The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-08-15
WHY BANKS SHOULD ADVERTISE.

OIuCtE.
 WHY BANKS SHOULD ADVERTISE. Successful Publicity for a Financial
 Institutien.
 By Edwin l.. Hafns.
 Every bank can advertise. but every one can not make a success of 1t, by any means. Thousands of dollars are spent annually in financial publicity. and as many thousands of dollars are thrown away by the inexperienced bankers. To make a success the ad- vertising of a bank should have as much attention given to 1t as any oth- CT branch of its business. Bank ad- vertising is the best insurance a bank can have against loss of confidence, and. perhaps, against panic. Bank ad- yertising might be called bank insur- ance-it not only brings new accounts, but makes all accounts secure by stim- ulating confidence. It Is as profitable to advertise to people already on the books as to seek new business. for the confidence thus inspired is the banks best asset. A banks advertising Is not a speculation, as many bankers think 1t Is, but one of the safest investments 1t can make. considered with mort eages, commercial paper and securi- ties. One of the principal reasons for failure in bank advertising Is the fact that 1t had been stopped after a com paratively short period. The bank that stops advertising and tries to depend upon what 1t has done in pub- licity in the past, or because 1t hap pens to be prosperous and tries to pared to the engineer who shuts oH the steam becausel his engine Is going.
 Dignity is a good thing to have in bank advertising but 1t can easily be oVerdone. The advertisements of many banks do not tell the people any thing as a rule. You simply give the names of your institutions, their offi- cers. directors. capital. and surplus. Perhaps you have an added line. which reads like this: Your business is earnestly solicited" Each issue of the newspaper in which your advertise ment appears is separate and distinct. and fresh news Is given to the people in each number This would lead one to suppose that your advertisements in each daily issue should also be new. and that no daily issues of the same paper should contain the same adver- tisements, but new copies should ap- pear in the same space. If a n6wspR- per continued to use the same news item each week, 1t would not take very long before the publication would cease to be read. Yet. bankers continually advertise a few uninteresting and mo- notonous details about the name, list of directors. officers, capital, surplus. de- posits, etc On account of this fact, there is every reason to believe that your advertisements are not read.
 The question now comes as to how bank should advertise to bring the best results. First and foremost, the speaker believes in newspaper edver- tisinR rightly done, not spasmodic on the one hand, or sleepy. prosy adyer- tising on the other The speaker be- lieves In good location, guaranteed pos- sibIe column next to reading matter preferred, and change your copy daily if using daily papers. Do not sand wich your advertisements in between railroad time tables or patent medi- cine advertisements. If 1t costs more to occupy space that will put banks advertisement where it will be seen. the bank should pay the difference. A very essential thing is position. Buy a good space. pay the papers price, put brains into every advertisement, and if they do not bring business there Is something the matter with the conn munity in which you are doing bus mess. Do not take too much space. Stop when you have said enoughe-save some good argument for the next is- sue. Point out the features of your institution, but positively desist from refiecting directly or indirectly on your competitors. The banker who contem- plates advertising must consider if his bank has certain facilities for the handling of business which may be set forth in the copy. Increased facilities mean more facts for copy, Then he must consider the amount of money to bet set aside for advertising pur- roses. If 1t is worth while for a bank to spend money in advertising 1t should be worth while to put some care and skill into the composition of the ad. vertisements. for the productive value of an advertisement is determined not only by the character and circulation of the medium of publication, but also the form of the advertisement.
 The large city banks should recog- nlze the fact that. to a greater extent than ever before, 1t is to their advant- age to supplement and support their regular stan by a reular organized ad- vertising department, under the man. agement of q skilled financial advertls- ing man who understands finance and banking as we'll as advertising, and who Is an expert in grouping and pre- sentinE facts to the public in an in- telliRent manner and who Is qualified to carry on an educational campaign concerning their business. When a bank takes the public into It's conn- dence and invites it's patrons to point out any defects in It's service which constitute reasonable ground for com plaint, 1t manifests sound judgment and good sense. While 1t may be a novel thing for banks to welcome pub ! licity in their affairs. it is beginning to be recognized that the best-paying nolicy Is to deal liberally and fairly with their patrons, and to encourage A spirit of cooperation. and not q feeling of suspicion. I venture to say that the time is not far distant when the education of a bank clerk will not be considered complete without a tech- nical knowledge of topography and Ju- dicious bank advertising.-By courtesy of signs of the Times"