Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-03-19
A NEW METHOD OF ADVERTISING.
NO DULL SEASON AND LARGE SALES THE YEAR
ROUND.
From the New York Tribune.

| The successful business men of to-day freely
admit that the principle of advertising has be-
come an essential quality in the conduct of any
mercantile establishment. Developed, as it
has been, into almost, if not quite, distinct
and separate art, it is applicable to all depart
ments of trade, to transactions of every sort
| between seller and buyer from which, indeed,
| II Is practically 1nseperable, and with the sue
| cess OF which 1t will always be identified. As
| the development of this principle has proceeded
| by easy stages from period when facilities for
attracting the attention of wider circle of pos
| slble buyers were first provided by
| the daily press to an era when competition has
| rendered it absolutely necessary to increase the
range OF each sellers constituency, the meth
| DDS of applying it have also gone through a
| kind of revolUtionizing process. Formerly
advertisers seemed to be possessed of an idea
| that the wants of the people at large were gov
| erned almost absolutely by the seasons OF the
| year, and at particular times only did they en-
! deavor to attract buyers to their establish
| ments through the medium of newspaper adj
| vertlsements. Under this idea any surplus OF
| stock left over after the incidental rush Of
! business in any particular season was left over
| to the corresponding period OF the next year,
thus necessarily imposing upon buyers GER
! tain proportion of articles either somewhat
| shop-worn or old-fashioned OF course a GER
| tain amount of business was done in the inter-
walls between seasons, but the average merchant
was content to drag along from season to sea-
| son, well satisfied If from one interval to an
| other his books showed no serious loss.
Until within the last few years, therefore, the
| busy seasons were spasmodic in their nature,
| involving careful buying, lest greater stock
should be secured than would be warranted by
! the prospective demand, and excellent bargains
were doubtless often sacrificed by the mer-
| chants themselves through the fear that the
apparently advantageous purchase might leave
| an elephantic and unstable surplus on their
| counters and shelves. 1t is safe to say that no
| such chances are allowed to slip by. through
| any such fear, in the present era of trade.
| 1t was when the enterprising merchant finally
| realized that the wants of the people were con-
slant, in season and out of season. that their
needs were governed by the degree of wear and
| tear as much as by changing fashions or the
| evolution of the seasons, that he began to
| change his methods of advertising. Instead of
| trying to increase his sales at certain periods
only. therefore, he advertised largely all the
| year round, generally in the Sunday papers.
| Having found this to have been profitable even
beyond his shrewdest calculations, another
| stage in the progress of the advertising art
naturally followed, until, to-day, he has COM
| pletely revolutioniZed the methods of adver-
| Using, and expresses his acknowledgment of
| the potency of the principle involved by his de-
tailed announcements in the daily papers.
Enterprise having taken the lead in the ap-
| plcatlon of the principle, competition made it
| necessary for their own welfare that others
| should fall into line one potent factor in
on the part of each merchant that his adver-
tising in the newspapers should not bear I'M
| favorable comparison with Others in the same
line of trade, for the public, as is well known,
judge largely by comparisons. With view Of
| ascertaining just how well this new and more
| extended method of advertising had worked.
Tribune reporter called upon and asked for the
| views of some of its advertisers who had
| adopted it.
Frank R. Chambers, business manager of
T. oil
Prince street and SD street, has made thor
| ough study of the subject. 1.-The whole system
| of advertising" said he, "has changed in the
| last ten years, within which time there has
| grown up new school of advertisers, the best
| single example of which, suppose, is John
Wanamaker, of Philadelphia Wanamaker's
system of advertising was originated by J. E.
| Powers, who was once publisher of the Nation,
| and who for number of years had charge of
Wanamaker's advertising The great Phila-
| delphia merchant now employs an editor to
write his advertisements at an annual salary of
| $4,000. The most urgent want of our people
| Is merchandise, and what they want next is a
knowledge of merchandise. That they
get from the newspapers, and the mer-
| chant who publishes intelligent and
| truthful accounts of the merchandise
| he has to sell is sure to have a constituency
of readers as well as buyers Our plan has been
| always to publish only facts. telling less about
| ourselves than about our goods and that there
4
nouncement and the thing announced, the
| writer of the advertisements makes it a prac-
tice to see the article to be treated of and know
| personally of what he is writing. We find that
the people respond as readily at one season of
| the year as at another to any unusual induce
ment, tor there is always enough demand for
| any particular thing to insure the disposal of
reasonable quantity when such goods are sold
below value. We have constantly increased
our advertising of recent years until now we
snpnd in no hill in he.
busy ones. We think the effect on our sales
justities this expenditure. for while the aggre-
gate of a years outlay for advertising is large
sum, the percentage upon the sales, as an item
OF expense, is insignificant"
At Hugh ONeills big establishment in 9th
avenue it was said that the system of advertising
III vogue there had been entirely changed
within short time. Prior to this change it had
been the custom to advertise extensively in the
Sunday papers only. Desiring however to
reach the people every day in the week, it was
decided to omit the large Sunday advertise
ments, and by adding something to the ex-
| pense, to occupy extended space in the papers
every day. The result had been gratifying for
the percentage Of increased sales far greater
| in proportion than that of the increased ex-
pense. There could be no doubt, it was said
| that advertising was the bone and sinew of
| trade, especially in dull seasons The practice
at this house was to advertise different line of
| bargains every day. For instance. one day bar
| gains In infants wear would be exclusively an
| nounced then would follow in turn bargains
| In suits and cloaks, china and glassware, dress
| goods, &c.
| Louis Stern, of Stern Brothers, in Odd street
| said that the principle of advertising all the
year round was as much an essential principle
| IN trade as any other factor. 1t stood to rea-
| son, he said, that in busy season the merchant
| desired to call attention to his fresh stock of
| goods, SO as to create even a greater rush of
| business than would be incidental to the season
itself, whereas. after the rush is over, he found
| it quite as desirable to attract buyers to the
| bargains he could then offer. Another reason
for daily advertising was that every large house
| always had opportunities to strike fine bargains
| on lmportatlons sometimes IN season, but more
| frequently out of season. The benefit of these
| bargains could be readily transferred to GUS
| toners, who necessarily had to be attracted by
| advertisements. 1.-The best argument we can
| present in favor of advertising all the year
| round, p" said Mr.. Stern, sis that since we have
| been doing it we have not had any dull sea-
| sons"
Mr.. Pitt, of R. H, Macy Co., 9th avenue
and 14th street, had the same story to tell
| Since the firm had adopted the plan of adver-
| Using all the year, one season had been Like
another-all were busy. There was never a
| time, he said, when the firm had not bargains
of some kind to offer the public, and the only
way in which to make those bargains known
was by advertising. Every large house had
novelties to sell at almost all times. and these
were just what the people wanted. The re-
| suits of daily advertising had been more than
gratifying to the firm.
| At the other large dry-goods and general