Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1891-06-10

He Thinks the People Cannot Be
Humbugged.


Mr. William III. Wanamaker, a MEM
Der of the Philadelphia firm Of Wanna
maker g. Brown, on brief business trip
to Louisville, where the firm has -four
ishing branch establishment, has been
giving his views on the general subject
Of advertising in the Louisville CONNER
cial. His opinion and experience will be
read with interest. He says: There are
no people anywhere that can be hum
plugged or deceived more than once.
Your customer, while he may not know
the intrinsic merit of what you offer, can
form pretty fair idea of quality, and
once you mislead him his confidence in
you is gone forever, and besides that he
will influence portion of his circle of
friends against you.
IF there is any one thing would offer
as a maxim to advertisers it is this, THE
truth pays. Some years we have spent
over a quarter of a million dollars in ad
vertising, and you can readily see that
we have given the subject very much
practical trial, and have studied it theo-
retically as science. In all these years
we have watched the returns carefully
from every standpoint we have taken,
and are now prepared to give our IN
qualified opinion that more and better
returns are given to US through the news
papers than all the other means ever
tried.
eve advertise every day in the year."
said Mr.. W., Except Sunday. There is
always some trade doing, even in the
dullest season, and we strive to divert
the floating or transient trade to our
place. Again, when business ordinarily
is dull, people who see our invitations in
the newspapers are more apt to read
them, for the reason that they have more
time to read, and there are fewer adver-
tisements then. Many merchants who
have been in business for a certain num-
Der of years will say, oh, we are so well
known it is no use for US to advertise.
There never was greater mistake. We
would as soon think of canceling our in
surance policies as our advertising con-
tracts. We spend more money with
newspapers each year that goes by: there
are more people who want goods, and
lew trade is always coming to the sur
face
advertising that is well done is Gu
initiative in its character. 1t is like the
compromising of interest. An adver-
tisement inserted in "A daily paper one
day will, IN all probability, make good
return to the merchant who has the
goods the people want at the right prices
Each successive advertisement that he
puts in gains an impetus and influence
from the original one, and so it counts
up until the name of the firm gets what
is equivalent TO the good will Of sue
cessful business, besides deriving the
direct profit from immediate sales caused
by the advertising.
TO advertise well merchant should
give as much care to his newspaper
space as he does to any other department
of the business. As "A general thing
merchant can well afford to spend in
newspaper advertising from one-third to
one-fifth the amount of all his other
total expenses. If man in business
talks as earnestly through his newspaper
when he is addressing one or two hun
dred thousand people simultaneously
as when he is talking to one customer,
he cannot fail to make a success of news
paper advertising"