CHAPTER XVIII
ADVERTISING
Advertising is one of the most vital forces in the problem of distribution. Every advertisement is a salesman and is written and sent out with the idea of doing the work of one. It may bring in actual orders or it may merely do "missionary work"; that is, it may introduce a certain article or product and educate the people to see its advantages so that when next they desire that particular sort of article, they will order the one that they have seen advertised.
Many an article that has had practically no sale has by means of an effective advertising campaign been brought to a point of wide distribution and ready sale. How many safety razors would the manufacturers sell if they had never advertised their product? Very few. But when day after day, everywhere a man looks—in street cars, newspapers, magazines, and on billboards—he sees staring at him a reason why he should use a safety razor, he soon comes to feel that he needs one. It is just the same as though the country were covered with salesmen who were constantly after every one to get him to see the advantage of the safety razor. The advertised articles may in themselves be no better than the unadvertised brands, but advertising has created a demand for the one over the other. The secret of selling success is creating a demand.
The importance of advertising is demonstrated by an experience which the city of Chicago had on Wednesday, March 2, 1911. On the afternoon before, a dispute arose between two newspapers and their printers, ending in a temporary strike of the printers. As a result, all papers published on March 2 contained only four pages each, in contrast to the usual twenty-four, because they contained not a single advertisement. Fortunately, the strike lasted only one day, as the local printers were at once reprimanded by the International Typographical Union. But the losses that newspapers and retail business men suffered on this one day convinced them of the power of advertising. Street cars, downtown streets, and department stores were almost empty. To be sure, billboards still proclaimed their wares, but, as soon as newspaper advertising ceased, the great mass of shopping stopped.
Exercise 279
Oral
1. What are some of the advertising methods used in a retail business?
2. What are some of the advertising methods used in a wholesale business? Where are the advertisements published?