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MODERN ADVERTISING
APPLETONS' BUSINESS SERIES.
The Work of Wall Street.
By Sereno S. Pratt. Illustrated. lamo. Cloth, $1.25 net ; postage, 12 cents additional.
Funds and Their Uses.
By Frederick A. Cleveland, Ph.D., of the University of Pennsylvania. Illustrated. i2mo. Cloth, $1.25 net ; postage, 12 cents additional.
Trust Finance.
By Dr. I:d\vard S. Meade, of the ^^'harton School of Finance, University of Pennsylvania. i2nio. Cloth, $1.25 net ; postage, 12 cents additional.
American Railway Transportation.
By Emory R. Johnson, Ph.D., of the Wharton Schoolof Finance, University of Pennsylvania. i2mo. Cloth, $1.50 net; postage, 14 cents additional.
The Modern Bank.
By Amos K. Fiske. Illustrated. i2nio. Cloth, $1.50 net; postage, 12 cents additional.
Modern Industrialism.
By Frank L. McVey. i2mo. Cloth, $1.50 net ; postage, 12 cents additional.
Modern Advertising.
By E.\RNEST Elmo Calkins and Ralph Holden. Illustrated. i2mo. Cloth, $1.50 net; postage, 12 cents additional.
The Life Insurance Company.
By William Alexander. i2mo. Cloth, $1.50 net ; postage, 13 cents additional.
Ocean and Inland Water Transportation.
By Emorv R. Johnson, Ph.D., Professor of Transportation and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania. Illustrated. i2mo. Cloth, $1.50 net; postage, 15 cents additional.
Credit and Its Uses.
By W. A. Pkendergast. i2mo. Cloth, I1.50 net ; postage, 12 cents additional.
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, NEW YORK.
EoC
, i S^ A- ra
MODERN ADVERTISING
BY EARNEST ELMO CALKINS
AND
RALPH HOLDEN
ILLUSTRATED
NEW YORK D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
I 907
COPTRIGHT, 1905, BT
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
Published April, 1905
FOEEWOKD
Heeewitii is printed a paragraph from The Americans, by Hugo Miinsterberg ; which is so in harmony with our own idea as set forth in the first chapter (which chapter w^as written and in type long before Prof. Miinsterberg' s book appeared) that it is set here as a sort of keynote of Modern Advertising :
The American merchant works for money in ex- actly the sense that a great painter works for money ; the high price which is paid for his picture is a very welcome indication of the general appreciation of his art : but he would never get this appreciation if he were working for the money instead of his artistic ideals. Economically to open up this gigantic coun- try, to bring the fields and forests, rivers and moun- tains into the service of economic progress, to incite the millions of inhabitants to have new needs and to satisfy these by their own resourcefulness, to increase the wealth of the nation, and finally economically to rule the world and within the nation itself to raise the economic power of the individual to undreamt-of im- portance, has been the work which has fascinated the American. And every individual has felt his co- operation to be ennobled by his firm belief in the value of such an aim for the culture of the world.
Tpie Authors.
CONTENTS
PAGES
Foreword .......•• v
CHAPTER I
A Definition of Advertising ..... 1-12 Advertising in its modern sense, 1. Advertising in a dictionary sense, 1. Small percentage of illiteracy and large number of publications, 2. Napoleon the proto- type of the modern advertising man, 3. Advertising as a profession, 4. Patent medicine the first adverti- sing, 5. Definition of advertising, 6. Advertising a " great educational force, 7. Effect of advertising on the soda biscuit, 9. The trade-mark the great asset, 9. -^ Great possibiUties in the future, 11. Interest of the public in advertising, 12.
CHAPTER II
A Brief History of Advertising .... 13-32 Advertising a recent development, 13. Proprietary remedies the first large advertisers, 14. The first adver- tising agency, 14. Some early advertising of the New York Ledger, 15. Recollections of John Manning, 15. Pettingill's impressions of Palmer, 16. Pettingill a well- known name in connection with advertising, 19. Pet- tingill and Palmer as competitors, 20. Oak Hall and its advertising, 21. Mr. Bonner and the New York Ledger, 22. Advertising Fanny Fern's story, 23. $27,000 spent on advertising a single writer, 23. P. T. Barnum advertises the Jenny Lind concerts, 25. News-
viii t'O.NTE.NTS
PAGES
__ papers used exclusively by early agents, 26. Early successes that are to-day large advertisers, 27. Sapolio and Spotless Town, 28. Force and Sunny Jim, 29. The real beginning of modern advertising, 30. Three dis- tinct professions in advertising, 31.
CHAPTER III
The Channels of Trade ..... 33-62
Two ways of selling advertised goods, 33. Eleven leading retail lines, 33. Modern advertising breaking down the relations between the manufacturer and the retailer, 36. Chains of retail stores controlled by a single manufacturer, 36. Standardizing a skirt binding, 37. Transformation of the ready-made clothing busi- ness, 38. Introduction of odd sizes in clothing, 39. — Large retailers refuse to sell trade-marked clothing, 40. An idea that revolutionized the clothing business, 41. Improvement in the manufacture of clothing due to advertising, 42. Figures of eleven retail industries, 43. Modern advertising eliminating the middleman, 44. The business triangle, 45. Cultivation of retail trade by the manufacturer, 48. An experiment with a mail —series, 49. Exploiting a breakfast food, 51. Working with a small appropriation, 52. Playing the customer off against the dealer, 54. The before-taking and after- taking idea, 55. How a corset trade was developed by advertising, 56. sThe cost of advertising, 58. Starting with a small appropriation, 59. The importance of the inquiry, 60. Advertising a combination of hundreds of different elements, 61.
CHAPTER IV
Magazines and Newspapers ..... 63-87 Definition of an adverti.sing medium, 63. Magazines compared with newspapers, 64. Circulation of various kinds of pul)lications, 66. Amount paid (o publica-
CONTENTS IX
tions for advertising space, 67. Classification of periodi- cals according to their character, 69. Distribution of circulation, 70. Character of a publication as illustrated by the Ladies' Home Journal, 71. As illustrated by- Comfort, 73. History of the Delineator, 74. Size of magazine pages, 75. Rate compared with circulation, 76. The creation of the ten-cent magazine, 77. Read- ers of different publications vary in responsiveness, 79. The magazines and circulation statements, 80. Defini- tion of newspapers, 81. Home prints and patent in- sides, 82. Cooperative newspapers, 83. Trade papers, 86. Agricultural and religious papers, 87.
CHAPTER V
Mural Advertising ...... 88-101
Definition of mural or outdoor advertising, 88. Num- ber of street-car cards recjuired for the entire United States, 89. Street-car advertising not combined in the hands of one agent, 91. Sizes of street-car cards, 92. Circulation of street-car cards, 93. Sizes of posters, 94. Permanent painted signs, 96. High prices paid for painted signs, 98. Printed matter as advertising mediums, 98. A house organ, 100. Ad- vertising novelties, 101.
CHAPTER VI
The General Advertiser ..... 102-134 Definition of a general advertiser, 102. Some large gen- eral advertisers, 103. The beginning of textile adver- tising, 104. The experience of Thomas Balmer, 105. The advertising of H-0, 106. The beginning of flake - food advertising, 107. Advertising pioneers, 108. Un- developed possibilities in advertising, 109. Food prod- ucts that should be advertised, 111. The chances for a canned molasses, 112. Publicity that might be had for salt, 113. Starch an early magazine advertiser,
(/
X CONTENTS
PAGES
U-i. The advertising beginning of the American Woolen Company, 115. Unthonght-of fields to be de- veloped by advertising, 118. Products that have been advertised for forty years, 120. Railroads as general advertisers, 120. Volume of magazine advertising for a given month, 120. Advertised articles must have '^ merit, 122. Quality more important than price, 121. Direct returns not possible in general publicity, 125. The value of a trade-mark, 126. Some baking powder history, 127. Mellin's Food a typical advertising instance, 129. Stories behind advertising successes, 133.
CHAPTER VII
The Advertising Manager ..... 135-160 What the advertising manager does, 135. The ability to write not necessary, 136. Seymour Eaton and the Booklovers Library, 138. American advertising in Great Britain, 139. Salaries paid to advertising man- agers, 143. The advertisement writer as such, 143. What the advertising manager should know, 144. Misleading impressions about the advertising manager, 147. Training that makes a successful advertising man, 148. Correspondence schools of advertising, 151. The advertising man's training, 152. Antagoni- zing the retail trade, 153. Planning work in cooperation with an agency, 154. Steps in preparing a campaign, 155. Working with traveling men, 156. Origin of Sunny Jim in Force advertising, 158. The advertising manager must produce exact results, 160.
CHAPTER VIII
The General Advertising Agency . . 161-219
Inadequacy of the name "agency," 161. Is the agent the agent of the publisher or of the advertiser? 161. The agent not an employee of the puljlication, 162. The commission basis unsatisfactory and illogical, 163.
CONTENTS xi
PAGES
How good advertisers are discouraged by bad agents, 164. The Quoin Club, 164. The advertising agent and the plan, 165. What the advertising agent should know, 166. George Dyer on advertising agencies, 167. The agent should be unprejudiced, 171. The adver- tising agent has nothing to sell, 172. The old and the modern idea of an advertising agency, 173. Space brokers, 174. Why the commission is illogical, 175. How the price for space is cut, 176. Service as against price-cutting in agency work, 177. Contract publica- tions, 178. Form of contract of the Curtis Publishing Company, 179. A typical estimate, 180. Estimates and rate-cards, 182. Estimating from newspaper rate- -/ cards, 185. Dickering with newspapers, 186. A news- '^ paper rate-card, 186. Need of a flat rate among . newspapers, 191. Order for space, 192. Checking up advertising, 193. Old-time agencies are loose organiza- tions, 194. Two classes of general advertisers, 195. How an agent works upon a new proposition, 196. Coining a name, 197. Fixing the price, 198. Appro- priation, 199. The modern agency renders professional service, 200. A representative and comprehensive plan and estimates as presented by a modern agency, 201.
CHAPTER IX
Retail Advertising ...... 220-244
Definition of retail advertising, 220. Pay and work of the retail advertising manager, 221. Amount spent in advertising by leading retailers, 222. Gillam and the W^anamaker style of advertising, 224. Beginning of the Wanamaker store advertising, 226. Difficulty of getting good illustrations, 228. Wanamaker and the fakir, 229. The Wanamaker style older than the Wanamaker store, 230. Different styles in different cities, 232. Principal shopping days of the week, 232. Daily routine of the advertising manager, 235. Error
^ in price made by the paper, 236. Window-dressing,
XU CONTENTS
PAGES
238. The retail clothing advertisins; of Rogers, Peet & Company, 239. Fictitious business firm names, 240. A uniform style of advertising, 241. Retail advertising depends upon direct results, 241. Local retail adver- tising varies in different citieS; 242. The work of a retail advertising syndicate, 243. Local monopolies which can and do use retail advertising, 244.
CHAPTER X
Maii.-Order Advertising ..... 245-260 Definition and growth of mail-order advertising, 245. Three-fourths of the United States population live in the country, 246. Great mail-order houses, 247. History of Sears, Roebuck & Company, 247. Stimu- lus of rural free delivery, 248. Statistics of rural free delivery, 249. Mail-order papers, 250. Direct results, 252. Kind of copy required, 253. Catalogue houses, 254. Follow-up matter, 255. Pulling power of various advertisements, 250. Letter brokerage, 257. Fraud orders, 258. Correspondence schools, 259.
CHAPTER XI
The Mathematics of Advertising . . . 261-305
Exact results required by the modern advertiser, 261. Inducements offered to bring replies, 262. Booklets sent in return for names of dealers, 263. Keying ads, 264. The corner coupon, 206. The cost of replies, 268. Testing general advertising, 270. The before-taking and after-taking idea, 271. Psychology of the Sunny ■^ Jim impression, 273. Power of a large appropriation, -1 275. Establishing a catch-phrase, 276. Psychology of advertising by Professor Scott, 278. Psychology a guide for the adverti.ser, 280. Advertising that appeals to the sense of taste, 282. Mental habits and adver- tising, 283. Advertising statistics not sufficiently com- plete, 285. Reaching the rich, 280. The silent major-
CONTENTS xiii
PAGES
ity, 289. General publicity and direct advertising, 290. Classifying the readers of a publication, 291. The Northwestern Agriculturist investigation, 292. Balcing- powder investigation, 293. Toilet-soap investigation, 294. Breakfast foods and watches, 295. The investi- gation of the Butterick Trio, 296. Results from the one item of hosiery, 297. The lessons to be learned, 299. The growth of food advertising, 302. Vital statistics and their relation to advertising, 304.
CHAPTER XII
Styles of Advertising ..... 306-332
What kind of copy to use, 306. Stupid imitation, 307. Good type styles, 309. Designed type style, 311. The mail-order style, 313. Line drawing and good printing, 315. Using a face for a trade-mark, 317. The jingle in advertising, 320. Spotless Town, 324. Good and bad verse advertising, 326. The Sunny Jim verses, 327. Jingles as collateral advertising, 328. Phoebe Snow and the Road of Anthracite, 330.
CHAPTER XIII
Some Mechanical Details ..... 333-353 The agate line, 333. Width of newspaper columns, 334. Magazine sizes, 335. Original half-tones and electro- types, 336. Photography and models, 337. The half- tone cut, 338. Making designs for reduction, 340. Wood engraving and lithography, 341. Distributing • newspaper advertising plates, 342. A knowledge of type bodies not necessary to an advertiser, 344. Types used in advertising, 345. Sizes of type, 346. Electro- typing, 347. Display, 348. Obsolete terms, 349. Dum- mies for booklets and catalogues, 350. Printed matter 351. Novelties, 352. Rate-cards, 353.
Index ......... 355
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
A Clothing Cut Made Only Twelve Years Ago ... 42
An Example of Early Clothing Designing ... 44
The Business Triangle ....... 45
Modern Designing as Applied to Clothing Advertising . 4G
Mailing Card ........ 50
Map Showing Relative Density of Circulation Over the
Entire United States ...... 65
Map Showing the Number of Inhabitants to Each Weekly
Publication ........ 67
Map Showing that Ten States Possess 81.08 Per Cent of
the Combined Circulation of all Publications . 68 Map Showing the Number of Inhabitants to Each Daily
Publication ........ 70
A Double Street-Car Card 92
A Single Street-Car Card 93
Diagram Showing Sizes and Arrangement of Posters from
a 1-Sheet to a 24-Sheet 95
A Painted Wall 97
A Painted Sign or Bulletin 99
The First Advertisement of the American Woolen Com- pany . . . . . . .117
A Typical Advertisement of Seymour Eaton . . . 141
A "Powers" Magazine Advertisement .... 145
The Silhouette Effectively Used in Newspaper Advertising 198
A Modern Clothing Advertisement ....
Photograph from Still Life Used in a Magazine Adver- tisement .......
Atmosphere in a Magazine Half-page Advertisement Character as Shown by Photography Catchy Style for Trade-Paper Advertising
205
210 211 217 218
xvi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
The Philadelphia Style of Department-Store Advertising 223
The Chicago Style of Department-Store Advertising .
The New York Style of Department-Store Advertising
The Boston Style of Department-Store Advertising .
The Rogers, Peet Style
A High-Class Mail-Order Advertisement .
A Typical Mail-Order Advertisement
An Inducement to Write is Offered
An L'nusual Name is Given to the Booklet. No Key
An Advertisement in Which a Book of Recipes is Offered
Forms of Coupons ......
Forms of Coupons ......
A Page Magazine Advertisement Showing Coupon At- tached ........
The Original Form of the "Sunny Jim" Advertising
Style Adopted the Second Year ....
Style Used the Third Year
A Magazine .\dverti.sement in wliicii the Booklet is the Sub- ject of the Advertisement ....
An Advertisement in Type Only ....
An Example of the Narrative Style of Copy
An Example of Simple Type Style and Very Convincing Copy ........
A Magazine Advertisement Consisting of Reasons and Type
Another Example of the "Powers" Style
Type Style Invented by an Advertiser
An Effectual Mail-Order Advertisement .
A Magazine Advertisement Used for Years Without Change . • .
The First Step from a Typo Style is the Use of a Border
A Style of Designing Especially Adapted to Newspapers and Poorly Printed Magazines
Magazine Advertisement Showing Good Printing Qualities
A Modem Magazine Advertisement
Clean, Open Cut Which Cannot Fill Up and Blot .
An Early Example of Corset Advertising
Advcrti.semont Identified by the Portrait of the Advertiser
A Modem C'orset Advertisement ....
Jingles and Silhouettes U.sed for Distril)ution in Packages
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xvii
PAGE
One of the Lackawanna Street-Car Cards . . .331
Photography from a Model Used as an Effective Booklet
Cover ....••••• 33^ Diagram Showing the Screen in Half-Tone Work . 337 Diagram Illustrating Reduction in Photographs and Draw- ings ....■•••• 340 Strong Display for Newspaper Advertisements . . 341
MODERN ADVERTISING
CHAPTER I
A DEFINITION OF ADVERTISING
This book treats of advertising in its modern sense. By advertising is meant that commercial force, which, within a few years and in this country, has become a most powerful factor in the development of many of the largest and most profitable industries.
No definition of advertising is here possible ex- cept as this entire book may be accepted as a defini- tion. So rapidly has advertising advanced through its various changes that even the latest dictionaries and encyclopedias are out of date in their attempts to define it. The advertising of yesterday is not the advertising of to-day. Men not very old have wit- nessed the entire development of modern advertising from being an untrustworthy instrument of quacks and charlatans to its place as an engine in the conduct and expansion of business. According to various esti- mates the amount of money spent to-day in America for advertising ranges from six hundred to one thou- sand million dollars a year.
Advertising in the dictionary sense of the word has a history as old as that of the human race. Just
2 MODERN ADVERTISING
as soon as there were more than two peoj)k^ in the world some sort of formal annonncement had to be made bv one to the other. The early history of such announcements, — from the first use of the human voice to the beginning of pictorial and lettered in- scriptions, from posters to the discovery of printing, and from the advent of printing to the beginning of real advertising, — is of interest only to the archeolo- gist. It is of no value to the business man. It would be of less assistance to the understanding and appre- ciation of modern advertising than the legal tender used by the ancient Phenicians would be to compre- hending the principles of modern finance. Real ad- vertising began when methods of printing had l)een so perfected as to make it possible to multiply almost indefinitely the number of copies of a periodical which might be circulated.
This nation has reached a point where only a small fraction of the people are unable to read. The American peo])le are quick to learn and to use wliat they learn. Their mental activity demands a large supply of periodical literature. That demand has been supplied by over twenty thousand periodicals, some of them with circulations of from five hundred thousand to a million. These are the reasons why advertising has found its greatest and most rapid de- velopment in the United States, and why other coun- tries may be practically ignored in a book of this kind.
Xapoleon, following Barere, contemptuously called England a nation of shopkeepers. England keeps shop as well as the United States. The reason why she can not keep shop as efi^ectively as we is largely because she can not '' talk shop " as well. The same
A DEFINITION OF ADVERTISING 3
JSTapolc-on who sneered at England's commercialism said that four hostile newspapers were more to be dreaded than a thonsand bayonets. Here is the real reason for onr commercial supremacy. Napoleon sneered at shopkeeping bnt bowed to the power of the press. America has forged from her press a power which has helped to make her shopkeeping the most wonderful in the world. The shop and_ the newspaper .joined forces_jtnd the result is modern adv^dsing.
Napoleon himself is the fairest prototype of the adyertising man. His work and his methods were different, but the elemental qualities are the same. With the passing away of Napoleon, passed from the modern world the opportunities for such work as his. Other fields were left, however, for the man like him with genius for organization, knowledge of human nature, capacity for tireless study of causes and ef- fects, of conditions and remedies. Such men have gone into business, and with their adyent business has been elevated to a field of endeavor greater in its rewards than any other offered by the world to-day. Such men found business commonplace and petty, but made it a profession; they introduced into it the ability and methods that formerly had changed the world's maps, founded dynasties, and created polit- ical parties.
The story of a Peter the Hermit, or a Savonarola, fiercely and earnestly impressing a crowd with his convictions, is thrilling. The Peters and Savonarolas of to-day are teaching, the nation to think differently and act differently. Advertising has come to mean not merely the printed announcement of the merits
mi:
ADVERTISING
of an article or an institution, but that high and un usual power of impressing a great number of peoph Avith a given idea.
The technical knowledge possessed by the suf cessful advertising man is important and is made up of many things. That knowledge in itself is not ad vertising, but the tools of the trade. It lias no more to do with making the successful advertiser than knowledge of tactics, entrenchments and the manual of arms makes the successful general, or than famil- iarity with judicial procedure makes the successful lawyer. Advertising is that subtle, indefinable, but powerful force whereby the advertiser creates a de mand for a given article in the minds of a great many people or arouses the demand that is alroa<ly there in latent form.
The fact that many successful advertisers do not know, or do not appreciate, these things, means noth- ing. Advertising has been successful far beyond the expectations, certainly beyond the knowledge, of many who produced it. There are many working elec- tricians who, while familiar with all tlie practical re- quirements of their work, are ignorant of the actual nature of electricity. So with the advertiser. Neither the man who creates advertising space by building up a medium, nor the man who has made a world-wide market for his product by using such mediums, has appreciated the real nature of the force employed.
Here enters the advertising exp^ert, the man who studies the causes for these great successes with the idea of applying them to other articles and other mar- kets. It_is^ f or him to eliminate as iar_as_possible_tlie uncertainty, the waste^he non-essentials; to change
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A DEFINITION OF ADVERTISING
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advertising from an art_tojLi£ience:^or at least, to a-p?5&i5in^^^^^b7^ the ambition and energy of trained niinds. . ,
There was a time when tlie profession of an ad_ vertising nmn ranked Imt little higher than that of a fakir or a charlatan, just as there was a time when nearly all advertising was more or less untrustworthy Beginning, as it did, with the exploitation of patent remedies, and earried, as it was, by tremendous sue- ss into the exploitation of remedies that were worthless, the possil.ilities of the use of printers ink g°ew faster than the realization of the commereial
"'"Tire'fi'rr::- the ground were soldiers of fortune, adventurous men who soon overran the country with patent-medicine advertising of every sort, to sue an extent, and with such disproportionate results, that, to-day, the advertising of proprietary remedies does not stand on the same high plane as the advertising of eomincivial arthdes and, possibly, never will, iho advertising of manufactured articles-the real bone and sinew of commerce-is to-day the great field in which the best energy and best ability are being used. Young men of the sort who do things, who, in any other emintrv, would fill places in the chureh, or state, in diplomacy or the army, and who in any other age would be makers of history, are the ones who to-day are building up the circulation of publica ions con- verting them into assets of great value, and who aie making the names and trade-marks of articles adver- tised vastly valuable. , \s men with better training and higher mental pow'ers became identified with it and as advertising
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4 MODERN ADVERTISING
of an article or an institution, l)ut that liigli and un- iisnal power of impressing a great number of people with a given idea.
The technical knowledge possessed by the suc- cessful advertising man is important and is made up of many thing's. That knowledge in itself is not ad- vertising, but the tools of the trade. It has no more to do with making the successful advertiser than knowledge of tactics, entrenchments and the manual of arms makes the successful general, or than famil- iarity with judicial procedure makes the successful lawyer. Advertising is that subtle, indefinable, but powerful force whereby the advertiser creates a de- mand for a given article in the minds of a great many people or arouses the demand that is already there in latent form.
The fact that many successful advertisers do not know, or do not appreciate, these things, means noth- ing. Advertising has been successful far beyond the expectations, certainly beyond the knowledge, of many who produced it. There are many working elec- tricians who, while familiar with all the practical re- quirements of their work, are ignorant of the actual nature of electricity. So with the advertiser. Neither the man who creates advertising space by building up a medium, nor the man wdio has made a world-wide market for his product by using such mediums, has appreciated the real nature of the force employed.
Here enters the advertising expert, the man who studies the causes for these great successes with the idea of applying them to other articles and other mar- kets. It is for him to eliminate as far as possibl^e_the uncertainty, tlie waste, the non-essentials; to change
A DEFINITION OF ADVERTISING 5
advertising from an art to a science- — or, at least, to a professioii worthy of the ambition and energy of trained minds.
There was a time when the profession of an ad- A^ertising man ranked but little higher than that of a fakir or a charlatan, just as there was a time when nearly all advertising was more or less untrustworthy. Beginning, as it did, with the exploitation of patent remedies, and carried, as it was, by tremendous suc- cess into the exploitation of remedies that were worthless, the possibilities of the use of printers' ink grew faster than the realization of the commercial value of its use.
The first on the ground were soldiers of fortune, adventurous men who soon overran the country with patent-medicine advertising of every sort, to such an extent, and with such disproportionate results, that, to-day, the advertising of proprietary remedies does not stand on the same high plane as the advertising of commercial articles and, possibly, never will. The advertising of manufactured articles — the real bone and sinew of commerce — is to-day the great field in which the best energy and best ability are being used. Young men of the sort who do things, who, in any other country, would fill places in the cliurch, or state, in diplomacy or the army, and who in any other age would be makers of history, are the ones who to-day are building up the circulation of publications con- verting them into assets of great value, and who are making the names and trade-marks of articles adver- tised vastly valuable.
As men with better training and higher mental powers became identified with it and as advertising
6 MODERN ADVERTISING
itself, under tlioir handling, developed greater possi- bilities, the profession of an advertising man steadily rose until now it aspires to rank with that of the three " black graces " — law, medicine and divinity. Some day the advertising man, in all that that term implies, expects to be recognized as a member in one of the professions.
Advertising is a force whereby a keen-eyed man, controlling a desirable output from a great factory, secures for it the widest possible market by utilizing every form of pul)licity, and every method of making an impression upon the public; who watches its sales on the one hand and its publicity on the other; who, like a train-d(^spatcher in his watch-tower, keeps a con- stant and thoughtful hand on the pulse of the market, knows exactly what his advertising is accomplishing and what it is failing to accomplish, knows where to strengthen it and where to weaken it; who, consider- ing the entire country as a Avhole, adapts his adver- tising to each locality, pushes liis products where such products may be sold, and leaves uncultivated the places where no possible market may be made. He knows something of salesmanship, something of the law of supply and demand, a great deal of human na- ture and the best methods of appealing to it; has a vivid, instinctive sense of the power of repeated im- pression; knows something of the force of striking display, whether expressed in color on outdoor post- ers and street-car cards, or in black and white and in type in magazines and newspapers, and uses these as a means to liis end.
Such a man, realizing that there are in this coun- try so many mouths to be fed, so many hands and
A DEFINITION OF ADVERTISING 7
faces to be washed, so many bodies to be clothed, so many feet to be shod, makes a breakfast food, a soaj), a brand of clothing or a shoe, and then launches out boldly, remembering that just as long as people con- tinue to be born and grow up there will be more mouths, more hands, more faces, more bodies and more feet; and until the sum of human wants be changed, there will be the same steady demands and needs. He then proceeds to find means for making his article in every home and every mind a synonym for something which will supply one of these wants. He realizes to its fullest extent what a mighty engine is advertising. Advertising modifies the course of a people's daily thoughts, gives them new words and phrases, new ideas, new fashions, new prejudices and new customs. In the same way it obliterates old sets of words and phrases, fashions and customs.
Twenty years ago no one ate a breakfast food other than crude oatmeal which the grocer sold from a barrel. To-day, breakfast foods identified by name and package, clean and nourishing, have become as staple as milk or bread. Five years ago no one thought of asking for a cracker or soda-biscuit by name. To-day, one company has made its products household words.
It may be doubted if any other one force, the public-school system, the church and the daily press excepted, is acquiring so great an influence as adver- tising. To it we largely owe the prevalence of good roads, rubber tires, open plumbing, sanitary under- wear, water filters, hygienic waters, biscuit wrapped In moisture-proof packages, and breakfast foods at low prices, well prepared. These are only a few of
8 MODERN ADVERTISING
tlie things which the ]nil)Hc' has been taught to use, to believe in and to demand.
The people who buy these things do not write to the advertisers, who are practically unknown to them. They are the customers of hundreds of thousands of retail stores all over the country; — people who come and ask for the articles they have seen advertised and who continue to buy them. They buy, believe and think the things that the advertiser wants them to buy, believe and think. The man who can so plan his advertising work as to bring about these results exercises professional ability of a high order.
By trade-marking a number of necessary articles, such as foods, wearing ajjparel and soaps, and making them so well known that they become staple, the methods of commerce have been simplified beyond belief. Every man engaged in buying and selling such goods is now able to perform the same transac- tion in less time than formerly. Take, for instance, the soda-biscuit. Formerly it was supplied loose, in bulk from a baiTcl, from which the grocer weighed out the necessary quantity. The method was un- cleanly and unsanitary, and crispness was lost. It re- quired an unnecessary number of handlings which took time and were distasteful. The name, soda-bis- cuit, meant several kinds of biscuit in bulk; the cus- tomer seldom knew them apart; the most intelligent thing she could do was to point them out.
To-day, the same housewife is familiar with the name of a biscuit in a package, wrapped first in a sani- tary, waxed, air- and moisture-proof wrapper, then in a compact, handy carton, and finally in a decorative wrapper. This package would now be recognized by
A DEFINITION OF ADVERTISING 9
a large percentage of the population of the United States at a glance. The housewife simply gives to the grocer the name of that particular biscuit; and the grocer takes down the package. The price is no higher than was paid formerly for biscuit in bulk. The package will keep indefinitely and a small part of the grocer's time only has been occupied in wait- ing upon his customer. The grocer, when sending his order to the jobber or giving it to the " drummer," asks for so many cases of this cracker and nothing more need be said. Thus the work of selling is sim- pliiied. Here we see only one of the commercial changes wrought by advertising.
The same house which manufactures soda-biscuit has been able, by advertising, tremendously to in- crease its output. This increase of output has cut down the cost of manufacture. The maker is able to supply more and better goods for the same money, the goods have a wider circulation, are better known and a higher standard is kept. The maker can not afford to allow his product to deteriorate in any way; it has become known for its excellence through the advertising, and it must live up to that excellence. Advertising implies a contract between the maker and the public always to deliver the same goods under that same name. The name has become the greatest asset. It may represent millions in publicity — pub- licity that has been obtained through advertising alone. Only the initiated can realize the amount of work that such a plan, successfully carried out, en- tails.
The means through which such knowledge reaches the public represents nearly every form of advertis-
10 MODERN ADVERTISING
ing. It represents advertisinc; in newspapers aiul magazines; announcements in the trade papers which are read by the grocer and other dealers; posters upon housetops, near the sites of great railroads, upon hoardings around buildings in the process of construc- tion, upon the stands of elevated and other railway- stations; electric signs on the tops of tall buildings; names on sails of coasting and fishing vessels; printed matter of every kind sent to the jobber, to his sales- man, to the grocer and to the consumer; costly litho- gra])hs inserted between the pages of magazines, the circulation of each of which may be a half million; designing a package so individual and characteristic that it will be recognized at a glance and will form an advertisement as it stands; the coining of a name that is unique without being grotesque, and so euphonious that it may be learned easily and will become a part of the familiar vocabulary of the people.
In addition to these things, advertising requires an army of men to carry out the plans. Every part of the work must be mapped out. The salesmen who sell the product are only one contingent. The chain of jobbers who supj^ly retail grocers everywhere are part of the plan. The grocer must be supplied, not only with goods to put upon his shelf, but with attrac- tive counter slips, " hangers," window-cards, " cut- outs," posters and other forms of lithographed matter, which will appeal to the eye and make an impression upon the minds of buyers. All this matter must be prepared, packed and sent out so as to reach the grocer at the appointed time. Then there is the work of j)rej)aring designs for magazines and newspapers, lithographs for posters and street-car cards, and get-
A DEFINITION OF ADVERTISING H
ting tliem to their proper destination and displayed in the proper way. The entire machinery must be kept in motion year after year.
This is the nearest one can come to a definition of modern advertising. It is as hard to obtain an idea of what advertising really is from a description of the machinery by which it is accomplished, as it is to ob- tain one of the nature of electricity by a visit to a poAvcr-honse. Thinking men have begun to recog- nize it as a great force, which depends much on con- stant repetition and on habits of thought. Constant repetition of one idea before a certain number of peo- ple will at last impress that idea upon those people's minds. People who get into the habit of buying a certain thing are apt to continue the habit. If a cer- tain set of people may be persuaded to buy a given article at a given price, another set of people may be induced to do the same thing. If people have been persuaded to buy such an article and find their expec- tations fulfilled, and it is an article which they are in the habit of needing constantly, they are apt to go on purchasing the article indefinitely. It is upon this habit that the ultimate profits of publicity mainly depend.
]^o estimate of the future of advertising perhaps would be excessive. No modern field of industry shows larger possibilities of development. The work of the present day, skilful and intelligent as it is, is a beginning. Despite the number of experts at work, advertising to-day is by no means as thorough and effective as it should be. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent annually. Many of these millions are spent wastefully.
12 MODERN ADVERTISING
Advertising is at present an art; it has not yet reached its place as an exact science. There are many men who know how to play skilfully upon the preju- dices, tastes, likes and habits of a nation; but there is not yet a man who can tell definitely how much publicity any given dollar will buy. Possibly there never will be such a man. Still, advertising is daily approaching a state of greater exactness. The best advertisers have their advertising campaigns so well in hand that they are almost sure to produce certain results. To obtain this experience and knowledge they have spent fortunes in money and years in ex- perience.
An indirect effect of modern advertising is the increasing interest taken in it by the public. Adver- tising becomes more and more effective just as more and more pco})le become interested in it, — in the ad- vertising itself, that is, as well as in the articles ad- vertised. This awakened state of mind, which is making it botli harder and easier to succeed to-day, is shown in the increasing circulation of trade papers devoted to advertising, in the eagerness with which articles on advertising in popular publications are read, in the appearance of a greater number of books about advertising, and in the rapid multiplication of correspondence schools devoted wholly or in part to advertising.
CHAPTER II
A BRIEF HISTOKY OF ADVERTISING
It would be more interesting than profitable to the purpose of this book to give a history of adver- tising. The entire narrative from the first spoken announcement down to within the last fifty years, or even later, would be of no value to the advertising man of to-day. Advertising, as we understand it, is a development of the past half century, and advertis- ing in that sense is the subject for discussion in this book.
Somewhere about the middle of the century, as newspapers began to multiply, several far-sighted men began to appreciate the immense selling power that lay in printed advertising in the newspapers. These men were in most cases makers of patent med- icines. The beginning of modern advertising is in fact synonymous with the beginning of patent-medi- cine advertising. The reason for this was that pro- prietary remedies and articles of that kind required advertising, or were supposed to require it, more fully than other articles of trade. With a proprietary remedy advertising was everything, while other goods, such as foods and clothing, could be sold with- out it.
Great success in advertising was achieved by the manufacturers of these proprietary remedies. After
14 MODERN ADVERTISING
the close of the civil war, wlioii such articles began to be piislietl, a nimibcr of them became household words. Every one will recall llostetter's Bitters, Jayne's Expectorant, Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrnp and St. Jacob's Oil. Some of these articles are still sold, bnt they are not to-day jirominent in adver- tising.
The advertising was not done as intelligently then as it is now. It was easier to make a success by means of ordinarily good advertising. Many of these early advertisers were, however, thorough, brave and pa- tient, and got results which are envied to-day. It is said that up to the time of the civil war the largest single advertisement ever given to a newspaper by any one house came from E. & T. Fairbank Com- pany, and advertised platform scales. It appeared in the New York Tribune and cost $3,000. That was a tremendous amount of money for advertising in those days. Eastman's Business College was another early advertiser. It was the first business college to use the newspapers. It is said of a then famous tea and coffee importer that he built up in 1870 by ad- vertising a coffee business which amounted to 200,- 000 pounds a day.
The pioneer advertiser had to do his work largely without the help that is furnished to-da)'. There were a few agencies, of which the oldest and best known was that of George P. Rowell & Co. It was the first to secure rate cards from newspapers, and complete lists of papers for covering a given terri- tory, the fii'st to estimate the cost of space, and to render the service which is given to-day by the most ordinary agencies. All the modem equipment for
A BRIEF HISTORY OF ADVERTISING 15
conducting a large advertising campaign was then wanting. Advertising was much of a mystery. The commissions of the agent were large, perhaps as much as 50 per cent, of the cost of space.
Many interesting stories are told of those early days. One of the best known relates to Robert Bon- ner, publisher of the New York Ledger, which, after many vicissitudes, has now passed out of the control of the Bonner family. When James Gordon Ben- nett, the elder, was editor of the Herald, Mr. Bonner was struggling to build up his Ledger, and decided to try a little advertising. He wrote an announcement consisting of eight words, " Read Mrs. Southworth's !New Story in the Ledger," and sent it to the Herald marked for " one line." Mr. Bonner's handwriting was so bad that the words were read in the Herald office as '' one page." Accordingly the line was set up and repeated so as to occupy an entire page. Mr. Bonner was thunderstruck the next morning. He had not to his name money enough in the bank to pay the bill. He rushed excitedly over to the Herald office, but was too late to do any good.
In a short time the results of the page announce- ment began to be felt. Orders for the Ledger poured in until the entire edition was exhausted and another one was printed. The success of the Ledger was then established. Ever after that time Mr. Bonner was an ardent believer in advertising and a liberal purchaser of space.
There was published within a few years, in Fame,
a small advertising paper edited by Artemas Ward,
advertising manager of Sapolio, a contribution by
John Manning, giving his reminiscences of the ad-
3
16 MODERN ADVERTISING
vertising world of his dav, beginning a little before the war. Here are sonic passages from it :
" I remember Mv. V. B. Palmer only as calling at the Tribune office and getting the Tribune. In Mr. Palmer's time the business was, of course, very simple. In the ISTew York Business Directory of 1850 I find a card from Mr. V. B. Palmer, ' author- ized agent for receiving advertisements for all the leading newspapers of the country.' I find another card of George W. Pratt, advertising agent, who also solicits business, promising a faithful performance of all contracts made by him. In looking up the facts of Mr. Palmer's agency, I note that he seemed con- scious of the logical weakness of the agency element in the business, and aimed at the very first to secure and perfect a system that would monopolize the en- tire trade, if he could get the cooperation of pub- lishers. He opened offices in Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore. He saw that a multiplicity of agents in the same trade, and, moreover, in a calling which required but little capital with which to start, would soon involve very great competition, with the natural result of very small profits. This is all the legacy Mr. Palmer left of the business. Mr. Pettingill, who was a clerk and solicitor for Mr. Palmer, describes him as follows:
" ' He was a short, thick-set gentleman of good address, genial and pleasant in manner, and had a great command of language, full of wise saws and modem instances. He was a capital story-teller, '\\'ore gold spectacles and carried a gold-headed cane, and was a first-class canvasser. He had more self-posses- sion and assurance than any man I ever knew. He
A BRIEF HISTORY OF ADVERTISING 17
would conic to the office at 9 o'clock a. m.^ look over the daily papers for new advertisements, which I would cut out and make a list of for calling on. At 10 o'clock he would sally out, calling on the most important advertisers first. He would walk into the counting-room of merchants, calling for the principal and announce himself and hand his card with a pleas- ing address, and with as much assurance as if he were a customer who was about to purchase a large bill of goods. If he found the merchant busy, he would politely excuse himself and inquire when he could have the jDleasure of seeing him again, and, if possible, would make an appointment for that or the succeed- ing day. Shaking hands and tipping his hat grace- fully, he would leave, but he was always sure of meet- ing his appointments.
^' ' If he found the party he was calling on willing to listen, he would introduce me, and make a well- considered statement of the benefits of advertising in general, and to the party he was addressing in par- ticular. He would mention parties who had made fortunes by the use of judicious advertising. He would show how he (the merchant) could easily double his business and profits by a like course. He would point out the places where he should advertise, and how he should do it; he would generally enforce his words by some well-told stories, and get all parties into good humor and laughing heartily. He would end up by asking if he might be permitted to make out an estimate for the merchant's advertisement. He would say he would charge nothing for his esti- mate or setting up of his advertisement. The adver- tiser would be under no obligation to give him an
18 MODERN ADVERTISING
order if lie did not like it, etc. I carried a list of the towns where newspapers were printed, and I checked oif such towns as he wanted, and we recommended, and I would then go to the office and prepare the estimate. The next day, at the furthest, I would bring it to the advertiser, and we generally concluded a contract when we made out an estimate. This is a specimen of our daily efforts while Mr. Palmer re- mained in Boston.
" ' Mr. Palmer claimed to be the sole and exclu- sive agent of the papei-s he acted for, and he insisted that they should so state at the head of their editorial columns, which many of them did. As their agent he charged them for the postage-stamps used and the losses made by advertisers' failures and the non-col- lection of bills. This was deducted from the bills rendered by the papers. It sometimes caused hard feeling among the publishers, but he usually had his way. He would rarely pay any bill until he had col- lected from the advertiser.'
" I have given this sketch because it describes at length the desired attainments of the successful ad- vertising agent; and, as we are told that old avoIvcs train their young to accompany them in searching for prey, so we see at once under what an admirable tutor ^fr. Pettingill received his first lessons. The date of Mr. Palmer's death I don't find, but he became vio- lently insane, and Mr. Greeley hired a man to take care of him. Mr. W. W. Sliarpc, whom I remember as an errand-boy for Mr. Palmer, and who afterward acquired a small interest in the business, can not re- call the date of Mr. Palmer's death or the last events in his life; but "Mr. Pettingill's statement leaves no
A BRIEF HISTORY OF ADVERTISING 19
doubt but be was one of the ablest ineii that ever em- barked in the business.
" Without question the name of Mr. S. M. Pet- tingill is the most conspicuous, and by far the best and most favorably known, name that has been con- nected with the advertising agency business in the United States. Mr, Pettingill cultivated the virtues that lead to success. He neither drank alcoholic stimulants nor smoked cigars. In Reminiscences of the Advertising Business, he writes: ' Seeing Mr. (V. B.) Palmer's advertisement in the Boston Atlas for a clerk and general canvasser, I applied and se- cured the situation.' The duties are described in de- tail and are printed in the preceding notice of Mr. Palmer. ' I worked for Mr. Palmer from January, 1848, to January, 1849. Near the end of the year I wrote him (Mr. Palmer) that I had received an offer of partnership from my brother in the Bridgeport (Conn.) Standard and job office, and that I believed it to be my interest to accept it. He (Mr. Palmer) wrote me two letters in reply, urging me to remain with him and agreeing to increase my salary from year to year, as I should make myself useful and valuable to him. After considering carefully the whole situation, I decided to leave, and did so at the end of my engagement.' Instead of going into part- nership at Bridgeport with his brother, we find him renting an office in Boston on the 8th day of Febru- ary, 1849. He seems to have liberally followed Mr. Palmer's methods and adopted even his forms and style in every instance.
"•After starting in business, he says: 'I sent a circular to the publishers of newspapers throughout
20 MODERN ADVERTISING
the country, stating what I proposed to do, asking for the agency of their papers in Boston and their rates for advertising, telling them that I should hold my- self responsible for all the orders I should send them, and that their bills would be paid promptly, whether I collected or not. I gave several good recommenda- tions and references. I received a large number of letters from publishers appointing me as their Boston agent, and in many instances printing a notice of my agency at the top of their editorial columns and send- ing their newspapers regularly to me. I then adver- tised in the principal newspapers that I had been ap- pointed the agent of the principal newspapers througliout the country, and was prepared to attend to those advertising in the best manner at the lowest rates, and solicited their business. When Mr. Palm- er found I had started a rival agency in Boston, he was very wroth and charged me with deceiving him about going into partnership with my brother, of availing myself of his forms and manner of doing business and using his list of newspapers.'
" Mr. Palmer, it seems, sent out a circular to the newspajDers reminding them of his exclusive author- ity as their authorized agent, that Mr. Pettingill was trespassing on his rights. For such in truth and law he was, certainly to all who formerly recognized Mr« Palmer as their authorized agent. Mr. Pettingill writes of Mr. Palmer's circular: ' This circular letter proved to be a good advertisement for me. The pub- lishers wrote me by the hundreds, giving me encour- agement, and appointing me their agent in Boston, and gave me many good notices in their editorial col- umns. Several published "Xfr. Palmer's circular and
A BRIEF HISTORY OF ADVERTISING 21
commented on it unfavorably, as an unwarranted at- tempt to prevent legitimate competition.'
" At the time here referred to, publishers had very crude notions of an advertising agency, and the publishers were then and are now very varv'ing in their advertising rates. Extensive advertisers are favored and are frequently furnished with lower prices than the most favored advertising agency. ' Soon after I began,' writes Mr. Pettingill, ' Mr. George W. Sim- mons, the celebrated clothing dealer of Oak Hall, Boston, put his advertising into my hands. I agreed to prepare and insert daily a reading notice in each of the ten or twelve daily papers in Boston, and no two should be alike. This was an easy task at first, but after several months it became a grind; for va- riety I fell into rhyme, and in some instances where the verses were more pretentious they were signed as coming from " Prof. Littlefellow," or " Prof. Shortfellow." The Boston Post published one of these screeds by mistake, or otherwise, as by Prof. Longfellow. This excited the ire of the famous poet of that name, and he had his attorney send Mr. Sim- mons a letter complaining of the use of his name, and he requested that Mr. Simmons should discontinue even the use of the name of Littlefellow or Short- fellow, it being distasteful to him, which Mr. Sim- mons agreed to do.'
"In 1852 Mr. Pettingill came to ISTew York and founded the honored firm of S. M. Pettingill & Co. He says, ' I was exceedingly pleased and gratified on receiving, soon after I began in New York, a written testimonial and indorsement, handsomely engrossed, signed by about thirty of the most prominent business
22 MODERN ADVERTISING
firms in Boston, for whom I had done advertising, ex- pressing their confidence in me as a man and their satisfaction as to the manner and results of the adver- tising that they liad done through my agency, and recommending me and my agency to the confidence and support of the merchants of New York.'
" The New York Business Directory of 1850 prints the name of a Mr. Pratt as an advertising agent. I find no trace of him as an advertising agent, but I find the name of a Mr. Pratt referred to as the publisher of the Merchant's Ledger, an advertising enterprise, Avhich was spoken of as started by an ex- merchant, who conceived the idea of making a paper that would interest country merchants, and derives all its interest from the fact that it was bought by Mr. Kobert Bonner in 1851. Mr. Bonner owned a small printing-oifice, in which he set up the type of the Ledger and of one or two other small papers. Mr. Pettingill states that he started a monthly publication in 1851, called Pettingill's Reporter, containing a list of the newspapers published in the United States and Canada, and that one number of it was published in Mr. Bonner's office. Mr. Pettingill states that Mr. Bonner was a printer on the New York Herald orig- inally, while a better authority states that he worked on the Hartford Courant, and as proof-reader on the Evening Mirror. It appears, too, that Mr. Bonner was ambitious as an inventor, and invented a printing- press which he thought would supersede IIoc's.
"'In the fall of 1854,' writes Mr. Pettingill, * Mr. Bonner came into the office with advertisements in type. It was an announcement that the Merchanl's Ledger would hereafter be changed to the New York
A BRIEF HISTORY OF ADVERTISING 23
Ledger, and be liereafter a literary family journal of high character, that Fanny Fern's new story would be contributed to the first number.' A good deal better informed writer states the facts as follows: ' Mr. Bon- ner, after an effort at inventing, did not like to lose the weekly job of setting the type of the Ledger, and bought it. Having secured the paper he scarcely knew what to do with it. He gradually dropped the mercantile features and substituted family reading. In 1853 he engaged Mrs. Sigourney to write for his paper, and she continued to be a contributor till the day of her death. Two years later, in 1855, he made arrangements with Fanny Fern to write for it, and advertised it at $100 a column.' Mr. Pettingill may be correct as to the amount paid, but as to dates and style of advertising he is in error, and it may be here well to state that Mr. Bonner did a good deal of his advertising direct, and in no instance has he ever been known to consult any advertising agency as to copy or style of display. Mr. Bonner was the founder of the sensational style of advertising in New York, although it was very old in England, and is ridiculed by Sheridan in The Critic. Mr. Bonner spent as high as $27,000 in one week advertising, I think, Edward Everett writing for the Ledger. Mr. Pettingill says: * I declined to attend to the advertising of any other party who imitated his style.' Throughout this crit- icism it is plain that Mr. Pettingill had some kind of a philosophy of life, for he concludes his reference to Mr. Bonner by saying that he is a remarkable in- stance of what a poor boy, in this country, by unaided efforts and with indomitable will, can accomplish, if he is guided by strict moral principles.
24 MODERN ADVERTISING
" The next new venture we find Mr. Pettingill engaged in was in imitating another scheme of Mr. Palmer's in the form of a New York City Business Directory of small cards with name and address. ' After opening my advertising agency,' he says, ' I roomed for a time at the Collamore House, Tammany Hotel, the present Sun Building, and Clinton Hotel, and spent my evenings writing at my office. Soon I became weary of having no home and became at- tracted by the preaching of Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, in Brooklyn. I often went to hear him, and at the renting of pews in January, 1853, I introduced myself to him as the son of Rev. Amos Pettingill, who was settled in the ministry at Litchfield, Conn., at the time his father was in another part of the same town. He received me very cordially, making many inquiries about my brother and sisters, saying he re- membered Parson Pettingill very well, that his father had often exchanged pulpits, that they were old friends and loved each other as David and Jona- than did of old. He inquired wdiat I was doing here and I told him, and said I would like to find a good boarding-place near his church.' Mr. Pettingill found what he wanted, and his next plan Avas for establish- ing an American agency in London which should rep- resent the American press, file newspapers from every State in the Union and Canada, furnish adver- tising and correspondence, attend to the wants and promote the interests of publishers, and make it the home of all Americans visiting abroad. ' I corre- sponded in regard to establishing such an institu- tion with, among others, Mr. P. T. Barnum, who was then in London, who approved of the plan and agreed
A BRIEF HISTORY OF ADVERTISING 25
to take the management of it if I would guarantee him a salary of $1,000 a year. I reluctantly aban- doned the enterprise.' We come again to a few of his observations — these happenings date to 1856.
" ' Mr. P. T. Barnum understands the true philos- ophy and art of advertising as well as any living man. His arrangements for the Jenny Lind concerts in this country were masterpieces of good management, tact and good sense, and showed his thorough knowl- edge of human nature. He is a very magnetic man, and you feel that you must grant everything he asks because of his fair and liberal dealing.'
" Previous to the war I find Mr. Pettingill writ- ing as though he alone conducted the business and constituted the firm. ' During the war,' he says, ' our agency had contracts for advertising from the Central Pacific Railroad Company.' In 1866, he writes again, ' I contracted for advertising in the lead- ing newspapers, etc' When he made a partnership with Mr. James H. Bates does not appear from his Reminiscences. In 1870 I find the firm name, in connection with Messrs. George P. Rowell & Co., endeavoring to secure the consent of publishers to recognize these two firms as their exclusive and sole agents in New York, and also asking that such evi- dence of authority be published at the head of edito- rial columns or other equally prominent space, as fol- lows: ' George P. Rowell & Co., 40 Park Row, K Y., S. M. Pettingill & Co., 37 Park Row, K Y., are the sole agents for (mention name of paper) in that city, and are authorized to contract for inserting advertise- ments for us at our lowest cash rates. Advertisers in that city are requested to leave their favors with
26 MODERN ADVERTISING
either of the above houses.' Any one who reads this request will notice its resemblance to Mr. Palmer's original idea. In adopting Mr. Palmer's printed forms without consent, and in the controversy grow- ing out of it, Mr. Pettiiigill's jilea was that ]\Ir. Palm- er's act was an ' unwarranted attempt to prevent legitimate competition. They (the publishers) as- serted that I had as good a right to conduct an adver- tising agency as he had.' Mr. Pettingill must have been twenty-five years old when he left the employ- ment of ]\Ir. Palmer.
" All the latter events of Mr. Pettingill's business life are familiar to the advertising public. Some of the large enterprises undertaken by the firm were well done, Mr. Bates being a gentleman of education, of wide reading, and a man fully capable of taking a large view of matters and methodizing and perfect- ing a business system for any line of commercial work. In criticizing Mr. Pettingill all of my facts and dates are from first sources, and I, moreover, feel sat- isfied that the Peminiscences were written when Mr. Pettingill wore rose-colored spectacles. Mr. Pettin- gill was as vain as a peacock, and easily flattered, en- tirely destitute of imagination, and had no real per- ception of the meaning of the Sermon on the Mount, and the writings and teachings of St. Paul were as much out of his reach as if they had never been trans- lated."
From these reminiscences it will be seen that in the early days of advertising agencies the magazine was of little consequence. To-day the magazine is the strongest medium we have, or at least is as strong and important as the newspapers. We read in the
A BRIEF HISTORY OF ADVERTISING 27
early days about advertising done in behalf of the Ledger, but nothing at all about the advertising done in it. Some of the magazines that were important in 1850 are still alive and important to-day and are now valuable advertising mediums. Again, there is the Saturday Evening Post, which has been published continuously for one hundred and seventy-six years, but in all its history it never became a serious adver- tising medium until bought by Mr. Curtis. The growth and development of the magazine are coinci- dent with a large part of the history of advertising during the last ten years.
Some of the early successes made by advertisers are interesting as the foundations of businesses that are to-day flourishing. Before the days of the tobacco and cigar trusts, the name of Pierre Lorillard was one of the best known in the tobacco field. The elder Lorillard was a snuff manufacturer, and his old mill is still an object of interest on the banks of the Bronx, in Bronx Park. He was a warm believer in advertis- ing, and advertising was kept up by his house until the various companies were absorbed by combina- tions. It is said that he built up a fortune of $20,- 000,000, a great estate for those days, by making and advertising tobacco and snuff. In 1868 this house had gross yearly sales of from four to five million dollars.
Some of the older commercial houses have been constant advertisers from the earliest day. Among these is Enoch Morgan's Sons, who manufacture Sapolio. This business was started thirty years ago, and for thirty years has been advertising continuously. At the start an appropriation of $30,000 per year
28 MODERN ADVERTISING
seemed large. To-day the same firm is spending $1,000 a day. It is interesting that the same adver- tising manager has been employed by this house con- tinuously throughout the entire thirty years, and that he is to-day one of the well-known advertising men. He is a director in the firm of Enoch Morgan's Sons, is the owner of Fame, an advertising newspaper, and is quite deeply interested in a number of other proj- ects, all of which are liberally advertised.
The Sapolio advertising has been responsible for a large number of innovations. The proverbs about it which used to appear in country newspapers and street-car cards were interesting novelties. This was probably the beginning of the introduction into ad- vertising matter of something more than a bare state- ment of facts about the goods. Later Sapolio was re- sponsible for the now famous Spotless Town series of verses which were probably the first successful ad- vertising jingles. These jingles had great popularity, which was partly because they had great publicity. They were quoted everywhere. They have been used as the basis for political cartoons in newspapers. They were kept running persistently in street-car cards for years until all people able to read were familiar with them.
The success of the Spotless Town verses led to the inauguration of ideas of this kind which would take advantage of a national trait and peculiarity — the taking up of an idea and passing it on. Such col- lateral advertising is what most large advertisers now aim to secure. It is very valuable, but hard to ob- tain. It has been secured in many ways, and has resulted not only in jingles, but in catch phrases which
A BRIEF HISTORY OF ADVERTISING 29
have almost become parts of the langiiagc. For in- stance, a certain hook and eye was advertised by- means of clever jingles and the phrase, " See that Hump? " until " See that Hump? " came to have al- most the significance of some colloquial or slang phrase. A large manufacturer of amateur cameras used in all his advertising the catch phrase, ^' You press the button, and we do the rest," which became famous everywhere. Improvements in camera con- struction since then have limited the descriptive pow- ers of this phrase and curtailed its circulation.
Following these and other successes, for such they were, came the introduction of a single character figure or character figures in advertising, who ap- peared regularly and spoke about the advertised article. For instance, the manufacturers of a ginger- snap made it known by means of one or two clowns, figures of whom appeared in all the advertising. The same idea better carried out appeared in Sunny Jim. The manufacturer of a breakfast food purchased some doggerel from a young girl which described the transformation of a certain mythical Jim Dumps into Sunny Jim by eating the food in question. A girl chum of the writer drew a very grotesque cartoon showing Jim Dumps before and after taking the food. The advertising manager of the food company per- ceived in this the possibility of a series of such jingles, had the series written and widely circulated. The original set comprised thirteen jingles which ap- peared in 45,000 street-cars in America. The same illustrated jingles were used in newspapers until they had attained publicity in 12,500 papers. Posters and painted signs based upon the same idea were used
30 MODERN ADVERTISING
freely. The advertising was then carried into Eng- land and other countries. Undoubtedly no char- acter created by advertising is so widely known as Sunny Jim. He has become a large part of the lan- guage reminding us of noted characters in fiction and history^ He is perhaps better known in many homes than Wilkins Micawber, Sancho Panza or Henry VIII.
The tremendous power of persistent advertising to carry an idea of any kind into the minds of the people and stamp it there is amazing. Sunny Jim in many homes is the pet name for one of the children. It has been used as the basis of thousands of news- paper cartoons; very many plays have allusions to him and his transfonuation ; a noted chief justice of England pointed his charge from the bench by allu- sion to this same character, and a certain noted Lon- don divine preached a sermon from this text. To ac- complish this required in the space of about two years nearly a million dollars. These facts would not mean success, except that the food in question has outsold all its competitors.
The real history of modern advertising began with an appreciation on the part of great manufac- turers of advertising as the most inq)ortaiit selling force they could employ. This has been shown no- tably by the fact that the manufacturers of staples are rapidly taking to it.
Most of the goods bought in this country are sold through retail stores. The theory of the manu- facturer is to make his goods known to the public who purchase at these stores by means of a trade-mark or name, or both. The particular merits of his goods
A BRIEF HISTORY OF ADVERTISING 31
are fnlly described in the advertisements in maga- zines, newspapers and elsewhere, and in this way his goods will be selected as against others nnidentifiod on the shelves of the dealer. Here lies the greatest field for advertising. It is so great that its possibili- ties have hardly yet been touched. It has been sug- gested that great combinations of capital should do away with advertising as the}' are doing away with competition. Some of the largest users of advertis- ing space, however, are the combinations knowm as trusts.
Advertising has developed three distinct profes- sions. They are the advertising expert, the adver- tising manager and the advertising solicitor.
The expert is the professional man in his own office, who acts as adviser and generally as agent for clients. His relations to the man who has a product to sell by advertising are similar to those of a lawyer, doctor or architect to clients. He is an adviser and his experience in managing advertising campaigns is purchased by the would-be advertiser.
The advertising manager is an advertising expert employed exclusively by one house. Nearly all con- cerns whose annual expenditure amounts to $50,000 or over, are inclined to employ men to manage the advertising. In this case the advertising man acts in the capacity of advertising adviser. The only sense in which he can not act as the outside advertising man is in placing advertising, although in placing news- paper advertising, making contracts for billboards and street-car cards, he is able to act as well, or nearly as well, as the outside man.
Magazines and the better sort of newspapers re- 4
32 MODERN ADVERTISING
quire that an advertising agent shall be recognized, and as a rule decline to recognize a regular employee of the house. This makes it necessary for the busi- ness of a house which employs an advertising man to be placed through an agency. Many attempts are made by houses who give out a large amount of adver- tising to form agencies of their own and get all the commissions.
The third profession is that of the solicitor. He is the man who secures advertising for a publication. In a large sense he is a creator of business. He makes a study of commercial conditions. He discovers new business that can be advertised and outlines plans. He, of course, represents his publication, but at the same time he creates business for other publications. This work is also performed by the better class of ad- vertising agents, and in ideal conditions the solicitors of the leading publications and the managers of agen- cies of the class which develop advertising work in entire harmony.
CHAPTEK III
THE CHANNELS OF TRADE
General advertising and the methods by which goods are distribnted to the consumer are so closely interwoven that some description of the channels of trade seems necessary here. There are only two ways by which goods can be sold to the consumer, one through the retail stores, the other directly by the manufacturer, or some one representing him through correspondence, the goods being delivered by mail, express or freight. The latter method, as far as it relates to advertising, is known as mail-order business, and will be treated separately.
For goods whose ultimate destination is the retail store there is, between the manufacturer and the re- tailer, a chain of conmiission, wholesale and jobbing houses and a long line of traveling salesmen. In some lines the output of an entire factory is taken by one commission house, or perhaps by a group of them, these commission houses in turn dealing with the buyers for the jobbing and wholesale houses. The goods, thus assembled in the jobbing houses by buyers in various lines, are then carried in sample by travel- ing salesmen to the retail stores. There are about eleven different lines of business of sufficient impor- tance to be considered each as a branch of trade by itself. They are classified according as the goods are
34 MODERN ADVERTISING
distributed aiuong- retail stores iii the average town and are as follows:
Dry -goods, Hardware,
Groceries, Milliiiorv,
Clothing, Men's furnishings,
Boots and shoes, Stationery and books,
Drugs, Harness and carriages,
Jewehy.
Such a classification is, however, purely arbitrary, being neither scientific nor official. Articles of trade are thus divided as a matter of convenience. The public expects to buy certain things at dry-goods stores and certain others at drug-stores, although fre- quently there is no reason why they should be sold at the one store any more than at the other. The products of many widely different factories and mills are assembled in wholesale dry-goods houses because all these things are sold in a retail dry-goods store. Often a manufacturer may make articles adapted both to grocery and drug stores, and in this case his goods will be carried by grocery jobbers and by drug jobbers. There is no fixed custom as to the way in which goods are distributed among retail stores. It is purely a matter of custom and varies in diifcrent localities. In the great department stores these lines are being more and more broken up, and the eleven different lines may all be found assembled there under a single roof.
For several reasons the dry-goods store may be taken as an example of modern merchandising. To begin with, it is the largest of the eleven lines just mentioned — the lino in and for which the best adver- tising has been done, both wholesale and retail. The
THE CHANNELS OF TRADE 35
various things sold in dry -goods stores liave been ad- vertised by the manufacturer to the consumer, by the manufacturer to the retailer, and by the retailer to the consumer. The retailer buys his goods of drum- mers, representing wholesale houses. This wholesale stock is made up of foreign goods bought from im- porters, and domestic goods bought either direct from the manufacturer or from commission merchants. Some wholesale houses buy directly from the manu- facturer and take his entire output. Some also send buyers abroad to buy imported goods directly of the manufacturer or of foreign commission merchants.
The growth of department stores has made them a power in the buying field. Many now buy direct from both foreign and domestic sources, ignoring the importer, commission man and wholesaler. The fa- cilities offered for buying cheaply on a large scale for cash have raised up wholesale houses from many re- tail stores in the larger cities.
The retail dry-goods store buys goods in two ways — through its own department buyers, who go to the markets in this country and abroad, and from travel- ing salesmen representing importers, manufacturers, wholesalers or jobbers. Stores which are able regu- larly to send buyers even to the local metropolitan market are few. The greater number are limited to one visit to New York or Chicago a season by the proprietor, the remainder of the stock being bought from traveling men. The traveling man is to the dealer almost his only source of supply. The travel- ing man thus comes to own and control the trade of many retailers, and this trade he can transfer to an- other house should he enter into a new connection.
36 MODERN ADVERTISING
Modern advertising, however, is breaking down this relation. It is bringing the manufacturer closer to the dealer, thus making each independent of the traveling man. While this is decreasing the travel- ing man's ability to transfer a great volume of busi- ness from one house to another, it really adds a great deal to his selling power, for he is backed up by the additional selling power that advertising gives.
Another element which has grown up in the modern business world is the ownership of local stores by large manufacturing houses. A large manufac- turer, confining his ability to a single line of low- priced shoes, for instance, has established his own stores all over the United States, in which he sells nothing but his own men's shoes at $3.50. As these stores were multiplied the manufacturer extended his advertising to mediums circulating all over the coun- try, and giving not only the name of his shoe but his local stores. The plan was so successful when begun that competitors adopted it until now there are in every large city several shoe-stores, each owned by the manufacturer of the shoes sold in them, and which sell only those shoes. Sometimes manufac- turers practically furnish the capital for a retailer to start or remain in busin(>ss. This secures the retail- er's trade, and amounts to ownership by the manufac- turer.
In each of the retail industries there has been an interesting development in the past ten years, point- ing to the gradual transformation of that particular line of business under the influence of advertising. In every case advertising has had an inspiring and probably beneficial effect. Better goods are made
THE CHANNELS OF TRADE 37
to-daj than were made ten years ago, partly as a re- sult of the increasing prosperity of the country and, therefore, the increasing ability of the public to pay for better goods, but more especially as a result of advertising. Competition has been more open. The advertiser has realized that in order to have some- thing to say, he must make goods with qualities that can be talked about. Competition shows itself in the statement made in print, but the stories are worthless as advertising unless backed up by superior work in the factory.
As an instance of the way in which a new article may become an important part of the stock of a store, take so simple a thing as skirt binding. An intelli- gent clerk in a small AVestern store was impressed by the fact that he had just sold a strip of bias velveteen from the bolt to a customer who wished to trim the edge of her dress. He recalled that he had made a number of sales for this same purpose. It struck him that if there was that much demand for a skirt bind- ins: in one small town, there must be a considerable demand for it all over the country. Acting upon this idea he started a business of manufacturing skirt binding of bias velveteen and other materials suitable for the purpose. As the business grew, advertising became necessary. The advertising first took the form of direct statements to the trade through trade papers and of matter aiming to induce merchants to place the new skirt binding in stock. Later adverti- sing in women's publications and other magazines called the attention of dressmakers and of women who did their own dressmaking to a ready-made skirt bind- ing. In this way women were induced to ask for the
38 MODERN ADVERTISING
skirt biiuliug by name until that partienlar article became a staple in every dry-goods store in the Uni- ted States. The annual expenditure for advertising purposes has been considerably over $100,000.
The same method has been repeated with ditTer- ent braids for trimming, with corsets, with boning for stiffening waists, with different grades of muslin and other fabrics, with goods made up into suits and skirts, until perhaps one-half the stock of the average retail dry-goods store is known by name to the women who shop there, because each article has been adver- tised by the maker. Some of these articles have be- come standard. The name of the maker in connec- tion with the article gives it a value of its own. Other manufacturers may make an article equally good, but the acquaintance of the purchaser with its name and quality is lacking. The retail de- partment store is the most entcq^rising of modern ad- vertisers. Hence these well-known articles may ap- pear again by name in the retail advertising, thus strengthening the impression already created by the manufacturer through his general advertising.
Similar changes have been going on in other lines. Probably the second most interesting development is the transformation of the ready-made clothing busi- ness. The way in which a definite idea in clothing manufacture, aided by advertising, has finally domi- nated the entire industry makes an interesting story. Twelve years ago a leading wholesaler in the West was operating a chain of stores. He worked inde- pendently; that is, he was not controlled by any manufacturer and bonght in the open market from nearly all the leading manufacturers, and in the
THE CHANNELS OF TRADE 39
course of his business became acquainted with their methods. At that time clothing was made to fit men of average shape. When a customer whose figure was not normal came into the store the salesmen had to resort to many little tricks of the trade in order to induce the man to believe that he was being fitted.
Kealizing this situation, and finding it impossible to secure odd sizes from any manufacturer, the West- ern man came to the belief that there must be in the whole United States a large market for goods that would fit men who Avere short and fat, or tall and thin, or in any way different from the normal shape. He sold out his chain of retail stores and started a manufacturing plant in Chicago, designating his clothing by a trade-mark and name. He did not manufacture " regulars " at all, but tried to make a business of odd sizes. The idea took root at once, so that the man who made the first trip as a salesman in person to open the business, was able to start twenty-eight accounts in thirty-two days. Naturally his orders were smaller than they would have been if he had carried a full line, in the proportion of about one in ten, so that a retailer, whose stock or- dinarily amounted to about $10,000 a year, would give him an order for $1,000 worth of the odd sizes. The man started out with the idea that the propor- tion of irregular-sized men was comparatively small. In time, however, he discovered, much to his sur- prise, that about 50 per cent of the men who regu- larly buy ready-made clothing depart radically from the standard scale of sizes.
A number of causes prevented a large growth of his business at that time. The panic years followed
40 MODERN ADVERTISING
liis first success. The bottom dropped out of the mar- ket and there was a demand for cheap goods only. Another thins: worked against his plan. The retailer usually would not dispose of the odd-sized goods when the season was in full swing, but would hold them over indefinitely and would never lower the price. A higher price in proportion to the cost of the goods was charged than for regular goods, on the theory that if a man was hard to fit he ought to pay a better price for clothes that would fit. He ought also not to be particular as to whether his clothes were this year's cut or last year's. No matter how old the clothing got, it was never marked down in price. Then again, as the larger proportion of the stock was " regulars," the dealer naturally bent every energy to selling the " regulars " in preference to showing the special goods, because he regarded the latter as practically staple articles.
Large clothing men in department stores in the cities positively refuse to sell trade-marked clothing no matter from whom it comes, and no amount of pressure can be brought to bear on them to induce them to sell and to advertise any line of goods so marked, a possible exception being the Stetson hat. This feeling is spreading to the smaller towns, so that it is now effective even in towns of 100,000 inhab- itants. The large manufacturing clothiers who ad- vertise must therefore do 75 per cent of their busi- ness in towns of under 100,000 pojnilation.
In doing business in the small towns, competition is so keen that brewery methods have been adopted. Three or four loading manufacturers combine with large capital. AVherc they can not sell their goods
THE CHANNELS OF TRADE 41
by ordinary methods, tliey buy up the retailer, put capital into his business and control his store. When they do not do this, they make the retailer feel under an obligation to them by giving long credits. If the retailer has a bad year, or if he has his money tied up in some other venture, and finds it hard to meet his bill on the date specified, they carry him over one or even two seasons. The retailer therefore feels that the manufacturer is his friend, and buys all his goods of the combination.
The odd-size clothing idea did not attract the very serious attention of these big manufacturers during the first year, but its success at the end of that year was so pronounced that it practically forced the big men to make odd sizes also. They held off a long while because it w^as a radical step to take, and they felt that their business was on a smooth, easy basis, which they did not like to disturb.
The salesmen of the big houses, in calling on cus- tomers for the year's orders, would find that about one-tenth of the stock was the special manufacturer's odd sizes. Then they would bend all their energies to convincing the retailer that their own house made similar clothes. What, then, was the use of dividing the bill ? Why not let one house supply it all ? For various reasons this course was pretty genei-ally fol- lowed. As a consequence the original manufacturer's business fell off, but this does not mean that it was not successful, for he continued to sell a large amount of goods. His business, of course, did not grow to the proportions anticipated, but his idea has practically transformed the wholesale clothing business. Eeady- made clothing has been steadily approaching the
42
MODERN ADVERTISING
standard of the best tailors, and long ago distanced the work of many small tailors. Advertising has made this possible.
The wholesale clothing business has ontgrown one of the most terrible aspects of modern manufacturing — the sweatshop system. All ready-made clothing was once made under conditions which were both unsanitary and inhu- mane. The enlightened clothing manufacturers who were the first to realize the importance of popu- lar approval for their business, began both to advertise and to im- prove manufacturing conditions at the same time. To-day the clothing of a dozen leading manu- facturers, advertised in magazines that go into the best homes, is made under sanitary conditions, in factories that are models of convenience and cleanliness. As the conditions under which the clothing was made were bet- tered, the clothing itself was im]U'oved.
As ready-made clothing became better, tlie ad- vertising of it was increased. There is as much dif- ference in the clothing advertisement of to-day and what did duty for an advertisement a decade ago as there is between the clotliing itself now and then. The illustrations in those days were crude, stitf and wooden. The clothes had no style; the figure no life.
A CLOTHIXG CUT MADE ONLY TWELVE YEARS AGO.
THE CHANNELS OF TRADE
43
To-day artists have been paid as much as $250 for a single drawing to ilhistrate a clothing announcement, and the best writers of advertisements have been en- gaged. To this combination has been added every- thing that the engraver and printer can give. This is not only done for the magazine advertisements, but drawings are made and sujiplied to the retailer for the newspapers. Clothing trade papers contain fine and costly " inserts," and the style-books of many manufacturers of clothing have become examj^les of the best commercial designing and printing. If we compare an old clothing cut with the Leyendecker design (page 46), we may see one of the greatest strides that skill in advertising has made.
The direct object to be considered by the general advertiser is influence on the retailer. It depends upon the retailer's good-will whether the advertising done by the manufacturer shall bring the desired re- sults. In general figures the number of retail stores confined to each of the eleven industries in the United States is as follows:
Dry -goods 25,000
Groceries 85,000
Clothing 16,000
Boots and shoes 20,000
Drugs 40,000
Jewelry 15,000
Hardware 32,000
Millinery 10,000
Men's furnishings 20,000
Stationery and books. . . 10,000 Harness and carriages. . . 32,000
In connection with these figures, it should be borne in mind that there are al)out 170,000 general stores which sell some things in all lines. Many lines are eondjined in the department stores. Every line of goods here mentioned under the heading of a sep- arate retail business may be sold in one store. Again
44
MODERN ADVERTISING
many otherwise separate lines of goods are combined. Men's furnishing goods for exami)lc arc sold at retail clothing stores. Silverware is sold in jewelry stores. These figures are merely suggestive as giving some
idea of the immense dis- tributing machinery at the disposal of the adver- tiser intelligent enough to use it rightly. The work of modern adver- tising has developed these stores. An intelli- gent manufacturer sup- plies them with adver- tising matter which they can use in their own re- tail announcements in the local papers, or can send out in the form of printed matter to cus- tomers. This means an increase of good adver- tising in a small retail business and in small towns.
Modern advertising is el iminaTiiig the iniddle- iiuni. Tt is In'inging the manufacturer in closer contact with liis real custoiner. It has formed a trian- gle— the manufacturer, the dealer and the consumer — the three sides being mutually interdependent. Along the manufacturer-dealer side there used to be a string
AN EXAMPLE OF EARLY CLOTH- ING DESIGNING.
THE CHANNELS OF TRADE
45
of commission men, jobbers and drnnnners. Along tlie dealer-cnstomer side were mntnal acqnaintance and mntnal interest. Along the mannfactnrer-con- smner side there was formerly little or no connection. Before advertising had become the power it now is, the retailer owned the consnmer, the drnmmer owned
THE BUSINESS TRIANGLE.
the retailer, the jobber owned the drnmmer, the com- mission man owned the jobber, and the mannfactnrer took what he conld get. The only thing the mann- factnrer conld do was to sell to the commission man or jobber at the prices dictated. He had to mami-
MODERN DESIGNING AS APl'LIIiD TO CLOTHING AUVEHTISING.
THE CHANNELS OF TRADE 47
factnre to order wliat was wanted. lie had to com- pete in price and in other conditions with other manufacturers. He had no hokl upon trade anywhere except through the commission men, who were inde- pendent and bought where they pleased.
In those illogical days, dealer and customer were acquainted. The customer came to him and took his word. He knew nothing about the goods but what the dealer told him. The drummer traveled over a territory until he acquired a constituency of his own. To dealers the drummer was the house. They bought goods of him — not of the house he represented. Whenever a drummer felt that he was not getting enough pay, or quarreled with his house, or wanted a change, he transferred a large percentage of his trade to the house with which he made a new con- nection. The manufacturer sold his goods to a jol)- ber, or consigned them to a commission man. This was his market. He had no machinery for reaching the trade. He knew no retail dealers and no retail dealers knew him. His only way of selling goods was to use the machinery operated by the jobber. By the time his goods had gone through all these different changes they had lost their identity.
Now came a manufacturer realizing that these conditions were unfair and unsafe. He knew that the breaking of any link in the chain between his factory and the final market of his goods cut off his trade. He began to advertise to reach the consumer. He gave his goods a name which could be remem- bered, and a trade-mark which could be identified. His advertising bore fruit. The people came to know his goods and asked for them by name. The result
48 MODERN ADVERTISING
was that the retail dealer when he next gave his order to the drummer specified the advertised goods. Thus the nianufacturer established a direct line to the pub- IJCv -He brought to bear upon the aetual~consumer a pressure which reacted upon the dealer through the traveling man and the jobber, and finally reached the manufacturer's plant.
Just as soon as the manufacturer accomplished this, the commission man, the jobber and the travel- ing man became less and less necessary to him, until in some lines of business they have dropped out alto- gether. The nianufacturer cultivates the retail trade himself. He realizes that one, and sometimes two profits have come out of his goods before they get to the retailer. He realizes that he can spend his money in advertising, create a market for the goods, save one or two extra profits, and make more money. In addi- tion to this he is creating an important asset in the name and trade-mark of his goods — an asset vested in publicity which no competition, no trade combina- tion and no influence of drummer or retailer can take away from him.
No matter how clever or insinuating a salesman may be, how wide his acquaintance, or how persistent his efforts, he can not accomplish as much as adver- tising. A piece of printed matter — short, direct and to the point, worded in the right way, illustrated, printed and dressed up to catch the eye and hold the mind — can make a thousand calls while the drummer is making one. It can not do all the work of the drummer, but it can keep working away every week, week after week, for six months or a year, and pro- duce a greater impression than calls from the drum- mer.
THE CHANNELS OF TRADE 49
After the manufacturer has told his story in small items forced upon the attention of the trade until each retailer has been, against his will and without his knowledge, convinced of the merit of the goods and of the fact that the public wants them, three-fourths of the drummer's work is done. Here is a pertinent instance: A house which made Babbitt metal, hith- erto always sold by traveling men, was induced to try a " mail series." To make the test thorough, a State in which the house had had no previous trade was selected. To a list of prospective customers they sent printed matter, one circular a week for thirteen weeks. Then they sent a bright young man to travel over this territory. The results were phenomenal. Order after order was sent in, and finally a request was made for a year's contract at an advanced salary. The salesman got it. When he arrived at the home office he was the hero of the hour. He sat by the side of " the old man's " desk and explained how he did it. When the man who had put up the money for the " mail series " ventured to suggest that the circulars might have had something to do with the results, the drummer airily " turned down " the suggestion. He had sold the goods himself. The " mail series " had not been heard from.
The company, realizing that they had a treasure, gave the young man virgin territory in another State. Never a drummer and never a single piece of printed matter had previously gone to that State. The young man started out with flying colors. He " fell down " at the first stop. After trying six or seven towns, without getting even an audience with his customers, to say nothing of an order, he was called home. The
y ■<
A New Note in Piano Players
THAT'S what the Harmonist is. It is a new player, or rather, a set of players. It presents fresh ideas. It gives you new talking arguments. No matter how much your customers know about piano players, they will find the Har- monist has many distinct points of advantage which will appeal to them. The Harmonist sells easier and stays sold better than other players. The man who gets the agency won't want to give it up. The man who gets the agency will be a formidable competitor of yours. If you get the agency, you will be a for- midable competitor of other dealers. Something had better be done about these things right away.
ROTH & ENGELHARDT
Proprietore Peerlwe Piano Player Company
WINDSOR ARCADE FIFTH AVENUE
NEW YORK
rhe
JlivimoiS
MAILING CARD (ONE OP A SERIES).
THE CHANNELS OF TRADE 51
entire success of the druinmer in the first instance had been based on a careful cultivation of the terri- tory by the right sort of printed matter.
Advertising sells goods, not on the engaging quali- ties of the traveling man, but on the merits of the goods and the knowledge of those merits which have been lodged in the mind of the retailer. It is not the direct advertising of manufacturer to dealer alone that accomplishes this — it is still more the advertising of the manufacturer to the public, which backs up direct work upon the dealer. Printed matter in the form of circulars is one link in the chain of publicity, which unites the goods, the general advertising, the dealer and his customers.
Of the two classes of general advertiser, let us consider first the man whose product is in such uni- versal use that advertising everywhere helps him. Take, for instance, a breakfast food, which can scarcely be exploited any^vhere and not find mouths to consume it. Of course, an advertiser can pay too much per mouth even for a breakfast food, but within almost any limit wherever his advertising goes there must be a demand. But few manufacturers have such business. Many have an article which can be used only by a small percentage of people. What can such men do with general advertising? They can not use large space, and can not use many mediums. Every dollar they spend must buy a dollar's worth of pub- licity in some form.
A typical case is a man doing a good business, and whose goods are found in a number of stores, fairly well placed, but by no means universally in use. Such a man mieht be a manufacturer of wri-
52 MODERN ADVERTISING
ting-paper. Of eonrse, everybody uses writing-paper in some form. The census shows that only 5 per cent of the popidation are unable to write, but only a comparatively small part of the 95 per cent care what sort of paper they write on. The people to whom fine writing-papers appeal are few. The problem is so to select the medium that you shall reach a large number of people who are in the habit of using the finest papers, or who can be taught to do so. ]S!'aturally the mediums having the highest class of readers and the largest circulation would be se- lected. Such advertising would accomplish only cer- tain results, and even then a good deal Avould be wasted. In order to make it effective the most care- ful work must be done wuth the retail dealer.
Inquiries resulting from such advertising cost more per inquiry than in a larger expenditure. Therefore, each inquiry represents greater value to the advertiser, the expenditure must be made with greater care, and it must be more vigorously con- ducted to make it productive. Probably not more than 1 per cent of the population are interested in high-priced, exclusive styles of writing-paper — that is, about 750,000 people. How is one to reach these 750,000 i)eople with the least expense and how secure the greatest proportion of orders ?
The appropriation must be small, because the busi- ness will never justify a large one. By a large ap- propriation we mean such an amount of money as could be spent by the manufacturer of a food prod- uct— for instance, a packing-house. Next, the ad- vertisements must be small in size, or the number of mediums will become excessively limited. Third,
THE CHANNELS OF TRADE 53
every advertisement must liave in it a " hook " of some kind which will draw an inquiry. This inquiry must be cleverly angled for, as it is the basis of the whole method of work. Such advertising is clearly to be the work of fine strategy if it be successful.
The large advertiser overcomes the public by the force of numbers. His advertisements are so many and so big that they sweep everything before them. The small advertiser must be a skilful tac- tician. He must get results by the cleverness of his work.
The writing-paper man, whose carefully scattered advertisements bring in a certain number of inqui- ries, promptly proceeds to turn these inquiries into the greatest number of profitable accounts. He is not actually reaching the consumer. He does not expect to get direct orders from women who buy writing-paper. What he tries to get is an actual reply from some prospective user of writing-paper in a town where he knows there is a dealer who ought to sell his paper.
Such a dealer will belong to one of three classes : He may be one wdio already carries the advertiser's paper in stock, in which case the next step would bo easy. Mrs. Inquirer would be referred to Mr. Dealer. Mr. Dealer would be notified about Mrs. Inquirer, and everybody would be happy. But the dealer may be one who does not carry the paper. He, however, has been reached week by week by the printed circu- lars, but has not yet been brought to the point of placing an order and becoming a regular dealer in the advertiser's paper. An inquiry from some woman in his town, presumably known to him, is ex-
54 MODERN ADVERTISING
pected to be the one last argument necessary to wring from him his first order.
The third ehiss of dealer is the man who neither carries the papers in stock nor has had them called to his attention. This dealer will be found only in small towns because at least one dealer in every good-sized toAvn, of about 10,000 population, will have received full and ample information. This third dealer will now receive word that a woman in his town wants to buy the advertiser's paper, and that he had better carry it in stock. His name will be added to the mailing list, and hereafter he will get circulars. Thus the campaign goes on, coaxing replies from women, whose names are used to influence dealers. The advertising is direct only to the extent of getting these inquiries. Its real purpose is to influence the reluctant dealer. If the matter is placed before the dealer skilfully, his attention being called repeatedly to the advertisements in the magazines, and if these advertisements are showm to him in proof-sheet form, with a little estimate of the actual circulation they are getting, he will believe that the advertiser is doing a great deal more advertising than he really is. The dealer will then begin to help out the ad- vertising— first, by buying the paper, and next, by promoting its sale.
/"This advertiser then devises plans for making the dealer a larger dealer, thus increasing the output of his paper. He offers attractive advertisements all ready to place in the dealer's local papers, the dealer paying for the space. He sends printed matter to a selected list of customers whom the dealer knows, i^nd who will be especially influenced by the weight
THE CHANNELS OF TRADE 55
of a local dealer's name. lie sends window displays by which the papers can he shown in the most attrac- tive way, and if the town is large enongh, he sends street-car cards for the local trolley line. \
The general advertiser may not need to follow these plans. Any campaign, however, whether large or small, is better when aided by skilful, intelligent " follow-up matter " and definite, systematic work generally. The larger the campaign, the more profit- able it will be, but such plans are absolutely vital to a comparatively small advertiser. What is said in the circulars, what is said in the " form " letters to inquirers and dealers, and for that matter, what is said in the advertisements, will have everything to do with making the plan effective. It must be borne in mind that such things are not altogether new even to the most unprogressive dealer ; everything must be brought to his attention in a new way. There nmst be a certain freshness of effect, a new point of view. It is often easy to present an old and well-worn plan in so new a guise that it will have the effect of a brand-new idea.
Take Jim Dumps and Sunny Jim for an example. The psychological secret of the success of this particu- lar form of advertising harks back to the old " before and after " idea, which was an essential part of every patent-medicine advertisement fifteen or twenty years ago. The old, well-worn and hackneyed idea, dressed up in its new form, the transformation of Jim Dumps into Sunny Jim, struck the public with new force, and few of them reflected that the idea was one with which they had been familiar froni childhood.
56 MODERN ADVERTISING
It should not be forgotten that the initial pur- pose of nearly all general advertising is to establish desirable accounts. After dealers once carry the goods, general advertising aims to keep up the sale, but that is a later purpose. Most general advertising is directed to getting the goods into the stock of all desirable dealers. After you have sold a man a bill of goods and made him a regular customer, he will himself do a large part of the selling aftenvard. Of course, the advertising helps. If the goods are on a dealer's shelves they are apt to be shown to the cus- tomer, but it will simplify matters if the customer asks for them. ^That is why general advertising works both ways. It induces the dealer to sell the goods and it induces the customer to ask for them. It simplifies and shortens the whole buying and sell- ing process.")
There was once a corset company of considerable reputation that had been advertising for many years in the usual way. It bought space in all the accept- able publications and put therein the familiar corset girl. It did nothing else, and its business had the natural growth of any business in ordinarily good times. Its advertising may have added new accounts, but the probability is that it left things about as they were, the new accounts being brought in by the more enterprising traveling men.
A plan was presented to that company whereby its magazine advertising should be used to influence new accounts. The corset company insisted that there were no new accounts, that its corsets were al- ready handled by all of the dealers in the country. They said this without reservation. The total num-
THE CHANNELS OF TRADE 67
ber of actual accounts which the company then had was found to be about 7,500. A carefully made list showed that there were something like 17,000 retail stores in this country which sold corsets. These stores were dry-goods, department, notions and fancy-goods stores.
Many of these, of course, were undesirable, the business being too small and the credit too insecure. From that total a fairly good list of about 14,000 names was selected. These were checked oif with the regular list of the corset company, leaving a very good mailing list of 6,000 odd names — dealers to whom the corset company did not sell, and to whom it would like to sell.
The magazine advertising was freshened up. The conventional corset girl was abandoned and a new style of girl was introduced in the advertisements with remarks which would draw out an inquiry for a certain desirable booklet which w^as named and described in the advertisement. Meanwhile, two quick-acting " mail series " were started addressed to two separate lists, one the list of regular custom- ers, the other the list of non-customers which the company desired to secure.
The first circular congratulated the dealers on selling the corset, pointed out its new features, al- luded to the advertising, gave samples of the adver- tisements that would appear, harped quite diligently upon the circulation the advertising was getting, and suggested the propriety of immediate and frequent orders.
The other " mail series " was of the proselyting character. It aimed to lead the 6,000 dealers into a
58 MODERN ADVERTISING
corner, there to be taught the corset k'sson. It sup- plied them with corset facts and advertising facts. It made it clear to them that women were marching by the doors of their stores, seeking other stores for the purchase of that ])arti('ular corset. It produced statistics to show that there were very few women in this country who liad not seen the advertisement of this particular corset. Meanwhile inquiries were com- ing in with requests for the booklet. These replies Avere sifted and sorted and sent off to the nearest dealer wnth a " there-now,-wliat-did-I-tell-you ? " com- munication.
Such advertising is not to be measured by the agate line. There is only one sure standard, and that is results. Space is measured by the agate line, but advertising is measured by the amoimt of actual busi- ness brought in by it. The results in this case were that the number of active accounts was raised from 7,500 to 11,000; the factory was more than doubled in capacity, and the corset itself was more firmly en- trenched than ever in the favor of women, this not- withstanding that there were other corsets doing very good advertising at the same time.
This advertising was not a large campaign as com- pared with some others. Nor was it as small as the paper dealer's. It was simply the average, but may sen^e to prove that the magazine advertisements are oidy one of the forces which bring results.
No question is so frequently asked the advertising man as this: " Al)out how nnu-li money will it take to see this thing through, and find out wheth(ir there is anything in it or not?" This reminds one of the question whicli was asked of A])rah:ini Linrobi:
THE CHANNELS OF TRADE 59
"How long should a man's legs be^" Mr. Lincoln replied, " They ought to be long enough to reach from his hips to the ground." An advertising ap- propriation should be large enough to accomplish the results sought.
A common type of advertiser is the one who has only a little ready money. He wishes to start his advertising work in a very small way, making good as he goes along. He has no capital, but he is will- ing to put into the advertising all the money he makes. The man who aims to lift himself over the fence by his boot-straps is in the same class with this advertiser. It is true that there are two or three advertisers of national fame and large fortunes who began in practically this way. But they began at a time when advertising conditions were simple, and when an advertising success was more easily obtained. They belong to that brilliant class known as ex- ceptions. An advertising appropriation should be not merely large enough to provide for success, but large enough to provide for a failure at the begin- ning.
The thing to be done in the case of a compara- tively small appropriation is to apply it so cleverly and so judiciously to handle the " follow-up " matter, the circulars to dealers, that a certain territory or a certain circulation will be cultivated thoroughly. The man whose goods are pretty well stocked in stores about the country has a distinct advantage. . Still a good deal of energy must be directed to getting the goods into other towns. No national campaign will ever realize its fullest possibilities until there is at least one store in every small town and several stores
60 MODERN ADVERTISING
in the large towns whicli ean-y the goods in stock. You can not reckon without your dealer. This is where advertising plans come into play to the best advantage.
A tobacco trust with three-quarters of a million dollars to spend can adopt the overwhelming style, using large space in all kinds of publications, giving little thought to the selection of mediums, less to the preparation of copy, and hurl the whole on- slaught at the country in such a mass that it can not be overlooked. Undoubtedly advertising of that kind, no matter how well handled, is overdone. There is too much of it. When we come down the scale to the man who starts at $5,000 a year, and whose ar- ticle appeals to 5 or 10 per cent of the population, the real advertising problem is found. How can so little money be made to present the article to so many people? It is in such instances that the advertise- ment, however small, is only a cleverly worded " hook " fishing for a reply, and that upon the reply, the way it is handled, and the way the prospective customer is forced upon the prospective dealer, the whole structure depends. The letter of inquiry is the corner-stone of the small advertiser's plan.
More advertisers have failed through not appre- ciating the importance of the inquiry, and through not using it in the right way, than through any other one defect in their plans. They reason that an in- quiry is simply one sale, and, therefore, do not treat it with sufficient im])ortancc. The first inquiry from any given town is considerably more than a sale. It may be the beginning of business in that town. It
THE CHANNELS OF TRADE 61
may mean an account with a good dealer that will last as long- as yon and the dealer remain in business. Inquiries would be too expensive other^vise to be ad- vertised for in this way — that is, merely to make one sale of one article.
It is a difficult thing to theorize about advertising. No advertising is successful which does not sell the goods, and no advertising is unsuccessful which does. Each advertising plan proves what its merits are as it goes along, but the most that the wisest advertising man can do is to make a plan which covers all the incidents of his experience, and then watch the plan. There never was a right advertising plan that was not altered and changed each month.
Every inquiry should be scrutinized for sugges- tions as to future wordings of advertisements and reading matter. The entire inspiration comes from people who respond to advertising or who fail to re- spond. The way in which they respond, or fail to respond, is a measure of the success or failure of your advertising. Xothing will show you the weak spots in a plan so quickly as the absence of replies.
Advertising is a great, though almost unknown force, a force made up of a hundred different ele- ments, each one too intangible to be defined. It is something which, properly directed, becomes a power- ful agency in influencing human customs and man- ners. All the great forces that have moved the race, the eloquence of the orator, the fervor of the religious enthusiast, superstition, terror, panic, hyp- notism— all these things are utilized in advertising. All the emotions of the race are played upon, ap-
62 MODERN ADVERTISING
pealed to, coaxed, cultivated and utilized. The man who can tell most nearly what one thousand people will think upon any given topic will come nearest to producing successful advertising, but no human being can really foretell the actual results of any adver- tising that was ever planned.
CHAPTER IV
MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS
Anything through which an advertiser calls at- tention to his wares is a medium, but magazines and newspapers are usually referred to when the term is used. Trade papers are also mediums, hut many of them reach dealers only: an advertising medium is supposed to reach consumers, and dealers are hardly to be considered as consumers. By stretching the word's limits a little an advertiser sometimes speaks of street-cars, circulars and billboards as mediums.
The largest and most important medium consists of periodicals, classified as magazines, newspapers and trade papers. In the language of advertising, a mag- azine is a monthly publication, while a popular peri- odical published once a week is a " weekly." The monthly magazines are described as general maga- zines, such as the Century or Scribner's, and as woman's publications, such as the Ladies' Home Journal or the Delineator.
Weeklies are of a popular and, generally, of a semi-news character, such as Collier's or the Satur- day Evening Post. Agricultural publications, such as the Farm Journal or Farm and Fireside, and re- ligious papers of the class of the Christian Herald or the Epworth Herald, are also published weekly, as a rule. According to some classifications, the last two 6
64 MODERN ADVERTISING
would be called " class " papers, although class papers are really those otherwise known as " trade " papers.
It is an open question with many large adver- tisers %vhich are the better mediums, magazines or newspapers. For some articles and for some adver- tisers there is a decided choice, while other adver- tisers can and do use both. A magazine lasts thirty days, while the newspaper dies every day. A maga- zine has some permanence. It is a bound book, and read slowly by people with some leisure. Its adver- tising pages present a permanent record for a month, while the newspaper is read at a glance and then thrown aside. The circulation of a magazine is gen- eral and well distributed. It can not be confined to any city. State or group of States.
The newspapers of a given town, or series of towns, or of a given State, may be used to advertise an article in a given territory, either because the article is appropriate to that locality, or because the advertiser wishes to limit his expenditure to that ter- ritory, in order to do special work there, for work may sometimes be better carried on State by State than all at once over the entire country. Newspapers appeal to advertisers because they act quickly. An advertisement may be inserted in any newspaper within twenty-four hours of the date of publication, while an advertisement in a magazine must be ready from three to eight weeks in advance of the date of publication, according to the size of the edition which the magazine prints. Meanwhile trade conditions may change radically and in the case of many articles trade emergencies must he kept in mind.
On the other hand, newspapers, as a rule, will
u -s
0 'S
66 MODERN ADVERTISING
admit of onlv one style of design, that is, designs of a character which will print easily with rapid web perfecting presses, using cheap paper with an inferior quality of ink.
The magazine is printed more slowly, and with better ink. It can use what are known as " half- tone " cuts as well as line drawings, and in some of the magazines where the paper of the advertising pages is the same as in the body of the magazine, a great degree of artistic printing can be secured. As a rule, however, it is only publications with limited cir- culations that are able to give advertising designs the careful printing they require. Magazines and news- papers appeal directly to the public, while the class papers appeal to limited constituencies, made up of those interested in the one subject represented by the paper. Any scheme of general advertising must con- sider either the newspapers or the magazines. They are absolutely essential. ^Nevertheless, there are ad- vertisers who have built up large businesses without using either, through methods which utilized posters, street-car cards and circulars.
Statistics, as to the character, circulation and number of publications are difficult to obtain. The best possible authority ^ shows that in March, 1903, there were issued in the United States 20,485 dif- ferent publications, of wdiich 2,215 were published daily, 54 triweekly, 499 semiweekly, 14,455 weekly, 2 trimonthly, 55 biweekly, 263 semimonthly, 2,710 monthly, 2 semiquarterly, 68 bimonthly and 162 quarterly. The post-office recognizes as a periodical anything issued four times a year, but no publication * American Newspaper Directory, March, 1903.
MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS
67
issued less frequently than once a month is of interest or value to an advertiser.
The census reports for 1900 show only 18,22G publications of all kinds, issued from 15,305 separate establishments, having an aggregate circulation per issue of 11-4,299,331: copies, and an aggregate yearly circulation of 8,168,148,749 copies, enough, by the
I I 2,000 to 3,500
I I 3,500 to 6,000 I , ' I 6,000 to 9,500 ffi^^ 9,500 aud over
MAP SHOWING THE NUMBER OF INHABITANTS TO EACH WEEKLY PUBLICATION.
Showing that there are more readers to a publication in the southeastern states than in any other part of the United States.
way, to give every man, woman and child in the country 107 copies of something every year. They show further that these publications received in 1900 an aggregate revenue of $175,789,610, of which $79,928,483, or 45.5 per cent, was paid for subscrip- tions, and $95,861,127, or 54.5 per cent, for adver- tising space. These statistics prove conclusively that our present periodical press is possible only through
68
MODERN ADVERTISING
tlie advertising patronage, which bears the chief bur- den of the expense.
The amount of money represented by the total revenue from the sale of space in a year by all peri- odicals, $95,861,127, seems small in comparison with the total probable expenditure for advertising in this country of $600,000,000. It should be remembered, however, that this represents only the net cost of
MAP SHOWING THAT TEN STATES POSSESS 81.08 PER CENT OP THE COMBINED CIRCULATION OF ALL PUBLICATIONS.
space; that from 10 to 15 per cent is to be added to this in the way of commissions; that there was a fur- ther cost in the preparation of designs and copy, in the making of plates and expressage upon them, and in various other legitimate expenses in connection with advertising; and also that the various other me- diums employed, such as billboards, street-cars and circulars, while relatively less important than peri- odicals, are comparatively more expensive.
MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS 69
According to the same census there are 4,170 in- habitants in the country to each publication. This, taken in connection with the fact given above that there are 107 copies of some publication issued during the year for every inhabitant of the country, shows how possible it is to reach every buying person with properly directed advertising. A division of all pub- lications into classes, according to the periods of issue, is given in the census report as follows: Daily, 2,226; triweekly, 62; semiweekly, 637; weekly, 12,979; monthly, 1,817; quarterly, 237; all other classes, 268.
If these periodicals are classified according to the character of their reading matter, the statistics stand as follows:
News, politics and family reading 14,867
Religion 952
Agriculture, horticulture, dairying and stock
raising 307
Commerce, finance, insurance, real-estate, and
trade journals 710
General literature, including magazines 239
Medicine and surgery Ill
Law 62
Science and mechanics 66
Fraternal organizations 200
Education and history, college and school peri- odicals 259
Society, art, music and fashion 88
Miscellaneous, including Sunday newspapers .... 365
Of the daily newspapers there are 199 copies for every 1,000 inhabitants, of the weeklies there are 524 for every 1,000 inhabitants, and of the monthlies 520 for every 1,000 inhabitants. It may be added that there are 1,052 periodicals published in various
ro
MODERN ADVERTISING
languages, of which 613 are in German, 115 in Scan- dinavian, 39 in Spanish, 35 in Italian, 28 in Bohe- mian, 27 in French, 33 in Polish. Some of these, and notably the German and French publications, are important advertising mediums.
The distribution of the circulation of all publi- cations, bearing, as it does, a close relation to the dis-
MAP SHOWING THE NUMBER OF INHABITANTS TO EACH DAILY PUBLICATION.
Showing also that the greatest number of readers to a daily newspaper is in the southeastern states.
tribution of the population, is important to the ad- vertiser. Statistics show that four-fifths of the aggre- gate circulation of all periodicals is confined to ten States and that these ten States are located in the northeast part of the country. These States are Maine, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts,
MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS 71
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Missouri and Tennessee.
The publications about which it is difficult to ob- tain exact facts are the small weekly newspapers and a large number of unimportant and trivial trade papers. The fact that statistics can not be obtained about these has little bearing upon advertising, as neither class is important to the advertiser. Such papers start with very little capital, and some of them last only a short time, when the name and good-will are sold, or the paper is absorbed by a rival.
All the important j^ublications, whether maga- zines, newspapers or class papers, have established offices and their rates of advertising are on file in every important agency. Most publications, espe- cially newspapers and magazines, maintain offices in all large cities, with representatives who are able to give any information about the paper, the con- stituency it represents and its rates, and who make contracts for advertising with agencies or advertisers direct. Such representatives are called " special agents."
While circulation is the chief thing the period- 'ical has to sell to the advertiser, it is not the only thing. There is a great difference in the character of circulation as well as in the quantity. All strong pub- lications have a distinct personality which attracts a certain kind of readers. The readers of one publica- tion are more valuable to one advertiser than to lother.
The Ladies' Home Journal is an example of a high-class woman's publication. Not only is a very strict censorship exercised over the advertisements
72 MODERN ADVERTISING
which are allowed to be inserted,^ but the pco})le who read it are of the better and more discriminating class. The Ladies' Home Journal has a circulation of 1,000,000 copies a month. It is a large, four- column sheet, the pages being eleven by sixteen inches in size. The number of pages varies but it averages about fifty-two. The price of space is $6 an agate line. An agate line is one-fourteenth of an inch, and the space is measured by the width of the column, not by the width of the page. A single page used one time Avould cost $4,000. In other words, the estimate of the publishers of the Ladies' Home
* The "money-back" policy is now maintained by a dozen or more widely circulated publications, and the number is growing. If a reader suffers loss through an advertisement in one of them the publisher makes it good, and so announces in his editorial heading. Some publishers impose conditions, such as that of requiring that the complaint shall be made within a month after the appearance of the advertisement, that the reader shall have mentioned the publication in writing to the advertiser, and so forth. Probably these conditions are not interpreted in strict accord with the letter in actual complaints, however, for the number of claims received by such publications is smaller than one would think. At the office of the Ladies' Home Journal and Saturday Evening Post, with their combined circulation per month of fully 3,500,000 copies, the claims paid do not average more than two per month. The following letter shows that a liberal interpretation of the "money back" policy is made when the claim is valid. The complainant was a man who had ordered goods to the value of $25 from an advertisement in a copy of the Saturday Evening Post eight months after publication. The advertisement had ceased to appear in the paper, and some two or three days after the complainant's check was received by the advertiser he made an assignment. The check had been cashed, and the money was hopelessly entangled in the bankrupt busi- ness. Complaint was made to E. W. Spaulding, advertising manager of the two publications, and after investigation he sent a check for the full amount. — Printers' Ink.
MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS 73
Journal of the value of communicating with its 1,000,000 readers is $0 for what may be contained in a single line, or $4,000 for what may be put on a single page.
In Augusta, Me., there is a monthly publication called Comfort. It is printed on cheap paper, similar to that of newspapers, illustrated with newspaper illus- trations, and is cleverly adapted to the intelligence and taste of the poorer sort of people in small towns and villages. It is not at all attractive in appearance, printing, illustrations or make-up. Nevertheless, it charges $5 for an agate line of space. It is said to have a circulation of 1,200,000. Very few people who read this book will be familiar with the name Comfort. Its enormous circulation, if genuine, is dis- tributed through the poorer parts of the country, es- pecially in the West and South. It does not circulate in cities. The space is supposed to be worth this price to the people who have anything to sell to such pur- chasers. The columns are filled with advertisements of mail-order houses, cheap goods, jewelry, agents' supplies and various schemes. Its readers buy only the most inexpensive things, but large numbers of them do buy, so that the space is worth what it costs the advertisers.
These two papers represent two extreme types and their respective constituencies; the one, the high- est type of an advertising medium, well edited, well printed, with great influence, a circulation reaching well-educated, well-to-do, intelligent American wom- / en ; the other, poorly printed, placing no strictures I upon the character of its advertising and reaching I an uneducated and credulous class.
74 MODERN ADVERTISING
The womair^ })iil)]icatioiis iiu-ludo the Delineator, ail espeeially interesting periodical, and others, sneli as the Woman's Home Companion and the Ladies' World, which are more or less modeled npon the lines of The Ladies' Home Journal. The Delineator, how- ever, is in a class by itself and is jnst as unique as the Journal. These two papers are pioneers of two dif- ferent types and each is probably the best advertising medium of its kind.
The Journal has been built up by Cyrus P. Cur- tis, of the Curtis Publishing Company, a man who struggled for years to obtain success in the publishing line. He began in a very small way by the founding of the Journal, the price of which was then twenty- five cents. It was a cheap publication in every way, badly edited and illustrated, with a small circulation and little influence. It has always been sold for the full subscription price without the aid of premiums or any method of creating circulation except adver- tising. Its circulation is about evenly divided be- tween the news-stands and regular subscribers.
The Delineator is a very old magazine, and has been built up from what was practically an adver- tisement of paper patterns. The Butterick Publish- ing Company, the inventors and creators of the mod- ern paper-pattern business, started the Delineator as a sort of fashion sheet to aid the sale of patterns. Re- tail stores, which also carried the Butterick patterns, distributed the Delineator free at first. In this way it soon obtained a large but very cheap sort of circu- lation. Recently, by the adoption of modern publish- ing methods and a very thorough campaign of adver- tising, the circulation of the Delineator has been al-
MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS 75
most doubled. It has been put into a very high class, ranking, in the character of its readers, with the Ladies' Home Journal, but with probably greater results from the advertising put into its columns.
The Delineator is now published in connection with the Designer and The ISTew Idea, the three pub- lications being known as The Butterick Trio, and all being controlled by the same company, and this com- pany controls the entire pattern business of the United States. Each of these papers was the organ of a pattern company, the Designer representing the Standard Patterns, and The New Idea the ISTew Idea Patterns, the Delineator, of course, standing for the Butterick Patterns. These three publications have a united circulation of 1,250,000, and the aggregate cost per agate line in the three is $7.
A large portion of the circulation of these papers is still through the retail stores which are the agents of the patterns. As no store has an agency for more than one line of patterns, a list of 14,000 different stores is represented. This has advertising value. Nearly all the goods advertised in these three maga- zines are sold in the stores which distribute them. The importance of this will be explained more fully in another chapter.
The size of page used by The Ladies' Home Jour- nal, 9^ X 14^, is a size that has become standard for women's publications. Several weeklies, such as the Youth's Companion, have the same size page. The Delineator has a page size of its own, three columns to the page, and smaller than that of The Ladies' Home Journal, being only 6^ X 9|^ inches.
The magazines, in distinction from the woman's
76
MODERN ADVERTISING
papers, have the regular magazine-sized page, the type page of which is 5^ X 8 inches. A very large number of the monthly publications are made of this size, which accordingly is called the " magazine size." Space in such publications is occasionally sold by the agate line, but usually by pages or fractions of a page. The Ladies' Home Journal, the Delineator and other publications of the same class have a rate for a page and a rate for a quarter of a page, but smaller space is sold by the agate line.
The price of space in all publications is deter- mined by the quantity of the circulation, modified somewhat by its character. A high-grade magazine, for instance, will ask a little more for its circulation than a cheaper one, as a rule. To give some idea of the relation between the character of a magazine, its circulation and the price of a page, the following table is given:
Ladies' Home Journal
Delineator
Century
Harper's
Scribner's
McClure's
Munsey
RATE PER PAGE
$4,000 1,700
250 250 250 384 500
CIRCULATION
1,000,000
960,000 250,000 • 200,000 ' 200,000 ' 364,629 603,350
1 These circulations are the ones usually credited to these publications by advertisers. The American Newspaper Direc- tory, however, for several years has given them the rating " A," which is the highest given by the Directory when the circulation has not been actually supported by a statement. "A" stands for "exceeding 75,000."
MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS 77
The above table gives the exact average circula- tion of the publications named for the year 1902, except in the case of the Century, Harper's and Scrib- ner's, which have always been reticent on the subject, believing that the value of their circulation to an advertiser is not to be measured altogether by vol- ume but by quality also. For this reason and be- cause they are high-priced magazines these publica- tions have always been classed by themselves in con- trast with what are known as the " 10-centers," such as McClure's, Frank Leslie's, the Cosmopolitan, Mun- sey's and a number of smaller magazines.
The important part played by the so-called " 10- cent " magazines in the development of advertising, renders a comment upon their advent and growth interesting. The following is from the Twelfth Census :
" In the field of monthly magazines the most notable change which occurred during the decade was the creation of the 10-cent magazine. The leading publications in this class were Munsey's Magazine, established as a 25-cent publication in October, 1891, and reduced to 10 cents in October, 1893; and Mc- Clure's Magazine, established as a 15-cent magazine in June, 1893, and reduced to 10 cents in July, 1895. The Cosmopolitan, wdiich had long existed as a 25- cent publication, varied its price to 12^ cents and 15 cents, reducing to 10 cents in 1895.
" The immediate effect of the reduction in price of Munsey's Magazine to 10 cents was to increase the circulation to such an extent that it was difficult to supply the orders, and the production of the first edi- tion at the reduced rate was stopped in order to begin
78 MODERN ADVERTISING
work upon the next issue. In the case of McChire's Magazine, reduction to 10 cents caused the circula- tion to double, and before the end of the first year it had reached about 150,000.
" When the reduction of price to 10 cents was made, it was generally regarded as a foolhardy pro- ceeding. The opposition of the news companies made it necessary to handle independently the distribution of Mimsey's Magazine. It was not realized by many well-informed publishers that the time was ripe for such a change. Improvements in mechanical produc- tion had progressed so far that it was at length pos- sible for a daring manager to produce an excellent magazine at a trifling cost per copy. Moreover, the public, accustomed to cuts in prices in other direc- tions, were in a frame of mind to welcome such a change. It should be remarked that advances in machine composition and in making illustrations, while of much importance, represented but a part of the initial cost, and were, moreover, a fixed figure, regardless of the size of the edition. These items, therefore, were not of much consequence in produ- cing a great number of copies. The principal factors were the improvements in presses and in machines for stitching and covering, which greatly reduced the cost per copy.
" Publications of this class may be regarded as a variation of the old-established and more expensive magazine. They at once supplied an evident want and have attained to an enormous aggregate circula- tion. Possessing difterent characteristics, they reached a different class of readers, circulating not only in the United States, but in Canada as well.
MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS 79
" Mimsey's Magazine is noted for the large num- ber of illustrations employed, and for the nse of ma- terial that deals with people and timely topics, avoid- ing descriptions. This magazine averages 160 pages of reading matter and 80 pages of advertising, or a total of about 2-40 pages and cover.
" The leading characteristic of McClure's Maga- zine, in addition to articles by well-known writers, is the presentation of subjects of current interest, com- pletely worked out in all their details as soon as the topic has actually been completed. In character of material used, the Cosmopolitan follows a little more closely the policy of the older magazines. In all magazines of this class, except the Argosy, illustra- tions are freely used. There is unquestionably an evolution of daily newspapers, through their Sunday publications, toward the field occupied by the inex- pensive magazine, which, before the completion of another decade, may have some decisive result. Meantime the importance of the inexpensive maga- zine, and its educating force in the community, must be given due weight. The combined circulation of the monthlies published by F. A. Munsey, the Ladies' Home Journal, McClure's Magazine and the Cosmopolitan, in 1900, was 2,483,000 copies per issue."
]^ot only do readers differ as to standards in social and financial matters, and in tastes and education, but in responsiveness to advertising. The Youth's Companion is a paper whose circulation has been built up largely for nearly three-quarters of a century by offers of premiums for new subscribers. Subscribers have been attracted to it by the premiums offered as
80 MODERN ADVERTISING
much, perhaps, as by the publication itself. There- fore, they are susceptible to the offers of advertisers. The large circulation of the Youth's Companion brings very good returns, especially for articles adver- tised as sent by mail.
Some publications, and notably The Ladies' Home Journal and the Delineator, follow the policy of an absolutely accurate statement of their circulations from month to month. Magazines may be divided into two large classes — those that do and those that do not make known their actual circulations. The advertiser feels that he is entitled to know the exact circulation of a publication in which he buys space. Cii'culation is what the publisher sells and what the advertiser buys, either directly or through his agent. It is, therefore, the most important fact from an ad- vertising point of view. Circulation has been va- riously defined as the number of copies printed, the number distributed, or the number read.
Each magazine sends out a number of free copies to agencies for their files, to news-stands with the return privilege, and to advertisers.^ The net circula- tion is, therefore, generally conceded to be the circu- lation after all " returns," free copies, sample copies and file copies have been deducted. It is generally true that more than one person sees each copy of a magazine. In the case of a publication entering a home, it is estimated that five persons read each copy.
' Several magazines, for instance Munsey's, Harper's, and Ladies' Home Journal, send advertisers advance copies contain- ing advertising only. In the case of the Ladies' Home Journal this advance copy, issued twenty days in advance of publication, has a circulation of 20,000 copies.
MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS 81
The number of readers is therefore the net circuhition multiplied by five. No agreement however upon these matters has ever been reached.
The value of space in connection with circulation can be pretty definitely fixed. Taking the leading magazines of the country, it will be found that this value runs closely to the same ratio. For instance, at $G a line for the Ladies' Home Journal, on a basis of 1,000,000 of circulation, the value of the circula- tion is about five-eighths of a cent a line per 1,000 of circulation. This fraction will be found to hold good when applied to most standard publications. By some such method as this an advertiser determines the value of a given publication to him, provided the class to which it appeals is desirable for his business.
AVhen a publication appeals only to a certain class not reached by any other publication, it demands and clescrves a higher rate for its space. For instance, if one wishes to sell a breakfast food, any publication that appeals to people who wish to live well should be good provided the rate is right. If, however, one wished to sell a scientific instrument, as, for example, a stethoscope, he should use medical publications, which go directly to doctors; but he would pay more per 1,000 for his circulation than he would in one reaching the general public, because the circulation is select. The theory of the value of advertising space is based upon these considerations.
The second division into which periodicals are arbitrarily divided by advertising men embraces the newspapers. Newspapers are generally spoken of as dailies, either metro]iolitan or country, and as week- lies. The division between the metropolitan daily
82 MODERN ADVERTISING
aiul tlic ('(iniitrv daily is piivcly an arbitrary one. Metropolitan dailies are practically the papers pub- lished in about twenty cities of the first rank in the United States. All other dailies are country dailies.
Most weekly newspapers arc individually very unimportant publications, but in numbers they ex- ceed all other publications put together. There are between twelve and thirteen thousand. These are the newspapers of towns too small to support a daily, or newspapers representing a minority political party in a town where the larger political parties have daily newspapers.
The existence of so great a number of weekly newspapers is largely due to the fact that they have received more assistance from the Post-OtHce Depart- ment than any other form of periodical, and to the advantages furnished them by the " ready-print " companies, the paper being bought half printed very cheaply. Weekly newspapers are usually the home papers of a country or farming district, and are good advertising mediums for that reason. A home paper gives local influence to the advertisements which it carries.
Weekly papers may be considered as " home prints " or " patent insides." In the very smallest tow^ns, the expense of printing even a four-page paper once a week is so great that the country editor buys his paper with one side printed. This side contains a synopsis of the news of the world, with, perhaps, illustrated, fashion and literary matter. The other side printed on the home press, is made up of local news. This is the cheapest form of newspaper pub- lished. The circulation very seldom reaches more
MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS 83
than a thonsaiid and usually hovers around half that number.
The business of supplying '' ready-prints " to country newspapers has developed into several large businesses. These organizations are known by the name of " lists," as, for instance, Kellogg's Lists, or the Atlantic Coast Lists. The general expression is " cooperative newspapers." There are six concerns in this country supplying such " ready-prints " and three in Canada. Those in the United States are Kellogg's Lists, the Chicago Newspaper Union, the Atlantic Coast Lists, the Western Newspaper Union, the Omaha Newspaper Union and the Pacific News- paper Union. The last two are comparatively small.
These concerns supply on an average about 8,000 newspapers with " ready-prints," which contain a lim- ited amount of advertising of a general nature, and including proprietary remedies or other articles that appeal to an agricultural population. This adverti- sing is not expensive; and it calls for no outlay for plates. Only one plate or electrotype need be made and sent to the home office of the list, although it may ap])ear in 2,000 papers, the insidcs of which are all printed at the same time. This business is entirely distinct from the " plate " business, by which col- umns of matter in stereotyped fonn, consisting of news features and miscellaneous matter, are sent to the larger papers. The last Census has the following statistics of the cooperative plan of printing papers:
" There has been little development, for several decades, of the ' patent insides ' system described in the special report of the Tenth Census on the News- paper and Periodical Press. The general advance in
84
MODERN ADVERTISING
printing lias led to some progress in methods, and the number of papers served has increased with the growth of the newspaper industry in general, but growth in this line has been relatively slow. The following table shows, by States and Territories ar- ranged geographically, the number of newspapers printed on the cooperative plan:
NEWSPAPERS PRINTED ON THE COOPERATIVE PLAN, BY STATES AND TERRITORIES, 1900
STATES OR NO. OF
TERRITORY. NEWSPAPERS.
United States 7,749
North Atlantic Division 728
New England 177
Maine 13
New Hampshire ... 30
Vermont 10
Massachusetts 90
Rhode Island 16
Connecticut 18
Southern North At- lantic 551
New York 196
New Jersey 79
Pennsylvania 376
South Atlantic Divi- sion 511
Northern South At- lantic 185
Delaware 4
Maryland 49
District of Colum- bia 6
Virginia 62
West Virginia 64
STATES OR NO. OF
TERRITORY. NEWSPAPERS.
Southern South At- lantic 326
North Carolina .... 81
South Carolina .... 51
Georgia 135
Florida 59
North Central Division . 4,725
Eastern North Cen- tral 2,110
Ohio 337
Indiana 358
Illinois 703
Michigan 365
Wisconsin 347
Western North Cen- tral 2,615
Minnesota 409
Iowa 619
Missouri 376
North Dakota 122
South Dakota 224
Nebraska 462
Kansas 403
MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS
85
STATES OR NO. OF TERRITORY. NEWSPAPERS.
South Central Division . 1,179
Eastern South Cen- tral 476
Kentucky 59
Tennessee 114
Alabama 134
Mississippi 169
AVestern South Cen- tral 703
Louisiana 94
Arkansas 143
Indian Territory ... 62
Oklahoma 153
Texas 251
ST.\TES OR NO. OF TERRITORY. NEWSPAPERS.
Western Division 606
Rocky Mountain 285
Montana 32
Idaho 40
Wyoming 20
Colorado 177
New Mexico 16
Basin and Plateau ... 43
Arizona 4
Utah 35
Nevada 4
Pacific 278
Washington 95
Oregon 65
California 118
*' It will be seen from this statement that over 60 per cent of the papers printed on the cooperative plan are found in the i^orth Central Division. The number in Illinois alone (the highest number for any single State) nearly equals the number shown for the entire Xorth Atlantic Division, and Iowa (next in rank) surpasses both the Western and South Atlantic Divisions.
" Many of the newspapers of this class are the only ones in their respective towns — this being the case with 60 per cent of those sent out by one con- cern. At the present time most of the newspapers printed in this way are weeklies, and these form about half of the total number of weeklies in the United States. Many semiweeklies and triweeklies, also, are issued in this way, and some dailies adopt the method. These dailies are printed at a distributing center, sent out by express in the morning, and fin-
86 MODERN ADVERTISING
islicd at the local office in the afternoon." — Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900, Volume IX, pages 1104-1105.
Trade papers are publications issued in the inter- ests of some trade, profession or industry. They are almost altogether of a technical character, though many of them devote considerable space to the news of the trade they represent. The more important trade papers are authoritative in their respective lines. The editors are men of practical training and experi- ence in the industry represented, and their writings represent the best thought and experience.
In this class are such standard papers as the Dry- Goods Economist, Iron Age, Engineering Magazine, Street-Railway Journal and many others. Such pub- lications have a large circulation as compared with the relatively limited number of people to whom they appeal. They represent in many cases valuable properties built up by careful and intelligent editorial work. The Dry-Cioods Economist, for instance, has experts on its staff representing all the main divisions of the dry-goods trade. It has representatives in the leading fashion and manufacturing centers of the world. It has an intelligent correspondent in Paris, where fashions are created, and a technical writer in St. Gall, Switzerland, where many foreign laces and embroideries are made or sold.
A trade paper is frequently, but not always, pub- lished in the center of the districts of the trade it rep- resents. For instance, a glove trade paper is pub- lished at Gloversville, N. Y. Textile trade papers are found among the looms and mills of Xew Eng- land. Shoe trade papers flourish in and around Bos-
MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS 87
ton, the center of the shoe trade. Carpet trade papers are published in Philadelphia. The Dry-Goods Econ- omist has its offices located in the center of the whole- sale dry-goods district of New York, In this way, trade papers of the better sort reflect varying trade conditions constantly and accurately. They are in close touch with the men who are most important in their businesses.
Trade papers or class papers may be divided roughly into papers devoted to trades, such, for in- stance, as the Baker's Helper, a journal of the baking trade, or the Metal Worker, a journal for tin-roofers; papers devoted to professions, as The Green Bag for lawyers, The Dental Cosmos for dentists, or Archi- tecture and Building for architects; papers devoted to industries, as the ISTorthwestern Miller, a leading organ of the flour-milling industry, or Power, a jour- nal of applied steam and other power; papers for va- rious retail trades, as the American Stationer, or the Clothier and Furnisher, whose names are self-explan- atory; papers devoted to societies, secret and other- wise, such as the Masonic Home Journal; and edu- cational papers, such as the i^ormal Instructor.
To these class papers might also be added the agricultural and religious papers, each of which forms a long list by itself. Every religious sect has publications devoted to its interests, some of which are important and have large circulations. The agri- cultural papers also have large circulations and reach constituencies important to the advertiser.
CHAPTER V
MUKAL ADVERTISING
Advertising, in the modem sense, relates almost altogether to magazines and newspapers. Street-cars and posters are or should be subsidiary. Most large advertisers, however, use all the mediums in the pro- portion which their judgment or experience decides is the best. But there are noteworthy instances in which advertisers have built up a large business by using street-cars and posters alone, utterly ignoring the magazines and newspapers. ^The H. J. Heinz Company, whose phrase, " One of the 57," is well known, have used street-car cards and posters only, supplemented by immense illuminated signs. The Heinz Pier at Atlantic City is one of the features of that resort and for the last few years has been famous for its flashing electric signs and its permanent display of goods^
Magazines and newspapers can never cease to be the most important advertising mediums, but a sec- ond large division is formed by what may be called, for want of a better name, " mural " or " outdoor " advertising. Mural advertising is roughly subdivided into the two general divisions of street-car adverti- sing and poster work. The latter is understood to cover not only posters proper but permanent painted signs having the appearance and effect of posters. Of
MURAL ADVERTISING 89
these two general divisions, the street-car advertising is the better systematized and ckissitied, although each department of mural advertising has been worked up, organized and centralized more or less. The large cities are in a better condition than the small towns, and the East is better managed than the West.
Both street-car work and bill-posting are in the hands of a few companies wdiich have franchises and options, as well as leased sites, wdiich make them brokers in a large way in space either in the street- cars or upon hoardings. Statistics for street-car work are more definite and more available than those for poster work.
Thoroughly to cover the entire United States with street-car advertising w^ould require, according to the estimate of one house, 45,000 cards, with 750 additional for Canada. This is supposed to represent one card in every full-time car. It of course does not represent one card in every car of all kinds. All sur- face lines have both summer and winter cars. They also have many shuttle cars, or cars that make short runs, so that this number does not represent, proba- bly, one-half of the street-cars in use in the country. According to the statistics of the Street-Railway Journal, the exact number of cars is 71,312. The figures represent, of course, all cars which carry ad- vertising, such as elevated and subway roads in the various cities and steam-lines wdiich reach seaside and other resorts. For very thorough advertising, two cards or one double-sized card may be put in a single car. It is generally understood that 30,000 cards represent a very complete street-car campaign. The
90
MODERN ADVERTISING
service changes cards as often as desired, changes usually being made once a week or once a month. Extra cards are always sent to each distributing cen- ter, so that if any card should become damaged it could be promptly replaced.
It takes about 45,000 single cards, 11 X 21 inches, to cover the country thoroughly. The cost of this service is from twelve to fifteen thousand dol- lars per month. Probably the lowest price on national service ever given to any one was about twenty-five cents per card pej* car per month on an average. The regular price, however, in a rough estimate, is from forty to fifty cents, according to whether the contract is for three months or a year. Here is a list showing the number of cards required in each State based upon the above allowance of 30,000 cards for the United States:
Alabama 124
Arkansas 46
California 1,106
Colorado 280
Connecticut 534
Delaware 37
District of Columbia 486
Florida 52
( Jeorgia 226
Idaho 2
Illinois 3,256
Indiana 338
Iowa 259
Kansas 70
Kentucky 463
Louisiana 364
Maine 187
Maryland 641
Massachusetts 3,087
Michigan 518
Minnesota 411
Mississippi 6
Missouri 1,401
Montana 21
Nebraska 150
New Hampshire 135
New Jersey 827
New Mexico 3
New York 6,698
North Carolina 65
Ohio 1,859
Oregon 72
Pennsylvania 2,626
Rhode Island. South Carolina .
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington. . . . West Virginia . . Wisconsin
408
165
241
279
55
45
167
101
47
312
Total 28,170
MURAL ADVERTISING 91
Street-car business has never been consolidated in the hands of any one general agent and probably never will be. Nor are there any number of general agents who can place street-car advertising over the entire country. The whole of New England is under contract to one concern. All the surface cars in New York are controlled by one house, except 200 cars on the East Side (which are owned by the company which controls all the approaches to the ferry lines), and the Fifth Avenue Stage line. The elevated roads in New York and Brooklyn are con- trolled by one firm, which has not only the car service, but the station posters, while the entire surface system in Brooklyn is managed by another firm. The Mid- dle States, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin, are controlled by a Detroit house. One man owns all the South, east of the Mississippi. The far West is distributed, while the Pacific slope is man- aged by a firm in San Francisco. The best terms can be made directly with these firms instead of trying to cover the country through any one house. Chicago is divided among a number of concerns, each of which should be dealt with separately.
Some idea of the number of cards required in proportion to the number of cars the road actually operates may. be determined from the following: Seven hundred and fifty cards ai'e usually called for to be used upon the Broadway cars in New York city, alone, although this one road operates 1,800 cars. Seven hundred and fifty cards will put one in every full-time car the year around.
A standard street-car card is 21 X 11 inches in size. But manv advertisers use cards of twice this
92 MODERN ADVERTISING
■; length. Some roads, nota-
I ; bly on the elevated trains
[ I now running in New
' I York, call for a differ-
I f ently proportioned card,
I I which is 15 inches deep
I I instead of 11 inches, and
I ; affords better display.
There is a line of sub-
tf> '^^^^ fX i I urban cars running from
5 Oakland and Berkeley
Ferries in California,
y_ opposite San Francisco,
2? which carries street-car
N cards four by three feet
in size.
g |f Street-car advertising
i '^ can never have either the
^ definite or the expansive
■ H qualities of advertising in ; K periodicals. It is confined I * to a display of the name
K of the article advertised
§ and a few short statements
< about it. That is why it
can serve best as supple-
; mental advertising. It
I deepens an im])ression
I ^ made elsewhere. In the
■ large cities street-car ad- j ■ vertising carries a state- I ; ment before the eyes of a I ; greater number of peojile,
■^ or those of the same people
MURAL ADVERTISING
93
a greater number of times, tlian is possible to any other form of advertising."^
New York city, for instance, by which is meant the entire metropolitan district on both sides of the Hudson and East Rivers, has a population of 4,500,000. The surface and elevated roads in this district carry every year 1,350,000,000 people. Only a small percentage of these people, who average at least two trips a day, entirely escape the advertising
A SINGLE STREET-CAR CARD ; SIZE, 21 X 11 INCHES.
which appears in the cars. The population of the metropolitan district of Boston and suburbs is 1,162,000. The average travel in Boston is 700,000 people daily, or 259,000,000 each year.^
^ Since the above was in type the New York Subway has been completed and thrown open to the public. Fourteen competitors bid for the advertising privileges in the cars and stations of the New York Subway. The contract was finally awarded to Ward & Gow, New York, who control the advertising privilege on Man- hattan elevated lines, as well as the elevated station news stands. The price for the Subway advertising privilege is understood to be in the neighborhood of |200,000 a year. Only part of the road is thrown open this year, and the annual rental increases each year as other branches are opened. A five-year contract has been made, with privilege of renewal, and the average annual rate according
94 MODERN ADVERTISING
f Street-car advertising acts on passengers in a more or less compiilsorj way. It can not be escaped, es- ])ecially where one is a constant daily rider. There- fore, it is a powerful auxiliary to any other form of advertising. No story which requires details in tell- ing it can, however, be successfully exploited in street-cars. Descriptive space can be obtained only in magazines and newspapersT^
Poster work and permanent painted signs are each managed largely by the same firms who act as bro- kers or by their representatives in various toAvns and cities. To cover the whole country with bill-boards is largely a matter of approximation; that is, no one can hope to cover even a majority of the existing stands. Probably the largest showing ever made was tliat by the Force Food Company, which used 30,- 000 eight-sheet stands and 20,000 twenty-four-sheet stands, at a cost of about $25,000 per month. Bill- posting is in the hands of twelve agents who are recog- nized by the American Bill-Posters' Association, which includes all the bill-posters in the United States.
to its terms is about $200,000. This is probably the largest con- tract of its nature in the world, and is highly interesting when it is remembered that approximately $1,000,000 will be given for the bare advertising option, the Subway company being put to no ex- pense for installing or maintaining the advertising plant. The rental ultimately agreed upon is said to be $200,000 in excess of Ward & Gow's original bid. Mr. Belmont's estimators were ex- perienced advertising men, and had ealcidated that the Subway could clear $800,000 by operating its own advertising service, allowing for soliciting, empty spaces, and all expenses. The Sub- way, as completed, will have in excess of 2,000 cars. Each car carries forty-two cards on the sides, with end spaces in addition. The Subway's figures were based on a charge to advertisers of about sixty cents {)er card per car per month. Different rates are charged for different positions.
96 MODERN ADVERTISING
There are no independent posters. Four advertising agencies are recognized by bill-posters also.
The average price for posting is from seven to nine cents per sheet for one month's showing, a bill- poster's month being four weeks. A discount of 5 per cent is made for three months', and of 10 per cent for six months' showing. Twenty-five per cent of the paper is allowed for renewal. In addition to these discounts, which any advertiser gets, the bill-poster's agent's discount is 16f per cent. This discount is almost invariably divided with the customer, so that the cost of bill-posting is just a matter of how much the agent is willing to give up.
Posters vary in size from a three sheet up to a twenty-four sheet, and in some special cases are even larger. One-sheet posters are largely used, but not so much for general posting work as for special stands, such as those found upon elevated platforms in large cities. A one-sheet poster is 28 X42 inches in size. Posters of eight sheets or more are uniformly 9^ feet high. An eight-sheet poster is 7 feet wide. Three and a half feet are added for each additional four sheets. A twelve-sheet poster measures 10 1 feet; a twenty-four-sheet one, 21 feet.
As a rule, the advertising agency does not do its own bill-posting but makes a contract with some liouse which has facilities for doing the work. Four agencies, however, do make a specialty of bill-posting and deal directly with the bill-posters in various towns and cities. The stands in the smaller towns are usu- ally erected, owned and controlled by the local the- aters or by a local bill-poster who works for the the- aters. Commercial advertising is usually placed alter-
MURAL ADVERTISING
97
nately with tlieatrical advertising, or by itself during the summer months. Naturally, summer is the best time for poster advertising, as more people are then out of doors. Hoardings have been called " the poor man's picture gallery." They undoubtedly play a
A PAINTED WALL WITH HEAD OF THE MAN BUILT UP AND CUT OUT.
Real water is made to flow from the siphon into the glass.
strong part in advertising, — not so exact or far-reach- ing as street-car cards, but still potent and effective. There are a number of men who make a business of painting advertisements. Some of these are bill- posters though others are not. Some are prepared to give service in all parts of the country, and some
98 MODERN ADVERTISING
oiilv in n c'iven town (»r territory. Painted adver- tisements are divided between re<2,ular painted signs set up all over the country, elianee painted signs placed upon barns and sheds, regular stands in the city, and bulletins which are temporary stands, ten feet high, erected around buildings in course of con- struction or around vacant lots.
The average price for wall space in a city like New York is from four to five cents per square foot, phis the rentals. This includes the painting. The exact rental of the wall from the tenant or owner of the building, plus four to five cents per square foot, pays for the sign and includes the painting once a year. Xo wall space is ever rented for less than a year. It is generally held to be better to have a con- tract with the tenant than with the owner for wall space.
Of course, in many cases it is simply a gamble as to how long the sign will remain exposed. A wall rented next to a building that is under construction will be seen for only a month or so. Another may be seen for several years. The Force Food Company once paid $2,400 for a wall which remained exposed only two months. The highest price ever paid for a painted sign in JSTew York was for one at the comer of Thirty-fourth Street and Broadway in the little jog made in ]\racy's new store. For this sign the sum of $10 per square foot per month was paid. The ])rice of a large ehinmey down near CVirtlandt Street, New York, now used by the Force Food Company, is $1,000 a year, plus the cost of painting. Painting has to be done every year and costs $400.
The cost of bulletins, such as those erected around
100 MODERN ADVERTISING
a new building or a vacant lot, is forty to fifty cents per running foot per month, which includes painting. All bulletins are exactly ten feet high. Every painter has a number of positions which he calls " special," which are usually sold to the highest bidder. The illuminated signs on either side of Madison Square are special positions. The one upon the Bai'tholdi Hotel brings $5,000 a year.
Perhaps the most important medium which may be used by an advertiser is printed matter, which means catalogues, booklets, " mail series," " follow-up systems," " house organs," etc. A catalogue is a purely technical book containing illustrations and the prices of the goods manufactured. The term is a broad one and the dividing line between booklet and catalogue can not be drawn. A booklet is usually popular in style and non-technical, often a talk about the good points of the articles advertised, while a catalogue is a trade list, giving technical descriptions and serves as a book of reference. It may consist of only a few pages and list only a few articles, or it nuiy weigh a dozen pounds and have two or three thousand pages.
A " mail series " is a series of printed things about any given article or line of goods, sent at frequent intervals, such as once a week or twice a month, to a dealer who may, might, could, would or should handle the advertiser's goods.
" Follow-up matter " is matter sent to those who have written in answer to advertisements but who have not responded after receiving the first reply, the booklet, the sample, or whatever may have been sent them. A thorough plan always provides for sending
MURAL ADVERTISING 101
a number of pieces of follow-up matter to any promis- ing inquirer.
A "■ house organ " is a small magazine or news- paper published once a month, sometimes more fre- quently, sometimes less, and made up wdiolly or in part of advertising from the house sending it out. Such an organ is not a periodical, and is not admitted at second-class rates. Postage has to be paid just as on any printed advertising matter.^ Some house organs, however, are very well edited and have all the features of a regular periodical.
In addition to all the important mediums just de- scribed, many advertisers use what are known as advertising novelties. These are things of more or less use or intrinsic value, incidentally carrying an advertisement of the man who gives them away. The simplest and best known form is a blotter, and articles manufactured of aluminum, celluloid, paper and wood, such as clocks, thermometers, penholders, blot- ter-holders and things of that sort. These are sent out by some advertisers as a permanent business an- nouncement. From an advertising point of view they are relatively unimportant, although there are large business houses which do nothing but manufacture such articles. In this same class may be mentioned the advertising signboards which are seen in country hotels and railway-stations, consisting usually of a clock or thermometer, with advertisements of various houses arranged around it. These things are more used by retailers than by general advertisers.
' A movement is on the way to secure a special postage rate for house organs between the present rate and the pound rates enjoyed by legitimate periodicals. The rate asked for is four cents a pound.
CHAPTER VI
THE GENERAL ADVEKTISEK
The general advertiser is one who advertises over the entire conntry an article which is sold in retail stores. The retail advertiser is bnt a cog in the ma- chinery of the general advertiser for the exploitation and distribvition of his goods. A retailer sells over his counter to peojole who come into his store goods for which the general advertiser has created a demand in all parts of the country through all kinds of pub- licity.
AATien advertising is mentioned, general advertis- ing is usually meant. It is general advertising that fills the pages of magazines and weeklies and a large part of the advertising colunnis of newspapers.
The idea of the general advertiser is so to stamp the name, trade-mark and description of his goods upon the mind of a receptive public that the public will insist on getting these particular goods in the retail stores. Such methods having created a large (demand for the goods, the advertiser is able to manu- facture the goods more economically and thus, while paying for the advertising, he still secures a large profit.
The general advertiser's product must be some- thing which can be named and trade-marked so that it may easily be identified by the consumer. It must
102
THE GENERAL ADVERTISER 103
be distributed through the rcgiihir channels of trade — in some cases through the jobber to the retailer; in others direct to the retailer. The tendency in mod- ern advertising is either to eliminate the jobber or to make him merely a cog in the distributing machin- ery. Jobbers are convenient for handling goods. They keep in stock at convenient points throughout the country staple goods which are in most frequent demand. The manufacturer in the East has his goods in stock with jobbers in Chicago, Denver and San Francisco, so that retailers in neighboring towns who wish a supply of the goods on short notice need not send to I*^ew York.
Before the days of advertising, the jobber was far more important ; he had all the authority of the manu- facturer.
/Trtising has had a tendency to make the manu- kfacturer paramount and the jobber merely a distribu- [ter of trade-marked goods and unidentified bulk goods.
The largest general advertisers in the country are the packing-houses, soap-makers, breakfast-food manu- facturers, cracker bakers and baking-powder compa- nies. This is not because these goods are more suscep- tible of advertising, but because one manufacturer in each of these lines has been a pioneer and has proved that great profits can be derived from publicity. When this has been done other manufacturers in the same line have begun to advertise, driven to it partly by competition and partly by emulation, and have been proportionately successful. Thus one finds some lines have been heavily overadvertised, while others, equally susceptible of development by advertising, are not advertised at all.
104 MODERN ADVERTISING
The greater number of staple articles remain yet to be advertised. Indeed, the greatest development in advertising in the futnre ^vill occur along these lines. By staple articles are meant foodstuifs, clothing, household goods and toilet articles. We have already pointed out that modern advertising began with pro- prietary remedies ; next followed novelties and articles of luxury, but the men who have created the largest amount of advertising are the makers of the staple goods of every-day life.
To give some idea of the promises of advertising in the future, it may be said that in the great depart- ment of textiles but little has yet been done. It is be- lieved that the greatest field for future advertising lies here — that is, in the actual fabrics from which cloth- ing is made. Clothing material as made up for botli^ men's and women's garments has received consider- able advertising in the last few years, but the possi- bilities are far greater to the manufacturer of the fabric itself than they are to the man who manufac- tures from that fabric.
Thomas Balmer, the advertising manager of the Butterick Trio, is largely responsible for the cam- paign which is intended to bring about greater adver- tising of textiles. He has shown that there are hun- dreds of mills manufacturing cotton, woolen and silk goods whose aggregate product is more valuable than the entire output of iron and steel. Such houses have a capital of from half a million to several million dol- lars, and are making products that are standard in all good stores, but which are known by name to the trade only, and reach the consumer unmarked or unidenti- fied, either in the form of cloth sold over the counter,
THE GENERAL ADVERTISER 105
or of garments made up from it. Speaking of the possibilities of this field, Mr. Balmer says :
" The originators of the present movement have been instrumental in advancing the interests of many lines of business by bringing them into close touch with the consumers of their wares. Numerous in- stances of large exploitation and success can be shown. If in other fields, why not in the rich realm of tex- tiles ? Hence the concerted eifort during the fall of 1903 to present the advantage of newspaper advertis- ing to a class of producers which has hitherto neg- lected this great field of publicity. The textile in- dustry, which outranks in importance the iron and steel and any other single industry in the United States, has been barely touched. Most of the business of the great manufacturing concerns which produce the every-day necessities of the millions of American consumers is done through the old-fashioned agencies, which practically limit their output to the selling ca- pacity of the one or more commission merchants who have the handling of their products. Manufacturers are not content with this slow system, but they have put up with it because until now nothing better has been offered. They have been asking themselves, ' Can we advertise our products ? If so, how ? ' The cooperative workers are to demonstrate that they can most profitably advertise and are to show them how. In the belief of these campaigners, profitable advertising opportunities are open to manufacturers of carpets, Turkish towels, furniture, shoes, knit goods (including stockings and underwear), dress goods (whether of silk, wool, cotton or any mixture), dress linings, braids, curtains, laces, velvets, sweaters,
106 MODERN ADVERTISING
haircloth, hammocks, flannels, plain and cotton sheetings, lap-robes, skirts, cloaks, snits, wear for children, high-grade toilet articles and a hundred articles besides. The movement is recognized as a large one, if not revolutionary ; and the indications are that many manufacturers will go into it on the Shakespearian suggestion of taking the tide at the flood."
The general advertiser of to-day has come into be- ing more or less by chance. The pioneer in each line has had advertising thrust upon him. The history of the business of making and marketing breakfast foods, ranging from plain oatmeal in packages to prepared flake foods, will give some idea of the development of the modern general advertiser. Oatmeal has been a staple in this country for many years. It was simply the oat berry with the husk removed, dried and cleaned. The first attempt to improve it was to cook the oatmeal, and thus came into existence Hornby's Oats, better known as " H-0."
The introduction of this improvement in breakfast oats led to the putting of oats into packages and giv- ing them a name. From this came tlie beginning of oatmeal advertising. The original package of Horn- by's Oats had upon the cover a picture of Oliver Twist asking for more. The first advertising of II-O ap- ])eared seventeen years ago, but that cover has been retained ever since, though it comports ill with the attractive modern designs of to-day. Then followed in rapid succession other packages of oatmeals pre- ])ared in various ways — steam-cooked, cracked, hulled and otherwise made palatable.
Following preparations of oats, came prepared
THE GENERAL ADVERTISER 107
wheat until a large number of brands of oatmeals and prepared wheats, under different names and trade- marks, were advertised all over the country and sold in grocery stores. The next step brought the prepared breakfast food.
A broken-down, worn-out nuin, whose stomach had failed him, and whose life was despaired of by physi- cians, had resided in various parts of the country for his health and finally arrived in Battle Creek, Michi- gan. At a sanitarium he was given a prepared food which had such effect upon his system that he re- covered. Naturally his interest in this food was great, and he tried to induce the proprietor of the sanitarium to put it on the market and sell it more largely. The man was disinclined to do so, but the patient resolved to take it up himself. lie began to prepare it in a small way, and, after considerable difficulty, succeeded in making it in quantities and selling it by advertising. The sales rapidly increased until the business became tremendously prosperous. It had the natural effect of starting a large number of people in the business of preparing and selling breakfast foods.
As this first snccess was made at Battle Creek, the attention of the immediate townsmen of the orig- inal inventor and promoter was attracted largely to this business until the little town of Battle Creek be- came the center of the breakfast-food business. It is said that there are now over forty different varie- ties of prepared foods made in Battle Creek. Only a few of them, however, have reached a national sale and advertising prominence. But the idea has been caught up everywhere until to-day the magazine jDages
108 MODERN ADVERTISING
;iii(l newspaper columns are filled with "flake-food" advertising.
Oatmeal concerns are still advertising oatmeal, es- pecially in the winter months when a cooked break- fast food is desired. Prepared foods require little or no cooking. They are ready to serve, and on account of this simplicity have reached a wide sale.
Because one food has led to a hig success in ad- vertising, others have followed. A breakfast food can not necessarily be sold by advertising more readily than other products. In fact, the more staple goods are far better for permanent and lasting advertising than anything which, even at a most liberal estimate, may be described as a fad or a temporary fashion. A prejiarcd breakfast food probal)ly has secured more than temporary demand or a demand that has been forced and created by advertising. Still it can easily be seen that a demand for fabrics from which clothing is made is based upon a deeper and more inherent want than the demand for a breakfast food. Food itself is fundamental, but the particular form of food found in flake breakfast foods is more likely to be a passing fancy than a permanent demand. The adver- tising of crackers and biscuits, for example, is based upon a deeper and wider demand because the cracker is almost as old as human civilization. The form of it may vary, but the tiling itself is here to stay.
Other general advertisers came into the advertis- ing field in somewhat the same way. Some one house, for example, advertised " toilet soap," " laundry soap," " scouring soap," or packing-house products such as soups and canned meats, or watches, writing- papers, ready-made clothing, collars and cuffs, or, in
THE GENERAL ADVERTISER 109
fact, any other article now found in the magazines and newspapers. Each different article was advertised first by some pioneer who broke ground and proved the possibilities.
The three great wants of a civilized being are food, clothing and shelter, and from food, clothing and shel- ter the great articles for the advertising of the future are to come. Food has been the first to be used in seizing upon the opportunity. From food advertis- ing has been evolved the package. The material for the package, whether carton, glass or tin, affords an easy method of trade-marking the eatables. The first idea was to make the package characteristic and con- spicuous, to which now late advertising insists on adding the quality of attractiveness.
With clothing the work has not gone so far as yet. \ Manufactured clothing for both men and women ap- \ pears in magazine advertising, but the goods from which clothing is made are only beginning to lift their heads. JSTearly everything that men and women wear is made up from cotton, wool or silk goods or com- binations of these. From them are produced under- wear, stockings, undermuslins, waists, skirts, dresses, coats, wraps and hats for women, and underwear, hose, shirts, collars, cuffs, overcoats and hats for men.
The most that the average woman knows is the name of a house which makes a given manufactured article of clothing, such as a skirt. The most that any man knows is the name of the completed suit or shirt. Whose muslin is used and how good is it ; what woolen goods are used and how good are they ; whose yarn goes into the underwear and whose feathers and ribbons into the hat, are facts almost unknown to the
110 MODERN ADVERTISING
wearer. These are the questions that advertising is lu'iiiiiniiiii- to answer, and when it answers them completely advertising will have reached its fullest development.
After clothing comes bnilding material. Only a few of the things that go into the building of a house are advertised at present. These few things are inci- dental, such as the stains used on shingles, the wax for the floors, the wall-papers, the woodwork, and now^ recently, tin and other forms of roofing. Yet there is not a brick, board, tile, pipe, window-frame, sash, glass or other unit used in building a house which is not made somewhere, which does not have certain qualities of merit, and which might not be ad- vantageously advertised to the house owner, builder, contractor, architect or carpenter.
After these three great necessities come a long list of luxuries and semi-luxuries — such as pianos, organs, automobiles, typewriters, rifles, revolvers, bath-tubs and the like. In this list we must not overlook two great departments; one the accessories of the toilet; the other house furnishings. In the toilet accessories soaps lead. In the household accessories refrigerators, kitchen-cabinets and scouring soaps have been ex- ploited, but not in the same proportion. Every one knows what scouring soap to buy, but what linoleum are you going to put on the kitchen-floor ? You can think of the names of several good refrigerators off- hand. At least two good bath-tubs are well adver- tised, Imt does any one know the name of a good, re- liable, artistic, sanitary brass and iron bed ^
The possibilities with unadvertised goods are as great as or even greater than those of goods that have
THE GENERAL ADVERTISER 111
already been, advertised. If, for instance, a man may buy clotli and make it np into men's suits and women's skirts, and advertise these garments under a trade- marked name and make money, how much more should the manufacturer of the fabrics advertise his goods under his own name and mark with profit ? A woman who buys dress-goods would then ask for them by name, and the manufacturer who makes garments would gladly advertise that his goods were made out of such and such woolen fabrics, lined with such and such silk, bound with such and such braid, using such and such hooks and eyes, dress boning and any other advertised specialty which has been incorporated in the making. Such a manufacturer would be backed up by the publicity given to the articles he has used. On the other hand, the public would be protected, for the manufacturer who could not say that such and such well-known established brands of goods had been used would bring discredit ujDon his own product.
To go back to the beginning of our list of necessi- ties, let us take food products again. /A biscuit com- pany has made a tremendous and overwhelming sue- 4) cess by giving a trade-mark to a whole line of cracker ^f^ specialties, with a name for each different kind, and then advertising them. This success has been so com- plete and overwhelming that it has made advertising history.^ We are also familiar with innumerable breakfast food products which we know by name. The packing-house food products have become staple and are found in every home. Many coffees, teas, sugars, salad dressings, pickles, olives, canned fruits, vegetables and soups are asked for by name. Several 9
112 MODERN ADVERTISING
diiferent braiuls of each, all good, pure and whole- some, can be bought at any corner grocery.
Let us stop and think how this has simplified busi- ness and how it protects the consumer. In the days of bulk goods, everything had to be ladled out, weighed and measured. Sugar, coffee, salt, crackers, and about everything else was weighed in the same brass scoop, handled by the grocer's hands, and wrajiped up in paper on which the cat had been sleep- ing all the afternoon, Xow if you ask a grocer for any one of a large number of products by name, you get it in a container which remains sealed from the time when it leaves the factory till opened in your kitchen. The only chance of contamination lies in the making, and the cleanliness of large plants is one of the strong points in the advertising. Food packed in air-tight, moisture-proof cartons, or in wood, tin, porcelain or glass, is not only easier to ask for on account of its name, but easier to handle by both buyer and seller, and in addition is protected and clean. One can buy Domino Sugar, Uneeda Biscuit, or any of the '"57 varieties," in the dirtiest gro- cery stores, with the same safety and protection as at Park & Tilford's.
One article that has not yet been canned and sold is common molasses. We used to eat ginger cookies, gingerbread, Indian pudding and other things made from the best New Orleans molasses. Wa do not have these things now as much as we did then. The housewife doesn't use molasses to cook with as she once did because she can not get the molasses. Kc- finers have been depreciating their product until only the poorest grades of molasses can be had, and they
THE GENERAL ADVERTISER 113
are bought only by the poorest grade of housewives. The better sort of housewife does without molasses and cooks with other things. Suppose a refiner, mak- ing a really high-grade molasses, should can it so that it could be protected and named, and should advertise the brand. The use of molasses for cooking would then be resumed.^
Maj)le-sirup is a product to which justice has never been done. If any one could secure a steady supply of real maple-sugar, the kind that comes right out of the maple-trees up in the Vermont woods, and would can or bottle it, preserving the delicate maple taste, he would build up a big business.
Salt is an article used by every human being. It is as old as the human race, and has so little variation as to quality that a case which occupied the attention of the courts recently, is in point. The receiver of the ISTational Salt Company testified in this court that a certain trade-mark was considered a valuable asset of his company, being the salt brand of the best mar- ket and highest price. When the court inquired what caused the demand for that particular salt, which, as the witness had previously admitted on the witness stand, differed in no way from other brands manu- factured by the same company, the witness said : " The demand is due to the extensive and attractive advertising of that particular brand." In other words, it was proved that advertising had made salt more valuable when sold under this brand than the same salt sold otherwise.
At first thought this seems to be a reflection upon
' Since the above was in type a well-known house has begun to advertise canned molasses of superior quality as an experiment.
114 MODERN ADVERTISING
advertising, but is it ? It simply means that the pub- lic can be taught to ask for salt by name, just as readily as it can be taught to ask for any other article of human consumption. There was no intention to deceive the public. The salt company simply sold as much salt under this brand as the public would ask for. It would be possible to put up salt in a special package, in unusually attractive form, and packed in a way that would keep the salt dry and in pulverized form, and make of it a successfully advertised article. Such a step would be a convenience to the public, one of the conveniences brought about by modern adver- tising. This confirms the growing belief in the ad- vertising world that no article which is bought and sold is outside of the pale of possible advertising development.
Starch is an every-day household article. It is interesting to know that the starch now being adver- tised in the magazines so attractively and effectively, Kingsford's Oswego Gloss Starch, which was known in every household thirty years ago, began its adver- tising campaign at that time. Old copies of Scrib- ner's Magazine, the predecessor of the Century, show full-page advertisements of this starch. The page contains one dense mass of type with a view of the factory at the top. It would be interesting to know why starch was advertised then, or why, being once advertised, its campaign stopped, and why having stopped it was begun again. A starch which has sen'cd its purpose for a third of a century and gone into every-day household use, is the kind of staple that will become the bone and sinew of the advertising of the future.
THE GENERAL ADVERTISER 115
The National Biscuit Company is an association of cracker bakers who have combined to manufacture high-grade products. They have given these products a name and trade-mark, and are advertising them to the housewives of the country. That is why you know instantly what you will get if you ask for Uneeda Bis- cuit, Kennedy Oysterettes, Zu Zu Ginger Snaps, ISTa- bisco Wafers and a dozen other cracker delicacies.
Why should the people of this country be more vitally interested in the food they are going to eat than they are in the clothing they are to wear ? They l^ay a good deal more for their clothes and their gar- ments are equally important. They are vitally inter- ested in them but no one has taught them about fabrics. A woman picks out her dress from the dress- goods shown by the salesman. A man picks out the cloth, but he knows not who makes it, and probably never will until some manufacturer of woolen goods is wise enough to give his goods a name and tell peo- ple why they should insist on having their clothes made out of his goods.
This line of reasoning has appealed to the Ameri- can Woolen Company, wdiich may be selected as typi- cal of the general advertisers which are at this moment beginning to recognize the power of advertising as an adjunct to the largest business. While this book is being wa-itten, the American Woolen Company is be- ginning to experiment with advertising. Three lead- ing magazines have been selected for the purpose — a woman's monthly, a man's weekly and a general mag- azine. In each of these the woolen manufacturers are advertising a definite brand of American-made woolen cloth. , So important is this ex})eriment from
116 MODERN ADVERTISING
an advertising- point of view that the first of these advertisements is herewith reproduced.
One of the immediate and direct effects of this preliminary' advertising was shown in the announce- ment bj a department store in Xew York City. This house said in its newspaper advertisements that a cer- tain line of men's suits was made from the American Woolen Company's Washington JN^avy Serge. The retail advertising was the strongest sort of evidence that the advertising of the woolen company had added to the value of their product. Here is the situation as far as this company is concerned : The American Woolen Company is a combination of twenty-seven mills manufacturing woolen and worsted fabrics. This combination is not a trust, but a combination for securing better facilities in marketing goods. The various plants comprise 650 acres having 7,044,- 494 feet of floor space devoted to the manufacture of woolen goods. The corporation is capitalized at $65,000,000.
According to estimates by a writer in the Textile World Record, the total value of woolens and worsteds of domestic manufacture in 1902 w^as about $297,- 000,000, while the income of the American Woolen Company for the same year was given at $35,500,000. This company then is making but twelve and one-half per cent, or one-eighth of the total amount of domestic woolens. Its field, therefore, to be cultivated by ad- vertising, is the other seven-eighths, together with that now covered by the imported woolens which represent really only six per cent, of the value of the woolens used in this country.
The facts which have appealed to the American
[]OST every man has a blue serge suit each year or so. If he has one in the summer he may not secure a heavyweight for winter but, nevertheless, blue serges are always desirable in season or out.
Now there are certain points about blue serges that are important.
It is doubtful if any one wishes to use his suit for a minor the second time he wears it :
THE WASHINGTON NAVY SERGE is not made to shine.
Nor does a man desire the color to fade the first time he appears in the sun ;
THE WASHINGTON NAVY SERGE is pure indigo dyed and the color is absolutely fast.
And speaking of color. THE WASHING- TON NAVY SERGE is not of a light, scream- ing blue but is of that deep, rich blue that we admire so much in the uniforms of our naval officers.
As a matter of fact, this worsted serge is made in strict accordance with the U. S. Govern- ment reauirements and has been adopted by it as its Standard.
If you can't secure it at your jobber's, clothier's or tailor's, write us.
AMERICAN WOOLEN COMPANY
WM. M. WOOD. Vice-Prest and Tteasiua
Boston
THE FIRST ADVERTISEMENT OF THE AMERICAN WOOLEN COMPANY. NOTEWORTHY AS ONE OF THE BEGINNINGS OF TEXTILE ADVER- TISING.
117
118 MODERN ADVERTISING
Woolen Coinpanj arc just as true of silks, cottons, muslins and cambrics, as well as of silesia, farmer's satin, taffeta, hairclotli, buttons, hooks and eyes, buck- les and other articles that go into male and female garments. People ought to know about the goods from which their clothes are made. The manufac- turers have no secure asset in their goods ; they have nothing to protect them ; they are at the mercy of the jobbers, commission men and wholesalers who handle their goods. Even though they have strong, industrial combinations, there is nothing to prevent an equally strong combination being formed to manufacture woolen goods which will be advertised and sold under a trade-marked name, and such a combination could take awa}" their trade.
The advertising of threads and yarns from which goods are woven and of the fabrics themselves of which they are made, will show the greatest adver- tising development of the next twenty-five years. When the time comes that these things are advertised, advertising will assume a permanence enjoyed now only by the oldest and strongest financial institutions. Building material, the flesh and blood of the houses in which we live, affords another great possibility.
Those w^lio are keen students of cause and effect have read in the slump of United States steel stocks an advertising story. The United States Steel Com- pany has a large department in the manufacture of steel beams for skyscrapers. In the last two years an epidemic of ])uilding swept over the country. In New York especially hundreds of new buildings shot up into the air. The tremendous building strikes, both in the East and West, partially paralyzed these enter-
THE GENERAL ADVERTISER 119
prises. Many buildings remained unfinished on this account, and other projects were called off. The de- mands on the United States Steel Company fell off. That its business suffered was shown in the shrink- ing of values in its securities.
It may seem preposterous to say that if this com- pany had advertised it could have kept its business on a better basis. And yet here is a plan which was made for it, and which, it is understood, has since been considered favorably. The number of skyscrap- ers will necessarily be limited, but there is a field for which there will be a practically unlimited demand. This is the manufacture of steel skeletons for two, three, and four story houses both for small towns and in the country. These houses would be made com- plete and shipped to the point of erection and there put together. They would be indestructible, light, strong, durable, taking little bulk in proportion to their great strength and size. All sorts of small plants, factories, warehouses, barns, cold-storage houses and things of that kind would be constructed in this way. There is practically no limit to the use of steel for this purpose. Such a plan would necessitate adver- tising and advertising on the grandest scale.
This little forecast will put a thinking man in line with the present development of advertising. •Too many people look upon it as a method of exploiting novelties — patented articles which neces- sarily must have a small sale and limited field, or which will be easily displaced by some future invention.
It is safe to say that no development in the arts and manufactures will ever displace textile fabrics or
120 MODERN ADVERTISING
the staple foods, and this is already the foundation for the work of the general advertiser in the present as well as the future. Quite a number of products have been advertised continuously for forty years and are well known to-day. Among them are the Wheel- er & Wilson Sewing Machines, Sozodont, Sapolio, Waltham Watches, Gorham's Silver Plate, Coates' Thread, Tiffany, and Thompson's Glove-Fitting Cor- set. Other products which have been before the pub- lic for a long time and are at this writing established business successes, are Walter A. Baker's Cocoa, Eoyal Baking Powder, Mellin's Food, Ferris' Hams and Apollinaris Water.
Kailroad companies are large general advertisers, though, of course, their product is transportation which is delivered by the railroad itself instead of being sold over the counter of a retail store. Figures furnished for 1903 put the total amount spent by railroads in advertising at $1,265,000. Of this amount the New York Central spent $348,457.00 ; the St. Paul, $150,647.00; the Erie, $84,335.00 ; the Baltimore & Ohio, $147,564.00; the Northwestern, $260,947.00 ; the Santa Fe, $251,532.00 ; the South- ern, $76,438.00.
The amount of advertising done by general adver- tisers in this country may be expressed in figures. A coi)y of McClure's Magazine for December, 1904, contained 171 pages of advertising matter for which the publisher received $66,816.00. An average copy of Munsey's Magazine represents $75,000.00 in ad- vertising. The average monthly income of the ten leading magazines of the country from advertising is $344,196.00. This would amount for the year to
THE GENERAL ADVERTISER
121
$4,130,352.00. The monthly income of the Ladies' Home Jonrnal is $135,000.^ '
One thing that must not be forgotten is that no advertising success has been built upon anything but merit — that is, merit in the article sold.
' According to an estimate published in Printers' Ink, the amount of paid advertising carried by each of the leading month- lies for December, 1904, is as follows:
Review of Reviews
Harper's Monthly
Everybody's
McClure's
Scribner's
Century
Munsey's
Country Life in America (cols.).. .
World's Work
Atlantic Monthly
Booklovers
Leslie's Monthly
Metropolitan
Ladies' Home Journal (cols.)
Cosmopolitan
Pour "Track News
Delineator (cols.)
Good Housekeeping
Red Book
The World To-day
Woman's Home Companion (cols.)
Ainslee's
Pearson's
Outing
Success (cols.)
Harper's Bazar
Lippincott's
Strand
Argosy
Ladies' World
Smart Set
Designer (cols.)
Field and Stream
|
AGES. |
Agate lines. |
|
192 |
43,776 |
|
181 |
41.496 |
|
175 |
39,900 |
|
171 |
39,047 |
|
150 |
34,980 |
|
150 |
34,392 |
|
151 |
34,088 |
|
193 |
33,306 |
|
138 |
32,172 |
|
121 |
28.628 |
|
120 |
27,732 |
|
114 |
25,992 |
|
101 |
23,432 |
|
114 |
22,800 |
|
90 |
20,520 |
|
88 |
19,712 |
|
146 |
19.640 |
|
84 |
19,152 |
|
84 |
19,152 |
|
80 |
18,560 |
|
86 |
17,273 |
|
69 |
16,284 |
|
67 |
15,580 |
|
64 |
14,999 |
|
96 |
14,626 |
|
64 |
14,626 |
|
63 |
14,490 |
|
50 |
11,860 |
|
49 |
11,398 |
|
53 |
10,693 |
|
45 |
10,372 |
|
75 |
10,129 |
|
36 |
8,565 |
122 MODERN ADVERTISING
In a recent ninuber of one of the magazines a strong arraignment of the methods of the Royal Bak- ing Powder Company was made. It was shown that not only good advertising bnt corruption was nsed to create a prejudice against alum baking powders and to enhance the belief in Royal Baking Powder. Some of the methods employed were said to be wrong ; others were questionable, but nevertheless a great amount of good advertising was done for Royal Baking Pow- der, and the fact remains that the baking powder itself was good. To sum up the statement of the author, it was said that the Royal Baking Powder Company had capitalized at twenty million dollars an impres- sion that alum in baking powder was bad.
One can pick out many successes — that is, appar- ent successes — which have been made to start, move and feel the thrill of life by good advertising. Good advertising has been able to keep them alive for a while, but no amount of advertising has been able to make them permanent. It will always require more advertising than the profits justify to keep a poor article on the market.
All schemes which are avowedly and frankly swindles are bound to be found out in the long run. All commercial articles overadvertised or advertised as being better than they really are, will react in the end. Take the whole business of proprietary reme- dies. These have been on the market for a long time. Many articles are known as proprietary remedies which are of unusual merit. Some of these are to-day as staple as the regular drugs of the pharmacopoeia — for example Pond's Extract, Scott's Emulsion, Vase- line, and Listerine, which are proprietary remedies.
THE GENERAL ADVERTISER 123
There are others which are of the class that make the most scrupulous ])ublieations refuse to accept them for advertisiug. Such advertising is now confined to inferior magazines and newspapers. It is question- able, to say the least, and the beginning of their end has come.
Taking strictly commercial articles — foods, cloth- ing, building materials, toilet articles and household goods — there is no great success which has not been built upon a meritorious article. Think how much easier it is to advertise advertising in the Ladies' Home Journal than to advertise advertising in hun- dreds of minor women's publications. Think how much stronger the story of the Butterick Trio than of other publications, legitimate in their way, but which have not the same service to offer. It is a thousand times easier to sell space in all the Butterick publi- cations at seven dollars a line than it is to sell space in a weak and comparatively unknown woman's paper at fifty cents a line.
It is easier to get a high price for the best goods than a ridiculously low price for inferior goods. This doesn't seem so at first thought, but simply try it on yourself. Think how many things can be said about the Ladies' Home Journal compared with the things that can be said about a number of other publications against which you have an instinctive prejudice that they are not really worth anything.
A business man once said : " Look what Oster- moor has done with a cheap mattress. Now you could not do that with a fifty-dollar hair mattress." Oster- moor's success with his mattress came because he ad- vertised it. The reason more were sold than of high-
124 MODERN ADVERTISING
priced, high-grade hair mattresses was because uo man making a high-priced, high-grade hair mattress was advertising it. It is easier to sell a good hair mattress at fifty dollars than it is to sell a felt mattress at fifteen dollars, but the makers of the high-grade goods do not know this and do not believe it. Therefore they leave the field to the man who makes the cheaper goods. This is not saying that the Ostermoor mat- tress wants merit. It is saying, however, that price is no obstacle to advertising provided the goods are worth the price. Mr. Ostermoor gives full value for his fifteen dollars. Any man who gives full value can get his price.
Kecently the makers of a roofing tin began to ad- vertise it in the magazines. It is the highest priced roofing tin made, but the maker asks and gets this price because each sheet of tin is dipped by hand into the tin mixture until the coating of tin upon the black plate is thicker than that found upon any other brand of roofing tin. It is very easy to advertise such a tin as that. The higher price is no obstacle. About a tin which is preeminently better than any other roof- ing tin made there are hundreds of things to be said. The only thing against it is the fact that its price is a little higher than the next best tin, but that is a minor consideration when you can make the strongest and most sweeping assertions about the tin and then back them up by proof. The reason for these facts is not far to seek.
In any advertising, except direct mail-order ad- vertising, the cost of the publicity is gi-eater than the profits on a single sale. If no one ever came back for a second cake of Sapolio after buying the first.
THE GENERAL ADVERTISER 125
Enoch Morgan's Sons would be losing money. The first advertisement appears in the magazines, but the second must be the goods themselves. If any house- wife buys a cake of Sapolio and finds it not as repre- sented, she will never buy it again. 'No amount of magazine advertising can get her to repeat her first purchase. It costs anywhere from fifty cents to fifty dollars to get a customer to make the first purchase, according to the amount of money to be invested in the article. Sup^wse that the manufacturer pays a dollar to induce a woman to go to a grocery store to buy Sapolio at five cents a cake. If the purchase ends there, after he has paid the dealer and the jobber their profit, his net loss is about ninety-eight cents. But suppose the woman who is attracted to Sapolio by a magazine advertisement buys an average of three cakes a week for her household for fifty years. Then the dollar to start that chain was a good investment.
There is an instance in which a product used in cooking failed although a large amount of money was spent in advertising it. The article had real merit. It was a compound, however, which deteriorated when allowed to stand too long — say, several months. It must be used while fresh. Circumstances compelled the company making it to manufacture a large quan- tity which was not handled immediately. When it was finally put upon the market, it had lost its strength. The advertising induced the housewife to buy. One trial convinced her that it was a fraud. But it was not a fraud, for if these goods had been remixed they would have been just as effective as ever. Although three hundred thousand dollars were
126 MODERN ADVERTISING
sjjent in trying to sell these goods, the article was a failure because no woman could be induced to buy a second jjackage.
The actual value of a trade-mark to a widely- advertised article is shown in the history of Ivoyal Baking Powder, The actual value of its trade-mark has been variously placed at large sums of money. It is said that a certain corporation once offered twelve million dollars for the use of the word '' Ivoyal " as applied to baking powder, and the offer was refused. The company is incorporated for twenty million dol- lars, and its chief asset is the right to use the name " Royal " upon its baking powder. The present Royal Baking Powder Company is a combination of three great baking ]iowder houses — Price, Cleveland, and Royal — and it is now one of the leading general advertisers of the country. The Royal Baking Pow- der Company maintains its own advertising depart- ment which attempts to perform the functions of an agency. It will only use publications which will grant the advertising agent's connnission, so that it is generally understood that where the Royal Baking Powder advertising appears a special price has been granted.
The beginning of baking-powder advertising is interesting. About forty years ago an itinerant physi- cian, known as " Doctor " Price, peddled various pat- ent medicines through small Illinois towns. These simple remedies were peddled from house to house and over the same ground year after year iintil " Doctor " Price established considerable acquaintance with the housewives in these towns. In this way he found that the greatest trouble with which the housewives
THE GENERAL ADVERTISER 127
in those dajs had to contend was securing fresh yeast from which to make light bread and cake. So fre- quently did Doctor Price hear this story that he set his ingenuity to work to produce some article which would take the place of yeast. He had some knowl- edge of chemistry which he had used in the prepara- tion of his proprietary remedies, and so knew some- thing of the principles of Cream of Tartar and Soda, and from these he made the first baking powder. As soon as he was satisfied that his own preparation was practical he added it to his stock, and this was the beginning of the baking-powder business.
So instantaneously successful was the new prep- aration that the maker began to realize that it was worth while exploiting it on a larger scale. He knew something of advertising and the wonderful results obtained by it, but he had very little money. He went to a friend of his, a banker at Waukegan, Illinois, and asked him to buy a half interest in the baking powder, and the deal was made. Headquarters were established in Chicago, and the first baking-powder advertising was begun. After the business w^as final- ly established Price bought out his partner's inter- est for a sum which is reported to have been a million dollars.
Just as soon as it was proven that the baking-pow- der idea was a success, imitations sprang iip imme- diately. It was a very simple matter to analyze Doctor Price's baking powder and imitate it, but al- though many baking powders were made, only one became a competitor in advertising. This was known as Hoagland's. Iloagland owned a drug store in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and at first made baking jDowder 10
128 MODERN ADVERTISING
for Doctor Price ; so it was very easy to secure the formula. Iloagland was even more impressed with the possibilities of advertising than Doctor Price, and devoted every cent he could scrape together to pub- licity. During the year that these two men were fighting each other, what was then a large amount of money was sjocnt in newspaper and magazine publicity.
Meanwhile, two men named Cleveland, in Albany, were putting up a baking powder and had just bcmm to advertise it in a small way. The result of the fight was that several of the companies changed hands. The Price Company secured Iloagland's powder, and Hoagland secured the Cleveland powder. Then came one of the most aggressive advertising campaigns in the history of advertising. Contrary to every one's cxj)ectation, neither company was ruined, and the various promoters of both powders retired ricli. The final result has been that the two leading powders, Price and Cleveland, have been absorbed by the Royal in the twenty-million-dollar company. When this was effected the volume of advertising shrunk to some ex- tent, but the Poyal Company finds it necessary to maintain a certain amount of good publicity all the time.
Behind the conservative, strong, convincing ad- vertising of Royal Baking Powder which is appear- ing in tlic magazines and newspapers to-day is this turbulent, exciting, convincing advertising history. Behind each and every national general advertiser there is a long history of success and failure, of a l)attle against competitors, of a battle against poverty, for these men were engaged in demonstrating that
THE GENERAL ADVERTISER 121)
general advertising was a great and profitable in- vestment.
The story of Mellin's Food is another typical illustration of the way in which a national adver- tiser is made. To-day Mellin's Food uses pages in all the leading magazines, especially those going to homes and women. Its characteristic style of advertising is to show a photograph of a real child which has been brought up on Mellin's Food, to give its name and generally a testimonial letter from the mother or father. This and the phrase, " We are advertised by our loving friends," is the entire advertising of this company, which has been exceedingly successful. Thomas Doliber, President and Treasurer of the Doliber-Goodale Company, has this to say of the story of Mellin's Food advertising:
" When I first became acquainted wuth Mellin's Food, it was on the occasion of a mother coming with her almost dying baby and saying that she had used Mellin's Food in England, but she had used all she had brought over and must have more immediately. ' Cable for it,' said she, and I did so. I was im- pressed with her earnestness ; I investigated ; I found that Mellin's Food really had merit ; and I became interested in it. I thought it over thoroughly, and I made up my mind that I would investigate further. Just what I would do I could not. I must first con- sult my senior partner, who was a hundred miles away on his vacation. Should I wait until he re- turned ? ]^o, I had made up my mind, and why wait ? I took the train the next morning and went to see him, not knowing how soon he would return. He returned that very morning. Finding I had
130 MODERN ADVERTISING
missed him, I took tlie train Lack, and went innnc- diately to bis house, and at night talked the matter over with him, and told him what 1 felt I nmst do. He did not share my enthusiasm, hut my own enthusi- asm was not chilled by his lack of it. This was more than twenty years ago.
" The result of this interview necessitated a jour- ney abroad, which I immediately undertook for the purpose of introducing Mellin's Food in America. There have been many obstacles and privations and drawbacks, but in all the time that I have been con- nected with this enterprise, I never lost my courage but once, and that was for only a few hours, when the machinery, from which much was expected, and which had been set up at a large expenditure of time and money and thought, was found to be ineffectual, and had to be pulled to pieces and made over. I never had any doubt of ultimate success — in fact, I might better say that I never thought of success. I put my hand to the plow, and I believe I can say I have never looked back, and from the beginning, down to the present moment, there has never been any cessation of energy in pushing it forward.
" It required an outlay of more than $25,000 be- fore the first bottle of Mellin's Food was made, and to me at that time it was a large sum. All the money I had, and all I could get hold of, went into Mellin's Food. I gave up a comfortable residence in the city and moved to a small house in the suburbs. Once — I say it with a blush — I offered to transfer the life- insurance policy, which had been made for the benefit of my family, to an advertising agency as security for further newspaper advertising.
THE GENERAL ADVERTISER 131
" As for the kind of advertising that has done the most good, if 1 knew what it was, 1 wouhl be glad to tell it, but I do not know. I have not forgot- ten that the very first effort I made to advertise Mellin's Food was in the form of a small three- or fonr-line reading notice which I put in the Boston Transcript. That notice was read by a lady visiting at the White Mountains. She at once wrote to ask me if I knew of my own knowledge, whether this was a good article : not what the manufacturers said about it, but could I personally say that it was good. I rejjlied that I could, of my own knowledge, say that it was a good article. She had a very sick child. The Mellin's Food was sent to her, and she administered it to the child, and the child immediately began to recover. She wrote for more Mellin's Food ; she wrote a most warm and appreciative letter. I asked her if I might have jDcrmission to publish it; she gave the permission, and I published it. She was a lady prominent in society in Philadelphia, and the publication of her letter did a great deal of good.
" One day I called upon Mr. Niles, the advertis- ing agent, and told him that I had seen a most inter- esting letter which Miss Gilder had written from ISTew York. She was then writing the Brunswick letters for the Boston Saturday Evening Gazette. She used in that letter, a most apt expression, one that I have often made use of since, that Mellin's Food was al- ready well known, but that ' there were always new babies and new invalids ' to whom it must be made known. Mr. Niles said sarcastically, ' I suppose you are going to file this letter away and do nothing witli^t ? '
132 MODERN ADVERTISING
" I said, ' Xo, I am going to put it into every prominent paj)er in every large city in the United States/ and I did so, and the resnlt was distinctly felt.
" I have said that I conld not tell what particnlar thing lias helped or has helped the most. There has never been a moment, sleeping or waking, since I started this enterprise, that I have not thonght or dreamed of some way to increase it, and make it bet- ter known. I have often waked up in the night with an idea, and I would lie awake and develop that idea in my mind. I soon found that that plan was endan- gering my health. Then I would have a block of paper and a pencil, and a candle and matches on a chair at my bedside. If I waked in the night, as I often did, with an idea that was useful about the business, I would immediately get up and note it dowm. This would enable me to crystallize that idea and keep it where it would be safe, and I could then go back to bed and go to sleep.
" What has done it ? It has been newspaper ad- vertising; it has been the giving away of samples; it has been personally visiting sick children ; it has been corresponding with despairing mothers ; it has been issuing circulars of advice ; and it has been every other means that I have been able to think of; but what particular one has done it, I do not know.
" It has been done from affection ; I may truly say it has been done with love. I dearly love chil- dren, and it has been, and is, one of the joys of my life that my business has been one to minister to the comfort and happiness of children. That it has done so, T know partly from the letters that have come to me. They have been a source of delight and pleasure.
THE GENERAL ADVERTISER 133
They have come unsolicited ; they have come in large ninnhers from the medical profession ; they have come from all ranks of society, and from all callings. The Empress of Germany consulted her Cabinet, and with their advice and consent, in the gi'atitude of her heart, she caused a letter to he written stating that her sons, the Royal Princes of Germany, had been successfully reared on Mellin's Food. This was impressive; I ap- preciated it, and I appreciate as well the illiterate letter from the mother in humble circumstances, to whom her little boy is as dear as the German Princes are to the Empress, and to whom the writing of a let- ter is a mighty effort, but she strikes it red hot from the anvil of her heart because she must express her gratitude, and because the maternal instinct is strong and she feels she must help other mothers who may be in a like perplexity.
" Once a well-known Episcopal clergyman of Massachusetts, whose testimony is unimpeachable, wrote me that he always kept in his study, ready at hand, a bottle of Mellin's Pood ; that he never was called to baptize a dying child without taking along with him a bottle of Mellin's Food ; that he always administered it to the child ; and that it has been the means in his hands of saving the lives of many children." ^
These are some of the stories that lie behind the successes of the general advertiser. They are a few from among a large number. They show as clearly as can be shown, what sort of men are general advertis- ers, and what sort of products they market by adver- tising. Before a business can be advertised on a large ' From Fowler's Publicity.
134 MODERN ADVERTISING
scale it must possess both an advertising manager and an advertising agency. Not every large advertiser possesses an advertising manager, but in any case some member of the company or firm must decide questions pertaining to advertising, which makes him in some sense the advertising manager. Neither does every national advertiser work through an agency, but the exceptions are rare, and are becoming rarer. The next two chapters will treat of the qualities and duties of the advertising manager, and the work of an adver- tising agency.
CHAPTEK VII
THE ADVERTISING MANAGER
The advertising man's position varies in income from a fifteen-dollar-a-week writer of advertisements to a fifteen-tlionsand-dollar-a-year manager. Three different fields of work are covered by the general ex- pression " advertising man." He may be an advertis- ing manager, an advertising agent or an advertising solicitor.
An advertising manager is the man employed by a manufacturing company and by many large retail stores to manage its advertising. An advertising agent is a man who primarily places advertising for his client in magazines and newspapers, in street cars and ujx)n bill-boards. In the modern sense he docs more than this: he prepares the advertising and makes all the plans which are parts of an advertising campaign. He cooperates with the advertising man- ager of the company in selling the articles manufac- tured by that company. An advertising solicitor is the representative of a publication, who calls upon advertisers and solicits their advertising. Every newspaper and every magazine has one or more such representatives. These men are required to know a good deal about advertising. The more they know, the better they succeed.
Probably the most interesting of these fields is
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136 MODERN ADVERTISING
that of the advertising manager. When advertising work is talked about we hear of the advertising man- ager and of the advertisement writer. The two are often confused, but there should be a sharp distinc- tion. A man who is handling the advertising of any large concern, such as a breakfast-food company or a department store, generally employs one or more writ- ers, just as he hires one or more artists, to carry out his ideas. ]\Ien who work for the advertising man- ager follow the policy mapped out and dictated by him.
It is a great qualificatiim in advertising work to be able to write straightforward, clean-cut, forcible, common, every-day English, but this is not absolutely essential. ]\rany men have been successfiil as adver- tising managers who were not good writers in an ad- vertising sense. The man with the ability and the opportunity to manage the advertising of a large house seldom has the time to write. As the possibilities of the development of business by advertising increase, the position of the advertising man is becoming more and more identical with that of the sales manager. The modern advertising man is the sales manager with an enlarged op])ortunity.
The advertising man who locks himself in his own little den and knows nothing of what the business is doing, who does not scrutinize the daily or weekly sales sheets, who does not know the exact state of the trade in any given ]iart of the country, who can not instantly locate every traveling man, and who does not talk with these men when they are in the office, and hear from their own mouths all the stories that are told them by the trade — such an advertising man
THE ADVERTISING MANAGER 137
is not an advertising man at all ; he is a sort of special clerk, whose work ranks with that of the bookkeeper, stenographer, collector, or credit man, in other de- partments— important places in their way, but not executive.
The advertising manager of a retail store is an important position, but this particular field will be treated in this book under retail advertising. In gen- eral advertising the advertising manager is the right- hand man of the general advertiser.
There are four departments in a big manufactur- ing business which should be placed upon one plane. The first is executive, represented by the president ; the second is the manufacturing, or the production of a product which will compete with similar products manufactured and marketed under similar conditions elsewhere ; the third is the selling, represented by the sales agent who has entire charge of the marketing of the product, and the fourth is the advertising, the manager of which combines within himself the quali- ties of both the executive and the sales agent. He will, of course, have nothing to do with the manu- facturing, except that he should be familiar with it from beginning to end. The advertising man of to- day must have executive ability. He must put his own plans into operation.
When a large manufacturing house hires a man to take care of its advertising, one of two things is true. Either the man is competent, in which case he should have full swing, or he is incompetent, in which case he should be discharged. There is no middle ground.
Intelligent clerks in an office are often useful in
138 MODERN ADVERTISING
advertising work. A bright girl or a bright boy can look after a '' follow-up " series, can send out form letters at the right time, and can answer a large list of diiferent kinds of inquiries, etc., resulting from advertising. All this is clerical and routine work. It requires intelligence, but not special training in advertising.
It is hard to find combined in the same man op- timism and hard-headedness. It is not often that a sanguine temperament, vivid imagination, great crea- tive power and the other qualities which go more or less with the equipment of a genius are found joined to a cold, shrewd, calculating, business-like character. Yet the ideal advertising man is a combination of both.
Seymour Eaton, founder of the Booklovers Li- brary, the Tabard Inn Library and the Tabard Inn Company, is a man whose plans are as interesting as they have been profitable. He is a perfect mine of ideas and seems inexhaustible. In each case he has done the impossible. When he initiated the Book- lovers Library, he planned to use the Congressional Library as a nucleus. Congress was amazed ; there was no precedent for doing such a thing, and there- fore his request was refused. But Seymour Eaton was not a man wdio went by precedents. He decided to build up his library out in the open without any material and without any capital. He went to the largest advertising agency in the world and asked its he] J). That agent was wary. The scheme seemed too visionar}''. Another advertising agency whicli ac- cepted his account has it to-day, and it is one of the most i)rofitable accounts it has.
THE ADVERTISING ALVNAGER 139
When the Booklovers Library was paying about two hundred thousand dollars a year, Mr. Eaton started the Tabard Inn Library, and now his latest enterprise is the Tabard Inn Company which will market various products such as teas, coffees and den- tifrices. As a third step in the chain these various interests have been united in one corporation called the Tabard Inn Company. This company has been incorporated at ten million dollars, representing the interests built up entirely with the good ideas and good advertising of Seymour Eaton. Of this man as an advertising manager, Robert Barr says in the Sat- urday Evening Post :
" Seymour Eaton is a man of genius. Last year he wrote a short story which is probably the strong- est piece of work of its kind that has been produced this decade. This was done at odd moments, merely as a side issue and for recreation, because his serious work in life is the writing of advertisements. His vast business is managed by others, under his general direction, of course, for the advertising department is too vital to be trusted to any one's brain but his own. He paid a flying visit to England a short time since, but, being a very busy man, could not spare more than a week or thereabouts for Europe. He seemed to think that as the world was created in six days that length of time was ample to see a very small portion of it. In talking about the matter of publicity he said to me : ' An advertisement should be news just as much as a cable despatch from the seat of war.'
" He was told by wiseacres that his style of ad- vertising might be all right for America, but it was
140 MODERN ADVERTISING
no good in Great Britain. ' 1 can't argue about that,' said Mr. Eaton, ' because I don't know. I arrived yesterday, and I sail back next Tuesday, but in the interval I'll find out.' ' You may ask So-and-so, and So-and-so,' said the wiseacres, naming prominent men who are supposed to know. ^ I sha'n't trouble them,' said Mr. Eaton; ' I'll ask the British public' There- u}X)n he tossed off an advertisement that cost him $500 to print. The result was that the Post Office Depart- ment was compelled to put three extra postmen on his beat, and before five days had passed more than $0,000 in cold cash had poured in upon him. ' That's the answer,' he said. ' The old country isn't dead yet,' and so he sailed away and left us."
Such a man can not manage the financial details of the structure which he is able to rear, nor should he. If he could, he would lose along the imaginative side, the side which brings such things into creation. He needs for his manager a man who can not see practically an inch before his financial face, a man to whom business is business, who has the ordinary training of the ordinary, successful merchant, book- keejx^r or banker, a man to whom financial credit is everything, who can listen unmoved to the pleas of debtors, who makes of his collections a god, and who can show beautifully arranged, symmetrical balance sheets at the end of any given week. The man who can do these things never created a plan which dis- turbed the commercial world, never originated a new idea, never laid out a successful })lan of advertising and never gave birth to a new scheme.
The reason it is so hard to reach tlie great manu- facturers of to-day is because the men with the ability
The Tea-drloklDS Centre of the World
I spent six weeks in London last summer ; largely ar the London offices of The Booklovcrs Library, I found that the library had the afternoon tea habit firmly estab- lished. Work stopped at four o'clock. Tea was served to everyone, from the packers in the basement to the titled aristocracy who frequented the library resting and reading rooms and whose carnages waited on Hanover Street. I called it tom-toolery ; a waste of employe's time ; and I told the manager so. An American irtstitution should be managed on American lines. But in a week I changed my mind, and in two weeks I had the tea habit fully developed myself. At four o'clock thereafter I had tea served in my office on the second floor, and I had the pleasure almost daily of ordering an extra cup or two for American callers. Employers of labor in England arc required by law to give their "help" this extra half-hour, and in nearly all the large I served nght in the place at the expense lere isn't anything much more refreshing on in the middle of the afternoon; that i good : and there is no place in the world where tea is so uniformly good as in England. This explains why we asked a London house to put up the Tabard Idd Tea: the largest importers and acknowledged the best tea blenders in Great Britain. I am told (and I believe it) that the three blends of Tabard Iim Tea are uniformly (he best teas ever shipped by this house to the United States. Americans who have enjoyed the teas o( England say "wc never get anything like this in America." You can have it now quite as good as the best in England. The Knight's BlenJ sells for $1.50 a pound; the Priaren' Blend for $1 .00 ; and the Citri of Oxford-, Blend for 6tx:., named after three of the Canterbury Pilgrims. Packed in half-pound tins and sold by all grocers carrying high- grade goods. Each package contains a little booklet giving directions for making. For tired people, people who over-strain in one way and another, there is probably nothing so healthful or so restful as a cup of good tea. made right -and served right. It is the best "between- mcal" beverage that ihe'world has yet discovered.
of the house, than a cup of t is, if the I
Telephone your grocer for a sample pound of Tabard Inn
Coffee and a sample half-pound of Tabard Inn Tea.
A TYPICAL ADVERTISEMENT OF SEYMOUR EATON FROM THE TAB- ARD INN NEWS. NOTE HOW THE SIGNATURE IS USED TO GIVE PERSONALITY. THIS APPEARS IN ALL HIS ADVERTISING.
141
142 MODERN ADVERTISING
to make these businesses what they are, are deficient in imagination. They have to be thus deficient in order to accomplish what they have done. But they need an outside force to convince them that there are fields of commercial supremacy undreamed of by them. They have attained great success by following a worn channel, the beaten track. They have done so better than others, but still have made the conven- tional business progress. Advertising wears new channels, treads new paths and brings unconventional success. It is the advertising manager who opens to the manufacturer these possibilities.
According to statistics recently collected, the aver- age lawyer earns two thousand dollars a year ; the top- notch lawyer gets two hundred and fifty thousand. The average architect earns twelve hundred dollars a year ; the top-notch man two hundred thousand dol- lars. The average physician earns fifteen hundred dollars a year ; the to])-notch man one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. Manifestly the men who earn the highest salaries can be counted on the fingers of the hand. The others are of the rank and file.
There are thousands of young men and women in this country earning salaries as small as they could earn in almost any class of commercial work, but who are classed as advertising men and women. They bear the same relation to the men who are making advertising history that the draughtsman in the ofticc of a noted architect bears to the senior mcnd)er of the firm. A great many of them will never get any fur- ther. Some of them will, however, but they are the men wlio ai)})reciate the fact that the ability to write
THE ADVERTISING MANAGER 143
is only a small part of tlie equipment of the competent advertising man,
A great many exaggerated rmnors about the sala- ries of advertising men have been in circulation. Like all new pursuits, advertising has suffered from the en- thusiasm of its friends. The large salaries one hears about are earned by men of unusual ability who would earn just as much money in any profession or busi- ness. Many of the leading advertising managers are directors in the companies whose products they adver- tise and share in the earnings.
Some years ago the advertising press became quite excited over the fact that the advertising manager of a certain house making a well-known standard pro- prietary remedy received $10,000 for a series of fifty- two, four-inch newspaper advertisements. Finally the writer in question made public the statement that even if he did receive that amount, he gave half of it to the physician who gave him all the technical information upon which these advertisements were based. It is said that this man finally secured a sal- ary of $20,000 a year for his services from another large medicine house. It is significant that to-day this same man has become a failure ; he owes thou- sands of dollars, and has never succeeded in getting on his feet again.
One well-known writer of business literature, the creator of the Wanamaker style of department-store advertising, is now a free-lance Avriter of business announcements. He has no establishment or agency, uses only one style of copy, for which style he is famous, and it is said that he receives very large fees for his work. After the Wanamaker work, his great- 11
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est success has been perhaps a series of magazine advertisements for the Murphy Varnish Company, several of which are reproduced in this book. Not only the style of the advertisement, but the broad principles upon which the advertising itself was con- structed, makes this campaign a noteworthy one. The public does not buy varnish. It buys articles that have been varnished — carriages, pianos and fur- niture. This company's advertising was an attempt to teach people to discriminate in the matter of var- nish. It became so successful that few advertising men now realize that it is eight years since they have seen a ]\Iurphy varnish advertisement. Besides the Murphy series, this same writer has been known for the Macbeth lamp-chimney series.
Another writer of advertisements is paid $15,000 a year by a doctor who advertises ; but the average advertising manager earns from $3,500 to $7,500, and $10,000 is exceptional. The chances are as good as, but no better than, in other professions.| To be a successful advertising manager, a man should possess certain natural qualities and have had a certain train- ing. First of all, he should have an innate, instinc- tive and intuitive knowledge of human nature; he should know how peo])le think and feel and what will reach them. Whether lie knows anything about psy- chology or not, he should understand the psychologi- cal processes — the habits of tliought of the people. Then he should know all about the magazines and newspapers, what kind of people they reach, how much they cost, and whether the price is a fair one. He must know all al)out street-car advertising and those who liaudle it; about the price for bill-posting
THE BEST GOODS
means simply the goods most perfectly adapted to their use. If you wrote your tailor to make up a suit of clothes, on your measure, of his best cloth, he would not know what to do. He has a dozen cloths that are best for a dozen uses, but you must explain — street suit? dress suit? hunting suit? bathing suit? It makes a difference. Not more differ- ence than the use to which you will put varnish. If you wrote us for a can or a car-load of our best varnish, we should be as helpless as the tailor. What is it for? That is the first question to settle. A varnish that is perfectly adapted to one use, may be utterly worthless for some other use. Each varnish is made for some particular use, as each cloth is.
Murphy Varnish Co.
Head Office :. Newark, N. J.
Other Offices : Boston, Cleveland, St. Louis, 4nd Chicaga
Factories: Newark and Chicago.
A ''powers" magazine advertisement.
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146 MODERN ADVERTISING
aud painted signs; how to distribute plates for print- ing advertising in thousands of newspapers at once, so as to have them all appear on a given day ; be able to interview the manufacturers and others who man- age big businesses and find out their strong talking points, and be able to suggest a plan for advertising any kind of goods that can be advertised.
An advertising manager must be a man who can combine business and advertising instincts. Such a man, if he is the ideal man, should be taken into the inmost counsels of his company. He should be closely associated with the sales manager, or he should be the sales manager. He should outline the policy that he proposes to follow, and he should lay that plan before the ])residcnt or the board of directors or whomever has the veto power. After the general policy is ac- cepted, it is the advertising manager's business to carry it out without delay or hindrance. He contracts wdth a reputable advertising agency for the placing of his advertising. He arranges with the bill-posting and street-car advertising comj^anies for mural adver- tising. He or his assistants l)uy printing, engraving, electrotyping, lithographing and other mechanical suj)plies. He employs designers to draw pictures, and writers to prepare " copy." He deals with concerns which prepare advertising plates, and which distrib- ute, handle, display or carry advertising. It will be his business to pass on the plan, decide if it is good, get in touch with the people who can carry it out, and determine whether the price to be paid is a fair one. He will know about his product, how it is made, and he will know especially how it is sold. He will be familiar with the machinery by which that
THE ADVERTISING MANAGER 147
product is handled from the time when it leaves the plant all the way forward through the commission man, wholesaler, jobber, drunnner and retailer, to the consumer.
For some reason the mere ability to express one- self in words has come to be believed to be the leading qualification of an advertising man. This is un- doubtedly due to the fact that lately the ranks of ad- vertising men have been recruited from the ranks of newspaper and other writers. Of course, the reaction was bound to come, and it has come. The advertis- ing man of the future will not necessarily be a writing man at all, but will be a man who will know where to buy his writing, just as he now buys his designs. The advertising man of the immediate future and even J)f _the^j3resent is a salesman. Only the other day a large concern was looking for several advertis- ing men. What it wanted was not a man who could write and design so much as a man who coidd sell goods — a man who could cooperate with the sales manager of the business, who could dictate a good selling plan and put it into operation. Such a man was at liberty to buy copy and designs wherever he could buy them best. Even if the advertising man has the ability to write exceptionally well, it doesn't mean that he shoidd do the writing — merely that he should be able to judge its value.
Mere writing is a small part of the work of the successful advertising man, because it is so much more important for him to have something to write. A glance at the advertising in any leading magazine will show that it is deficient in the use of words. We see many striking and unusual designs but we see very
148 MODERN ADVERTISING
few well-written advertisements. Usnally when we do see a well-written advertisement, it is in type with- ont any design. In fact, one falls natnrally into the hahit of reading the advertisements which are w^ithout designs nnder the impression that the " copy " was nniisnally good, and it generally proves to be so. Take, for instance, the Macbeth lamp-chimney adver- tisements: these have had a persistent individnality.
A young man wdio feels prepared to take np advertising w'ork slionld stop and ask himself if he has any other qualification for becoming an adver- tising man than the desire to be one ; if he is depend- ing merely upon an ability to write, either actual or alleged ; if he believes he can begin the work of an advertising man with any less rigorous preparation for it than he should need to begin the profession of a doctor, lawyer or architect ; if he knows that it takes four years at a professional school for a lawyer, doc- tor or architect to become competent, to make merely a beginning, and that even then the real training of such a professional man comes within the first two or three years of his professional life ? It takes seven years to give a professional man sufficient training to command a salary large enough to live upon, lias the young man in question had seven years of train- ing ? Has he sold goods by means of advertising for .1 period covering seven years ? Has he actually spent the money and seen the results ?
No man is an advertising man who has merely sat in an office, prepared " copy " and sent it out. ^^^len he has been there long enough to see the results of that " copy " coming back, when he has been around the circle a good many times, and has made a good many
THE ADVERTISING MANAGER 149
expensive mistakes, learned something from them and profited by them, then he begins to be qualified to spend other people's money with the idea of getting results. Even then the most he can do is simply to watch each campaign for its own symptoms and its own development.
No matter how many cases a lawyer has won, he has no guarantee that he can win any given case in the future. N^o matter how many times a doctor has performed an operation for appendicitis, he can not say with certainty any time that any given operation will prove successful. iSTo matter how much experi- ence the advertising man has had, every new adver- tising campaign he begins is to some extent experi- mental. Of course, it gets less and less experimental as he adds to the list of things that he knows. The successful lawyer and the successful doctor have a certain experience upon which they can ahvays count. They at least can eliminate a larger number of un- certainties than the beginner. That is all that the best advertising man can do.
The reason why there have been so many incom- petent advertising men is because the business man who pays for the advertising is no better judge of the work from the start than the advertising man him- self. The business man makes two mistakes, or rather, he makes one of two mistakes. He either se- lects a man who is able to do his advertising success- fully, and then refuses to let him do it, or he selects a man who is incompetent and gives him the entire responsibility.
Even now to a great many men who are advertis- ing, or who should advertise, iidvertising is more or
150 MODERN ADVERTISING
Icfjs of a nn^sterj, as iiiiich of a mystery as some of the methods of doctors, hut this mysterv is heing- dis- sipated just as it is heing' dissipated in other profes- sions. The time will come when no doctor will write a prescription in Latin ; when a lawyer's hrief or other legal paper will he written in the language of the people. It is no longer necessary for the professions to surround themselves with this haze of mystery as if some incantation were being performed. The com- mon citizen is learning something about the laws of health and the laws of his country every day. As he learns more, the profession of a lawyer or doctor will become more practically useful, hut at the same time less mysterious. In the same way the principles of advei-tising are going to be better knoAvn and, there- fore, the advertising that is done hereafter is going to he more effective.
The work of an advertising man will be no more mysterious to those who have businesses to advertise than the work of a bookkeeper, cashier or sales man- ager. Then the man who really can do the work will do it, l)ut it will be easier to eliminate the class of writer who is merely a man who has failed at some other work, who is discontented with the work he is doing, or who thinks that advertising work is a short, easy ]iath to making money. As a matter of fact, the successful advertising man works as hard as, if not harder than, men in any other professions.
It is probably no more true of an advertising man than it is of any successful professional man, that he is born rather than made. Inherent and innate abil- ity counts in any profession, and, of course, it counts erpially as much in advertising. On the other hand,
THE ADVERTISING MANAGER 151
it seems impossible that correspondence schools of ad- vertising conld ever turn out any great number of successful advertising men. It is not expected of cor- respondence schools, nor for that matter of schools of mining engineering, civil engineering or design, to turn out any great number of successful mining en- gineers, civil engineers or designers. The most that the great majority of such students can hope to do is to secure positions at the foot of the ladder in fhese professions. Those who have ability will climb to the higher places.
The most that can be expected of a correspondence school of advertising is that it will give to the most receptive of its students an inkling of this work, so that they can secure positions at the foot of the ad- vertising ladder and then work up in the same way. It is true, as the advertising school prospectus claims, that there are a great many positions open for adver- tising men to-day. Every agency is looking for a man who can get the business of advertisers, and to get such business in this day and age presupposes knowledge of advertising as it is done. The same agencies Avant men to prepare advertising matter be- ginning with the product itself and its method of sell- ing, and working through from this foundation, to the advertising of it in the magazines and newspapers which are the selling force.
The magazines and newspapers are looking for solicitors who condiine the business-getting instinct with a knowledge of the construction of advertise- ments. The solicitor who can talk to the customer about his advertising problem intelligently, and who can make a pertinent suggestion about the way in
152 MODERN ADVERTISING
which the advertising should he written, lias a hetter chance of getting the husiness nltimately, than the man who is a solicitor pure and simple.
By far the most attractive position of all is that of the advertising manager of a manufacturing jilant. Only a few such companies are advertisers and hence only a few such jjositions are now being filled. It is undoubtedly true that not only will a great many more plants in lines already being advertised avail themselves of this method of getting business, but whole new departments of manufacture never before considered to be advertisers are going to be added to this list, and each one of these will require the ser- vices of a man capable of engineering the possibili- ties of that company from an advertising point of view, and of constructing the advertising matter in preparation for such a possibility.
The best way to present a true picture of the ad- vertising manager's work is to suppose or describe this method in connection with some mythical com- pany manufacturing a product which can be sold over the entire country, and which can utilize all methods of publicity. ,^1
It would be necessary for the successful adver- tising manager to know, first, the exact possibilities of the product, to know just how much was being sold and how distributed; the price to the jobber and to the consumer; the number of traveling men and the territory each covered ; the number of companies manufacturing a similar or competing article, and the exact output of their factories. He would study every bit of advertising used by competitors ; he would be personally acquainted with every traveling man and
THE ADVERTISING MANAGER 153
would know the exact resources of his trade, as well as the standing of the lumse itself in the trade.
Some large advertisers ride roughshod over the feelings of the trade which handles their goods. They go on the tlieory that if their advertising is good enough, they can compel the dealer to sell their goods. This is true, but a certain amount of friction must be overcome if the trade is unfriendly, and friction is always lost power.
As an instance of this, a happening in the break- fast-food trade a short time ago is pertinent. Two of the largest grocery houses in New York City de- cided not to carry a certain food. The manufacturer of this food was notoriously inconsiderate in his treat- ment of the trade, and the trade was notoriously un- friendly toward him. These two grocery concerns had a number of branch stores and controlled between them the largest part of the high-grade trade in jSTew York City. So they decided to combine in refusing to handle this breakfast food and instead would force a product of their own.
For three months all inquiries for the rejected food were " turned down " by the clerks, but at the end of that time public opinion became so strong that the two houses took the food back as one of their staple products. In a way this seemed a triumph for the ad- vertiser, and it was, since it proved that a large con- cern can not stand in the way of public opinion cre- ated by successful advertising. On the other hand, the advertiser lost the trade of two large chains of stores for three months, and this must have amounted to a considerable sum.
As soon as the advertising manager has completed
154 MODERN ADVERTISING
his study of business conditions, he prepares a phm which inchides a certain amount of magazine and newspaper advertising, street-car cards and bill-boards. In addition to this certain sums of money will be devoted to schemes for house-to-house distribution, either of printed matter or of the goods ; for a public demonstration in the department stores or other places where purchasers assemble ; for prize offers of various kinds, beginning with the well-worn and effective plan of offering presents for a certain number of cou- pons concealed in the package or cut from box fronts and labels, and working up to the modern idea of concealing separate letters spelling the name of the article in the different cartons and offering prizes for complete words spelled by these letters. These things belong to the advertising manager's field and the num- ber of such plans is infinite.
Having decided upon the avenues through which the advertising appropriation shall be expended, the advertising manager ai)])ortions the money auiong the different mediums, and finally makes a com])lete list of all the publications and other mediums that will be used, and the cost of each. In making out such a list, he is helped by the various agencies which handle the advertising. For instance, his regular advertis- ing agency will prepare an estimate for the placing of the magazine and newspaper advertising. In the case of a company employing its own advertising man- ager, the latter usually prepares his own copy and designs, often cooperating with the agent to get the best results.
Some agencies handle l)ill-board advertising also, but usually the advertising manager deals directly
THE ADVERTISING MANAGER 155
with the bill-poster's organization throiigli some one of its twelve created agencies. A list of the stands, of their size, number of sheets, and cost is made. Street-car advertising is handled in the same way, through concerns which represent the different parts of the country. Usually contracts are made with con- cerns which paint permanent signs. The wdiole thing, when added together, representing the covering of the whole country thoroughly, means an appropriation of anywhere from $150,000 to $750,000.
After the plan has been completed and the appro- priation made, the matter is generally submitted to the company's j^i'esident or whoever has the veto power, and being approved, the advertising manager or the agency directs wn*iters and artists to prepare matter in keeping with the settled policy.
The methods are as different as the articles ad^ yertised. A great number of sessions are required on the part of all interested in order to pass on the vari- ous phases of the advertising, its policy, and its style — whether or not it will be illustrated, and if illus- trated, whether or not certain characters should be created that can be used for all the advertising; whether a vaudeville idea should be used, or straight, sound reasoning ; whether preferred and special posi- tions shall be paid for in the magazines and news- papers, and other questions of a most subtle and in- definable character, but still questions which must be decided one way or the other, and upon wdiich decision really rests the success of the advertising.
All of these matters being settled, the " copy " is prepared and it is generally the work of the agency to put it into form to be sent to the magazines. The
156 MODERN ADVERTISING
designs at least must be engraved. The best agencies and advertising managers prefer to set np their own type, sending afterward to the publications the ad- vertisement all ready to print.
For newspaper work there exist complete organi- zations to attend to the entire work of duplicat- ing the different advertisements and distributing the plates to the twenty-three thousand newspajiers of the country. It is optional whether the checking of ad- vertisements shall be done by the agency which placed the advertising, or whether it shall be checked in the office of the advertiser. Many advertising concerns have a complete force of their own and keep the same publications on tile to check up the bills of the agency. Some national advertisers place their magazine ad- vertising through an agency, and their newspaper advertising direct. In many cases the advertiser can get better prices in the newspapers than the agency can get for him.
The advertising manager must see to it that the traveling men of his company are kept carefully posted on the progress of the advertising. They are supplied with copies of all the magazines and news- paper advertisements and they are informed in what cities he will find street-car and bill-board advertising. On tlie other hand, the traveling man is the best source of information for the advertising manager, as to whether bill-board and street-car contracts appear to have been well carried out, of the state of the trade in regard to the article which he sells, of the progress of competitors' articles in the same town, and of the advertising they are doing.
The modern advertising manager has in his office,
THE ADVERTISING MANAGER 157
a complete system for keeping his hand npon the pulse of the connnercial world as it affects his product. He will have a complete set of maps mounted in a cabinet — a map of each state or part of a state, according to the minuteness of the country covered. He will have a set of colored tacks which can be inserted in different towns, villages or cities on these maps. For instance, a blue-headed tack will stand for newspaper advertising in a certain town, a red-headed tack for street cars, and a black-headed tack for bill-boards. He will then have tacks of different shape and color to represent his traveling men, which will be changed daily by his assistant, so that he can see at a glance just where all the travelers are on a given morning.
Suppose he finds at his office on that given morn- ing, a telegram from a traveling man announcing that a leading competitor has increased his advertising in a certain town, and in consequence the competing ar- ticle is gaining ground. The advertising manager, like a general commanding a campaign, as soon as possible increases the size of space he is using in the local newspapers where the competing article is being pushed. He will contract for more space in the street cars, and in other ways strengthen their showing in that town, or he may send to the traveling man or to the trade in that town, a special offer or induce- ment to strengthen the pushing of the article. Often this must be done simultaneously in several parts of the country.
The advertising man must be a man of resources in order to prepare plans and carry them out, and he must be ready to act in all sorts of emergencies
158 MODERN ADVERTISING
which arise in conducting any national campaign, especially where competition is strong.
Neither the advertising manager nor the travel- ing man of the company can really cheek np all the street-car cards or bill-boards. Perfect verification of these is hard. Photographic vouchers are used for bill-boards and painted signs. As a rule, all such con- tracts are honestly carried out, but the faithfulness of the different bill-posters and the men handling the chain of street-car cards must be relied upon.
The good advertising manager travels over the country himself as frequently as possible and notes not only the effect of his own advertising, but also that of competitors and of other advertisers as well. Advertisers have attained success in so many ways that no outline, even a typical one, will fairly repre- sent this subject.
The character of Sunny Jim was established as an advertising character through the advertising of Force. It has never been settled satisfactorily in any- body's mind whether the creation of Sunny Jim was or was not a good advertising feat; whether Sunny Jim advertised Force or whether Force advertised Sunny Jim. Still, the inception of this character is of considerable interest to advertising men, and it has undoubtedly obtained wider publicity than any other one character in advertising.
The original Sunny Jim jingle was written by a young \voman in Xew York City wdio had done some rambling newspaper work. Another young girl, a friend of hers, drew the first two pictures of Jim Dumps and Sunny Jim. This first verse, while by no means faultless metrically, and while not so good
THE ADVERTISING MANAGER 159
as siibscqiicnt ones, really established the form and style of the succeeding verses.
The writer and artist sold their inception to Will- iam B. Hunter, who was then advertising manager of the Force Food Company. Mr. Hunter bought the idea without any definite intention as to its use. Af- terward, it occurred to him that a series might be made of these jingles for street-car use. He called upon the original writer to furnish twelve more verses which she did. The artist, however, did not care to illustrate any more Sunny Jim jingles, so the work of illustrating was turned over to a commercial artist, who retained the spirit of the original drawing and produced the various ones for this set.
These jingles were not as smooth metrically as Mr. Hunter wished, and the work of revising them was offered to an advertising agency who not only did this work, but supplied, in one way or another, all of the succeeding versions of the Sunny Jim series, both as to designs and matter. The jingles were writ- ten hj many writers ; in some cases, by writers of na- tional reputation. A large number of artists contrib- uted to the designs. It was the aim to secure a great deal of humor in each picture. The artist most ca- pable of giving this touch to the drawing lacked the particular style which was essential to the Sunny Jim drawings, therefore, he was paid for a rough, penciled sketch incorporating the spirit of the design which was furnished by an artist who could draw the sort of line which had been used for Sunny Jim.
The point to be noticed is that the idea of making a series of Sunny Jim was the thought of Mr. Hunt- er, the advertising manager, and that the particular 12
160 MODERN ADVERTISING
merit of creating the character of Sunny Jim is in- cidental. Any one of a dozen ince]itions wonhl liave done equally well ; the value of this particular one has been entirely due to its reputation and wide publicity.
An advertising manager's success depends upon his knowledge of such matters in what to do, and what not to do. His freedom to carry out his plans also depends upon his relation to his company. Many a well-planned campaign is spoiled by the efforts of various members of a company who insist upon the exploitation of their own ideas. On the other hand, many companies have been wrecked by allowing an incompetent advertising manager full scope. Prob- ably no other business depends so fully upon the tem- perament and disposition of the man doing the work. On the other hand, the most successful advertising managers of to-day are the men who are delivering the most exact results from a given appropriation.
CHAPTER VIII
THE GENERAL ADVEETISING AGENCY
This term " agency " or " general agency " is not adequate in describing properly tlie functions of the general advertising agency. It lias survived from the earlier days of advertising, when the term ex- pressed a meaning as complete as could be desired.
In a former chapter it was shown how the agency idea was started by men who made contracts with one or more newspapers to be their sole representative in a given city or a given territory. Such an agency is to-day known as a special agency. With the growth of advertising, however, conditions have so changed that the general advertising agent is now practically the agent of every publication in the country, in that he is paid a commission on all the business he sends them.
It is even now a much-discussed question whether the advertising agent is the agent of the publisher or the agent of the advertiser. Although this has been debated for several years, it is still brought up from time to time. The publisher of a magazine whose circulation is one of the largest in the country, asserts that the agent is an employee of the publisher. He claims this because the agent receives a commission on all the business he sends to that publication, and that, furthermore, it is his duty as an employee to work for that publication, to fight its battles,
161
162 MODERN ADVERTISING
to break down any prejudice that might be found against it and to place it on every list where he con- scientiously can. lie goes even farther than this and says that the time will come when the publisher will insist upon directing the advertising campaign which the advertising agent is supposed to manage for his client.
The fallacy of this argument can be best illus- trated by the statement that there are something like twentj'-three thousand publications in this country. The advertising agent under this interpretation would have twenty-three thousand employers, and when he secures a new advertising account the proper thing for him to do would be to rent a convention hall, call in his twenty-three thousand employers, and let them direct him in the jjlanning and execution of the campaign. If this be not correct, the rule must then be applied only to those publications to wliose offices the agent, when he gets a new account, will go and allow himself to be directed as to how the account shall be handled. Of course, in doing this, he will obviously become disloyal to his twenty- two thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine other employers and will bring down upon his head their wrath. One must bear in mind also that the adver- tising agent, on this theory, would be the employee of the street-car advertising and bill-board eomi)ani('s, the painted-sign people, the trade papers and various other advertising mediums of more or less value.
The only logical answer to claims of this kind is that the agent is not an employee of the ])ublieations at all. He is a sort of wholosah'i- oi' niiddlciiian, as far as the purchase of sjjace is concerned. As a whole-
THE GENERAL ADVERTISING AGENCY 163
siller he gets the jobber's price, which is ten or fifteen per cent, below the retail price.
The manufacturer or advertiser engages the agent on account of tlie special training he has had, or is supposed to have had, in successfully increasing the business of the manufacturer by selling his goods through the mediums of type, ink and paper. He be- comes an additional selling force and a part of the sales department.
No one will question that the commission basis for handling an advertising account is illogical and unsatisfactory. It is a condition of the business which grew out of conditions that existed when advertising agent really meant what is known as a special agent — a man who represented exclusively one or more publications in a given city or territory.
The publishers of the country pay a commis- sion to advertising agents because the agents are, and always have been, the greatest creative force of new advertising, and because the publisher wants this creative force to continue in operation, knowing full well that as the volume of general advertising increases, he will secure his share of patronage in pro- portion as his publication is valuable. The real point of the controversy, however, is often lost sight of, and that is owing to the fact that publishers have not been sufficiently discriminating in their recognition of agents ; they are doing business with many who are really a menace to the advertising business. Every publisher feels reasonably sure, though he may not be in position to put the matter to proof, that he has on his list of recognized agents, men who employ doubtful methods^ who have neither the intelligence,
164 MODERN ADVERTISING
ability uor "willingness tu lunulle an advertising ac- count to the best advantage, and men avIio consider only tbe profit tliey can make ont of a manufacturer during the life of their first contract.
Thousands of manufacturers have become dis- couraged and have dropped out of the field altogether, simply because they had the misfortune to fall into the hands of an incompetent or a dishonest agent. The publishers lose more heavily than any one else from such a condition, because they get but one year's business from an advertiser who, if his account had been properly handled, would have been a permanent customer.
Almost any one seems able to become an adver- tising agent and to be recognized as such, and once an advertising agent, always an advertising agent, whether the methods employed are helpful or detri- mental. Some little quibble is occasionally raised as to a new advertising agent needing to have at hand three accounts before he will be recognized, but the restriction is not enforced in spirit or letter.
If the publishers of this country, and especially the magazine pul)lishers, would revise their lists and confine them to agents who actually create business, their troubles would be lessened and their business would be placed upon a firmer basis. If such action were taken, it would mean a better protection to manufacturers whose business the magazines are con- stantly soliciting.
The Quoin Club, which is composed of the adver- tising managers of the leading magazines, has done much to settle many of those problems. Their sessions are not public, and therefore, no accurate knowledge
THE GENERAL ADVERTISING AGENCY 165
of their deliberations is available, but the general impression among advertising men seems to be that there is a lack of uniformity as to policy, due possibly to the fact that the members of the clnb represent conflicting business interests. It is to be hoped, how- ever, that as the organization grows in strength, its work will result in greater and more permanent im- provement. It is quite certain that its efforts meet with the approval and support of the better class of advertising agents.
The modern advertising agent, therefore, if he is an employee at all, is the employee of the advertiser, but his relation to the advertiser is more like that of a lawyer to his client. In order to be in position to produce the best results, his relation to his client should be a confidential one. The client should be willing to tell him his business secrets. He should know the volume of business, the margin of profit, the territory now being operated, and the reasons why that territory can or can not be extended. He should be familiar with the arguments made by the salesmen. He should know what competition must be met and what methods are employed in that competition. He should have a clear view of the market. In short, the advertiser should be prepared to place before his advertising agent a digest of his entire business.
The advertising agent, after considering all these things, constructs an advertising plan based upon the kind of salesmanship best calculated to produce re- sults, which plan will, in his judgment, increase the volume of sales and extend the territory of those sales. He should be independent of publications, although indirectly representing them. He should select pub-
166 MODERN ADVERTISING
lications solely ui)on their merits for the exploitation of the goods he has under consideration and in accord- ance with the appropriation which he deems necessary, and which the niannfactnrer has decided to place at his disposal. This appropriation shonld always he considered as an advertising investment and shonld not under any consideration be classed as a business expense. It is jnst as fnlly a legitimate investment as an investment in real estate.
Having decided npon the framework of his plan, the advertising agent then proceeds to carry out the plan. In doing this, he must have talent or some natural aptitude for making the same kind of an im- pression upon the reader as the personal talk of a sales- man would make. This does not mean the ability to write smart catchphrases or to play upon \vords, although it frequently happens that a catchphrase will lead the reader into the body of the text by exciting the interest of one who is casually turning over the pages. At other times this is done by means of a pertinent or attractive illustration.
The advertising agent, therefore, must know something of type, something of art, something of the various kinds of engraving and printing. He must know much of business and a great deal of sales- manship. Probably the best training a young man could have who is about to embark on this business, would be first to have sold goods on the road or across a counter. George Dyer, a well-known writer of advertising matter, has discussed the advertising agency and its functions luminously in the columns of Mahin's Magazine.^ He says :
' This magazine has ceased to be published
THE GENERAL ADVERTISING AGENCY 1()7
"The institution known as an advertising agency is often a i)uzzle to the new advertiser. His interest in publicity may be entirely due to some agent who has labored long and zealously to awaken him to new business possibilities. Yet when it comes to buying space he is troubled by the thought of the agent's commission.
" He learns that there are scores of agents of little finan- cial responsibility. He is perhaps solicited by some who are pretty light-weight specimens, judged by his every-day knowledge of men and affairs. He is astounded to learn that desk-room and a few new accounts are the only quali- fications necessary for an agent, and that recognition means that this individual, who perhaps has not the money to pay for the space, can buy it ten per cent, cheaper than the man who uses it.
"Now the advertiser very likely prides himself upon his capital and his credit and their power to command the best price in every market. He is accustomed to buying at first hand and not from jobbers and commission men. He re- sents the superior buying advantage enjoyed by the agent and is sure there must be some way to eliminate him from the transaction.
" Note the steps by which this new advertiser reaches the customary wrong estimate of the province of the advertising agency. He is told that the publications will not take his business direct, cash in advance, and let him have the agent's commission — but he is incredulous.
"He thinks perhaps a rebate scheme can be worked. However he tries, he finds the magazines firm in their policy. There is no question that they protect the agent.
"'Now,' he argues, 'there must be a weak spot some- where; let us see if the agents will be equally stanch in protecting the publications.' He oper:s his business to competition and sure enough he finds the desired elasticity. One agent will rebate three per cent., another will split his commission even, and so on down the line — until he finds some one who will consent to merely bill the space each month for one or two per cent.
168 MODERN ADVERTISING
"But still the advertiser is not satisfied. He sets nothing in return for tliis one or two per cent. Viewed in the hght of other commercial transactions, it is an unjust tax which he is forced to pay to an interloper, a man who stands between him and the pubUsher and exacts a penalty on every dollar he spends in the puljlications — and by what token, pray? Merely the fact that the publisher is pleased to extend to this irresponsible third party a recognition denied the advertiser?
" In the eyes of the business man the condition is a totally unnatural one. He has httle respect for a business subject to such abuses, and his suspicions are usually confirmed by the poor results of his advertising.
" He is under no sort of obhgation to the agent who is placing his business at two per cent. He receives little serv- ice from him, and that little were better not done. He is not the agent who did the missionary work in the first place and interested him in advertising. The two-per-cent. agent creates neither new customers for the publisher nor new trade for the advertiser.
"The agent, though voluntarily agreeing to cut his com- mission, is usually dissatisfied. He resents the low price though he does nothing to earn it. He will try to recoup himself at the expense of the advertiser whenever opportun- ity offers.
" An agency with an organization can not be maintained on less than ten per cent. If it has no organization, its serv- ices are dear though furnished free.
" Nothing for nothing has been the rule in the business world since the beginning; but the advertiser who pays next to nothing will get worse than nothing in return. One of the greatest A\Tongs done by the cut-rate agent is that he diverts the buyer's mind from the main issue — the success of the advertising.
"The beginner is likely to have very vague ideas of ex- ploiting his proposition. All he can see is that two per cent, is less than ten per cent. — that is a tangible thing. The conditions necessary to successful publicity are vague and intangible.
THE GENERAL ADVERTISING AGENCY 169
"While venturing on such uncertain ground he grasps eagerly at whatever he can understand of actuality. He can see no harm in saving everything possible at the start. It does not occur to him that considering the number of advertising failures, fifty per cent, would be a small price for a guarantee of the success of his proposition.
"Of course he can not obtain such a guarantee, but ten per cent, is little to pay for the best advertising insurance available, and mind you, this ten per cent, is paid by the publisher.
" In other instances the new advertiser, not knowing how or where to begin, reaUzing his own weakness and utter de- pendence, gladly admits the agent's right to the full com- mission until he thinks he can do without assistance; then looks for a cheaper agent, and of course, pays the usual penalty of over-smartness.
"The fact that this advertiser's first success is soon turned into doubt or defeat is small consolation for the agent who spent hours of study and weeks of work in the effort to launch him aright. Every good agent is accustomed to this sort of thing. Flagrant ingratitude, we might call it if we were discussing the moral rather than the business side of it — and for the advertiser it is very bad business.
"There can be no question as far as the advertiser is con- cerned that the good agent is entitled to all the commission the publisher pays him.
"He is of greater assistance to some advertisers than others; but I contend that the intelligent agent is worth a great deal more than he gets, even in an instance where the advertiser furnishes all his own cuts and copy, forwards complete plates direct to the publication, selects his own media, and does the checking in his own department.
" It is plain that no one besides the advertiser himself is as much concerned in his success as the publisher. Adver- tising that does not pa)^ is soon discontinued. A discouraged customer is hard to start over again. Every advertising failure, whatever its cause, works ill to the business. Under the present system the agent is the employee of the pubUsher;
170 MODERN ADVERTISING
paid to spread the gospel of publicity, paid to nurse new advertisers into life, jjaid to help them live and thrive after they are started.
" If we regard the agent as the employee of the jniblisher, then we must criticize the publisher for the indiscriminate selection of his representatives.
"We must say to the publisher, 'Nine-tenths of your employees are not fitted for their work. Either because of laziness or inability they give away part of the wages you pay them in order to shirk the work you expect them to do. You arc paying nine-tenths of your employees to make mis- chief and confusion, undoing the work of the other honest tenth who keep faith with you and help the advertiser.'
"I contend that the present agency system is a peculiarly vicious one because it fosters a lot of parasites who thrive under conditions which they in no way help to create or maintain.
"By setting aside a miscellaneous lot of men and paying them merely for being agents you put a premium upon in- competency.
"The agency system may undergo some radical changes, but the agent will never be eliminated. The publisher can not afford to do without him, no more can the advertiser. The agency business, like every other business, is the product of conditions. It is, in some instances, as good as it can be made with existing handicaps and in others as bad as the publisher will permit it to be.
"The questionable agent finds his support in the ques- tionable publisher. When the reliable publishers decide to support the competent agents we shall have better adver- tisers and more of them.
"The whole question is up to the publisher, and I want to say that the procession is waiting for the newspaper. The leading newspaper publishers to-day are fostering what is bad in the agency business. Their want of fairness, of honor and of business judgment in their attitude toward the cred- itable agent is only to be compared with their utter lack of dignity and decency in their treatment of each other.
THE GENERAL ADVERTISING AGENCY 171
" If a score of the leading metropolitan dailies would unite in refusing recognition to the unscrupulous, irresponsible and incompetent agent, they would do more than any other force at this time to right abuses in the advertising business. They would render an incalculable service to themselves. They would do a great work for the success of every new advertiser — and some of the old ones."
Seymour Eaton, in a speech before the Spliinx Club, an advertising organization of Xew York City, said that advertising methods which brought success in the past would not necessarily bring success in the future ; the methods employed last year would prob- ably not be fruitful this year ; the methods used this year would probably fail next year. Conditions are constantly changing, and the successful advertising agent must be alive to the situation or he will be likely to lose money for his client.
Xo advertising agent should allow himself to be influenced or coerced in favor of any publication. Nothing should count but the presentation of the claims of a given publication and his calm judgment on those claims. He should steadfastly regard the interests of his client. lie should ignore friendships and special pleading. He should select those mediums which his judgment, training and experience lead him to believe to be the best for the purpose in hand.
The publisher keenly appreciates the work of an advertising agency along these lines, but realizing that many agents on his books have not this necessary equipment, he is often in a quandary. Some pub- lishers offer the advertiser a service of their own. They employ writers and designers, and either sell or give the service of these men to the advertiser. Such
172 MODERN ADVERTISING
methods, however, can only liope for success with very limited apjiropriations, in which one publication only is considered. It must necessarily follow that after the advertiser is strong enough to stand alone, he must either handle the work himself or employ a disinter- ested advertising man. This, because he can never shake off the lingering suspicion that the publisher is an interested adviser — interested too largely in the sale of his own advertising pages. The publisher is in business to sell advertising sj)ace, and as a success- ful merchant his natural inclination must be to sell all the space he can to a given advertiser before he permits other publications to be considered.
The advertising agent has, or should have, nothing to sell. He is a professional man in a sense, and should have but one interest — the success of the adver- tising campaign upon which he is engaged. lie should concentrate his energies on making this campaign a success just as a lawyer concentrates his energies in handling a case in court toward securing a favorable verdict for his client. The only verdict an advertising agent is pleading for is the verdict of the people in favor of the goods he is advertising.
The development of the advertising agency has covered a period of upward of fifty years. In the beginning it was plain merchandising, the profes- sional clement not entering into consideration at all. The agent represented certain publications and he had something tangil)le to sell — which was white space. The advertising rates at that time were flexible. He got as high a price as he could. He sold to the highest bidder.
George P. Kowell, the publisher of Printers' Ink,
THE GENERAL ADVERTISING AGENCY 173
a weekly paper devoted to advertising interests, and one of the originators of the advertising agency busi- ness, says that no one will ever be able to make as much money out of advertising commissions as he himself did, meaning by this that the percentage of profit on any given appropriation was greater in the beginning of the advertising business than it is to-day.
The first men who founded advertising agencies reaped a good profit, the profit that comes to the orig- inator of any good idea. As advertising agencies multiplied, competition forced a gradual decline in commissions, until the percentage has approached a fixed point. This fixed point has settled somewhere between ten and fifteen per cent.
It seems now to be generally accepted that the commission of from ten to fifteen per cent, is a just and right compensation to the agent, and sufficient to allow him a proper margin for giving good service to the advertiser. These terms seem to be acceptable to most of the agents.
Advertising men, however, can be divided into several classes : First are those operating on the old lines and who are little more than brokers in space. Their service is not particularly valuable. They re- lieve the merchant of the details of correspondence with publications, of adjusting rates, of the bookkeep- ing, checking and billing incident to an advertising campaign. Such agencies are not in position to earn the maximum commission, and realizing this, they are willing to share their commissions with the advertiser. Unfortunately, in doing this, they go into direct com- petition very frequently with the modern advertising
174 MODERN ADVERTISING
agent to whom the brokerage in space is merely inci- dental to the professional side of the campaign — that is, the planning of the campaign itself, the prepara- tion of '' copy," the " follow-up " system and the gen- eral study of the market.
To the modern agent, even the maximum commis- sion is an inadequate return for the service he renders- unless the appropriation is a very large one. In order to protect the better agency, a niuuber of the leading magazines have made it conditional — and in some cases have a written contract to that effect — that ten per cent, shall be the commission and that no agent shall divide this ten per cent, commission with his clients.
The abuse of the splitting of commissions applies almost altogether to the magazines, as newspaper com- missions and newspaper rates still vary so much, and as the newspapers themselves are not, as a rule, very particular on this point and set up no iron-clad con- ditions. But the action of the magazines by no means settles the question. In the first place, is ten per cent, a fair and just compensati(m for planning an adver- tising campaign ? Second, if it is, just what shall be done for that ten per cent. ? Each agent settles these questions for himself.
If ten per cent, is charged for the mere clerical act of placing the advertising in the magazines, check- ing up the insertions and rendering bills for sjiacc, it is a high rate. But if it is tlie amount charged for real advertising service in making plans, selecting tlie mediums, and preparing the " copy " and designs, the ])rice is low — in some cases too low to be profitable. An appropriation varies. It may be oiio thousand or
THE GENERAL ADVERTISING AGENCY 175
one Imndred thousand dollars. Yet, within certain limits, the amount of work to be done for the one- thousand-dolhir phm is almost as much as that for the one-hundred-thousand-dollar plan.
When an agent places a four-inch advertise- ment in The Ladies' Home Journal, his commis- sion is thirty-three dollars and sixty cents. If he places a page advertisement in The Ladies' Home Journal, his commission is four hundred dollars. It is easily possible that the design and " copy " used in the four-inch advertisement ma}' involve just as much time, labor and thought as the page adver- tisement. Then the agent gets respectively thirty- three dollars and sixty cents and four hundred dollars for the same amount of service. Of course, these things even themselves up in handling a number of appropriations, but it will be seen that a compensation fixed by this basis is illogical and unfair. Meanwhile, the better class of agencies make an arrangement whereby they maintain the ten per cent, commission with an extra charge for designing, engraving, com- position and all the mechanical details incident to an advertising campaign. This is more businesslike than the other method and is the present status of the matter.
Manifestly the labor of writing an advertisement is more or less uniform. A design can cost anywhere from five dollars to a thousand dollars, and generally it is for the advertising agent and the advertiser to decide how expensive a design — or in other words, how good a desig-n — should be used. The opinion of the agent in such cases is important, as it is his duty not to recommend any unnecessary expense; but on the 13
176 MODERN ADVERTISING
other hand, he should not fail to insist upon any ex- pense that seems necessary.
In distinction from this, there are many agencies which make it a business to place magazine adverti- sing at a cut price. This cut price is sometimes lower even than five per cent. But the agency which at- tempts to place a large volume of business on such a small margin is a menace to the publishers. Within the past two years there have been many failures, some of which have shown assets of practically nothing and liabilities of upward of a million dollars.
Many manufacturers who have decided to adver- tise and who lack a thorough realization of the differ- ence in agencies, select the list of publications decided upon, the size of space and the number of insertions, and then secure bids. Such bids, of course, cover nothing but the mere placing of the advertising in the magazines.
To secure these contracts, agencies of the broker- age type — ignoring the agreements and signed con- tracts with publications — will bid as low as they must go in order to be favored. And if the list is a long one and contains many weak magazines — that is, mag- azines whose lowest net rate no one is sure of — they can often make themselves good. As long as the bulk of the commission, even at two or three per cent., is more than ten per cent, on the magazines that insist upon ten per cent., the agent is safe.
Even the advertiser who intends to turn over all his advertising work to an agency sometimes insists upon bids. Manifestly, except where a difference in rates can be secured, the agent who secures the con- tract at five per cent, is agreeing to give the same
THE GENERAL ADVERTISING AGENCY 177
service for which another Avould charge ten per cent. As the cost of space can not be cut with the better magazines, the agency must necessarily " cnt " the quality of its service. The laborer is worthy of his hire. The advertiser is not going to get the same service from an agency which charges five per cent, commission as he would from an agency which charges ten. ]^o man can deliver a thousand dollars' worth of goods and charge five hundred dollars for the goods and make money, and no advertising agent is going to do it.
There are only two logical solutions of the situa- tion : One is that the publishers must revise their lists and cut out the fungus growth that now retards their progress, doing business only with agencies of whose methods they are in no doubt, or eliminate the agency altogether and make a net rate to everybody, so that no agency or individual will get any advantage w^hat- ever in placing business. Then the advertising agent will charge a definite price for his service, the same as a lawyer or an architect would charge, which will be a certain percentage of the amount of the appro- priation. This would naturally put out of business a large number of agencies which at present have no excuse for existence except as mere placing machines.
The advertising agencies which have the largest mortgage on the future are those whose service in placing advertising is their least important claim for recognition. Agencies resting securely upon a foun- dation of furnishing effective plans, striking designs, good " copy," competent advice and thorough systems, are in the same relation to their customers as is a sal- aried advertising man on the customer's pay-roll. As
178 MODERN ADVERTISING
things are at i)reseut, however, the agency which in- sists npon a straight ten per cent. pUis the cost of designs and mechanical accessories, and delivers the service, is hy far the hest agency for the advertiser. The hind of service snch an agency can give is worth more than ten per cent, of the appropriation, and the agency which persistently refuses to split the commis- sion is the agency which persistently refuses to depre- ciate its service.
The contract which some of the leading magazines require advertising agents to sign is insisted upon not merely for the protection of the better class of agents, hut for the protection of the magazine itself. The cutting 01 rates was recognized by The Curtis Pub- lishing Company, owners of The Ladies' Home Jour- nal and The Saturday Evening Post, as a serious menace to advertising standards. The Ladies' Home Journal at that time being one of the leading adver- tising mediums of the country, representing the largest amount of money and the greatest volume of advertising, together with the largest circulation, formed a part of nearly every advertising estimate.
Unscrupulous agents, in order to get the business, would cut the rate of The Ladies' Home Journal more seriously than that of any other paper, as it repre- sented a larger amount of money ; then having secured the order, they would attem])t to reduce the amount of space to be used in The Journal to less than had been estimated upon. In this way The Journal was discriminated against and suffered.
Tliomas Balmer, then western agent of The La- dies' Home Journal, in colhiboration with a western advertising agent, arranged a form of contract and
THE GENERAL ADVERTISING AGENCY 179
plan by which this difficulty was mot. His plan has been gradually put into effect until every agency recognized by The Ladies' Home Journal has signed the contract. Other leading magazines have contracts more or less similar in form. The Ladies' Home Journal agreement is as follows :
The Curtis Publishing Company, Philadelphia.
Gentlemen : In acting as your agent for the placing of advertising in The Ladies^ Home Journal and The Saturday Evening Post, for which we are now allowed a commission of ten per cent., we hereby agree to maintain your full card rate, less the regular cash discount of five per cent, for pay- ment before the first day of month following date of bill.
We further agree not to quote any price for advertising in The Ladies' Home Journal or The Saturday Evening Post at less than your full card rates at that time in effect, and should this agency, or any of its solicitors or connections, accept business and violate this agreement, either by direct cut in price or by allowance in any form, we will, upon satis- factory proof of same, pay you the full card rate for the busi- ness on which cut or allowance has been made — subject only to the regular cash discount.
We further agree to be held responsible for any quotation of your price at less than your full card rates, whether we do or do not secure the business, upon which the estimate has been made, and we agree that any quotation at less than rates will be considered a violation of our agreement.
It is understood and agreed upon our part that, should this agreement be violated a second time, we are to be dropped from the list of agents for The Ladies' Home Journal and The Saturday Evening Post, and that any future business from us — if accepted by you, will be subject to the regular cash discount only.
We further understand and agree that ten per cent, added to your net rate to us is a cut in your rate, antl further, that
180
MODERN ADVERTISING
the five per cent, discount for cash can not be allowed to an advertiser, unless the advertiser i)ays us as promptly as we must pay you to obtain it.
We further understand and agree that estimates on both The Ladies' Home Journal and The Saturday Er cuing Post must be made separately, and not with a list of publications, where any deviation is made from the publisliers' full card rates at that time in effect.
This agreement is to supersede and cancel all previous agreements on this subject.
Very truly yours,
An agent living np to his agreement not to qnote net rates, not to split commissions, and charging a straight ten per cent, on all bnsiness ]ilace(l, would render to a customer an estimate something like this:
Estimate Fok the
January 1, 1905.
Company.
Ladies' Home Journal,
Delineator,
Saturday Evening Post,
Christian Herald,
Century,
Scribner's,
Leslie's,
McChire's,
Munsey's,
Harpers',
Review of Reviews,
Cosmopolitan,
Commission 10%. .
col. page
12 times.
12 "
12 "
12 "
12 "
12 "
12 "
12 "
12 "
12 "
12 "
12 "
Net.
$2,268.00
2,721.60
2,430.00 2,100.00 3,870.72
13,4.')0 32 1,.34.-) ()3
Gross. 14,400.00 8,040.00 5,400.00
2,250.00 2,700.00
4,492 . 80 5,400.00
11,795.35
$57,478.15
THE GENERAL ADVERTISING AGENCY 181
The net column represents publications which do not insist on an agreement not to quote net rates. Ten per cent, is added to this net price, but nothing- is added to the price for magazines quoted gross.
The tools used by an agent are not numerous. The chief part of his equipment, aside from his pro- fessional knowledge, is a complete and classified set of the rate-cards of all publications — magazines, news- papers and trade papers. To these are added the rate- cards for street-car advertising and bill-posting.
Some agencies in this country carry the rate-cards of foreign countries, such as England and its colonies, but not often. If an American advertising agent has a customer who desires to advertise in England, he usually makes arrangements with some English agency to do the placing in both Great Britain and its colonies. Several American agencies maintain Lon- don offices which perform this service.
The American agency which has on file the current rate-card of every publication in the country, is well equipped to make estimates for its plans. The mere possession of rate-cards is not enough, however. It takes a man expert in that sort of work to make an estimate. When a plan is confined to the leading magazines, this is not so difficult, as the magazine rate- cards are gotten up in a more uniform shape than those of other publications, as, for instance, the newspapers. Still there are a number of variations to be noted.
For instance, some magazines give a discount for three pages used within a year. Other magazines give a discount for six or for twelve insertions during a year. One column in The Ladies' Home Journal
mi-"-
iiere are four col-
^|x.•eial quarter-page
it this always means
and half a coluiiin
- used in the shape of
revails, which makes
lied dollars. In other
part of The Journal costs
^her part of The Jour-
Tiie reason for this
(if'TidJcular c«umn is a more desirable
' ' ' next to rea<ling matter.
b«3me in mind by the
.•stimator who i making up an estimate
. ... . ards of The <enturv and the Butterick
.<iv given herewith a samples of rate-cards of
M-ntativc nuigazines. The Century rate-card is
.. . lor a magazine of tli standard nuigazine size.
V\w one for the Butterick 'fio is a rate-card for three
publicatiitns separately orin combination, showing
re'^-idar rates, special posibns and the like. These
mav be taken as typical of lagazine rate-cards.
It is important for tlKaaoiit to know and keep watch of the fact that a cuonier is entitled to a dis- count for continuous insertins. Often when it is the advertiser's intention to st? out of a given number, bv \jsing a very small advert^emcnt consisting of only a few lines, the minimum nmber always being sjxx^i- titnl bv the publication, the -wer
It is also important that le agen^ t\»Mity his customers of a p^jiosed When a nuiiraziue has reac<?d a c:
yy."
^v.
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NEW Yo»K
MKbr* »M br jl »iKh« wid.
he» wiik.
Sui p»gr% or I-.. Preferred PoMliuo* !
Century Advertising Special Net Sch.-.l K (ur all »pacc» .
Terms : Ca»h.
NoTB. — 3 page* Centura
year, at %3po per paK^'
.. for four paRCS. ' ' I 'niform display
M. Nicholas together, within the ycariy rates in each.
THIS SHOWS V i; \
; v ma.;azink ..k .standard size
--) TYPE PAGE.
182 MODERN ADVERTISING
amounts to a quarter of a page as there are four col- umns to the page. There is a special quarter-page rate of one thousand dollars, but this always means a quarter page two columns wide and half a colunm deep. When the quarter page is used in the shape of a single colunm, the line-rate prevails, which makes the cost of the space twelve hundred dollars. In other words, a quarter page in one part of The Journal costs one thousand dollars, and in another part of The Jour- nal costs twelve hundred dollars. The reason for this is that a perpendicular column is a more desirable form as it is always placed next to reading matter. These distinctions must be borne in mind by the agent or estimator who is making up an estimate for a customer.
The rate-cards of The Century and the Butterick Trio are given herewith as samples of rate-cards of representative magazines. The Century rate-card is one for a magazine of the standard magazine size. The one for the Butterick Trio is a rate-card for three publications separately or in combination, showing regular rates, special positions and the like. These may be taken as typical of magazine rate-cards.
It is important for the agent to know and keep watch of the fact that a customer is entitled to a dis- count for continuous insertions. Often when it is the advertiser's intention to stay out of a given number, by using a very small advertisement consisting of only a few lines, the minimum number always being speci- fied by the publication, the lower rate can be held.
It is also important that the agent should promptly notify his customers of a proposed advance in rates. When a magazine has reached a circulation greater
THE CENTURY MAGAZINE ^;i East 17TH St., New York
Size of Type Page, 7s inches long by 5^ inches wide.
Single Column, 7! inches long by 2i'6 inches wide. The Day of Publication, between 27th and 31st. Advertising Forms Close on 30th of Preceding Month. Price, per page, $250; half, $125; quarter, $62.50. " " line, $1.75, nonpareil. " " inch, $21. OQ. Discounts: 3 months, 5%. 6 months, 10;^.
9 months, 1$%. i year, 25%. Six pages or more within one year at yearly rates. Preferred Positions by Contract.
Century Advertising .Supplement, $1400 to $iSoo for four pages. Special Net School Rate : $15 an inch; J"?- 50 half inch. Uniform display
for all spaces less than quarter page. Terms: Cash.
Note. — 3 pages Century and 3 pages St. Nicholas together, within the year, at $300 per page; /. e., yearly rates in each.
THIS SHOWS A RATE-CARD FOR A MAGAZINE OF STANDARD SIZE (5^X8 INCHES) TYPE PAGE.
183
"The ButtericKTrio
For advertisements with the same copy and key for
THE DELINEATOR
THE DESIGNER and
NEW IDEA WOMAN'S MAGAZINE
Per Agate Line, each insertion $ 7.121
Column advertisements (134 lines) each insertion 954.75
Double Column Advertisements (268 lines) each
insertion 1 ,809.00
Full .Page- Advertisements (400 lines) each insertion, 2,550.00
Special Positions
Second or Third Cover 2,850.00
For all the above, form^* close 10th of second preceding month ; example, Nov. 10 for Jan. Issues.
Fourth Cover (Back Cover) including making of plates, 4,000.00
Drawing due 1st of third preceding month; example, Oct Ist for Jan. Issues.
THE DELINEATOR
I'lihlbhed hj- The Butterick riihlishin^; Co., l,ld.
Per Agate Line, each insertion $ S.OO
Column Advertisements 1 134 linesl each insertion 670.00
Double Column Advertisements (268 lines) each insertion, 1,340.00 Full Page Advertisements (400 lines) each insertion . . . . 1,800.00
Special Positions
Second or Third Covers 2,000.00
For all the above, forms close I'Hh Of second prewdini; month ; example, Nov. 10 for Jun. Issues.
Fourth Cover (Back Cover) including making of plates. . 3,000.00,
Drawing due 1st of third preceding month ; example, Oct. 1st for Jan. Issues.
THE DESIGNER
Published by (he Slundurd Fiishion Compiiny
Per Agate Line, each insertion ■ $ l.SO
Column Advertisements ( 134 lines) each insertion 201.00
Double Column Advertisements (268 lines) each insertion, 402.00
Full Page Advertisements (400 lines) each insertion .... 540.00
Special Positions
Second or Third Cover . 600.00
For all the aljove, forms close lOth of second preceding month ; example, Nov. 10 for Jan Issues.
Fourth Cover (Back Cover) including making of plates. . 900.00
Drawing due lat of third preceding month ; eiamplv, Oct. 1st for Jan. Issues.
New Idea 'Woman's Magazine
Published by the .New Idea Pattein Coniimiiy
Per Agate Line, each insertion $ 1.00
Column Advertisements ( 134 lines) each insertion 134.00
Double Column Advertisements (268 lines) each insertion, 268.00
Full Page Advertisements (400 lines) each insertion . •. . . 360,00
Special Positions
Second or Third Cover . . . 400.00
For all the above, forms close 10th of second preceding month ; example, Nov. 10 for Jan. I.*3ue3.
Fourth Cover (Back Cover) including making of plates . . 600.00
Drawing due l»t of third prwedinc month ; example. Oct. Isl for Jan. I.nsues.
THOMAS BALMER, Manager Advertising Dept.
Butterick Building, New York
WH. H. BIACK, Western Advertising Manager, 200 Monroe Street, Cliicago
THIS SIIOW.S A R.-VTK-CARD WnKIUO Sl'AClO l.S SOLI) HV THK LINE IN I'fHLICATION'.S IIAVIXO TIIHEE CtJLUMN.S TO THE PAGE, AND WHERE A COM liIN.\TION R.\TE IS ALSO GIVEN FOR ALL THREE PUDLICATIONS USED TOGETHER. 184
THE GENERAL ADVERTISING AGENCY 185
than that on which its onrrcnt rate is Lased, it is cns- toniarv to raise its rate, usually giving due notice to both agents and advertisers. Sometimes the privilege of reservation for as long as a year at the old rate, is allowed to actual advertisers who indicate the amount of space they will use in that time. That is, it is reserved on actual orders. Some publications even allow it to be reserved hypothetically with the privi- lege of cancellation, which practically amounts to ex- tending the old rate for another year.
When it comes to estimating from, newspaper rate- cards the real work of the expert comes into play. A knowledge of newspaper rate-cards is confined to few men, and consists more of experience than it does of natural ability. In the office of every large agency handling newspaper work there are on file lists of rates applying to all the newspapers of the country. Newspaper rates are flexible, especially in the case of smaller newspapers. Some newspapers will accept almost anything for their space. It is the business of the estimator of a newspaper agency to know just how little a newspaper will accept, and to devise schemes to beat even that rate down to a lower level. It is customary to send the advertising to the news- paper accompanied by a check in advance, which check is a little less than the lowest known rate at which that newspaper will accept business. In many cases the needs of the country editor will lead him to accept the check and sell his space at less than he has ever sold it before.
It is also customary to offer goods to the coun- try editor in exchange for space. The self-respect- ing, prosperous paper, even though a small one, will
186 MODERN ADVERTISING
promptly refuse all snch tenders and offers. The condition of the newspapers is constantly improving, and such tactics are no longer as successful as they used to be. In the case of the metropolitan newspa- pers these facts are not true to any great extent, al- though special prices and cut rates are given to large advertisers. Inflexibility of rates, either in the case of magazines or newspapers, has never been absolutely established. There are some experienced advertisers who say that there is no publication which does not have a special rate for some one.
A new^spaper rate-card is a very complicated piece of literature because in addition to the regular line- rate and rate for special positions, there is a long list of classified advertising, sometimes as many as fifty or sixty headings, for each of which there is a different rate. The rate-card of the New York Sun, a news- paper knowm to almost every one, is reproduced here- with as a sample newspaper rate-card. The rate-cards of smaller newspapers are similar in form, but not so elaborate :
Cl)c ^un
Daily and Sunday
Advertising Rates
In Effect August 1, 1903. CANCELLING ALL OTHER RATE CARDS
GENERAL DISPLAY ADVERTISING Per Agate Line.
HrX OF PAPER 40c.
WOMAN'S AND SOCIETY PAGES 45c.
LAST PAGE 45c.
PAGE OPPOSITE EDITORIAL 45c.
FIRST AND LAST PAGE OF SECTIONS 45c.
Amusements, Daily and Sunday 50c.
Art Sales and Exhibitions 25c.
THE GENERAL ADVERTISING AGENCY 187
Per Agate Line.
Auction Sales 20c.
Automobiles 25c.
Bankers and Brokers' Cards 40c.
Bank Reports 40c.
Bank Cards — National, State, Savings 40c.
Birth, Marriage, and Death Notices $1.00 each
Bicycles 20c.
Business Notices — preceding Deaths 75c.
Business Personals 40c.
Cemeteries — following Death Notices 40c.
Copartnership Notices 40c.
Dividends, Interest, Elections and Meetings 40c.
Divorce Notices $1 .00 each
Election Notices (Political) 40c.
Engagement Notices $1.00 each
Excursions 40c.
Excursions — Daily by the Month 25c.
Financial 40c.
Hotels — City, Out of Town, European 20c.
$4.50 per line per month, or E. O. D. two months.
Hotels and Restaurants 20c.
$4.50 per line per month, or E. O. D. two months.
Instruction 20c.
$4.50 per line per month, or E. O. D. two months.
Lectures, Daily and Sunday 50c.
Legal Notices 40c.
Memorial Resolutions — following Death Notices 40c.
Mining 40c.
Miscellaneous 40c.
Medical 40c.
Official Legal Notices 40c.
Personals 40c.
Political 50c.
Proposals 40c.
Publications 25c.
Public Notices 40c.
Railroads 40c.
Railroad Time Tables 40c.
Railroad Time Tables — Daily by the Month 25c.
Railroad Time Tables — -Daily by the Year 15c.
Religious Notices 20c.
Resorts — Summer, Winter, Autumn, Spring 20c.
$4.50 per line per month, or E. O. D. two months.
Steamboats and Steamships 40c.
Steamboats and Stcanisliips' Time Tables 40c.
Steamboats and §team.sliips' Time Tables — Monthly. . 25c.
Steamboats and Steamships' Time Tables — Yearly. . . . 15c.
Society and Lodge Notices, following Death Notices. . . 40c.
Special Notices 50c.
188 MODERN ADVERTISING
Per Agate Line.
Sportsmen's Goods 20c.
Trust Companies 40c.
Turf 50c.
Undertakers — following Death Notices 40c.
DISCOUNTS, TIME— DAILY, SUNDAY OR EVENING.— A discount of 10% will be allowed on general advertising that pays the line rate of 40 cents Daily and Sunday and 30 cents Evening when an order is given for 28 lines or more to be used E. O. D. in either paper within a year. A discount of 5% will be allowed on 28 lines or more to be used E. O. D. in six months, or on 28 lines or more to be used twice a week for one year. A special discount of 25% will be allowed when a contract is made for a card in either paper of 10 lines or more to run daily for one year or every other day for one year only under the following classifica- tions: Banks, National, State or Savings; Bankers and Brokers and Trust Companies.
DISCOUNTS FOR SPACE— DAILY, SUNDAY OR EVE- NING.—Time and space discounts cannot be applied to the same contract. Space discounts on lines to be used within one year are as follows : On 5,000 lines, 5% ; on 10,000 lines, 10% ; on 20,000 lines, 15%; on 35,000 lines, 20%.
NO DISCOUNTS. — No discount is allowed on any adver- tising that does not pay the line rate of 40 cents Daily and Sunday and 30 cents in the Evening. Discounts do not apply to any advertising under the following classifications : Amusements, Art Sales and Exhibitions, Auction Sales, Bicycles, Sportsmen's Goods, Religious Reading Notices, Legal Notices, Proposals, Political, Public Notices, Turf, or any advertising for which a special rate is made.
COMBINATION AND REPEAT RATES— DAILY, SUN- DAY, AND EVENING.— An advertisement under the classifi- cation of Publications run in the Dailj^ and Evening Sun within a week, no change of copy, 40 cents a line for both papers. Resort advertising to run daily in Daily, Sunday and Evening Sun for 30 consecutive times in each or E. O. D. in each within a period of two months, 25 cents a line for both papers. Instruction ad- vertising subject to the same rate as resorts. Railroad and steam- ship Time Tables, daily in each paper by the year, 25 cents a line for both. Steamboats and Excursions, daily in each paper for the season, 25 cents a line for both.
BROKEN COLUMNS, CUTS AND DISPLAY.— There is no extra charge in the Sun, Daily, Sunday or Evening, for display type, cuts or the breaking of colunm rules, except that all adver- tising must he at least 28 line across two columns, 50 lines across tliree columns, 75 lines across four columns, and 100 lines across five or more cohuinis. Advertising that docs not conform to this rule will be charged 50 per cent, extra.
THE GENERAL ADVERTISING AGENCY 189
PREFERRED POSITIONS— DAILY, SUNDAY, EVE- NING.— Next to reading matter, 5 cents a line extra; following and alongside reading matter 10 cents a line extra; top of colnmn, 50 per cent, extra; top surrounded by reading matter, double price; bottom of page surrounded by reading, 50 per cent, extra. Designated page, 5 cents a line extra. Position advertising to measure at least 28 lines single column.
LOCAL AND FOREIGN ADVERTISING.— General adver- tising that has a New York City address will be treated as local advertising. Local advertising is ordinary New York city busi- ness carrying a local address. General advertising is ordinary display business with a foreign address or without any address.
PAYMENTS, ACCOUNTS.— All bills are due as soon as ser- vice is rendered, but for the convenience of advertisers and agents, payments may, if mutually agreed upon, be deferred to not later than the 15th of the month following that in which the adver- tising appeared.
ADVERTISEMENTS NOT REPEATED.— Advertisements that are not received in time for all editions of the Evening Sun will not be carried in any editions of the following day, except as the publisher may direct.
DIMENSIONS.— The page of The Sun, Daily, Sunday, and Evening, is 16i inches wide and 21f inches deep; 7 columns to a page, each column 300 agate lines deep and 2f inches or 31 agate ems wide.
READING NOTICES— DAILY AND SUNDAY.— Set in agate with Adv. affixed: First or Editorial Page, $2.50 per agate line. Financial pages, $2.00 per agate line; run of paper, $1.50 per agate line.
READING NOTICES— EVENING.— Set in Agate with Adv. affixed: First or Editorial or Financial Page, $1.50 per agate line; run of paper, $1.00 per agate line.
SCALE OF MEASUREMENT.— Agate type setting 14 lines to the inch, about eight words to the line, lower case, about five words to the line in capitals. No count lines, agate measure- ment only.
ILLUSTRATED SUPPLEMENT, SATURDAY EVENING SUN. — A special discount of 25% will be allowed on all adver- tising of 28 lines or more to run for 52 consecutive insertions.
CONTRACTS.— All advertising to secure the benefit of any discount should be arranged for by written contract before the first insertion.
PAGE RATES. — There is no page, half-page, quarter-page or column rate in the Daily, Sunday or Evening Sun. Line rates only.
190 modern advertising
Want Page Advertising Rates
ONE. THREE AND SEVEN TIME RATES
1 inserlion 3 insertions 7 insertions
per Agate per Agate per Agate
line. line. line.
Agents Wanted 10c 24c 42c
*Board and Boarders Wanted 10c 24c 42c
Business Chances 10c 24c 42c
Cast-off Clothing 10c 24c 42c
Clothing 10c 24c 42c
^Country Board — Boarders 10c 24c 42c
Dancing Academies 10c 24c 42c
Dentistry 10c 24c 42c
Dogs and Birds 10c 24c 42c
Farms — Sale; Let; Rent; Wanted. 10c 24c 42c
For Sale 10c 24c 42c
Furnished and Unfurnished Rooms
Wanted or To Let 10c 24c 42c
Good Will and Interest 10c 24c 42c
*Help Wanted 10c 24c 42c
Horses and Carriages 10c 24c 42c
Houses, Flats or Apartments
Wanted or To Let 10c 24c 42c
*Laundry Wants 10c 24c 42c
Lawyers 10c 24c 42c
Loans 10c 24c 42c
Lost, Found and Rewards 10c 24c 42c
Machinery 10c 24c 42c
Millinery and Dressmaking 10c 24c 42c
Mortgage Loans 10c 24c 42c
Musical. 10c 24c 42c
Opticians and Optical Goods 10c 24c 42c
Patents 10c 24c 42c
Pianos and Organs 10c 24c 42c
*Professional Situations Wanted . . 10c 24c 42c
Purchase and Exchange 10c 24c 42c
Real Estate 10c 24c 42c
Salesmen Wanted 10c 24c 42c
*Situations Wanted 5c 12c 21c
Storage 10c 24c 42c
Typewriters 10c 24c 42c
Watches and Jewelry 10c 24c 42c
Yachts and Sailboats 10c 24c 42c
Double price charged on entire advertisement if not set solid in agate type, except classifications marked *•
THE GENERAL ADVERTISING AGENCY 191
No advertisement taken for less than the price of two lines.
Insertions must be consecutive to secure 3 and 7 time rate.
Count 8 words set in agate to a line for Want page adver- tising. Count 5 words of agate caps to a line.
Advertisements ordered to appear under another classifi- cation than the one to which they properly belong must be charged at the rate of the higher classification, or the general advertising rate of paper when rate of classification to which they belong is lower than the general advertising rate.
There is need for what is known as a flat rate among newspapers, but no movement in that direction has ever been successful. A flat rate is a regular rate per line per thousand of circulation for news- papers in the same class, having the same rate and the same variations from that rate. JSTewspaper space is frequently sold in quantities of a thousand lines, five thousand lines, twenty thousand lines and other amounts to be used within a given time, for which there are always special reductions.
An advertising agency in sending advertising to a magazine or a newspaper uses a certain form. Each agency has its own form, but these are substantially the same, the conditions being only those peculiar to that agency's method of doing business. We repro- duce on the next page a form which is used by one agency for placing its business. It is only necessary that all of the facts about the insertion of the adver- tisement should be entered upon the order and made a part of the order.
After advertising has been placed and the agency begins to receive the publications in which that partic- ular advertising appears, it is necessary to check up this advertising to form a permanent record of its insertion. The methods used for checking vary ac- 14
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THE GENERAL ADVERTISING AGENCY 198
cording to the size of the agency and the nature of its business. An agency which handles a great deal of newspaper advertising requires a large force of check- ers. Such an agency receives every morning all of the daily newspapers published in the country, and each one of them has to be looked over carefully to be checked. The checker must notice the date, the name of the paper, the position of the advertisement, the number of lines it occupies, whether all instruc- tions as to typesetting, display, " keying " and such things have been followed, and all these things are entered upon the checking sheet.
The checking of magazine advertising is not so complicated a process, but it must be done with the same carefulness. A form for the checking of maga- zine advertising is reproduced herewith. It varies somewhat from a form which would be used for newspaper advertising, but it is sufficiently accurate to show what facts are recorded in checking.
These, then, are the tools of the advertising agency: A complete set of rate-cards, forms for placing advertising and forms for checking up the insertions of advertising.
The size of the agency depends upon the volume of business it does and its character. A complete agency such as that of N. W. Ayer & Son, of Phila- delphia, places magazine, newspaper, street-car and bill-board advertising, and checks it all. Such an or- ganization has, in addition to a complete office force, a large staff of solicitors who constantly call on cus- tomers. It maintains offices in other large cities. It is founded on the theory that professional service can be built up into a great and complex organization
194 MODERN ADVERTISING
the same as would be done in the case of a manu- facturing plant.
The fact that the small agency depending more npon the service than the size of its equipment, con- tinues to do business successfully in spite of the large and completely organized agencies, proves that it is by no means a settled fact in the minds of the adver- tiser which it is that affords him the greatest assist- ance in his advertising.
There is a tendency on the part of many of the old-time agencies to degenerate into a loose organiza- tion of individual agencies, each solicitor amounting to an agency in himself as far as his ability enables him to go. Such an agency has no central policy, no distinct style, no complete service. Each solicitor shifts for himself, and the destinies of the advertiser are in the hands of the solicitor who takes his ordcr.^
Advertisers may he roughly divided into two classes — the old advertiser and the new. The first class consists of those Avho have been advertising for a long period of time and have reached a point where they appropriate annual amounts of money reaching
* The actual number of advertising agencies in the United States is problematical. The business directory of New York city alone gives 260 agencies in that city. This, of course, includes every kind of an advertising agency, good, bad and indifferent. Some of these are certainly not even worthy of the name as their business is very limited, sometimes being confined to placing one account in one or two newspapers or something like that.
A list of advertising agents compiled by an advertising publica- tion shows that there are about 460 agencies in this country which are recognized by the managers of publications, but tliis list also includes a great many small and local advertising agencies. It is safe to say that there are not more than fifty advertising agencies of national scope which are seriously considered by advertisers.
THE GENERAL ADVERTISING AGENCY 195
ap into hiiiKlrods of thousands of dollars as regu- larly as they make appropriations for rent, invest- ment, salaries or raw materials. This appropriation is placed with some leading agency which proceeds to invest it on a plan usually arranged between the agent and the customer. It is a part of the advertising agent's work to suggest new plans for using this money, although a certain amount of it will be used in the old channels such as magazines, trade papers, street-cars, bill-boards and printed matter, but it is the agent's place to suggest new methods of using these old mediums, new designs, new ideas, new policies and new^ plans of selling in connection with the regular sales department. The extent to which an advertiser will go in work of this kind depends entirely upon the ability of the agent.
To this class of advertisers belong all the well- known names in the advertising world — the great packers. Swift, Armour, Fairbanks, and Libby; the breakfast-food and cereal manufacturers, H-0, Pos- timi Cereal, Force, Quaker Oats, Grape Xuts, Cream of Wheat, and Shredded Wheat; the soap-makers, Ivory, ■ Pears and Colgate ; the brewers, Pabst and Schlitz; the shoemakers, Douglas and Bliss (Regal), and the clothiers, Hart, Schaffner & Marx, Sykes and Kirschbaum. Such houses spend anj^vhere from one hundred and fifty to seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars annually in advertising. Enoch Morgan's Sons' advertising expense for Sapolio amounts to something like one thousand dollars a day.
The other class of advertiser is the man who has a new article to exploit, or an article which has never been advertised. Such an advertiser is usually inex-
196 MODERN ADVERTISING
perienced. lie may be a single individual ; the inven- tor, for instance, of a new article ; or a new company may be formed around the invention to secure capital to advertise it properly.
In any case the advertiser goes to some adverti- sing agency to which he has been recommended. Here is where the advertising agent exercises his higher mission, which is that of business counsel.
The question of marketing the product is then dis- cussed thoroughly, territories are considered, mediums explained, selling facilities planned and distribution arranged for by the advertising agent. He then rec- ommends an advertising plan calling for a certain appropriation unless his customer has already decided just how much money is available for advertising. In presenting this plan to his client, he goes into de- tails in proportion to his customer's knowledge or ignorance of advertising. In the case of a new adver- tiser it is necessary, generally, to explain just what is to be done, how the money is to be expended, and why. A very large appropriation would be necessary for advertising over the entire country, using maga- zines and newspapers, probably both street-cars and posters, and certainly a great deal of general printed matter.
The best way to describe the preliminary work of an agency for a prospective client is perhaps to take a particular case similar to one occurring frequently in general advertising work. No one class of goods is so widely advertised or has so large a sale as food, and especially what are generally known as breakfast foods.
We will suppose that an inventor of food combina-
THE GENERAL ADVERTISING AGENCY 197
tions in Battle Creek has devised a new prepared cereal for breakfast use. Having secured his formula and built a plant for its manufacture, he goes to the advertising agency to find a market for his output. The first requirement is a name. The law decides that a name in order to be protected by copyright must be a coined word — that is, not a word common to the language. 'No advertiser can take a word in common English use and forbid any one else to use it. A coined word is a word made up expressly as a name for a particular article as a means of identifying it. It can be protected by copyright so that no other man can use it as applied to that particular article. Sa- polio, Uneeda, Zu Zu are all examples of coined words. Force, on the contrary, is a word in common use and can not be protected by copyright.
Names are often made in various ways. Some- times they are inaccurate spellings of well-known words, such as E-Z Bed. Sometimes they are initials of the article or of the firm as H-0 for Hornby's Oats ; R & G, the name of a widely advertised corset, the initials being those of the firm which makes it — Roth & Goldsmith. The requirements of a good name are that it shall be euphonious, easily remembered, and where possible appropriate. Many names of widely advertised articles are, however, grotesque, meaning- less, hard to remember, uncouth, and in every way ill fitted to serve the purpose.
Next to the name comes the package. This is important. An advertiser tries to have his article considered by the dealo^r as attractive shelf-goods. A package, especially for a food, should be dainty and appetizing, so as to produce a good impression. De-
198 MODERN ADVERTISING
signs are made very carefully and a color scheme selected, the name displayed in such a way as to catch the eye of any one observing it upon the shelf of the dealer. The size of the package is determined, or the carton, as it is called, which will hold the quantity to be retailed at a certain price. In prepared break- fast foods, for instance, the package holds two pounds,
1
A horse is different from a man. He likes what is good for him. Feed your The best SUStenancC for a
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C«ndJth>i\ B**it-r**A BUla L«M.
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THE SILHOUETTE EFFECTIVELY USED IN NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING.
and the price varies from ten to fifteen cents. One to two dozen cartons are packed in a case. A price is fixed at w^hich the factory product can be sold to the jobber at a profit to the manufacturer, allowing for a liberal advertising appropriation. The jobber adds a small profit for himself, usually about five per cent., and sells to the dealer. The dealer's price on an advertised article is nearly always fixed by the advertiser. For instance, in a breakfast food to be sold at fifteen cents for each two-pound package, the dealer would pay $2.75 per case containing two dozen
THE GENERAL ADVERTISING AGENCY 100
packages. The cases would cost the jobber about $2.67^.
The profit to the manufacturer would consist of the difference between the selling price from which has been deducted the cost of manufacture and the cost of advertising. The cost of advertising as related to the cost of manufacture, of course, varies largely ac- cording to the article.
All of these things have to be studied carefully, and in the case of a new advertiser the agent's advice is helpful. He has had experience in similar cases and knows what percentage of profit will be perma- nently safe.
These things being finally determined, the next step is the actual advertising. Often a newly formed company has not capital enough, or upon the advice of the advertising agency, it will decide that the capi- tal available is not sufiicient for the purpose. Then the advertising agency secures additional capital for the company, either by selling stock privately, or ad- vertising publicly to small purchasers the sale of this stock. The necessary amount having been secured, the advertising agent will then allot this among maga- zines, street-cars, painted signs, bill-boards, or what- ever mediums wall, in his judgment, produce the quickest results. He will also make an allowance for a limited nimiber of trade papers, for printed matter which will be sent to the retailers and also matter popular in its tone for general distribution to the public.
There is almost no limit to the variety of com- binations Avhich may be made on any given appro- priation, and it is in this w^ork that the ability of
200 MODEr>X ADVERTISING
ail advertising agency is displayed. While fortunes have been lost on advertising, it seems that the greatest percentage of faihires have been due to bad judgment displayed in selecting advertising niediunis and phm- ning the work.
The modern method of presenting the advertising plan to a prospective advertiser differs materially from that formerly employed. Then the personal element was a large factor. The personal magnetism of the solicitor and the salesmanship he displayed in talking with his prospective client, together with his list of publications and their rates, generally settled matters, and often do to-day.
But agencies wliieli are placing their strongest claim for business on the professional side of their Avork, whose main plea is that of personal service, who steadily resist the temptation to employ a staff of solicitors and build up a mushroom business, such agents depend more u|X)n the careful study and presen- tation of the case than upon their personality.
The most important development of modern agency work is the attention it is giving to the ad- vertising of staples. Of these staples the manufac- ture and marketing of textiles is the greatest field. Thomas Balmer is responsible for a very definite movement having for its object the interesting of the manufacturers of textiles in the possibilities of ad- vertising. In this he has had cooperation from many agencies which have profited by increased business.
As a pertinent illustration, not only of tlie pos- sibilities of textile advertising, but also of the manner in which a thoroughly equijiped advertising agent presents a i)lan of campaign to a prospective adver-
THE GENERAL ADVERTISING AGENCY
201
tiser, an actual letter sent liv an agent to one of the largest textile corporations in the world is repro- dnced. The plan was based upon an initial appro- priation of $100,000, to be spent within a year, as shown by the following estimate. The actual name of the corporation is disguised under the style of The United Textile Company:
Estimate for the United Textile Company
|
Net. |
Gross. |
|||
|
Ladies' Home Journal, |
1 col. |
12 times. |
$14,400.00 |
|
|
Butterick Trio, |
1 " |
12 " |
1 1 ,457 . 00 |
|
|
Saturday Evening Post |
^ page 12 " |
5,400.00 |
||
|
Collier's' Weekly, |
1 " |
12 " |
$3,780.00 |
|
|
Youth's Companion, |
4 " |
12 " |
6,048.00 |
|
|
Woman's Home Comp'i |
1 i " |
12 " |
4,131.00 |
|
|
Christian Herald, |
4 " |
12 " |
2,268.00 |
|
|
Century, |
1 col. |
12 " |
2,250.00 |
|
|
Scribner's, |
1 " |
12 " |
2,700.00 |
|
|
Leslie's, |
1 " |
12 " |
2,721.60 |
|
|
McClure's, |
1 " |
12 " |
4,492.80 |
|
|
Munsey's, |
1 (( |
12 " |
5,400.00 |
|
|
Harpers', |
1 a |
12 " |
2,430.00 |
|
|
Review of Reviews, |
1 " |
12 " |
2,160.00 |
|
|
World's Work, |
1 " |
12 " |
1,296.00 |
|
|
Cosmopolitan, |
1 " |
12 " |
3,870.72 |
|
|
Good Housekeeping, |
1 " |
12 " |
1,836.00 |
|
|
Outing, |
1 " |
12 " |
1,263.60 |
|
|
Everybody's, |
1 " |
12 " |
5,100.00 |
|
|
Metropolitan, |
1 u |
12 " |
2,700.00 |
|
|
Harpers' Bazar, |
1 " |
12 " |
1,935.36 |
|
|
Ladies' World, |
\ page 12 " |
3,780.00 |
||
|
McCall's Magazine, |
\ " |
12 " |
3,078 . 00 |
|
|
Life, |
1 " |
12 " |
680.40 |
|
|
Literary Digest, |
1 col. |
12 " |
816.48 |
|
|
$49,895.16 |
||||
|
Commission 10%. . . |
4,989.52 |
54,884 . 68 |
||
|
5100,984.48 |
202 MODERN ADVERTISING
iMh. Jonas O. Browne,
Kiecrctai'y and General Manager,
The United Textile Company, New York.
Dear Sir: This letter is an answer to the question :
WHY SHOULD THE UNITED TEXTILE COMPANY ADVERTISED
Advertising has but one object, and that is profitably increasing the sales of the product advertised.
The United Textile Company is making a staple product, one of the most staple in the world. Clothing is second only to food as a necessary article of demand, and woolen clothing for both men and women comes first in importance.
Last year you produced, according to your own figures, forty million yards of cloth. The year before your gross in- come is given at thirty-five million odd dollars. The average value of your product is probably about a dollar a yard.
It is estimated that the value of domestic woolens made during 1902 was |297,0()(),0()() or 94 per cent, of all the woolens used in this country, the other six per cent, being imported.
According to these figures, which are correct enough for our purpose, you are making only one-eighth or 12^ per cent, of the total amount of domestic woolens produced. There- fore, you have a field in this other seven-eighths, a part of which you certainly can cultivate by proper advertising.
The textile industries have not been so ready to seize the advantage of advertising as a builder of new business as have the great companies making food-products, such as biscuits, packing-house by-products and breakfast foods. Yet we believe that the advertising of textile goods is the greatest possible field of the future. We believe that your company has within its grasp the chance of creating the greatest advertising success in advertising history.
The object of your advertising should be to teach Amer- ican men and women to wear American-made fabrics. Tlie advertising should be directed against imported fabrics. It
THE GENERAL ADVERTISING AGENCIY 20,3
shouUl exploit especially the superior fabrics of the Unit(>d Textile Company. The American public should be taught that American woolens are just as good as or better than the imported. Men and women should be educated so that when about to buy a suit, coat, cloak, wrap or any other article of clothing which can be made from your goods, they will insist upon the United Textile Company's products, and they will see to it that the United Textile Company's trade- mark is on them — whether the article or garment is made to order or ready-made.
Your Advertising Must Be Educational
The public should be taught as far as possible the names and characters of different woolen goods, especially the names of new, seasonable fabrics, but above and beyond all that, they should be taught that the United Textile Company's trade-mark stands for quahty, and that the United Textile Company is behind that trade-mark to produce the best goods that can be made.
No layman is able to distinguish the different grades of cloth. The manufacturing clothing business has been one of the most profitable in the world, simply because the average man or woman who wears clothing is unable to discriminate the fabrics. He is at the mercy of the tailor or of the retail dealer. As far as making the goods is concerned, he has the tailor or manufacturing clothier to refer to, but for the fabric itself he has nothing but the tailor's or clothier's word.
A trade-mark upon cloth gives the same guarantee of quality that it does upon other trade-marked, advertised goods. A trade-mark has no value until it is advertised. It begins to be advertised just as soon as good goods go out bearing the mark, but such advertising is not far-reaching enough. Advertising which stamps the mark upon the mind of every man and woman who could be a purchaser of woolen goods, is the only advertising which will make the trade-mark of the United Textile Company its most valuable asset. It is probably unnecessary to call your attention to the value
204 MODERN ADVERTISING
of such trade-marks as that of Walter Baker & Company, Lhnited, Royal Baking Powder Company, National Biscuit Company, and others of national and international note.
It could be answered that these are all footl-products, but there is nothing in advertising itself that confines the value of trade-marks to trade-marks of foods. It is simply that the food people have been the first to perceive the great profits to be obtained from pubHcity. The next step is to come from the textile industries, and no one company has the pos- sibilities and the goods to realize this so quickly and so greatly as the United Textile Company.
At present the layman — that is, the consumer who goes to his tailor to buy a suit — picks out the fabric entirely from the design and color. He does the same thing when he buys a suit ready-made. Sometimes he goes by the label of the manufacturing clothier. We have been assured by a manu- facturing clothier of wide experience and undoubted hon- esty, that a very large percentage of the fabrics used by even leading and high-priced tailors, recommended to the customer as imported, are in reality domestic, probably the greater portion of them your own products.
This in itself is no reflection upon your goods, but if we can teach the American public that American-made fabrics are just as goofl for the purpose, under their own name, as im- ported goods, and if we can appeal, not only to the public's common sense, good judgment and pocketbook, but to its patriotism as well, then a man will go to his tailor and demand the Amei"ican-made products, and especially those of the United Textile Company, because of your advertising.
The writer knows from actual exi)erience that your serges offer every quality that he can get in the imj)ortcd serge. This is undoubtedly true of other products. It is also ecjually true that the American man does not know this, that he is hypnotized by the fetish "imported," and pays double the price for something no better.
You have several unusual advantages. You have the organization both for manufacturing and selling. You have capital to advertise intelligently and sufficiently to get the
A MODERN CLOTHING ADVERTISEMENT DESIGNED BY ONE OF THE BEST- KNOWN ARTISTS. IT REPRESENTS THE LATEST PROGRESS IN THE DESIGNING FOR CLOTHING ADVERTISEMENTS.
206 MODERN ADVERTISING
best results. You have products which will bear advertising. You are in position to increase your sales. The field is there as shown by the actual consumption of American woolens. You are a foremost, representative American industry, making a product which never can be superseded. Styles and designs may come and go, but woolen fabrics will be used forever. It is impossible to conceive any new invention, any whim of fashion, any change in habits which will do away with the use of woolen fabrics for clothing for men and women. You have the broadest and strongest foundation ujDon which to build a great advertising asset.
HOW THE ADVERTISING SHOULD BE DONE
Trade-Mark
It is essential that you should have a broad, general trade- mark to be used upon the entire output of products of the United Textile Company. This trade-mark should be general in the same way that the In-er-seal trade-mark is general to the products of the National Biscuit Company.
Each pattern or each general division of goods could and possibly should have an individual trade-mark, or at least a name, presumably a coined word, which would be used in connection with the general trade-mark of the United Textile Company.
The way in which this should be worked out is a matter of detail. The method of trade-marking the goods, whether the trade-mark should be stamjDed on the cloth, woven into the selvage, pasted on the bolt, will depend upon the practical cjuestion of manufacturing and convenience. A very- novel method has just been invented for producing a trade-mark upon textile fabrics, which we will be very glad to explain to you in detail if you arc not familiar with it. This may or may not be practical from the point of view of your own experience.
Our suggestion is that the trade-mark, presumably in
THE GENERAL ADVERTISING AGENCY 207
three colors, these colors being the red, white, and blue of the national colors, be reproduced upon the outside of the bolt, on the cloth direct, or on a lal)el, the particular name of each fabric to be woven into the selvajic, where selvage occurs, fol- lowed by the letters "U. T. Co."
Meanwhile the first important step in general ach'crtising is the securing of the trade-mark. We are offering a numl)er of suggestions based upon several specific ideas.
The first idea consists of an individual monogram of the letters, "U. T. Co." Several of these trade-marks show all the letters of your entire name interwoven in one monogram.
The second is a trade-mark combining your name and monogram in connection with a patriotic emblem, such as a star, shield, or pennant.
The third shows your monogram in combination with something having to do with wool, as the sheep's head.
The fourth is a combination of your monogram, the pa- triotic idea and the wool idea.
The fifth is a modification, showing sheep's shears as be- ing typical of the wool industry.
These five classes offer several designs each, all of wliich are herewith submitted.
Appropriation
The amount of money that you should spend can be based upon several things — upon a certain percentage of your gross business or profits, or uj^on the plan of campaign suggested to you, which recjuires a certain amount to accomplish certain things — but the size of the appropriation that you are willing to devote to this advertising must be determined first.
We are recommending a number of plans of magazine advertising based upon various propositions running from twenty-five thousand to one hundred thousand dollars and over.
The average appropriation of advertisers doing a national business runs from two hundred and fifty thousand to a million dollars, of which usually about one hundred thousand i5
208 MODERN ADVERTISING
dollars is spent in the magazines, although some companies use as high as one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
It is generally admitted that the National Biscuit Company has made a tremendous success of its advertising. The gross business of this company in 1902 was forty million dollars, and the net earnings about three million six hundred thou- sand dollars. Their advertising appropriation is probably about $750,000 a year, which is an expenditure of less than one-fiftieth of their total business, and only twenty per cent, of their net earnings.
If the United Textile Company should spend twenty per ) cent, of its net earnings, the appropriation would be about $700,000, or two per cent, of the gross business.
We do not expect you to appropriate any such sum at the start, but we firmly believe that if you go into advertising as 3'ou should go into it, the time will not be long before you are spending that amount of money and thereby greatly increasing 3^our present volume of profits. We do not believe that any director of the United Textile Company would hesitate an instant to spend $700,000 in advertising if he could add a million dollars to the net profits of the business thereby. Neither do we believe that any man familiar with the actual working of advertising doubts for a minute that this thing is possible.
Among the companies whose names are known to you, who are spending as much as $750,000 a year in advertising, we may mention the following :
Royal Baking Powder Company. Baking Powder.
Postum Cereal Company Grape Nuts and Postum.
Force Food Company Force.
N. K. Fairbank Company Fairy Soap and Gold Dust.
Swift & Company Premium Hams and Bacon.
Ralston Mills Food-Products.
Enoch Morgan's Sons Sapolio.
Proctor & Gamble Company . . . .Ivory Soap. Armour & Company Extract of Beef.
Whatever your appropriation, it must be large enough to accomplish your purpose. One insertion in every magazine
THE GENERAL ADVERTISING AGENCY 209
of tlic country, even of pages, will not be a profitable invest- ment. Neither will three. Advertising of your character must be based upon continuous advertising year after year, every month. You need not necessarily use the complete list of good mediums, but even if you use only a few maga- zines, your spaces should be large enough to tell your story and to be seen, and should count on appearing in every issue of every magazine.
If you will take a cop}^ of any standard American maga- zine and look through it, you will see that the big advertising successes are using large spaces, generally pages, and are appearing in each issue of every magazine they use. Sapolio, Ivory Soap, Gold Dust, the Ralston Food products, Cream of Wheat, Colgate's Soaps, as well as the clothing manu- facturers, Hart, Schaffner & Marx, Kuppenheimer, Sykes & Kirschbaum, are all using page copy. They are using a comparatively large number of magazines, and what is more important, they are appearing in each issue of each magazine.
Neither we nor any other advertising agency can consent to a proposition like yours being advertised on anything but a plan which calls for enough money to carry it out to success. If you use only ten publications, you should use these ten publications for at least a year, and you should use at least pages, except in the large women's publications and weeklies, where a cjuarter of a page will be sufficient for good display.
Specific Forms of Advertising
1. Magazine advertising.
2. Literature of all sorts.
3. Street car cards.
4. Posters.
Magazine Advertising is the backbone of your sort of work. Magazines unquestionably lead in the establishing of a trade-mark and in popularizing an article of weai'ing apparel or fabric, just as they lead in foods and household goods.
PHOTOGHAPH FKOM STILL LIFE USED IN A MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENT.
THE GENERAL ADVERTISING AGENCY 211
Any list which you would use, to be representative, should consist of the best women's papers, the best men's maga- zines, the best popular weeklies, the best religious publica- tions and the best home magazines. This Hst can be ex- tended to almost any length. For instance, we are showing you one proposition calling for something inside of one hun- dred thousand dollars. There are twenty-five magazines on this list having an aggregate circulation of over nine millions.
WlNCmSTlK
REPEATING RIFLES FOR HUNTING.
Shoot a Winchester once and you will shoot a Winchester always: That's because Winchester rifles after a test of over thirty years re- present today in accuracy, reliability and quality, the highest develop- rnent in gunmaking. Wnatever your preferences may be, some one of the nine different Winchester models will surely suit you; for they are made in all calibers, styles and weights. Use Winchester guns for all kinds of shooting and Winchester cartridges for all kinds of guns.
WINCHESTER REPEATING ARMS CO-
NEW HAVEN, CONN.
ATMOSPHERE IN A MAGAZINE HALF-PAGE ADVERTISEMENT.
The actual readers of each copy of a magazine average five people. You can easily prove this in your own home by noting the magazines you subscribe for and how many members of your family are apt to look at them. Thus it will be seen that by using these twenty-five publications you can reach half the population of the United States twelve times — that is, an entire year.
We do not say that it is essential for the success of the United Textile Company's advertising that it should use
212 MODERN ADVERTISING
this entire list of magazines and spend this amount of money. We do say that if it does use tliis appropriation and this Hst it A\all establish its trade-mark and create the demand for, its goods just that much sooner.
It requires a certain amount of extra effort to start the advertising of a new article. After it is started the momen- tum carries it. For the first few months your advertising will not show results, but, on the other hand, it will show results for some months after all advertising has stopped.
A synopsis of the qualifications of each magazine men- tioned has been shown on a separate sheet. These twenty- five magazines are the representative magazines of the country.
Uieralure
Possibly the greatest advantage we have to offer in the waj' of service to the advertiser is in the character and variety of the Hterature which goes with our magazine advertising.
You will find a great many agencies which can place mag- azine advertising for you. You will find quite a number which can select just as good a list as we can. Every agency gets just as good a price for the space in the magazine as we do. Some claim to get a lower price, and some ofTer this space at a lower price to you, but this merely means that they are charging less for the service they render, the natural deduction being that they render the lesser service for the lesser price.
We do not know any agency which is prepared to carry out so thorough and efTective a system of collateral adver- tising through novel and unusual literature as we are.
The literature and the way it is used foi-ni the most effec- tive part of your magazine advertising. Without it the maga- zine advertising is incomplete, and yet it is the part of the work that is seen the least.
In an ocean-liner most of the ship is below the water-line. You .see a little of the hull, smoke-stack, rigging, and every- thing above the rail. Below arc the engines which do the
THE GENERAL ADVERTISING AGENCY 21.3
actual work, the rudder and the steering apparatus. 80 in advertising. The advertisements in the magazines are the part above the water-line. The printed matter of all sorts and the plans for putting it in the most effective place are what make the magazine advertising effective.
The effect of advertising the products of the United Textile Company will be in evidence upon the manufacturing clothier, the retail clothiers, the custom tailors, and upon the woolen commission men, jobber and wholesaler, and upon the wholesale and retail dry goods houses and department stores.
Each and every one of these classes of businesses should be informed of the plans and advertising of the United Tex- tile Company. Their cooperation is necessary. It is true that sufficient advertising will compel every one of these trades to handle your goods, but it is also true that while you can compel them, cooperation will bring about the results more quickly.
The main idea of the United Textile Company in com- bining the various mills which make up its personnel was to strengthen its position as relates to the various trades. The independent mill is almost at the mercy of the commission man. It has no future. The commission man dominates its manufacture, fixes prices, and is the only customer the manufacturer has.
Your large organization makes you superior to some extent to this relation, but between you and the public is an immense machinery which you can not control. The demand for your goods should come from the consumer, who is after all the court of last resort, through his dealer or tailor to the clothing manufacturer, and from him through the jobber and commission man to you.
Forty million American men and women insisting upon United Textile Company's fabrics is bound to have its effect upon your output.
The first class of literature you will need is booklets in regard to your fabrics, booklets about the United Textile Company in general, booklets about various seasonable,
214 MODERN ADVERTISING
fasliionablc and stylish fabrics both for men and womcMi, wliich you will distribute in two ways.
First, in answer to your magazine advertising. Every ad will contain a suggestion that the reader send for a booklet. The object will be, first, to get attractive literature in the hands of an interested party, and second, to gauge the in- terest of the public. The address in each magazine will be \'aried to some extent so that you can, when necessary, determine which publication inspired the reply. This is a matter of mere tabulation which can be attended to by an intelligent clerk or stenographer. You will advertise men's goods in men's magazines, women's goods in women's maga- zines, and both in the home magazines.
Meanwhile your advertising department will be in a posi- tion to recommend any inquirer to a custom tailor, retail clothing store or dry goods store where United Textile Com- pany's fabrics can be had.
Of course it is undoubtedly true that you are already well established in nearly every leading store, but your advertising- will bring so great a leverage to bear upon the trade that you will have a list of places in each town to which you can refer any inquirer.
This is all a matter of routine. All the correspondence will be in the shape of form letters which can be written out by a regularly organized advertising department.
In addition to this, you should be in position to give each house in the chain between you and the consumer appro- priate Hterature. Advertising should go to the jobbers and wholesalers about your woolens, to the manufacturer of clotliing and to the tailor. Literature should also go to the buyers of dress goods for department and dry goods stores, as well as to wholesale dry goods houses.
This literature will consist of printed matter sent out at regular intervals, presumably every two weeks, to the same people for an entire year. The tone of this printed matter will be, first, that Americ-an fabrics for American people is the keynote of the United Textile Company's manufacture; that you intend to make your trade-mark stand for quality,
THE GENERAL ADVERTISING AGENCY 215
and that you wish both the trade and the public to know that you will live up to your trade-mark, guarantee your fabrics, and make good any defects.
This policy will be passed from you through the various handlers to the public.
Also you will constantly call attention to the fact that you are telling the story of the United Textile Company's fabrics to half the population of the United States every month, and this in itself will be the strongest leverage you can have upon sales of all kinds. No matter where your orders come from, no matter what men are interested in buying your goods, they must all of them be readers of some of the maga- zines upon your hst. They are being influenced just as well as the actual consumer.
Street Cars
Street car advertising can be used judiciously to a small amount, to popularize your trade-mark.
The magazine advertising will be specific. It will be de- voted to seasonable fabrics. It will afford room for descrip- tion and illustration. The street car cards, however, will be used to popularize your trade-mark and teach the public what it stands for. It will be general, urging every pur- chaser of woolens in any form to insist upon the trade-mark of the United Textile Company.
We do not know at this writing how far you go in the manufacture of woolens. We do not know if you make blankets, for instance, and other goods that are not wearing apparel. If so, your stand will be that everything woolen or worsted should bear the United Textile Company's trade- mark. Street car advertising costs on an average fifty cents per card per month.
Posters
The same idea will be followed in a moderate way in poster advertising.
Probably the best and most direct poster advertising is
216 MODERN ADVERTISING
that of the elevated stations in New York City. We would recommend the use of both uptown and downtown stations, calling for 192 one-sheet posters, changing the posters each month, the expense being about six hundred dollars a month. New York is the great center of the United States. Pretty nearly every one comes here some time during the year. It is a great buying center, and thousands of buyers in all lines in which woolens are used are here twice a year. These people are influenced by the advertising in street cars and upon elevated stations just as much as the public. It will have effect on their buying, as well as upon the use of your goods by the public that wears them. That is the wonderful thing about advertising. It is cumulative. Impression is added to impression until the idea is well established in the minds of the public.
Scope of the Advertising
As we have outlined in this letter your j^ossibilities are unlimited. Your advertising should be planned on a very broad ground. It is to appeal to a deeply-intrenched instinct of the American people — that is, patriotism. It is to appeal to a deeply-intrenched instinct of the human race — that is, pecuniary advantage. American-made woolens for American men and women, partly because they are American, and especially because they are cheaper, is a strong argument. Your woolens as against all other domestics because they are trade-marked and are known and can be identified, and because the great corporation of the United Textile Com- pany is behind them to make good, is an argument which can not be beaten.
If it should ever come about that the tariff on imported woolens is removed or greatly reduced, several years of ad- vertising will have made the United Textile Company so strong in this country that it will be impossible for the foreign manufacturer to compete.
On the other hand, the first largo manufacturer who takes up the advertising of woolens is going to have a tremendous
THE GENERAL ADVERTISING AGENCY 217
advantage. If you have a year or two headstart of all com- petitors in establishing your trade-mark for woolen and worsted goods, it will take your competitors just that long to get to the same position, and meanwhile you will have gone on. Your advertising should not only be done on a large scale and done rightly, but it should be done now. The
The Hou
CHARACTER AS SHOWN BY PHOTOGRAPHY.
time is absolutely ripe for such an exploitation. Never was the American public so keenly expectant of new things; never has it been reading advertising so religiously, and acting upon that advertising so promptly; never was there a nation so open-minded, so ready to listen to argument, so reached through its different interests as this country of ours. The United Textile Company stands in the position to- day of being the one great corporation which can pull off the most tremendous advertising coup of advertising history, and one that will stand as a monument for years to come of the possibilities of printers' ink rightly expended in swelling the profits of a great corporation.
218
MODERN ADVERTISING
Our Service
oo( stuck OQ the label that it stuck on their bread. They always wonder who licked it. Sparks' Waxed Bread Wrappen arc clean and sanitary, and produce an impression about the baker that every baker ought to want. Ask for prices, printed or unpnntcd.
Union Waxed and Parchment
Paper Company
277 Broadway New Vork
We stand in the position of soliciting your advertising business as an advertising agency organized upon new lines. Advertising agencies may be divided into two classes: The old-school agency consists of a large corps of solicitors. The soliciting of business is the chief ^f'Y^^/lJ aim of the agency. We are not pre- ^' pared to say that they render no ser- vice, but that service, such as it is, is obscured by the fact that too many people handle the same advertising. It is a long reach between the solici- tor and the man who actually executes the plans.
Then some of these agencies rest entirely upon cut rates. They take business at almost any percentage of the advertising appropriation because they have no service to render except the service of a placing machine. They are merely clearing-houses which take your advertising and send it out to the publications, render bills and collect.
We accept magazine business at the established commission of ten per cent, because we have found, in com- mon with other modern agencies, that proper advertising service can not be rendei'ed for less. This is the commis- sion recognized by the leading magazines, and some of them insist on signed agreements with agents to maintain this commission. Any agent who offers to cut the rate of these publications is violating a signed contract, and it may be inferred that an agent who will violate a contract with a magazine will break confidence with the advertiser.
Service is something that can not be measured entirely by
CATCHY STYLE FOK TRADE - PAPER ADVERTISING.
THE GENERAL ADVERTISING AGENCY 219
dollars .and cents. If you pay so much money for a com- bination of space and service, and if the price of space is a fixed one, the agent who takes your business at a cut price must cut out some of the service.
We have no solicitors. Our house is a partnership of two men, and the advertising accounts which we have, have the entire thought, attention and actual work of these two men. We are not accepting any more business than we can handle personally. Our business is a professional one, just as is that of an architect, a lawyer or a doctor. You get the benefit of our own immediate advice, without any middle- men, solicitors or others to obscure the relations.
Our success with the customers we have has been marked.
We can refer to the advertising managers of all prominent publications as to our standing and ability in the adver- tising world.
We will gladly furnish a list of our present clients, and refer you to the officers of any company for whom we are work- ing as to what we have accomplished.
We are prepared to bring to the advertising of the United Textile Company, not only a technical training in connection with some of the best advertising that has been done in the past ten years, but also unlimited enthusiasm as to its future possibilities.
Yours very truly,
Black & White„
CHAPTER IX
RETAIL ADVERTISING
Retail advertising is the advertising done by 'retail dealers tlirongli local newspapers and other mediums in order to reach people who will come to the store and buy goods. Retail advertising differs from general advertising chiefly in respect to the fact that it is local rather than general. The same quali- ties that make general advertising good apply to retail advertising. But, as a rule, retail advertising is not so well done.
The manufacturer who is selling a product over the entire country can afford to pay more than the retailer does for both his " copy " and for his designs. This is true, not in general, but in particular. A number of retailers, especially those in the large cities, do just as good advertising and spend just as much money upon their copy and designs as the general ad- vertiser, and in some instances more. Department stores pay very large salaries to advertisement writers, and give a great deal of thought and study to their cuts, designs, illustratious, type display and the like.
Retail advertising is the real support of the news- papers, and a great proportion of it comes from the department stores. Tn a great many cities these stores use as much as a page a day in a given newspaper, and in some cases two and even four ])ages have been used in a given day.
In metropolitan cities, such as New York, C'hi- 220
RETAIL ADVERTISING 221
cago and Philadelphia, as high as $12,500 a year is paid to the man who has charge of the advertising. This man may have as many as a dozen assistants, some of whom are advertising writers, others of whom are printers, designers, artists, stenographers and clerks, making a complete advertising department in itself.
The retail advertiser as such can not use the maga- zines or any publication having a general circulation. His chief medium is the newspapers which circulate not only in the city where the business is located, but in nearby suburban towns tributary to the main city from which the store draws shoppers.
A modern development of business and of adver- tising is a chain of stores operated by one manufac- turer, who thus becomes a retailer on a large scale. Such a chain of stores can be advertised in mediums of national circulation, giving the addresses of the stores in the different cities, unless the list is too long, in which case the reader of the advertising is advised to look up the store in his own town.
One of the largest enterprises of this kind is an association of cigar stores which maintains not only one but many retail stores in a single town, and has spread all over the United States, so that small towns have at least one store of this syndicate. This adver- tiser uses both magazines and newspapers. Several shoe manufacturers and other businesses follow the same plan.
The advertising done by these syndicates of stores is not retail advertising in a strict sense, although the stores are retail stores. When a manufacturer sells goods by general advertising, whether he sells
222 MODERN ADVERTISING
it through the regular retail stores or through his own retail store, the advertising he does is more near- ly similar to general advertising than it is to retail advertising.
The retail advertiser then is the man who adver- tises in local newspapers to get local customers to come to his store to huy goods. In the smaller towns there is a close personal relation between the dealer him- self and his customers. In a large city a great store grows up with an army of clerks, and the advertiser himself as a personality is unknown to the shoppers.
At the head of retail advertising stands, as has been said, department-store advertising,^ and the
1 An official (statement, made by a man familiar with depart- ment-store advertising, places the annual expenditure for this sort of publicity in New York and Brooklyn at $4,000,000. He divides it as follows :
John Wanamaker $500,000
Siegel-Cooper Co 400,000
Simpson-Crawford Co 400,000
R. H. Macy & Co 350,000
Adams Dry Goods Co 300,000
Bloomingdale's 300,000
Hearn 250,000
Ehrich Bros 200,000
Frederick Loeser & Co., Brooklyn 200,000
Abraham & Strauss, Brooklyn 200,000
Rothenberg il^ Co 175,000
H. O'Neil&Co 150,000
Saks & Co 100,000
B. Altman & Co 100,000
A. D. Matthews & Sons, Brooklyn 100,000
Chapman & Co., Brooklyn 100,000
Stern Bros 75,000
H. Batterman, Brooklyn 75,000
Lord & Taylor 50,000
Koch & Co 50,000
Arnold, Constable & Co 35,000
Small department stores 50,000
$4,160,000
The Good Ship "Christmas" Now Docked at Wanamaker's
THE PHILADELPHIA STYLE OF DEPARTMENT-STORE ADVERTI- SING. ONE DOMINANT IDEA HOLDS THE PAGE ADVER- TISEMENT TOGETHER.
16
224 MODERN ADVERTISING
pioneer in department-store advertising is without question John Wauaniaker. Although there are many department stores to-day whose advertising is as in- telligent and as productive as that of the two Wana- maker stores, it is true that the modern idea of department-store advertising grew up under the man- agement of John Wanamaker in Philadelphia. It is generally said that Manly ]\r. Gillam, an advertising writer of reputation, is largely responsible for what is known as the Wanamaker style of advertising. In an interview given to Printer's Ink,^ Mr. Gillam has described his connection with the Wanamaker advertising :
" I was then managing editor of the Philadelphia Record," he said lately at the office of the New York Herald, "and knew nothing of advertising. My training had all been along news and editorial lines. There wasn't a great deal of adver- tising printed in the Philadelphia papers at that time, but soon after going to the Quaker City my attention was attract- ed by the daily announcements of John Wanamaker. They were seldom a column in size, and more often a half column. But the items of store news were set in pica old style, which, among the black ads of that day, made them conspicuous through their inconspicuousness. It seemed to me a very good type for setting advertisements, but I thought I could improve the manner in which they told their story.
"Mr. Singerly, publisher of the Record, had a magnificent herd of Holstein cattle at his country place outside of Phila- delphia. They were kept with greater care than some people keep their children — housed in stone barns, fed on ensilage, groomed like horses. The milk was scientifically cooled, the cream separated by centrifugal machinery and butter churned from it with every regard for the best j^roduct. In
» September 7tli, 1904.
RETAir. ADVERTISING 225
Philadelphia at that day the famous Darlington butter sold at a dollar a pound and never lacked buyers. But the butter from Mr. Singerly's Holsteins, every whit as good, was put on sale two days a week at the okl Central Market at regular market prices. It didn't sell. There were some buyers, but no regular demand.
'"Hang it all, Gillam,' he said to me one day. 'Why doesn't it sell? See if you can't write some sort of advertise- ment to make that butter go.'
"Well, when I got round to the matter, the first thing that struck me was the old style p'lcsi of the Wanamaker ads — Wanamaker type, we called it. Then I began to ask myself what argument could be employed to interest people in this Holstein butter. This brought me eventually to what I believe is the principle of all advertising. I asked myself why I, or my wife, or my family, should use that butter. Because it was good — better than any other to be had at the price. The point was, therefore, to let people know how good it was.
" I began an investigation of Holstein cattle, and found that for a thousand years this breed had been the pride of Europe. When America was a wilderness the Holstein herds had been cared for like children, and many famous butter-making strains, like the English Holderness, were de- rived from them. It was intensely interesting to me, and I felt sure it would be to the public. So three ads were planned — the first to give the history of the Holsteins,, the second to tell about them in America, and the third to deal with Mr. Singerly's herd and the methods of making butter at his farm. Three cuts of Holstein cows were made. The ads took a half column of space in the Waiiamaker type, with the cut in the center. The facts were so interesting that any one who began to read would continue to the end. The only advertising argument was comprised in a nonpareil line at the bottom — 'Butter from a herd of Holstein cows will be on sale to-day at the Central Market at regular prices.' One ad did the business. At noon of the morning the first ad was printed there wasn't an ounce of the butter left, and the other
226 MODERN ADVERTISING
two ads established a demand that far exceeded the capacity of the dairy.
"Some months after Mr. Singerly asked me what I knew about music.
'"Nothing at all,' I said.
"'Well, there's a man named Willard Spenser here in town Avho's writing an opera for the Temple Theater, and I want you to advertise it.'
"The Temple Theater belonged to the publisher of the Record, but had never paid. This new opera was ' The Little Tycoon.' The Japanese were an unknown people then, and I found out what I could about them from books. A hundred and fifty little ads were written describing their life and manners, such as their way of sleeping on a wooden pillow with a lantern to keep away evil spirits, their custom of shaking hands with themselves, getting on to a horse from the right side and so forth. These were printed with little cuts of Japs planting rice, drinking tea, and so on, and at the bottom of each was a line, 'The Little Tycoon will give a reception at the Temple Theater to-night.' Almost imme- diately the theater began doing a business that far exceeded its capacity, and the opera had a run in Philadelphia that was never equalled on the road. After that I wrote some advertising for Kellar, the magician, then a youngster in his profession, using the facts of Kellar's own life and travels as the main theme of interest.
"But this^is Hke getting into an old garret. Perhaps I am telHng you of things that are of no interest to present- day advertisers. To make a long story short, John Wana- maker came to the Record, one day and wanted to engage the man who had written the Holstein ads. I was doing as well as I had ever hoped to do on the Record, and my rela- tions with Mr. Singerly were those of a son. In my heart, however, I knew that I was only a theorist in business affairs. I wrote advertising confidently, but it was entirely on theory. I was a book merchant, if you please. The Ix'st capital that any man can have is what he has in his head. To come in touch with the greatest retail business in America would add
RETAIL ADVERTISING 227
infinitely to my knowledge. If it led to nothing else I should be a better newspaper man for the experience. I accepted the offer.
"When I went into the new position it was with a real awe of the department heads that Mr. Wanamaker had gath- ered about him. To me, it seemed, every individual one of them must be a veritable master in merchandising, and the store an aggregation of little Napoleons of commerce. I found, however, that while each head knew all about goods, widths, prices, grades, and everything that pertained to buying in his department, there were few who had any notion of public demand or general business methods. They knew the people from whom they bought, but not those to whom they sold. The genius of John Wanamaker, for manage- ment, made the selling organization. I feel safe in saying that he is even a poor buyer, but in determining public de- mand and getting close to the people he is a wizard.
"The half column to a column of space used daily was a big advertisement in 1886. With my eighteen years of ex- perience in gathering and writing the news of the world, it was natural that I should treat the advertising as a news proposition. In the store I sought centers of interest. The style of my predecessors had been sprightly and entertain- ing, but ran chiefly to talk, with few prices and little selling argument. It was excellent, yet seemed the wi'ong thing. After stirring up interest, why not put some meat on the bones of the skeleton that had been created? Plenty of prices were made a feature of the ads, and the story was varied from day to day by putting emphasis on different departments. The news of the store — that was the idea. Some days we had strikes in hosiery, and on others red- handed war in dress-goods. Advertising in a big store might be compared to gathering fruit from a great orchard. Every- thing depends on selection of interesting subjects. Some men go out and gather the ripe, tempting things that appeal to the public, while others set before readers in their ads only the windfalls, green plums and rotten apples.
"My theory of the reader's treatment of advertising was
228 MODERN ADVERTISING
a glance. So presently the ads wei'e cut up into paragraphs with little subheads to catch the eye and make easy reading. Every ad had little hooks to catch attention, and followed the line of least resistance. I soon saw the convenience of ha^ang the ads set in the store, and put in a composing-room. There was economy in it, too, for by cutting out a word here and there we saved several lines of space daily, and as the cost of a line in all the papers was something like four dollars, the service really paid for itself. Mr. Ogden was in the Phila- delphia store then, and persistently advocated the use of illustrations. We recognized their value, but didn't know how to produce enough interesting pictures to supply the daily demand. Mr. Wanamaker said it was impossible to make suggestive cuts in sufficient number, but Mr. Ogden persisted — he was an enthusiast. Finally, we had a con- ference on the matter and each took home a set of i^roofs to think up subjects for illustration. I produced four with the greatest difficulty, and was heartily ashamed of them. The others had about as many. All seemed jjuerile, but Mr. Wanamaker gave the word to go ahead as soon as we had fifty pictures in reserve. Several weeks must have passed before we secured that number, for ideas came slowly. I could suggest three hundred pictures to-day from one of those ads, but you must remember that we were on entirely new gi'ound then.
"The average space was a column a day, but sometimes we took a page, and once two pages. But the next day's ad would be a half column. The advertising simply reported the normal gossip of the store. The size of the ad indicated its importance. A three-column announcement in the Phila- delphia morning papers was instantly recognized by the people of that city as an event at Wanamaker's. It was a good method, that. I think to-day that the normal news of a large store can be amply told in a column of newspaper space. The news of the store is like the news of the world. You can't take Port Arthur every morning, or bury a Queen, or assassinate a President. If you do, the thing palls. Worse yet, the adveiiising man must work in the treadmill of a page
RETAIL ADVERTISING 229
a day, with the result that the advertising becomes Hfeless and perfunctory.
"From all this gossip of all times I presume you want me to draw an atlvertising moral. Well, I firmly believe that the methods followed then are better than those of the present, and that we must eventually come back to them by reaction. Present-day ads are too big. The desire to attract by bigness of space and bigness of statement has become a disease. The bread is spread so thin sometimes that you can't taste the butter. The everlasting grind of filling a page a day inevitably leads to exaggeration. In an old Oriental legend each Caliph on ascending the throne shot an arrow, and each was supposed to shoot further than his predecessor. That's what advertising men try to do now. Exaggeration soon leads to demorahzation. I grant that there is a certain portion of the public that can be attracted by big ads and sensational statements. In Boston I helped break up the get-rich-quick swindle of a swindler who promised people twenty-five per cent, on their money, and it seemed that when his game had been fully exposed the pubhc would never bite again. But lately we have had 520-per cent. Miller, and I now believe that a 1,000-per cent, swindle would catch victims. Years ago in Philadelphia there was a clothing merchant who attracted people by the most sensational, lying statements. He seemed to do well despite his dis- honesty. One day Mr. Wanamaker frankly asked him why he pursued a method of getting business that was so far from legitimate.
" ' Mr. Wanamaker,' he replied with equal frankness, ' there are one million people in Philadelphia. Ten per cent, of them are fools — -one hundred thousand. If I can get ten per cent, of those — ten thousand — I can do a profitable busi- ness. And you must always remember, that our population is increasing.'
"He thrived for a number of years, but on that corner to-day there is no clothing store. Now, right among the sensational, spread-eagle advertisements of to-day there are smaller announcements of firms people trust so impHcitly
230 MODERN ADVERTISING
that they don't need much advertising. Their reputations for fair dealing and conservative statements are so firmly established that their column a day carries more weight than somebody else's page. When they say 'Three dollars re- duced from five/ the public knows that five dollars was the actual selling price of yesterday. Others resort to little subterfuges — and I confess that I have used them myself — like 'former value five dollars,' meaning, in reality, that they were perhaps worth that in the time of Louis XV. Right here is the diseased member of the advertising body. I indicate the disease, but leave you to infer the remedy. By the law of reaction we'll eventually revert to quieter methods. "From time to time there has been hot discussion as to who organized the old style pica method of advertising. Mr. Wanamaker says that he selected this type himself, and Mr, Ogden supports him. Some years ago the Dry Goods Economist asked me to write an article that would settle the point. I thought it would be easy to do so by looking up the files of Philadelphia papers. But far earher than 1861, when Mr. Wanamaker began in Oak Hall, I found old style pica ads in Philadelphia dailies, and even ads that had the Wanamaker style of taking the people into his confidence and talking to each reader indi\'idually. None of the adver- tisers had ever carried the idea out as persistently or fully, but the germ was there, and I concluded that instead of settling the matter with an article I could only add to the fuel of the dispute. The Wanamaker style was a growth, depend- ing on no one man. Each successive writer has added some- thing to it, and the experience of years has added most of all."
Whether due to this fact, or to some other, Pliihi- delphia still remains the home of the best department- store advertising. Each hirge city appears to have a certain style of its own, and the man familiar with such things can tell instantly on seeing the advertise- ment set up as it appears in the newspaper whether the store is in Chicago, Philadelphia, New York or
|Ml!ir#ll}^il3M
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The experience'of everybody supports the wisdom ol early shopping for Lhrislmas. Our hohday lines ot merchandise are now more complete than ever belore at this date-and your Iriends to be remembered are known. The better selections and the more leisure possible now make early holiday buying a pie; shoppinc lists. This store is much n
Many people are already busy with their Christmas '»//>■ than ever before the recognized headquarten for Christmas goojs
THE CHICAGO STYLE OF PAGE DEPARTMENT-STORE ADVER- TISEMENTS SHOWS WELL-BALANCED ARRANGEMENTS.
232 MODERN ADVERTISING
Boston. Chicago is the second best as far as the char- acter of department-store advertising is concerned; Xew York is third, and Boston fonrth. This is not saying that department-store advertising is more profitable in the cities in the order named ; it is simply that from modern advertising standards it is better done. That is, it is better written, better illustrated, better set up and better printed.
Preparing the advertising of a large department store is almost as complex as the work of issuing a daily newspaper. Department stores advertise every day or almost every day, concentrating their large advertising on the day preceding the principal shop- ping day of the week in that town. In small towns that day is usually Saturday, because Saturday is the pay-day in most small towns, and because those towns have no Sunday newspapers. Therefore, the leading department-store advertising appears in the papers Friday night and Saturday morning.
In a large city, such as New York, Monday is the leading shopping day, and the heaviest advertising is done in the Sunday papers. Some stores, either for reasons of principle, or for reasons of policy, do not advertise on Sunday, contenting themselves with Saturday night and Monday morning. Some retail stores go so far as not to make window displays on Sunday, drawing all their curtains between Saturday night and Monday morning. The Wanamakcr adver- tisements, for instance, do not appear in the Sunday papers. But the fact that the great bulk of depart- ment-store advertising appears on Sunday has made Monday the great shopping day.
Friday was for years the dullest day in the shop-
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NEW YORK DEPARTMENT-STORE ADVERTISING MAY BE REPRESENTED BY THIS PAGE.
234 MODERN ADVERTISING
ping week. The stores fell g-radiinllv into the habit of making attractive offers for Friday only, to attract a crowd of shoppers on that day. This has been so snccessful that the shopping woman has been educated to shop on Friday, nntil Friday is the next heaviest day in the week. On these two days the crowd is so great that department stores are now seriously con- sidering the possibility of switching some of the busi- ness over to other days by lessening their bargain advertising for the two days in question, and increas- ing it for the other days. It is a fact that a great number of women living in or near New York City have changed their regular wash-day from Monday to Tuesday in order to take advantage of the bargains advertised in Sunday's papers.
The department-store advertising in a large city is duplicated on a smaller scale in every dejiartment store in the country, but it can be best described by taking the method of a large store. Such a depart- ment store will have anywhere from fifty to two hundred departments, each one in charge of a compe- tent department head, who very often and generally is the buyer for that department. These department heads go over their stock constantly, and make copious notes for the benefit of the advertising manager, de- scribing especially some new or attractive goods, or some goods which for some reason can be sold at a special or bargain price. This vast array of rough material is turned over to the advertising manager, and ho with his assistants, in conjunction with the manager of the store, single out from this mass of (lc'sci'i])tions the goods which are to b(^ made the feature of the next advertisement.
RETAIL ADVERTISING 235
Let us suppose that it is an advertisement for the Sunday pajwrs, and that it will occupy a page. As early in the week as possible tlie advertising manager collects his reports from the department heads, sifts out his stuff and gets the iirst rough draft of the page advertisement read. Almost every week the work is intermitted at the last moment by the addition of new and attractive goods received at the last moment, or a lot of goods which for some cause can be sold at a lower price than was expected. Not until the papers go to press is the manager really through with his work upon the page advertisement.
While the advertisement is being written out in typewriting, artists are at work making illustrations, or going over proofs of cuts already made to select such as will do. Frequently a special heading for the entire advertisement is drawn. For instance, a " furniture sale " or " wdiite-goods sale " will have an appropriate design covering the entire top of the ad- vertisement, even though the advertisement does not treat altogether of the main subject.
When everything is ready the advertisement is set in type. Some of the best department stores have their own printing departments, and the entire ad- vertisement is set in t^'pe in their own offices. In other cases the " copy " and cuts are sent to one of the newspaper offices, which sets up the advertisement, and then exchanges matrices with the other news- papers.
A matrix is a sheet of pulpy paper, like blotting paper, which is softened, beaten down upon the page of type and then baked. Removing it, one finds an exact model of the face of the type. Type metal then
236 MODERN ADVERTISING
poured into it produces a stereotype of the advertise- ment, -which stereotype can be used to print from exactly as type.
One of these matrices is sent to each newspaper office, and each newspaper casts its own stereotype from this matrix. This can. only be done to advan- tage when the advertisement occupies an entire page, though sometimes a smaller advertisement is made in this way. When this is done, the stereotype must be made from the matrix, after which it is used just as a rcgiilar electrotype or cut in the page of the paper, and a second stereotyped plate is made from the entire page.
The preparation of the Sunday announcement often keeps the advertising manager and some of his assistants at work until a late hour Saturday night, and it is often impossible for him to leave until every proof has been approved.
Sometimes in the hurry of setting an advertise- ment on the part of a newspaper, an error will be made in a price. If the error is one which makes the price more favorable, there will often be a big demand for this particular article. If the mistake has been made by the store, the store or the advertising manager must bear the loss. If the mistake has been made by the new^spaper, then it is customary to send a bill for the difference between the advertised price of the article, and the price at which it should have been sold, for the entire quantity sold, to the newspaper, and in nearly every case such bills are promptly paid by the paper in question. Such an instance occurs at least once in the history of nearly every department store.
The work of the advertising manager is not con-
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THE BOSTON STYLE OF DEPARTMENT-STORE ADVERTISING RUNS TO HEAVY DISPLAY, ESPECIALLY OF PRICES.
238 MODERN ADVERTISING
fined to getting up tlie regular newspaper advertise- ments. Large department stores use many other mediums, such as programs, local publications not strictly newspapers, out-of-town newspapers, street-car space, posters, billboards, painted signs, electric signs, novelties of all kinds, and in addition to this a large volume of printed matter, all of which comes under the jurisdiction of the advertising man.
In some stores the window-dressing is made a department of the advertising work. In others it is a department by itself. In a large store the head window-trimmer has a number of assistants. The art of dressing windows attractively has become a spe- cialty by itself, and some men are very expert in it. A good window-trimmer commands as high a salary in some cases as an advertising man. Of course, in a strict sense he is an advertising man. Successfully arranged wdndows are a strong part of a department- store's advertising.
The printed matter sent out by a department store is quite a business by itself. Such stores issue at least one general catalogue, and a large number of special ones. Then there are circulars, folders, envelope-stuff- ers, bundle tickets and other small printed things which are dropped into envelopes or bundles, or dis- tributed in the store. Department stores sometimes publish a monthly magazine or house organ, and in the case of some stores this rises to the dignity of a very serious magazine, containing fashion news, ar- ticles on dress and toilet, and even stories, poems and illustrations. The advertising manager must prepare this or have it prepared for him.
A general catalogue is prepared because a big
RETAIL ADVERTISING
239
store has customers covering a very wide territory. Often a store which does not regiihirly solicit mail- order business receives nevertheless a large number of orders by mail, and a great many requests for prices and descriptions of goods, which can best be answered by means of a com- plete catalogue. Some depart- ment stores encourage mail- order business and regidarly advertise their catalogue over the entire country in national mediums, but, of course, stores wdiicli do this are in this case mail-order advertisers, and such
advertising comes under that heading.
"English squares."
Four-in-hands.
A quantity of rich scarfs that we've had on our shelves at $i and $1^50 — about half at each price.
85 cents.
R0GER3, Peet & Company.
3U tiTOBdwap. cor. Wurao.
THE ROGERS-PEET STYLE.
ISText to the department stores, the largest retail adver- tisers are the clothing stores. The clothing-store advertiser does not have the same variety that is offered by the depart- ment store, but in itself this ad- vertising is often carried very
far. One large retail clothing store, which main- tains three different branches in jSTew York City, has done for years retail advertising which has a national reputation. This store is known as Rogers, Peet & Company, and the Rogers-Peet style of adver- tising would be recognized by any one familiar with advertising.
It is a curious fact that there is not and never was any member of the firm bearing either the name 17
240 MODERN ADVERTISING
of Rogers or of Peet. The men behind this business, for some reason, invented the euj)h()nious name, " Rogers, Peet & Company," and under that name the business has grown to large proportions. Adopt- ing a fictitious name for a big business is unusual in this country, although in England it is a very com- mon thing indeed. Another very noteworthy instance in the advertising world is that of Perry Mason & Company, for over seventy years the publishers of the Youth's Companion. When the Youth's Companion was started it was such a trivial thing, and had so little chance of success, that its founders decided to do business under a fictitious name. As the years rolled by the publication of the Youth's Companion became the largest enterprise of its founders, and ju'oved a very profitable one, but in all that time and up till now the business name of the house has been Perry Mason & Company, although no one of that name has ever been connected with the business.
To return to the advertising of Rogers, Peet & Company, this house is famous not only for its unique newspaper advertising, but also for its printed matter. A great many catalogues, booklets, folders and bundle tickets are used in the advertising of the three stores. Street-car advertising and even poster work is in- dulged in. Everything that goes out of the store, including the boxes, bundles and envelopes, is utilized for attractive, refined and dignified advertising. By tricks of type and designing a certain definite individ- uality is given to each piece of advertising, so that, however diversified the use to which it is put, it can be recognized at a glance. This idea is one that is gradually appealing to more advertisers as time goes
RETAIL ADVERTISING 241
on. To accomplish it successfully requires consider- able ability.
The retail-clothing advertiser of the small town is greatly helped by what is known as ready-made advertisements. These are advertisements which have been designed and wndtten by the advertising depart- ment of a wholesale clothier. The wholesale clothier, in consideration of the purchase of his clothing by a retailer, will supply that retailer with a set of ready- made advertisements, consisting of electrotypes of attractive cuts and the reading matter to "go with them. The retail clothier will buy space in his local newspapers and pay for it himself, using the cuts and copy furnished by the manufacturer, signing it, however, with his own name and address.
By such plans as this the advertising of the retail clothier has been made a great deal better than that of the ordinary run of retail advertising in the same town. So successful has this plan been in securing a great deal of advertising for the manufacturer, that it is now being adopted in other lines. Ready-made advertisements are furnished by manufacturers of shoes, furniture, carpets, underwear, hats, gloves, ties and other things. The design and advertising fur- nished by the manufacturer always bear strongly upon the merits of his own product, of course. Large re- tailers often carry the products of several manufac- turers, from all of whom they obtain cuts and adver- tisements which are useful.
Retail advertising depends entirely upon direct results. A retailer can put an advertisement in a newspaper and know when his store opens the next morning whether it has paid or not. The general ad-
242 MODERN ADVERTISING
vertiser knows only in a general way, by the volinne of business. The retailer knows by the actual number of requests for a given article advertised at a given price. In its direct results retail advertising bears a close relation to mail-order advertising. The same quality of direct appeal is required to make it success- ful. The possibilities of successful retail advertising arc almost unlimited, but its possibilities are seldom realized, because a man running a retail store in a small town is not the man who appreciates the great possibilities of successful advertising. When he is, he soon ceases to be where he is.
It M^ll be noticed that some towns and cities have better retail advertising than others. In a town where the retail advertising is good, it is all good. This is due frequently to some very enterprising newspa])er which has fostered and encouraged good advertising. Some newspapers — and not all of tlu'm are located in large cities — possess regularly organized adverti- sing departments, which are placed at the service of the retailer to prepare his copy and designs for the local newspaixM's. This, too, has its effect in improv- ing the advertising that is done.
Outside of specific instances, such as unusually successful retail advertisers, the great bulk of retail advertising is com])nrativel_V unimportant. This means that the individual advertising is not very good and is fre(iuently very unsuccessful. Taken as a whole, however, the retail advertising in this coun- try is the largest and most im])ortant advertising done.
The importance of retail advertising depends ujwn the nundjcr of people engaged in it. There are not more than a thousand national advertisers, large and
RETAIL ADVERTISING 243
small, while there are hundreds of thousands of retail advertisers. It is on this aeeount that all books writ- ten about advertising up till now have been books de- voted to the problems of the retailer. There have been over a dozen of these books, no one of which does more than touch upon the subject of general advertising, if it does that. A book intended to help general adver- tisers would have a small sale. Advertising books have been written to make money and, therefore, have been sold on the theory that they are helpful to the retailer, and they generally are.
The fact that the advertising problem of each re- tailer is repeated in each different town has made it possible to build up what is known as syndicate work. An advertising syndicate sujiplies copy and designs to retailers at a very small cost by selling the same cut and the same advertisement in each town. The advertising of a retailer does not generally conflict with the advertising of a man in the same line of business in the next town. There are, for instance, forty thousand hardware dealers in this country, a great many of whom advertise. A syndicate can af- ford to paj' a good price for a design of a sufficiently general nature so as to fit almost any store. This design, together with the copy, is sold to as many re- tailers as will buy it, electrotypes of the cut being furnished. The local retail dealer either uses the copy as written, or changes it to fit some particular case in his own announcements.
Service like this has been sold for as little as twenty-five cents for each advertisement, but the bet- ter sort of service costs from fifty cents to a dollar per advertisement. A retailer contracts for so many
244 MODERN ADVERTISING
cuts with copy per week, and these are received, not all at once, but from time to time. This is one rea- son why the retail advertising of the country has been so greatly improved in the last fifteen years.
In the last ten years nearly every kind of retail business has been advertised. Local corporations holding a monopoly for supplying some of the necessi- ties of life, have adopted advertising to increase the number of their customers, even when there is no com- petition. The newspapers are used by gas companies, telephone companies, electric lighting companies, water companies, various street railway and rapid transit lines and other interests not at one time con- sidered as advertisers.
This development of advertising has become very interesting, and it has been very successful. When there is only one gas company in a town, everybody who wishes to use gas must go to that company, but in every town there are a large number of people who persist in burning kerosene, who can be persuaded to adopt gas. There are people who have gas in their houses for illuminating, who have not thought of it for cooking. Intelligent advertising for gas consump- tion skilfully teaches people that it is better to cook with gas. Some companies offer a gas-range free. Some offer to equip a liouse with gas-jets. Others rent a gas-range for a nominal sum. In various ways these companies extend their business by advertising, despite the fact that they have no competition. Such advertising may be classed as retail advertising.
CHAPTER X
MAIL-ORDER ADVERTISING
Advertising has been divided into general, retail and mail-order advertising. Mail-order advertising is that department of advertising and of merchandis- ing whereby goods are sold direct to the consumer by mail, the consumer in most cases living remote from the mail-order house.
Mail-order advertising resembles general advertis- ing in that it is spread all over the country, but it resembles retail advertising in that the goods adver- tised are sold direct, the mails being the medium of transmission of the advertisement of the goods, of the catalogue still further describing them, of the money- order to pay for them, and finally of the goods them- selves, when small enongli to be sent by mail, but otherwise they go by express or freight.
The mail-order business, supplying as it does a real need, has grown to mammoth proportions. Many large houses are engaged in it, and the volume of their business as well as the amount of their advertising compares with that of the largest general advertisers. This advertising does not, as a rule, appear in the magazines that we know as such, though some of them, and especially the weeklies and women's papers, carry a certain amount of mail-order advertising.
The great bulk of such advertising is to be found
245
246 MODERN ADVERTISING
ill the mail-order papers, iMiblieations which reach es- pecially the class of people living in remote and not easily accessible parts of the country, or in country districts and on farms near villages not well siip])lied with stores. Such people depend upon the mail-order houses for a large number of things they can not buy in the village general store, or if they can buy them, not at such low ju'iccs. These people make up the regular readers of the mail-order papers and are the regular customers of the mail-order houses. The gen- eral advertiser advertises to reach the consumer, but his goods are delivered by the retailer through his own store. The mail-order advertiser advertises to reacli the consumer, but delivers the goods himself by mail, express or freight.
The growth of the mail-order business has been due to the fact that three-fourths of the population of the United States live in the country or in towns and villages remote from anything in the way of a distributing center of goods other than the village store.
It really stands for a great expansion of the meth- ods of a retail store wherein a tremendous volume of business covering the entire country, and the privilege of buying goods in factory lots as it were, have made it possible to offer prices which even the big depart- ment stores are scarcely able to meet. The problem of a mail-order business is to defray, not only the cost of the goods, but also the cost of selling them, which includes advertising in a large number of mail-order papers.
To such great proportions has this business devel- oped that it is said that in Chicago alone the mail-order
MAIL-ORDER ADVERTTSTXG 247
houses do a business aggregating iifty million dollars a jear, most of "svhicli is controlled by three houses. The three firms whose names are best known in con- nection with this business are Sears, Roebuck & Com- pany, Montgomery, Ward «fc Company, and John M. Smythe Company. It is said that these three houses receive an average of twenty-five thousand orders or letters every day. They issue elaborate catalogues in which their wares are described in a way to convince people that better bargains are offered than can be given by local dealers in their towns. One of these catalogues, that of Sears, Koebuck & Company, weighs about four pounds, contains 1,200 pages, of three columns each, and describes nearly every article of human need or luxury. To mail one edition of this catalogue costs in postage alone $640,000. The amount spent by this house in advertising is still larger, and to this must be added the postage and printing of a gi'eat amount of literature, as well as the regular correspondence.
'' The history of Sears, Roebuck & Company," says the Mail Order Journal, " conveys an idea of the great opportunities the mail-order business offers to enterprising business men. This firm is only a few years old. Mr. Sears started originally in the jewelry and watch business, selling Avatches and jewelry by mail, through advertising in mail-order papers. Af- ter a short existence in Chicago, Mr. Sears removed to Minneapolis, where he associated himself with Mr. Roebuck, but after a few years this firm removed its establishment to Chicago. This took place at a time when tlie country was in the midst of an un- paralleled commercial crisis. Business was par-
248 MODERN ADVERTISING
alyzed ; indiistrj stagnant ; labor suffering and farm- ers impoverished by bad crops. It was thus during the hardest times that this business was started. Its capital was not very great, but its confidence in the future of the mail-order business made up what was lacking in money. By a thorough knowledge of the requirements of the mail-order trade, by strict econ- om}' in its management, by shrewdness in buying goods and advertising space, it built up one of the largest, if not the largest, mail-order business in the country. Together with Montgomery, Ward & Com- pany, and John M. Smythe Company, it is practically monopolizing the entire mail-order business in the gen- eral field. These concerns are enormous department stores for mail-order buyers. There are 25,000,000 inhabitants in the small towns and villages, and nearly 30,000,000 farmers. This country has ample room for several dozen large mail-order houses. These three firms can not supply the entire demand of the population whose facilities for trading by mail are constantly being increased by the extension of the rural free delivery. The full development of the rural free-delivery service will bring dozens of gen- eral mail-order houses into existence. There is no better field of commerce open at present than tlie mail- order trade, and the sooner merchants avail themselves of this splendid opportunity, the surer they are of suc- cess and of building up a large and lucrative trade." As suggested by this extract, the introduction of rural free delivery has greatly stimulated the business of selling goods by mail. Kural free delivery offers a double advantage. First, the distribution, promptly and direct to the subscriber, of various publications
MAIL-ORDER ADVERTISING 249
carrying niail-ortler advertising, and second, the dis- tribution of goods small enough to be delivered by mail, which comprise most of the goods sold by mail- order advertising.
The government report for 1903 shows 19,398 rural free-delivery routes covering 494,950 miles of country roads, and delivering mail daily to a popula- tion of twelve million not living in towns and villages. The number of pieces of nuiil carried in six months from these routes was 307,428,128. Many of these people would not otherwise receive mail oftener than once a week, and during the busy summer seasons or during bad weather as infrequently as once a month. It is estimated that, with the appropriations now avail- able, 3,260 additional routes will have been opened before this book is published, making the total routes in oj^eration in 1904 some 22,678.
Only one county has had rural free delivery long enough to offer a basis of comparison. Such com- parison shows the following remarkable percentages of increase: Letters, 15 per cent.; postal cards, 18 per cent.; registered mail, 21 per cent.; circulars, 139 per cent. ; packages, 35 per cent. ; money-orders, 70 per cent. The plan laid out by the government calls for the development of forty thousand such routes within the next few years. The service offered by this postal-delivery system brings the advertiser's offers and the goods themselves direct to the door-steps of the country population. This thing has given a greatly increased stimulus to mail-order advertising.
The possibilities of the mail-order business are made very clear by a few statistics from the last cen- sus. The 1900 census shows that 46,647,848 people
250 MODERN ADVERTISING
out of au actual population of 75,994,514, or 62.7 per cent., live in villages or on farms. The usual al- lowance of live people to a family gives 9, 3:^9, 509 homes. Into every one of these homes from which any bnsiness could be expected it is safe to say that at least one mail-order paper penetrates.
The growth of the mail-order business has led to the creation of new and the rapid development of other mail-order papers. The gregariousness of business, even in publishing, is shown by the fact that at Au- gusta, Me., are published eleven of these different nuiil-order papers. Other such publications are scat- tered all over the United States. Three come from Waterville, Me. One publisher in New York has a string of five. Forty-one such papers show an aggre- gate circulation of 12,300,000, and an aggregate price for space of $37.21^ per agate line, which is lower than the average cost per thousand of circulation in the general magazines.
Mail-order papers are all of the same character. They are clean. Their reading matter, while not of the highest literary sort, is innocuous. The ])a]ior upon which they are printed will not admit of half- tone pictures. The advertising is set in the densest possible form, so as to get the greatest mimbor of words in the smallest amount of space. The chief consideration in a mail-order advertisement is to get a full description of the article in the smallest possible space. This is the sort of advertising in which au explicit description and the price must always be given. The more complete and enthusiastic the de- scription, the larger the returns from the adver- tising. A well-known mail-order expert has said that
THE READER MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENTS
A HIGH-CLASS MAIL-ORDER ADVERTISEMENT AS USED IN MAGAZINES.
252 MODERN ADVERTISING
there are only two sizes for a mail-order advertise- ment. It should either be large enough to tell the entire story or small enough to induce the reader to send for a full descriptive circular.
There is the widest possible difference between general advertising for mere publicity and mail-order advertising for direct results. The general advertiser is merely trying to stamp his name and trade-mark upon the minds of a large number of people, so that when they want his article they will be induced to ask for it at their stores.
Mail-order advertising, on the other hand, tries to produce so strong an impression upon the desire of the readers that they will send the amount named in the advertisement for the article described imme- diately. Mail-order advertising is in this respect more nearly like that of the department store. In each case direct and immediate results are expected. An advertisement which does not pay inunediately will never pay. AMicn the advertising manager of a department store puts an announcement in the even- ing papers he knows next morning, as soon as the doors of the store are opened, whether or not it has been successful. When a mail-order advertiser puts his announcement in a mail-order paper he knows when the first mail is in whether or not it has paid.
It is said that in order to conduct a mail-order business profital)ly the actual cost of the article should be about one-third of the selling price. One-third is al- lowed for the advertising, and the other third is profit. Undoubtedly the successful mail-order houses which sell by mail every conceivable article from a thresh-
MAIL-ORDER ADVERTISING 253
ing machine clown to a cambric needle, do business on a far smaller margin of profit than this. They have such a well-organized distributing force, and they carry so numy articles that there is very little waste in their advertising.
The woman who reads an advertisement of a ready-trimmed hat for $1.68 and sends in her money, gets a catalogue weighing some four pounds. Out of that catalogue she and her family and her friends are apt to buy a good many other things, so that the business does not depend upon the immediate results of the advertising but upon these cumulative orders which come in from time to time. With such a pow- erful selling force as a complete catalogue covering every article that can be conceived, these mail-order houses build up a great business.
The writing of successful mail-order advertising is just as much a specialty as the writing of adver- tising to exploit the goods of a manufacturer through the ordinary channels of trade. It requires espe- cially an innate and unusual knowledge of human nature. Such advertising appeals to ordinary, com- monplace people. It should not aim above their heads. It is simply as complete and enthusiastic a descrip- tion of the article advertised as can be given, to which is added an illustration more or less accurate, and the price. Then follows explicit and, what would seem to many people, unnecessary detailed informa- tion as to the way of sending money. It should be borne in mind that the kind of people who answer mail-order advertising are not used to the ordinary methods of business. The mail of a house of this kind shows how large a proportion of its customers
254 MODERN ADVERTISING
are unused to the simplest details of sending money by mail.
The man who can write mail-order advertising best is the man who reads the letters of the people who buy his goods. He soon knows exactly what terms to use in describing any given article. This is some-
Si QQ BEAUTIFUL TRIiiED HAT
1'^^^^ ARCOULAII $8.00 STUNNINO SmiNO AND ■^^^^ _ SUMMER PATTERN HAT FOR »l.90.
t bad retuFD thlaad, «iicl09« $1.90. and I send yoQ thl* newe«t ityle dresfl ■"-'■- ... - - • the Qdo m&t«rl&ia. Cry It oq &nd t
, par* It witb the moat eipeaajve hats at 3
_ _ _ __ It you do not Bay U Is a value that is simply
ID«. the prettiest, motit stylish 6Dd becoming hat you ever Raw. If yoi
■lon't believe It Is worth every ceat of 58.00. return It to ua aod we
iiiiiiiM lately ri'tum vour Tioney. This Ua rlchty deeltmed dresB hat forBprlng
anil ^UDiiner. The latent stvle. Very fkthla&iblc ud beeomlng to jouog kod old «ltk«>.
A BEAUTIFUL PAtTERH HAT r/^n°:5LV,^r:'r.^/.';^J'^^•,,•;,!!;
Hand fntdc on ■ Bilk wire fram*. The t-hape haH a ^aceful, ratllD? brim with
Klnted dent In back. The facln^r Is made of fihlrred and Ptltched. best quality bl; ulalne silk, while the trlmmlnfe' la overlaid with hand " ' ' ■ '- '■" ' -
Bli
3 of bn I black Bilk Chantllly lace, wbl'
^k of cro , . ^ .
rran^ed below the ehlrred Bilk chlCTon, while a loop of {told he left facing eitending to the bandeau. Bandeau la trimm ■Un fottage and black allk lace. The hat aa described. La all black with (fold cord, makei a verr rich and bean- ful appearance, but can al30 be ordered In WHITE. PINK or LIGHT BLUE, with trimmings to match.
^1 QA barely covert the cot>t of material. We make thlB eKtremely low prlc.
^li!7U our millinery department If you order this aew, etyllsh, richly deali^ned drea- hat yi
mjr" ihan one-half In price; you will be Retting one of the handsomest styles that will be shown, a hat 1
carries city Birle and dlatlnctiveneas In every feature. Our froe MllUnery Catalogue, sent on request, sb
■ .olshlngly low prices on oor complete line of spring and summer hats, ehapee, trim- gs. lacea, velvet, ornaments, feathers, ribbons, c^^ Verv Interesting ii> every ladr, uding those In the maiUnery biialness or thinking or starting In the profitable
WRITE FOR OUR CDCC MILLINERY rnLC CATALOGUE.
.t^n^nnner^b:^^ SEARS, ROEBUCK & CO., CHICAGO, ILL.
A TYPICAL MAIL-ORDER ADVERTISEMENT.
thing that it is difficult for the ordinary advertising writer to do unless he has had actual experience.
Besides the mail-order houses which handle every kind of goods as do Sears, Roebuck & Compan}', Montgomery, Ward & Company, and eTohn M. Sinythe Company, there are a large number of houses which sell only one kind of goods as, for instance, houses which make a business of selling cheap carriages direct by mail. Such houses are known to the trade with which they compete as " catalogue " houses. Among the houses that have built up catalogue busi- ness in special lines are piano and organ makers, car-
MAIL-ORDER ADVERTISING 255
riage builders, and various furniture houses. Not all of these concerns run their own plants ; in some cases they contract for the output of a whole factory, or they buy a part of a plant, the articles made for them being of the cheapest sort. To give an idea of how cheap this is, it may be said that carriages are sold by mail as low as $14.95.
The retailer in such goods always considers the catalogue house as his greatest enemy. He has the same feeling toward them that the small retailer had toward the large department store. And in each case the triumph of the concern with the large capital, great buying power and sweeping advertising is in- evitable.
Mail-order advertising, as we have seen, brings in a large number of replies, about equally divided between those who send cash with the order, and those who write for further information. All large mail- order houses have a catalogue which is mentioned in each advertisement. This catalogue is mailed some- times free, and sometimes in return for postage, and from this catalognie customers continue to order, in many cases for several years. The amount paid for the catalogue is generally refunded on the first order.
A certain percentage of all inquirers fail to pur- chase for a number of reasons. They may be idle curiosity seekers, or they may not have been suffi- ciently convinced. All progressive mail-order houses have a system of form letters which are mailed promptly to all inquirers after a certain time. In some cases, especially wdien the article which drew out the inquiry is of considerable value, a follow-up system is kept up for a number of times and always 18
256 MODERN ADVERTISING
brings in a certain percentage of orders which would not otherwise have been secured. It is also true that customers who buy articles by mail are apt to be steady customers. Houses which make a business of this sort of work keep these names and send circulars enclosing offers from time to time.
An advertiser who has sold a popular book by mail for a number of years said that it took him at least six months to write. a successful advertisement of a new book. He would try it in various publica- tions, and as the responses came in he would correct, alter, change or revise the advertisement to answer the questions most frequently asked by inquirers. In this way he finally produced an advertisement which fitted every apparent demand. This advertisement as finally arranged he repeated over and over again in all publications, in some cases running it for two and even three years. This same advertisement would bring in hundreds of thousands of inquirers and sell the book to a large proportion of them. A single half- page magazine advertisement is said to have brought in $45,000 on the first insertion for a single book.
The general method followed is to repeat an ad- vertisement in a given publication until it ceases to draw. It is then inserted in other publications and so on. After it has been around a certain number of times, a new article is submitted and the list is gone through again. After a year or so the same ar- ticle can again be offered. The general mail-order houses have such a large supply of articles that they can offer frequent changes of seasonable and timely goods.
A variation of the mail-order business is what is
MAIL-ORDER ADVERTISING 257
known as letter-brokerage. For instance, a concern having advertised has received a hxrgc number of re- plies which are afterward rented or sold. A set of letters thus received in reply to an advertisement for a patent medicine would be particularly valuable to another man selling a similar remedy. Letters from people who send money for articles advertised are al- ways valuable to any mail-order advertiser.
This business is more or less legitimate, accord- ing to the people wlio practise it, though, of course, it is open to abuses. One flagrant instance of abuse was that of a concern which advertised a remedy for a certain disease, which remedy contained nothing more than salt and water. The advertiser did a prof- itable business, selling it at a dollar a bottle until the post-office department found it out and issued a fraud order stopping the advertiser's mail. The advertiser then promptly moved to a new location, taking Avith him the letters he had received from his victims. He gave his remedy a new name, put a new wrapper on the bottle, and wrote to one of his victims as fol- lows : " I have heard how you have been victimized by Dr. So-and-So. Such swindles can not be too greatly deprecated. I know, however, that you are suffering from what is supposed to be an incurable disease ; in fact, the only thing that I know of that will cure you is my remedy, which I will be glad to send to you in return for a dollar." Astonishing as it may seem, thousands of those who had been vic- tims before, again sent in their dollars to receive exactly the same worthless remedy.
Advertising, and especially the mail-order variety, has had to bear the burden of disreputable, fraudulent
258 MODERN ADVERTISING
and indecent advertising more than any otlier one de- partment of publicity. In the case of articles sold throngh the stores no great fraud can be practised. The customer may read about such things in the news- papers and magazines, but he buys them of his own dealer, and sees the goods before he buys. Numerous ingenious schemes are made for defrauding credulous and innocent people through the mail-order papers, and even through the columns, of the most reputable daily newspapers. It is hard to find a newspaper in the country so particular that at least a few such objectionable advertisements are not found in it, though the real field for such announcements is the mail-order paper.
The most serious thing about such advertising is the helplessness of tlie government in dealing with it. It is often impossible to prosecute the advertisers, and the most the post-office department can do is to issue what is known as a fraud order. Such an order peremptorily and without redress stops the mail of the advertiser. This mail is opened and the money is returned to the senders, and they are advised that the concern is engaged in the business with intent to deceive.
So clever are these advertisers that although it is patent to everybody that the advertising is deceptive, it is impossible to point out any actual deception. One advertiser offered to send a complete set of parlor furniture for the small sum of $3.50, saying that the picture given was an exact likeness. This proved true to the extent that the furniture was no larger than that in tlic picture. In other words, it was doll's size furniture, where the inquirer naturally expected a
MAIL-ORDER ADVERTISING 259
parlor set that he could use in his own lionse. Yet there was nothing said in the advertisement that was not strictly true.
Headers of mail-order advertising have sent twenty-five cents for a complete sewing-machine and received a cambric needle. They have sent fifty cents for a steel engraving of General Grant and received a one-cent postage-stamp. It is impossible for the government to prove that a needle is not a complete sewing-machine, or that a one-cent postage-stamp is not a steel engraving of General Grant. Still, the people who sent their money did not get what they expected.
The post-office is a paternal institution and has something of the discretionary power of a police mag- istrate in deciding things arbitrarily. A recent ag- gravated case was that of a music-dealer who adver- tised sheet music — 100 titles for ten cents. In return for the ten cents he sent 100 titles and nothing more. In other words, his customers paid ten cents for a catalogue, thinking they would get the actual music. A post-office inspector was put on the trail of the pub- lisher, but it took weeks to find him, as he simply inquired for his mail at the post-office and the address which appeared in his advertisement was the address of a branch postal station.
One department of mail-order advertising wdiich should possibly be mentioned at least is that of the correspondence schools. The first correspondence school was the outgrowth of a trade paper devoted to mining, which began in a small way to give instruc- tion by correspondence in mining engineering. This was so successful that the school enlarged its scope
260 MODERN ADVERTISING
until its courses cover quite a variety of topics. So successful was the school that the idea was soon copied bj all kinds of institutions with every degree of ability to teach. Most publications reaching young people are now filled with the advertising of cor- respondence schools. There are said to be one hundred thousand students of these schools scattered all over the United States. This advertising is mail-order advertising in its strictest sense.
CITAPTEE XI
THE MATHEMATICS OF ADVERTISING
The present-day tendency on the part of expe- rienced advertisers is to get at the facts — to reduce the art of advertising to a science — to develop what may be called the mathematics of advertising.
Advertising has laws and figures as have archi- tecture, painting, and music. The profession of an architect is work that calls for imagination, taste and other attributes of the mind^ which we call artistic. Yet the successful architect is capable of calculating the breaking strain of an iron beam, the weight and durability of stone, wood, steel or tin. Drawing has perspective, anatomy and even geometry behind it. The statistics of advertising bear the same relation to preparing a successful advertising campaign that the mathematics of architecture bear to the designing of a great library.
The question with every advertiser is, does my advertising pay and how well does it pay ? It has always been supposed that the general advertiser, the man whose investment is in pure publicity, could not know other than in the most general way whether or not his advertising has been successful. The results obtained by some advertisers who have secured figures in support of their theories have proved this conviction premature.
The simplest method of determining whether or
361
262
MODERN ADVERTISING
not advertising is read is by offering something for which the reader may send. This offer may take the form of a booklet about the article advertised, or a booklet containing helpful matter in addition
to advertising matter
IF YOU WEAR
Collar Buttons
ONE-PIECE Collar Buttons
— recij^es for prepar- ing foods or drinks, special instructions for decorating a home, or something of that kind. The nature of the book is generally suggested by the article adver- tised. An advertiser making, say, a min- eral water, will send out a book of recipes for mixed drinks in which the mineral water is used. There is a wide range in the use of booklets of this kind, because one manufacturer making mixers, shakers and spoons for mixing drinks, sends out a very handsome book of recipes for the drinks themselves.
An advertiser making an offer of this kind will get a certain number of replies, a small percentage of the number of people actually reading the advertising. If the article is sold through the stores, many people will buy that article at the stores. A certain percent- age will send for the booklet or whatever is offered.
and want the kind that never break, because they are made from a single piece o f metal, don't fail to ask for
KREMENTZ
Mnile in rolled plale. sterling and gold. The name Krcmentz and the quality is stamped on the back of every button. There's more gold in our plated button than in any other make. Write for booklet, '■ The Stoi7 of a Collar Button."
KREMENTZ & CO. 69 Chestnut Street,
NEWARK, N. J. pleuM mention THE CRITIC
AN INDUCEMENT TO WRITE IS OF- FERED. THE STREET ADDRESS IS PROBABLY A KEY.
THE MATHEMATICS OF ADVERTISING 263
Another way to stimulate the use of an article is to offer something desirable in return for a certain number of box fronts, labels or metal caps to be taken from the package, bottle or jar. These are evidence of the consumption, or at least of the purchase, of a certain number of packages of the articles advertised.
The question of whether or not to charge for the article sent is one which is treated differently by different advertisers. Some advertisers send it abso- lutely free. Others ask for the postage. Still others charge a small price, sometimes enough to cover the cost of producing the book- .- -■
let or article. This is done MACBETH, Oil not so much to reimburse themselves for the outlay as on the belief that people think more of something for which they have paid ^l-v^i,^ than they do of something
tnat IS given iree. A-U- My index lelU what chimney bis your lamp. Uyou
- ^ ^ use that chimney, you get perhaps twice as much light,
other reason they Charo-e andsaveadollaronwoayearofchimneymoney.
(/ O I send It tree; am glad to.
nj* 1 1 1 J Macbeth, Pittsburgh sum lor a booklet
or other advertising is that ^^ unusual name is given
'=' TO THE BOOKLET. NO KEY.
it weeds out from the
day's mail all curiosity seekers. Many people in
this country write for anything that is offered free,
whether they can use it or not. Such replies are one
of the great drawbacks to offering something in the
advertising.
There is another way of charging for a book- let or other thing that is offered. The inquirer is asked to do something. The most ordinary form of request is that the writer shall send in the name of
a lamp-chim- ney, stays
264
MODERN ADVERTISING
her dealer in the line of the article advertised. As explained in another chapter, the reason for doing tliis is to bring pressure to bear upon that dealer to place the goods in stock. Sometimes the inquirer is asked to send the names of several friends to whom adver- tising literature may be sent.
All these things are efforts on the part of various advertisers to ascertain to some extent whether their advertising is being read or not.
Xext to the desire for knowledge of this sort, the advertiser likes to know which j^ai'ticular mediums
Libbys
Flavor Jl Vf\>.. ^
Condensed Mince Meat, Melrose Pate, Concentrated Soups, Potted Ham, Tongue, Peerless Wafer-Sliced Dried Beef, Cottage Loaf, Veal Loaf are ready to serve at a moment's notice, and are sold by all grocers.
Our booklet, "Salad Successes" containine recipes
AN ADVERTISEMENT IN WHICH A BOOK OF RECIPES IS OFFERED. THIS ADVERTISEMENT HAS NO KEY.
pull best. To accomplish this the advertising is " keyed." Some form of address is used which can be varied in each magazine. The inquirer reading the advertisement in a given magazine copies the ad- dress as it appears there. The replies arc then sorted in the office of the advertiser according to ihc address.
There are a great many ways of keying advertise- ments. All are good, but none is ])erfect. Variations of street numbers are possi])le where an advertiser is located in a small town, or possesses a very large plant.
ig£i
For full tnlormatlon till <
Tbe Eqaltabte Life A»nraat« Sorietr of the Un
PUtti: *«nd DM inlorraaiion tecaidin^ a Caniinuoui InKilmcm >«>ri of a>e, beneficiair re an of
l20BroAdwaT. N«wTork.
A COUPON IX WHICH THE ACE OF THE INQUIRER IS AMONG THE INFORMATION DESIRED.
SU^el Cooper Co., New TorK
"ihi^i day. orrttc ipl'ori«ils!lid »i ™r dayV^recdprof books/od%ol j'lhe'm sub- p%K. ItVuSd^SodibU I'Li, U rK,°"
A SQUARE COUPON.
COUPON WITH KEY IN UPPER CORNER.
. ■^'* Mbad a Oo.
Flea«9 saoi* with- out co« to me. tli» book <iMcrltv
ENOTOt-OPSDlA and
regardlDg prioo sod <
/
COUPON KEYED FOR PUBLICATION.
For Free Books and Folderi, kindly Fill Out this Coupon and mail to-day to F. A. MILLER, G. P. A., The Railway Exchange, Chicago
Street Address^ City
Probable Destination_
COUPON ACROSS BOTTOM OF PAGE.
FORMS OF COUPONS.
266 MODERN ADVERTISING
-For instance, a buikling occupying an entire block is entitled to, saj, fifty street numbers. Each mag- azine will be assigned a street number, but all mail will be delivered to the same office. The address shows which magazine inspired the inquiry. An advertiser may give fictitious addresses, using different street names, but leaving orders at his post-office that all mail shall be put in a certain box. Department letters and numbers are sometimes used, as " Department 29," or " Ask for booklet B." Also a booklet will be given a different name in each advertisement, and the title by which the booklet is asked for is a clue, but not always a sure one. Some people simply say, " Send us your booklet," and the key is lost. Differ- ent spellings of the firm name are sometimes used, but all keys go wrong at times. Every advertiser receives a certain percentage of inquiries which can not be classified, and which must be, therefore, divided proportionately among the different magazines.
A variation of the " key " in advertising is the coupon, the use of which has grown to large propor- tions in the pages of the magazines and also in the newspapers. This coupon, which was originally in- vented by Ralph Tilton, at that time advertising man- ager for The Century Dictionary and Encyclopedia, consists of a corner of the advertisement which can be detached by a stroke of the shears, and which offers a form of reply to be filled out and mailed to the ad- vertiser. Coupons have developed rapidly in adver- tising, but they have departed so far from the original idea that they are now found not only at the inside corners of the page, but also in the centers of ]:)agcs and other places where they have to be cut out witli
KEYED FOR MONTH AND PUBLICATION.
FORMS OF COUPONS.
268 MODERN ADVERTISING
considerable trouble. This raises the question as to Avhether the coupon is valuable enough to justify the space it occupies. One prominent advertiser insists that the coupon is a direct detriment inasmuch as his customers would write detailed letters of important information if there were no coupon, and that they confine themselves to the facts asked for by the coupon otherwise. This consideration would be more impor- tant to some advertisers than to others.
Large general advertisers who have satisfied them- selves that certain publications are good mediums for them, abandon all keys, continue to place a certain amount of advertising in the magazines they have tested, and trust to the volume of business from the entire country to prove to them that their advertising as a whole is right. Their own experience, which has cost them a good deal of money, is not available to new advertisers.
Advertisers whose advertising brings direct re- turns keep very accurate records of their expenditure as to the cost of securing an inquiry and the cost of securing an order. Such advertisers are able to key their advertising not only by publications but by months. They know, for instance, not only that such and such a reply was inspired by The Outlook, but also that it was inspired by the advertisement in the ISTovember number. They can separate the l^ovember replies from the December replies. These advertisers know in dollars and cents how much it costs to get a given inquiry and what advertisement brought it. The exact cost of the inquiry is the cost of the entire advertising space that month divided by the number of inquiries received. The cost of an inquiry, how-
John W^vnamaker.
Broadway, Fourtu Avenue
NINTH & TENTH STREETS
NJEW'YbHK,
Oct. 14. 1904. To the Public: --
The latest edition of The Century " Dictionary & Cyclo- pedia & Atlas, which is now coining from the DeVinne - Press , con pletes our arrangement with the publishers under which we have been able to sell this great work at half-price.
As soon as this edition is exhausted our half-price offer will no. longer be in force, and the distribution will be resumed by the publishers.
This notice is now going to all with whom we have had correspondence about The Century, and, as a result, the sets are being taken rapidly.
This important question confronts you and demands im- mediate attention:
Shall 'I secure The Century now, save half the publish- ers' price, have the use of the complete work while making small monthly payments; or. later, pay double the Wanamaker price and continue to get along without this great help in the . meantime .
Don' t -- if money and advancement mean anything to you-- dismisB this question with the idea that you will purchase as conveniently after while. The publishers believe the work is now so well established as The Great American Work of Reference that people must have it and will readily pay the regular price. There will, therefore, be no "after while" so fs as the Wanamaker half-.price, little-payment sale is con- cerned. Consider the question while the half-pric prevails. Respectfully,
IF YOU DOUBT The CentniT'* direct, practical valae to yon write
No. 2— The Lawyer. No. 6— The Teachi
No. 3— The Clergym
No. 7— The Oeoeral Work' IMPORTANT^— Each booklet_contam>« beantlfolly Ulnslrated
No. 6— The Technical Worker.
article on the valne of The Ceotury to The Woi WomeQ should, therefore, select the booklet m also Borne other raeiQber of the family.
A PAGE MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENT SHOWING COUPON ATTACHED
270 MODERN ADVERTISING
ever, is not even in ratio to the cost of making a sale. An inquiry when it has been received is followed up with printed matter, or by personal solicitation, or by whatever other method the advertiser uses, until the sale is made. Then the cost of making the sale is added to the cost of getting the inquiry, which makes the total cost of the sale.
It quite frequently happens that the publication which is most fruitful in replies is most barren in orders. Therefore, a publication at a high price bring- ing in comparatively few replies may in the end prove more profitable than a publication at a lower price bringing in a large number of inquiries. All these things the advertiser patiently studies, compares and classifies, and upon these results he bases his list of mediums.
An effort is sometimes made by general advertisers and others interested in advertising to find out how much impression advertising makes. Tests are ar- ranged to show the advertised articles which are remembered first by a selected number of people. The characteristic symbol or trade-mark of a number of advertisements is cut out and the whole lot pasted on the wall. A number of people are asked to identify the articles advertised by these marks to show how much of an impression each trade-mark has made. Such tests are by no means proof conclusive, but they are interesting as straws to show which way the wind blows.
The " Jim Dumps and Sunny Jim " advertising of the Force Food Company was successful, and one of the reasons for its success may not have occurred to a great many people, even advertising people.
THE MATHEMATICS OF ADVERTISING
271
There was a time when no patent-medicine adver- tising, and, in fact, ahnost no advertising of any kind was complete without '' before-taking " and " after- taking " pictures. Over and over again was this used in advertising, until it became almost a fundamental principle. The public liked to see instances illus- trated this waj. It saw the man a physical wreck
Jim Dumps' half-sister, pale and slight.
Had very little appetite.
She said : " Such dainty-looking food Will please the most capricious mood.
So crisp, so light— it takes my whim ! '•
■■ It takes with all," quoth " Sunny Jim."
orce
ff
a different food
for indifferent appetites.
Strftntftrxenfl &nd Produces Fotoe.
"Not having enjoyed the best of health for the past three years. I have tried several kinds of diet. The past six monttts have given •Force' a very thorough trial, with good results. It Is not only very
"OEORQB A. RiLBT
THE ORIGINAL FORM OF THE SUNNY JIM ADVERTISING.
before he had taken a bottle of the preparation, and it saw him completely restored afterward. It saw the housewife who did or did not use a soap or a washing-powder or any other domestic article or utensil and the transformation afterward.
The Jerry McCauley Mission down along the shore, under the big bridge in New York City, fol- lows a similar plan. When a man comes into the 19
"The best food is the best doc- tor,"—the doctor himself will tell you so.
"FORCE" is appropriate as soon as a few good teeth appear,— and it starts right in the first day to make quick, elastic muscle and sturdy, solid bone.
W<e<,<.c.«>y J^u<^<^
Wheat is the ideal grain. ** FORCE" is the iJcal farm of wheat,— honesl, wholesome, entii wheal, malted with barley, thoroughly cooked and crispily flaked.
It coniaim no glucoBe, nor any other deleterious swceleniog subatanci
STYLE ADOPTED THE SECOND YEAIt.
THE MATHEMATICS OF ADVERTISING
273
mission and decides to try to lead a better life, his photo- graph is taken. Then, pro- vided the rescued one succeeds in leading a respectable life, his picture is taken again at the end of six months or a year and put beside the first one. The contrast is startling. A complete set of such pic- tures is a more impressive ob- ject lesson for other wayfar- ers. All of this appeals to a certain instinct in human nature and, therefore, is good advertising.
So in the same way the continued series of Jim Dumps and Sunny Jim, the before-and-after idea of Force, was one of its strong points. This may have been uncon- scious, but it was nevertheless effective. Undoubtedly the reason the idea appealed to the Force Food people was because they recognized, with- out defining it, that satisfac- tion offered by a before-and- after idea.
In analyzing advertising a distinction should be made between publicity for a sym-
" Force-thoughts"
xvm. ^'"' '*
DO you know that you get a new skin every month or six weeks — from four to twelve new skins for every gown or new suit of clothes you buy?
Do you know that your finger- nails are completely renewed every six months, and your toe- nails once a year, and that your eyelashes last about a hun- dred days?
CI grew up with the popular notion that one's body was com- pletely renewed every seven years; in reality, the change takes place within about thirty months ; and the only part that undergoes but Uttle transfor- mation is the enamel of your teeth.
No wonder, then, that the food you eat is the all-important thing. From it was made all you are to-day — and to-mor- row's breakfast has a mighty big bearing on the way you'll decide an important matter two months from now! CAnd you know it's not the amount of nutriment in the food but the amotint that is available that counts. "Force" is a food containing the high- est percentage of nutriment so far as materials are concerned, and the scientific cooking pro- cess renders all this nutriment ready for immediate trans- formation into brain and muscle.
It's because it is so easily di- gested that it helps us to
Be Sunny.
Yours truly,
STYLE USED THE THIRD YEAR.
/
274 MODERN ADVERTISING
bol and piiblicit}^ for the article advertised. For in- stance, in the case of Force and " Sunny Jim," it is believed by a good many that the advertising exploited " Snnny Jim " at the expense of Force; that a large nnmber of people recall " Sunny Jim," but that a dis- proportionately small number of people recall that " Sunny Jim " was associated with Force. In other words, the attempt to make a symbol of " Sunny Jim " lessened the advertising for the article which was supposed to be exploited by the symbol.
If advertising ever becomes an exact science, the first thing the scientist will have to do will be to determine the respective merits of advertising that explains and advertising that exclaims.
In a given copy of a newspaper there are two advertisements of breakfast foods. One of these makes a number of explicit statements. There is no illustration, no design, no eye-catcher — simply plain type and explicit statements. On an opposite page facing it is an advertisement which to many people, and especially to advertising people, will seem infi- nitely better. This advertisement doesn't in any part of it say one single thing about the breakfast food advertised. It consists of a jingle and the name of the food. The jingle, while clever and metrical, and while it mentions the name of the food, says nothing about it that would, from an ordinary point of view, induce people to buy it.
Now, which of these is the better ? The latter is one of a series all connected by the same idea. It has been criticised by various experts of more or less experience, and their criticisms range from calling it distinctly good down to calling it distinctly
THE MATHEMATICS OF ADVERTISING 275
bad. At least five large advertising campaigns have been carried on this last year based upon an idea like this — an idea which could be repeated in each adver- tisement with different variations, more or less con- nected with a catch phrase or with a jingle.
This sort of thing gets a great deal of publicity, but does publicity in itself sell goods ? When you are told to " say Zu Zu to the grocer man/' or that a food produces ^' The Smile That Won't Come Off," or that " Jim Dumps " ate Force and became " Sunny Jim," does that advertise anything to you ? If it isn't good advertising, why are big appropriations spent upon such ideas ? If it is good advertising, why do so many big, successful advertisers fight shy of it ?
The real solution is this : That a large advertising appropriation will advertise anything to some extent ; that no matter how poor the copy, if it is put in enough places, and the name of the goods made strong enough, it is bound to sell these goods. Just how much it will sell depends upon just how good or l)ad the copy is — that is, how explicit or convincing it is. It depends upon the amount of competition of similar articles. It depends upon the attitude of the trade. It depends upon a host of other considerations.
An idea which is based upon making a name or catchphrase a household word will never succeed unless the advertising appropriation is a large one. There is a certain invisible line which no one has yet been able to find. To stop this side of it means failure. On the other side of it is success out of proportion to the amount of money spent. It is as if some one said that to spend one hundred thousand dollars in the United States upon one idea would fail
276 MODERN ADVERTISING
to make jour idea a popular one, but that by spending one hundred thousand and one dollars you could make 3'our name, or your jingle, or your idea or your char- acter a part of the vocabulary of the country and get two or three hundred thousand dollars' worth of adver- tising additional which you did not get before. Just the particular point at which the tide turns and the public takes up your work and carries it on for you, no one has been able to determine.
Of course, this happens in other things besides advertising. It is the real reason for the growth and distribution of slang. It is at the bottom of the furore that certain books cause.
Certain books, for no reason that any publisher or writer can determine, will be taken up, like David Harum, and given the widest distribution until their name is familiar to every one, and even to non-liter- ary people. Other books equally good along the same line fall dead. Just what it is that induces the public to take up the publisher's cause and advertise a book, no one knows.
It is always something which can become a craze, as it were, like ping-pong, tiddledywinks, or the " Bonnie Brier Bush," or the interest in athletics. !N^o one knows why these things sweep over the coun- try, yet every one is more or less affected by them. It may be some sort of a germ or microbe (or it is something distinct in fashion). Fashion spreads all over the country from certain large centers.
„-A year or two after the modish people in Paris, London and ISTew York decided that a straight front effect was desirable, women even in the outskirts of Ilickorv Creek at least knew that a straight front was
THE MATHEMATICS OF ADVERTISING 277
desirable, whether they were able to dress that way or not. But a fashion is diiferent from a craze. Sonic crazes are fashions, but not all fashions are crazes.
That indefinable something which makes a hit in advertising, or in anything else, has not been fully classified, but it has something to do with repetition, and that is why so many ideas are successful simply and solely on account of the advertising appro- priation behind them and sometimes in spite of the idea.
Every one has attended the sort of a show in which a certain character has what is technically known as a " gag." Take an example in a recent revival. You will remember how Little Lord Fauntleroy gets off that " I'll be jiggered." In the first act it doesn't awaken a ripple. In the second act it excites a respect- able amount of applause. In the latter part of the play it only needs to be mentioned to provoke a roar of laughter. The audience has been slowly educated to the phrase as a slang one. It has become a part of their vocabulary for the time being — for the evening, that is.
In the same way a singer will start a topical song in which the chorus has a certain phrase. As each verse ends he brings in this phrase with a new signi- ficance. Each time it seems funnier than it really is. This is the effect upon the public on a larger scale of such expressions as " The Smile That Won't Come Off," or " Sunny Jim," or " Say Zu Zu," or " Uneeda Biscuit."
The man who can decide just what ideas of this kind are good, provided they are sufficiently adver- tised, has discovered one of the secrets of advertising.
278 MODERN ADVERTISING
and undoubtedly one of the secrets of human nature as it is found in the United States.
In connection with this matter shoukl be men- tioned the work of Waher Dill Scott of North- M'estern University. Professor Scott used laboratory methods to determine, if possible, whether the prin- ciples of psychology could be applied to advertising. It was his intention to learn the principles by actual experiment, and then apply them to the preparation of advertising. Writing for the Atlantic Monthly, Professor Scott gives the following description of his own work :
" In a former age the seller, the buyer, and the commodity were brought together. The seller described and exhibited his wares. The buyer saw the goods, heard of them, tasted them, smelt them, felt and lifted them. He tested them by means of every sense organ to which they could appeal. In this way the buyer became acquainted with the goods. His perception of them was as complete as it could be made. In these latter days the market-place has given way to the office. The consequent separation of buyer, seller and commodity made the commercial traveler with his sample- case seem a necessity. But, with the growing volume of business, and with the increased need for more economical forms of transacting business, the printed page, as a form of advertisement, has superseded the market-place, and is, in many cases, displacing the commercial traveler. In this transition from the market-place and the commercial traveler to the printed page, the advertiser must be on his guard to preserve as many as possible of the good features of the older institutions. In the two older forms of barter all the senses of the purchaser were appealed to, if possible, and in addition to this the word of mouth of the seller was added to increase the impressions, and to call si)ecial attention to the strong features of the commodity. In the printed page
THE MATHEMATICS OF ADVERTISING 279
the word of mouth is the only feature which is of necessity entirely absent. Indeed, the printed page can not appeal directly to any of the senses except the eye, but the argu- ment may be of such a nature that the reader's senses are appealed to indirectly through his imagination.
"The function of our nervous system is to make us aware of the sights, sounds, feelings, tastes, etc., of the objects in our environment, and the more sensations we receive from an object the better we know it. The nervous system which does not respond to sound or to any other of the sensible qualities is a defective nervous system. Advertisements are sometimes spoken of as the nervous system of the business world. That advertisement of musical instruments which contains nothing to awaken images of sound is a defective advertisement. That advertisement of foods which contains nothing to awaken images of taste is a defective advertise- ment. As our nervous system is constructed to give us all the possible sensations from objects, so the advertisement which is comparable to the nervous system must awaken in the reader as many different kinds of images as the object itself can excite.
"The day of reckless, sporadic, haphazard advertising is rapidly coming to an end so far as magazine advertising is concerned. Although the number of pages devoted to adver- tising in our best magazines has increased during these last ten years, the number of firms advertising in these same maga- zines has decreased. The struggle has been too fierce for any but the strongest. The inefficient advertisers are gi-adually being eliminated, and the survival of the fittest seems to be a law of advertising as it is of everything else that develops.
"The leaders of the profession feel that their work has grown till it is beyond their control and comprehension. They have been successful, and hardly know how it has all come about. The men who have been the most successful are often the ones who feel most deeply their inability to meet new emergencies. They beheve that there should be some underlying principles which could help them in analyz- ing what they have already accomplished, and assist them
280 MODERN ADVERTISING
in their further efforts. As their entii'c object is to produce certain effects on the minds of possible customers, it is not strange that they have turned to psychology in search of such principles. Traditionally the practical business man scouts at theory. Psychology, to the popular mind, is something devoid of all practical application, related to metaphysics, and suited only to the recluse and hermit. If ever there was ground to expect sarcastic and pessimistic prophecies from the hard-headed business man, it was when it was proposed to establish advertising on a theoretical basis deduced from psychology. Such adverse criticism has, however, been the exception. The American business man is not afraid of theories. He wants them, and the more the better.
"The best thought of the advertising world finds expres- sion in the advertising journals and in the addresses delivered by various experts at gatherings of professional advertisers. In 1895 in one of the leading advertising journals appeared the following editorial :
'"Probably when we are a little more enlightened, the advertisement writer, like the teacher, will study psychology. For, however diverse their occupations may at first sight appear, the advertisement writer and the teacher have one great object in common — to influence the human mind. The teacher has a scientific foundation for his work in that direc- tion, but the advertisement writer is really also a psychologist. Human nature is a great factor in advertising success ; and he who writes advertisements without reference to it is apt to find that he has reckoned without his host.'
"The man who penned this editorial was a practical advertiser, but he admitted of no incongruity between the practical and the theoretical.
"In Publicity for March, 1901, appeared a leading article on psychology and advertising. The following is a quotation from it :
THE MATHEMATICS OF ADVERTISING 281
'"The time is not far away when the advertising writer will find out the inestimable benefits of a knowledge of psychology. The preparation of copy has usually followed the instincts rather than the analytical functions. An ad- vertisement has been written to describe the articles which it was wished to place before the reader ; a bit of cleverness, an attractive cut, or some other catchy device has been used, with the hope that the hit or miss ratio could be made as favorable as possible. But the future must needs be full of better methods than these to make advertising advance with the same rapidity as it has during the latter part of the last century. And this will come through a closer knowledge of the psychological composition of the mind. The so-called "students of human nature" will then be called successful psychologists, and the successful advertisers will be likewise termed psychological advertisers. The mere mention of psychological terms, habit, self, conception, discrimination, association, memory, imagination, and perception, reason, emotion, instinct and will, should create a flood of new thought that should appeal to every advanced consumer of advertising space.'
"In an address before the Agate Club of Chicago, the speaker said :
'"As advertisers, all your efforts have been to produce certain effects on the minds of possible customers. Psy- chology is, broadly speaking, the science of the mind. Art is the doing and science is the understanding how to do, or the explanation of what has been done. If we are able to find and to express the psychological laws upon which the art of advertising is based, we shall have made a distinct advance, for we shall have added the science to the art of advertising.'
"In a recent address before the Atlas Club of Chicago, the speaker said :
"'In passing to the psychological aspect of our subject, advertising might properly be defined as the art of deter-
282 MODERN ADVERTISING
mining the will of possible customers. . . . Our acts are the resultants of our motives, and it is your function in commercial life to create the motives that will effect the sale of the producer's wares.'
"In response to this felt need on the part of the adver- tiser, several students of psychology have tried to select those principles of psychology which might be of benefit to the advertising, and to present them to the advertising world through pamphlets,' magazine articles,^ public ad- dresses,^ and, in one case at least, by means of a book.^
"The method employed by the psychologist in attempting to give advertising a theoretical basis has been ciuite uniform. He has first analyzed the human mind into its various activi- ties, then analyzed advertisements to discover what there is in them that may or may not awaken the activity desired.
"This method can best be understood from an example. For an illustration we shall consider Mental Imagery as under- stood by the psychologist and in its application to advertising.
"The man who is born bhnd is not only unable to see objects, but he is equally unable to imagine how they look. After we have looked at objects we can see them in our mind's eye with more or less distinctness, even if our eyes are closed or the object is far removed from us. When we imagine how an absent object looks we are said to have a visual image of it. We can not imagine how a thing looks unless we have actually seen it in our previous experience. The imagination can take the data of former experience and unite them into
' On The Psychology of Advertising, Professor Harlow Gale, author and publisher, Minnpapolis, Minn., 1900.
2 Mahin's Magazine, Chicago. This magazine contains monthly articles on The Psja'hology of Advertising.
* Found in the published proceedings of the various adver- tising clubs.
* The Theory of Advertising, by Walter Dill Scott, Boston. Small, Maynard Sr Co., 1903.
THE MATHEMATICS OF ADVERTISING 283
new forms, but all the details of the new formation must be taken from the former experience of the individual.
"The man who is born deaf can neither hear nor imagine what sounds are like. Whatever we have heard, we can live over again in imagination — we can form auditory images of it. We can not imagine any sound which we have not ac- tually heard, although we can unite into new combinations the sounds and tones which we have experienced.
" I can imagine how beafsteak tastes, but I can not imagine the taste of hashish, for in all my past experience I never have tasted it, and do not even know which one of my former experiences it is like. If I knew that it tasted like pepper, or like pepi^er and vinegar mixed, I could form some sort of an image of its taste; but as it is I am perfectly helpless when I try to imagine it. I can, with more or less success, imagine how everything tastes which I have eaten, but I can not imagine the taste of a thing which I have not touched to my tongue. Analogous descriptions could be given of images of movements, of smell, of touch, of heat, of cold, of pressure and of pain.
"We have no direct knowledge of the minds of our neigh- bors; we assume that their thinking is very much like ours, for their actions — outward expressions of thought — are so similar to ours. It was formerly assumed that, given any particular object of thought, all normal minds would reach the same conclusion concerning it, and, furthermore, the different stages in the line of thought and the "mind stuff" would be the same throughout. Such a conception is wholly false. Normal minds reach different conclusions under ap- parently identical outward circumstances, but there is a greater difference in the terms of thought, or the mind stuff with which the thinking is done. One man thinks in terms of sight. He is said to be 'eye-minded.' His thinking is a rapid succession of pictures. When he thinks of a violin he thinks rather how it looks than how it sounds.
"Another man thinks in terms of sound. He is 'ear- minded.' His thinking is a succession of sounds. When he tliinks of his friends he hears their voices, but can not
284 MODERN ADVERTISING
possibly imagine how they look. He tloes not know that there are other possible forms of thought, antl so assumes that all people think in terms of sound as he does. If he should describe a battle his description would be full of the roar and tumult of the strife.
"Another man is 'motor-minded.' He thinks in terms of movements. Even when he looks at a painting he whis- pers inaudibly to himself a description of the painting. Later when he describes the picture to a friend he may do it in the terms which he whispered to himself when he was looking at the picture.
"Thus it has been found that there are great personal differences in normal individuals in their ability to form certain classes of mental images.
"All persons seem to be able to form at least unclear and indistinct visual images; most persons seem to have some ability in forming auditory images; very many can imagine movements with some degree of satisfaction. There are many who can not imagine how pickles taste ; others can not imagine the odor of a flower. There are persons who have a limited ability to form all sorts of images, but most persons have a very decided ability for one class and a ("orresponding weakness for others. This difference in the ease with which certain classes of images can be formed as well as the differ- ence in individuals in imagining different classes of sensa- tions, is followed with practical consequences."
This all illustrates the attempt of the advertiser to leave off groping in the dark. lie turns to psychol- ogy on one hand to learn, if he can, how the human mind is impressed hy certain kinds of advertising, and to statistics on the other hand to see if his deduc- tions are correct. Then he needs statistics showing the number, location and distribution of the people to whom he must appeal — whether the consumer or the dealer.
THE MATHEMATICS OF ADVERTISING 2<S5
There is in existence no accurate list of drug-stores, grocery stores or hardware stores. There is not even an accurate tabuhition of the number in each of these lines in the country. Such tabulation is made diffi- cult on account of various classifications. The dis- tinction between department and dry-goods • stores is not accurate. In some towns some lines are carried in a common store which in other towns are distributed among diiferent stores. Stationery and fancy goods are carried at drug-stores in some towns, which in other towns are a part of the stock of a bookstore. The Census Bureau has not yet taken up this depart- ment of work. An effort is now being made to bring pressure to bear upon the Census Bureau to collect sta- tistics which will be especially valuable to the general advertiser.
What the advertiser wants to know are such things as the number of people engaged in retailing the dif- ferent lines of goods, the number of stores in a given territory, the annual sales in all lines of goods, the variation in demand for certain goods in certain parts of the country.
During 1904 there was organized an association known as the International Advertisers' Association. The purpose of this organization is to ascertain just such facts. Among its leading objects are the secur- ing of statistics from the United States Government and elsewhere which will be helpful to advertisers, to secure changes in the postal laws which will be more fair to the advertiser than the present laws, to give him advantages and privileges which the postal department can well afford to give him. It is also intended to secure a ruling upon house organs which
286 MODERN ADVERTISING
will place them in a class by tliemsclves between tlie present rate for second- and third-class matter. A parcel post will also be demanded. The chief object of this organization, however, is to secure statistics, classify them, sift them out, and have available for every member facts which will greatly aid him in pre- paring his advertising campaign.
At present the more progressive advertisers secure these figures themselves as best they can. For in- stance, a large manufacturer of writing-pai)er con- ducted a thorough investigation in a selected number of towns to find out at how many stores in each of these towns the inquirer could obtain his paper ; whether, if it was not carried in stock, a substitute was offered, and if so, what paper was substituted ; whether the salesman knew of the advertising that was being done, and whether the advertising influenced the sales, and how much. The statistics collected in this way w^ere very valuable in preparing the next 3'ear's work.
An important question to an advertiser in regard to a publication is, to what sort of people does the publication go ? Who are its subscribers ? Are they rich people or are they poor ? Do they buy grand ])ianos or do they buy melodeons? Are they Amer- icans or are they foreigners? Are they native Amer- icans or are they domesticated ? Are they farinors, or business men or women ?
A certain magazine makes the following claim in regard to its subscription list :
"A magazine that has on its sul)scription list such names as Morgan, Gould, Aster, Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Whitney, etc., can certainly render certain service to the advertisers of high-grade wares."
THE MATHEMATICS OF ADVERTISING 287
Ts this a wise sentence or is it a foolish one ? Is it a good business stroke, or is it a piece of snobbery ? Is a magazine which reaches J. Pierpont Morgan a better advertising medium than a magazine which reaches John Smith, one of the many employees of one of Morgan's many industries ? Is it possible to reach the very rich by any advertising whatever ?
It seems that a magazine which reaches Mr. Mor- gan's chief clerk, or his private secretary, or his valet, or his head gardener, or his butler, or the captain of his steam-yacht, would have ten times as much adver- tising value to the manufacturer of high-grade wares as a magazine that reached Mr. ]\[organ himself. Very rich people are influenced by advertising, and are reached by it, but indirectly rather than directly. A rich man is surrounded by circle after circle of business and personal associates and employees. ISTearly everything that he does is done through many hands. While he undoubtedly exercises personal se- lection in a great many cases, the merits of each article are usually investigated by a deputy.
For instance, if Mr. Morgan is going to buy a steam-yacht, he probably takes more personal inter- est in it than in the purchase of, say, boilers, or cap- stans, or anchors. These equipments would probably be bought by the captain or the engineer of the yacht. All questions which Mr. Morgan decides, except those of the gi'eatest importance, are decided or partly de- cided by assistants and employees. Undoubtedly the hired household servants in his various houses have much to do with buying most of the supplies for those houses. Any magazine which has a large general cir- culation reaching all sorts of plain Americans, carries 20
288 MODERN ADVERTISING
advertising whicli has more effect upon the Morgans, Gonkis, and Astors than any magazine which has their names upon its suhseription list.
Take, for instance, McChire's Magazine. It is nndonhtedly read by at least a thousand people who have more or less to do with the things which ]\[r. Morgan buys, or which Mr. Gould buys, or which Mr. Astor buys. Then again, a very small portion of the things which Mr. ]\Iorgan buys are used by him per- sonally. j\rr. Morgan himself can only eat three meals a day. ^Miether he eats Force or not for break- fast, his meal would not call for any bigger sale of Force than the breakfast of his coachman or even of his smallest office-boy. On the other hand, if it were an automobile, it would probably be bought in collab- oration with his chauffeur, and the net result of all advertising of autos would probably have some bear- ing on his decision.
Advertising that is persistent, the kind of adver- tising which strikes the eye and mind everywhere in the pages of magazines and newspapers, on the street- cars and on bill-boards, affects the whole human fam- ily, big or little, rich or poor, more or less. It is doubtful if Mr. Morgan was ever reached by a mail- order advertisement or any other form of direct ad- vertising. It is not to be supposed that Mrs. Morgan reads the advertisements of dry-goods stores in the daily newspapers, although being a woman, even though a rich one, she may do that. Undoubtedly, Mr. Morgan has heard of Pears' Soap, Ivory Soap, Force, II-O and hundreds of other articles, whether he consciously ever read an advertisement of them or not. Some of his money is invested in them, anyway.
THE MATHEMATICS OF ADVERTISING 289
And after all, this necessity of reaching the rich is not a very great one. The wealthy class is a very small percentage of the great American nation, and while they buy a great many things, they do not buy more than the rest of the conntry, and a good part of the buying pnblic is made np of the employees and dependents of these rich people. Therefore, the news- papers and magazines wdiich circulate generally are after all the best mediums for reaching the rich.
In discussing the question of direct or indirect re- turns from advertising the following paragraph from a published interview with George Horace Lorimer, editor of the Saturday Evening Post, is of interest :
"The circulation of a paper like the Post is an interesting thing to watch, for it reflects the slightest changes in editorial policy. While we get many letters from readers indicating their tastes, I believe that it is far more wise to define the wishes of the great silent majority. Perhaps it would be profitable for advertisers as well. I belong to the silent majority myself — buy advertised articles by preference, but never write to the advertisers."
There is a great truth in these w^ords — a truth which the large and successful advertisers have al- ready defined.
A new advertiser usually expects and wants direct returns. He wants to feel that somebody is reading his advertising. The absence of direct returns is not only not proof that the advertising is not doing its work, but the receipt of direct returns is not even proof that the advertising is good.
Advertising is a great force and a succession of accumulated impressions, and the greater number of
290 MODERN ADVERTISING
people who are influenced by it arc never known, at least definitely, to have been reached. These are the peojile like Mr. Lorimer and like ninety-nine one- hundredths of the better sort of men of this country — keen, wide-awake, alert and receptive — who go in the way of the least resistance.
These men are reached in various sorts of ways by various sorts of advertising, which have effect upon them and which ultimately result in their buying. Most of them would be surprised if they were told that they were interested by advertising and acted ac- cordingly. It is as if there were some influence in the air which has not been correctly defined. They are aware that there is such and such an article, they know its good qualities, but they do not know where they got that impression. It may be from the chance remark of some one else who read the advertisement ; it may be the effect of the family's interest in the advertising, or it may be that unconscious, but never- theless effective, influence of the advertisements them- selves, which asserts itself even when the advertise- ments are not read.
There are really just two sorts of advertising: The great general publicity covering the country and cropping out everywhere in favor of an article which can be benefited by sucli widespread publicity, and the fewer articles of wliicli the advertising must be self-supporting, and of which each advertisement nnist bring in suflicient returns to pay at least for that advertisement, to pay for the articles and to pay a ])rofit. The latter form of advertising does not offer anywhere near the field for ability, generalship and imagination as does the other problem.
THE MATHEMATICS OF ADVERTISING 291
ISTotwithstanding the strong conviction on the part of the advertiser that advertising in certain publica- tions pays, the publications themselves are getting together some very interesting figures in regard to their own subscribers.
McClure's Magazine has made a complete list of its subscribers in Cleveland and classified them very carefully by occupations, the list showing just how many bankers read McClure's, how many day labor- ers, how many school-teachers, doctors, dentists, law- yers, and so on. It shows how many of the profes- sional class, how many of the leisure class and how many of the working class read McClure's. It is usually assumed that a publication of the class of Mc- Clure's goes to the home, and that a home consists of a family averaging five persons. It is also assumed that the tastes and wants of a family are in the same class as those of the head of the family whose name appears as the subscriber to the publication.
The kind of residences to which the publication goes was illustrated in another way by the Ladies' World. In a number of selected towns the home of every subscriber in each town was photographed. These photographs were printed in sets by cities so that an advertiser could see at a glance the character of the homes to which his advertisement would be going if printed in the Ladies' World. This was a graphic way to show character in circulation.
A class paper has gone even farther than that. The Northwestern Agriculturist is a paper reaching the farming element. There being a certain amount of skepticism in the minds of advertisers as to the kind of things a farmer buys, especially of the class
292 . MODERN ADVERTISING
of ii'oods known as Inxnrios, the Xortlnvcstern Ac;ri- cultnrist institnted among its snbseribors a very in- teresting contest. A list of fifty-one (juestions was printed in a certain issne, and an offer of a })resent made to all who filled in and returned the entire list of questions within a fortnight. A total of 2,621 let- ters were received, and the entire list had in most cases been answered. The object of the Agriculturist was to prove that farmers use just as high-grade and expensive goods as the city dweller. The 120,000 different answers were tabulated, and the results shown are summed up in the following statement: The two great lessons to be gotten from the fignr(>s are :
1. That farmers are using the best grade of goods, as, for example, note the kind of watches they carry — 1,190 Elgins and 707 Walthams (both high-grade watches), only 14 cheap Waterburys and 16 Inger- solls.
2. That farmers are using the goods which have been extensively advertised in farm papers, rather than goods advertised in the daily papers or mag- azines, as is illustrated by the fact that 767 report that they are using Fairbanks' Gold Dust (which has been advertised in the farm papers), while only 93 use Pyle's Pearline which, though advertised in magazines, daily papers and street-cars, has never used the farm press.
This second illustration is confirmed l)v referring again to the watches. Both Waltham and Elgin watches have been advertised in farm papers, while the makers of cheap watches have evidently recog- nized the critical demands of farmers, for the adver- tising of Ingersoll and Waterbury watches has hitli-
THE MATHEMATICS OF ADVERTISING 293
erto been confined to papers or magazines of city circulation, in spite of the too general claim of inex- perienced advertisers : '' Our goods are of too high grade for farmers' trade." The statistics prove that for farmers' trade the cheaper goods are not the readi- est sellers ; farmers demand good goods and are both willing and able to pay for such, if they are advertised in the farm papers. At least it remains to be proved that cheap goods could also be sold to farmers.
3. That machinery which is advertised only in trade papers reaching the dealer, rather than in farm papers reaching the men who use such machinery, in
"What Make of Baking Powder Do You Use?"
Of the 2,fi21 letters received, tliere were 1,894 which answered the above question and 727 which ignored it.
Baker 5 Horsford 7
Bengal 13 Hunt 21
Bon Bon 12 I. C. - - - - - - 121
Cabinet 7 Jacques 15
Calumet 183 Kansas City - - - - - 111
Chapman 7 McMurray 8
Climax 10 Palace ------ 56
Cook's Choice - - - . 8 Perfect 21
Corn Belt ... - . - 14 Price 134
Crown 12 Reliable 9
Crusader 5 Royal 635
Economy 5 Rumford 35
Eddy Reliable - - - - 18 Schilling 9
Electric Light . . - . 6 Silver Star 20
Grand Union - - - - 26 Snowflake 20
Griggs, Cooper Co. - - - 10
In addition to the above, 112 families out of 1,804 use 43 other makes of Baking Powders, no one of which is men- tioned five times.
Total using Baking Powder, 1,S75
Using none, 19
Grand Total, 1,894
THIS TABLE PROVES CONCLUSIVELY THAT ROYAL, WHICH IS THE BRAND OF BAKING POWDER MOST THOROUGHLY ADVERTISED, IS THE ONE THAT IS USED TO THE GREATEST EXTENT BY FARMERS.
294 MODERN ADVERTISING
no case proves the most popular. For example, in plows, the John Deere plows are far in the lead ; John Deere & Company advertise to the consumer more liberally than any other plow manufacturers. This example repeats itself in many of the tables.
A few of the tables given in the book are repro- duced here, more to show the character and re- sults of this investigation than as statistics for ref- erence.
"What Make of Toilet Soap Do You Use?"
Of 2,621 letters received, there were 1,507 which answered the above question and 1,114 which ignored it.
Armour & Co. . - . . 9 Haskins Bros. - - - - 54
Beach & Son - - - - 6 Ivory 227
Big Four 21 .lap Rose 41
Bullock, Ward & Co. - - 5 Kirk 86
Buttermilk 23 Lara 5
Castile 128 Larkin's Oatmeal - - - 61
Cocoa 9 Lenox 9
Cocoa-Sterit .... 5 Minnesota Soap Co. - - - 11
Crofts & Reed - - - - 31 Mother's Medicated - - - 5
Cudahy"s Borax Castile - - 7 Palm Olive 2fi
Ciiticura 49 Pears' 20
Dawson's Witch Hazel - - .5 Swift 5
Fairy 103 Tar 34
Glycerine 68 Watkins 7
Glycerine Tar .... 9 White Lily 17
(Jraham Bros. .... 5 White Rose 9
Grandpa's Wonder - - - 141 WiUiams 17
In addition to the above,, 284 families out of 1.507 use Toilet Soaps made by 117 different makers,, no one of which is Tnentioned Jive times.
Total using Toilet Soap, 1,472
Using none, 35
Grand Total, 1,507
THE ODDS IN THIS TABLE ARE IN FAVOH OF IVOKY. WE THINK MOST OHSf:HVEHS OF ADVERTISING WOULD SAY THAT IVORY SOAP IS ADVERTISED MOKE THAN ANY OTHER BRAND, BUT EVEN pears', COSTING FIFTEEN CENTS, IS USED TO SOME EXTENT BY FARMERS,
THE MATHEMATICS OF ADVERTISING 295
"Do You Use Cereal or Breakfast Foods? What Kinds?"
Of the 2,(!21 letters received, there ^vcre 2,191 which answered the above question aud 430 which ignored it.
American Cereal Co. - - - 8 Pettijohn 39
Banner Oats - - - - 81 Quaker Oats - - - - 180
Cream of Wlieat - - - - 145 Ralston 15
Force ------ 147 Rolled Oats - - - - 41
Grape-Nuts - - - - - 227 Saxon Oatmeal - - - - 18
Great Western - - - - 5 Shredded Wheat Biscuit - - 18
Horse Shoe Rolled Oats - - 6 Vitos 71
Korn Krisp 15 Wheat Hearts - - - - 6
Malta Vita 55 Wheatine 21
Mother's Oats - - ■ - 30 Wheatlet 19
Oatmeal 493 Yankee Rolled Oats - - - 63
In additinn to ihe above, 226 families out of 2,191 vse Breakfast Foods of 19S different makes, no one of which is mentioned more than five times.
Total using Breakfast Foods, 1,929
Using none, 262
Grand Total, 2,191
THIS TABLE SHOWS NO SUCH OVERWHELMING RESULTS IN FAVOR OF ANY ONE ARTICLE, BECAUSE ALL BREAKFAST FOODS ARE ADVERTISED TO SOME EXTENT AND MOST QUITE LARGELY, SO THERE IS A MORE EQUAL DIVISION THAN IS SHOWN IN THE BAKING-POWDER CHART.
"Have You in Your Family One or More American Made Watches? What Make?"
Of the 2,621 letters received, there were 2,G21 which answered the above question.
American Co. - - - - 42 Ingersoll 16
Atlas 5 Montgomery Ward & Co. - 6
Aurora 8 New Haven 6
Century ----- 12 Rockford ----- 36
Columbia 25 Seth Thomas 22
Dueber 5 Springfield 42
Elgin 1190 Standard ----- 17
Hampden 96 Trenton 6
Hamilton 11 Waltham 707
Illinois Watch Co. - - - 18 Waterbury 14
In addition to the above, 114 families out of 2,621 use American Watches of SO different makes, 7io one of which is mentioned five times.
Total using American Watches, 2,398
Using none, 223
Grand Total, 2,621
THE REMARKABLE LEAD OF ELGIN WATCHES IS THE RESULT OF PERSISTENT ADVERTISING TO REACH FARMERS.
296 MODERN ADVERTISING
A similar plan \vas applied to the publications of the Biittcrick Publishing; Company by Thomas Bal- mer, advertising manager of the Butterick Trio. His experiment was on a larger scale and was far more representative, as the readers of the Butterick Trio are supposably distributed among all classes and ranks of society more thoroughly than the readers of the Northwestern Agriculturist.
Mr. Balmer set out to find out ^' what proportion of advertised goods are used by our readers ; what proportion of our readers know and recognize these goods as being advertised goods ; what proportion of our readers buy advertised goods because they are ad- vertised ; and more than all else — to point out clearly what advertised line of goods our readers are most in- terested in, in order that our advertising pages may contain only such offerings as are of the greatest inter- est to the greater number of our readers."
Forms were inserted in each copy of the Delin- eator, The Designer, and The New Idea, the throe magazines of the Butterick Trio, for July, 1904, giving a long list of articles used in every household :
Furniture, Laundry sundries,
House furnishings, Children's wearing apparel,
Bedroom sundries, Toilet articles.
Dining-room sundries. Sewing and dressmaking Heating and lighting, sundries,
Nursery sundries, Weaiing apparel,
Foods, Outing goods.
Kitchen utensils and Musical instruments,
sundries, Miscellaneous.
Under each general heading was a list of specific articles. Under wearing apparel were named :
THE MATHEMATICS OP ADVERTISLNG 297
Gloves, Men's clothing (ready- Corsets, made),
Collars, Men's stockings,
Underwear (union suits Men's shirts,
or two-piece suits, Men's collars,
wool, cotton, silk, silk Men's ties,
and wool or linen), Men's shoes.
Hose supporters. Men's gloves.
Skirt supporters. Razors,
Boots and shoes, Watches,
Ladies' ready-made suits, Hair goods,
Boys' clothes. Hosiery (women's),
MilUnery.
The subscriber was asked to answer tlie following questions :
1. What brand or make do you use or buy?
2. Why did you select it?
3. If you had to buy again (or if you have not bought before) what would you buy?
4. Why would you select it?
To repay the reader for her trouble in filling out the chart, the presents were offered in the form of books, fancy articles and the like for each filled-out chart. Over five thousand reports were received. The results were carefully tabulated and comprised a for- midable array of statistics for the advertiser, present or prospective. On the single subject of hosiery, for instance, the results on page 298 were shown.
The brands showing the greatest number of users are the ones most largely advertised.
A very remarkable investigation was carried on in the Textile World Kecord under the auspices of
298
MODERN ADVERTISING
WOMEN'S HOSIERY
Why Did You Select It ':
What Brand or Make do You UsK OR Buy ?
Amazon Knitting Co. ... 2
Blask Cat 477
Burlington 30
Burson 65
Cashmere 16
Cotton 27
Des Moines Hosiery Mills . . 4
Davis 1
Eiffel Black 20
Fast Black 53
Fay 149
Granite Dye 15
Gordon Dye 36
Halins 1
Hermsdorf 149
Hayne Knit 4
Lisle 105
Matchless 2
Maco 3
Onyx 251
Racine 51
Shawknit 28
Silk 17
Samson I 14
Topsey 139
Winona Mills 36
White Foot 6
York Knit. Mills 4-Thread . 229
All kinds 54
Not specified 206
Miscellaneous 305
6 I 15
THE MATHEMATICS OF ADVERTISING 299
Mr. Balmer to find out the answers to the following questions in regard to the leading lines of textiles :
1. What the customer asked for.
2. For what purpose.
3. Why she asked for it.
4. What did you sell her?
5. Why did you sell it?
6. Why did she not buy?
The leading department stores of the country were selected as the basis of investigation. The salesgirls in the different departments were given blank forms which they were to fill out in regard to the first ten customers Avho came to their counter on a given day. By taking the first ten a liettcr average was arrived at than by making a selection from all of the customers of the day.
The topics selected out of a long list of textiles were the following:
|
MusHns, |
Underwear, |
|
Silks, |
Hosiery, |
|
Dress-goods, |
Blankets. |
The form used by the salesgirls for the investiga- tion in muslins is shown on the following page, filled out as it was turned in.
The statistics from hundreds of such slips were collected, analyzed and classified into tables for the use of the advertiser. One of the articles in the Tex- tile World Record had the following to say about the value of these investigations :
"The general lessons to be learned from this array of statis- tics all point to the fact that the shopper asks for goods by
|
MUSLIN. |
||||||
|
Wb*t aia 4SM |
FO. -SAT PURP06S. |
WbT UIAUU |
WOAT DID TOD BEU. |
Wh¥ DTD TOD |
Ir TOD DOW^ S«I.I. |
|
|
1. |
Huslin. |
Genenl. |
Looke<l at Fruit of Loom. I^nsdiile and Dwight An- chor B't Fruit of Loom. |
She selected it, though Lons- dale was cheap- |
Dwight Anchor too heavy — Lonsdale to,, loosely w<»veu |
|
|
«. |
Fruit of Sheets. Loom. |
Mother and neighbors rec- ommend it. |
Fruit of Loom. |
Gives good satis- factioii. |
Did not care to try anything else. |
|
|
3. |
Lonsdale. |
Night gowns |
Heard it washed well and wore well. |
Burleigh long cloth. |
Everyone who ha** tried It keeps asking tor it for underwear. |
Lonstlale iniisliii enough and the Cambric was not so soft in texture as Burleigh. |
|
«. |
Fruit «t Loom. |
Pillow |
Had use.l it for five veai-5. |
Bought Fruit of Dwight An- chor to try. |
Dwight Anchor wears well anil launders well. Many women prefer it. |
|
|
5. |
Mushn. |
Shirts. |
Sometliing that would lanndor and wear well. |
Pride of West. |
Eicellejit for sbirts and cuts to good advan- taKB in U width. |
Fruit of Loom loo thin in weight and Dwight An- chor too iloscly woven and firiii. |
|
6 |
Cambric |
Api^ns. |
Had never used it for this pur- pose, but lhought.it would make up well. |
India Linon. |
Pretty ff>r aprons, launders well- perhaps doesn't last so long. |
Cambric was not what she really wanted. |
|
7. |
India L.non, |
Shirtwaist. |
Because it was sheer and pretty |
Persian Lawn. |
Finer and more dressy for waists. |
India Linon, al- though good value, was not so sheer as Per- |
|
a |
Fruit of LOOHL |
Child's drawers. |
Wanted some- thing that would wear well. |
Pride of West. |
and good for heavy wear |
|
|
9. |
Kainsook. |
Underwear. |
Because her seamstress lolJ her to. |
Burleigh long cloth and Nainsook. |
Burlcieh is esue- n!'"ht"'"wns Nainsook better for corset cov- |
|
|
10. |
Moslin. |
Hoasehold and hos- pital use. |
Unbleached and an antiseptic fabric for bandages. |
Lockwood Mills unbleached; cheese cloth for hospital |
Lockwood Mills is strong and Ann for bandages, and is not hnrsh to the touch. |
Did not want any muslin with dressing or body. • Selected Lookwjod at once withoot looking at othera. |
THE MATHEMATICS OF ADVERTISING
301
name whenever she knows the name of any goods that she considers reUable for any cause, either because she knows the name of the manufacturer, has heard of the brand, knows
I. What she asked for
|
Name of Goods. |
No. |
Selections. |
|
|
(A a ■*-> '3 |
Fruit of Loom. |
27 12 6 3 3 |
|
|
Lonsdale Pride of West |
|||
|
Dwight Anchor Wamsutta |
|||
|
New York Mills Berkeley L. C Lockwood Mills |
|||
|
Jones' Cambric Utica Field's Longcloth Total |
|||
|
57 |
|||
|
(A (/i 2 g a o yj o o |
Unbleached muslin Best muslin |
4 4 2 2 28 7 6 5 2 2 |
|
|
Strong muslin Bird Picture muslin Unspecified muslin Cambric |
|||
|
Nainsook |
|||
|
Longcloth Indian linen |
|||
|
Sheeting |
|||
|
Total |
|||
|
62 |
|||
|
One (1) did not ask |
1 |
||
|
Total ' |
120 |
the label, has used the goods before, or been recommended to use them by somebody in whom she has confidence. In every case the shopper used what previous knowledge she
302 MODERN ADVERTISING
had to get the goods she wanted. Without advertising, but simply tlirough other incidental means, the name or some fact about the article had been stamped upon her mind, and in her way, as far as possible, she tried to indicate to the salesgirl what she wanted. Sometimes she gave a descrip- tion of the purpose for which she wanted it. Sometimes she remembered the trade-mark or label. Sometimes she was utterly at sea, and the time of both the salesgirl and the shopper was consumed until the shopper could get what she wanted."
A large number of tables were made up from these replies answering the different questions. Two of the tables are shown here as typical of the rest.
The growth of advertising in this coimtry and in the magazines has also been shown by figures. For these statistics Mr, Balmer is responsible. The Cen- tury Magazine was selected as one of the oldest and most typical American magazines and one that had had the most even and steady business growth. The general subject of food was taken as a basis, and it was shown that the first food advertising appeared during 1871, and was confined to five subjects and six advertisers who used about three and a half pages of advertising for the entire year. The entrance of every new food into the advertising world is shown by the chart, the date of its entry and the amount of space down to and including 1903. In this year thirty-five advertisers exploited nineteen articles of food in 142^ pages. The chart is given in full.
George B. Waldron was retained by Mahin's Mag- azine, an advertising paper devoted to the interests of an advertising agency, to tabulate statistics from the United States Census. Tliosc articles and tal)nla- tions showed the proportion of ignorant and illiter-
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304
MODERN ADVERTISING
ate in this country to the educated and their distri- bution, the classification having important bearing upon advertising, as, of course, those who can not read are ahuost completely beyond the reach of adverti- sing. Schools as wealth producers and the intimate connection between education and the earning powers of the nation was the idea of a second article, and a
Pocket MsLps
AND
Koad Guide
These maps are beautifully printed in colors and show on a large scale the streams, lakes, highways, trolley lines and railroads in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, reached by the Lackawanna Rcdlroad and its connections.
InvaLlusLble to Automobile Tourists. Fishermen aj\d Travelers.
A good map is a silent courier of out-door enjoyment Each
of the maps in this edition is I 7x28 inches. They are neatly
bound in one cover and may be had by sendmg 1 0 cents in stamps to
T. W. LEE. Gen. Pars. A^ent, Lackawanna. Railroad, N.Y.City.
A .M.VLiAZIXK ADVKUTISEMENT IN WHICH THE BOOKLET IS THE SUBJECT OF THE ADVERTISEMENT.
comparison was made between different gi'oups of States. The two hundred thousand miles of railroad employing a million people was shown in its bearing upon advertising. The number of employees, their classification, their total earnings and their earnings per day were all given and compared. The earning ca])acity of the different departments of railroad work was also .shown and compared. In the same way, the
THE MATHEMATICS OF ADVERTISING 305
sources of the nation's wealth production were dis- cussed, and the mechanics, farmers, merchants and railroad men compared. The number and nationali- ties of foreign farmers, their distribution and the pub- lications they read were given, and a special investi- gation was devoted to German Americans, who form a large portion of American citizens, and who have a great many publications in their own langiiage. All of these statistics were compiled with the idea of di- recting the intelligent expenditure of the advertiser's money. When, for instance, an advertiser considers a publication printed in the German language, it is important for him to know whether the Germans as a class are rich or poor, where they are located, whether the given publication circulates in that terri- tory, and whether they are a merchant, a manufactur- ing or an agricultural class. These things are clearly shown by statistics.
These results promise great things for the defi- niteness of advertising in the future. The psycholo- gist on one side with his deductions and the statistician on the other with his patient investigations will reduce that part of advertising which can be so reduced to an exact science. But such results will never dispense with the trained advertising man. Laws are codified, but the lawyer succeeds by means of his professional ability and his knowledge of the code.
CHAPTER XII
STYLES OF ADVERTISING
An attempt to describe, or even to catalogue, the different styles accepted and used in successful adver- tising v;onld be impossible within the scope of this book. Still there are a number of leading styles used by successful advertisers which may be noted in pass- ing and illustrated by examples.
When a general advertiser has decided upon his plan of campaign, has selected the mediums which he thinks reach the people to whom he wishes to appeal, and has decided upon the amount of space he wishes to use so as to determine the size of the advertisements, then he is confronted by these questions :
What sort of "copy" shall he use? Shall it be plain type " copy," or shall it be " copy " in connec- tion with illustration and design ? If plain type, shall it have a border or not ? If an illustrated or designed advertisement, shall the illustration or design be a simple border effect, shall it be an illustration of the article itself, shall it be an idea, shall it be merely an eye-catcher, or shall it be a character which is to appear in a series of advertisements ? Finally, shall the illustration be in line drawing for re})roduction by zinc etching, or a photograph or wash drawing to be reproduced by half-tone ? These questions are among the hardest to decide in advertising.
Good " copy " is the desire of all advertisers, but 306
STYLES OF ADVERTISING
307
what is good " copy " ? Of course, good " copy " is " copy " that has sold goods, but it is uot easy to tell in advance just what " copy " will sell goods.
An advertiser naturally does not wish to do the same thing that some other
even
advertiser has done, when it has proved suc- cessful. An imitation of another man's work is apt to react, and it is by no means a settled fact that the same methods applied to another business will succeed. On the contrary, that very fact often leads to failure.
The attempt to utilize, for instance, the names and ideas accepted by the National Biscuit Company has resulted disastrously to a number of concerns. The imitation of the coined word " Uneeda " has been slavish, unreasonable, ^^±^x ^ o^^^ stupid. No advertising which has been a palpable imitation of the National Biscuit advertising has reached any measure of success whatever.
In this chapter will be shown what a number of large and successful advertisers have considered good " copy," and which the results have justified.
Plain type, especially when set with the skill and taste in display that is being shown to-day, produces
Pears*
My grandmother used Pears' Soap ; perhaps yours did. too. We owe them gratitude for that.
Use Pears' for the children; they soon acquire the habit.
Established in 1789.
AN ADVERTISEMENT IN TYPE ONLY.
short-siffhted and
What I know about Coffee
Not very much; but more than I did in November. Americans should know coffee ; and they do, in a way. It is America's national beverage just as tea (e.\cept at dinner) is the national beverage of Eng- land, wine of France, and beer of Germany. Nothing short of the very best should satisfy us. We have been drinking miserably bad coffee; not all of us, but you and I and the people we know. It isn't our fault. We couldn't get anything else. We blamed it on the cook, when all the time we were buying South American " Mocha and Java" so green, even after roasting, that we could squeeze the acid out of it. It was the best the market offered. It is a well-known fact among coffee connoisseurs that, with coffee as with wine, age greatly im- proves the flavor. The excess of acid in green coffee gives the coffee a bitter taste and is very injurious to people of rheumatic tendency. Practically all cheap coffees are green coffees. Seasoned coffees can't be bought for the price. There never was a time when a guaranteed pure coffee of high grade had so big an opportunity for success, and if there is anything better grown than the Ta.ba.rd Inn Coffee e.xpert knowledge and money have been unable to locate it. Our yWman's Blend (50c.) is made up of five coffees but largely Java and Mocha: the Java imported through Holland from the Island of Java; the IVIocha, the genuine Arabian bean, shipped direct from the port of Aden. The Mocha used in this and in the Squire's Blend (60c.) is the nearest approach to the genuine and famous Yemen that it is possible to buy. The Friar s Blend (40c.) has a small percentage of the best Bogota blended with other superior coffees. In all three coffees we aim to secure the pick of the oldest crop without regard to cost. The success of Taba.rd Inn Coffees over all other coffees will be due in part to the blending. These coffees are bought and blended by a man who is acknowledged by the coffee trade to be the best coffee e.xpert and coffee blender in the United States. I am convinced that nothing so rich in flavor, so exhilarating in quality and so generally healthful as a mild stimulant has ever before been offered as a coffee beverage. These coffees are worth the money. They are cheaper in the long run than cheap coffees. A pound will go farther. We do not hope to secure the custom of people who economize on foods and who spend on medicines ten times the amount saved. The difference between good coffee and bad coffee is surely worth ten cents a week. The difference is just as great as between good and bad of anything else; butter, for instance, or meat or bread. Ask your grocer to send you a sample pound. The proof of the pudding is the eating of it.
^-'"'v^^au^^r^
THIS NEWSPAPER .\DVERTISEMENT OF COI'FEE IS A GOOD EX- AMPLE OF THE NARRATIVE STYLE OF COPY, WHICH IS HOTH INTERESTING AND CONVINCING AND WHICH ILLUSTRATES THE THEORY OF SEYMOUR EATON THAT " ADVERTISING IS NEWS."
308
STYLES OF ADVERTISING 300
some very successful advertising-. Especially in the magazines, where the tendency is to run largely to designs, does a simple type advertisement stand out well.
For instance, several reproductions are shown of the Murphy Varnish advertisements. These repre- sent the best we have in type display. They go back to the typesetting of the masters of the printing art in the sixteenth centiiry. They are set in a type face which is among the earliest that was designed and cut, but among the best we have to-day. No amount of display, and especially display using different faces of type, can compete in vigorous strength with these apparently simple advertisements.
They are also reproduced to illustrate a style of advertising talk which, when well done, is very effec- tive. These advertisements are the work of John O. Powers, the elder, who is a master of vigorous and epigrammatic English, and whose advertising always suggests in the mind of the reader a desirable train of thought. They are further interesting because they advertise varnish to the consumer, not with the idea that the consumer should buy the varnish itself, but to interest him in varnish so that in purchasing any article, such as a carriage or piano, he would be particular as to the sort of varnish which was used upon it.
The advertisement of " Taylor Old Style " roof- ing-tin is an example of more recent type display, having some qualities in conmion with the Murphy Varnish advertisements.
A variation of type display is produced by a spe- cially designed letter. This has been done a number
HALF VALUE IN VARNISH IS NO VALUE.
A clipped and worn piece of gold is still worth its weight. Half a box of berries is worth half the price. A horse that will not do for the carriage may still do for the dray. But: —
If the lens of a telescope is not prac- tically perfect, it is good for nothing. If a watch spring contains but a micro- scopic flaw, it is useless.
Varnish that is not first-class must be classed as worthless for any fine WORK. The slightest flaw in its com- position will cause it to crack, or peel, or dry out, or discolor, or do something that spoils its usefulness.
Really fine varnish is only made by experts, and it is not found on the bargain counter.
Murphy Varnish Co.
Head Office: Newark, N. J.
Other Offices; Boston, Cleveland, St. Louis, and Chicago.
Factories : Newark and Chicago.
ONE OF A SERIES OF MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENTS IN WHICH A SIMPLE TYPE STYLE AND VERY CONVINCING " COPY " MAKE AN EXCELLENT SUBSTITUTE FOR DESIGN OR PICTURES.
310
STYLES OF ADVERTISING
311
of times with success. Tlie advertising of the Pabst Brewing Company, which has appeared in the mag- azines for a year or so, was based upon a letter de- signed for the purpose. This letter was so happy in its proportions
Amid all discussion of
the best roofing material, the
fact remains that "Taylor
Old Style" roofing tin has
endured upon roofs for at
least sixty-three years — how
much longer we do not know.
What other kind of roofing
tin or other material has
lasted so long-f*
that it has since been cut and cast by type-founders, and can now be had in a regular type. A halfrpagc magazine adver- tisement lettered in Pabst Old Style with only the trade-mark for display is shown as an ex- ample of strong, simple, masterful display.
There are still appearing in the magazines a great m any advertise- ments consisting
altogether of type, which are not pleasing to the eye, but which are very effective. This is especially true in what is known as " mail-order " advertising. In the chapter of the book devoted to that subject is reproduced a typical mail-order advertisement set in small type most solidly. People who are going to send money for an article in direct response to mail-
N, & G. TAYLOR COMPANY
BSTADLISHBD 1810
Philadelphia
Don't economize tec dollars on the roof because no one can eee it. and spend a thousand dollars on interior decorations which simply appeal to the eye.
Our " Guide to Good Roofs,*' sent free on request, gives some good poiriteis on the roofing question.
REASONS AND TYPE TO TAKE THE PLACE OF DESIGNS.
THE COST OF IT.
In a board walk the largest item of ex- pense is the lumber: in a splendid violin the least item of expense is the lumber. In a plain wall the stone is the chief cost: in a piece of classic statuary the cost of the stone is hardly reckoned.
This principle, in a certain degree, ap- plies to the making of fine varnish. We do not pretend that we put from two to five dollars' worth of material into each liquid gallon; but we do put in the scien- tific knowledge and the expert skill and the long-continued care which no ordinary varnish contains.
If you wish to get rich music or a treasure of the sculptor's art or a job of varnishing that will be satisfactory, you must pay for something else than raw material. Murphy Varnish Co.
Head Office: Newark, N. J.
Oihtr Offices: Boston, Cleveland, St. Louis, and Chicago.
Factories: Newark and Chicago.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE POWERS STYLE. THIS WRITER NEVER USES DESIGNS OR ILLUSTRATIONS.
STYLES OF ADVERTISING
313
order advertising, wish as full a description as possi- ble, and bad as these adver- tisements are from the point of view of general public- ity, they are very successful in securing actual orders. Apparently they appeal to a different class of people.
As an example of type display in this mail-order style is reproduced the ad- vertisement of the 19 0 0 Washing Machine, which, despite a ridiculous old- fashioned wood-cut and its solid type matter, gave a vivid imj)ression of the washing machine.
In an advertising de- sig:i seeking to attract at- tention the border idea is a simple and effective method. An excellent example of this is the page of the Dei- mel Linen Mesh Company.
Photographs are being- more and more extensively used in magazine adverti- sing, despite the disadvan- tages from the poor paper and rapid printing used in the advertising pages of the
BACKED
by sixty years of practical experience^
Pabst Beer
is tlie pure, healthml blend' ingofcboicest hops and fin' est barley un* der scientific cally perfect conditions.
TYPE STYLE INVENTED BY AN ADVERTISER.
Let this Machine do your Washing Free.
There are Motor-Springs beneath the tub.
These springs do nearly all the liard work, when onee you start them going. And this washing machine worlcs as easy as a bieyele wheel does.
There are slats on the inside bottom of the tub.
These slats act as paddles, to swing the water in the same direotion you re- volve the tub.
You throw the soiled clothes into the tub first. Then you throw enough water over the clothes to float them.
Next you put the heavy wooden cover on top of the clothes to anchor them, and to press them down.
This cover has slats on its lower side to grip the clothes and hold them from turning around when tlie tub turns.
Xow, we are all ready for quick and easy washing.
You grasp the upright handle on thesule of the tub and, with it. you revolve the tub one-third way round, till it strikes a motor-spring.
This motor-spring throws the tub back till it strikes the other motor-spring, which in turn throws it back on the first motor-spring.
The machine must have a little help from you, at every swing, but the motor- springs, and the ball-bearings, do practically all the hard work.
You can sit in a rocking chair and do all that the washer requires of you. A child can run it easily full of clothes.
*****
When yoM revolve the tub the clothes don't move. But the water moves like a mill race throiiKli tin- rlotlies.
The paddles on the tulj bottom drive the soapy water THROUGH and through the clothes at every swing of tlie tub. Back and forth, in and out of every fold, and through every mesh in the cloth, the hot soapy water runs like a torrent. This is how it carries away all the dirt from the clothes, in from six to ten minutes hy the clock.
It drives the dirt out through the meshes of the fabrics WITHOUT ANY KUBBING,— without any WEAR and TEAR from the washboard.
It will wash the finest lace fabric without breaking a thread, or a button, and it will wash a heavy, dirty carpet witli equal case and rapidity. Fifteen to twenty garments, or five large bed-sheets, can be washed at one time with this " 1900 " Washer.
A child can do this in six to twelve minutes boUer than any able wash(>r- woman could do the same clothes in TWICE the time, with three times the wear and tear from the washboard.
* * * * *
This is what we SAY, now how do we PROVE it ;
We send you our " I'.KX) " Washer free of charge, on a full month's trial, and we even pay the freight out of our own pockots.
No cash deposit is asked, no notes, no contract; no security. Von may use the washer for weeks at our expense. If you find it won't wash as many clothes in FOUR hours as you can wash by band In EIOHV hours you .send it back to the railway station,— that's all.
But, If, from a month's actual use, you are convinced It saves HALF the time in washing, does tho -.vork better, and does it twice as easily as It could be done l)y hand, :;ou keep the machine.
Then you mall us 50 cents a week till it is paid for.
Remember that 50 cents is part of whr.t the machinqj^aves you every week on your ov.'n, or on a washer-woman's labor. We intenc.''uhat the " l'J(X) " Waslier shall pay for Itsi-lf and thus cost you nothing.
Yf)U don't risk a cent from first to last, and you donjt buy it until you have had a full month's trial.
Could we afford to pay freight on thousands of these machines every month, if we did not positively KNOW^ they would do all we claim for them ? Can you alTonl to be without a machine that will do your washing in HALF THE TlSTT^ with half the wear and tear of the washboard, when you can have that nnichlne for a month's free trial, and let it PAY FOR ITSELF? This offer may be with- drawn at any time It overcrowds our factory.
Write us TO-DAY, while the offer Is still open, and while you think of It. The postage stamp is all you risk. Write me i)ersonally on this offer, viz.: K. F. HIeber, General Manager of " 19U0 " Washer Company, 237 Henry St., Bingham- ton, New York.
314
STYLES OF ADVERTISING
315
i"k photographs and
Line drawings are
magazines. For newspaper wor
half-tones are practically barred.
best. The newspaper advertisement of Force, which
is one of the Sunny Jim series, given elsewhere, is a
good example of newspaper designing which is bound
to print well in almost any newspaper.
Some years ago Ivory Soap ran a series of maga- zine advertisements which _ ______-,-,_„—-__„
1 . .1 H MATTER OF HEALTH
combined very good line
drawings with type mat- ter. These were used in the magazines, but were also used in newspapers and other publications where the printing would otherwase be bad. Excel- lent results were secured, and they still remain a splendid kind of designing for advertising. Two ex- amples have been repro- duced.
There still survive in magazines and newspapers some of the advertisements that were prepared many years ago, consisting almost altogether of the name of the article displayed, and which may still be con- sidered successful advertising as far as mere publicity goes. Among these is the well-known arrangement of Royal Baking Powder which appears as a quarter page on the back of a great many magazines.
The comments printed under the reproductions given in this chapter supply further examples of the
^aWk^
POWDER
Absolutely Pure HAS HO SUBSTITUTE
USED FOR YEARS WITHOUT CHANGE.
^jDtoBB"^
WlNTElR is coming, and with it the ever-increasing dread of pneumonia. To wear woolen underwear is but ao urgent invitation for colds and pneumonia to enter.
Underwear is often called " body linens." Linen ab- sorbs— towels are made of it — it dries rapidly — is known for its cleanliness, but ordinarily it is cold and clammy.
In the Dr. Deimel Underwear the coldness has been taken out of linen. By a special process of manufacture a soft, warm and porous fabric has f)een evolved, called Linen-Mesh (a word registered by Dr. Deimel in 1894, but now used by others indiscriminately). Since its introduction ten years ago, the Dr. Deimel Linen-Mesh Underwear has received the most friendly and grateful appreciation throughout the world.
All who are subject to colds and rheumatism, or threatened
with bronchitis or pneumonia, will observe an immediate
change for the better by adopting the Dr. Deimel Underwear.
Send for free booklet, giving valuable and in- teresting INFORMATION ON THE UNDERWEAR QUESTION.
fit «VCT7t>ody. If ;
The Deimel Linen-Mesh Co.. 491 Broadway, N. Y.
SAM FRANaSCO: MONTREAI,: LONDON:
lU liontgomaj St. 2JM St CMhaiat St S» Stnni. Hold C«U, W. C
THE FIRST STEP FIJOM A TYPE STYLE IS THE USE OF A BORDER.
STYLES OF ADVERTISING 317
range of ideas in advertising, which it is impossible to classify.
Of late years there has been a certain tendency to introduce a character in the advertising which shall be used regularly, and which soon becomes a sort of trade-mark. One of the commonest variations of this is the portrait of the advertiser himself. A famous instance is that of W. L. Douglass, manufacturer of the Douglass shoe, now governor of Massachusetts, whose picture is probably one of the best known in advertising in the world. Mennen, the manufacturer of Mennen's Talcum Powder, is another instance. Ostrander, who has built up a system of selling real estate by mail, is an advertiser whose face is present in all magazines.
The introduction of a fictitious character, of which Sunny Jim is an example, has had a wide vogue. Sunny Jim has been discussed in various aspects in different parts of the book. The breakfast-food ad- vertisers seem particularly partial to this form of publicity. The reader will recall many instances, such as that of the colored chef for Cream of Wheat, the Ralston Miller, and the Quaker of Quaker Oats.
Two styles cut from the earliest numbers of The Century Magazine illustrate early advertisements of a dentifrice and a corset. The dentifrice is repre- sented by Sozodont, and the corset by Thomson's Glove-Fitting Corset. By way of contrast, and as showing the use of photography in modern adverti- sing, a modern advertisement of a tooth preparation and of a corset are shown.
The use of versified forms in advertising seems more honored in the breach than in the observance,
'--4.1
Women with long, thick hair find it difiBcult to keep it in proper order without too frequent washing, which renders it dry and harsh. The following method is effectual and need only be repeated once in two months, if the hair is well brushed each night.
Beat the white of an egg sufEciently to break it, rub this well into the scalp. Wash it ofiF thoroughly with Ivory Soap and warm water, rinse off the soap and when the hair is dry it will be found soft and glossy. Ordinary soaps are too strong, use only the Ivory Soap.
O, t& CoyVKiCHT 1893, Bv Thk Pkocter & Gamble Ca
A STYLE OF DE.SIGNING ESPECIALLY ADAPTED TO NEWSPAPERS AND POORLY PRINTED MAGAZINES.
STYLES OF ADVERTISING ; ;o; to! :ol *Io: :o: :o:— —
PEARLS t'Se mouth
319
^AJJTyJc^'fR AGR^
ARE COMMUNICATED TO THE MOUTH BY
SOZODONTj
which renders the teeth white, the gums rosy and the breath sweet. It thoroughly removes tartar from the teeth and prevents decay. SOLB BY OKTJGGISTS.
NOT SO ARTISTIC AS TO-DAY's DESIGNING, BUT WITH GOOD PRINTING QUALITIES NEVERTHELESS.
and the breaches are often very ragged. The few good jingles which have appeared as advertising seem to furnish a justification for an immense amount of had 22
320
MODERN ADVERTISING
WHAT a source of satisfaction it ii to kr.ow that the appearvi-.ice of your teoth is a credit to , or.rself and isapproved by others ! A poorly kept mouth discredits its possessor.
RMBJ/oAm
the delicious liquid dentifrice, givj a growing satisfaction because ilr. advantages increase with regular use. It is as much a part of a wi! bred toilet as a.caHe of soap.
f^BiJbAm
the antiseptic, purifying dentifrice, @ more than satisfies because it doss more than clean the teeth. .It ijnakes beautiful gums and sweet mouths.
f^BifoAiil
is constantly increasing in sales and t^ must be giving satisfaction. It's v/ise to use Rusii-oam. ^
SOLD EVIiRYWHERE.
I'ric- -'.; cenlu SAIVIPLE FREK
E. W. HOYT & CO.. Lowell. Masi.
AS IT IS DONE TO-DAY
and indifferent kinds, and it is not even proved that the good verse is oQod advertising. Bnt then, for that matter, neither is it proved that tlie bad verse is bad ad- vertising.
Of course, the ad- vertiser has a certain justification in wanting to put what he has to B'Aj in metrical form. It is easier to make peo- ple remember things that have rhythm and rhyme. Children used to learn the names of the queens of England in rhyme and in the same way commit to memory the prepositions which took the dative case in Latin. Rhythm as an aid to memory is as old as the ballad singers, INIetrical forms c a m e before prose forms, and all history was once verse. Therefore, it seems logical to insist that any advertiser who has something to say
Keep a cake of Ivory Soap at the stable, it is most excellent for washing galled spots and scratches on horses, for it will cleanse without irritating, and the vegetable oils of which it is made are cooling and healing in effect.
A WORD OF WARNING.
There are many white soaps, each represented to be " just as good as the Ivory ' ; ' they ARE NOT, but like all counterfeits, lack the peculiar and renfiarkable qualities of the genuine. Ask for " Ivory " Soap and insist upon getting it.
R. 8. COPVKICHT 1S93, BY ThB PROCTER & CaMBLB CO.
CLEAN, OPEN CUTS, WHICH CAN NOT FILL UP AND BLOT, HOW- EVER RAPID THE PRESSWORK OR POOR THE PAPER.
'A09
MODERN ADVERTISING
tliat lie wishes the })r(i])l(' to remcmljcv, can catch tlicir attentii)n and hold their moniory with sonic statement that swings along in a rhythmic and jingling way.
ARE STILL TRIUMPHANT!
For fifteen years they have steadily gained in favor, and with sales constantly increasing have become the mos/ ^t?pular Corset throughout the United States.
__ The " G " quality '\s warranted to wczf twice as long- as ordinary Corsets, and testimonials wilhout number could be given of the perfect satis/action they have afforded for a long series of years.
While scores of patents have been found worthless, the principles ofthe Glove- Fitting have proved imialuable.
Retailers are authorized to refund money, if on examination these Corsets 60 not prove as represented.
For sale everywhere.
Catalogue free on application.
THOMSON, LANGDON & CO. Mfrs.
70 and 72 Worth Street, N, Y.
AN EAKLY EX,\MPLE OF CORSET ADVERTISING.
Two or three people have done this sort of thing so well that their work is now taken as a kind of standard for verse advertising. For instance,
W. L.. DOUGLAS
$3.SO gffrf-fcFg WORTH $ .goo
AMflKICA LEADS THE SHOE FASHIONS OF THE WORLD.
nr^'f^ TKe Leaaing Styles Originate in BrocKton, the Manu- "^^-vTS^ t5?0 factxirin^ Centre of Mt-n's Fine Shoes in This Countr>-. ^^ffl Styles Originated by My Expert Model MaKer Are Copied Every^vhere.
W. L, DougUs S3.50 slioes have by their e:i«Uenl stylet irasy-fitting and superior wfaring qualities, achieved the largest sale of any $3.S0 shoe in tiit- world, Tney are just as good as those that cost you 55 to $7 — the only difference is tlie price. If I could take you into my factory at Brockton, Mass.» the largest in the world under one roof making men's fiae shoes, and show you the infinite care with which every pair of Douglas shoes is m.ide, you would realize why W. L. Douglas $Z^ shoes are the best shoes produced anywhere.
If I could show vou the difference between the shoes made in my factory and those of other makes, you w^ould understand why Douglas $3.50 shoes cost more to make^ -why they hold their shape, fit better, wear longer, and are of greater intrinsic value than any other $3.50 shoe on tlw maxkct to-day.
There is a great difference betw^een wholesale and retail prices in shoes. You pay only one profit 6a shoes made in my factory and sold direct to you through my own stores in the principal cities- The result is, you get fcvtter shoes for the price than are retailt'd elsewhere.
My Own Secrei Process of Tunninfi' the Bottoro Soles Produces More Flexible and Longer Wearing 1-eather Than Any Other Tannage. EVERY GENTLEMAN SHOULD HAVE THREE PAIRS OF SHOES TO DRESS HIS FEET PROPERLY ON ALL OCCASIONS.
He should have a pair nf Lace Sh* sunny days, and a pair of Patent Corona Bult >u S these three p.\irs ; youcans^et .iGmiich 'tyU-'Conil.'
Wm Lm Dougias Hi^ Grade Boys Shoesg $2mOO and $tm75m
Oou^las uses Corona CoUskin iu his ■^\.r,i shoes. CorontiCoU isi-onc(Mio*ler(r\ wIi-m-- to !»€• the linest patent leather yet pro. UkmnI
foii CoUr Eijcletz Used £.
weather ; a pair of Oxfords for warm r street wear. Don't pay $15 to $J8 for 1 three pairsof Douglas shoes for $10.50.
- ih^ Hr-'. -r ii„ n B <=l -.0 SM,.. M'ul nr.1.T Fu«i- rt ' N.. ir..),M.-lMt-*'t i mb\ ii.:i.l. M-it.' "^/j-
- ifp MjUI throBifli ht5 own retail ' infonualion before punhMtDg,
W. 1^ DOUGLAS. 147 SparK Street, DrocKton. Mass.
ADVERTISEMENT IDENTIFIED BY THE PORTRAIT OF THE ADVERTISER.
324
MODERN ADVERTISING
Mr. Snyder's humpbacked liook-aiid-eye verses hang on, and Mr. Fraser's Spotless Town is a shining in- stance. These are sni)posably examples of good jin-
A MODERN CORSET ADVERTISEMENT. THIS DESIGN IS INTENDED TO SHOW THE FERRIS GOOD SENSE WAISTS. IT IS MADE FROM THE ACTUAL GOODS UPON LIVING MODELS AND REP- RESENTS AN EXCEPTIONALLY REALISTIC FORM OF ADVER- TISING.
gles, and they hare always been thonght to be good ad- vertising. It is ini])Ossible to tell whether they arc or not. The Sapolio people, for instance, can never know just how mnch advertising the Spotless Town added to an already large amonnt of successful publicity.
STYLES OF ADVERTISING 325
The general advertiser believes, however, that if he can set people to talking about his article by any device, verse or otherwise, he has succeeded in build- ing up what is called " general publicity." With an article like Sapolio it is only necessary to remember the name and its uses. A verse form, provided the verse is good enough to attract attention, ought to attain this end.
The point is that only the rudiments of this idea are seized by other advertisers, and the stuff produced, by courtesy called " verse," has no claim upon the at- tention or memory from its jingling merits," and no claim on the pocketbook from its advertising merits. It ought to go without saying that a verse advertise- ment should be an advertisement just as much as a prose advertisement, and that the points it should make should be real points.
For instance, take the very clever nonsense verses used in the Rubifoam magazine advertisements. These were exceptionally clever, and in a nonsense book would be good things well done. They are not advertising in the remotest sense and, therefore, how- ever good they were as jingles, they could not possibly add a single kilowatt of profitable publicity to the Rubifoam dynamo.
The whole question resolves itself into the one effort of getting jingles that are good from a jingling point of view, and then advertisements that are good from an advertising point of view.
The best way to use verse is as part of a series. Some idea that has certain narrative and sustaining qualities may be projected into a series of instances of more or less similarity, so that the public will be
326 MODEKX ADVERTISING
in a jiosition of anxiously watching' for tlio next ver- sion. This thing appeals to a very deeply-laid trait in Inn nan nature. It is the trait to which the popular theatrical song appeals. The popular song is a series of verses all leading np to a certain chorus or phrase, so that after a verse or two the audience ])egins to expect some new variation or version of the same idea. When the successful singer is called back it is in order that he maj^ gratify their curiosity as to another feat of verbal gymnastics.
The colored supplements of the Sunday papers carry oiit the same idea, and all that muster-roll of worthies, beginning with the Yellow Kid and coming down to Foxy Grandpa, the Katzenjammer Kids, Buster Brown and the rest of them, appeals to this same trait.
Therefore, if one can put in verse form actual advertising ideas — actual facts about the goods — and awaken an interest which will hang on and linger around, and wait expectantly for the next " stunt," and if one can make this verse good from the point of view of ordinary rhythmic rules, the chances are that this will be good advertising.
It is astonishing, however, that so much of this advertising verse is neither good verse nor good adver- tising. It would seem that the would-be author, after ignoring every rule of rhythm, rhyme, grannnar and construction, would certainly be able to make at least a straightforward statement about his goods, but he fails even to do that.
In preparing the jingles for the Jim Dumps' se- ries, advertising " Force," the work of a great many writers was used. The most difficult thing was to get
STYLES OF ADVERTISING 327
jingles which were advertisements. It was possible to get some very good ones and some exceedingly clever ones, but when all were thrown out which were not actual advertising, the net result was rather small. The idea of these jingles in every case has been an actual instance of the result of eating " Force." The transformation of Jim Dumps into Sunny Jim was brought about by an actual result of the eating of " Force," and no jingle celebrates anything else but an actual result. For instance, here is a typical jingle :
" Jim Dumps," with scowling visage said, " I'm hungry when I go to bed." " Then," quoth his doctor, " Twould be best To take, ere you retire to rest, A bowl of Force." From visage grim, He now is changed to " Sunny Jim."
This could happen in any home where " Force " was eaten. It is a use of " Force " that the manu- facturers would be glad to suggest and encourage, be- cause it is true and helpful. It is a jingle that is an advertisement.
On the other hand, here is one that was sent in which was clever and ingenious and metrically con- structed and kept the general form of the other jin- gles, but it was far-fetched. It was not something that could be caused by eating " Force." It was tak- ing liberties with the idea, and what is more, it wasn't necessary :
" Jim Dumps " is always in demand Whenever there's a dance on hand. He never seems to want to stop, But says that " while there's life there's hop! "
328 MODERN ADVERTISING
His course of " Force " gives him this vim : " On with the dance! " cries " Sunny Jim."
Just as soon as there seem to be no more good arguments to be expressed in verse form, then a series bad better stop.
Tbe only idea of using verse is to get a good ve- hicle for conveying facts about the goods advertised to tbe public. When the vehicle gets more important than its contents, it should be abandoned. Wben the necessity of rhyme and meter causes facts to be dis- torted, then that medium of expression should be abandoned and plain prose used, but a good many advertisers seem to think that verse in itself is good advertising, and that it makes no difference what is said just so it is cast in jingle form, and then believ- ing that, they do not even go so far as to get good jingles, to say nothing of getting good advertisements.
It is astonishing bow strongly tbe verse idea ap- peals to the average advertiser. Whether it is because they have some superstition working in their minds about verse in itself, or because they attribute tbe suc- cess of well-advertised products to the use of verse, one can not even guess, but there are many people who insist upon some verse idea in their advertise- ments, with most baneful results.
The II-O Company are using jingles in connec- tion with little silhouettes in all packages of II-O to advertise some of their by-products with what might be considered very good effect. These jingles are meant to be catchy in the nursery sense — that is, in the way tliat IMotlier Goose is catchy. Thoy are in- tended to appeal to children and to stamp the names
STYLES OF ADVERTISING
329
o'f products upon the children's minds. It is the chikl that is sent to the corner grocery. If he of his own accord can remember the name of a pancake flour or a buckwheat flour, there are a great many more chances of the advertiser's selling his flour and of the grocer's not being able to give him anything else,
* m
SAID Bess to Nan : "Our Beu-lah makes Noth-ing bet-ter than buck- wheat cakes." Said Nan to Bess: "Of all
I've eat-en Pan-cakes have nev-er yet been beat-en."
VUTHEN Reg-git eats his grid-dlc cakes,
"^ He eats them ver-y slowly ; But Rog-gic a^ways gob-bles his.
And al-tnost bolts them whol-ly. They both like H-O pancakes best —
No oth-er kind can beat them. They display dif-fcr-ent tcm-per-a-raenlf
The way in which they cat them.
JINGLES AND SILHOUETTES USED FOR DISTRIBUTION IN PACKAGES.
and there is no way of so fully interesting a child's mind in this way as by putting the names that he has to learn in verses which he will have read to him and will remember. It is expected that these little leaflets will be popular with the children in every household. Two or three are reproduced here.
The same idea has been used by a bread company in Buffalo. The entire attempt has been made to ap- peal to the childish mind. The Mother Goose idea was taken as a basis. A mythical character was cre- ated who was called xlunt Hannah, and Aunt Han-
330 MODERN ADVERTISING
nail's bread was made the subject of jingles and rhymes which have a Mother Goose flavor.
Bearing upon this subject of jingles in adverti- sing, the series which has been used for several years by the Lackawanna Railroad is interesting, if not noteworthy,
W. P. Colton, the advertising manager, originated the idea of a Girl in White in connection with a series of rhymes constructed on the famous model of " The House that Jack Built." The original series told how the Girl in White met a Man in White upon the Road of Anthracite, and was finally married by a Bishop who happened to be traveling on the same train, who was also clothed in white. This first se- ries helped to christen the road as the Road of Anthra- cite, and called attention to its cleanliness.
Following this series, and as a sort of continuation of it, Phoebe Snow as the Girl in White was invented, and for several years she has appeared in a series of new jingles, advertising the Road of Anthracite.
This series has attracted so much attention, and has resulted in so much advertising for the road, that perhaps every reader wall recognize the one of the series of cards used during 1904 which is repro- duced here.
The street-car cards were painted in oil from liv- ing models, and a higher price was paid for the orig- inal designs than was ever paid for street-car cards before.
To give an idea of the way in A\'liieh the series was worked out and the adventures of Phoebe Snow chron- icled through the entire set of street-car cards, the rf'iiiaiuiiiff five verses are given here:
STYLES OF ADVERTISING I
331
Miss Snow draws near
The cab to cheer
The level-headed
Engineer.
Whose watchftil sight ^
Makes safe her flight
Upon the Road
^Mnthracite^l
ONE OP THE LACKAWANNA STREET-CAR CARDS.
II
Among the crew
The flagman too,
With her safe trip
Has much to do.
His flag and light
Guide train arigiit
Upon the Road of Anthracite.
IV
The wondrous sight
Of mountain height
At Water Gap
Brings such delight.
She must alight
To walk a mite
Beside the Road of Anthracite.
VI
III
Miss Snow you see
Was sure to be
The object of
Much courtesy,
For day or night
They're all polite
Upon the Road of Anthracite.
The evening sped,
Then Phoebe said :
" It must be time
To go to bed,
And sleep all night
'Twixt sheets snow-white
Upon the Road of Anthracite."
Miss Phoebe's trip
Without a slip
Is almost o'er.
Her trunk and grip
Are riglit and tight
Without a slight.
" Good bye, old Road of Anthracite."
332 MODERN ADVERTISING
Noting the success which the Girl in White met upon the street-car cards, Mr. Colton went farther and pretty soon Phoebe &riow was met in the pages of the magazines and newspapers as well as upon bill-boards and painted sigiis.
The original Phoebe Snow, by fhe way, was a well-known artist's model, who has posed a great deal for advertising, and who was photograi)licd upon the trains of the Lackawanna Road in her white dress ex- actly as depicted upon the cards and in the advertise- ments.
It is probable that the Phoebe Snow advertise- ments comply as closely as possible with the require- ments of the jingling business announcement, and it is believed by a great many people that this has been good advertising for the Lackawanna Eailroad.
These are all legitimate uses of the jingles in advertising, but even then it is to be doubted whether verse is ever as good as straightforward, sensible, in- telligible prose.
The jingle in the advertisement is something which must be very well done, indeed, to be good at all, and then it is an open question just how good it is, but the fact remains that it must be good and that it must be an advertisement.
CHAPTER XIII
SOME MECHANICAL DETAILS
Advertising has its technical terms and mechani- cal details. The tools of the trade, as we may call them, begin with the agate line measure.
Practically all advertising is now measured by the " agate " line, which is one-fourteenth of an inch. Strictly, an agate type body is somewhat larger than one-fourteenth of an inch. The modern agate type body measures 5^ points upon the point system, but it is not the basis of measurement, as practically all advertisements when printed are measured by the fourteen-lines-to-the-inch advertising rule. When an advertisement is set in 5^ point agate solid, without any display, then the actual number of printed lines is generally counted, and the advertising measure does not apply.
By the point system nonpareil has become 6 point; brevier, 8 point; pica, 12 point, and so on, the type bodies being exact multiples of a point, a point being 1-72 of an inch.
An agate line measures up and down the column, and does not consider the width of the column at all. It is used for all magazine advertising ^ and for most
' The Century Magazine makes the only important exception to this rule. Instead of the agate line it employs the nonpareil or six-point line.
333
334 MODERN ADVERTISING
newspaper advertising. In the case of smaller news- papers, space is measured and paid for by the inch. There is a term still used in some newspaper oliicea called a " square." A square is an inch, single column.
In marking the size of an advertisement, it is usually cx])ressed in length together with the number of columns. For instance, 84 lines, double column, means really 168 lines, occupying two adjoining col- umns. This method of indicating the size of an ad- vertisement is not a fixed one, as sometimes the total amount of space is given, as 168 lines set double col- umn. This is used especially for newspaper work and in the case of magazines having large pages and running more than two columns to the page. In the case of the standard size magazines, the size of the advertisement is indicated in pages and fractions of a page, as, for instance, half page, quarter page and the like, anything smaller than an eighth of a page being indicated by the number of lines occupied.
The width of columns varies greatly, especially among newspapers. The standard newspaper column is 13 pica ems wide or 2^ inches. The columns of a number of papers are 1 3^ ems wide. Some, notably the Xew York Tribune, use a 15-em column, the prac- tise being borrrow^ed probably from English news- papers in which the wide column is more common. A fairly large number of papers are set in 12^-em col- umns, and a few papers are set in 12-em columns. Some publications, especially trade papers, are set in even narrower columns so as to give a small size page. Trade papers, as a rule, are set in columns from 15 ems up.
SOME MECHANICAL DETAILS
335
The size of a page in the standard size magazine; is 5^ by 8 inches, exchisive of the heading. Each column is approximately 2f inches wide, that strictly being the exact width allowed when an 8-point sing or rule has been run down the center of the page to separate the columns. The width of a column in the standard four-column folio, to which class the Youth's Compan- ion, Ladies' Home Journal and most women's publications belong, is 2^ inches.
At least one three- column publication, namely Success, has columns of the same width as the regular small size magazine columns, so that a page cut from one of the magazines will occupy two columns in Sue- cess. This is for the convenience of adver- tisers in making plates to secure uniformity of size.
In practise, how- ever, special sizes of
23
PHOTOGRAPHY FROM A MODEL USED
FOR AN EFFECTIVE BOOKLET
COVER.
336 MODERN ADVERTISING
plates have to be made for the women's papers and the weekly papers, although it is the cnstoni of large ad- vertisers to use the same design on both, adapting it to the different sizes of space. Often when space of vari- ous sizes or proportions is used, it requires considera- ble ingenuity to adapt the same design to each amount of space. It is best to keep the proportions of space the same, and as nearly the same in size as possible, in order to secure the best results. For instance, a design which occupies a page in a regular magazine can be used as one-fourth of a page in the Saturday Evening Post or Collier's and other publications of that class, without losing anything in its effectiveness.
It is a custom, by no means as general as it should be, to send an original half-tone cut instead of an electro to each publication. The advertising pages of magazines — except in the case of publica- tions where the entire magazine is printed on the same kind of paper, as, for instance. Country Life in America — are printed on more rapid presses than those used for the letter-press and also upon cheaper paper. Even in the case of the best half-tones, the printing results are not all that could be desired. It often requires a great deal of ingenuity on the part of the designer and engraver to produce cuts which will print well. When an electrotype is made from a half-tone the fine lines are not duplicated with the same sharpness, and the cut shows a blur when printed on rapid presses and cheap paper.
I'hotography is coming to play a large part in the preparation of advertising designs. A photograph is inherently truthful. People feel that what is shown is an actual picture. A great many things are better
SOME MECHANICAL DETAILS
337
illustrated by photographs than bj drawings. A com- bination of a photograph with a design draAvn by an artist often makes an ef- fective display. For this reason there is a demand for good photographs, and consequently for models to jiose.
Models for advertising- purposes are required to be something more than pretty. What are wanted are intelligent-looking men and women and especially with refined faces, and they are required to have a certain ability to assume a costume or a pose — in fact, to act the part as illustrated in the adver- tisement. Such models are hard to obtain. Another great disadvantage is that a model who has been used
DIAGRAM SHOWING THE SCREEN IN HALF-TONE WORK. THE SCREEN IS MADE VERY COARSE AND SHOWS THE GRADATION FROM ABSOLUTE BLACK TO ABSOLUTE WHITE. THIS IS HOW THE SHADED EFFECTS ARE OBTAINED IN HALF-TONE WORK.
338 MODERN ADVERTISING
for such a purpose in general magazine advertising becomes so well known that he or she can not be used again. This limits the number of advertisers who can use the same model, and tends to make it more difficult to secure good ones.
A half-tone cut can be made from any photograph, drawing, painting, print, or directly from an object, the variation in tone being obtained by photograph- ing through a screen. A screen is made by ruling lines upon glass, crossing one another at right angles. The fineness of the screen is indicated by the num- ber of lines to an inch, as a GO-line screen, 133-line screen, ITS-Iine screen, and the like, being the num- ber of lines to the inch in each direction. These screens are very valuable and comprise a large part of the photoengraver's investment. The cost of a screen varies from $500 to $1,000, according to its size and fineness, but especially large and fine screens are worth more.
If you will take a magnifying glass and look at any half-tone picture in the magazines, you will see that the picture is crossed by numerous black lines in the medium tones, which diminish into small dots in the high lights. These black lines get thicker in the darker tones, converging into a solid mass in the blacks. This is the screen.
If a white sheet of paper were photographed through a screen and made into a half-tone cut, the result would be a light gi'ay. Therefore, all the whites in a half-tone design become gray, while the darker tones increase in intensity into solid black. In order to restore the whites to the same degi*ee of high light used in the original, the white parts are
SOME MECHANICAL DETAILS 339
cut out so that there is no screen there to print. A line-engraving is ahvays better for the advertising- pages of a magazine, but that prechides the use of photographs and wash-drawings, which are often nec- essary to show the article advertised.
Where an original half-tone is used in each pub- lication, the type matter is often set up and an elec- trotype of it made, which is fastened to the half-tone plate by soldering. Where electrotypes of the entire advertisement are used, one original half-tone is made, the type matter set up for it, and as many electrotypes of the whole are made as there are pub- lications to receive the advertisement.
Even when an original half-tone is sent to the mag- azine, it is not to be understood that the advertise- ment is printed from this half-tone. In the case of modern magazines of large circulation, the same form of advertising pages will be running on many differ- ent presses. For instance, in the case of the Ladies' Home Journal and The Delineator a given adver- tisement must be duplicated many times, so that the printing can be finished to mail the magazine on time. Electrotypes are taken from the cut sent. When this is an electrotype, it really means an electrotype from an electrotype, in which case it is very difficult to get satisfactory results. The cut sent is retained by the publication until the printing is finished, to be ready to supply any additional plates in case of an accident.
It is not necessary for an advertising man to un- derstand engi'aving technically, but there are a few terms, the definition of which will make his work easier for him.
340
MODERN ADVERTISING
S\ll OF DRAWING
A half-tone cut has already been defined. A line-cut is a cut made from any drawing or print which is wholly in line or stipple.
A design which is intended to be engraved should be marked for tlie sizes of both dimensions. For in- stance, if it is a page for a nuigazine 5^ by 8 inches, the size, 5| by 8 inches, should be marked on the design. If the desig-n has been drawn in proper pro- portion, it will reduce exactly to the right size; if not, the engraver will notice it at once and call atten- tion to the fact.
To obtain the right proportion advertising art- ists and engravers use a very simple device, although the result can be worked out by arithmetical proj)ortion. A drawing, let us suppose, is 22 by 32 inches, and is to be re- duced to the size of a magazine ])age. A line is drawn diago- nally from one corner to an- other. Jn the lower right-hand corner, so that the diagonal line will bisect it, is drawn the exact size of the space to which the design is to be reduced. If the design is in the correct i)roportions, the diagonal line will exactly bisect this space, 5^ by 8 inches, just as it does the large drawing. If it is out of proportion, the diag- onal line will show just how much so. This will be made very clear by a stiuly of the accompanying diagram.
Photoengravers and artists use a diminishing glass to get the effect of a drawing when reduced, as
SOME MECHANICAL DETAILS
341
often the effect of reduction changes the design, es- pecially as to darkening the same.
These two processes, line and half-tone engraving, are the ones mostly used by advertisers.
" He says he wants some morel"
STRONG DISPLAY FOR NEWSPAPER ADVERTISEMENTS. REPRODUCED BY LINE-ENGRAVING.
Wood-engraving is employed to some extent, not so much, however, for advertisements in publications as for catalogue and booklet work.
Advertisers use lithography and three-color half- tone work for reproducing objects in their natural colors, and in printing show-cards, street-car cards, posters, catalogues, and mailing-cards.
In addition to this, very good color work is ob-
842 MODERN ADVERTISING
taiiu'd l)y printing from zinc plates in flat colors — tliat is, a solid color from each plate. This sort of Avork is considerably less expensive than three-color half-tone or lithography, especially for small editions, and is frequently very effective. This is the kind of work employed for cover designs upon a great many j)ul)lications.
The distribution of newspaper advertisements is a very different business from that of placing mag- azine advertisements. The magazine oflices are com- paratively few, and most of them are in New York City, and those which are not usually maintain a lead- ing branch ofiice there.
ISTewspapers, however, are published over the en- tire country, and while many of the more important ones maintain offices in the large cities, those offices do not receive the plates intended for their papers, as this would make a tremendous amount of work in that office.
Advertising intended to be run in a great many publications is usually prepared a long time in ad- vance, an entire series being prepared at once. These advertisements are then made up into printing-plates and shipped in sets, with a sheet of directions, to each newspaper which will run the series. This sheet is for the foreman, and is called a " broadside," and is intended to be pasted upon the wall in front of_ the " make-up " so that he can be sure of inserting the advertisements in the right order. At the top of the sheet arc printed complete instructions as to position — for instance, local page, woman's page, top of col- umn, next to reading matter, or whatever the contract calls for. Then follow proofs of the advertisements
SOME MECHANK'AL DETAILS 343
in the order in which they are to be inserted. A more convenient form, especially when a great many advertisements are used in a series, is a series of sheets fastened together at the top, with the advertisements printed on one side in consecutive order.
The distribution of newspaper plates involves so much detail work that at least one company has been formed which makes a business of the distribution of such plates. When an advertiser has a series of news- paper advertisements intended to cover the entire country, a certain number of duplicate electrotypes are sent to this company, one to each of its branch offices. For instance, there is an office in ISTew York, one in Chicago and one in Kansas City. Ten or twelve such branch offices cover the entire country. Each branch office has one electrotype, from which it proceeds to make as many duplicates as there are papers in its own territory.
The advertisements are made in the form of thin stereotyped plates, and so made that they will fit upon a common base. When so fitted they are just type- high and ready to be printed in the paper. Each newspaper receives one set of bases, with change of advertisements for the entire set. All that is neces- sary for the foreman or make-up of the newspaper to do is to slide off the plate which has been printed and slide on the fresh plate for the next issue.
In this way a great deal of freight and expressage is saved, as the boxes of plates are shipped from these branch offices a comparatively short distance. Also great promptness is insured. If the plates were all made at one central office and shipped over the entire
344 MODERN ADVERTISING
country, it would take a great deal of time and a great deal of labor. This service has been made very complete.
Another method not so satisfactory is as follows : A matrix is made of the advertisement when it is ready to be printed and sent to each publication which will run the advertisement. The newspaper makes a stereotyped plate from this matrix, which is used to print the advertisement. The disadvantage of this method is that the matrix is liable to be damaged in transit.
Wlien a small number of papers arc used, an elec- trotype is often sent to each. In the case of news- papers which are stereotyped before printing, a fresh stereotype has to be made from this cut. Newspapers which print from their own type, however, can use electrotypes or stereotypes mounted on wood bases.
Some mention has been made of the ready prints or patent insides which are supplied to small papers that can not do all their own presswork and type- setting. Advertising placed in such papers requires the sending of only a single electrotype to the home office of the ready print. This advertisement is printed with the rest of the inside and sent to the paper in the form of a complete newspaper printed only on one side. The local news is then printed on the other side. Such newspapers circulate only in the ultra-rural districts.
The success of an advertiser or an advertising manager does not depend upon his knowledge of ty})e bodies, but a knowledge of type faces adapted to ad- vertising display is useful. There are some men wlio have a certain instinctive sense of display, and this
SOME MECHANICAL DETAILS 345
is an advantage whether the man is a typesetter or an advertising man.
Type disphiy is receiving more attention than formerly, and this is a good sign. One large adver- tiser, hefore deciding finally npon the face of type to be used in a series of newspaper advertisements which were to run sixty-three times in 2,450 daily news- papers, had one of these advertisements set up in the type under discussion and inserted in a New York daily newspaper simply to judge of the effect of the advertisement so displayed. This was done several times before he came to a final decision.
Display type is type varying from the ordinary Roman face and is generally of larger size than is found in ordinary letter-press. Among the names of leading display types used by the best advertisers may be mentioned Caslon, Jensen, DeVinne, Gothic, Chel- tenham, Pabst Old Style, Post Old Style, together with a large number of types not varying greatly from these faces and giving something of the same effect.
ISTew type faces are added from time to time, and generally are the work of designers. For instance, Post Old Style is a face which was designed for the headings of the Saturday Evening Post. These head- ings were drawn by a designer and engi'aved. The letter was a particularly happy one, especially for open display, and it was finally purchased by a type- founder's company which cut it as a regular display letter so that it can now be bought in any size.
The face of a type indicates the particular style of letter used, as Caslon or Jensen. Its size is the size of the type body, now measured by the point
346 MODERN ADVERTISING
system. There are 72 points to an inch. Large newspapers are generally set in 5^ point, 6 point, 7 point or 8 point. Magazines are set in 8 point and 10 point. Books are set in 10 point and 12 point.
Formerly all type had names, and these old names are sometimes nsed now, even thongh the type has been cast npon the point system. The old names of type, togetlier with their present sizes, are as follows :
3i Point Brilliant
4^ " Diamond
5 " Pearl
5i " Agate
G " Nonpareil
7 " IMinion
8 " Brevier
9 " Bourgeois
10 " Long Primer
11 " Small Pica
12 " Pica
14 " 2-line IMinion or English
15 " 3-line Pearl IG " 2-line Brevier IS " Great Primer
20 " 2-line Long Primer or Paragon
22 " 2-line Small Pica
24 " 2-line Pica
28 " 2-lino I^nglish
30 " 5-lin(' Nonpareil
32 " 4-line Brevier
3G " 2-line Cireat Primer
40 " Double Paragon
42 " 7-line Nonpareil
44 " 4-line Small Pica or Canon
48 " 4-line Pica
54 " 9-liiie Nonpareil
GO " 5-rme Pica
72 " G-liiic Pica
SOME MECHANICAL DETAILS 347
Metal type is cast as large as 120 point. Wood type is made in multiples of a pica, and the diifer- ent sizes are known as 10-line Pica, 12-line Pica, etc., the 10-line Pica being 10 picas high, etc.
Type generally lias a slionlder so that when one line is set up under another, there is a certain white space between the two lines of letters. To increase this space the printer inserts between the two lines a thin sheet of metal known as a '^ lead." A lead varies in thickness from one point to three points, but above three points it is known as a " slug."
Advertisements are frequently surrounded by borders which are set up just as type is set. A great variety of borders have been designed and are cast by type-founders. They are made of type-metal and brass, in plain and fancy patterns, giving a variety of choice.
AVlien an advertisement, with or without a cut, has been made ready to print, and is to be duplicated by electrotyping, a Avax mold, dusted with plum- bago, is pressed over the face of the type and care- fully removed. The mold is again dusted with plumbago and put into an electrical bath which de- posits copper into the mold. The thin film or shell of copper so deposited is removed by heating or melt- ing the wax, and is " backed up " with lead, a sheet of tin-foil first having been melted into the back of the copper film or shell, which acts as a fuse to make the lead adhere to the copper. This is an electrotype. It is generally mounted on a wood base for printing. When the advertisement is to be duplicated by stereo- typing, the matrix or mold is made from soft, pulpy paper which is beaten or rolled down upon the type
348 MODERN ADVERTISING
until it takes the impression. The matrix or mold is then baked on the type and removed. The molten type-metal is then poured into this mold or matrix, which produces a form of the type previously set in one solid piece. This is a stereotype. Only one elec- trotype can be made from a wax mold, whereas from ten to fifteen stereotypes can be made from the same paper mold.
The trade catalogue of a large type-founder's com- pany makes one of the best text-books treating upon type, although a large number of the display faces shown are not valuable to the advertiser. Type for advertising should be legible and distinctive. The secret of display is contrast. The display lines sliould stand out from the surrounding page of type. An ad- vertisement that is set all in display has no display whatever. In practise, the ty]ies having the closest resemblance to the original Koman letter, which is the letter of ordinary reading type, make the best display. It is easier to read lower case than capitals, and the modern practise is to set display lines in lower case.
The subject of display is an endless one, varying as it does with the taste of the advertiser and the re- quirements of his subject. Several advertisements re])roduced elsewhere are good examples of different kinds of pure tjpe display and type display in com- bination with an illustration, cut or design. It should be renicnd)erod also that not only must an advertisement have dis2)lay in itself, but it must con- trast with otlicr advertisements shown on the same or adjoining pages. The subject is an interesting and even a fascinating one, especially as no advertiser has yet conclusively answered it.
SOME MECHANICAL DETAILS 349
Wlien wc speak of placing advertisements in news- papers we refer to placing regularly-prepared adver- tisements in the regular way as described. There are other forms of newspaper advertising. For in- stance, it is now possible sometimes to arrange so that a particular item of advertising may be tele- graphed to various newspapers just as news is tele- graphed, and set up as regiilar telegraph news. Read- ing-notices of all kinds are used, according to the policy of the paper. For instance, some newspapers will run them as pure reading-matter. Others insist on marking them in some way, either by a heading different from the regular heading of the paper, or by the letters, " Adv." at the end of an article, or by three asterisks, as ***.
In the early days of newspaper advertising there used to be quite a list of mysterious expressions which were used to indicate the position of the advertise- ment, or the leng-th of time it was to run, or the number of insertions, or the order. For instance, an advertisement would be marked, " e.o.w^t.f." It would mean " every other week till forbid." Simi- larly " t.c." meant " top of column " ; " r.p.," " run of paper " ; " n.r.," " next to reading-matter " ; " e.o.d.," " every other day," and the like. These expressions are no longer used, either by advertising men or newspapers, except in rural parts. Adverti- sing is so systematized now that the bookkeeping is done outside the columns of the newspaper in which the advertising appears.
The mechanical part of the advertising agency's work is usually done by outside concerns, under the supervision of the advertising agent, but some agencies
350 MODERN ADVERTISING
are so complete that they maintain their own printing department, photocnfrravinsi: and clectrotvpinc: plants. This is, however, the exception rather than the rule.
Advertising running in newspapers and maga- zines makes necessary a great deal of printed mat- ter as collateral advertising. The advertiser must have at least a catalogue, and generally a booklet or two to describe the article or articles which he sells. lie often recpiires quite a lot of printed matter to reach various branches of the trade which sells his goods.
A " dummy " is a booklet, catalogue or folder made up roughly and approximately to resemble the finished printed thing. It will show the kinds of stock, the colors of ink, the sizes, number of pages and other facts. If the booklet is to be mailed in an envelope, the envelope is part of the dummy. Rough sketches of the illustrations and where they are to appear are shown, and also an indication of the kind and style of type and how the booklet is to be printed. From such a dummy a printer can make an estimate of the cost of producing any part of the fin- ished booklet,
No sharp distinction exists between a catalogue, booklet, pamphlet or leaflet. A catalogue is the more formal, and usually is a technical description and price-list of the goods. A booklet may be a brief and popular description of them. A pamphlet and a leaflet are supposably smaller than a booklet. A folder is simply a sheet of paper folded in several forms. It may be inserted in an envelope, in which case it is called an " envelope-stuffer," or may be mailed separately. Some folders arc very elaborate
SOME MECHANICAL DETAILS 351
and amount to the dignity of a booklet both in ex- pense and appearance.
A form letter is a letter which can be nsed prac- tically as written in a great many instances. It is written ont in each case by a typewriter who makes the necessary variations in each one, but who uses the letter substantially as it is written.
A facsimile letter is a letter reproduced by a proc- ess wdiich prints the body of the letter, printing also a facsimile of the signature. The name and address of the individual recipient are then typewritten in at the top. This process has been brought up to such a high grade of perfection as regards style of type and color of ink that it is often diificult to distinguish between a facsimile letter and a letter that has been actually dictated and transcribed entire.
Follow-up letters are either form letters or fac- simile letters used to stir up further interest on the part of an inquirer who has apparently dropped the matter.
Follow-up matter is printed matter for the same purpose, whether booklets, folders or cards.
A special postal card is a card printed for adver- tising purposes, from about the same size as a govern- ment postal card up to as large as can be carried for one cent.
A tickler is any small piece of printed matter sent out to keep open a prospective sale on the part of the inquirer.
Bundle-slips are bits of printing dropped into bundles as they are wrapped in the store.
A street-car card is the card usually inserted in the racks of street-cars, which are uniformly 21 X 11 inches, or 42 X 11 inches in the case of double cards. 24
352 MODERN ADVERTISING
The new cars of several large street-car lines as, for instance, the elevated railroad of New York, has resulted in larger spaces for the showing of street- car cards, so that in these lines they may now be 21 X 15 inches.
The size and shape of a street-car card are often used for a card to show in windows or to hang np about a store, so that the same design and printing can be used for both.
Hangers are printed or lithographed cards of vari- ous shapes and sizes, to be hung up in a store.
Counter-strips are narrow strips which can be nailed along the edges of counters or shelves without interfering with the display of goods thereon.
Xovelties comprise a long line of useful and ornamental articles which are given away by adver- tisers with their name and address and possibly other advertising printed upon them.
The oldest and simplest form of novelty is the calendar, and next to that the blotter and the fan, but novelties often take the form of clocks, thermometers, inkstands, paper-weights, caps and aprons for factory and shop hands, memorandum-books, note-books, pen- cils, pens — in short, hardly any article of use or beauty can be thought of which has not been used as an advertising novelty by some advertiser.
A rate-card is a card or printed sheet giving the advertising rates in a given publication. Usually such cards are very complicated. They are based upon a certain definite price per page or per line according to the circulation. Then there are various concessions due to using a given number of pages or lines within a certain time. Often a publication with
SOME MECHANICAL DETAILS 353
a line-rate will have a discount for fifty-two inser- tions, or a discount for 1,500 lines used within a year. This often makes it difficult to estimate the cost of space in a great many publications as the con- ditions are by no means uniform.
Rate-cards of magazines and weekly publications are easier to comprehend and more compact than those of the newspapers, especially the smaller newspapers. There has been a movement on foot for years to bring about a uniform rate to apply to small newspapers, but it has never succeeded.
It is very important for an advertising agency to have in its possession up-to-date rate-cards of all pub- lications with which it does business. To insure the safe receipt of a new rate-card, most publishers send these cards to the agencies under registered mail. It might make a difference of a good many thousand dollars if an agency were not instantly and promptly informed of any change in the rates of a newspaper or magazine.
THE END.
INDEX
Advertising, real beginning of modern, 1; a combination of hundreds of different ele- ments, 61; developing cor- set trade, 56; cost of, 58; definition of, 6; dictionary- sense, 1; a recent develop- ment, 13; early successes in, 27; as a great educational force, 7; effect on soda bis- cuit, 9; the first, 5; illiter- acy, small percentage of, 2; improvement in making clothes due to, 42; interests' of the public, 12; Fanny Fern's story, 23; early in New York Ledger, 15; Jen- ny Lind concerts, 25; elimi- nating the middle men, 44; modern definition of, 63; modern sense, 1; novelties, 101; of Oak Hall, 21; out- doors, 88 ; possibilities in the future, 1 1 ; printed matter as mediums, 98 ; as a profes- sion, 4; three distinct pro- fessions in, 31 ; large num- ber of publications, 2; break- ing down relations between manufacturer and retailer, 36; street-car not in hands
of one agent, 91 ; well-known in connection with, 19; a single writer, 23; beginning of flake food, 107; of H-0, 106; a typical instance, 129; pioneers, 108; undeveloped possibilities in, 109; rail- roads, 120; returns direct not possible in general, 125; stories of successes, 33; vol- ume of magazine for given month, 120.
Advertising, General, defini- tion of, 102.
Advertising, Mail-order: copy required for mail-order pa- pers, 253; definition and growth of, 245; follow-up matter, 255; pulling power of various, 256.
Advertising, Mathematics of: that appeals to the sense of taste, 382; exact results, 261 ; examples of modern, 205, 210, 211, 217, 218, 223, 231, 233, 237, 239, 251, 254, 262, 263, 269, 271, 272, 273, 307, 308, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 316, 321,323, 324, 331, 335, 341; and general pub- licity, 290; jingles in, 326-
356
INDEX
328; keying, 264; kind of copy to use, 306; investiga- tions, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296; and mental habits, 283; out- line of campaign, 202; psy- chology of, by Prof. Scott, 278; reaching the rich, 286; statistics not sufficiently complete, 285; testing gen- eral, 270; verse good and bad, 326.
Advertising, Retail: amount spent by leading retailers, 221; definition of retail, 220; depends on direct re- sults, 241 ; Gillam and Wana- maker style, 224; local mo- nopolies, 244; of Rogers, Peet & Company, 239; syn- dicate retail, 243; uniform style, 241 ; varies in differ- ent cities, 242.
Advertising, Textile, beginning of, 104; beginning of Amer- ican Woolen Company, 115; American in Great Britain, 139; checking up, 193; cor- respondence schools, 151 ; unthought-of fields to be developed, 118.
Advertised Goods: baking- powder history, 127; break- fast foods exploiting, 51; Mellin's Food, 129; two ways of selling, 33.
Advertisers: discouraged by bad agents, 164; early maga- zine, 114; for forty years, 120; psychology a guide for, 280; some railroads, 120;
large general, 103; two classes, 195.
Advertising Agency: the first, 14; inadequacy of name, 161 ; modern renders professional service, 200; old and mod- ern ideas of, 173; old-time ones are loose organiza- tions, 194; planning work in cooperation with, 154; service against price-cutting, 177.
Advertising Agent: bad, 164; George Dyer on, 167; not employee of publication, 162; has nothing to sell, 172; and the plan, 165; how works on new proposition, 196; should be unprejudiced, 171; what he should know, 166; who represents, 161.
Advertising Manager: ability to write, 136; advertising writers as such, 143; mis- leading impressions about, 147; must produce exact, 160; retail pay and work, 221; daily routine, 235; salaries, 143; training, 152; training that makes a suc- cessful, 148; what he does, 135; what he should know, 144; working in cooperation with agency, 154; working with traveling men, 156.
Advertising Men: Napoleon, prototype, 3; training, 152; training to make a success- ful, 148.
.\dvertising Space: amount
INDEX
357
paid for, 67; estimates from newspaper rate-cards, 185; estimates and rate - cards, 182; size of magazine pages, 75; typical estimate, 180.
Agate Line: what it is, 333.
Agricultural papers, 87.
Appropriations: no limit to, 199; power of large, 275; small, starting with, 59; small, working with, 52.
Assets: trade-mark as, 9.
Baking Powder: history, 127; Royal's investigation, 293.
Balmer, Thomas: experience of, 105; investigations, 296- 299.
Barnum, P. T. : advertises Jenny Lind concerts, 25.
Bonner and the New York Ledger, 22.
Booklets: sent in return for names of dealers, 263; dum- mies, 350.
Booklovers Library, 138.
Breakfast Foods: Force, 29; exploiting, 51 ; flake foods, 107; growth of, 302; H-0, 106; origin of Sunny Jim, 158.
Brokerage: letter, 257; space, 174.
Catch- Phrase : coining a new name, 197; establishing, 276.
Circulation : compared with rate, 76 ; map showing rela- tive density of circulation, 65; statements, 80.
Clothing Business: example of modern advertisement, 206; improvement in manufactur- ing, 42; an idea that revo- lutionized, 41 ; advertising of Rogers, Peet & Company, 239; odd sizes in clothing, 39 ; trade-marked clothing, 40; transformation of ready- made, 38.
Comfort: as a standard, 73.
Commission : unsatisfactory and illogical, 163; why illog- ical, 175.
Comparison : magazines and newspapers, 64.
Correspondence Schools: of advertising, 151; for mail- order, 259.
Cost: of advertising, 58; ad- vertising managers' salaries, 143; amount paid for space, 67; estimating from news- paper rate-cards, 185; ap- propriation, 199; estimate and plan as presented by agency, 201 ; fixing the price, 198; price of space cut, 176; rate-cards, 353; rate-cards and estimates, 182; rate compared with circulation, 76; of repHes, 268; of lead- ing retailer's advertising, 222; starting with small appropriation, 59; working with small appropriation, 52 ; typical estimate, 180.
Coupons: examples of, 265- 266.
Campaign: outline of, 202.
358
INDEX
Delineator: history of, 74; in- vestigation, 296.
Designs: making for reduc- tion, 3-10.
Dummies: for booklets and catalogues, 350.
Dyer, George: on advertising agencies, 167.
Eaton, Seymour, 138; style of advertising, 141.
Electro typing: what it is, 347.
Estimate, typical, ISO; as pre- sented by agency, 201 ; from newspaper rate-cards, 185; and rate-cards, 182.
Experiment, with mail series, 49.
Fanny Fern's story, adverti- sing, 23.
Food Advertising, growth of, 302; chart showing growth of food advertising by years, 302.
Force, 29.
Gillam and Wanamaker style,
224. Growth of food advertising:
chart showing growth by
years, 302,
Half-tone Cut: what it is, 338. Home prints, 82. House organs, 100.
Idea: before- and after-taking, 25, 271.
Illustrations: difficulty of get- ting good, 228 ; the half-tone cut, 338; line drawing, 315; making designs for reduc- tion, 340; original half-tones and electrotypes, 336; pho- tography and models, 337; wood - engraving and lith- ography, 341.
Inducements to bring replies, 262.
Investigations : Breakfast foods and watches, 295; Butterick trio, 296; Northwestern Ag- riculturist, 292; Royal Bak- ing Powder, 293; toilet soap, 293.
Jingles, in advertising, 326; examples, 327-331; first, 28; good and bad, 326; as collateral advertising, 328 ; Phoebe Snow, 330; Sunny Jim, 327.
Keying: how to do it, 264.
Ladies' Home Journal, as a standard, 71; form of con- tract, 178.
Mail series, experiments with, 49.
Maps: showing relative den- sity of circulation over the ITnited States, 65; showing the number of inhabitants to each weekly publication, 67; showing that ten States pos- sess 81.08 per cent, of the combined circulation of all
INDEX
359
publications, 68; showing the number of inhabitants to each daily pubUcation, 70.
Mail-order Houses: definition of, 245; direct results, 252; follow-up matter, 255 ; fraud orders, 258; great, 247; growth of, 245; kind of advertising copy required, 253; papers, 250; history of Sears, Roebuck & Company, 247; style of advertising, 313.
Magazines: circulation of, 66; classification of according to character, 69, 70, 72, 73; compared with newspapers, 64; creation of the 10-cent, 77; size, 335; volume of ad- vertising for a given month, 120.
Manning, John, recollections, 15.
Mediums: agricultural papers, 87; circulation of, 66; clas- sification of, according to character, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73; magazines compared with newspapers, 64 ; contract publications, 178; cooper- ative newspapers, 83 ; adver- tising definition of, 63; mail- order papers, 250; printed matter as, 98; religious papers, 87; readers of, 79; trade papers, 86.
Name: coining a, 197. Newspapers, circulation of, 66; classification of according to
character, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73; compared with magazines, 64; cooperative, 83; defi- nition of, 81 ; dickering with, 186; distributing plates to, 342; making error in price, 236; need of flat rate, 191; rate-card, 185, 186; used ex- clusively by early agents, 26; width of columns, 334.
New York Ledger, early ad- vertising in, 15; and Mr. Bonner, 22.
Novelties, advertising, 101 ; their use, 352.
Oak Hall, and its advertising,
21. Out-door advertising, 88.
Painted signs, permanent, 96; high prices paid for, 98; examples of, 97-99.
Palmer, Pettingill's impression of, 16; and Pettingill as competitors, 20.
Patent insides, 82.
Patent Medicines, the first ad- vertising, 5.
Pettingill : impression of Palm- er, 16; a well-known name in advertising, 19 ; and Palmer as competitors, 20.
Phoebe Snow, and the road of anthracite, 330.
Posters, size of, 94, 95.
Price, error in, made by paper, 236.
Printed matter, as mediums, 98; good, 315; all kinds of, 351.
mo
INDEX
Proprietary Remedies, first large advertisers, 14.
Publications, large number of, 2; contract, 179.
Quoin Club, what it is, 165.
Rate-cards, use of, 363.
Readers, of different publi- cations, 79.
Recollections, John Planning, 15.
Religious Papers, 87.
Retail Industries, figures of, 43.
Retail Lines, amount spent by leaders, 222; antagonizing, 153; catalogue houses, 254; controlled by single manu- facturer, 36; cultivation by manufacturer, 48; develop- ment of corset trade, 56; eleven leading, 33; Gillam and Wanamaker stj'le, 224; fraud orders, 258; mail-or- der houses, 247; local mo- nopolies, 244; Rogers, Peet & Company, 239; principal shopping days of the week, 232; syndicates, 243; varies in different cities, 242.
Retail Trade, antagonizing the, 153.
Replies, inducements to bring, 262.
Returns, advertising manager must produce, 160; cost of, 268; direct not possible in general publicity, 125; exact required by modern adver-
tisers, 261; from one item of hosiery, 297; from in- vestigations, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296; in mail-order pa- pers, 252.
Rogers, Peet & Companj', style of advertising, 239.
Rural free deliverj', three- fourths people reached by, 246; statistics of, 249; stim- ulus of, 248.
Sapolio, 28.
Spotless Town, 28.
Sunny Jim, 29; origin of, 158;
psychologj^ of impression,
273. Scott, Professor, psychology
of advertising, 278. Sears, Roebuck & Company,
history of, 247. Silhouette, effectively used in
newspaper advertising, 198;
examples of, 329. Should be advertised: canned
molasses, 112; food products,
111; salt, 113; undeveloped
possibilities, 109; unthought-
of fields, 118. Skirt Binding, standardizing,
37. Space, cutting price of, 176;
order for, 192. Space, size of magazine pages,
75. Standardizing a skirt binding,
37. Statistics and their relation to
advertising, 304; not suffi- ciently complete, 285.
INDEX
361
Styles: Seymour Eaton, 141; different in different cities, 232; Gillam and Wana- maker, 224; stupid imita- tions, 307; Macbeth, 263; mail-order, 313; New York Department Store, 233; Bos- ton, 237; Chicago, 231 ; Phil- adelphia, 223; reaching the rich, 286; Rogers, Peet & Company, 239; Powers, 145; appealing to sense of taste, 282; designed type, 311; good type, 309; uniform, 241; what to use, 306.
Street-car Cards, circulation of, 93; not combined in hands of one agent, 91; example of cards, 92, 93; number re- quired for the United States, 90; size of, 92.
Terms, obsolete, 349. Textile advertising, the begin- ning of, 104. Trade-mark, clothing, 40; the
great asset, 9 ; using face as,
317; value of, 126. Trade Papers, 86; example of
catchy style advertising in,
218. Transformation of ready-made
clothing business, 38. Traveling Men, working with
advertising manager, 156. Triangle, the business, 45. Type, agate line, 333; to ad- vertiser, 344; display, 348;
used in advertising, 345;
knowledge of bodies not
necessary, 344 ; sizes of, 346 ;
good styles, 309.
Wanamaker, and the fakir, 229; Gillam style, 224; be- ginning of store adverti- sing, 226; style older than store, 230.
Ways of selling advertised goods, 33.
Window-dressing, 238.
Wood-engraving, use of, 341.
(4)
APPLETONS' BUSINESS SERIES.
American Railway Transportation.
By Emory R. Johnson, of the University of Penn- sylvania. Illustrated. lamo. Cloth, $1.50 net : postage, 12 cents additional.
A volume on this subject belongs of necessity in the Business Series. It is a vast and intricate subject, and is intimately associated with the daily lives of practically every adult person. Professor Johnson has been known for some years as one of our best authorities upon the subject. It has been a source of special study to him, and the instruc- tion he has given upon it has been recognized as of a kind surpassed probably by no other teacher. He has prepared his book with an alert sense of what the general public needs by way of knowledge. It is admirably arranged, and, while intended to afford instruction, it is also entertaining.
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— New York Commercial.
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APPLETONS' BUSINESS SERIES.
Funds and Their Uses.
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APPLETONS' BUSINESS SERIES. Modern Industrialism.
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" Industrial problems in the United States, Germany, and Great Britain — those arising from the difficulties of organization, competition, distribution, etc. — are here treated by one who apparently has allowed nothing to escape his attention in preparing for his work."
— St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
" The people of the United States are confronted by more serious problems than the people of England or Germany. To what extent shall the State interfere to solve these problems? This question, with others related to it. Professor McVey discusses intelligently and clearly in his chapters, after broadly laying a groundwork of historical develop- ment."— Washington Star.
" This book can aid the citizen very materially in solving these problems (modern industrial problems), because a reading of it will bring to him a larger understanding of all that is involved in the situation."
— New York Commercial.
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, Publishers, NEW YORK,
A PRACTICAL BOOK BY A PRACTICAL MAN.
The Work of Wall Street.
By Sereno S. Pratt. 121110. Cloth, $1.25 net; postage, 12 cents additional.
" In ' The Work of Wall Street ' Sereno S. Pratt has not contented himself with the authorship of the best book published on the mech- anism, personality, function, operations, and raniili cat ions of the finan- cial Isis and Osiris of the western world, but has written it in a style which for clearness and interest is fabcinaling. He has drawn the veil from what to so many has been a mystery, so that one may easily see the wheels revolve, almost hear them click. . . . Those whose libraries or tastes include the works of such writers as Bryce, Jevons, Sumner, and White will surely discover a niche beside them for ' The Work of Wall Street.' " — Albert C. Stevens (former Editor Bradsircet's) in Newark Evening News.
" A book that can not be too highly recommended to those who desire to know what Wall Street is and how it does its work." — Wall Street Journal.
" It is one of the best books on Wall Street that has ever been published." — Brooklyn Eagle.
" A well-written and generally thorough digest of the operations of the financial district." — .\Vw y^ork Sun.
" It has no equal." — A^ew York Press.
" The most fascinating presentation possible of a subject of the utmost interest to business men and students of economics."— C/«V<7^<? Kecord-IIcrald.
"Clear, simple, direct, straightforward, impartial, and, above all, informing. . . . Mr. Pratt has done a real service in describing the things which the stock exchange accomplishes, and its usefulness to the nation at large." — Boston Herald.
" The author knows the ins and outs of the New York stock market, and the book is veritably a mine of knowledge about matters very little understood by the public. . . . Particularly valuable are Mr. Pratt's explanations of the jargons of the .street — of words and phrases which to most persons not actively engaged in the stock business are quite unintelligible." — Philadclpliia Ledgri .
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, NEW YORK.
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