Improvement of Business Through Advertising
A
DVEUTISINO Is a life study.
Kverybody know little about
It, but nobody know all about It.
Perhaps nobody ever will know
all about It. To do that would
require a knowledge broad enough to cover
all the principle of human action. l!ut
many of us know that advertising will
turn the attention of people to our busi
ness, and will thereby help that business.
And between the knowledge of that simple
fact and the ultimate understanding of the
why and wherefore of all thlnga commer
cial, lies the scope of the possibilities) of
advertising.
It is hardly necessary to Introduce argu
ments to prove that It pays to advertise.
We will begin where that argument leaves
off. Ws will start with the conclusion that
thero la a wonderful power In advertising,
which can turn the mlnda of the people
toward a business, resulting . in an Im
provement of the business. The next point
then is this: There are some kinds of ad
vertising which pay better than other kinds.
And so the study of advertising rcs.ilvcs
Itself into a search after the kind of ad
vertising thnt pays the best, and an effort
to soon re the largest results for a given
expenditure.
In the nrst place it may be snld that no
spool flo form of advertising Is the best for
all purposes and under all conditions. But
them are certain general principles which
will admit of almost infinite varlitlon, and
yet remain essentially the same, and have
a part in all successful advertising. Those
are points which have to do with the lan
guage of the advertisement, the Integrity
of the stitements mado, and the attitude
of the public toward the business or com
modity advertised.
The first fundamental point In advertising
Is a mutter of business sense. The cost of
a proposed ndvertisment should not exceed
the possibility of relume. The wise
piibilshtr will rot urge upon his advertisers
an expenditure which la not warranted by
the nature of his business and the nature
of the advertising medium. -
Another fundamental point, and one
Which doserves the utmost consideration of
the advertiser and the publisher. Is the
natter of telling the truth in advertising.
It Is to the publisher's advantage to rule
out of his paper, as far as possible, the
deliberate mis-statements of advertisers
as much so as ha should rule them out of
the editorial department, it seems an up
Mil task to teach soma advertisers that
deliberate mis-statements have a reaction
on their business, and that in the long
run peoplo will not believe a word they
ay. The competitive spirit would say,
"let them do It, who carea If tuey do ruin
their own business?" But tiie progressiva
spirit knows that the Influence of falsa
advertising has a strong tendency
to shake the public confluence In all ad
vertising; so that in time the honest adver
tiser will not get the credit for telling the
truth. I declare that it is to the interest
of- every advertiser and vury publisher
to point out the folly of false advertising,
and to rid the public prints of every state
ment which smacks of untruth. Far better
tell your competitor how to advertise suc
cessfully and honestly, than to allow him
to poison the public mind with the thought,
that there is no honesty in advertising and
In business, and that the business world
Is but a mnd maelstrom of deceit and dis
honesty. But through It all the honest
advertiser and the honetrt business man Is
making his way to the front, and every day
hows a larger recognition of his trus
position In the business world.
The next point I would emphasis as an
, Important on Is that of simplicity. Sim
plicity is the ideal In advortlaing. The
strongest advertisement is the one which
tells Its story, leaves the right Impression,
and then stops. The reader will do the
rest It la not necessary to go on and
load his mind with Incidental statements.
It Is the easiest thing In the world to write
a simple advertisement all you have to
do Is to find out what there is to say about
the subject of your advertisement, and then
write It down In the order in which the
various points will best appeal to the
reader. Hut tf you undertake to twist the
facts Into a knot that you may arouse
the reader's curiosity to get him to attempt
to unravel It, you will encounter hard work
and a great deal of useless expense. After
all, most of the mystery of mysteries of
advertising consists in doing things which
are considered smart by the people who
. Invent them and foolish by the people who
read them. A great da 1 of money Is spent
on this mysterious kind of advertising, but
It Is safe to say that half the money, in
vested In simple statements which people
can understand, would bring Immensely
greater returns.
Another point I whh to mention Is that
It la of great benefit If the writer of an
advertisement knows what he Is writing
bout, instead of merely drawing on his
Imagination, and clothing his subject with
adjectives and bragging about Its supposed
merits. Let him go see the thing ha Is to
talk about, let him examine Its points and
thoroughly understand them, and then he
can write an advertisement which will
Interest the people.
Tlie writer of an advertisement should
digest the Information ha may receive
about the subject of hla sketch, and con
sider what points are known to the public,
what points are commonplace, and what
points stand between the public and the
purchase. He will And very often that the
points which a peal to him will be common
place to the public, and the points which
seem commonplace to him will most
strongly appeal to the public. Bo it is
necessary to put yourself always In the
reader's place, and write your advertise
ment from that standpoint. Such an ad
vertisement Is sure to win. Aa fundamental
as this point seems to be. It Is merely the
application of common sense to one of the
simplest phases of the advertising prob
lem. There are some things which claim to be
advertising, but are not. They detract
from the reputation of the business which
Issues them, and do not create one atom of
respect. The only apology that can be
offered for such thlnga is that the people
who get them up don't know very much
about advertising; In fact, they soem to
have u. serious misconception of it. These
thlr.g.i arc designed merely to attract atten
tion, regardless of whether the impression
they make is good or bad. But there Is
about aa much difference between such
attempts at advertising find rcnl advertising
as there Is between notoriety and fame.
One thing which comes under the head
of bad advertising Is offensive illustrations.
Not long ago I saw a street car poster for
a restaurant. It had a picture of a hideous
looking tramp glailng at you with wild eyes
and a hungry look. By same witty play
upon words the conclusion was deduced
that such kind of people did not oat at
this restaurant. From the number of
colors In that poster and the number of
places it was shown, that restaurant must
have spent hundreds of dollars for it And
yet the whole thing was positively revolt
ing to look st. It seems Incredible that
nny ono cculd Imagine such a thing could
help their business.
Another form of bad advertising Is ex
aggeration. Borne people call It lying.
Others call It "unwarranted hyperbole."
Others call it "putting it a little strong."
Others call It "highly colored." Others
take It as a matter of course. But no
matter what you call It or how you regard
It, the fact remains that It Is a deliberate
attempt to get people to believe what is
not true. And through It all the people
usually know it. sooner or later.
To enumerate all the types of bad adver
tising would tee a task too large for one
man to undertake.' I have never heard It
estimated how much money is spent in such
attempts at advertising, but It seems to me
It must be an enormous sum. And It may
be safely snld that a liberal nllownnce of it
will go to the men, who, in the next few
years, will bend their energies to discover
the real difference between bad advertising
and good advertising, nnd who will spend
this vast sum In a manner at once agree
able to the public and profitable to the
advertiser.
There are certain things which the aver
age advertiser thinks about the average
newspaper, which are worthy of attention.
These thlr.gs, and tho attitude the news
paper ir.on take toward thorn, have a great
deal to do with the opinion the advertising
men entertain of the newspaper, and that
opinion has a great deal to do with the
amount of advertising the paper receives.
Advertisers frequently talk among them
selves about the merits and demerits of
various publications, and a good or bad
opinion passed on to another man often has
a great deal of weight. There are fre
quently times when the plans of an adver
tiser are in the balance, and just a word
one way or the other from some one else
will cause a decision which is final it may
be a decision which will moan a great
deal of money for a newspaper, and it
may mean a great dea) turned away from
a rewspaper just at a moment when It
was ready to hand over. This illustrates
the Importance of always doing the right
thing, at the right time, and in the right
way. It shows the necessity of keeping
the best foot forward every day in Lhe
year.
One of thodo points whiuu has its effect
on the Impression an advertiser gets of a
newspaper Is the folly which Is sometimes
Indulged in of attempting to secure ad
vertising on other grounds ihau a strictly
profitable business proposition for the ad
vertiser. For instance. If a newspaper
advertising solicitor approaches an adver
tiser with an appeal to his generosity, and
ays: "Can't you help us out a little today;
we need the business," he is making a very
serious mistake. If he tries to blus the
judgement of the advertiser by favors,
lunches, theatre tickets, railroad passes,
and such things, he may influence a few
unstable men for a short time, but In the
long run the newspaper loses heavily by
this, because it soon convinces the adver
tisers that the newspaper man lacks faith
In the business value of his proposition and
Is depending on ulterior means. It is the
long run which must be considered at every
tep. .
Nothing will draw so much business to a
paper as the fact that advertiser a have
to use It to reach a certain class of persona
There are enough things which need doing
to go around. No matter how many papers
there are In a field, thero Is room for each
one to do one thing better than any of the
others can do It. As a matter of fact It is
possible for a local newspaper to become
widely known outside of its own Immediate
field If It contains even one thing the people
want which Is not to be found elsewhere.
Some publications find their way around
the world for the simple reason that they
are the source of supply for some line of
thought which no other publication con
tains. Another scope of opportunity for the pub
lisher is that of creating advertisers, by
educating the public to the value of ad
vertising. To do this It Is necessary to con
sider the origin of advertising. Many pub
lishers think that the Idea to Insert an ad
vertisement In the paper originates with the
man who places the order for it, or at least
with the man who pays for It. Now that
Is a great mistake. Let us suppose there is
a merchant in your town who is In a po
sition to advertise. You approach him on
the subject of advertising, and lay before
him, all the arguments you have to prove
thnt it will pay him to advertise. You
think you have won him. But the next day
he Informs you that he has decided not to
spend the money. You seek In vain for the
cause of that action. The probable secret
of the story Is that his wife does not be
lieve in advertising. Your side of the ques
tion has never reached her. But she Is
often the power behind the throne, and
when the matter of advertising Is laid be
fore her it is her opinion in the matter,
that often decides the case; and the next
day her husband Informs you that he has
decided. Perhaps he has; but his wlfe had
a hand in It and her word has more
weight with him than all the arguments an
outsider could ever spread before him. Now
If you could educate the women to believe
In advertising It would make the way
smooth for you
Another origin of advertising is that
friends sometimes recommend it, when
business affairs are being talked over. A
friend may be In some business which
never advertises, and he may or may not
believe In advertising; but whichever it Is
you are likely to feol tho echo of It In the
conclusions some of your advertisers reach
on the subject So you must do something
to educate that friend to believe in adver
tising. Now let us suppose there is a dry goods
store In your town and you get an adver
tisement from it. You may think that It
originated in the mind of the proprietor
of the store; but in this Instance, at least
It didn't. It originated in the mind of one'
of the saleswomen. She observes that
things in her particular stock have not
been moving well the past few days; and
she begins to think about advertising.
After a while she gets up courage enougn
to suggest it to the head of the department.
He thinks It over and decides he will in
clude a few other Items in it and then he
suggests the whole matter to the adver
tising man, or, in some cases perhaps to
tho manager or proprietor, and the plan
receives official recognition, the copy Is
propared ond sent to the paper for publi
cation. Now. suppose that saleswoman had
not believed in advertising? Where would
that advertisement be?
From these illustrations you see that
advertising does not start nor stop with
the people who send the copy to the news-paDfl.-
or with those who pay the bl'ls. It
starts In a thousands ami ono different
ways; all the people have a hand In it. So
if the people believe in advertising there
will be plenty of It; and if the people do not
believe In advertising .there will be very
little of It. Furthermore the character of
the advertising Is Influenced pretty much
In the same way. So advertising becomes
a topic upon which the public needs
to be educated. A discussion of
some of Its phases might properly form a
part of the reading matter of your paper
In almost every Issue. If such discussions
can bring about a wider understanding of
the subject so that the money which is
now being spent will be more Intelligently
spent, and perhaps a great deal more might
be profitably spent If people knew how and
why to do It. Such a course of publlo
education would be productive of much
good for all.
While I am on this subject I wish to call
attention to one particular line upon which
a great amount of educating seems neces
sary. I refer to the want pages of almost
every newspaper. This la one of the great
est features of some newspapers, and It can
be mads one of the greatest features of
almost any newspaper. It Is the place,
.where the wants of some people are
matched up with the surplus commodities
of other people. One man Is very anxious
to find a position, and another man Is very
anxious to get such a man to work for him.
.The want pages of the great newspapers
are becoming more and more a clearing
house for the Immediate wants and needs
of the people. Now the point I wish to
make Is this. Most want advertisements
are too vague; there Is not enough said In
them for the reader to get hold of. How
many advertisements do you see which
read, "Boy Wasted Apply at once to John
Jones, 115 Kast Walnut St."? Now what
person reading this advertisement can tell
what John Jones wants a boy to do; does
bo want him to be a wagon boy for a
grocery store, or to open the door for'cus
tomers, or learn a trade, or work about the
office, or what? Does he want a boy 14
years old or IS years old? Will ho pay X
a week or IS? Has the boy any oppor
tunities In the position, or will he be kept
doing tho same thing for a year at the
same salary? These are questions which
the boy and his mother want to know
before ho even considers the matter of
going to see about It. And because of this
indefinite way of advertising the responses
are cut down about M per cent, and tho
remaining 10 per cent are boys who are
willing to work at any kind of work at
any kind of price, without a thought for
opportunities and education In a business.
The best class of boys will not answer such
an advertisement, and so by saving him
self tho trouble of writing a few more lines
the advertiser has thrown away 90 per cent
of his opportunities to get a good boy.
Now, what is true of boys In this case is
even more true of men and women; they
have a right to know what your offer is
before they make a Journey to see about it
In conclusion I wish to outline to you the
Ideal advertising medium. It is the horn
newspaper. It Is a paper which Is so filled
with good thoughts for every member of
the family that It finds a warm welcome
and an eager reading wherever It goes. It
Is free from crime and scandal and un
wholesome things. It takes more pride In
the quality of Its circulation than In tho
mere quantity but it has the quantity as
well as the quality. It Is not boastful, nor
too much given to finding fault. It wins
the confidence of -the people by its sim
plicity, honesty, purity and progresslveness.
It handles the news of the day in a manner
which appeals to the better class of people,
and to the better nature of all people. It
emphasizes the hopeful features of th
news, rather than the discordant ones. It
has a permanent location for Its special
features. It Is an authority on whatever it
undertakes to exploit. It has a reputation
for correctness. It regulates Its advertising
pages by reasonable requirements regard
ing display and illustrations, so that tho
page presents a pleasing whole, no matter
how .many advertisements are on it. It re
fuses about 60 per cent of the advertising
which is offered to It, because such adver
tising Is objectionable to Its readers. It has
a reputation for reliable advertising as well
es reliable reading matter. In such a pub
lication the advertiser finds his best oppor
tunities. Long live the clean, wholesome,
dignified, sensible, progressive home news
paper. WALDO P. WARREN,
Advertising Manager for Marshall Field &
Co., Chicago.
Doctor or Milkman
One of the hardest blows to the profes
sional pride of physicians and surgeons is
the excess of wisdom on all such subjects
possessed by the world at largo. A surgeon
tells of a case where he recently sot a
broken arm. The operation was successful
and the splints had been removed. Tho
surgeon advised his patient to leave off tho
bandages and manipulate the injured mem
ber at Intervals.
Just as the doctor was leaving the houso
the milkman arrived on bis rounds, and
missing the splints, said to the patient:
"You'll take cold In your arm. You ought
to keep It bandaged."
A few days later the surgeon called again
and found that the patient who had fol
lowed the milkman's warning, complained
of soreness in the arm, and said: "Doctor,
I think you've botched it."
Tho doctor, observing the bandages still
on the arm, remarked: "And whose ad
vice are you taking now. mine or the milk
man's?" New York Times.
A Pessimistic View
"We have only one world here, haven't
we?" asked tho boy.
"Yes, my son."
"Then what is the world of politics I hear
so much about?"
The defeated candidate sighed heavily.
"It Is not a world at all, my son," he re
plied. "It is only a delusion and a snare."
c-Chlcago Post
Not His Fault
"I've come." said the visitor, "to see why
you ralleJ mo a political Jobber in your
paper today?"
"I regTe.t that error of the types fiulte as
much as you," replied tho editor.
"Ah' Then you didn't mean to call :ne
that?"
"No, sir. I wrote "robber very distinctly.
Philadelphia Prers.
Lost in a Great City
"What is It?" the druggist rleeplly In
quired from his bedroom window.
"This lah drug store, ain't It?" sail tho
man who had rung tho r.Uht bell.
"Yes. What do you want?"
"Want to look In your city directory
minute on' shoe where I live.' Philadel
phia Ledger.