Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1910-10-12
NEWSPAPER is BEST MEDIUM
Banker Declares That Program Ads
Are Simply Donations-System
Should Be Followed.


savors Of too much charity and that
business men might better give the
cash outright to the cause: that
newspaper advertising is the best me-
dunn through which to reach the peo-
pie and that an advertisement today
and none tomorrow is money thrown
away, Mortimer l. Stevens gave a
spirited and interesting talk on ad-
vertising before the 225 bankers as
sembled In recent annual convention
at La Crosse. Wis.
Mr.. Stevens referred to the stereo-
typed advertisement used by bankers
in days gone by, stating the capital
and declared that in this money was
being thrown away. or all advertising.
as per cent. Is hit and miss, he said.
There is no preconceived idea to car
~ out and the result is chaos.
That a certain sum should be set
aside by the bank for its advertising,
is the opinion of Mr.. Stevens, cam
paign mapped out and followed as
closely as circumstances will permit.
Advertising is not given today by a
successful business man out OF charity
TO a newspaper man who has done
him some favor. 1t is a cold-blooded
proposition.
Sticktoitiveness is required If one
would succeed. declared the speaker
Don't advertise today and drop IL to-
morrow. Don't knock your neighbor
In your ads. If you do, the chances
are the customer who might be yours
will walk on the other side.
Space is of no value without some
thing to fill it. To fill space so that
II will bring results requires brains
Dress up your ad and make IT at
tractive and forceful. A judicious use
! with the proper way of wording and
arranging the ad. An ad set solid
does not hit the mark"
Mr.. Stevens emphasized the neces-
sity of patroniZing home papers
rather than an outside agency, which
! gets a rakeoff on the work, 90 per
cent. of which should be done near
home.
You are likely to find that items
of interest in which the name of your
institution might appear are missing
when your advertising is placed away
from home" said he They might be
Of considerable value to you, these
little items. and you wonder why they
are overlooked. Place your adver-
! Using with the paper direct and CO.
operate with them in furnishing news
which will be OF general interest and
into which they will be glad to men
ton the name of your institution as a
sort Of exchange of courtesy"
Among other things he said:
Time was when the bank advertise
ment, IL 1t appeared at all, was moth
ing more nor less than the stereo-
typed form Of title, capital and de-
posits and the names OF the officers
and directors, and II is to be regretted
that this form OF advertisement is in
common use today. The money spent
in such advertising is money thrown
away.
1T Is difficult to set down any hard
and fast rules to guide the bank ad-
vertlser. Local conditions OF neces-
sity have much to do with the style
OF advertising to be adopted; but there
Is one thing which must be observed
in bank advertising and that is to
preserve the dignity of the institu-
ton.
Another iron-clad rule is per.
sistency coupled with judgment. Too
much advertising. and I do not be-
lieve that l err when / say that rs
per cent. Of the advertising not only
for banks, but for the vast army of
commercial institutions as well, is on
the hit and miss order There is no
well conceived plan in the beginning
and all Is chaos at the end.
One Of the chief reasons why SO
many advertising campaigns fail is
due to the fact that the advertising ap-
preparation is expended simply in buy
Ing space. A contract with the daily
newspaper is made, for example. for
| 1000 lines, at 10 cents line. in other
words, 5000 worth Of space in that
newspaper has been purchased. This
! space and any other space purchased
has no value until something is put
into 1t. It is simply so much raw ma.
/ terial which must be made market
able before you can realize on the in
| vestment
This is where so many advertisers
show their lack Of judgment. They
buy 81 900 OF $4,000 worth of space
a year. but fail to spend an adequate
amount for the direct purpose of fill
Ing In that space. It is only in the
| intelligent and judicial use of this
space that they can expect results.
Il have often been asked what mo.
diums give the best results for bank
advertising. The newspapers stand
pre-eminent In the local field.
Don't permit your ad to be changed
around to suit any ones fancy and I'm
/ preparing copy for your advertising
another important element to bear in
mind is the judicious use of white
/ space. White space in Itself is an AID