The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1908-09-19
The 4 and XYzof
ADYERTISING
ASERIEs OF TEN TALKS ON ADVERTISING NJ o
written By Seymour Eaton Of Philadelphia INC. o

Most department store advertising may be
divided into three classes: bad, very bad, and
damned bad.
Bargain advertising is in the first class. 1t does
sell goods; but if well done it could easily make
three blades Of grass grow where one grows now.
The worth $2O-now- $12. 5O' bargain offer has
been done to death. The people buy the $12. so
article because $3.50 is as much as they want to paw:
because they have seen the goods; because they
have intelligence enough to know that they are getting
good value for the price; but for every one who BUYS
there are two others shoo-ed off by the roll-up.
tumble-uP, hrow-up-your-mone hurrah.
An honest bargain properly announced is always
good advertising. If / controlled a newspaper page
should use one-third of ii, down the side, for leeiti-
mate bargains. | should put the word Bargains or
"Today's Bargains at the top and with the descrip-
tons OF the articles l should give selling prices only;
say nothing in figures about values or cost prices;
use that space for describing the goods. l should
make the descriptions as brief as possible, leave
everything to the imagination Of the customer except
the selling price and now and then l should omit
that; let the customer come to the store to find out.
Then | should make these bargains look like charity
by very contrast; by using the remainder of the page
to advertise my regular-priced, always-i in stock cloth
ing and dress goods and carpets and furniture and all
that sort OF thing and | should make this department
SO full OF life and spirit and enthusiasm for the goods
as to make my counters irresistible,
The store that breaches is in the second class.
Preachlng isn't advertising. 1t may pc entertaining
and instructive it may analyze to a nicely the ethical
policy OF the store; it may impress the weak minded
with the fact that this store is a great public benefactor,
a%powerful influence for good in the community, a sort
OF merchandise university which ought to be endowed
by the State. But preaching doesn't sell goods; it
doesn't even draw a crowd.
The formal, refrigerator, my-brass- plate is suffi-
Gent Advertising is in the third class. Ii has all the
dignity and drawing power of a corpse. Mark you. l
am not critcising the idea. The idea is fine. To be
a chosen people clothed in purple and fine linen; TO
bask in the sunshine Of wealth, or of aristocracy, or
OF fame to eat where it eats, to drink what it drinks.
to wear what it wears, to buy where it buys, to talk
what it talks, to dress your poodle dog with what it
dresses its poodle dog; to be somebody exclusive.
even one or two removed or second hand that is
greatness; and people pay big money for greatness,
even Tor the yarnish or veneer. 1t is the adver-
Using that is bad. 1t might easily quadruple the
trade and yet keep within the boundaries Of the elect. Fx-
elusive people don't think. You don't need to put salt on their
tails. They follow a leader like a lot of sheep. Your business
as an advertiser is to capture the leader the bellwether of the
set The rest is easy. The others will pay for the pnvleee
of standing in line.
Embalm and bury the brass-plate advertising. Use the
space to talk to your customers. Some of them read adyer-
hsements. If a poor plebeian should happen to read about
your goods and wander into your shop by mistake let hin do
the worrying.