MERCHANDISING
Having considered the channels of trade we come to the methods of merchandising.
Mills that sell their products direct to consumers necessarily maintain a sales organization at their main offices, and as circumstances may require local representatives, in the larger markets, such as New York and Chicago, these men keep in personal touch with the customers, furnishing samples, making contracts, following up shipments and adjusting claims. Knowing the possible customers, this direct method suffices without any accessory effort, such as advertising.
Their business is as a rule, strictly a wholesale proposition. It happens in some instances that the same mills which sell some classes of paper direct, manufacture other grades for distribution through the dealer. While other mills rely entirely upon the merchant for their distribution.
Formerly the paper re-sold by the merchant, was with few exceptions handled under the private brand of the merchant. A grade of paper so handled would be called by as many different names as there were merchants selling it.
Frequently the manufacturer conceded the exclusive sale in given territory to one merchant, but in other cases the same paper has been handled by two or more merchants in the same City, sold under different names, but not invariably at the same price. Such a condition is not unusual, even today, but it obviously works to perpetuate the “Caveat emptor” theory, which standard advertised brands in all branches of merchandising is steadily eliminating.
Paper sold in this way is usually advertised at the entire expense of the jobber. If the grade is a stock article it is listed in the price book and shown in the sample set.
The competition between merchants has extended to their methods of sampling, and no important dealer today is without a well arranged Catalog and price list, giving complete data as to the standard sizes, weights, and grades, etc., and also substantial sample cabinets, which are distributed to paper buyers.
A comparatively recent development in the paper business, is the exploitation of “mill brands.” That is to say, a mill manufactures and stocks in the most merchantable sizes, a grade of paper. This is marked with the mill brand. Agencies are established as far as possible with a desirable chain of paper merchants, usually restricted to one for each City. The mill prepares sample books at its own expense, which are either mailed direct or divided among the appointed agents for distribution. The agent lists the paper in his price lists, and gives his salesmen the necessary information about it.
This represents the simplest form of merchandising mill brands. It has been elaborated however, until most mills with connections of this sort, do more or less advertising to assist in creating a demand for their brands. They can afford to do this on a scale which would not be warrantable for the individual dealer with a more restricted market. Hence it has come about that many handsome specimen books, far more elaborate than any the merchants had usually issued, have been put out by the mills.
It is generally admitted that the influence on printing has been good, and an appreciation and demand for better printing, especially on the part of advertisers, has resulted.
A few mills have carried their campaigns beyond the field of direct advertising, which includes the mailing of samples and printed circulars, and the dissemination of printed samples in trade journals, such as The Printing Art Suggestion Book, The Pacific Printer & Publisher, or the direct mailing of folders or specimen books.
They also take advertising space in the Printing Art, Inland Printer, The American Printer and other printing trade journals. Outside of these has come the use of such class magazines as System, Printers’ Ink and Advertising & Selling, and some have even extended their appropriations to include national magazines, notably The Saturday Evening Post. In one campaign a Chicago newspaper was among the media selected; but the use of newspapers for paper publicity is practically nil.
General Magazine advertising of paper has been principally devoted to writing paper. This is natural, since of all paper products this commodity has the largest number of buyers, and the matter of taste is not so over-shadowed by technical considerations, as in the case of printing papers.
The specifications for general printing, involve more knowledge of printing processes than most people possess, hence the final decision rests in a majority of cases on the printer’s judgment, so that logically the printer is the most necessary individual to convert.
Although there has been a marked increase of late in the exploitation of mill brands, there is no indication of the disappearance of jobbers’ brands. A consumer today may fill nearly every requirement at will from either class, and this condition will probably continue indefinitely, although the tide seems to be setting for the moment toward the mill brands.
This condition is not confined to the paper trade, and is probably due largely to the aggressive advertising of manufacturers. Such promotion work is still in its infancy, and a continuation of a growing demand for mill brands may safely be predicted for sometime to come.