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_