into surplus, put a certain amount into advertising for the coming year. One advertiser rea- sons that, as his business increases, he will need new plants and additions to his present factories. Each year he lays aside a certain amount of his profits to- ward the day when he will need these new factories. He also realizes that to obtain demand sufficient to require new factories, he must increase his advertising. He decides that if his profit amounts to twenty per ADVERTISING APPROPRIATIONS 43 cent, he will put five per cent of that profit into ad- vertising and five per cent into surplus. If his profit amounts to thirty per cent, he will put ten per cent into advertising and ten per cent into surplus. Many of our most successful advertisers have built their fortunes on the principle of putting all of their profits back into advertising during the period of their early growth. John Wanamaker started in business for himself April 8, 1861. At the close of the first day the cash drawer revealed a total intake of $24.67. Of this amount $24.00 was spent for adver- tising and 67 cents saved for making change next morning. Wanamaker followed that general policy for many years. Wm. Wrigley, who built up a business which now is said to amount to something in the neigh- borhood of $50,000,000 a year, started with an original capital of $32.00. For years he put all of his profits back into advertising. Twice he attempted to enter the New York market and failed. The first time he spent $100,000 for advertising. He went back and waited until he had another profit of $100,000 and tried it again. This attempt was also a failure. He then waited until he had $200,000 saved and as soon as he had it, he proceeded to New York and dropped it in the same place. This time his efforts met with SUCf 10. Basing the appropriation on amownt spent the previous year. Many advertisers have no more defi- nite basis for estimating their appropriations than the amount they spent the year previous. If this amount 44 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS is used simply as a starting point from which to figure a possibly increased appropriation, there is no objec- tion to its use. But if the advertiser blindly appro- priates for one year the same amount he spent the year before, without regard to the developing needs of his business, he can hardly expect to meet changing conditions or to make progress. One of the leading advertising agents will not take an advertising ac- count unless the advertiser is willing to increase his appropriation at least fifteen per cent each year. He does not care to handle an account unless the business of the advertiser is to grow, and he estimates fifteen per cent as the lowest normal, healthy increase of a business that does consistent advertising. 11. Basing the appropriation on the space desired. To make the desired impression with certain ad- vertising campaigns, it is advisable to use a certain amount of space or else not to attempt advertising at all. If an advertiser wishes to dominate and to use only full pages, it will cost him a certain amount of money. The magazine publicity of the National Cash Reg- ister Company is estimated on such a basis. An ad- vertising campaign, using full pages, extending thru a year, and carrying a definite message, could not pos- sibly accomplish its purpose if the advertiser confined himself to small space one column, three-inch copy, for instance. Such small space advertising would, in fact, make the opposite impression from that desired ; it would be much better not to advertise at all than ADVERTISING APPROPRIATIONS 45 to spend so small an amount of money. Advertising men often have in mind a certain amount which it is necessary to spend in a national campaign for a prod- uct of general consumption, to accomplish satisfactory results. In planning such a campaign, one must first decide on the advertising needed and then estimate its cost. 12. Basing the appropriation on a certain per cent of gross sales. Probably the most popular plan of estimating the appropriation is on the basis of a cer- tain per cent of gross sales. Some advertisers esti- mate on the basis of the sales of the previous year and others estimate on the basis of expected sales. This percentage differs, of course, for each class of busi- ness, usually for each business house in its class. Many advertising men object to this method because they contend that it costs a larger proportionate amount to build a business up than it does to keep it going. Up to a certain point, it also costs less pro- portionately to keep a big business going than it does to keep a small business going. The advantages of the plan rest on the fact that a percentage basis gives every advertiser something definite to work on. From year to year an increasing number of business houses are beginning to know ac- curately their costs of doing business and are appor- tioning a definite proportion of this cost to each department. The Sherwin-Williams Company of Cleveland bases its advertising appropriation on three and a half per cent of its gross sales of all kinds of XIII 5 46 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS paint and other materials which it distributes. The Sherwin-Williams Company may put all of its adver- tising efforts on only one or two kinds of paint, but its appropriation is, nevertheless, based on its gross sales of all its products for the year. When asked why this method was adopted and how the three and a half per cent was arrived at, the advertising man- ager said, "We have found that our advertising should be this proportion of our cost of doing business. We find that we cannot make enough progress if we spend less, and that we cannot show enough profit if we spend more." 13. Retailers' appropriations. Retailers, depend- ent for the success of their advertising on sales made from day to day, and spending the larger amount of their appropriations in newspapers which are usually read and destroyed every twenty-four hours, are able to gauge the returns from their advertising more defi- nitely than national advertisers. The prevailing cus- tom among retailers is to base the appropriation on a certain percentage of gross sales. The retailer's cost of doing business is increasing, and the intelligent dealer knows exactly how much of this cost he can af- ford to appropriate for rent, how much for bad debts, how much for clerks and how much for advertising. It is said that in the early days John Wanamaker was able to keep his advertising appropriation down close to two and one-half per cent of sales. Today his appropriation is said to reach five per cent. When Gimbel Brothers started their New York store they ADVERTISING APPROPRIATIONS 47 felt called upon to do aggressive advertising in an- ticipation of business, and are said to have spent con- siderably over six per cent. Leading authorities say that the successful department store of today should spend at least three per cent. 14. Determining the proper percentage. The abil- ity to determine the proper percentage on greatest sales which any concern should spend for advertis- ing is one of the greatest assets for success. Hart, Schaffner & Marx estimate that the retail clothier's normal proportion should be 5% of the season's sales. In evidence of this they cite the experience of a retailer in increasing and then decreasing his proportion below and above this percentage. The results of this experi- ence were set forth by Mr. Joseph H. Schaffner in a pamphlet in which the facts were displayed in an in- teresting series of charts. Xot less significant than the charts themselves were Mr. Schaffner's pertinent comments upon them. We may briefly review this experience. 2nd Season Advertising appropriation 3.42 per cent of business of preceding year. Hi >ult, loss of 12.5 per cent in volume of business. Advertising cost became 3.9 per cent of year's busi- This is Mr. Schaffncr'> romment : "They planned to ( MWe' money and only spent an amount equal to 3.42% for advertising. By so doing they lost so much business that an advertising appropria- tion of 3.42% of last M-axui's >aK-s is now equal to an advertising expense of 3.9% of this season's business. 48 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS 3rd Season Advertising appropriation 4.68 per cent of business of preceding year. Result, 74 per cent increase in business over previous season. Advertising cost became 3.9 per cent of year's busi- ness. Mr. Schaffner says : "They appropriated 4.68% of 2nd season's sales for 3rd season's advertising. And business increased so rapidly that advertising turned out to be only 3.9% instead of 4.68% of current season's business." 4th Season Advertising appropriation 2.4 per cent of business of preceding year. Result, loss of 36.22 per cent of last season's business. Advertising cost became 3.77 per cent of year's busi- ness. Mr. Schaffner says : "They evidently thought the business was growing so fast they didn't need to bother about advertising. Only appropriated 2.4% of the previous season's business and 'saved' the rest. And they lost so much business that advertising appropriation turned out to be 3.77% of current season, as against 2.4% of last." 5th Season Advertising appropriation, 6.35 per cent of business of preceding year. Result, 26.4 per cent increase in business over previous season. Advertising cost only 5 per cent of year's business. Mr. Schaffner's comment is as follows : "They learned their lesson. This season they appro- priated 6.35% for advertising. And their business in- creased to such an extent that their advertising appro- priation turned out to be only 5% of their current sea- son's sales after all." ADVERTISING APPROPRIATIONS 49 Business Advertising appropriation 9.4-6 per cent of business of preceding year. Result, 97.8 per cent increase in business over previous season. Advertising cost 4.78 per cent of year's business. Mr. Schaffner says: "It's easy to see they feel they've discovered the secret of success. It took a long test to convince them, but now they've gone in hook, line and sinker and appropri- ated 9. 46% of their past year's sales for advertising. And they've rediscovered that old truth, that you really can't spend any money for advertising. The increased sales roll in so much faster than one can spend the money on advertising that even by appropriating 9.46% they couldn't get the percentage of advertising expenditure above 5%. The business increased so rapidly that of 9.46% last season's sales only amounted to 4.78% of the current season's." These figures show very clearly the expensive ad- vertising appropriations are of those which are too small and they demonstrate the soundness of judg- ment exhibited by such men as Wanamaker and Wrigley that advertising is the force that brings re- turns in due proportion to the faith that the ex- perienced advertiser places in it. 15. Apportioning the appropriation. The na- tional advertiser in apportioning his appropriation has a much more difficult problem than that of the retailer. The question has often been asked, "How much should be apportioned to general publicity and how much to dealer advertising?*' The amounts ap- portioned vary, from the Cream of Wheat Company, 50 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS which spends one hundred per cent in general pub- licity, to Sears, Roebuck & Company, which spends practically all of its appropriation direct thru the mails. The advertising department of the Cream of Wheat Company, which is said to spend over $500,- 000 annually, consists of one man, Colonel Emery Mapes himself. The advertising department of Sears, Roebuck & Company consists of about 1500 people. No general rules can be given in regard to the division of appropriations, but the following fig- ures may be of interest : APPORTIONMENT OF PUBLICITY AND DEALER ADVERTISING IN DIFFERENT LINES General Dealer Classes of Merchandise Publicity Publicity 4? Jewelry Manufacturers .... 73 per cent 27 per cent 4 Automobile Manufacturers . 90 per cent 10 per cent 6 Food Manufacturers 85 per cent 15 per cent 3 Women's Clothing Manufac- turers 95 per cent 5 per cent 7 Office Equipment Manufac- turers 75 per cent 25 per cent REVIEW Why are patience and persistence necessary in undertaking an advertising campaign? How long do you think it would be be- fore unit selling costs could be reduced, thru advertising, in some business in which you are interested? Why not make the appropriation the same from year to year? In what class of cases would it be better not to advertise at all. if one could not use large space ? What are the advantages and disadvantages of estimating ap- propriations on the basis of a certain percentage of gross sales? ADVERTISING APPROPRIATIONS 51 Why do department stores spend more to advertise men's neck- wear than to advertise notions? In the business with which you are most familiar what would be the best method of fixing the amount of the advertising ap- propriation? CHAPTER IV METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION 1. Necessity of identification. The pivot around which every advertising campaign revolves is the thing or things by which the public is to identify the article or the service advertised. This may be a name, a mark, a package, a slogan, or one or more of many other things. Whatever it is, it must have individu- ality, and it must be repeated on the product and in the advertising. It has been said that the Royal Baking Powder Company has been offered $5,000,- 000 (a million dollars a letter) for the right to use the name "Royal" in connection with baking pow- der. The great value attached to this name is the result of two things: (1) Royal Baking Powder has always been sold in containers which prominently display the name; (2) the public thru advertising has been educated to look for the Royal Baking Powder can. If Royal Baking Powder had been sold in bulk, the public could not have identified it in the grocery store, and all the advertising the company has done would have served no purpose. Identifica- tion is indispensable to advertising. In a decision ren- dered by the Supreme Court of the United States, Justice McKenna called attention to the importance of advertising as "identification and description" in 52 METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION 53 vrving to "draw attention to the article sold." Ad- vertising is more than identification, but it is this first of all. J. Packages make advertising possible. In the beginning, most products were sold in bulk. Dur- ing the last century, ingenious manufacturers have changed our entire method of purchase by introduc- ing standardized articles which they have identified in ways different from those of competitors. Goods, formerly sold in bulk, had to be put in packages in order to be identified. We have seen one article after another finally put into a package and trade-marked. The seller of seeds had no opportunity to advertise until he put his seeds in packages. He could not stamp his name or his trade-mark on each individual seed. The fruit growers of the West have gone one step farther and have stamped the trade-mark "Sun- kist" on the wrappers of their oranges. For a long time it was thought impossible to put oysters on the market in trade-marked form. The Sealshipt Com- pany attempted to ship oysters in trade-marked con- tainers on the theory that the container was the small- est unit which could carry the trade-mark. Many complications arose which seemed to prove the old theory that the more closely the trade-mark can be associated with each unit, the more successful will the trade-marking be. Oyster manufacturers are now returning to Lowney's idea, "name on every piece" and in the eastern states are distributing the highest quality of oysters with a little tin tag on each shell. 54 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS Fifty years ago some manufacturers of textiles sold their cloth in bolts with trade-marks pasted in paper on the outside. Today many textile manufacturers weave the trade-mark into the selvage. Before a manufacturer begins to advertise, he should clearly study the different methods of identi- fying his product, and of giving individuality to his advertising. 8. Methods of identifying the product. There are three general methods of identifying a product, its wrapper, or the package in which it is contained : 1. By the use of a trade-mark or other individual design. 2. By the use of a distinctive shape. 3. By the use of a distinctive color. Trade-marks are the means of identification most generally used. They are discussed in detail in the Text on "Advertising Principles." 4. Shape as a means of identification. A distinc- tive shape for a product or its container is a com- monly employed method of identification. Automo- bile manufacturers have largely used it. While trade-marks are placed on the radiators, the hubs of the wheels and on other parts of automobiles, the aver- age schoolboy can tell the name of almost any car, even when it is in motion, by its general lines and the individuality expressed in the shape of some promi- nent part, such as the hood. The makers of Log Cabin Mable Syrup sell their product in tin packages shaped like a log cabin. METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION 55 While the shape is an inconvenient one from the stand- point of packing it is very convenient from the stand- point of identification. An identifying feature should not be confused with a sales advantage. The Pierce Arrow automobile is identified by lights on the fenders. Someone might feel that the use of lights the full width of the auto- mobile might be a protection against collision, yet this manufacturer does not advertise that advantage, real- izing that by so doing he will only enter a competitive war on minor sales points. An example of the danger of such a policy is the experience of Colgate & Com- pany and Williams in advertising shaving soap. First one of them, no one remembers which, came out with a new package and advertised under the slogan, "We can't improve the powder so we improved the box." Then the other improved the box also and came with a campaign on "The box that locks." An identifying feature should be considered purely as a matter of identification and is not to be regarded as a sales argument. 5. Color as a means of identification. There is nothing so quickly recognized by the normal eye as color. A manufacturer of a line of toilet prepara- tions uses the same color scheme for the packages of all his products, and he reproduces these colors wher- ever possible in his advertising. Manufacturers of automobiles in the beginning of the industry at- tempted to use this method of identification. The White automobile was painted white. In bygone 56 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS days an advertising campaign for a bicycle was based on the slogan, "Look for the yellow fellow." With certain products, the use of color is impossible. With others it is objectionable to the consumer. This was found to be the case in automobiles when very bright colors were used. While, today, colors are still used to identify certain makes of cars, the colors have generally been greatly subdued. Taxi-cab compan- ies, however, have used bright yellows, greens and reds to give individuality to their vehicles. There was a time when department stores wrapped their packages in bright colors, and advertised the fact. People objected to being used as walking ad- vertisements, and this method of identification has been discontinued to a large extent. The use of colors, however, is worthy of consideration in any ad- vertising campaign because color is probably the most striking and at the same time the most simple method of identification. Possibly the advertising of Sun- shine Biscuits could be made more effective if the packages were a bright sunshine yellow. 6. Methods of identifying the advertising. It is not enough to give to the product or its package an identity so that the consumer can easily recognize the article and ask for it by name. The advertising of the product should also have an individuality it should possess a certain distinctiveness that binds the whole campaign together and which helps to give a cumulative effect to everything that is done by the advertiser to influence the mind of the consumer. METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION 57 Wherever possible there should be a family resem- blance between the advertising and the product. For instance, if a trade character, such as the Dutch woman of Old Dutch Cleanser, appears on the pack- age, it should appear too in the advertising; or if dis- tinctive colors are used on the label the red and white <>f Campbell's soups, for example they should be used as often as possible in those forms of adver- t is ing that permit the use of color. In the case of some articles it is not possible to link up closely the appearance of the advertising, but this does not deprive the advertiser of the opportunity to give individuality to his publicity. He has many ways of binding all his advertising together. Indi- viduality in advertising, of course, should not mean monotony. It is entirely possible to maintain a fam- ily resemblance without making all advertisements alike. An often unattainable ideal is expressed by one advertiser: "Let there always be in each adver- tisement something which is the same and something which is new." The Cream of Wheat Company uses its famous negro chef in all its advertising. The reader can immediately identify a Cream of Wheat advertisement by this figure, altho each advertisement shows the negro in a new position. The negro cbef and the name, Cream of Wheat, are the pivot of all the manufacturer's publicity. Advertisers use many different ways to make their advertising distinctive and immediately identifiable. Among them are the following: 58 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS 1. The name 2. The trade-mark 3. A typical character 4. A slogan 5. Styles of type faces 6. Styles of type composition 7. Technique of illustrations 8. Style of copy 9. Color 10. Position in the publication. 7. Names and trade-marks. The repetition of the trade-mark or the name of the article or of the manu- facturer in all advertisements is too common a method of identification to need illustration. Altho the sub- ject of names and trade-marks is fully discussed in the Text on "Advertising Principles," it is well here to warn the advertiser of the necessity of simplicity. Many advertisers make the mistake of expecting the reader to remember too much. A simple name should be chosen, and yet a satisfactory simple name is exceedingly hard to find. All the common names have been preempted long ago. There are over 10,000 registered names for brands of flour alone. There are said to be nearly 200 Star brands of one kind or another on the market today. There are over 180 Standards, over 50 O. K.'s and 44 Twentieth Centuries. From the standpoint of registration as well as from the standpoint of distinction, it is often advantageous to choose a proper name, a fanciful METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION 59 name, or a name having its derivative in another lan- guage, such as Kodak, Phonograph, Crisco and Crex. Tneeda is in a class by itself; and any combination of letters to sound like words, even if it can be regis- tered, seems to be considered by the general public as an attempt at imitation of Uneeda. This may give rise to confusion and misunderstanding. In the South, when the negroes wish to purchase Takhoma biscuits, they often say, "Gimme dat Uneeda biscuit in d' red package." A fanciful or new name, on the other hand, strikes the public so unfamiliarly as to require a distinct ef- fort to remember and pronounce it. Some of the best names are those which thru other associations have be- come familiar, and are not exactly descriptive but may at least be called relevant. Mr. Edward S. Rogers, lecturer on the law of trade- marks at the University o*f Michigan, tells a sfory of a housewife who, when asked in court how she usually called for a certain article, replied, "If I see it, I point to it, but if I don't see it, even if I have taken a special trip to purchase it, I don't ask for it. I never heard how to pronounce it and I don't want anyone to think I'm a fool." To its manufacturer the name of this product probably seems very easy to pronounce. An advertiser has no right to expect a person to inquire the correct pronunciation of the name of his product. Xo one will ever know how much business some con- cerns lose because the names of their products are hard to pronounce or to remembei. 60 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS It is much easier to say "Tiffany's" than "Blank Manufacturing Company." An example of the short- ening of a firm name is the now famous "B. V. D." A growing custom for a manufacturer with but one product is to include the name of the product in the name of the company producing it. It is asking the public a good deal more to remember Munsingwear, made by the Northwestern Knitting Company, than it is to remember Cream of Wheat, made by the Cream of Wheat Company. In fact the advertising of the product became so strongly fixed in the minds of dealers and so much mail was wrongly addressed that in 1920 the Northwestern Knitting Company dropped the old company name which it had used for more than thirty years and became the Munsingwear Corporation. 8. Typical characters. Well-known examples of typical characters, used to give individuality to a man- ufacturer's advertising, are the Cream of Wheat chef, Gold Dust Twins, Swift's Little Cook, the Dutch Boy Painter and the Quaker of Quaker Oats. In adopting a trade character some advertisers overlook the fact that the public is not prone to talk about the character unless the character has a name; further- more, the name should preferably suggest the name of the thing advertised. The Gold Dust Twins are affectionately known by that title, and one cannot think of them without thinking also of Gold Dust. We knew Phoebe Snow, but we may have had to think twice to connect Phoebe Snow with the Lackawanna METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION 61 Kail mad. The negro used by the Cream of Wheat Company has not been given a name; it would be easier for the public to talk about him if he had a name, stamped perhaps on his cap or apron. An advertiser must remember that the first duty of a trade character is to identify his product. Some people attribute the comparative failure of the break- fast food, "Force," to the fact that there was not in the minds of the people a clear relation between Sunny Jim and the product he attempted to advertise. A trade character should be distinctive. Many ad- vertisers attempt to use photographs of little girls in connection with their products. Very few people recognize these as typical characters. They are not sufficiently distinctive. Even if the figure of a girl or woman is always clothed in the same way, unless the dress is as distinctive as the dress of the Old Dutch Cleanser character, for instance, the public may fail to recognize her. While it is possible to move the character, one must be careful not to move it too much. The character of Sunny Jim was first used in the street cars in pro- file. When the magazine advertising commenced, a front view was shown of his face, and the public be- came acquainted with him all over again. While the Cream of Wheat negro is always shown in different positions, you have never seen his face in profile. His head is moved, but his expression and the three-quar- ters view of his face have never been altered. Even to change his face to a full front view would prob- xiii a 62 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS ably make him look like another character to the reader. It is easier to identify a character by its form and by its clothing than by the eyes, nose and mouth. From this standpoint, the Old Dutch Cleanser character is easier to recognize than the pictures of girls which are used to advertise Pompeian toilet preparations. 9. When typical characters are inadvisable. Recognition of trade characters depends on repetition. Some local advertisers at different times have at- tempted to use such characters, but have found their advertising appropriations were not extensive enough to force the characters into general recognition. Once a character is adopted for a particular product, no piece of advertising for that product should be without the character. It is necessary, therefore, for the advertiser to consider carefully if there are any cases in which the introduction of this character might embarrass him. Adopting a typical character for your product is like adopting a child in your home. You should first make certain that the child is or will be everything you expect of him and then you should treat him as a part of your family. 10. Advantages of a slogan. It is customary among many advertisers to pick out some selling phrase and to use it in all advertisements. Some ad- vertisers believe a slogan is only a clever, flippant phrase with which to identify a product. Others base their entire sales efforts on slogans. Some use the same phrase indefinitely thruout the life of a business, METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION 63 while others use a phrase for five or ten years and then take up another one. Gold Medal flour has spent a great deal of money in popularizing slogans. For several years the com- pany based its sales efforts on the slogan, "When you think of flour, think of Gold Medal." Millions of dollars were spent to enforce this one command. After about ten years the company dropped the old slogan and introduced a new one, "Eventually Why not now?" This phrase was put on the company's letterheads, on the sacks of flour and on every piece of advertising emanating from the company. If anyone doubts the power of slogans to identify products, he has only to repeat to himself, "It floats," "Hammer the hammer," "Chases dirt," "Ask the man who owns one," "One of the 57," and see if in every case he does not immediately remember the product with which the slogan is associated. 11. Typographical means of identification. Some advertisers insist that all their advertising be set in the same style of type, or, if they are hand lettered, that the style of lettering be always the same. This is particularly noticeable in the Tiffany advertisements. Many advertisers in striving for individuality insist on the composition of all their advertisements being exactly the same. While the copy is changed, the cuts arc always in the same relative position and there are usually the same general blocks of type. The l)o(l>)G MANAGE 1 1 SSISTANT ADVERTISI R AD 1 VERTISING AGE NCY PERS OE DNAL SE PARTME RVICE >)T PR DE OMOTI =ARTMi TRADE BLDG. DEP'T. ADVERTISING & PRINTING DEP'T. AT OUR FACTORY THE ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT 77 various lines of business on various sorts of work, and put- ting this knowledge into printed form. B. Publicity: ad- \t-rtising in popular, business, and banking publications. ('. Direct mail advertising. D. Answering inquiries. E. Direct advertising, consisting of writing articles for publica- tion in all sorts of house organs and class publications, help- ing to show the business readers of these publications how they can know more about their business, and stimulating a desire for this knowledge. 7. Small advertising department. A much more simple organization is that of the National Veneer Products Company, makers of Indestructo trunks. The general manager of the company describes the department : Our national advertising is handled thru our agency who prepare the copy subject to the writer's O.K., and place it in accordance with the schedule agreed on between us at the beginning of the year. The inquiries received as a result of this advertising are handled by two of our stenographers who send out a carefully prepared form letter with the nec- essary literature. The names are entered on cards and filed for follow-up work. A series of four letters in all are sent to each prospect. The record of the inquiry is sent to the dealer in the town where the inquirer resides, with a return card inclosed in order that we may be advised what action has been taken in regard to the inquiry. Dealers' inquiries are handled in, the same way, another series of letters be- ing llM'd. From time to time we get out folders, hanging signs, win- dow displays, etc., which are generally designed and ordered by the writer. Samples of these are then sent to our deal- ers and placed in the hands of our salesmen. As requests for these materials come in from our dealers, the order is made out and is sent to our printer, who imprints the folder, or whatever it is, forward-, it to the dealer, sending u^ a memorandum to that effect. We then send out a form XIII 7 78 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS letter to the dealers advising them that the advertising matter has been forwarded and asking them to acknowledge receipt. From time to time we get out catalogs, broadsides, folders, etc., which we send to our list of dealers. These are addressed by the two stenographers in the department from our carefully maintained list of dealers. So you see our advertising department really consists of the writer and two girls who do the detail work for him. 8. Territorial advertising departments. Some large organizations maintain an advertising depart- ment at the home office, and in addition, separate de- partments in each of the branch offices or territorial districts. The men in the branch advertising depart- ments work closely in cooperation with the home of- fice, and usually are responsible to it. Their work is chiefly to study local trade conditions and to prepare newspaper and circular advertising particularly adapted to these conditions. The advertising departments of the National Lead Company and the Sherwin-Williams Paint Company are both organized in this way; the International Harvester Company also follows this plan ; the Multi- graph Sales Company and the Burroughs Adding Machine Company introduced territorial advertising departments in 1916 after thoro investigations of the opportunities offered by such a plan. In large or- ganizations in which many campaigns of varying na- tures are being pushed at the same time, and in which a close touch witH the sales force is necessary, the ad- vantages of the territorial method of organizing the advertising department are great. THE ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT 79 9. Cooperation with sales department. We have said that sometimes a single individual is in charge both of advertising and of the salesmen. This, per- haps, is the ideal method of obtaining cooperation be- tween selling and advertising, but it is an ideal that is not as yet often realized. Ordinarily one of the real problems of the advertising manager is to develop plans which will insure the salesmen's cooperation with the advertising, just as the sales manager too often finds the advertising manager lacking in ap- preciation of sales problems and sales values. There should be no lack of harmony between the salesmen and the advertising. Advertising is merely one of the factors in selling, and it cannot be properly con- ducted unless selling methods and selling problems are constantly in the advertiser's mind. Mr. L. S. Hamilton, of the National Tube Company, says, "After a number of years of experience, I have found one thing, namely, that the big thing in advertising isn't copy and it isn't style of type; neither is it cuts or booklets or anything of that kind. The success or failure of any advertising department rests on its ability to connect up with the sales idea." Jealousies sometimes arise between sales managers and advertising managers because of inadequate con- ception of the close connection of their activities and because of the desire of one or the other to get per- sonal credit for all that is accomplished in the promo- tion of sales. The advertising manager should keep the sales department closely in touch with all that he 80 is doing and planning to do, and the sales depart- ment should give him all the information he needs, and should work in the closest harmony with him. Neither department should plan a new campaign by itself; new plans should be the result of conference in which the dovetailing functions of advertising and salesmanship are clearly recognized. A manufacturer recently spent $5,000 in one month in a carefully planned localized campaign. When the campaign was being planned, the advertising agent asked about the sales force, and was told that the manufacturer had six well-trained salesmen familiar with the trade and constantly at work. The advertis- ing manager reported that he had carefully outlined the campaign to the salesmen and that each under- stood his part. Before the campaign was a week old the agent be- came alarmed at the meager sales. On investigation, he found the sales force of six had dwindled to two, that the salesmen were working on a flat commission basis, and that, instead of being well-trained, efficient men, they were what might be called transient sales- men. The public was being familiarized with the product, but no one was selling the dealers. Two let- ters had been sent to dealers, but no response had been received. What was to be done? Money was being spent at the rate of $200 a day to raise the plums, yet there was no one to pick them. Nearly 2,000 dealers had to be sold at once, altho the agent had been led to believe they had all been seen before the cam- THE ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT 81 paign commenced. In desperation the agent, step- ping in and assuming charge of the selling as well as the advertising, put a corps of girls at telephones and instructed them to call up the 2,000 dealers. This was a desperate and almost unheard-of way of at- tempting to obtain distribution; but, as there was no time then to train new salesmen, as the girls' voices were more pleasant and less expensive than the men's, and as the girls could be trained for telephone solici- tations in short order, it seemed the only way to save the day. The results were better than was thought possible. The advertising had been so effective that a mere mention of the proposition to the dealers se- cured more than a twenty per cent response. If this could be done by girls over the telephone, it is reason- able to suppose that three or four times the number of orders would have been secured by a sufficiently large and well-trained force of salesmen, and this result could have been obtained readily had the sales depart- ment cooperated with the advertising department. 10. Obtaining first-hand information in the field. While some advertising managers depend entirely on the sales department and on conferences with sales- men for their knowledge of the attitude of consumers and dealers, it is becoming more and more customary for advertising managers to travel thru typical ter- ritories and obtain first-hand information about con- ditions with which they must be familiar if they are to do their work properly. The advertising manager, to get a clear grasp of conditions, sometimes finds it 82 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS advisable to slip away for awhile from his office and do detective work. He may go out and represent himself as a salesman in order to get a clear idea of the arguments and excuses for not buying which con- stantly confront the salesman. He may ask of the dealer the privilege of going behind the counter and selling to customers, that he may obtain a clearer idea of the attitude of the typical consumer. 11. The advertising department and the advertis- ing agency. In the next chapter we are to discuss the functions of the advertising agency and its relations to the advertising department of its clients, but it is proper here to mention the much-discussed problem of the advisability of doing without an advertising de- partment entirely when an agency's services are used. Business men often ask the question, "If I can get an advertising agency to write and place my adver- tising, and if the services of the agency are paid for by the publisher, why do I need an advertising man- ager or an advertising department?" A large na- tional advertiser spending in excess of a million dol- lars a year and employing about seventy-five people in his advertising department, turned his department over, a few years ago, to his advertising agency. While the department was conducted on the premises of the manufacturer, the employes were all hired, paid and supervised by the advertising agent. The plan was given a fair test. It was found impracticable. The advertising agent lost the account, and the adver- tiser found that it was necessarv to re-establish an THE ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT 83 advertising department responsible to him and not responsible to the agent. As we have already shown in this chapter, an ad- vertising department must have definite, concrete functions of its own. It must be constantly in touch with the sales force. It must be responsible for the records and the detail of following up inquiries. It must prepare literature for dealers and for consumers. It must be a distinct and definite working cog in the machinery of the business itself. No matter how im- portant the services of the advertising agency may be, an advertiser cannot expect to take full advantage of those services without people in his own organiza- tion to do the many things for his business that an out- sider, even when he is well informed and eager to serve, cannot be expected to do so well. REVIEW Why is it dangerous to have more than one final judge of ad- vertising in a business? Who should he be? To what extent should the advertising manager's decisions regarding an advertising campaign be subject to approval by a superior ? In the business with which you are most familiar is there corn- pit te cooperation between the salesmen and the advertising de- partment? If not, how could this cooperation be obtained? Is the advertising department in your business so carefully organized that you can make a chart of it? Difficulty in chart- ing an organisation usually indicates looseness of structure; i.e., absence of clear lines of responsibility and authority. What mental qualities should an advertising manager possess? Do you possess them? Could you develop them? CHAPTER VI THE ADVERTISING AGENCY 1. What an advertising agency is. In the broad- est use of the term, an advertising agency is an organ- ization of merchandising and advertising experts who assist business houses in planning and carrying out advertising and sales campaigns. The advertising agent is a professional man. He resembles a physi- cian in that his training and experience enable him to diagnose business troubles and to prescribe remedial measures. He resembles a lawyer in that he outlines a plan of campaign for his client and then pleads his client's case before the court of the people. His or- ganization is a store-house of information regarding the pulling power of different advertising media, dif- ferent copy, and different merchandising methods ; he is expected to have all advertising principles and prac- tices at his finger tips, and, after careful study, to be able to prescribe for any set of conditions the market- ing methods that will bring the best results. The American Association of Advertising Agencies has given the following definition of agency service : "Agency Service consists of interpreting to the public, or to that part of it which it is desired to reach, the advan- tages of a product or service. 84 THE ADVERTISING AGENCY 85 Interpreting to the public the advantages of a product or service is based upon: 1. A study of the product or service in order to determine the advantages and disadvantages inherent in the product itself, and in its relation to competition. 2. An analysis of the present and potential market for which the product or service is adapted: As to location As to the extent of possible sale As to season As to trade and economic conditions As to nature and amount of competition. 3. A knowledge of the factors of distribution and sales and their methods of operation. 4. A knowledge of all the available media and means which can profitably be used to carry the interpreta- tion of the product or service to consumer, wholesaler, dealer, contractor, or other factor. This knowledge covers : Character Influence Quantity Circulation Quality Physical Requirements . . Location Costs Acting on the study, analysis and knowledge as explained in the preceding paragraphs, recommendations are made and the following procedure ensues : 5. Formulation of a definite plan. 6. Execution of this plan: (a) Writing, designing, illustrating of advertise- ments, or other appropriate forms of the mes- sage. (b) Contracting for the space or other means of advertising. (c) The proper incorporation of the message in mechanical form and forwarding it with proper instruction* for the fulfilment of the contract. 86 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS (d) Checking and verifying of insertions, display or other means used. (e) The auditing, billing and paying for the service, space and preparation. 7. Cooperation with the sales work, to insure the greatest effect from advertising. 2. What an advertising agency does. Advertising agencies differ greatly in their activities. Some do many things; some do only a few. Some concern themselves with all phases of a client's marketing problems; others confine their efforts to advertising alone. An agency that is completely organized to give advice regarding all phases* of the distribution of a client's products and to handle as many details of his entire sales campaign as he may wish to leave to the agency, ordinarily is equipped to do the following things : First, the agency makes a careful study of the thing to be sold its quality, as determined both by technical and by practical tests, the conditions under which it is manufactured, the sources of raw material, plant ca- pacity, labor supply and costs of production ; the capi- tal of the business and the amount that can properly be invested in selling activity ; the trade name and the trade-mark, with suggestions for changes if changes are desirable; the package, with particular reference to advertising value and to convenience in handling; and the selling points. It then makes an equally careful study of the market and the nature of the demand, finding out who the people are toward whom the sales THE ADVERTISING AGENCY 87 effort should be directed, where they live, how they live, when they buy, how they buy, how much they will buy and from whom they buy, with an intensive in- vestigation of competition in all its phases. Next the agency studies the sales channels used by its client or that might be used by him, basing its recommendations on complete knowledge of the relations among manu- facturers, jobbers, retailers and other middlemen, and determining for each particular product the best chan- nels of trade from manufacturer to consumer. Fol- lowing this the agency turns its attention to the price at which the product is to be sold and the sales policies to be followed including such problems as credit, dis- counts, price maintenance, guarantees and service. After all this preliminary investigation and study, the completely equipped agency will, if the client wishes, aid in the organization or reorganization of the sales force, giving advice and active help in all the many problems of sales management. Coincident with this, the agency studies the copy problems of the advertiser, and writes, or assists in writing, the ad- vertisements, obtains illustrations for them, attends to having the finished advertisements electrotyped, selects the media to be used, sends the copy or the electrotyped plates to the periodicals selected, makes arrangements for all out-door and street-car advertis- ing and checks the advertisements as they appear. Then come the important problems of coordinating the advertising with the work of the salesmen, or get- ting distribution among dealers and inducing them 88 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS to cooperate in the campaign. This last problem involves the preparation of all sorts of dealer helps store signs, window displays, circulars, novelties, etc. The agency will also prepare direct advertising both to dealers and consumers, in the form of catalogs, house organs, sales letters, mailing cards and other kinds of direct sales helps. Finally, the agency either keeps careful records of the results of all the sales producing activity, or it advises and helps the client in keeping such records. 3. History of the advertising agency. The first ad- vertising agency was established in 1840 in Philadel- phia, by V. B. Palmer. In 1899, there were forty-one advertising agents. Today there are approximately 300 "recognized" agencies, while there are probably 150 other concerns attempting to conduct an agency business, but not receiving what is called "recognition" from any publishers' association. In addition, there are probably a thousand other individuals and organ- izations, who in limited fields of merchandising, copy and art assist advertisers with their campaigns. In the beginning, the business of the advertising agent was very simple. He obtained permission to represent a list of newspapers, and called on pros- pective advertisers persuading them to "place their card" in a number of these newspapers. In those days, the papers for the most part had no established rates; the agent would make a rate to suit himself, paying the publisher as small a proportion of the amount collected as he could persuade him to take. THE ADVERTISING AGENCY 89 If the advertiser neglected to pay the agent, the agent was not held responsible for the space used. In the early days, the basis of charge for advertis- ing space was the "square." The publisher would divide a column into so many squares in which would be placed advertising "cards." The copy was seldom changed. In fact, some advertisements were used without change for from twenty to thirty years. The reader may recall "squares" used for long terms of years without substantial change of copy by Royal Baking Powder and Lea & Pen-ins Worcestershire Sauce. In 1865, George P. Rowell established himself as an advertising agent, and it was he who introduced the plan of buying from the publishers a column or more of space in a list of 100 newspapers, dividing this into inch squares, taking full responsibility for payment, and on his own terms selling the inch squares to advertisers on annual contract. Some of this retailing of space was continued up to as late as the beginning of the twentieth century. A few peo- ple still believe that an agency is a dealer and has on hand contracts for space which he must use within a specified time and which he is, therefore, willing to sell at reduced rates. Advertising agents no longer operate in this way. The modern agency represents no particular media. It represents primarily its cli- ents' interest, and places advertisements only in those media that can do the most to aid in the sale of its clients' goods. 90 While the advertising agent has guaranteed pay- ment for the space used by his clients ever since the time of the Civil War, and has written ccy y and placed advertising from the beginning, it was not until about 1900 that agencies established their own art departments and began to render the general merchandising service that many of them render to- day. 4. Publishers' representatives. The early agent, of whom Mr. Rowell was a type, in buying space in selected papers and selling only that space, exercised a function of the modern "publisher's representative." A publisher's representative is the appointed repre- sentative of one or more publishers. It is his duty, in a certain territory, to call on advertising agents and on advertisers, presenting the merits of the publica- tions he represents, and endeavoring to induce agents and their clients to place their advertisements in those publications. 5. Agency's service to publisher. Altho the pub- lishers of some clas'ses of periodicals do not "recog- nize" advertising agencies, most publishers welcome the services of the agent and are glad to have him act as a valuable middleman between themselves and their advertisers. One reasoi. for this is that pub- lishers cannot keep as closely in touch with their ad- vertisers as the agency can; also, it is much easier for a publisher to handle the accounts of a few agents than it would be to carry the accounts of many in- dividual advertisers. One publisher finds that ninety THE ADVERTISING AGENCY 91 per cent of the accounts he receives from the agencies are paid promptly every month, while only forty-eight per cent of the accounts he receives direct from ad- vertisers are paid in this way. The agency frequently saves the publisher from loss. As the agent's success depends on the success of his clients, he keeps advertisements out of publi- cations where they would be likely to be unproduc- tive. This keeps down the publishers' advertising death rate. So highly do most publications regard the services of the agent that, when a publisher is ap- proached by a new advertiser who is not represented by an agent, the publisher will frequently send him to one for expert service for much the same reason that a court appoints an attorney for a defendant who lias no legal representative to plead for him. The chief service of the advertising agent to the publisher, however, is his ability to create business. The good advertising agency is one of the real con- structive forces in American business. The agent is always on the lookout for new inventions and for new organizations with possibilities of growth. He must, of necessity, be optimistic; he must have vision. He continually preaches advertising and its possibili- ties. He studies it in all its forms; he believes in it and he impresses his belief upon others. Cer- tainly a large proportion of the advertising carried by magazines and newspapers would never appear were it not for the work of the agent in seeking out possible advertisers, studying their business, smooth- 92 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS ing out difficulties, "selling" the idea of advertising to the hesitating manufacturer, and finally carrying the great burden of the actual details of the adver- tising campaign. 6. Agency's service to advertisers. The advertis- ing agent, as has already been demonstrated, is in a position to do many things for an advertiser. Agents speak of "developing" an account. For example, an advertising agent will sometimes render service and advice for a year or two before any advertising is placed. He may find many things in the organization needing correction before proper advantage may be taken of the advertising. Perhaps the advertiser's package is not sufficiently distinctive. Perhaps his plan of selling is not adaptable to larger fields. Whatever it is in the organization that is an obstacle to its large success, the province of the advertising agent is to find the trouble and to tell the advertiser how to remedy it. The agent is constantly pointing to larger things. His province is similar to that of the wife of a suc- cessful man. She encourages him; she inspires him. She helps him with the little things. Her greatest ambition is that he succeed. But, when he does suc- ceed, she must not claim credit for his accomplish- ments. His very success depends on the world's rec- ognition of his having done it himself. Many agents have lost accounts which they have developed because of too much "crowing." The advertising agency's first function is that of THE ADVERTISING AGENCY 93 an adviser. Most agents do not accept competing accounts. They stake their success on the success of the advertiser, and help him fight his battles with his competitors. Just as in the case of the doctor and the lawyer, the more frank one is with his adviser the more intelligent is the advice he receives. The story is told of a manufacturer with a new product for which he was willing to spend $100,000 in advertising. He called on an agent and asked for advice regarding the best way to spend the money. The agent investigated the product, the possible de- mand and the competition. He told the manufac- turer that in his opinion the investment would not be a profitable one and advised him not to advertise. The manufacturer went to another agent and re- ceived the same advice. In all he went to six agen- cies, ready to place his $100,000 in their hands, and in each case was told to keep his money. For a time the patent medicine advertisers, the liquor advertisers and a few of the railroads felt that by placing their advertisements direct with the pub- lishers, they were in a better position to influence the editorial columns and to censor news and editorial matter that might hurt their businesses. As the pub- lishers have become stronger in their determination not to let the advertising columns influence the edi- torial columns, and as the agencies have become stronger in the volume of business given to the pub- lishers, advertisers have reali/ed that if their claims for or against editorial discrimination are just, the XIII 8 94 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS influence of the agency on the publisher is greater than the influence of any individual advertiser could be. 7. The outsider's viewpoint. The advice rendered by the agent is valuable, partly because it is based on his own experience, his records of the experiences of others and his knowledge of merchandising meth- ods. But it is valuable also because the agent brings to any advertiser's problems the outsider's viewpoint. It is said that a doctor cannot diagnose his own case. Similarly, a manufacturer becomes involved in the details of his business and in his fight against competi- tion, and it is hard for him to see his business as a part of the great distributive system. The advertis- ing manager represents the business from the inside. The advertising agent represents the public as related to that business. The manufacturer considers his product as something to sell. The agent considers the product as something to buy. 8. How agencies are organized. The advertising agency is a group of specialists, each one devoting his life to the study of his branch of the many problems in relation to advertising. Every agency has in theory at least three main divisions: 1. Sales or promotion department 2. A creative or production department for the preparation of advertisements 3. An operating department for the purpose of estimating, ordering, accounting, checking and bill- ing. THE ADVERTISING AGENCY 95 The chart in the Appendix, page 319, shows how these departments communicate with each other and how each works for the interest of the advertiser. The service manager or account executive has con- stant contact with the advertiser. He is a man ex- perienced in planning advertising campaigns and in merchandising problems. Usually the service man- ager handles accounts which, while in no way com- peting, are similar in merchandising problems. For instance, an agency will have service managers each specializing on food, agricultural, mail order, clothing, building material, office appliance and technical ma- chinery advertising. Each one of these men, thru contact with his particular industry, becomes a spe- cialist in that particular division of business and fur- nishes the production or creative departments with the merchandising information on which to build the campaign. In most agencies there are five purely creative de- partments, the copy department, the art department and the material department which make up one group of purely creative function and the research and media departments whose province it is to collect and weigh information for use by the Plan Board. Agencies are in the habit of calling conferences constantly and usually no new subject is taken up without having a conference in which each group of specialists is represented. At these conferences the experiences of all of the members of the Plan Board are gathered together and the judgment is a judgment 96 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS of specialists. The sales manager furnishes his ex- perience from the standpoint of sales ; the service man- ager furnishes his experience from the standpoint of merchandising; the research department furnishes its records from the library and from the results of field investigations; the copy department gives its angle from the standpoint of the psychological appeal; the art department states whether or not the idea may be visualized and presents rough sketches of its sug- gestions as to the best plan of presenting the message in the most attractive form ; the material department, whose duty it is to prepare the engravings, the com- position, the printing and the electrotypes, considers the problem in relation to its mechanical limitations and the media department furnishes information as to the most economical media in relation to circulation and the past experience of the agency. 9. How an agency works. The chart, on page 320, shows the simplest steps undertaken by the average agency in conducting an advertising campaign for a client. The four main steps are : A. Investigating or obtaining all the information necessary in order to make an intelligent plan B. Planning C. Producing or creating the advertisements D. Operating or taking care of the financial side of the transaction and recording results. THE ADVERTISING AGENCY 97 The conscientious advertising agent will make no recommendations until the organization has made a complete study of the problem. He does not even answer hypothetical questions, to say nothing of writ- ing copy and preparing sketches, until every source of information has been tapped and all of the in- formation so obtained has been carefully analyzed. Not only, as said, do very few agencies accept compet- ing accounts but most agencies exercise the greatest care and the utmost caution in selecting clients for whom they are to conduct campaigns. Before active solicitation has commenced, the mem- bers of the agency, usually the manager of sales, the president of the company, and the service manager who would handle the account, as well as the credit man of the agency, have a conference as to the de- sirability of the account and the possibility for suc- cess. In some organizations definite action is taken by the Xew Business Board before an account is solicited. 10. Obtaining information for the campaign. When the sales manager has closed the contract with the client, he then introduces the agency's service man- ager who is to have charge of the account. This officer proceeds to make arrangements for the investigation. Many agencies have a definite outline of questions which in most cases will furnish the information de- sired. These lists of questions are much like the diagnosis sheet of a physician. They scrutinize every detail of the client's business and weigh each with 98 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS respect to competition. There are four sources from which the agency obtains answers to the inquiries that compose its questionnaire. First, the client's own organization, and before com- plete answers are secured the agency will have in- terviewed the heads of most of the departments. The second step in investigating is to gather together all of the information in the agency's library in relation to the particular industry. Here the agency has in- dexed records of all successful advertising campaigns conducted in that industry. It also has information in relation to specific markets and the number and kind of distributors. After the library investigation, the head of the research department and the service manager who is to handle the account determjne on whatever field investigations may be necessary. These consist of calls on consumers, dealers, distribu- tors and other groups which influence sales in an effort to obtain their answers to the same fundamental ques- tions. At the same time that the field investigation is being conducted, the agency is gathering together proofs of all advertisements of the client and of his competitors, records of the advertising which each has done in the past and records of the follow-up which each conducts on each group to which the advertising is directed. 11. Planning the campaign. When the research department has furnished the results of these four kinds of investigations to the service manager, he then asks for a meeting of the Plan Board and presents THE ADVERTISING AGENCY 99 the findings. The details of the plan may differ with accounts and may differ with agencies. Some prefer to make the illustrations first; others prefer to write the copy before having it illustrated. Still others prefer a combination of both methods, writing only one piece of copy to show style. At the plan con- ference the dominant idea of each class advertising is determined and the Plan Board decides on the size of space and the number of insertions which will be re- quired in the campaign. In some agencies, the service manager writes all the copy. Most agencies, however, have a copy department with this duty as a sole func- tion. In such cases, the copy department takes the dominant idea and prepares a list of advertisement subjects for each advertisement. Before any copy is written the advertisement subjects are approved by the service manager and by the manager of produc- tion. Then the advertisement subjects are submitted to the art department for rough layouts or "visualiza- tions" of the idea. The finished copy and the finished art work is not ordered until the client has approved the idea of the copy and illustration and most agencies at this step also estimate the cost for the purchase of art work, cuts and composition. That there may be no misunderstanding, the adver- tising plan is usually put on paper. After the plan has been read to and approved by the Plan Board, it is submitted to the client together with the findings of the investigation. This is the most important func- tion of the agency and usually takes the greater part 100 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS of the time. One agency finds that on the average at least three months must be consumed in investigat- ing, one month in planning and two months in pro- ducing before the right kind of advertisements can be completed. This is one of the many reasons why a year's campaign is planned at one time. 12. Producing the advertisements. When the client has approved the plan, the agency proceeds to order the space. The layouts are then sent to the artist who, because of his particular technique or knowledge in relation to the class of illustration de- sired, has been chosen to prepare the drawings. The artist first submits pencil sketches and when these are approved the layouts are sent to the copy depart- ment for the writing of the copy. By this method the copywriter knows that the subject of each adver- tisement is exactly the subject which the client de- sires because it has been approved by the client and, having the layout in front of him, can consider the advertisement from the standpoint of the reader who sees the illustration and he can also make his copy fit the space which has been agreed upon and which is available in the lavout. w When the finished drawings are received, they are submitted to the client, together with the copy, and after the client's approval the production is simply a matter of the detail of ordering cuts, setting the ad- vertisement, making a sufficient number of proofs in the case of a publication advertisement or printing in case of a booklet or circular, preparing one plate, an THE ADVERTISING AGENCY 101 electrotype, stereotype or matrix for each advertise- ment in each publication and shipping the plates to the publisher. 13. Relation of agency to advertiser. There has been much discussion about the division of functions between the advertising agent and the advertiser's own advertising department. In some cases, as was shown in the last chapter, advertisers have attempted to get along without advertising departments of their own, making the agency responsible for all details of the campaign. In other cases, the advertiser has an extensive advertising department, and uses the agency chiefly for counsel to aid in the copy writing and to place the advertisements in publications. Be- tween these two extremes there is every shade of vari- ation in practice. In theory, the advertising manager of a business and the advertising agent with whom he works should confer on all important matters, the ad- vertising manager bringing to the conference the facts regarding the business, its goods, its personnel and its policies, and the agent bringing the outsider's viewpoint with a detailed knowledge of advertising principles and media and a fund of data regarding merchandising plans and methods. The agent's plans and his suggested methods of carrying them out are subject to the approval of the advertising manager or of some other responsible member of the advertiser's organization. A spirit of mutual helpfulness and a common and unselfish desire really to advance the interests of the advertiser will 102 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS do more to bring the . advertising manager and the agent into helpful cooperation than any amount of cut-and-dried rules defining their respective functions. 14. The advertising agent's compensation. In a sense the advertising agency is the middleman in the advertising business. He does not buy space in large quantities to resell in smaller quantities, never- theless he does sell space for the publisher. For this service he is paid by the publisher. The ordinary service rendered by the agent to his principal study of the client's business, the writing of copy, and the placing of copy, etc. costs the advertiser nothing. That is, the advertiser could not buy space any more cheaply if he performed these services for himself, than he can buy it and also utilize the agency. The space used by the advertiser is billed to him by the agent generally at the publisher's card rates. The publisher bills the agent for the space used by his client, at the card rate less a certain differential, and it is this differential that represents the agent's gross compensation. Out of it he has to pay all the expenses of conducting his agency, keeping what remains as profit. The differential allowed by the majority of magazine publishers is fifteen per cent. That is, if an advertiser uses one thousand dollars' worth of space in a publication, the publisher bills the agent for the full amount less 15 per cent and allows 2 per cent of the net for cash. The agent in turn bills the adver- tiser in one of two ways. The usual way is to bill for the full figure but allow the amount of the dis- THE ADVERTISING AGENCY 103 count that has previously been given the agent by the publisher 2 per cent of the publisher's net being 1.7 per cent of the agent's bill to the advertiser. The other way of billing an advertiser is at the publisher's net less 2 per cent for cash and then charging 15 per cent for service. The second way gives the agency about s-j.-> k-s* on $1,000. While to one unfamiliar with the advertising busi- ness the agency's commission may appear to be in a very involved condition, as a matter of fact it is less involved and rates are more rigidly adhered to than in almost any other class of business. An agent who cuts rates is regarded as an outlaw, and he may at any moment lose recognition from the publishers and will not be allowed membership (or will be expelled from Membership) in the American Association of Adver- tising Agencies. The agency's commission, allowed him by those who control advertising media, pays for the ordinary agency service. Many agencies make an additional "service charge" to advertisers when the services ren- dered involve unusual outlays of money. Some agencies make a preliminary charge for the investigation and others charge for the investigation and the plan, whether the advertiser uses it or not. In some cases, after the investigation is made it is found that there is not a sufficient market for the product, in which case the advertiser pays the agent on a time 1 >n sis or an estimated sum for the work involved. The advertiser also pays the agent a 15% service fee on 104 all material purchases made for the advertiser. These include drawings, cuts, printing and all other such items. Thus the average agency works on a straight 15% basis. It usually costs the agency from 10 to 13% to ren- der this service, thus the agent makes from 2 to 5% on his money. Agencies pride themselves on never missing a cash discount and usually make the taking of the cash discount a part of the contract with the advertiser. It is obvious, under such a close margin, that an agency cannot extend credit. If an agency makes a net profit of 3% it is only making $300 a month profit on an account which is spending $10,000 a month in publications. If the agency had to pay the publisher for one month's advertising on which it received no remuneration from the advertiser, it would have to handle a volume of business in the rela- tion that $300 is to $10,000 before it would break even on this loss. This means that an agency would have to do $333,000 worth of business in order to make up one month of a $10,000 billing. If the ad- vertiser defaulted for two months, the agency would have to do $666,000 worth of billing and so the loss would increase each month. The agency, being re- sponsible to the publisher for the debts of the adver- tiser and working on such a small margin, insists on prompt payment, takes no notes and reserves the right to cancel immediately advertising whenever there is any question of the advertiser's ability to pay. In case of such cancelation, however, it is also agreed that THE ADVERTISING AGENCY 105 the advertiser pay the agent for the amount of work which he has put on the advertisements which would have appeared in the space so canceled. 15. The meaning of "recognition" Several times in the preceding paragraphs we have referred to "recognition" of agencies by publishers. An ad- vertising agency is "recognized" when the publisher grants a commission for advertising received from the agency. As advertising agencies began to increase in number and to demand of publishers statements of circulation and fixed rates for space, the publishers found it advisable to organize associations to investi- gate the standing and responsibility of the agents in order that the publishers might be protected from the unscrupulous and the irresponsible. The news- papers have performed this function thru the Amer- ican Newspaper Publishers Association, the maga- zines thru the Periodical Publishers Association, and the farm journals have another organization of their own. There are some publishers who will not grant recognition until they, individually, have made a spe- cial contract with the agent. These associations demand of the advertising agent a satisfactory financial statement, a record of the past experience and accomplishments of the individuals in charge of the agency, an assurance that the agency will not rebate any of its commissions to the adver- tisers, a list of the accounts, and in some cases a state- ment of the volume of business which the agency is prepared to place. The number of accounts neces- 106 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS sary to secure recognition varies. While the associa- tions generally adhere to the rule that an agency must have at least three accounts, in some cases a pub- lisher insists upon at least three accounts placed in his publication; and all now demand that the agency be entirely free, on a financial basis, from the adver- tiser. 16. How an agency secures recognition. With so many organizations from which an agency must ob- tain recognition before it can do business profitably, it is a difficult matter for the new agency to secure satisfactory recognition. When one considers the credit risk the publishers take, it is right that an agency's ability should be carefully tested before recognition is granted. From the advertiser's viewpoint, it is important that the advertising agent with whom he deals should be recognized by all classes of media. This arises from the fact that the agent's compensation comes chiefly in the form of commissions from publishers. If he were granted a commission by one publisher and not by another, he might be suspected of putting his own interests before his client's if he were to se- lect the first publisher's periodical, and not the sec- ond's, as a proper medium for his client's advertise- ments. That most agents, however, do not let the matter of commissions influence their advice to their clients is indicated by the many cases in w r hich con- scientious advertising agencies have placed large vol- THE ADVERTISING AGENCY 107 nines of business with certain publishers who did not urunt them recognition. To insure to the agent proper compensation from all media that his clients' campaigns may require, as well as to avoid other difficulties in the methods of recognition in vogue in the past, a new plan of agency recognition was proposed by the American Associa- tion of Advertising Agencies in 1921. The plan comprehends joint recognition by all media, the recog- nition to be granted by a central body, one representa- tive from each medium and one from the Agents' Association. This will give the new agency an op- portunity to start on an equal basis with respect to all media, and will give each medium and the agents them- selves an equal voice in the recognition of others to their ranks. The new plan will do much to clear up the agency situation, and, while it may not be easier under it to secure recognition for an agency, it certainly will al- low those securing recognition to do business on a more satisfactory basis; it should aid publishers, ad- vertisers and agencies alike. REVIEW Why and how should an advertiser use an advertising agent? How does the advertising agent help the publisher? Is the advertising agent the agent of the advertiser or of the publisher? Should an advertising agent handle competing accounts? Give the reasons for your answer. How do you think the new plan for recognizing agents will benefit all factors in advertising? 108 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS Is it logical for the pay of the advertising agent to be based on the amount and value of the space used by a client? That is, do you think a small space campaign calls for little time and thought comparatively and a large space campaign very much more in proportion? Can you think of any other practicable method of payment? CHAPTER VII ADVERTISING MEDIA 1. Place of the medium in the campaign. We have discussed the demand for the product, the possible market, the competition and the men who conduct the advertising campaign. Our next question is: How may the advertisements be brought before the public? What instrument or instruments are we to use to send our advertising message to the greatest number of potential customers? In advertising, as in war, the men who direct the forces are constantly confronted by the problem of choosing the best means of carrying on the campaign operations. What media are to be used? For any given product, designed to reach a given class of people, what means can best serve the advertiser in carrying his message to the people he wants to reach? Shall it be magazines or newspapers, street cars, circular letters, catalogs, sampling, house organs or painted signs, electrical displays, demonstrations and so on to the end of a long list? We are to find that there are three main classes of media, direct media, periodicals, signs, just as there are three main divi- sions of an army, infantry, cavalry and artillery, and that these three advertising classes divide and subdivide into so many groups that the problem of XIII 9 ?09 110 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS selecting the right media is as difficult as it is im- portant. 2. One medium alone seldom sufficient. In war few campaigns have succeeded by the use of one branch of the service alone. Napoleon placed too much confidence in his artillery, and this is said to have been one of the causes of his fall at Waterloo. So in advertising, few successes are attributable to the use of only one class of media. Campbell's Soups were first advertised in the street-cars, and for a long time this was the only class of advertising the company used. Today, however, this great adver- tiser is depending on magazine advertising for the greater proportion of its success, and is also using newspaper advertising in many localities. The choice of the media to be used is one of the most important problems of any advertising cam- paign. 3. Advertising media defined. An advertising medium, in its broadest sense, is any vehicle which carries an advertising message, suggestion or im- pression. Everyone in business at some time in his career has had someone try to sell him something on the ground that "it will be a good 'ad' for you." The doctor and the lawyer, who are usually left alone by the advertising solicitor, are persuaded to buy ex- pensive automobiles, fine homes and memberships in clubs on the pretext of "advertising." The politician buys space in the program which the ladies of the church are going to use at their next fair. Each of ADVERTISING MEDIA 111 these methods carries a suggestion or makes an im- pression on the public. The impression is valuable or not according to its character and its intensity. Gen- erally its value is far below what could be secured thru the so-called legitimate or regular media, like the mails, periodicals and signs, but not always. Mr. M. W. Savage of the International Stock Food Company owned Dan Patch, Minor Heir and other famous horses. The name of Dan Patch was insepa- rable from the International Stock Food Company, and wherever he appeared he was an advertisement for his owner and his owner's business. 4. How media are selected. At the outset of a study of media the advertiser should clearly under- stand that all media are good. They are not all good for all purposes or for all advertisers, but each one for some particular purpose and in some par- ticular way can perform a useful service for some ad- vertiser. There are many rival claims of superiority among the people who try to induce advertisers to use different classes of media. Some magazine men try to convince advertisers that magazines as a class are better media than newspapers, and then the news- paper publishers set up counter claims of superior ity for their publications. Billboards are said to be bet- ter than street-car cards, and street-car cards are said to be better than billboards. And so the fruitless controversy goes on respecting all kinds of media. Such discussion is as futile as to debate the relative value to man of baseball. i-<>lf' and tennis. 112 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS One class of media is not better than another. It may be better for a certain purpose, and worse for another. The problem of the advertiser is, first, to find out definitely what purpose he wants to achieve what people he wants to reach, what he wants them to do, how his product can best be made to appeal to them, how they live, earn, spend and play and then to pick out, after unprejudiced consideration of all media, the ones that can best carry his message about his product to his market. The problem is individual for each advertiser. 5. Circulation. The circulation of any advertise- ment is, in its broadest sense, the number of individ- uals who may be expected to see it. The circulation of a medium is the number of people that it reaches. How it reaches them: whether by newsstand sale, or subscription, and if the latter on what inducement, we are not here to discuss. At this point, however, it is important to emphasize the fact that circulation does not always or often mean the actual number of people who see an advertisement it means the num- ber who may be expected to see it. The user of di- rect media sends out 5,000 form letters. His cir- culation is 5,000. One thousand or more of his let- ters may go into the waste-basket of recipients with- out being read. It is the advertiser's task to make his direct advertising so attractive in appearance that most or every one of his 5,000 circulation will really see and read his message. The user of periodicals may buy a circulation of 100,000. That is what he ADVERTISING MEDIA 113 pays for. He does not necessarily, however, purchase 100,000 readers of his advertisement. Whether any or all of the people who make up the 100,000 circula- tion of his media see and read his advertisement de- pends on his ability to attract their attention and to arouse their interest. In other words, circulation and readers of an advertisement are two separate and altogether distinct things. Circulation is a me- chanical thing that can be bought. Readers cannot be bought ; they must be persuaded. Until recent years statements of circulation have often been unreliable. Some publishers refused to give any statements regarding circulation, and others were satisfied with round numbers that were obviously inaccurate. The sellers of space for signs made little effort to estimate the number of people who might see them, and even users of direct advertising bought lists of names with frequent disregard for their time- liness and value. Now, all this is changed. Sworn circulations are the order of the day. Circulation is a matter of careful investigation, and everyone pub- lishers, billboard people, companies controlling street- car space, advertisers and the government itself is concerned with the circulation of advertising media. The United States Post Office Department demands sworn statements of circulation from newspapers, and the Audit Bureau of Circulation to which most periodical publishers, advertisers and agents belong, issues detailed analyse*, of eireiilation for its members. Other associations and individuals are rendering 114 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS similar service. This is decidedly the day of known circulations. 6. Three general classes of media. All advertising media may be divided into three classes : a. Direct media thru which the possible customer is reached directly by the advertiser, either by mail or by some other distributing agency fully controlled by the advertiser. b. Periodicals thru which the possible customer is reached, indirectly, thru publishers. c. Signs thru which the possible customer is reached in his travel about town or the country. In the case of direct media, the circulation is en- tirely in the hands of the advertiser. He makes up his own list of possible customers and reaches them for the most part thru the mail. He may add a name or eliminate a name at will. He is in full control of all advertising media of this class. When one buys space in a periodical he does not have full control of its circulation. The publisher comes to the advertiser and announces that he is dis- tributing his publication regularly to a certain class of readers. He offers to introduce the advertiser to these readers thru space in his publication. % He tells the advertiser the class of readers he can reach. The advertiser can pick and choose his publications, but he has no control over the circulation of these publi- cations. Signs include a wide variety of different kinds of media. Neither the advertiser nor the one who sells ADVERTISING MEDIA 115 the space has full control of the circulation reached by signs. An electric sign may be placed at the corner of Broadway and Forty-Second Street in New York. I -'.-ti mates, based on careful count, can be made of the number of people who will pass that point even 7 twenty-four hours, but the advertiser cannot buy a definite circulation for the sign. It will vary from day to day and week to week according to the habits of the people. The second party in the advertising triangle, the shifting public, determines the circula- tion. 7. Kinds of direct media. Each of the three classes of media divides itself into six kinds, making eighteen in all. While the division may be somewhat arbi- trary it will simplify perplexing questions. If the reader will consider the media used by any specific Imsiness in relation to the chart printed in the Appen- dix, page 321, he will find that there is a place and a reason for each kind. The six kinds of direct media are 1. Letters 2. Sampling and demonstration 3. Booklets 4. Catalogs 5. House organs 6. Novelties. 8. Letters. The first kind of direct media is the duplicated letter. A letter written to one individual and sent only to him is properly not advertising at all. 116 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS It is personal salesmanship, because presumably the personal characteristics of the recipient were appealed to when the letter was dictated. A letter that is duplicated, however, and that goes to a group of people, is properly called advertising, because it is an appeal to a group rather than to an individual. 9. Sampling and demonstrating. In sampling or demonstrating, the actual thing to be sold is allowed to speak for itself. In a sense, sampling and demon- strating are a form of personal salesmanship rather than of advertising, because the article to be sold is usually put personally into the hands of the possible purchaser. Nevertheless, these publicity methods are usually classed as advertising because every sample in a lot of ten thousand is usually distributed in ex- actly the same way as every other sample; the appeal is really a mass appeal, altho the samplers come into actual contact with individuals. 10. Booklets. The next group of direct media in- cludes booklets, leaflets and folders. Some adver- tising campaigns are built entirely on two direct media, sampling and either booklets, leaflets or fold- ers. The booklet tells the story more completely than it can be told in a letter. In the booklet one can show illustrations, while this is difficult in a letter. The booklet is one step farther removed from the salesman. It has been said that every advertising campaign calls for at least one booklet. Xo letter, periodical or sign can tell the whole story. ADVERTISING MEDIA 117 11. Catalogs, The next general group of direct advertising media consists of catalogs. The adver- tising of Sears, Roebuck & Company is confined to catalogs almost exclusively. In the beginning of the business this company was a large user of space in periodicals. The number of customers finally became so great, and the company obtained such direct con- nections with its patrons that all periodical advertis- ing was discontinued, and the catalog is today the only kind of advertising used. The following ex- planation of his company's advertising policy was made by Mr. Richard W. Sears a few years before his death: We have simply outgrown the circulation of mail-order journals, farm and religious papers, magazines, and similar mediums, because long use of them to advertise our catalog has given the book a wider distribution than any periodicals we can use. What periodical has a circulation of 5,000,000 copies ? Yet we put out that many catalogs a year. Every twenty-four hours 12,000 requests for the book come to us, and we arc sending out, at the same time, later editions to people already on the mailing lists. There is no duplication in this circulation. We take every precaution to see that no person gets two copies of the catalog the same year. Every name and address to which a copy is sent is filed geographi- cally and every request is compared with this file. When the business was new, we advertised the catalog persistently, but now we do not advertise it at all. Yet we send out nearly 100,000 copies every week. Of the requests that come seventy-five per cent are from people who have an old catalog. Only twenty-five per cent are in \\ . Matters have gone on to a stage where periodical adver- tising no longer pays us, because there are not enough new prospects loft in the country to make it profitable. 118 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS We can't see how to spend more money profitably in peri- odicals. Our catalog tells our story so effectively that no amount of newspaper or magazine space could produce the same advertising effect. Despite this condition in rural districts, when Sears, Roebuck & Company attempts to extend its field, as it has done in selling a special edition of the Encyclo- pedia Britannica, it is a most liberal user of both magazine and newspaper space. In such cases the mail-order house advertises to reach a new market which its catalog does not reach and in which its catalog alone does not carry sufficient prestige. Few advertisers can rely solely on the catalog, be- cause few of them have covered their field as inten- sively as the big mail-order houses. The catalog is usually a supplementary advertising medium, to aid the salesman and to turn into orders inquiries pro- duced by other kinds of advertising media. 12. House organs. A house organ is a publica- tion, usually in the form of a magazine or newspaper, issued by a business house in the interests of that house. It appears, ordinarily, at regular intervals, and, therefore, it might be thought of as a periodical instead of a direct medium. It is properly classified as a direct medium because, regardless of when it ap- pears, its circulation is entirely in the control of the advertiser. House organs are of many different kinds. The house organ that acts as a direct advertising medium is the one that goes to dealers or to con- ADVERTISING MEDIA 119 sinners. Many manufacturers publish more or less elaborate magazines, in the interest of their own busi- ness, which they send regularly to jobbers and re- tailers as well as to the traveling salesmen and clerks of these distributors. Other advertisers, dealing di- rect with consumers, send regularly their sales story in the form of magazines of varying degrees of pre- tentiousness to people who might be interested. House organs are ordinarily used to back up the work of salesmen and the appeal of other kinds of advertis- ing ; very seldom are they used alone. l.'J. \ovelties. The next class of direct media is known as novelties or specialties. It consists of calendars, pocketbooks, knives, paper weights and a large variety of other articles of more or less utility to the one to whom they are presented. Novelties are usually given away by the advertiser, altho sometimes the possible customer is asked to pay a nominal price for them. A novelty is ordinarily something that will be constantly before the recipient and which will, therefore, continually remind him of the advertiser. Another element of value is supposed to lie in the fact that the recipient of a novelty, if it is of any value, will feel a degree of gratitude to the advertiser, and will reciprocate by giving him his orders. Some novelties have still another kind of value. They result in the good-will of the recipient, but they also act as signs to draw the attention of others. Nearly everyone has seen the watch charm in the form of a green pickle, given away by the manufac- 120 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS turer of Heinz pickles. This is valued by the man who wears it, and it also serves to advertise Heinz pickles to others. In the same class are umbrellas and horse blankets which carry advertising. Prob- ably the most effective advertising specialties are those that serve both as signs and as direct media. REVIEW Fundamentally, how do the three main groups of advertising media differ? For your business, which of the three main divisions of media seems to offer the greatest opportunities? Why? What does an advertiser pay for when he buys "circulation"? Under what circumstances can catalogs be profitably used as a sole advertising medium? Could you use direct media in your business? If so, what kinds ? CHAPTER VIII ADVERTISING MEDIA (Continued) 1. Periodicals. The second main division of ad- vertising media, called periodicals or publications, may be subdivided into six general groups: 1. Newspapers 4. Trade, technical, and class publications 2. General magazines 5. Foreign language pub- lications 3. Farm papers 6. Directories and miscel- laneous periodicals 2. Newspapers. Newspapers as a class carry more advertising than any other one medium. They carried advertising before the modern magazine made its appearance, and they continue as exceedingly im- portant advertising aids, not alone for the local dealer, but for the manufacturer as well. It is not possible accurately to define the term newspaper, be- cause the dividing line between some newspapers and some magazines is exceedingly indistinct. However, a description is as good as a definition for our pur- poses, and ordinarily a newspaper has certain char- acteristics which permit of its easy classification. in 122 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS There are two outstanding characteristics. First, a newspaper is concerned chiefly with the printing of news not the news of special trades or interests, but the general news of the community and the world. Second, a newspaper ordinarily serves a definite lo- cality. It may have subscribers all over the country, but the bulk of its readers are found in the community in which it is published. Newspapers may be classified in a variety of ways. Using the interval between issues as the basis of classi- fication, we have dailies, weeklies, semi-weeklies and perhaps others. Few real newspapers are published less frequently than once a week. Another basis of classification gives morning, evening and Sunday papers. We are not now concerned with the sub- classifications. The important thing is that the news- paper is primarily a local medium, of undoubted value for the advertiser who wishes to reach intensively the buying public of a given community. 3. Magazines. A magazine differs from a news- paper chiefly in that it is not primarily concerned with the printing of news. It may summarize the news (for example, The Outlook, The Independent and The Literary Digest) , but its chief purpose is to com- ment on the news and to interpret it, or to instruct and 'amuse with fiction, essays and other forms of more or less permanent literature. Altho some magazines are published for a local clientele, most of them cir- culate rather widely in a state, a section, or thruout the entire country. ADVERTISING MEDIA 123 Magazines are variously classified. First, there are the weeklies, monthlies, quarterlies and annuals ; some are published twice a week, others every two weeks and a very few at still other intervals. Magazines are also classified on the basis of their readers; for exam- ple, publications for men, for women, for children. A publication might be intended only for a particular group of people those belonging to a certain reli- gious denomination, for instance. Strictly speaking, such a publication, judged by its contents, might be a magazine even, with this limited audience. In the language of advertising, however, it would be a class publication and not a magazine, the latter word being arbitrarily reserved for periodicals with a relatively wide appeal. 4. Farm journals. Farm journals reach people in rural communities. Farm journals are for the most part territorial in their influence and the circulation does not extend beyond certain agricultural belts. There are, for instance, corn-belt farm papers and wheat-belt farm papers. Other farm papers concen- trate their circulation in certain states. For instance, there are three farm papers published in Minnesota. About seventy per cent of the circulation of the two leaders is in Minnesota with the remainder in North and South Dakota, Montana, western Wisconsin and northern Iowa. There are, however, at least six na- tional farm papers, which advertisers use to reach farmers all over the country in the same way that they use the national magazines to reach generally the in- 124 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS habitants of cities and towns thruout the United States. The farm journals of this country have probably done as much as any other one influence to introduce better farming. They have gone hand in hand with the agricultural colleges and the United States De- partment of Agriculture in their great educational work. 5. Trade, technical and class publications. A pe- riodical, to be classed as a trade, technical or class publication, must be edited so as to appeal to a cer- tain group of people possessing common interests. A trade publication, technically speaking, is one that is devoted to the business interest of dealers in mer- chandise. The Dry Goods Economist is an example ; it reaches owners and buyers of dry -goods stores and department stores. Many trade papers are exceed- ingly influential and are valued for advertisers who wish to reach dealers. Almost every line of business has its trade paper, and in some lines there are many competing publications. A technical publication is ordinarily one that goes to consumers, instead of to dealers, and is devoted to the interests of those engaged in a technical activity. For example, The Engineering and Mining Journal is a technical periodical reaching mining engineers and others interested in the technical side of mining. Similarly, The American Medical Journal is a tech- nical publication for physicians. Class publications are periodicals appealing to a ADVERTISING MEDIA 125 certain class of people, and not properly included among either trade or technical publications. Every religious denomination has its own class periodicals about 1,200 in the United States. Printers' Ink is a class publication appealing to those interested in advertising, altho it might almost be classed as a technical periodical. Every large social group or as- sociation has its class paper. There are also class publications for the rural district, such as American Fruit Grower and Hoard's Dairyman. 6. Foreign language publications. Another large group of publications is found in the foreign lan- guage field. In a sense they are class publications. There are nearly 1,300 publications in the United States printed in foreign languages. America is the great melting pot, and while the first occupation of the new American is usually that of learning the lan- guage, there are many who speak English and can- not read it. These people can often be reached only thru the foreign language publications, which are for the most part published weekly, altho many ap- pear daily and are usually newspapers in form and purpose. 7. Directories. The next class of publications in- cludes directories and miscellaneous 'periodicals. Di- rectories include city directories, telephone directories, trade directories and all other periodical publications' to which one refers when in search of names, num- bers or other similar information. Advertisements in such publications are usually little more than dis- xin 10 126 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS play cards announcing the business of the advertisers. Some of the important directories which appeal to special interests sell space on the basis of a guaranteed circulation and in them advertisements are more di- versified in character. 8. Theater programs. Among the remaining pub- lications that appear periodically, theater programs are perhaps most important for the advertiser. They are widely used for a certain type of advertising ap- peal to which a theater audience is supposed to be peculiarly responsive. The control of theater pro- gram advertising in the larger cities is now in the hands of a syndicate, so that it is possible for an adver- tiser to place a single contract for theater program space in a number of cities from coast to coast. 9. Signs. The sign is probably the oldest form of advertising. The Egyptians and Romans were na- tions of sign users. Among the ruins of Hercu- laneum and Pompeii there still exist signs carved in stone to advertise the wares of bakers and vintners and the services of hair-dressers. Modern signs are of six classes, with many subdivisions in each class. The six main groups are : 1. Dealers' signs 2. Posters 3. Painted bulletins 4. Electrical signs 5. Street-car cards 6. Theater signs ADVERTISING MEDIA 127 10. Dealers' signs. Dealers' signs include all signs in or about the place where the article advertised is s<>ld. distributed or manufactured. They include also the dealer's name over the door or in some other prominent place on the outside of the store. Usually such a sign is a simple announcement: "John Jones, Grocer." Some manufacturers have found it to their advantage to furnish permanent signs of this sort to dialers for the privilege of adding at the end "Buy Arbuckle's Coffee Here," or some other such phrase. Many advertisers supply similar signs for the window sills of stores. Then there are window trims, counter signs, wall signs and special display racks bearing the advertisement of the manufacturer who furnishes them. 11. Posters. The poster is an out-of-doors adver- tisement printed on sheets of paper and pasted on flat display surfaces. Until a few years ago, posters were pasted on fences or any other available flat sur- face with or without the permission of the owners. Today the poster plants of the country have estab- lished standard sizes of boards and rent all their locations. The standard poster sheet is twenty-eight by forty-two inches, and a single poster "stand" is made up of eight, twelve, sixteen or twenty- four sheets. The height of a poster is nine and one-fourth feet. The twenty-four-sheet poster is now becoming recognized as the standard size, giving a display twenty-one feet long by nine and one-fourth feet high. The different showings are graded by the class of 128 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS boards on which they are displayed. The grades are AA, A, B, C, and D'. The D board is a wooden structure without a frame. The AA board is a steel structure with a green 'molding frame and several inches of white paper or "blanking" around the sheets. Poster advertising rates are based on the month of display, and the price varies with localities. 12. Painted bulletins. The next general group of signs includes all kinds of painted bulletins. Painted bulletins are much like posters in purpose and in the kinds of things that can be profitably advertised on them; but, of course, painted bulletins are much less widely used because each bulletin must be separately painted, and skilled men are required to produce them. Painted bulletin advertising, for the most part, is confined to the larger cities and to positions along the main traveled roads. Few of the smaller towns are equipped to furnish painted bulletins. Painted bulletins may roughly be divided into three classes : 1. City boards 2. Railroad boards 3. Painted walls The twenty-five- foot bulletin has for a long time been considered standard, altho of late many adver- tisers are using fifty-foot boards both in the city and in the country. Contracts are generally made on a three years' basis. ADVERTISING MEDIA 129 In cities, where the buildings are high and crowded together, few walls are available for painted display advertising, and those that are available are conse- quently high in price. Painted display advertise- ments showing to streets having a heavy night traffic may profitably be lighted at night by means of elec- tric reflecting light. The price for signs includes the cost of painting, illuminating and maintenance. Lighted walls are usually sold on a flat rate per month based on the expense for rent, painting and illumina- tion ; this expense varies for different localities. 13. Electric signs. "The Great White Way" de- rives its name and fame from the electric advertising signs that illuminate it. In New York, upper Broad- way at night is one of the sights of the metropolis. This is the electric sign center of the country. The number and effectiveness of the electric signs there and elsewhere prove that electric signs are one of the great advertising media. Electric signs are ordinarily composed of sheet steel letters mounted on steel frames, each letter being lighted by a strip of incandescent electric bulbs by means of what are known as "flashers" mechani- cal contrivances that automatically turn on and shut off the electric current. The copy and illustrations on these signs are frequently made to change at in- tervals, and possess great attractive value thru a com- bination of color, motion and pleasing design. Every important city in the United States has many of these electric signs. 130 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS The price is hard to estimate, as each stand is sold separately. Signs are usually lighted from dusk un- til after midnight each evening. Some advertisers have set aside the greater part of their appropriations for this class of advertising media. 14. Railway signs. Advertising in street cars, ele- vated trains and subways has grown with the mar- velous development of urban and interurban trans- portation. This class of advertising includes cards in the cars as well as bulletins on the station plat- forms. The "circulation" of this class of advertis- ing media can be measured much more readily than that of any other kind of signs. The companies con- trolling street-car, elevated and subway advertising obtain from the transportation companies records of the fares collected, and the cost of space is based to an extent on these figures. The standard street-car card is twenty-one by eleven inches, and one of the arguments in favor of the medium is the fact that each advertiser is given the same size of display. Contracts are made for one year as a minimum, two, three or five years. In many localities the six months' contract is being elimi- nated, and effort is made to induce the advertiser to contract on the five-year basis, because it has been found that more five-year contracts are renewed than contracts for any other period. Most of the space in street cars is now sold by one organization, the Street Railway Advertising As- sociation. The prices in each community depend on ADVERTISING MEDIA 131 the number of street cars in operation. An adver- tiser buys a "full run," which means a space in all the cars, or a "half run," which means that his cards appear in half of the cars. Ten years ago some ad- vertisers used double space in "half runs" instead of single space in "full runs." Double space, however, is no longer sold; all advertisers are given equal op- portunity for display. Street-car advertising differs from most other sign advertising in the fact that the public sees the dis- play at a time when it has very little else to do ex- cept to read the advertisements. This medium takes advantage of the forced idleness of the street-car pas- senger at a time when his range of vision is confined to the interior of the car in which he is riding, and when there is little to distract his attention from the message of the advertisers. 15. Theater signs. Since the introduction of mov- ing pictures, another great advertising medium has been added. For a long time many theater proprie- tors have sold display space on their drop curtain, but the theater as a place to reach the masses with ad- vertisements did not fully come into its own until the moving picture brought millions to the houses of amusement regularly. Many ingenious variations of theater advertising have been introduced. The most common is the stereopticon slide which national ad- vertisers furnish to their retail dealers and which the retailers arrange to have displayed in local theaters. Some national advertisers send out to a regular dis- 132 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS tributing agency moving pictures of their processes of manufacture and the uses of their goods. An ex- pensive campaign of this kind was conducted by the Du Pont Powder Company, showing "Farming With Dynamite." Films of this nature vary from 250 feet to 1,000 feet in length. The showing of the film is usually ar- ranged either with a film distributing agency or locally with individual picture houses by the advertiser's sales- men or by his dealers. This medium is still far from standardization. When one central organization can present an adver- tiser or his agent with definite circulation records of all of the moving picture houses and the cities of vary- ing sizes thruout the country and can guarantee show- ings on specific dates at the discretion of its advertiser, just as the National Out Door Bureau does for posters and painted bulletins and as the Street Railway Ad- vertising Company does for street car cards, then theater advertising may be purchased intelligently. There is nothing to prevent the moving picture houses following the lead of the magazines in letting advertising revenue carry part of the editorial burden. When some genius of organization makes this space available to advertisers on a business basis your moving picture program will be similar to the contents of a magazine advertising, a comic, a short story, some epigrammatic editorial, the feature story, and then some more advertising. 16. Why there are not more media. Every now ADVERTISING MEDIA 133 and then someone thinks that he has discovered a new medium signs on ice tickets, on bread tickets, in shoe shining parlors or magazine holders, on telephone stands, or in passenger elevators. Why doesn't some- one obtain leases for signs on all passenger elevators in America ? There is an enormous circulation. The reason is that no one has put the purchase of such space on a business basis of circulation so that it may be bought intelligently in relation to the circulation of other media. That is one reason. The other is that the capital involved in manufacture gathering the leases, erecting the racks and building up an or- ganization is so great that no one has as yet considered the venture profitable. REVIEW What is the size of an eight-page poster? A twelve-sheet? A sixteen sheet? A twenty-four sheet? What is the most effective dealer sign you have ever seen? Could something similar be used in your business? On Broadway, New York, in the electric sign center of the country, there is an elaborate and expensive moving electrical display, advertising a certain brand of spool silk. Would you consider such a sign for such a product a good advertising invest- ment? Why r Some people object on esthetic grounds to posters and painted bulletin-. In considering the use of these media, to what ex- tent should the advertiser give weight to such objections? For the business with which you are connected, could periodical advertising media be used advantageously? If so, which ones? CHAPTER IX WEIGHING CIRCULATION 1. The value of an advertising medium. There are two problems in selecting an advertising medium. First, what class of media should be used? Sec- ond, in the class or classes chosen, which particular media will aid the most in accomplishing the de- sired purpose? In this chapter we are to present certain considerations which will help in solving both of these problems. There are some questions to be asked about any class of media before one can prop- erly choose it in an advertising campaign, and there are other questions to be asked and answered about individual media to determine their comparative abil- ity to aid the advertiser. Ordinarily it is not enough to listen to the claims of those who present the merits of different media, there is much that the advertiser or his agent must do to supplement the available data about the different forms of direct media, periodicals and signs before he can be sure that he has selected just the right methods of carrying his advertising mes- sage to that part of the public that he wants to reach. The value of any advertising medium is determined mainly by the answers to two questions : 134 WEIGHING CIRCULATION 1. What is the cost per possible purchaser reached by the medium? 2. What is the prestige of the medium in the minds of possible purchasers? Only the first of these questions is considered in the present chapter. It should be noted that this question does not refer to the cost per reader. Cost per redder and cost per possible purchaser are two very different things. If an advertiser wished to know the cost per reader, all he would have to do would be to divide the advertising rate for the unit of space by the number of subscribers and other readers of the publication. A page rate of $1,000, in other words, divided by a proved circulation of 100,- 000, would give a cost of one cent a page for each reader of the periodical. Unfortunately, however, each reader is not necessarily a possible purchaser of the advertiser's goods, nor does every reader of a me- dium necessarily see every advertisement in it; there- fore it is necessary to consider other things than mere numerical circulation. '2. Cost per possible purchaser. Every advertiser must decide how much he can afford to pay to reach every possible purchaser to whom a medium might appeal. This is a difficult matter, the decision vary- ing with each individual case. The factors involved are well illustrated by the answer of an advertising man who was once asked, "If you had only one pos- sible purchaser in the United States, how would 136 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS you undertake to advertise to him? Would it be advisable to use any advertising under such a circum- stance?" He replied: "If I owned a mine valued' at $10,000,000 and wished to sell it to one steel mag- nate in the United States who could afford to buy it, and this man was not approachable in the beginning thru personal salesmanship, I might be willing to spend many thousand dollars in advertising that mine to that one man. My problem would be to study him and to use every advertising medium which would reach him. I should attempt to find his favorite pub- lication, and I could afford to take full pages or even double pages in that publication. If I found that he had no antipathy for signs, I might arrange to have signs placed near his favorite drive, facing his office window, facing his favorite window in his favorite club and every other place where he might be ex- pected to be. I should be willing to spend several thousand dollars on a booklet telling of my mine and of the opportunities it afforded. I should adver- tise to this man's friends, that they might talk about my mine. In a case of this kind I could afford to spend thousands of dollars per possible purchaser." Fortunately, there is more than one possible pur- chaser for most advertised articles, but the things to be considered in the selection of media remain the same, regardless of the number of people whom the advertiser hopes to reach. The cost per possible pur- chaser is not a simple problem ; it involves a variety of WEIGHING CIRCULATION 137 considerations which have to be correlated and har- monized before the final answer is given. The advertiser should begin his task of selecting media with the idea, already emphasized in a pre- ceding chapter, that no particular class of media is better than any other particular class. It all depends on the purposes for which the media are to be used. Some are seemingly good for all kinds of advertising campaigns ; others are more restricted in their appeal. Whether one medium or another is better for any particular purpose depends on the people the adver- tiser is trying to reach, the product that he wants to sell and the specific results that he hopes to accomplish with his advertising. 3. Discovering the typical purchaser. The first thing to do in selecting media is to have a clear idea of the people to be reached. Who is the typical cus- tomer? Advertising is a mass appeal, and separate individuals cannot be appealed to separately. The group alone can be considered, and, before advertising to that group can be successfully undertaken, it is necessary for the advertiser to have a definite idea in his mind of the typical member of the group. Cer- tain questions are to be asked in establishing the char- acteristics of the typical purchaser, and in the answers to those questions the advertiser often finds that cer- tain media are naturally eliminated from the cam- paign, and that others naturally present themselves as worthy of consideration. The statement that the advertiser should address 138 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS his message to the typical purchaser is subject to one qualification. Sometimes the actual purchaser of an article is not the one who really influences the pur- chase. The head of the household actually buys the piano, the automobile, and the talking machine; yet in very many cases he would never buy these things if he were not influenced to do so by some member of the family. Occasionally the small boy of the family has much to say about the kind of car to be bought; accordingly some automobile manufacturers adver- tise in boys' magazines. The mother and her daugh- ters usually decide what piano or talking machine is to be purchased; therefore these articles are exten- sively advertised in women's publications. A few makers of men's clothing, even, have advertised in magazines appealing chiefly to women, in the belief that women often influence their husbands in the mat- ter of buying clothes. The typical purchaser, for the purposes of the advertiser, is the one who induces the purchase of a commodity, no matter whether he or someone else actually furnishes the money to buy it. 4. Geographical conditions. First, is the market in which we wish to sell our goods national, terri- torial or local? If it is restricted to a specific lo- cality, we must choose local media only. I^ocal media are chiefly newspapers and the various kinds of signs. Magazines, on the other hand, are the most commonly used national media. A national cam- paign, of course, may employ local media as well as those of general circulation. WEIGHING CIRCULATION 139 In a local campaign an advertiser may wish to con- centrate his sales and advertising activity in one part of a community. He is helped to do this by some newspapers that divide their statements of circula- tion so that the advertiser can tell how much of it goes to the city proper, how much to the suburbs and how much to the surrounding country. A few of the larger newspapers even go so far as to indicate on maps the number of copies that go to the various sec- tions of the city. Similarly, in the case of magazines, many publishers now provide statements of circula- tion by states, to enable the advertiser to choose the medium that goes most intensively into the territory he wants particularly to cultivate. Detailed cir- culation statements of this sort are required of those publications that are members of the Audit Bureau of Circulations. In the geographical study of the advertiser's prob- lem the second question is this: Is the typical pur- chaser to be found in cities, in small towns, or in rural districts? If the purchaser is to be found in the city, the advertiser may use city newspapers, signs, posters, bulletins or street-car cards when the market is lo- cal. If it is national, he may use these media to- gether with certain magazines. On the other hand, if his typical possible purchaser is in the small towns, he may use what are known as "small-town maga- zines," and possibly the country weeklies as well. In the country he must rely chiefly on the agricultural publications. 140 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS Of course, geographical considerations have noth- ing to do with the use of direct media. They may be used to reach possible purchasers anywhere. 5. Social conditions. As we study our typical pur- chaser, we see how carefully the different advertising media have planned to reach different groups. The first question in determining the social standing of possible purchasers is: Will the purchase usually be made by men, by women or by children? The sec- ond question is: Are the goods intended for the rich, the middle class of people or the poor? There are few commodities that are purchased only by men, or only by women, or only by children. There are few, also, that are purchased only by the rich, the middle class or the poor. The advertiser's problem is to find to which of these classes he is to make most of his sales, and then pick the media that seem to cir- culate most effectively among those classes. If sales are to be made in any quantity to several classes, he must consider each class as a problem by itself, and pick different kinds of media which will reach the greatest number of possible customers with the least waste circulation. In fixing the social position of the typical pur- chaser, the advertiser asks a third question: Is the purchase made by family groups or by individuals? Vacuum cleaners are seldom sold to bachelors in boarding houses. Even tho it might be advisable for educational purposes to advertise certain articles of household use to unmarried people, an advertising WEIGHING CIRCULATION 141 medium going only to unmarried people (if there were such a medium) would be of little value in a campaign to sell articles of this sort. Still another question is this: Is the purchase in a df by young, middle-aged or old people? A manufacturer considered a certain magazine an ideal medium for him until it was found that the magazine circulated chiefly among the middle-aged, while his product could be sold only to young people. A fash- ionable tailor, who has the greatest portion of the wealthy trade in a western city, says: "While the majority of my customers are men of middle age, have you noticed that I advertise only to young men? When a young man begins to consider tailor-made clothing he has passed the age of to-be-a-man-I-must- look-like-papa. He begins to think the old man is a little seedy. Just at that age, also, a father is very proud of his son. I have found that you cannot ex- pect a young man's trade just because you hold his father's trade, but that you can often get the father's trade thru the son." The advertiser is fortunate who is able to divide -ind subdivide the people in his market until he has an exact picture of the typical group to which he wishes to talk. Perhaps he is selling only to pro- fessional men, or only to clerks, or only to skilled mechanics. Perhaps his product appeals only to mothers, perhaps only to society women. A woman may be both a mother and a society woman. The ad- vertiser must decide to which side of a woman's na- XIII 11 142 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS ture he is to appeal, and pick his media accordingly. If he is advertising to men, he must use media that appeal to those interests of men to which his own prod- uct appeals. A magazine dealing with out-door sport, even tho circulated only among men, would scarcely be a desirable medium for office furniture. The ideal medium would be one devoted to men's busi- ness interests. For nearly every group of people there is one avail- able medium, and before the advertiser can determine the value of any medium to him he must dis- cover the particular social group to which it makes its appeal. 6. Circulation statements. We have been consid- ering questions to be asked and answered by the ad- vertiser in selecting, first, the kind of media to be used, and second, the particular media to be chosen in any class. The remainder of this chapter is con- cerned chiefly with factors in the comparison of in- dividual media rather than in the selection of broad groups of media for the advertiser's campaign. Geo- graphical and social considerations, in other words, help the advertiser to decide whether or not to use magazines, and if he is to use magazines, whether to use publications that appeal chiefly to men, women or children; masses or classes, young or old, etc. If he is to use women's magazines, for instance, these considerations also help him somewhat in choosing from the many women's publications cov- ering the fields he wants to reach. There are other WEIGHING CIRCULATION 143 things to be considered, however, in selecting indi- vidual media in any group. The things to be studied fall chiefly under two heads: circulation (in- cluding rates) and prestige. The problem of finding the exact circulation of a medium is by no means so easy as it may seem. This fact is partly, altho by no means entirely, the reason for the rather slow development of demand on the part of advertisers for exact statements of circula- tion and of willingness on the part of publishers to comply with these demands. The progress of adver- tising may be traced by the different stages in the development of accurate and complete statements of circulation. The circulation of an advertising medium is con- stantly changing. Even in the case of direct me- diums, which are entirely under the control of the advertiser, there is always the "death" rate to be con- sidered. People are constantly moving from place to place, and the list of names must be kept up to date. It is estimated that in ordinary business lines twenty per cent of any mailing list "dies" every year; in other words, twenty per cent of the names or ad- dresses must be eliminated or changed. Newspapers are largely sold by newsboys on the street, and much of this circulation may be transient. Ninety-eight per cent of the circulation of some mag- azines is news-stand circulation, and news-stand cir- culation may or may not mean either the same readers or the same number of readers from month to month. 144- ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS Even when magazines go chiefly to subscribers, new subscribers are constantly being added to the lists and old subscribers taken off. It was natural, therefore, for publishers to be slow in approaching such a diffi- cult task as the preparation of circulation statements of sufficient accuracy and completeness to make them of any value to the advertiser. Nevertheless, an advertising rate is necessarily based on the amount of circulation, and advertisers are becoming more and more insistent as to the quan- tity and quality of the circulation they buy. Circula- tion statements have in the past been indefinite, and often justly open to suspicion. 7. History of circulation statements. In 1868, Mr. George P. Rowell introduced a plan of insuring reliability of circulation statements. Publishers were asked to furnish to him statements of circulation, de- positing a forfeit of $100 each. The amount de- posited by each publisher was offered as a prize to any person finding his circulation statement to be false. Another of the early plans looking toward accurate statements of circulation was conceived by a western advertiser, Colonel Emery Mapes of the Cream of Wheat Company. He asked each publication to guarantee a certain amount of circulation on which its rate was based, with the understanding that his own auditors should be allowed to audit the circulation, and that, if it was found not equal to the amount guaran- teed, he should be rebated pro rata. This plan w r as WEIGHING CIRCULATION H5 so successful that several magazines later guaranteed their circulation to all advertisers offering a pro rata refund in case the circulation of any issue did not equal the guaranteed circulation on which the adver- tising rate is based. Prior to the organization of the Audit Bureau of Circulations there were a number of private auditing associations, many of them performing a useful serv- ice. The idea was conceived of bringing all these associations together in one organization composed of publishers, advertising agents and advertisers, the membership dues to be spent in thoro audits of cir- culation for the common benefit of the members. In this way the Audit Bureau of Circulations was born. Practically all the magazines, farm papers, trade papers and daily newspapers are now members. This solves the problem so far as the publications carry- ing 80 per cent of the volume of periodical adver- tising is concerned. There are thousands of weekly papers which are not yet members, however, despite the fact that the minimum membership fee is $50 a year, while the minimum audit costs the bureau $8.5. 8. Duplication of circulation. Most people read more than one magazine or newspaper. The adver- tiser sometimes finds it advisable to determine to what extent the circulation of the periodicals he is consider- ing is "duplicated" that is, the number of readers of one medium who are also reached by other medi- ums. Some advertisers have contended that dupli- cated circulation is largely waste circulation that if 146 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS magazine A and magazine B each has a circulation of 10,000, and if fifty per cent of the readers of magazine A are also readers of magazine B, the latter medium is not of so much value to an advertiser as magazine C would be, also with 10,000 circulation but reaching a group of readers few of whom are subscribers to magazine A. In this case magazines A and B would be said to have a fifty per cent dupli- cated circulation. Duplicated circulation is not necessarily a bad thing; it may be a very good thing, if the advertiser can afford to pay for it. An advertiser conducting an intensive local campaign will use newspapers, street cars, posters and other mediums, with full knowledge that the people who read his advertise- ments in the newspapers will also be likely to see the street-car cards and his other sign media. He is anxious that they should ; he realizes that the average purchaser needs to be influenced many times in many ways before he will buy. In like manner, the inten- sive advertiser will use several periodical media, many of which are read by the same people, in the well-founded belief that an advertising appeal that comes several times to the attention of the reader will be more effective than if it came before him only once. The intensive advertiser further realizes that an advertisement in a single medium may not even be seen by many readers of that medium, while, if it appears in several media, the reader who subscribes WEIGHING CIRCULATION 147 for all of them will be likely to see the advertisement at least once. Every advertiser, however, cannot be an intensive advertiser. A man with a limited appropriation may find it more advisable to reach 20,000 people by using t\\o magazines, each with a 10,000 circulation, than to reach only 15,000 by using two other magazines, each with a circulation of 10,000, but with a fifty per cent duplication. To advertisers of this sort, and also to advertisers who wish to cultivate their field intensively but who properly wish to control the de- gree of intensity of their advertising efforts, the prob- lem of duplication in circulation is an important one. 9. Extent of duplication. There is much dupli- cated circulation among all media. Scarcely any two mediums can be found, no matter how widely dif- ferent they may be in kind and appeal, that do not show some duplication of circulation. It is estimated that there are not over 10,000,000 people in the United States who read the class of media technically known as magazines, and yet the total circulation of all magazines reported by the American Newspaper Annual for 1920 was 44,706,308. The number of people reading magazines is increasing fast, certainly much more rapidly than the population of the coun- try. In 190.) the total circulation of magazines was !.->,! 22,000, while in 1910 it was 25,512,000. The duplication of circulation is probably increasing at fully as fast a rate. 148 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS The most extensive investigation of the duplica- tion of circulation yet conducted was made under the auspices of the Association of National Adver- tisers in the summer of 1914. It was found that the circulation of some magazines duplicated the circula- tion of others to the extent of almost fifty per cent. For instance, the Ladies' Home Journal was found to duplicate with the Saturday Evening Post to the extent of forty-two per cent. The percentage of duplication in most cases, however, was very much lower than this. A similar inquiry in regard to newspapers was made by Professor Walter Dill Scott among 4,000 business and professional men in Chicago. The re- plies show that in round numbers: 14 per cent read but one newspaper 46 per cent read two newspapers 21 per cent read three newspapers 17 per cent read four or more newspapers 84 per cent read more than one newspaper. The same advertisement seen in two or three news- papers is certainly more effective than if seen in one, but some advertisers are convinced that it is not worth three times as much to have an advertisement seen in three papers, reaching largely the same readers, as it is to have it seen in one. 10. Subscription price as barometer of purchasing power. Some people contend that the buying power of a consumer can be determined partly by the WEIGHING CIRCULATION 149 amount he pays for a periodical. It is maintained, for instance, that the buying power of readers of mag- ax, ines, as a class, is greater than the buying power of the average reader of a newspaper. This is prob- ably true; there may be some people who hesitate to pay twenty-five cents for a magazine and yet they can and do pay two or three cents for a newspaper. It is probably true, also, that the readers of a three- cent newspaper have a greater individual purchasing power than the average reader of a cheaper news- paper. It is not safe to apply this principle too gen- t-rally, however. Certain magazines sell for thirty- five and fifty cents a copy; possibly their readers represent greater average purchasing power than the readers of a cheap fiction magazine; this is by no means certain, however, because ministers, teachers and others with relatively small incomes are found in large numbers on the subscription list of the more expensive periodicals, while popular priced fiction cir- culates as extensively among families of wealth as among the less well-to-do classes. A better guide to buying power of readers than the cost of the periodical is a careful study of the con- tents of the magazine or newspaper. This will usu- ally enable the experienced advertiser to form a suf- ficiently accurate picture of the type of reader to which it appeals. Some publishers now prepare for advertisers carefully compiled statistics showing how many of their subscribers own automobiles, how many play golf, how many do this and how many do that. 150 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS Such statistics are helpful in suggesting purchasing power of subscribers. 11. The flat rate. Practically all magazine space is sold at the same price regardless of the amount of space used. This is known as a "flat rate." Many of the smaller newspapers also sell on flat rate; the larger newspapers, however, still have in many cases what are called "sliding scale rates." A sliding scale rate is based on the number of lines of space used by an advertiser during a year. The advertiser who uses only a thousand lines pays, perhaps, fifty per cent more per line than the advertiser who uses 20,- 000 lines. Nevertheless, the tendency among large as well as small papers is to adjust their schedules on the flat rate basis; most advertisers prefer this arrangement, and the advertising agencies are de- manding it. Nearly all agricultural publications sell space on the flat rate basis. Trade, technical and class pub- lications are still inclined to the sliding scale rate, and in this field the rates vary more than in any other. Some newspapers have two rates, charging one to national advertisers (known in the newspaper field as "foreign advertisers") and another to local or re- tail advertisers. In some cases the national rate is lower than the local rate, and in other cases it is higher. 12. Preferred position. It seems to be estab- lished that certain parts of a periodical publication WEIGHING CIRCULATION 151 are more desirable advertising media than others. The outside back cover, for instance, is considered a particularly desirable position so desirable, indeed, that the back cover of the Ladies' Home Journal sells for $15,000 an issue, while the regular page rate is only $8,000. The inside cover pages sell for $12,000 each. There is preferred position in newspapers as well as in magazines top of column, for instance, next to reading matter. The constant cry for "posi- tion" is the bane of the newspaper publishers' exist- ence. Most of them protect themselves by adding a charge, running up to twenty-five per cent of the regu- lar space rates, when an advertiser specifies the par- ticular position he wents his advertisement to occupy. The desire to have advertisements appear next to reading matter is largely responsible for the present tendency to increase the size of the magazine page. Most publishers who have enlarged their pages, still keep the advertisements in the front and the back of their publications, but they have few pages carrying advertisements exclusively; usually there is a column of reading matter and two columns of advertisements on one of two facing pages. 13. When to use preferred position. In choosing an advertising medium the advertiser must consider the competition with other advertisements which his advertisements will meet. To get the maximum amount of attention, he must dominate. If all other posters near his are sixteen-sheet posters, he may get more attention by introducing an eight-sheet poster, 152 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS but he will probably get most attention by using a twenty-four.-sheet poster. If a sufficiently increased number of people will see an advertisement because it occupies unusually large space or because it oc- cupies preferred position, the large space and the preferred position are worth the increased invest- ment, to the extent that the advertiser can afford to pay for an increased number of readers, and to the extent that the proportionate increase in cost of space actually measures the increased attention value of the advertisement. Some attempt has been made by psychologists to establish general principles to guide the advertiser in the solution of this difficult problem, but the tests so far conducted are not con- clusive enough for the average advertiser. Each ad- vertiser must make his own experiments, finally standardizing on the space and position that his own experience, added to the experience of others, proves to be best adapted to serve his particular purposes. REVIEW Draw a mental picture of the purchaser of a $3,000 automobile. What media would you use to reach him? What advertising media most influence you in your buying? Why? Have you a definite concept of the typical customer of your business ? CHAPTER X WEIGHING PRESTIGE 1. The meaning of prestige. In weighing the value of an advertising medium, the advertiser first considers its circulation the unit cost of reaching each possible purchaser. The careful study of this problem involves all the things discussed in the last chapter. After weighing circulation, the advertiser next asks himself this question: What is the pres- tige of the medium? Prestige means influence. The prestige of an advertising medium is the influ- ence it has on its readers. Its prestige is measured by the confidence of its advertisers. Prestige is im- portant to the advertiser because the degree to which readers will be influenced by advertisements appearing in a medium is largely determined by their confidence in it. Xo two media have exactly the same prestige; the advertiser's problem is to pick out those media that will have the most influence on the particular class of people that he wishes to reach. 2. Prcxt'njc of direct media. The prestige of direct media varies in three ways. First, it varies with the kind of the medium. A sealed letter sent out under a two-cent stamp, for instance, ordinarily carries more prestige than an unsealed letter under 153 154 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS one-cent postage. Second, the prestige of a direct medium varies with the quality of the medium. An attractive, clean-cut letterhead has more prestige than a slovenly, poorly arranged one. A good ad- vertising specialty a paper-knife, for instance, strong, durable, attractive has more prestige than one that is badly constructed and obviously cheap. Third, every direct medium shares the prestige of the advertiser who uses it. A form letter from a well- known, highly respected business establishment has more prestige than an equally good letter from a house of which the recipient has never heard. 3. Prestige of signs. Many forms of signs at one time had little prestige. When posters were pasted chiefly on fences, dead walls and everything else except when kept off by a "Post No Bills" notice, many advertisers and many members of the public did not take posters very seriously. Now, however, the bill-posting business has been made a real busi- ness. Bill-boards are standardized media; they are placed where a known amount of traffic regularly passes; and the space they occupy is leased and paid for. Posters, too, have improved in character; the advertiser strives now for artistic attractiveness. Posters' art is gradually developing as a branch of art, as well as a branch of advertising. There is still some esthetic objection to all posters, but this atti- tude of a small minority is certainly not lessening the influence of billboards. Poster advertising has proved its value to many advertisers. Signs of all WEIGHING PRESTIGE 155 kinds are steadily gaining in prestige and in value as advertising media. 4. How prestige works. Mr. John Lee Mahin, in his book "Advertising Selling the Consumer," gives an interesting illustration of the way in which pres- tige makes itself felt. He asks you to assume that you are on the mailing list of a bond house, and that you are also a regular reader of a morning paper, a monthly magazine and an illustrated weekly. One i norning you receive from the bond house a circular describing a new issue of attractive investment bonds. It happens, that same day, that you see advertise- ments of those same bonds in your newspaper, your favorite magazine and your illustrated weekly. As- sume that in all cases the advertisements are well pre- pared, and each one, regardless of the medium in which it appears, goes far toward influencing you fav- orably with respect to the bond issue. Which me- dium would have the greatest influence with you? If your purchases from the bond house that sends you the circular have been profitable, the direct adver- tising of the circular would probably have the most prestige. If your experiences with that house, how- ever, have been unpleasant if you have been indif- ferently served, or if you have been dissatisfied with your purchases for any reason the circular will have little influence. The circular would carry little pres- tige, also, if you had never heard of the house issu- ing it. In both these latter cases, an advertisement carrying the prestige of your favorite newspaper 156 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS or magazine would probably be more influential than the circular. If a bond house were to advertise in periodical media, and were also to send you a circular, the circular might influence you favorably, even if you had never heard of the advertiser before, because the advertisements in your favorite magazine and news- paper would give to the circular a prestige that it could not have if it stood alone. 5. Factors in prestige. The prestige of direct media and of signs cannot be measured by the appli- cation of any formula. Each advertiser must meas- ure it by a study of local sentiment, by a study of his own past experiences and the experiences of others, and by a wise exercise of his own judgment. There is no formula, either, for weighing the prestige of periodicals; individual judgment here, as in the case of the two other kinds of media, must be largely relied on. Yet, in the case of periodicals, there are certain tangible factors to be used in the weighing process which are usually absent in measuring the prestige of direct media and signs. Prestige is the result of character. A man's repu- tation is the world's estimate of his character, and reputation is based on habits. The same thing is true of a periodical. The advertiser can judge its pres- tige by considering its habits. These "habits" are usually termed policies, and they have to do with three different phases of the management of a publi- cation : WEIGHING PRESTIGE 1. The policies of the editorial department '2, The policies of the circulation department 3. The policies of the advertising department. 6. Editorial policy. The policies of the editorial department of any medium have much to do with measuring the degree to which advertisements appear- ing in that medium will influence its readers. Edi- torial policy largely determines the reader's attitude toward everything in the periodical. Someone has said : "The mission of an advertisement is threefold to be seen, to be remembered and to be believed, and the greatest of these is to be believed." Unless a reader believes what he sees in the news columns he can scarcely be expected to have much faith in the advertisements. Accuracy of statement, a record for conservative under-statement rather than habitual publication of mere rumors, and a proved desire to play fair with the public, build for a publication a body of readers who believe in it and in what it says. Such a publication has prestige of the first rank. The confidence bred by an editorial policy founded on a real affection for the truth is not confined to the news and editorial departments; it works for every adver- tiser who uses such a medium. The reader who be- lieves in his favorite magazine or newspaper is very likely to believe in the advertisements that appear in it. Editorial policy also helps the advertiser to de- termine what kind of people read a publication, as XIII 13 158 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS well as the length of time that the average reader may be expected to give to its perusal. 7. Circulation policy. The Audit Bureau of Cir- culations asks some pertinent questions in regard to how circulation is obtained, in an effort to find out what prestige the publication has in the minds of its readers. The first general question is: Have the readers all purchased the publication? Publications are asked to report the number of free copies circu- lated as well as the number of paid copies. They are asked to report the number of copies sold in bulk as well as those sold to individual subscribers. Pub- lishers are asked how long subscribers are carried in arrears, and what proportion of their subscribers are in arrears. In the case of a subscription publication the per- centage of annual renewals is a guide to the number of people who consider the publication necessary. Voluntary renewals of subscriptions are valuable in- dications of prestige. Newspapers are also asked to divide their circula- tion by editions, stating the hour each edition is pub- lished. Some advertisers believe that the time of day when a reader receives a publication is a measure of the degree of thoroness with which it is read. If a medium is only hastily perused, the reader's attention is not likely to be held very long by the advertise- ments appearing in it. 8. Morning and evening papers. Morning and evening papers are frequently in competition, and WEIGHING PRESTIGE 159 their publishers set up competing claims of superior- ity for their publications as advertising media. Some morning papers see no good in evening papers, and some evening papers see no good in morning papers. Kach kind of publication has its partisans among advertisers. The controversy leads into a discussion of the habits of people in different localities what proportion of the morning papers are read by men on their way to work and are little seen by women in the home, what proportion of the population spends its evenings at places of amusement instead of quietly at home in the company of the evening newspaper, and a variety of similar considera- tions. The fact seems to be that neither morning nor evening papers, as a class, can claim superior- ity. Both have been proved to be good advertising media. In some communities, it is true, an evening paper is the recognized leader, while in others a morn- ing paper leads as the better medium ; but, where this is the case, the superiority seldom results from the fact that the leader is an evening or a morning paper usually it is due to other elements of pres- tige entirely independent of the time when the paper is issued. 9. Sales and subscription magazines. A sales magazine is one sold chiefly at news-stands or by newsboys. A subscription magazine is one sent chiefly to regular subscribers. Each, as an adver- tising medium, lias its advocates. Those in favor of news-stand circulation sav that when a reader takes 160 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS the trouble to buy any particular issue of a maga- zine at a news-stand, it argues a real value which he attaches to that issue, and he is likely to read it care- fully; while certain issues of a subscription maga- zine, coming periodically thruout the year, may be left unread or only hastily perused. The advocates of subscription magazines maintain that subscription circulation usually means home circulation; further- more, a subscription to a magazine implies prestige- it means a definite desire for the publication on the part of the subscriber. The truth probably lies in the fact that no periodi- cal is a good or a bad advertising medium just be- cause it has a news-stand circulation or because it has & regular circulation among subscribers. Here, as in the controversy between evening and morning papers, value as an advertising medium is chiefly de- termined by elements of prestige in the minds of read- ers, entirely independent of the ways in which, or the time at which, the publication is purchased. If a magazine is sold largely at news-stands, the adver- tiser wants to know where the stands are situated and the class of people who patronize them. The people who buy a publication are more important than the way in which they buy it. 10. Advertising policy. Editorial policy is impor- tant to the advertiser because it serves as a general guide to the kind of people who read a periodical and to the amount of influence the medium is likely to have with its readers. Circulation policy is impor- WEIGHING rilKSTIGE 161 taut because it indicates the actual value placed on a medium by those who read it. Both editorial policy and circulation policy, therefore, are important aids in the advertiser's task of weighing prestige. But more important, perhaps, than either of these is the policy of the advertising department. An adver- tisement, like a man, is known by the company it keeps. An advertising policy that directs the ac- ceptance of any advertisement offered to a periodical, is likely to put an advertiser in bad company. The prestige of a publication largely depends on the de- sire and ability of the publisher to publish only such advertisements as are honest and do not offend the taste or morals of its readers. A publication is not a public institution. It may accept or reject such advertisements as it pleases. The publication that makes no rejections is likely to have little pres- tige. The movement toward the censoring of advertise- ments has two phases. One is the tendency, dictated either by policy or conviction, to exclude advertise- ments medical and tobacco advertisements, for ex- ample that might offend some portion of the readers of a publication. The other is the tendency to protect readers against loss by excluding dishonest advertise- ments. Probably the first step in the campaign against dishonesty in advertising was to exclude those patent medicine advertisements that made exagger- ated claims. In order to be sure that they are on the safe side, many periodicals now exclude all advertise- 162 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS ments of patent medicines, regardless of their word- ing. The second step in the campaign for honest ad- vertising was the careful study of all advertisements submitted to a publication, to the end that the pub- lisher might be certain his readers would not be de- frauded or even misled by anything appearing in his advertising columns. This important movement has made tremendous strides. Only a few years ago al- most any advertisement would be accepted by almost any publication. Today there are very few publica- tions that do not exclude entirely certain classes of what they believe to be objectionable advertising, and which do not make some attempt to convince them- selves of the -honest purpose of every applicant for space. The extent to which this is done varies in different publications. Many publishers actually guarantee the truth of every word in every advertise- ment appearing in their columns. 11. Typical advertising policies. Farm journals in many cases have taken an advanced stand for hon- est advertising. A typical story is told of one farm paper that accepted in good faith the advertisement of a manufacturer of a new type of farm machinery. The manufacturer was entirely honest in his purpose ; he believed his machine was meritorious and that he could make good all claims in his advertisements. The publisher investigated the business carefully, was convinced that it was sound and honest in every way, and accepted a one-time advertisement for which he WEIGHING PRESTIGE 163 was paid less than $300. Three of his readers bought the advertised machine at $750 each. Deliveries \\cre not made when promised, and, when the ma- chines did arrive, they did not come up to the claims of the advertisement. The publisher, when com- plaints reached him, immediately sent his check re- imbursing each subscriber in full. Such high-minded concern for the welfare of readers builds the strongest kind of prestige. One does not wonder that adver- tisers eagerly seek space in publications that take this advanced stand to protect their readers. Xo particular class of publication is alone in the movement for honest advertising. As a body the gen- eral magazines led the way. Many years ago they be- gan to "clean up" by excluding all false, fraudulent and otherwise objectionable advertisements. The an- ticipation was that this action would raise the tone of magazine publicity and attract a new and greater volume of advertising. The anticipation was realized. There is no question that the inauguration of this significant policy is responsible in large measure for the rapid and extraordinary development of advertis- ing which followed it. As soon as the excellent re- sults of the policy were perceived, the magazines has- tened to take the further step of guaranteeing maga- zine readers against financial loss incurred from pat- ronizing magazine advertisements. Virtually all gen- eral magazines now do this. A number of newspapers have put themselves on the same high plane. So have most of the agricultural press. The out-door display 164 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS interests, theater program publishers, street car ad- vertising companies, and the technical and business publications are similarly "clean," tho they do not guarantee against loss. As illustrative of the policy adopted by many mag- azines we quote the following statement of censor- ship exercised by the Curtis Publishing Company with reference to advertisements which will be accepted for the Saturday Evening Post and the Ladies' Home Journal: The Saturday Evening Post and the Ladies' Home Journal accept no advertisements 1. Of medical or curative agents of any kind 2. Of alcoholic beverages 3. Of subjects immorally suggestive 4. Of a nature unduly cheap or vulgar, or that is too un- pleasant either in subject or treatment 5. Of a "blind" character that is to say, advertising which in purpose and intent is obscure or misleading 6. Of "free" articles unless the article is actually free (a thing is not free if the reader is obliged to perform some service or buy some other article in order to obtain it) 7. Of a financial nature, if highly speculative 8. "Knocking" competitors The associates of one's advertisements are just as important indications of character as the associates of an individual. We repeat: The objects of an advertisement are three : to be seen, to be remembered, And to be believed, and the greatest of these is to be believed. One should prepare his advertisements and y individual street railway companies to advertising companies which solicited advertisements locally. Xow ear advertising all over the country is controlled for the most part by one company. The national ad- XIII 16 222 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS vertiser can buy space in cars in all cities, if he wants to, on a single contract. The present recognition of the possibilities of street- car advertising is largely attributable to the late Thomas Balmer. Before he was appointed advertis- ing director of the Street Railways' Advertising Asso- ciation, street-car cards were usually thought of as permanent signs; very little copy was used and few changes of copy were employed. Mr. Balmer showed advertisers the possibilities of copy on street-car cards, possibilities of teaser campaigns and the advantages of inserting cards in series. Today some large na- tional advertisers use as many as six different cards in the street cars of the same city during a month. A passenger transferring from car to car obtains a new impression or a reenforcement of an old impression in each car he enters. As our cities become more congested and each in- dividual becomes more dependent on the transit com- panies, advertisers have been quick to see the great possibilities of reaching people at central points in the transportation system. The elevated and subway posters, which are generally classed with car cards, are fast becoming valuable advertising mediums. Many advertisers who use cards in the cars also use posters carrying the same designs, at the elevated and sub- way stations. 10. Parades as advertising media. The parade may be an advertising medium. When so used, it THE USE OF SIGNS 223 should be classed with the other sign media. Com- mercial parades seem to be increasing in popularity, despite the fact that most advertisers furnish floats under protest. A properly representative float for a parade in a large city can seldom be prepared for less than $200, and some of the most elaborately de- signed and lighted floats have cost as much as $20,- 000. When it is realized that a float is seldom used but once, the question of the advisability of this form of advertising is well worthy of consideration. An advertiser in answering this question should apply the same test that he would apply to any other medium: What is the cost per possible purchaser reached, and what is the prestige of the medium in the minds of possible purchasers? Is the crowd, which will see the float, made up of possible purchasers, and how large will that crowd be? Is the parade of sufficient im- portance in the minds of those watching it to make lack of representation by any advertiser notice- able? It has become a custom at the annual convention of the Associated Advertising Clubs of the World to have one large parade. This seems to set the stamp of highest authority, on the value of the parade as an advertising medium. The parade is purely a supple- mentary medium. It is of little value unless the ad- vertiser is already known to his audience, because it U impossible in a parade to do more than give bold display to a name, a product or an idea. 224 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS REVIEW In your opinion, should a manufacturer pay a dealer for the use of window space to advertise the manufacturer's goods ? What particular kind of inside store sign would be best for a breakfast food? A brand of cigars? Shoes? Carpenters' tools? What standard would you apply? What is your opinion of the value of advertising in moving- picture theaters? Remember that different things influence dif- ferent people. Be careful not to let possible personal prejudices influence your business judgment. , What are the things that induce a dealer to use store signs supplied by manufacturers? How can the various kinds of sign advertising be closely con- nected with periodical advertising? CHAPTER XV CAMPAIGNS TO OBTAIN DISTRIBUTION 1. Four kinds of campaigns. Thus far in our study of advertising campaigns we have considered the elements of the campaign and the uses to which different advertising media are put. Now we are to consider the various things the campaign may ac- complish and the ways in which the advertiser adapts publicity methods to make them conform to his par- ticular purposes. In general, there are four distinct kinds of adver- tising campaigns, apart from the campaigns of re- tail stores: 1. Campaigns to obtain distribution 2. Campaigns to obtain dealer cooperation 3. Mail-order campaigns 4. Campaigns to influence public sentiment. In the present chapter and in the three that fol- low it, we are to study separately each of the four principal classes of advertising campaigns. We are concerned, first, with campaigns to obtain distribution. J. Should adrcrtixinf/ precede dixtrihutiun' 1-W years advertisers have sought a universally applicable answer to the question, "Shall I advertise in order to 225 226 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS obtain distribution, or shall I try to get distribution before I advertise?" The manufacturer who adver- tises to consumers before he has general distribution of his product, believes that he cannot induce dealers to stock his goods until the dealers have seen his ef- forts to create consumer demand or until consumers have proved that there is a demand by actually going into stores and asking for the advertised goods. It is clear, however, that advertising preceding dis- tribution is bound to result in much waste. If a con- sumer has his interest and desire for a new product aroused, asks his dealer for it, and is told that the lat- ter does not carry it, he may not be willing to wait un- til the dealer can order it for him. The newly aroused interest is likely to be killed. Furthermore, most ad- vertisers find that advertising in periodicals alone is often not enough to arouse interest in something new; it must be supplemented by store signs and the active work of the dealer. For these reasons many manu- facturers try to get general distribution for their goods before doing a great deal to bring people into stores to ask for them. * The problem of whether advertising or distribution should come first seems to be similar to the problem of the Irishman's boots; they were so tight he could not get them on until he had worn them a year. The problem is not unsolvable, however. If it were, there would be no successful advertising campaigns. Ad- vertisers now recognize that neither distribution nor advertising must necessarily come first ; in many cases DISTRIBUTION CAMPAIGNS 227 it is possible to get distribution and to arouse con- sumer interest simultaneously. Mr. William H. In- gersoll says, in Printers' Ink: Neither distribution nor demand can precede the other without loss. If we are going to wait for distribution, we shall wait forever, or nearly forever. On the other hand, if we are going to create a demand without distribution, with- out advertising then again we are going to delay the time that we reach the success to which we are entitled. In other words, the most economical, most efficient way, in my opin- ion, of handling this subject of distribution and demand is to go ahead in a moderate way and advertise, take the sales methods that are at hand, and keep the demand going by getting all the distribution you can. Dealers are influenced both by advertising that is being used and by advertising which the manufacturer convinces them he is about to use. Salesmen often carry portfolios of present or projected advertising, which they show to dealers as evidence of the part the manufacturer is willing to play in helping dealers to move goods from their shelves. These portfolios sometimes show not only the advertisements them- selves, the list of media and the dates when the advertisements are to appear, but also the circulation of every medium in each dealer's own town. 3. Starting on a x in nil xi-nh\ It is not necessary for a manufacturer to begin bis consumer campaign with national advertising. An article of universal consumption is seldom introduced in all parts of the country at the same time. Ordinarily a relatively small territory is selected as a "trvout market." In- 228 tensive sales effort is used there to interest dealers, and this is backed by various kinds of local adver- tising. It is entirely possible to send a force of sales- men to a certain city to work with the dealers, and to start a newspaper, street-car and poster campaign in the same city simultaneously with the arrival of the salesmen. Consider the problem of a manufacturer of flour. Unless he had tremendous resources he would not consider attempting a national campaign until he had built up distribution and consumer demand by starting out in a single center, and then branching out gradually into adjacent territories. If he were strong enough to begin with a section of the country instead of with a small section of a state, he might plan his campaign so as to make the successive steps in its development coincide with the divisions of the country recognized by the Federal Reserve bank sys- tem. There are twelve Federal Reserve banks, each centering a district which is largely tributary to it. If large sections of the country are to be used as units in the campaign, probably no better divisions than those established by the Federal banking system could be found. The accompanying map shows the twelve di- visions of the country, the amount paid for flour by consumers, when flour is $10 a barrel, and the per- cent of total consumption which is represented by the expenditures for flour in each district. 4. A ft our campaign. A manufacturer usually commences with his home territory as a tryout mar- DISTRIBUTION CAMPAIGNS 229 ket. Assume that a flour manufacturer has a factory in Kansas City, the center of Federal Bank District No. 10. He will send salesmen to dealers, and he will choose advertising mediums reaching flour con- sumers in Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, and parts of New Mexico, Oklahoma and Missouri. After he has worked up his business in this district, he will probably expand into Federal District No. 8, establishing a district agency in St. Louis in an effort to obtain his share of the $118,305,500 market in this district. Other conditions being favorable, he may next con- sider the Chicago district, the Dallas district or the Minneapolis district. In each case he will use local- ized media, such as newspapers, billboards, street cars and farm papers supplemented by sampling and possibly direct-by-mail advertising, repeating the same campaign, changed to fit local conditions, in each territory. After the manufacturer has covered, say, four or five of the trade territories, and has obtained what he considers satisfactory distribution in each, he will be in a position to consider national advertising, using national magazines, national farm journals, a sched-. ule of national posters, or a schedule of the leading newspapers in the large cities, the circulation of which linked together will blanket the country. hi this case, as in many others, national advertis- ing follows a long period of local advertising coupled with careful cultivation of dealers. For many prod- 230 DISTRIBUTION CAMPAIGNS 231 ucts any other plan than this would be too wasteful and too expensive. 5. Distribution for an article of limited consump- tion. In marketing an office appliance sold thru stationers, a manufacturer would proceed in a very different way from that in which a flour campaign would have to be conducted. National advertising could begin almost at once, because he could bring a direct appeal to all the possible distributors within a short time. Instead of a total of 25,000,000 fami- lies and 3.50,000 dealers, as in the case of the flour manufacturer, the total consumer market would be only about 1,000,000. If he wished to distribute thru the stationers he would need to reach 38,500, while if he wished to limit his distribution to one agent in each city with a population over 5,000 a complete dis- tribution would be less than 1,500. In order to reach the number of dealers in automobile supplies he might send salesmen to dealers in the larger cities, and appeal to the others by direct adver- tising of various sorts strong sales letters, a cata- log and reproductions of the consumer advertising. Probably he would also use the advertising columns of the trade papers in order to talk directly with dealers. 6. Dangers of overstocking. Some manufactur- ers in their eagerness to make large sales to dealers, induce them to buy more goods than they can sell within a reasonable time. At the beginning of a cam- paign the dealer is seldom in a position to determine 232 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS for himself just how many of the new products he will be likely to sell. The manufacturer should see that he does not stock too heavily. An overstock often means the loss of the dealer's good-will, and it usually results in disastrous price-cutting. The men who are overstocked and who cut prices will scarcely be willing to order again when their stock is gone, and the dealers who do not cut prices will see their trade leaving them and will focus their resentment on the goods. In either case, the manufacturer loses. A manufacturer does not conduct an elaborate campaign to induce first sales only ; his profits must come from reorders, and reorders are received only when the dealer has been treated fairly when prices and profits are right, when the manufacturer has done his part to interest consumers, and when the dealer's first stock has been large enough to satisfy immediate demands but small enough to permit a rapid turnover of the money invested in it. The Procter & Gamble Company, when it intro- duced Crisco, sent free to every grocer in the country six cans of the product. Gratuitous distribution of small sample stocks is certainly an almost ideal way of inducing dealers to handle a new line of goods, but it is too expensive for many manufacturers to use. 7. When distribution preceded advertising. When, in 1906, William Wrigley, Jr., jumped into advertising with an appropriation of $250,000, many people called it plunging. They did not know about DISTRIBUTION CAMPAIGNS 233 the long years of preparatory work in an effort to obtain a nation-wide distribution. Practically all the *:i.>0,000 was spent in out-door display, street-car cards and window trims. Before a cent of this ap- propriation was spent almost complete distribution had been obtained thru direct advertising to dealers. M r. Wrigley started in business with a capital of $32. He attempted distribution thru premiums. His first venture was in lamp chimneys. He filled lamp chim- neys full of gum and sold the gum, throwing in the lamp chimney. He studied dealers, and offered as premiums the things they really wanted. A certain retail grocer needed, say, a special counter scale. Along came a circular from Wrigley offering an at- tractive scale free if the grocer would go to his whole- saler and buy $15 worth of gum. Thus, step by step, Wrigley obtained a foothold. Then he established a great direct-by-mail advertis- ing campaign to dealers. Multigraphed circulars were mailed every thirty days to 250,000 dealers whom Mr. Wrigley wished to get into line. If 12,- ()()() of these prospects were turned into customers in any given month and the prospect list thus reduced to 2.'J8.0()0, an addition was immediately made to the list so that the number of names was brought up to 250,- 000. The list of dealer prospects was always main- tained at the 2.50.000 mark. The national advertising did not commence until the company had been in business fourteen years. Therefore, when the quarter of a million advertising 234 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS campaign was undertaken, the foundation of distribu- tion had been laid. This foundation was laid so suc- cessfully and the business showed such a fast, steady increase after the national advertising had appeared, that before the end of 1916 the company was spend- ing two million dollars a year in advertising. 8. Using established good-will to obtain distribu- tion. When Mr. Wrigley put Doublemint gum on the market, he was able to use the thousands of deal- ers who were already handling his earlier brand. In less than sixty days 500,000 distributers for the new gum were obtained. These were enlisted from the 800,000 who were then selling Spearmint. Each of these 800,000 received a coupon entitling him to one box of the new gum, provided the dealer handed it to his jobber with an order for one box of Spearmint be- fore the time-limit indicated on the coupon expired. The William Wrigley, Jr., Company redeemed these coupons from the jobbers at the regular price of sixty cents a box, thus allowing the jobber his usual twelve cents profit ; or, to put it in another way, the company paid the jobber twelve cents to deliver the sample box to the dealer. The expense was very great; in all, $300,000 was paid out in redemption money to secure distribution, but for every box of the new gum given away, a box of the old brand was sold ; in this way the expense was largely offset. The plan enabled the company to take advantage of distribution already secured, and this immediate distribution made possible immediate consumer advertising on a national DISTRIBUTION CAMPAIGNS 235 scale. Furthermore, by getting immediate distribu- tion the danger of substitution was greatly reduced. If the company had started to advertise with hap- hazard distribution, dealers might have been inclined to talk their customers into using other gums, and the new brand would have been deprived of an op- portunity to demonstrate its merit. REVIEW Should distribution or consumer advertising come first? Is it wise to try to introduce a new product in all parts of the country at once? Why? What is the alternative? Is it advisable to launch a new article by selling it both to dealers and consumers at a special introductory low price? What would be your probable action if you paid twenty cents for a new shaving soap, only to find when you re-ordered that the price was twenty-five cents? Some people contend that a dealer should be stocked just as heavily as possible with a new line of goods, on the theory that the more he has, the harder he will try to sell them. What do you think of this policy? Would your answer be different if the question referred to an old, long established line of goods which the dealer had handled for years ? CHAPTER XVI CAMPAIGNS TO OBTAIN DEALER COOPERATION 1. Place of dealer in the campaign. The attitude of the dealer is one of the vital considerations in plan- ning an advertising campaign. The success of the campaign depends to a great extent on the degree to which dealers will be willing to cooperate with the manufacturer in the sale of his goods. Sometimes the dealer will not cooperate. If he is openly antag- onistic, the campaign can scarcely be successful; if he is indifferent, success can be bought only at a great price. Some manufacturers seem to think the dealer owes them cooperation that he should lend his active efforts to encourage any sort of campaign for the promoting of sales thru retail stores. This attitude on the part of manufacturers is responsible for much dealer antagonism. The dealer resents at- tempts at coercion; he resents the implication that he must give his active support to any manufacturer simply because the manufacturer elects to distribute thru the dealer and conducts some sort of campaign to help the dealer sell his goods. Dealers cannot handle every line that is offered them; they must make careful selection from the al- most countless things that manufacturers seek to in- 236 CAMPAIGNS FOR DEALER COOPERATION 237 duce them to push; and they are likely to put their efforts behind the products of those manufacturers who wisely seek cooperation by proving themselves most willing to cooperate unselfishly with dealers. The attitude of the advertiser and the dealer toward each other is more wholesome than it used to be, but there is still room for improvement in the understand- ing of the dealer by the advertiser and in the under- standing of the advertiser by the dealer. 2. Three periods of dealer cooperation. At the beginning of the twentieth century many manufactur- ers seemed to think the attitude of the dealer did not count that the force of advertising with resulting demand on the part of consumer would require deal- ers to handle advertised goods, and that competition among dealers for the trade in such lines would make it necessary for each dealer to push them. This was the period of "Force the dealer." There was much talk about using advertising as a club to compel the sale of advertised goods, whether dealers wanted to sell them or not. Some advertisers were successful in "forcing the dealer," altho at very great cost. Others found that it is unwise to try to make dealers do something they do not want to do. It was dis- covered that many dealers can induce their customers to buy what they recommend, regardless of an orig- inal intention on the part of consumers to buy some- thing else. "Forcing the dealer" in general proved to be an expensive and wasteful method of inducing sales, even in the few cases in which it was successful. XIII 17 238 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS 3. Period of "Bluff the dealer" Following the "Force the dealer" period, which lasted for about ten years, came another, similar to it, but marking a sort of half-way stage between the crude methods of the early days and the more intelligent methods of ob- taining cooperation in vogue today. This might be called the period of "Bluff the dealer." The adver- tiser began to have some conception of the dealer's attitude; he did not ignore the dealer's opinions he did not merely advertise to consumers and trust to consumer demand to force the dealer into line. He began. to cater to the dealer and to try to make him eager to have a part in the large sales which were ex- pected as a result of the manufacturer's advertising. He did this by talking grandly to the dealer about the large scale of the projected advertising campaign. He took space for his consumer advertisements in me- diums that the dealers were sure to read. He did everything, in short, to impress the dealer with the importance of the manufacturer and with the size and probable effectiveness of his advertising. The adver- tiser was not really bluffing; he really carried out his largely advertised advertising plans, but he deluded himself, and he tried to delude the dealer, into think- ing that those plans, with nothing added, were enough by themselves to deserve and to obtain the cooperation of the trade. 4. Period of "Help the dealer." The third and the present period of dealer cooperation is the period of "Help the dealer " Its basis is the idea that dealers CAMPAIGNS FOR DEALER COOPERATION 239 must be helped and educated, rather than forced or bluffed. The period came into existence when ad- vertisers generally began to realize that the dealer is not a mere distributing machine, but that he is a pow- erful force to be reckoned with. In the early days of national advertising, "consumer demand" was as- sumed to be a thing of prime importance. If enough consumers could be influenced to want advertised goods, the problem of the dealers would take care of itself. We hear less of consumer demand nowadays. The modern phrase is "consumer acceptance." Na- tional advertising is no longer expected to do all the work of making sales. It has been proved in many instances that advertising does not create such an in- tense desire for advertised articles that consumers in- sist on having those articles or nothing. Dealers can and do switch demand; they can and do exert a tre- mendous influence on what consumers buy. The function of national advertising is no longer simply to cause consumers to "demand" advertised goods; its chief function often is to impress advertised goods on tin- minds of consumers so forcefully that when those goods are suggested to them by dealers, the dealer suggestions, added to the impression created by the advertising, will induce them quickly and with little sales effort to "accept" the advertised article. Of course, consumer acceptance is not the sole pur- pose of all consumer campaigns for products sold thru dealers. Yet it is sufficiently universal and suf- ficiently important a purpose to color almost all the 240 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS modern attempts to obtain dealer cooperation. If the dealer is to do his part in inducing consumer accept- ance, he must have a degree of good-will toward the manufacturer and his goods which is very differ- ent from his former frequent attitude of resentment or indifference. 5. The spirit of sales cooperation. There are many methods of inducing dealers to push advertised goods. At the bottom of all the successful ones, however, there is one common characteristic. The manufacturer who really gets active good-will is the one who convinces dealers that he is willing to help them if they will help him. He shows that the things he asks the dealer to do are calculated to help the dealer at least as much as they help the manufacturer; and, in the most suc- cessful campaigns, service to dealers greatly over- shadows the manufacturer's desire to increase imme- diately the sale of his goods. Of course, whenever a manufacturer really helps a dealer, he creates good- will that is bound to result in his favor, and, if the help takes the form of education in better business methods, those methods will help the manufacturer just as much as they will help the dealer. 6. Influence of quality of goods. The manufac- turer who wants dealer cooperation must first see to it that the quality of his goods is such that the retailer will recognize it and the retailer's customers will be satisfied with their purchases. The retailer wants permanent trade ; he can get it only when his custom- ers are pleased with their purchases and come back CAMPAIGNS FOR DEALER COOPERATION for more. Therefore, the first thing the dealer looks for is quality. 7. Profit as an inducement to cooperate. After quality, the dealer wants profit. The price he pays for goods and the price at which he can sell them must be far enough apart to cover all his expenses of doing business and to leave him a satisfactory profit besides. Many advertising campaigns have failed because the item of profit was overlooked or because the margin allowed was too small. No matter how much a manu- facturer tries to help dealers to sell his goods, no mat- ter how effective his advertising, no matter how much quality he puts into the line, if the profit is not right the dealer will not cooperate. 8. Importance of quick stock turnovers. After quality and profit, the dealer wants to be assured re- garding the ease with which the goods will sell. Mod- ern merchandising requires small stocks and quick turnovers. Besides putting quality into his goods and selling them at the right price, the manufacturer can help the dealer to achieve quick turnovers in two ways: First, he can adopt some selling plan that will make complete stocks of his goods easily accessible to dealers, so they can order frequently and in small quantities. Second, he can help the dealer to move the goods off his shelves. In achieving this second purpose advertising plays a large part. Various methods of inducing dealer cooperation by means of advertising are described in the following pages. 0. Educattiuj the dealer and his sules people. 242 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS One of the best ways of arousing the interest of deal- ers is to teach them the points of interest about the things they sell. A carpet manufacturer sent to all his dealers and their sales people a booklet entitled, "What I Learned About Carpets." It told in a lively way the experiences of a retail salesman who visited a carpet factory for the first time. Certainly the retailer who read this story could sell carpets more intelligently than he could before, and he would feel a. real interest in the manufacturer who had helped him learn more about his goods. Many manufactur- ers go to great lengths to interest dealers in their lines by teaching them the selling points. Moving pictures of manufacturing processes are displayed be- fore groups of store employes; booklets are distrib- uted; traveling exhibits are routed from store to store ; salesmen give lectures to buyers and sales peo- ple ; and many similar methods are used to obtain co- operation by arousing interest. A new kind of education for retailers has for its pur- pose, not primarily increased sales of any given manu- facturer's goods, but, rather, increased sales and in- creased profits for the dealer in his business as a whole. The Printz-Biederman Company, manufacturers of women's garments, formerly provided a correspond- ence course in retail selling for the employes of the suit and cloak departments of its dealers. The course was a broad one ; it taught the best methods of selling women's garments in general, and referred only inci- dentally to the product of the company that prepared CAMPAIGNS FOR DEALER COOPERATION -_u:; the course. A manufacturer of sad-irons for a time distributed a correspondence course in advertising for the retail dealer, covering everything from study of the market to copy-writing, methods of display and the selection of media. The manufacturer of Inger- soll watches prepared, and distributed free to his deal- ers, a complete system of cost accounting for jewelry stores. Broad-minded, unselfish educational efforts of this sort represent a long step in advertising from the days when "Force the dealer" was the slogan. They promise much for the future of dealer-manu- facturer relations. 10. Campaigns to increase the sales of related prod- ucts. Strategy in advertising is expressed in a variety of ways. The advertiser who offers a free course in accounting for his dealers is a strategist of the first order. His final, and legitimately selfish, purpose is entirely overshadowed by an unselfish desire to be of real service to his distributers. In the same class is the manufacturer of one product who advertises another for the benefit of his dealers. They both carry a principle of broad-minded American life, that of mutual helpfulness, into business relations. They both prove the growing realization in business of the old truth that the one who profits most is the one who serves most. The Bemis Bag Company manufactures contain- ers for flour. Yet it does not advertise bags. Just before the Food Administration introduced "wheat- less days" it was advertising to increase the consump- 244 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS tion of flour, because its business can increase only as the business of the millers of the country increases. The Bemis Company published advertisements in the leading magazines and newspapers showing the nutri- ment in white flour, and urged housewives to make more liberal use of it. The object of the campaign was twofold. First, the obvious object is to increase the consumption of white flour, if that is possible. But the other object, and the one which was undoubt- edly a great deal more definitely realized, was to get the good-will of millers. The miller feels that the manufacturer is attempting to render him a real ser- vice. The manufacturer does not come to the miller saying, "I want your bag business." He says, "I'm going to do everything I can to increase your flour business. Then you will have to use more bags. If you buy them from me, I shall appreciate it. I expect to succeed only by assisting you to success." Thru advertising, the business men of the country in all lines, whether they are retailers, jobbers or manufacturers, are coming to understand one another better, and to know the real meaning of cooperation and service. 11. Three kinds of "dealer helps."- -The forms of advertising most generally used by a manufacturer in his effort to gain dealer cooperation are those that help the dealer to tell the public about the manufac- turer's goods. These helps, aside from the educa- tional work already described, are of three kinds- store signs, assistance of various sorts in the retailer's CAMPAIGNS FOR DEALER COOPERATION 245 newspaper advertising and assistance in his direct ad- vertising. 12. Dealers' newspaper advertising. One of the first attempts of manufacturers to obtain dealer co- operation was by offering assistance to retailers in the preparation of their newspaper advertising. The average retailer has had little opportunity to study advertising carefully; or he is usually busy with a multitude of store details, and he thinks he has not the time to devote to the writing of advertisements, even if he had the training to do so. As a result of these two conditions much retail advertising up to a few years ago, particularly in the smaller commu- nities, was weak and ineffective. Taking advantage of this situation, national advertisers offered to help the retailer produce advertisements that would really attract trade. The first kind of advertising help offered to the dealer was a complete advertisement of manufactur- er's goods, electrotyped and ready for insertion in the dealer's papers, with only a small place left blank for the dealer's name and address. Complete adver- tisements of this sort have been, and still are, widely used. Many manufacturers prepare them and many dealers use them. This advertising is often better than the dealer could prepare for himself, and some- times the dealer would use no newspaper advertising at all if it were not for the plated advertisements he receives from manufacturers. To that extent, the material is valuable. 24-6 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS It has the great disadvantage, however, of repre- senting the manufacturer and his goods rather than the dealer and his store. An advertisement prepared for a thousand stores can certainly not reflect the individuality of any one of them. A realization of this fact is inducing many dealers to refuse to use plated advertisements from manufacturers, and it is inducing many manufacturers to find some other methods of bringing about dealer cooperation. The sincere, frank recommendation of the dealer, no mat- ter how crudely expressed, is often worth much more to the readers of a paper than even the strongest ap- peal of an advertisement obviously written by a man- ufacturer. 13. Advertisements that represent the dealer. When the manufacturer wishes to present complete advertisements to his distributers, a better plan than the sending of electrotyped advertisements is to send sheets of paper to the dealer, showing suggested ad- vertisements of the manufacturer's goods. The dealer can use the suggested wording if he wants to, or he can change it to suit himself. When cuts are used the dealer can get them on request or for a nominal charge. Dealers like this kind of advertis- ing assistance. The only objection to it from the manufacturer's point of view is that most dealers, when they use the suggested advertisements at all, use them without alteration. To this extent, this adver- tising is open to the same objections as the older type of plated advertisements. CAMPAIGNS FOR DEALER COOPERATION 247 Complete advertisements furnished to dealers, either plated or simply printed as suggestions, may deal en tiivly with the goods of the manufacturers sup- plying them, or they may contain sales talk about other things in the dealer's stock. In the former case, many dealers resent the obvious selfishness of the manufacturer's appeal. They are much more likely to give their support to a manufacturer who helps them sell other things in addition to his own product. Some manufacturers supply dealers with complete advertisements, but make no attempt to prepare stock advertisements. When a retailer asks help, his store and his particular problems are studied by corre- spondence and thru the reports of salesmen. As a result the manufacturer's advertisement department is able to write advertisements that just as truly rep- resent the dealer as if he wrote them himself. This kind of assistance is about the maximum of advertis- ing service that a manufacturer can give a retailer in his attempt to obtain cooperation. For many manu- facturers, however, it is prohibitively expensive. 14. Fvntukmg part* of advertuetoentt. The ma- jority of advertisers have abandoned the attempt to supply dealers with complete newspaper advertise- ments. A common practice now is to furnish cuts for illustrations only. The dealer receives sheets showing stock cuts illustrating the manufacturer's goods. He selects what he wants and uses them in any way he wants to in his advertisements. A com- mendable modification of this practice is to send with 248 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS the book of cuts suggested sentences or paragraphs that can be used by the dealer when he publishes the cuts. If these paragraphs are written in a lively way, and if the dealer is assured that they are merely intended to help him and not to bind him to any par- ticular phraseology, he is likely to use them. Several stove manufacturers have made a practice of furnishing cuts illustrating almost everything in a retail hardware store, and even of writing copy to go with the cuts. They asked nothing for the serv- ices, merely putting their own trade-marks, often in inconspicuous places, on the cuts or copy furnished. Some manufacturers furnish street-car cards and sheets for bill-posting to dealers who use these me- dia. Others simply make suggestions for any kind of advertising a dealer may wish to undertake. 15. Assistance in dealers' direct advertising. Many retailers find that direct advertising to their customers or possible customers, either alone or in combination with newspaper and sign advertising, is a valuable method of building business. They often find it just as difficult to prepare their own direct ad- vertising, however, as to prepare their newspaper ad- vertisements. Accordingly, some manufacturers help them in this form of publicity. The great clothing companies send out style books to lists of names fur- nished them by their dealers. Each book carries the dealer's imprint, and usually is accompanied by a let- ter, prepared by the manufacturer, but signed by the dealer. Modifications of this plan are used by man- CAMPAIGNS FOR DEALER COOPERATION 249 ufacturers in other lines. Doubtless the plan is ef- fective, but great care must be used if the manufac- turer wishes consumers really to believe that the di- rect advertising carries the sincere indorsement of his local dealer. A dealer's direct advertising that is obviously furnished by a manufacturer is not so ef- fective as that which carries some ear-marks of the dealer's personality. 16. Manufacturers' consumer advertising. We have described a number of ways in which advertis- ing may be used by a manufacturer to induce dealers to cooperate with him in the sale of his goods. All of them are good when employed wisely, and all of them are widely used. But none of the special forms of inducements to dealers should blind the manufac- turer to the greatest inducement of all persistent, effective advertising by the manufacturer, directed toward the consumer, slowly but steadily making the manufacturer, his goods, his trade-mark and his sell- ing points known to the public and, if not actually creating insistent consumer demand, at least paving the way for ready acceptance of the manufacturer's product when any effor.t at all is put behind it by the dealer. This form of advertising assistance, more than any other, helps the dealer to make sales quickly and at little expense, and, when it is used for a prod- uct that has quality and that gives the dealer a satis- factory profit, it is usually successful in inducing val- uable cooperation. Several years ago the Northern Pine Manufactur- 250 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS ers' Association tried to overcome the shrinking de- mand for pine by advertising to the trade only. The results of the campaign were not satisfactory, and the world of housebuilders was left to persist in its be- lief that all the white pine was used up, or, if some was left, that it was too expensive for ordinary use. The Southern Cypress Manufacturers' Association, realizing that "the consumer is king," began to ad- vertise to win the patronage of consumers. National magazines and farm journals were used extensively. In all, an aggregate of 5,500,000 circulation was em- ployed in consumer publicity. The result has been a large increase in the use of cypress. The associa- tion purchased space in the trade publications, not so much for the purpose of urging the trade to use more cypress, as to explain to the trade the consumer adver- tising it was conducting. This successful experience of the Southern Cypress Manufacturers' Association led to the organization among the Northern Pine Manufacturers' Associa- tion of a white pine bureau, which began to advertise the advantages of white pine to consumers. The ef- fort was successful from the st.art. Dealers, realizing that the manufacturers were advertising to increase their sales, put forth additional effort, began to use the dealer helps furnished them, and even inaugurated campaigns of their own in local territories to counter- act the impression that the supply of white pine is exhausted, and to show the advantages of white pine over other woods. CAMPAIGNS FOR DEALER COOPERATION 251 Dealers' cooperation can be obtained by hard work, fair treatment and a real willingness to serve. But the dealer does not ordinarily give full cooperation un- le^s the manufacturer does his part by advertising to the consumer. 17. Dealers meet advertisers half-way. The de- cree of cooperation that may be expected from intelli- gent effort on the part of manufacturers is indicated by the success of "national advertising weeks," fos- tered by some of the magazines in cooperation with manufacturers. The plan is for the dealers in a town during a "national advertising week" to feature na- tionally advertised goods in their stores, their win- dows and their newspaper advertising. During such a week one dealer turned a whole floor of his store into a special exhibit of 115 booths showing nation- ally advertised goods. Each booth was in charge of a demonstrator. The manufacturers bore the ex- pense of decorating and equipping the booths. In return, the dealer spent $10,000 of his own money in newspaper advertising and in furnishing heat, light and special sales people. Every visitor to a booth signed a register. The names were later furnished to the manufacturers, who agreed to send direct ad- vertising to these persons. The results were satis- factory both to the manufacturers and to the dealer. w All retailers cannot cooperate in this extensive way, but most of them, to the extent that their resources IH -rmit, are willing to cooperate with manufacture rs who give them quality and profit, and who offer in- 252 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS telligent help in solving the great problem of attract- ing and holding trade. REVIEW What is the difference between "consumer demand" and "con- sumer acceptance"? What are the things, apart from advertising, that tend to in- duce dealer cooperation? If you were a retailer, what tests would you apply in deter- mining the relative acceptability of the many things manufactur- ers would offer to do for you to obtain your cooperation? If the business with which you are connected sells a product or service thru distributors, how is their cooperation obtained? How might it be obtained? How does dealer distribution differ from dealer cooperation? Can the same methods be used in obtaining both? CHAPTER XVII MAIL-ORDER CAMPAIGNS 1. Kinds of mail-order campaigns. There are three general kinds of mail-order campaigns: (1) The campaign of a mail-order specialty house, which sells one line of goods or service, or several closely allied lines, and which uses the mails to make sales as part of the established house policy. In this class are mail-order distributors of jewelry, furs, clothing, food products and thousands of other things sold to consumers by mail. (2) Similar to the campaign of the mail-order specialty house is that of a manu- facturer who introduces his goods to consumers by mail, but who later expects to distribute them thru dealers. (3) The third kind of mail-order campaign is conducted by the establishment that tries to sell a great variety of things by mail. In this class are such mail-order distributors as Sears, Roebuck & Com- pany, Montgomery Ward & Company, and the city department stores, not so many as formerly, that sell by mail as well as over the counter. As far as purpose and method are concerned, the first two classes may be grouped together. The pur- pose of both is to make sales as the direct result of XIII 18 253 254 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS the advertisements. Frequently the reader is urged to send his money or to order at once, usually with the promise that the money will be refunded if the pur- chase proves unsatisfactory. At other times, peri- odical advertising is intended only to arouse interest, and the reader is urged to ask for further informa- tion; the sale is then made with the aid of follow-up letters and booklets. Sometimes both appeals are combined in one advertisement: "Send only $2. Or ask for booklet." The appeal of the third kind of mail-order cam- paign is different from that of the other two. The house that sells many different kinds of things by mail usually advertises in periodicals chiefly for the purpose of getting a list of names of people to whom a catalog may be sent. The catalog of such houses is relied on to make the sales. A few direct orders may come as a result of periodical advertisements that feature particular things, but, in general, the periodical advertising is intended to distribute cata- logs rather than to make immediate sales. We have divided mail-order campaigns into three groups on the basis of the differences of appeal and method. Still another classification might be made. Some mail-order campaigns are directed to consum- ers; others are directed to dealers. Butler Brothers and the Baltimore Bargain House are examples of wholesale houses selling by mail to dealers. We are to consider chiefly mail-order campaigns of those who sell to consumers; the methods of such campaigns MAIL-ORDER CAMPAIGNS 255 differ but slightly from the methods of selling by mail to dealers. 2. The mail-order specialty advertiser. One has only to open any magazine of general circulation to find offers by mail-order specialty houses represent- ing nearly every class of human wants, including cigars, lessons in nursing, apples, furnaces, books and even automobiles. Canned fish does not sound like a highly promising mail-order proposition, but the Frank E. Davis Com- pany of Gloucester, Massachusetts, has made a suc- cess in this rather unpromising field by advertising its products at first in the general magazines and more recently also in a considerable number of newspapers. The president is thus quoted in a newspaper advertise- ment : Buying fish by mail is simply the working out of the old principle that "a straight line is the shortest distance be- tween two points." And in this case the "straight-line" w.-iy the direct way is the easy, safe and satisfactory way. Ever since that day back in the early eighties, when I sent out my first pail of mackerel, I've kept this one thought firmly in mind: "My fish must always be better than folks can buy in their local stores or I can't hope to sell it." The fish which your dealer offers is simply what he can buy from tin- middleman. He is too far from the source of supply to obtain selected grades of fish. I am right on the ground I get the first choice of the best catches clean and pack everything, fivsh from the ocean in the most sanitary and best equipped buildings possible to construct. Then it is 256 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS shipped direct to you. No matter where you live, you can have from me, for your home table, just as good fish as we folks here on the sea can enjoy. It is generally agreed that there are many articles that cannot be sold profitably by mail, and moreover, the cost of making mail sales seems to be steadily rising. 3. Requirements of mail-order specialty house. As has been said already, not everything can be sold profitably by mail. In considering the advisability of launching a mail-order specialty business one of the first questions to be asked is, "Are my possible cus- tomers near enough to me so that the transportation charges on the smallest unit will not materially affect my price in competition?" When the parcel post was established, many new opportunities were opened for mail-order specialty houses. The specialty shoe house is an example. By shipping by parcel post, one mail-order shoe house found its average cost of transportation was eleven cents a pair, against a previous charge of thirty cents. The difference allowed a good profit and induced many concerns to go into the business. While some advertised in the farm journals, most of them bought special lists of names and then advertised directly with catalogs and letters. The matter of transportation cost, however, is only one of the many expenses to be considered in selling by mail. Most things can be sold by mail if enough money is spent in the process. The great problem of the prospective mail-order advertiser is : "Is there MAIL-ORDER CAMPAIGNS 257 a sufficient margin between the cost to manufacture and the price at which I can sell my goods by mail to pay all the expenses of this kind of selling and still leave me a profit?" Many mail-order campaigns have failed because this question has not been prop- erly considered in advance. A manufacturer once at- tempted to sell a talking machine attachment by mail for one dollar. His manufacturing cost was less than fifty cents, and he assumed that the difference be- tuen cost and selling price was ample to cover all expenses, and leave him a good profit besides. He found that it actually cost seventy cents to make each sale; he was losing twenty cents on every article sold. 4. Influence of style centers. One of the reasons why people buy wearing apparel by mail is that they feel they get better styles when they buy, sometimes from distant firms, thru the mails than when they buy in their own communities. Because New York is supposed to originate, or to be the first to import, styles in women's clothing, such mail-order houses as the National Cloak and Suit Company and Bellas, Hess Company do a large business with women all over the United States. The desire to buv in the style centers is responsible for much mail-order buy- in^. Within ten years one New York mail-order house lias built up an exclusive ladies' ready-to-wear mail- order business with 2,500,000 customers, and is spend- ing over $2,000,000 a year on catalogs and other ad- vertising. This company issues five catalogs a large 258 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS one for spring and summer, another large one for fall and winter, and three smaller catalogs for special lines. The large books go out in editions of 2,500,000, and cost $750,000 for each of the two seasons. Five to ten per cent of the mailing list "dies" every year. As is usually the case with those who sell by mail, this company gives an absolute guarantee of satisfac- tion or money refunded. Only one garment in fifty is returned for alteration or exchange. The average order is for about six dollars' worth of goods. Style is the first consideration, and the business is built on this principle. Magazine advertisements offer "leaders" at attractive prices in an effort to get orders for the leaders, and thus to establish trade re- lations. After this relation has once been established, catalogs are sent to the customers each season. If a customer has not ordered for two seasons, it is cus- tomary to drop her name from the list. 5. Costs of mail-order specialty advertising . There is no other kind of business in which returns from advertising can be so accurately checked as in the business of the mail-order advertiser. By care- ful tests he can find out exactly the particular size of space he can most profitably use and the particular appeal and wording of the copy that brings the great- est returns. Different sizes of space are experi- mented with, and the cost per inquiry and the cost per sale are carefully tabulated for each size. The space that results in the most profitable proportion between cost and returns is then adopted as the stand- MAIL-ORDER CAMPAIGNS 259 a i-d. Every word in the copy is carefully scrutinized. The change of a single word may mean the differ- ence between profit and loss. When the advertiser has once found a piece of copy that results in maxi- mum sales, he often uses the copy unchanged as long as it continues to "pull" satisfactorily. Many mail-order specialty houses use only one- inch advertisements. Others use profitably still smaller space. A canoe manufacturer selling by mail has for several years confined his magazine copy to half-inch advertisements, finding that whenever the space was increased there was no profit in the business. 6. Using records in choosing media. Not only can si/e of space and kind of copy be standardized; the media used can also be chosen, by tests, with absolute knowledge of their comparative usefulness to the ad- vertiser. Those media that bring returns at a cost below the maximum set by the advertiser are continued on the list; all others are dropped. The method of testing media is illustrated by the records of a magaxine that conducted a subscription campaign by means of advertisements in a long list of magazines and newspapers. The size of space varied somewhat in different media, but both the size of space and the copy were sufficiently uniform to permit a fair comparison among the different media on the basis of the actual results recorded from the advertising in each one. Some of the tabulated re- sults were as follows. Names of publications are not 260 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS used because it would not be fair to the media to show actual results unless all the many conditions surround- ing the campaign were likewise stated. Some of the media were used more than once. Cost of the Number of Cost per advertisement subscriptions sold subscription Magazine A $40 51 $0.79 Magazine A 40 20 2.00 Magazine B 250 338 .72 Magazine B 250 181 1.38 Magazine C 37 47 .80 Magazine D 200 234 .85 Newspaper A 12 17 .71 NewspaperB 90 258 .35 When records of this sort are continued over a long enough time and the results of various insertions in the same magazine are averaged and compared with other average returns from other media, the adver- tiser can definitely pick those publications that, for his particular purpose, bring the most results for the least money. 7. Difficulties of specialty mail-order selling. Women are said to be better mail-order buyers than men. There is a variety of suggested reasons: Some people contend that women read advertisements more carefully than men that careful perusal of an advertisement is essential before an order will be sent by mail, and that men have less time to read care- fully. Others say that men are less inclined than women to ask for their money back when they are dissatisfied with a purchase. When a guarantee of MAIL-ORDER CAMPAIGNS 261 "satisfaction or your money back" is made, a woman will ordinarily act on it if she is riot satisfied, but many men will pocket their loss and give the seller no opportunity to remedy the trouble. Many men, therefore, rather than risk loss, refrain from buying by mail even when the advertiser makes a plain offer of money back in case of dissatisfaction. Other rea- sons also are advanced, but, whatever the reason, the seller of goods to men by mail usually has a rather difficult task. The many attempts to sell cigars by mail have proved the necessity of great attention to details in trying to get mail orders from men. One cigar man- ufacturer offered "Genuine Havana Seconds" at $1.90 a box as a mail-order leader. With the goods was sent an attractive catalog illustrating forty other kinds of cigars. It was expected that the real profit would come from orders for higher-priced cigars from men who originally bought the "Havana Seconds." It was found, however, that there were only twenty- five per cent of reorders, and that many of them were for the "Havana Seconds" rather than for higher-priced goods. Also, the manufacturer gradu- al ly was made to believe that many original pur- chasers did not like the "Havana Seconds," and that, despite the absolute offer of "money back if not sat- isfactory." they neither reordered nor gave the man- ufacturer a chance to "make i>-ood." There seemed to he an inherent weakness somewhere in the selling plan. The problem was threefold: 262 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS 1. To devise a plan which, without increasing the size of the advertisements, would increase the per- centage of first orders. 2. To increase the proportion of reorders. 3. To increase the orders for higher-priced cigars than the "Havana Seconds." The first purpose was realized by a radical change in the copy ; it was given much greater attention value and told the story almost at a glance. The second and third purposes were achieved by a new offer: "To each purchaser of 100 Havana Seconds we will extend the privilege of ordering, for 60 cents addi- tional, one of our Sample Cases containing one sam- ple cigar each of our 12 Best Sellers all Bargain Values price up to $12 per 100. Include this in your order it's the biggest sample value we ever offered." The sixty cents really paid the wholesale cost of the box of samples, so there was no actual loss on the transaction. The seeming attractiveness of the offer induced a large increase in orders, each one of which paid for itself no matter whether there were reorders or not; and there was a considerable increase in the percentage of reorders, most of them being for the higher priced cigars which were sent in the sample box. 8. Selling by mail to get distribution. When a manufacturer attempts to induce dealers to handle his goods he is often met with the statement: "We will handle your goods if you will first create a de- MAIL-ORDER CAMPAIGNS 263 niand for them." To meet this situation, a manufac- turer may decide to sell direct to consumers by mail. Then, when he can show a certain number of people who are regular users of his goods, dealers are or- dinarily glad to handle them. That it is possible to create a demand thru the mails, and later to turn the business into dealer channels, is evidenced by the experience of the Lindstrom-Smith Company, of Chicago, manufacturers of vibrators and other elec- trical appliances. I sold by mail-order exclusively until some years ago, when the expressed interest of the dealers became so strong that I decided to go after the dealer business in a whole-hearted fashion. Contrary to the expectation of some of my friends, the ratio between mail-order and dealer sales in my business during four years was as follows: Dealer Mail-Order 1st year 25% 15% 2nd " 50% 60% :*rd " 10% 30% 4th " 80% 20% Vet my mail-order business increased absolutely at a greater rate eacli succeeding year, altho we refer mail-order inquiries to dealers when there is a dealer in the prospect's locality. The reason for this, I think, lies largely in the atti- tude we take toward the dealer. We sincerely believe that our mail-order method* are the best, if not the only possible of "sampling" the country for the dealer's benefit. Some manufacturers attempt to obtain dealer dis- tribution and to do a mail-order business at the same time. Dealers in most eases do not like this. If a maniif.'ietnrer who has a dealer in a community tries 264 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS to induce him to push sales of the manufacturer's goods, and yet accepts direct mail orders from con- sumers in that community, the dealer is not to be blamed if he is not enthusiastic about the manufac- turer and his product. There are two accepted meth- ods of overcoming this difficulty. The more common is for a manufacturer who receives mail orders to fill direct orders from communities in which he has no dealers, to turn over to his retailers mail orders that come from territories in which there is a distributor. The other method is for the manufacturer to fill mail orders direct, but to give dealers their profits on busi- ness from their communities, even when the manu- facturer fills the order himself. A dealer who re- ceives a check for a transaction in which he has had no part is inclined to feel that he is overlooking a profit by not handling the manufacturer's line, and he is likely to be entirely willing to cooperate with a man who treats the trade so fairly. 9. Department store mail-order campaigns. As methods of transportation are improved and as the people of any trade territory gain confidence in the department stores in the large cities, these establish- ments find themselves more and more forced to in- stal mail-order departments. Many of them do not carry on extensive mail-order campaigns ; they accept such mail orders as come to them, but do not go out actively after mail-order business. Others use differ- ent kinds of direct advertising, and some advertise for mail orders in periodicals. A common method is to MAIL-ORDER CAMPAIGNS 265 depend on the suburban circulation of newspapers to bring in orders by mail as a result of the regular news- paper advertisements. There is difference of opinion as to whether a de- partment store should publish regular mail-order cata- logs. There are only a few department stores that try to do business by mail over large sections of the country. The regular department store buyers are often not competent to judge the requirements of the country trade, and, unless a special mail-order stock is main- tained separate from the stock for the store, many items listed in a catalog are likely to be sold out be- fore mail-order customers order them. Perhaps the most general practice among progressive department stores is not to carry a separate mail-order stock, nor to issue complete mail-order catalogs, but, instead, to issue frequent small bulletins of regular current store offerings, all of them subject to prior sale; or to encourage mail orders in newspaper copy, and then to build up mail-order trade by careful attention to orders when they are received. in. (rcucral mail-order distributors. The cam- paigns of the great mail-order houses that sell almost numberless things over wide sections of the country are too well known to need much description. Most of these houses use periodicals, reaching people more or less distant from large and well-stocked stores, chiefly for the purposes of getting the names of people to whom complete catalogs may be sent. Then these 266 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS names are followed up with a great variety of at- tractive direct advertising matter until the prospect has become a regular customer or until his case has proved hopeless. As was shown in a previous chap- ter, some of the mail-order houses have grown to such tremendous proportions that there are few periodicals they can profitably use to add more names to their lists. 11. Mail-order successes and failures. The public is inclined to believe that selling by mail is easy and that there is little expense or risk in it. As a matter of fact the number of mail-order failures probably greatly exceeds the number of successes. People are so familiar with the large volume of business done by a few of the better known mail-order establish- ments, that many are tempted to go into the mail- order business for themselves, without adequate capital and without the careful preliminary study which such a business requires. In no line of selling activity is it possible to be successful without in- tensive investigation of the things to be sold, the people to be reached, the methods of reaching them and, above all, the probable costs of conducting the enterprise. All these things are particularly neces- sary in undertaking a mail-order business. Cost of doing business is the rock on which many such busi- nesses have been wrecked. But if the risks are great, the opportunities are equally large. Hundreds of business houses, now finding a limited market for their goods, can, with proper preparation, greatly enlarge MAIL-ORDER CAMPAIGNS 267 their field and their sales by cultivating the trade which in many cases can be quickly, safely and profit- ably reached thru the mails. REVIEW Could a ten-cent loaf of bread be sold profitably by mail? A fifty-cent book? A dollar razor? What considerations deter- mine the answer to this question? How do the three kinds of mail-order advertising campaigns differ in purpose and method? Do you buy by mail? If so, what sort of things? What mail- order advertising appeals influence you? Could you use these .aim- appeals in advertising to others? Have you studied the possibility of using the mails to in- crease the sales of the business with which you are connected? Have you looked thoroly into the matter of costs, competition. of possible purchasers, methods of reaching them, etc.? CHAPTER XVIII PUBLIC SENTIMENT CAMPAIGNS 1. A new use of advertising. Advertising to mold public sentiment is new. Only recently has the world begun to understand the great power of adver- tising to accomplish things entirely outside the field of commerce. The public service corporation, the political party and even the government are gradu- ally coming to realize that advertising may be per- fectly dignified, that people are influenced by adver- tising, and that, if a cause is just, a straightforward statement over the signature of a responsible indi- vidual or company will more quickly change public sentiment than any other known means. The most important requisite for such advertising is the same as the essential requisite of commercial advertising there must be quality in the article ad- vertised. The cause of the advertiser must be just. Advertising will only accelerate the failure of an organization if its product does not have quality; and advertising to create a certain public sentiment will only injure the advertiser if the judgment of the masses considers his cause unjust. 2. The campaign versus the press agent. Before the days of the public sentiment campaign, the press 268 HBLIC SENTIMENT CAMPAIGNS 269 agent often was used to get free publicity. The de- sire of corporations, individuals, cities and political parties to mold public opinion is nothing new. Only the methods are new. Formerly it seemed to be the general opinion that it was the duty of the newspapers to give free publicity on any subject that had even the slightest claim to public interest. If a retail dealer bought a new counter, the local paper must mention it in its news columns. If the charity or- ganization wanted funds, a carefully planned ad- vertising campaign in space bought and not begged, was seldom thought of. If a railroad had anything to say to the public, as a matter of course it told the editor to say it and the editor usually did. At one time the use of brick as a building material was largely increased by a press agent campaign; news- papers were flooded with stories about the great loss to the country occasioned by the burning of frame structures. Hundreds of different kinds of busi- nesses have sought to wheedle editors into telling their story, instead of buying space in the paper to tell it. The press agent still survives. Organized baseball and theaters still get tremendous amounts of free publicity. Automobiles are still "press agented" to some extent. There is scarcely a day that even the least influential editor is not urged to lend his news and editorial columns to the furthering of some pri- vate interest or some public interest backed by an active organization. The press agent still has his place; and certainly the newspapers and magazines XIII 19 270 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS will always devote much space to worthy causes and to matters of real public interest. But the editor is getting wary. The individual or the corporation with an axe to grind is no longer made at home in the offices of publications. Then, too, people who wish to influence public opinion are beginning to realize that a well-displayed advertisement is likely to be seen and read by more people than the same story told in the news colunms. It is this realization that has had most to do with the decreasing importance of the press agent and the in- creasing number and importance of real advertising campaigns designed to sell ideas instead of goods. When carefully planned advertising campaigns are paid for and carried on successfully for such move- ments as those represented by the National Security League and the Belgian Relief Committee, no one need hesitate to use advertising to accomplish any worthy purpose that depends for its success on the acceptance of an idea by the multitude. 3. Political advertising campaigns. The Lincoln and Douglas debates in 1860 marked the end of the period when politicians relied chiefly on the human voice to sway public sentiment. Then came the era of free publicity. It is not yet at an end, but it is drawing to a close. Mark Hanna is said to have been the first political leader to buy advertising space for use in a presidential campaign. Since that time paid political advertising has greatly increased, until in the presidential campaign of 1920, it played an exceed- PUBLIC SENTIMENT CAMPAIGNS 271 ingly important part in the activities of both the great parties. Reliance on free publicity in a political campaign is singularly futile. Nearly every newspaper is par- tisan, and it is read almost entirely by members of the party with which it is affiliated. Those readers do not. ordinarily, need to be convinced of the advisabil- ity of voting for the candidate of their party. And yet free publicity for the Republican party will be received only by Republican newspapers, and free publicity for the Democrats can be inserted only in Democratic papers. The Republicans want to con- vince Democratic voters, and the Democrats want to convince Republicans. The only way any party or- ganixatinn can talk effectively in print to members of the other party is in papers read by those mem- bers; and the only way in which they can tell their story in those papers is by purchasing space in the ad- vertising columns. In planning a political advertising campaign it is customary now to employ trained advertising men, who study the problem just as a manufacturer studies his marketing problem. The normal vote of all par- ties is ascertained, the conditions affecting the prob- able vote in each state are charted, a study is made of the special party appeals that ought to be successful in reaching each different class of people, and the ap- propriation is divided among those media that will best reach the classes aimed at. Kach .state is given attention in proportion to its normal vote, its electoral 272 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS vote and the degree of difficulty that is expected in convincing the voters. All publicity media are used. 4. Advertising for fair play. A gas company con- trolling a monopoly in a city of 350,000 population entered into an agreement with the city council allow- ing the council to fix rates every three years, provided only "that no rate should be so fixed as to fail to afford a fair return on the capital investment of the company." At one of the rate-fixing periods the city council employed an expert to determine what would be a fair rate. He recommended a decrease from eighty- five to seventy cents a thousand cubic feet, maintain- ing that the gas company's property was worth only $4,318,178, altho the company has been paying taxes on an assessed valuation of $7,078,520 which was fixed by the city. Despite the apparent injustice, the coun- cil seemed determined to accept the recommendation and to establish the lower rate. It would have been impossible for the gas company to get the newspapers to present the company's case editorially, because, as the editor of one of the papers said, "If there is even the slightest suspicion these days that a newspaper is favoring a public service corporation, the cry goes up that it has 'sold out,' and half its usefulness is gone." Accordingly, the company was forced to advertise to carry its case to the people. Full-page advertisements were used in all the papers, with daily insertions during the ten days pre- PUBLIC SENTIMENT CAMPAIGNS 273 ceding action by the council. Each advertisement was signed by the president of the company. All the advertisements formed a logical series, and yet each one stood alone as an effective presentation of the company's case. The story was told in a straightfor- ward manner, combining the logical appeal of a law- yer with the narrative style of a newspaper story. Supplementing the newspaper advertising, a booklet was sent to every influential citizen, suggesting that he speak to his alderman if he were convinced of the justice of the company's position. The campaign did not keep the city council from lowering the rate, but it did result in a later compro- mise which was satisfactory both to the citizens and to the gas company. .). Advertising to rein strikes. When employes of a company go out on strike, a considerable portion of the public always jumps to the conclusion that the cause of the strikers must be just and that the employer must be in the wrong. Public sentiment has a decided influence on the success or failure of a strike, particularly when a public service corporation is affected. Public sentiment can often force arbitra- tion, or, if it is sufficiently aroused, it can bring one side or the other to speedy terms. When public sen- timent is on the side of the strikers, simply because they art- strikers, the employer has a difficult task to obtain a fair hearing. Free publicity in the news- papers is seldom effective, because of the popular sus- picion of the disinterestedness of SOUR- editorial ut- 274 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS terances. Therefore many employers tell their story to the people by means of an advertising campaign. Newspapers are usually employed, also posters, book- lets distributed on trains, and other media are used in some instances. Strikers use advertising to sway public sentiment less often than employers. When the influencing of public sentiment is necessary, however, there is no rea- son why properly planned and conducted advertis- ing campaigns should not be used by either side in a strike controversy. 6. Advertising for general good-will. When a public service company has a virtual monopoly in its field, it ought to be eager to build up popular good- will, not so much to increase the immediate sale of its services, as to establish a strong foundation of popular approval which will serve as a bulwark against future competition or public hostility. An interesting campaign of this sort was undertaken in the latter part of 1916 by the Pullman Company. The company began at that time a series of advertise- ments calling public attention to the various features of Pullman service, and reminding readers of the tremendous increase in the ease of traveling brought about by the developments in the equipment and in the service of the Pullman Company. A campaign to head off public ownership or rate regulation has been carried on for some years by the American Tele- phone and Telegraph Company. Advertising alone, of course, cannot build good- will PUBLIC SENTIMENT CAMPAIGNS 275 for a public service corporation any more than adver- tising alone can make sales. The goods and the policy of the house must be right if sales are to be made: advertising can only reflect the solid facts of quality and service. In a similar manner, a corpora- tion can build good-will only if it deserves good-will; the advertising can only carry to a wide audience the policy of the corporation, which is reflected in its actual dealings with its patrons. It can remind the public of points in the company's service which might otherwise be forgotten, but success cannot be expected if the experience of the public does not coincide with the impression sought to be created by the advertising. 7. Cooperative public sentiment campaigns. Dif- fering only in magnitude from public sentiment cam- paigns conducted by single corporations, is the cam- paign carried on by a group of interests operating co- operatively when they are confronted by the common necessity of taking their case to the people. A recent spectacular example was the effect of the leading railroads of the country, assisted by nine advertising agencies, to avert threatened labor troubles in the sum- mer of 1916. Seventeen thousand newspapers were UM-d to carry the railroads' case to the public. Four- teen thousand of these were weeklies reaching people in small communities. 8. Adrcrtixiutj a chariti/. The Great War brought out many new uses for advertising. One of the most striking of these is the charity drive which developed from raising money for what were known as War 276 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS Chest Funds. Previous to that time, most city chari- ties undertook private canvasses thru personal solicita- tion of certain groups of citizens. Charities became so numerous, however, that it seemed as tho the solici- tation for charity on an organized basis was becoming fully as much a constant nuisance as the beggar of a few centuries ago. The war developed many addi- tional calls for money and these calls were for amounts never dreamed of before. The citizens of Cleveland, Detroit, Cincinnati, Minneapolis and many other large cities notified the charities to submit budgets and planned extensive sales campaigns to raise all of the money necessary at one time. Cleveland's first War Chest Drive produced more than four million dollars and that figure has been repeated nearly every year since. Both sales and advertising effort are timed and every advisable medium of publicity is used. 9. Cooperative campaigns for specific industries. Akin to public sentiment campaigns are the cam- paigns conducted cooperatively by various industries to increase the consumption of the products of those industries. Among the industries that have at- tempted on a large scale to increase consumption have been the fruit growers, various groups of lumber in- terests, cement manufacturers and the producers and distributers of dairy products. Probably the most successful and spectacular of these campaigns is the one conducted by the Cali- fornia Fruit Growers' Exchange. As early as 1896, this organization of growers of oranges and lemons PUBLIC SENTIMENT CAMPAIGNS 277 adopted the "Sunkist" trade-mark and began to mar- ket fruit cooperatively. This organization acts as a clearing house for its members and markets the fruit at actual cost. Seventy-five branch offices were orig- inally established in the principal cities thruout the country. These officers were in daily telegraphic touch with headquarters, and kept the home office informed of the state of the local fruit markets. They saw that shipments to each district paralleled local demand, thereby freeing the industry from the vio- lent price fluctuations that always accompany the marketing of a perishable product when no organized attempt is made to correlate supply and demand. When the organization was formed, California shipped about two million boxes of oranges a year and the growers thought they were over-producing. The supply was so far in excess of the demand that at times the returns were less than the cost. By 1906 the sales had been pushed up to ten million boxes and by 1917 the sales passed twenty million boxes. The advertising appropriation is somewhat in excess of one-half million dollars a year. The following table gives the business of the California Fruit Growers' Exchange and the percentage for sales and advertis- ing expense by years from 1910 thru 1919: Percentage for Yxir >'/;/." ii:- 300 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS REVIEW What is it that the jobber should seek to impress upon the retailer thru advertising? Why is the trade paper the best medium for jobber advertis- ing? Why are the national magazines the poorest medium? Show where the average retail advertiser fails to get the most out of his advertising budget. Outline an advertising campaign for a small retailer in a town of 50,000 population. Write some sample copy and also indicate the media you would select and suggest the other kinds of copy you would use. How do the advertising campaigns conducted by chain stores and those of local department stores differ? CHAPTER XX THE CAMPAIGN AS A WHOLE 1. Final problems of the advertiser. At the con- clusion of our study of advertising campaigns there remain three important things to be considered. They are not all closely related, but for convenience they are grouped together in a final chapter. The first of these three subjects is the necessity of altering the plans for a campaign from time to time, as unexpected conditions develop, or as results from the original plans dictate a realignment of the advertising forces so as to insure success of the advertiser. The second subject is a study of the several ways of binding to- gether all the various forces in a campaign. And the last is a small group of universal advertising laws that must constantly be borne in mind by everyone who hopes to build business with the aid of advertising. 2. Changing the plan to bring results. It is evi- dent to anyone who studies the variety of problems that have to be solved by the man who prepares a plan for an advertising campaign, that no plan is infallible. There are few definite rules of procedure. In only a small minority of instances can an advertiser say, "This is what I must do because experience has proved XIII 21 301 302 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS it to be the best thing to do." But no amount of study can guard against errors in human judgment. Some plans for campaigns are sure to be wrong, no matter how carefully they have been made. The possibility of a mistake in judgment makes it necessary for the advertiser to keep on the watch con- stantly for indications that his campaign is not doing what is was intended to do. If results do not come, if expenses amount alarmingly, if new competition de- velops, or if any one of many other things happen, it is time for the advertiser to take his plans apart, find the weak point and bolster it up if possible, or if something fundamental is wrong, to discard the old plans entirely and start off afresh on a new track. 3. A selling plan that was wrong. The campaign of the Review of Reviews Company to sell the Photo- graphic History of the Civil War some years ago illustrates admirably the necessity that often arises of changing a plan for a campaign after the campaign is under way. The Photographic History was a set of books containing reproductions of photographs ac- tually taken during the Civil War. The peculiar na- ture of the books offered unusual advertising oppor- tunities. Large space was taken in magazines and newspapers and the copy was excellent. An elabo- rate follow-up was prepared. The advertising cam- paign began almost before the books were ready for the market, and continued on a large scale for more than a year. The periodical advertising was not in- tended to make sales; inquiries only were sought, by THE CAMPAIGN AS A WHOLE means of a coupon in each advertisement. It was ex- pected that the follow-up would close the sales. The coupons came in by the thousands, the follow- up was set to work, and results eagerly awaited. .Many sales were made, but they were slow in coming. At first this did not greatly trouble the publishers. The man in charge was experienced in the selling of books by mail. He did not expect immediate results, because he realized it takes time to turn inquiries into sales without the use of salesmen. Furthermore, he knew that many people would not even send in a coupon until the cumulative effect of the advertising had time to influence them. Feeling sure that only time was necessary to make the carefully planned campaign show results, the man- ager went on a vacation for a few weeks. When he returned, instead of finding that sales were materializ- ing in satisfactory volume, he found only an average selling cost of thirty dollars a set, which was the total price paid by the consumer. Something had to be done, and done quickly. Printers' Ink describes the way in which the problem was solved: There was nothing serious the matter with the copy, for inquiries were coming in steadily. The follow-up was com- plete and elaborate, and was being sent out promptly. But something manifestly was wrong, for the number of those who had M-nt in coupons but hadn't ordered the books was in- creasing at a stupendous rate. Since the magazine copy seemed to be above reproach, the trouble must be in the fol- low-up, and careful analysis located it. The follow-up was intrrrsting, it was artistic, it was well written, but it failed 304 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS to give the inquirer an adequate impression of the size and comprehensiveness of the edition. It stimulated desire for the books, but not to the extent of thirty dollars' worth. It was instantly recognized that the only way to "cash in" on cumulative effect was to give the people the oppor- tunity to see the books themselves, since in this way only could they be convinced of the full value of the goods. The entire edition was turned over in November to John Wanamaker and the advertising continued under the name of the Wanamaker Book Club. The books were conspicu- ously displayed in the store, and an easy payment plan of purchase was inaugurated. The results were immediately Apparent, and the profits arrived on schedule. During the first twenty days of April, the sales aggregated five-elevenths of the total sales during the entire campaign. In other words, out of a total sale of some forty thousand sets, nearly half were sold during the last twenty days. Of course there is nothing to prove that the results would not have come if the course originally followed had been adhered to, but the probabilities are strongly against it. What made the differ- ence between success and probable failure was the disposition to find out what was really the matter. 4. Adapting campaign to local conditions. An ad- vertising and selling plan seldom has to be changed entirely after it has once been undertaken. Often, however, it must be adjusted in some minor way to meet changed conditions. Usually the adjustment involves added sales activity at some points and re- arranged plans for local advertising at other points. The general plans for an advertising and sales cam- paign may be justified by the general business condi- tions in the country, and yet the varying conditions in different localities may make necessary a. rapid shift in some of the attempts to link up national ad- THE CAMPAIGN AS A WHOLE .30r> vertising with intensive work on dealers and con- sumers in individual towns. There are many sources of information for the ad- vertiser who wants to keep in close touch with local business conditions to the end that he may spend his money in the places where it is most needed and where it will do the most good. Chief reliance is or- dinarily placed on the reports of salesmen. If sales- men are trained observers, valuable information can be obtained from them about the business of the mer- chants in the towns they visit. Such information should be carefully weighed, however; some salesmen are inclined to report conditions poor, as an excuse for small sales, or because in their own line things are generally slow, when other lines are not affected. The commercial agencies can be of great help in picturing business conditions in different sections of the country. The advertiser who tries to get inquiries or to make sales by mail can often ascertain condi- tions in different localities by comparing returns from these advertisements, place by place and month by month. 5. Unifying the campaign. An advertising cam- paign is deserving of the name only when all parts of it work together for a common end, and when they art so related that there is no conflict, no lack of har- mony, but simply a smoothly running piece of sales machinery with a definite function and a definite place for each cog and each wheel. Advertising has suf- fered in the past because of the failure to give a com- 306 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS mon characteristic to all the publicity of a given ad- vertiser, and because of a lack of appreciation of the fact that advertising and sales must be closely co- ordinated if there is to be maximum efficiency and minimum waste. The careful advertiser gives his at- tention to four problems in coordination. (1) He sees to it that all his advertising has an individuality that binds the whole together into a single effective sales weapon. (2) He makes sure that his sales- men believe in his advertising and that they work with it instead of against it. (3) He shows dealers ( if he sells thru dealers ) how to tie up their own store display and their own newspaper advertising to his efforts to bring consumers into their stores. ( 4 ) He organizes his own factory and office so as to insure that every member of his organization personifies the spirit and policy of his publicity. The first of these problems in coordinating the parts of the campaign was considered in detail in Chapter IV. 6. "Selling" the advertising to the salesmen. Many salesmen do not understand the purpose and the methods of advertising. Sometimes they suspect that the increasing importance of advertising means the decreasing importance of the salesman. It is necessary, therefore, for the advertiser to be sure that his salesmen not only understand the function of ad- vertising in general, but also that they are fully in sympathy with the purposes of his own publicity. This attitude of some salesmen toward advertising is not unnatural. In the past, the advertising man THE CAMPAIGN AS A WHOLE 307 has not been a part of the sales organization; he fre- quently made his plans without consulting the sales department. Under this illogical arrangement the salesmen often were not told of the advertising plans in advance; they did not know what advertising was to he done until they saw the advertisements them- selves or until dealers called attention to them. Nat- urally the salesmen resented being left out of the plans; their lack of knowledge of the activities of the house reflected adversely on them and on their em- ployer. The modern executive avoids these unfor- tunate conditions, either by putting personal sales- manship and advertising under the supervision of the same man, or by insisting that all advertising plans be worked out in cooperation with the sales depart- ment, and by taking steps to see that the salesmen are told about the advertising, that they believe in it and use it in every possible way to increase their sales. Advertising is "sold" to salesmen in a variety of ways. At sales conventions it is customary to have the advertising manager explain in detail the plans of the coming season, to answer questions, and to ob- tain the enthusiastic 1 cooperation of the salesmen. House organs are often used to tell the men about the advertising, to explain the purpose of it and to show them how the salesmen can make the most of it. Some advertisers go so far as to explain in detail to salesmen, thru the house organ, the reasons why the different advertising mediums are used. The most common method of keeping the salesmen 308 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS in touch with the advertising is to send copies of ad- vertisements to the men in the field for their own in- formation, and also to help them in explaining the campaign to dealers. The tactful advertising manager is often able to ask advice from salesmen, and to retain their interest and cooperation by showing them the reasons for his con- clusions, even if he finds it necessary to reject their suggestions. 7. "Selling" the advertising to dealers. When goods are distributed thru dealers, there is bound to be waste in the advertising unless dealers are familiar with it and use it in every possible way to increase the sale of the advertiser's goods. It was pointed out in Chapter XVI that the dealer's cooperation cannot be expected unless the advertised goods are of good quality and carry a satisfactory profit for him. If these conditions are fulfilled, then efforts should be made to tie up the dealer and the advertising in such a way that one will supplement the other. Dealers should be informed of the advertising that is to ap- pear. This information may come either by mail or thru the salesmen. Salesmen often carry portfolios showing future advertisements, schedules of media, circulation of media by states and by towns, and other information designed to interest the dealer in the campaign and to enable him to coordinate his sales efforts with the local and national advertising of the manufacturer. Then, just before any advertisement is to appear, the dealer receives a reminder from the THE CAMPAIGN AS A WHOLE 309 manufacturer. In this way the dealer can arrange to make a display of the goods to take advantage of the advertising, or he can advertise under his own name, in the papers or by signs in his window, that he is the distributor for the advertised goods. An- other method of linking up the dealer and the na- tional advertising is to furnish the dealer with cuts that are similar to the ones used in the manufacturer's advertising. 8. Putting the organization behind the campaign. An advertising campaign is the expression of the advertiser's sales policy. It is his most important way of talking to the public and of telling them about himself and his goods. But it is not the only way. Every letter that goes out from a business establish- ment advertises that establishment. It creates a good or a bad impression, and the bad impression may be so bad that no amount of general advertising can remove it. Every time an employe of a business house comes into contact with the public he helps or he hurts his employer. Xo matter how casual may be the personal contact between visitors and employes of the store, office or factory, every time there is any personal contact the visitor receives a good or a bad impression of the house that the employe represents. The factory can nullify thousands of dollars' worth of advertising by failing to turn out satisfactory goods, by failing to take proper care of orders, by failing to make prompt deliveries and by failing to do many other things which good service demands. 310 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS It is not a difficult matter to tell the public about high ideals, courteous service, careful attention to orders, good products and honest treatment, but it is often a very difficult matter to be sure that every employe of the advertiser lives up to the spirit and policy behind the advertising. The advertiser who fails to see that all the members of his internal and sales organization are imbued with his ideals and that they do their best to back up the advertising, is failing in a very important respect in coordinating the various things that go to make up a successful advertising campaign. One advertiser says, "I want every one of my ad- vertisements to be so written that, when they are shown to my employes, everyone in my plant from the office boy to the most skilled engineer will feel a pride in the organization." He realizes that no matter how good may be the quality of the raw ma- terial, the quality of the finished product depends on the skill and intelligence of the labor, and skill and intelligence will be exercised to the degree that the workers take pride in their tasks. There are many instances in which the spirit of an organization has been greatly improved by inspiring in the employes the desire to live up to the spirit and promises of the advertising. 9. Two fundamental laics of advertising. There are two basic laws which every advertising man should understand and apply to his advertising campaign. While both have already been referred to in a gen- THE CAMPAIGN AS A WHOLE 311 eral way, we have left a detailed discussion of them for the last chapter, so they may have the emphasis that they deserve. The first is a law of economics; the second is a law of psychology. The first is the law of diminishing returns. The second is the law of repetition and cumulative effect. In a sense they are two balancing forces. They are to advertising what centrifugal and centripetal force respectively are to physics. The first limits the advertiser. The sec- ond provides him with his opportunity. 10. The point of diminishinf/ returns. The funda- mental law of diminishing returns applies to adver- tising as well as to agriculture or any other indus- try. While in agriculture the quantity of product diminishes per unit of capital and labor, in advertis- ing this diminution is in the value of the product. Doubtless there are few advertisers who could not, by increasing their advertising budget, increase the number of inquiries or sales. But, after a certain point has been passed, they cannot do this except at an increased cost per inquiry or sale. For example, one advertisement might bring in 1,000 inquiries; two advertisements, 3,000 inquiries; three advertise- ments might even bring in 10,000 inquiries. But this proportionate increase in the number of inquiries over advertisements cannot go on indefinitely. At some point the number of inquiries per advertisement must decline, altho the total number of inquiries may con- tinue to increase. This is the point of diminishing returns, and the employment of additional advertise' 312 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS merits will bring about a decrease in the percentage of profit on the investment. The sales department is subject to the same law. Every time you add a salesman to your payroll you have to add an additional expense for supervision an additional expense in teaching that salesman how to drive in the team with the other salesmen. A busi- ness man who is his own salesman requires no super- vision. When he adds another man to help him sell, he is required to spend part of his time supervising the sales of the other man and teaching him the busi- ness. When he has added four or five salesmen, he finds that they require so much supervision that he is compelled to give up selling himself, and to spend all his time supervising and directing the efforts of his salesmen in order to develop proper team work. Then as the business grows, there comes a time when there is no possibility of increased sales in the immediate neighborhood; in order to develop, the business must branch out into new fields. This calls for traveling expenses for salesmen, which .perhaps doubles the former sales expense without bringing anything like proportionate returns. The point of diminishing returns has been reached. Thus it is with all business. As supervision and territory are added, expenses increase faster than re- turns. Even volume ultimately reaches a limit. There comes a point when the amount of additional expense required is exactly equal to the return that will be received. This is the point of diminishing THE CAMPAIGN AS A WHOLE 313 returns. Beyond this point it is unprofitable to pro- ceed. If it were not for this law, the fact that an ad- vertising expenditure of $1,500,000 brought the Procter and Gamble Company $83,000,000 worth of business, might persuade the company to spend s;U)00,000 or $6,000,000 in advertising the coming year on the theory that the increased expenditure would bring $166,000,000 or $332,000,000 worth of business. Every advertising campaign has before it a point of diminishing returns. It is farther away in some businesses than in others. When there is a strong ele- ment of "repeat" in an article, the point of diminish- ing returns may be far in the future. Indications that a business is approaching the point of diminishing returns may be found in the steady rise of the cost per inquiry and the steady rise of the cost per sale. The day when increased expenditure will not bring adequate returns may be postponed in M>me cases. The field of operations may be extended, or new products may be added which will carry pres- tige already established and which can be sold with- out much additional sales expense. But if progress continues, the point of diminishing returns is bound to be reached sooner or later in even- business. That increased expenditure for advertising cannot continu- ally bring increased returns is no indictment of the power of advertising. It is a fundamental law of economics. 11. Cumulative effect of re pet it inn. The second of 314 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS the two laws of advertising that we are considering has a direct bearing on the necessity of coordinating all the parts of an advertising campaign. It rests on two laws of human nature. The first says: "At- tention and interest cannot be maintained except mo- mentarily on a stimulus that remains absolutely the same." There must be something new and changing about it. The reader can, of course, voluntarily force his attention for a brief period on an advertisement, but such attention cannot be continued long unless the object reveals some suggestion or idea that is of new interest to him. The other law states : "Attention and interest can- not be maintained on a stimulus which is absolutely without meaning a stimulus of which the reader has had no previous cognizance." We mus-t have some link with a past experience by which we can com- pare a present experience, or else we immediately lose interest. Everything that holds our attention and interest must have two elements an element of the old and an element of the new an element of repetition and an element of novelty. The most engrossing and in- teresting experiences are new experiences in old sur- roundings or old experiences in new surroundings. If the experiences and surroundings are both new we lose interest, just as we tire if the experiences and surroundings are both old and have become common- place to us. Our continued interest in any object depends partly on our familiarity and association with THE CAMPAIGN AS A WHOLE 315 that object, and these in turn depend on repeated con- tart wi f h it. It is the same with advertisements as with anything else that claims our attention. We welcome the ad- vertisements of I von* Soap and Cream of Wheat as old friends. Nd two of them are quite the same, and yet there is something about every one that causes ready recognition and that induces growing interest and good-will. The advertiser should strive to make the reader regard his advertisements as he regards his friends. We expect a friend always to have the same color of hair, the same features, the same height and the same mannerisms. These things remain constant, but other things about him change. He does not al- ways wear the same clothing. He does not always talk about the same things. If he is a friend worth having, he is likely to bring to you some new idea every time you meet him. Each contact with him develops a better understanding. If his ideas are always good, his manner always pleasant, his sincerity always evi- dent, each meeting will add to your respect for him; and the more you respect him, the more willing you will be to act on his suggestions. So it is with adver- tisements. Their success depends largely on their persistence, on the readiness with which the reader recognizes them, and on the amount of respect that he is made to feel for the advertiser and the adver- tiser's goods. 12. The family rcxcinlilanrc nf w/ir/*//V/// rult| 2. An Advertising Campaign APPENDIX 321 KINDS OF ADVERTISING MEDIA tenets! B [PUBLICATIONS ? I Sampling tnd demonstrating] -1 3 1 Booklets jnd Circulara I 61 NovelUe.y| i| Newspapers I 7| Ma&azlnarl 31 Farm Papesyl 4 1 Trade-Technlcal-Oass Papers'] 5 1 Foreign 1 angua^e Papery] 6 1 Directories jjid Program?] [6 1 Theatre 5lgn5| Classification of Advertising Media INDEX Advertising Agencies, 84-108 What an agency is, 84; What it does. 86: Its history. 88; Pub- lishers' representatives, 90; Agen- cy's service. 90-94; To publish- ers. 90; To advertisers, 92; Out- siders' viewpoint, 94 ; Organization, 94; Operation. 96; Obtaining in- formation. 97; Planning cam- paign. 98 : Producing advertise- ments. 100 : Relation to advertiser, 101; Compensation, 102; "Recog- nition, 105 ; How secured, 106 Advertising Agency, Relation to advertising department, O<) Advertising Appropriations, 34-50 Purpose determines outlay, 34; Rec- ords, 34 ; Time to produce effects, 35 ; Reaping fruits of. 37 ; Basis expected sales. 38; Basis, possible purchasers, 39; Basis, available capital. 40; Cost per inquiry, 41; Rasi. profits previous year, 42 ; Basis, amount previous year, 43 ; Basis, space desired. 44 ; Basis, proportion of gross sales, 45 ; Re- tailers' appropriations, 46 ; Proper percentage. 47: Apportioning ap- propriation, 49 Advertising Department, 68-83 Director's duties. 68; Requirements for manager. 69 ; Responsibility, 70; Functions of department, 71; Organization systems, 73 ; Large departments. 74 : Small depart- ments, 77 ; Territorial depart- ments. 78 : Cooperation with sales department. 79; Obtaining in- formation, 81; Relations to agency, || Advertising Media, 109-133 Variety of. 109: One not sufficient, 110; Definition, 110; Selection, 111; Circulation. 112: Kinds of, 115; Three general classes, ,1 1 4 ; Din-ct media, 115-120; Letters, 115; Sampling and demonstrating. 116: Booklets. 116: Catalogs. 117. lioiiM- nrcan* 11*: Novelties, 119; Periodicals. 121-126; News- Advertising Media continued papers, 121; Magazines, 122; Farm journals, 123 ; Trade and class papers, 124 : Foreign lan- guage papers, 125; Directories. 125; Signs. 126-132; Dealers' signs. 127; Posters. 127: Painted bulletins, 128; Electric signs. 129; Railway signs, 130: Theater signs, 121; Why not more media, 132 See also Circulation, Weighing Advertising Policy, of periodicals. 160 American Association of Advertising Agencies, 84, 103, 107 American Telephone and Telegraph Company, good will advertising, 274 Arrow Collars, 2 Associated Advertising Clubs of the World, Use parades, 223 Andlt Bureau of Circulation, Ascertain circulation, 113 Determines its character, 145 Bemls Bag Company, Advertises flour, 243 Booklets, 116 Burroughs Adding Machine Company, Advertising department methods. 74 Burson Knitting Company, display, 215 California Fruit Growers' Exchange, Window trims, 212 ; Advertising an industry. 277 Campaign as a Whole, 301-318 Problems. 301; Fallibility of plans. 301 ; Wrong judgment illustrated, 302 ; Local conditions control, 304 ; Unifying the campaign, 805 ; Sales- man's attitude. 306; Selling adver- tising to dealers. 308; Organiza- tions place in. 309 : Fundamental laws, 310; Diminishing returns, 811: Effect of repetition cumula- tivi-. 313; Resemblance of adver- ti-i'tnt'nt to predecessor. 315 Catalogs, As an advertising medium, 117 323 324 INDEX Chain-store Advertising, Development. 295 ; Features price, 296; Methods, 296 Charts, Agency Organization, 319 ; Campaign operations, 320 ; Classes of media, 321 Circulation, Of different media, 112 ; Policy of periodicals, 158 Circulation, Weighing, 134-152 Value of the medium, 134; Cost per purchaser, 135 ; Typical purchas- ers, 137; Geographical conditions, 138; Social conditions, 140; Cir- culation statements, 142; His- tory of, 144; Duplication, 145; Extent of, 147 ; Subscription price as indicator of purchasing power, 148; Flat rate, 150; Preferred position, 150; When to use, 151 Class Publications, As an advertising medium, 124 ; Use of, 204 Cluett-Peabody Company, 2 Coca-Cola, Amount spent in advertis- ing, 39 ; Use of local papers, 197 Colors, Identifying articles, 55 ; Identifying advertisements, 64 Competition and Demand, Set Demand and Competition, Analysis of Cooperation, Advertising and sales, 79 Counter Display, 213 Crissey Forrest, on Educational value of advertising, 12 Curtiss Company, Advertising air- planes, 20 Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company, Advertising methods, 38 Dealer, Advantage from national advertis- ing, 8; Signs for, 127; Attitude towards the advertising campaign, 308 Dealer Cooperation, Campaign for, 236 252 Dealer's attitude, 236; Cooperation periods, 237; Bluff and force, 238; Good-will secured. 238 : Quality affects trade, 240 ; Profit and quick turnove'r, 241; Educational meth- ods help, 241; Related products, 243 ; "Dealer's helps," three kinds of, 244 ; Newspaper helps, valu- able. 245: Manufacturers pro- mote advertising methods, 246; Direct advertising assistance, 248; Dealer Cooperation continued Manufacturer's consumer adver- tising, 249 ; Experience of South- ern Cypress Manufacturers' Asso- ciation, 250 ; Meeting advertisers half-way, 251 Demand and Competition, Analysis of, 18-33 Preliminaries of Campaign, 18; De- veloping demand, 19 ; Education, 19 ; Advertising demand. 20 ; Re- peat element, 22 ; Seasons in adver- tising, 24; Competition, 25: Com- paring good-will, 26 ; Comparing advertising, 27 ; Study of com- petitors' methods, 29 ; Comparing sales policies, 30 ; Freight advan- tages, 31 ; Importance of compe- tition, 31 Demonstrating, As an advertising medium, 116 . See Sampling Department Store Advertising, Extent, 297; Media for, 297; Methods of appeal, 298 Des Moines, City advertising, 278 Direct Advertising, Prestige of media, 153 ; Helping the dealers. 248 See Letters Directories, As an advertising medium, 125; Use of, 207 Diminishing Returns in Advertising, Point of, 311 Distribution, Campaigns to Obtain, 225-235 Classes of, 225 ; Advertising preced- ing. 225; Small scale beginnings, 227; Flour campaign, 228; Arti- cles of limited consumption, 231; Overstocking. 231; Advertising pre- ceded by, 232; Good-will an asset, 234 Duplication, Of periodical circulation, 145 ; Ex- tent of, 147 Editorial Policy, of periodicals, and prestige, 157 Educational Campaigns, Specific objects of, 12 ; Helping dealer and his salesmen, 241 Electric Signs, As an advertising medium, 129 Family of Products, Repeat element, 22 INDEX 323 Farm Journals, As an advertising medium, 123; I '-. of. 202 Follow-Up Methods, ts relating to competitors, 29; Testa of, 177 Foreign Language Publications. As an advertising medium, 125; Use of. 204 Form Letters, 166 Good Housekeeping, Advertising pol- icy. 163 Good-will, Factor in competition, 26 Letters, etc. continued Circular and form letters, 166; Ad- vantages of mail campaigns, 166 ; Uses of direct advertising, 168; Compiling the mailing list. 169 ; Getting it correct, 172 ; Keeping up-to-date, 173; Filing cards, 174; Selling thru the list, 175; Raking it, 175; Trial campaign. 176; Tests of follow up, 177 ; Averaging a series, 179 Lindstrom-Smlth Company, Mail order advertising, 263 Literary Digest, 2 Log Cabin Maple Syrup, Form of container, 54 Hart. Schaffner and Marx, 15 Retailers' experience, 46 Holzhauer, Charles, on counter dis- play. 215 House Organs, As an advertising medium, 118 Identification, Methods of, 52-67 Individuality, 52 ; In packages, 53 ; Methods of identification, 54 ; Shape. 54 ; Color, 55 ; Identifying advertisement, 56 ; Names and Trade-marks, 58; Typical charac- ters, 60 ; When inadvisable, 62 ; Slogans, requirements of, 62 ; Typography as means of identifica- tion. 63; Style. 64; Position, 64; Value of different methods, 65 Ingersoll. W. H., On advertising de- partment, 69; On distribution and demand. 227 Ingesoll, Robert H.. Brothers, Marketing organiation, 74 ; Counter display. 213 Ivory Soap, Advertising of, 196 Jobber Advertising, Development of, 286; Jobber's gain, 288; Media for, 288 Kellogg, W. K., Store display, 214 Ladies' Home Journal. 151 AdviTtixiiii; policy, 164; Advertisers in. 208 Letters, As an advertising medium, lit Letters and Direct Advertising, 166- 180 McMillan, Myron, Advertising experi- ence, 11 Magazines, As an advertising medium, 122 ; Sales on stands and by subscrip- tions, 159; Use of, 200 Mail Campaigns, Advantages of, 166 Moling Lists, Compiling, 169; Correcting. 172; Keeping up to date, 173; Filing, 174; Raking, 175; Testing, 176 Mail-Order Campaigns, 253-267 Three general kinds, 253 : Specialty advertising, 255 ; Transportation costs affect, 256; Style centers in- fluence, 257; Costa, 258; Records used in choosing media. 259 ; Dif- ficulties of specialty sales, 260; Distribution thru mail sales, 262 ; Department store catalogs. 264; General distributors. 265; Failures exceed successes. 266 Mall-Order Advertising, Records, 34; Costs per inquiry and sale, 41 Mapes, Emery, 144 Morris, William B., On advertising, 71 Moving Picture Films, As an advertising medium, 131 Names and Trade Marks, As means of identification, 58 National Biscuit Company, Store Dis- play. 214 National Veneer Products Company, Advertising Department methods, 77 New Orleans, City advertising. 280 New York Tribune, Advertising policy, Newspapers, As an advertising medium, 121; Use of, 194 326 INDEX Northern Fine Association, Consumer advertising, 250 Novelties, As an advertising medium, 119 Occident Flour, 35 Packages, Means of identification, 53 Fainted Bulletins, As an advertising medium, 128 ; Use of, 220 Palmer, V. B., established first agency, 88 Pear line, History of, 10 Periodicals, How used, 194-210 Foremost medium, 194 ; Volume of newspaper advertisements, 194 ; Local retail, 195; Classified ad- vertisements, 195 ; How manufac- turers use newspapers, 196; Standard space, 197; Magazine, national medium, 200 ; Farm jour- nals, 202 ; Trade techncal and class publications, 204; Foreign language publications, 206 Direc- tories, 207; S' T .e of space, 207; Tabulation of duration and size of space, 208 Fosters, As an advertising medium, 127; Use of, 129 Prestige, Weighing, 153-165 Meaning, 153 ; Direct media, 153 ; Signs, 154 ; How prestige works, 155 ; Factors in, 156 ; Editorial policy, 157; Circulation policy, 158 ; Sales and subscription mag- azines, 159 : Advertising policy, 160; Typical policies, 162 Procter and Gamble Company, Advertising methods, 9 ; Introduce Crisco. 232 Public Sentiment Campaigns, 268-285 New use of advertising, 268 ; Free publicity declining, 268 : Political advertising, 270; Advertising for fair play, 272; To win strikes, 273; For general good-will, 274; Cooperation public sentiment cam- paigns, 275 ; Advertising a charity, 275 ; Advertising an industry, 276 ; A city, 278; A state, 281; National needs, 283 ; Modern national ad- vertising, 284 Pullman Company, Good-will advertis- ing, 274 Purpose of Campaigns, 1-17 Significance and development, 1 ; Purpose of Campaigns continued Objects, 2 ; Time, 4 ; Effect on advertiser, 5 ; On salesmen, 7 ; On dealers, 8 ; On consumer, 9 ; On product, 10 ; Educational re- sults, 12 ; Advertising and selling expense, 13 ; Cutting manufactur- er's costs, 15; Cutting retailer's costs, 15 ; Experience, best guide, 17 Bates, For periodical advertising, low com- puted, 150 Repetition, Effect cumulative, 313 Retailers' Advertising, What it is, 289 ; Policy needed, 290 ; Poor copy, 291 ; Good copy, 292 ; Types of retail advertising, 293 ; Small stores, 294 ; Choice of media, 294; Chain stores, 295; Depart- ment stores, 297 Retail Dealers, Advertising appropriations, 46 Rowell, George P., Prominent early advertising agent, 89 ; Secures correct information on circulation, 144 Royal Baking Powder, Value of name, 52 Russell-Miller Milling Company, Ad- vertising experience, 35 Sales Department, Cooperation with advertising depart- ment, 79 Salesmen, Must be "sold" on advertising, 7, 306 Sampling, As an advertising medium, 116. Sampling, 181-193 Extent and classes of, 181 ; Distribu- tion thru other manufacturers, 182 ; House-to-house methods, 182 ; Public plans and conventions, 183; Demonstrating in consumers' homes, 184 ; In clubs and restaurants, 185 ; Influential groups, 185 ; Mail methods, 186 ; Use of premi- ums, 187; Thru dealers, 187; Coupon plan. 188 ; Including with purchase, 189 ; Demonstrations, 190; Compensating dealers. 191 Saturday Evening Post, Advertising policy. 164 Scott, Walter Dill, Investigations in advertising, 208 Sherwin-Williams, Advertising outlay, 45 INDEX 327 Signs, TS, 127; Porters. 127; Painted, 128: Elcrtrir. TJ9 ; Railway. 130; Theater, 131; Prestige of, 154 Signs, Use of. 211-224 Window trims, 211; National sales displays, 212; Counter display, 213; Inducing dealers to use, 214; Charles Holzhauer on counter dis- play, 215; Fields for profitable display, 216; Cooperation in pur- chasing signs, 217; Posters, 219; Painted signs, 220; Street car cards, 221; Commercial parades, Sims Cereal Company, 198 Slogans, Krquirements of Southern Cypress Association, Con- sumer advertising, 250 S. S. Kresge Company, Advertising. 201 Street-Car Cards, As an advertising medium, 130; Use of. 221 Swoboda, Alois P., Selling by mail, 225 Technical Publications, As an Advertising medium, 134; Use of, 204 Theater Programs, 18" Trade Publications. As an advertising medium, 124; Use 1 of, 804 Trader, Campaign of, 286-300 Classes of distributors, 286 ; Develop- ment of jobber advertising, 286; Jobber's gain thru advertising, 288 ; Media for' the jobber, 288 ; Retailers' advertising, 289; Mean- ing of advertising. 289; Advertis- ing policy, 290 ; What makes poor ropy, 291; What makes good copy, 292 ; Types of retail advertising-. 293 ; Small store advertising, 294 ; Choice of media, 294; Chain store advertising, 295 ; Featuring of price, 296; Advertising methods, 296 ; Department store advertis- ing, 297 ; Choice of media for, 297 ; Methods of appeal in, 298 Typical Character, In advertisements, 60 Typography, Used to identify advertisements, 63 Wananiaker, John, Advertising outlay, 43 Waste, in advertising, 5 Way Sagless Spring Company, Advertising and sales, 37 ; Use of posters. 220 Wrigley, Wm. Jr., Advertising outlay, 40, 48; Careful preparation for advertising, 232 Window Trims, 211 Yale & Towne, Displays, 312 r . T A r i. K v co, N i \v v o B K UCSB LIBRARY X - II A 000 525 846 2