Will Maupin's weekly. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1911-1912, October 11, 1912, Image 4
Will Maupin's Weekly EDITED AND PUBLISHER BY HIMSELF , 5 Clothing for Men ONE DOLLAR PER YEAR Editorial Rooms, 436 Bankers Life Bldg. Auto Phone B2994 Publication Rooms, 126-132 North 14th Street Entered at the postoffiea at Lincoln, Nebraska, as second-class mall matter, under the Act of .neress of Xarofc S, int. Wa J I and Boys DISTRIBUTION. (Paper read before the Lincoln Ad Club on Oetober 8, by K. L Murray, advertising manager of the Beatrice Creamery Company.) Your program committee have given me as a subject, "Distribution." This may be considered to be a pre-advertising problem, for without proper distributing facilities any advertising campaign aimed at the consumer is doomed to failure. First let us see what distribution means in an advertising sense. For the Mail-Order House, it is the simplest problem for Uncle Sam the Railroads and the Express Companies have already provided the means of distribution. For the Manufacturer, it means proper connections through Job bers, Wholesalers and Retailers, the complete chain to the ultimate consumer in the territory he attempts to cover. Of course there are a good many manufacturers who do the bulk of their business direct with the Retailer but this does not sim plify the problem to any great extent. To the Jobber and "Wholesaler, distribution means practically the same as to the Manufacturer. To the Retailer, it means the number of people in a given area that lie can reasonably expect to bring to his store or reach by his system of delivery. We all have our problems of distribution and it is well to consider them carefully and analytically before entering upon any advertising campaign. Let us ever remember that a printed or painted advertisement is nothing more or less than a substitute for personal solicitation and we are paying for .the privilege of talking to our audience. Would any retail grocer in Lincoln pay a man's expenses to Omaha to solicit the trade of the Omaha housewives! Not on your life. Why! Because he knows he would be unable to deliver the goods. Still there are thousands of advertisers today paying for space in publications the bulk of which reach people whom they could not serve even by the greatest stretch of the imagination. Now don't 'misunderstand me. You know, I know, we all know that there is a certain amount of waste in any publication or advertising medium we can use. Our problem is to select the one that has the least waste for us, and the first step is 'Analyze your distribution." - , The almost criminal waste against which I am preaching today, is made by the man who spends his money in some medium that has proved sucessful Jor others without stopping to analyze his own proposition to see if it is similar to the one that won out. Some advertisers seem to take the Bible too literally where it says "Cast your bread upon the waters and it will return to yon after many days." I believe in the Bible, but I think it is safer to hold the bread and pour the water on it. I believe it's safer to use the advertising mediums that you know reach the people who you can reach with your goods and to leave alone those you know not of. As I said before, the first step is, analyze your distribution and the next step is analyze the distribution of the publications you contemplate using. Any application worthy of your patronage will give you a detailed statement of its circulation by states, by counties, or by any other reasonable classification that will enable you to pass intelligent judgment whether or not it circulates largely in your territory. I know a good many members of this club resent having a man mention his own business in talking to you; but at times it is unavoidable in order to make a point clear, and I trsut you will pardon me for giving this illustration. We are selling Farm Cream Separators in thirteen western states, and I am now selecting a list of papers to be used in adver tising them. Now wouldn't I be foolish to advertise them in the Sunday School Tiniest Still take it from me, that would be just as sensible as some people who are using the Saturday Evening Post with for them 90 per cent waste circulation. Now in making up my list, I first decide to use Farm Papers, and preferable, Dairy Papers, for we want to reach Dairy Farm ers, not Preachers. Our separators separate cow's milk, not "the milk of human kindness." After deciding this, the next step is to eliminate all farm papers that don't have at least 80 per cent of their circulation in the 13 states in which we have distribution. It would be as big a waste for us to advertise separators to the farmers of North Carolina as to talk Pears Soap to the Dusky damsels of Timbuctoo. Then we proceed on a further elimination for "cause, until the ' final list is reached. ' Now I will give you one idea of an elimination for cause, be cause it has a bearing on distribution. We get our distribution through local retail dealers. These dealers as a class are opposed to the Parcels Post. Last year we found that one farm paper in particular had had so much to say in favor of parcels post, that they had antagonized a large percentage of the dealers. So we had to leave that paper off our list. There is much to be said about selecting the right medium for your particular proposition. If I was advertising a cure for epileptic cats, I think I would want to use the "Old Maids Fireside Coinpan ion." On the other hand this should be a poor medium for "Nestle's Food." ,This question of selecting the proper medium involves many considerations, but I must not get off on that subject, for I was asked to speak to you about distribution. In order to consider this problem of distribution for the retailer, 1ft us take thfr case of a retail grocer with his store located in the f As I' see it. his distribution is certainly within a very limited area. His territory is not bounded by state or county lines, but by , practically so many city blocks. He cannot hope to cover a large part of the city even to a limited extent, and if he did secure The VERY BEST for the Money ! The boy or man who ties to this store for his clothing is most sure to be well dress edand at the least possible cost. Only standard and best known makes of clothing are renresented in this stnpV Trinket tViq M. w VAXW KAfX. W sure to render service, hold their shape and look "their very best" all the time. Suits for Men and Young Men at any price you wish to pay from $10 to $40. Your Fall Hat Should come from Armstrong's, because we have exactly the style you like, the proportions and dimens ions you ought to wear. You'll find more John B. Stet son's here than anywhere. A splendid showing of imported hats from England, Belgium and Italy. $2.00, $3.00, $3.30, $4.00 and $5.00 Armstrong C iothing GOOD CLOTHES MERCHANTS 3 c: liiii ! Co. scattering customers here and there, the cost of delivery would eat up his profits. His hope for success is based on getting concentrated distribution, or in other words, ' securing and holding the best trade in his immediate vicinity. . if he is a south side groeer, he don't expeet to sell to the people on the north side, or the east side or the west side. If he uses a medium that reaches them all, it means mostly waste circu lation for him. What is such a man to do for a proper advertising medium 1 Can he afford to use a daily paper reaching 200,000 homes for the sake of reaching 1,000 possible customers? Can he afford to pay for 99 4-10 per cent pure waste? That depends upon his per centage of profits, but I don't believe. he can afford it. Of course, in the smaller cities the percentage aatio is not so bad, but it is bad enough, and the south side grocer has to face the problem of distribution and proper advertising mediums just as much as the National Advertiser. . It is. easy enough to point out the difficulty, but not so easy to suggest a remedy. Some of you will probably say change his location, but this don't solve the problem for the south side grocer. This solution reminds me of Artemus Ward who denied the old adage that "a leopard cannot change his spots." Ward said the leopard could when he got tired of one spot he could go to another. So he could, but he was the same old leopard still. The retail grocer may move from the south side to the north side but he moves his problems of distribution and advertising with him. We have a lot of retailers who are members of "this club. Why would it not be a good idea to set aside an evening for the discussion of the problem: "How can the local retail grocer adver tise most effectively and economically?" I note from the invitation sent out for this meeting, that we are to have an educational program for this fall and winter, and I joyfully welcome the news. , That is just what we need and I sincerely hope it will take up the problems that daily confront the members of this club, in preference to the consideration of national advertising questions in which compartively few of us are interested. Let's - get right down to good hard practical work in the advertising field and accomplish something, not only for the Club as a whole, but for the individual members who want our help. Let's encourage the members to bring their problems to the evening meetings of this club and have them thrashed out for the benefit of all. - Let's have some evenings of criticism and discussion of actual advertising done by members of this club. It does a man good to have an honest opinion of how his advertisements appeal to the man on the outside. I for one will be glad to bring a whole series of advertisements, and enough copies of each to go around, and will be pleased to hear your criticisms and suggestions. I know they would be honest,' can did and fair, and it would do me good to see my own work with your eyes. Let's all pull together for good, hard, practical, beneficial work this fall and winter. We have advertised big business benefits from belonging to this club, now let 's deliver the goods. The manufacturers of Nebraska ought to attend the Omaha meeting next month and set to going the plans for a wide awake state organization. The situation as we view it is simply this: Mr. Roosevelt was quite willing to profit by any and all contributions to the 1904 re publican campaign fund, provided he was not informed as to the identity of the donors. .' ' The German-American citizens of this section have a riarht to bet proud of the showing they made, just as the state has a right to be proud oi sucn. citizens. " , Let 'er snow ! Think! It is high time to act. Don't delay your furnace work. We want you to call on us to install or put your" furnace in order for the winter. We have the best furnace on the market and our work is v of a high order LOGAN & RAINISECKE 137 No. 12th St. Auto Phone B3471 THIS LABEL ON YOUR PRINTING a ii m m am. sr m i 1 ft Is proof that it was printed in an 8-hour Xf shop, manned by Union workers, drawing II good wages and working under mutually satisfactory conditions. This newspaper is printed in a shop Union in all Departments. Demand this label on your printing WAGEWQRKERS, ATTENTION We have Money to Loan on Chattels. Plenty of it. Utmost Secrecy. Kelly & Norrla Room 1. 1034 0 THE CENTRAL National Bank of Lincoln Capital J15C000.OO Surplus and Undivided Profit $50,000.00