The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1912-02-17

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general efforts. he makes his national
campaigns.
Mr.. PeIletier cites. as a striking ex-
ample of what newspaper advertising
can do. the case of the II. M. #. Au-
tomobile Co when, two years ago, it
had difhculty with the ~Studebaker
company. The latter concern had en-
tered into an agreement by which II
would sell the product of the Il. M.
+. company. With the arrival of Sep
TENDER the sale of automobiles drop
ped off and the ~Studebaker company
refused to take cars according to con-
tract.
The r. M. f. company found itself
with $1,000, 600 worth of completed cars
on it's hands and another 81, 000,0 900
worth in process OF construction. while
an additional ST, 100000 in obligations
had been assumed. The situation was
particularly trying because, twenty
months previously, the e. M. #. com
pany had been started with a capital
OF only sos, 700, and this tremendous
load was more than it could carry.
Mr.. Flanders, president of the e. NJ.
f. Co. tok the bull by the horns and
the tail and the legs and plunged.
Overnight he prepared and published
in the newspapers an open letter to the
Studebaker company canceling his
contract. 1t was anticipated that this
would p~recipitate a legal battle and it
did. While the preliminary steps were
being taken -in the courts, Mr.. Flan-
ders was hurriedly reviewing his po-
sition. There he was with $4,000, 900
worth of material on hand and no
sales org ~~lization. The first thing he
did was to present his side of the con-
troversy to the people. He resorted
to the court of public opinion. II the
meantime his minority stockholders,
fearing he was jeopardizing their in
~terests, sued for an Injunction re-
straining him on the ground that he
had no facilities for selling his cars
and could not market them except
through the S~tudebaker company. 1t
was known that the court might grant
IN injunction the next morning at 8
o'clock, so that it was necessary to
sell all made up machines before that
hour, which meant notifying every
dealer in the United States that he
could buy direct.
Three thousand six hundred dollars
was spent in telegraph tolls. A sales
organization was built up over night
n within ten days when the case was
finally called Mr. Flanders placed in
the hands OF the presiding judge a
pile of orders, everyone Of them OBJ
tanned through newspaper advertising,
a~ggregating SO, 00O. 600, n on every
order a substantial amount had been
/ v4DRl 49, 4ha lnalar, hhroaIu oh vyhnF4a the
cars Were to be delivered to buyers.
Mr.. Pelletier modestly comments
that he does not know of any other
medium through which this sensation
al result could have been obtained, and
/ feel like adding hat Mr.. Pelletier
furnished the newspapers the right
sort of copy n that in Mr.. Flanders
he had a chief with the nerve to put
the stunt over, otherwise this measure
of the true strength of the newspaper
would never have become known.
Their full capacity to produce was
never more thoroughly tested, and yet
Mr.. PelIetier furnishes another ex-
ample of their power.
The Flanders Manufacturing CO.,
having designed an electrical auto
mobile, the question Of marketing it
became important. This, at first
glance, appeared like a class propo-
sition, and Mr.. Pelletier was advised
to use different tactics, but he had
witnessed such wonderful newspaper
advertising feats that he finally deeid-
ed to stick to his former methods. He
was fought go savagely that he deter
mined to go the limit and not only
used daily newspapers but the same
list that he had used for gasoline cars
land his confidence was sustained.
Actual results were tremendous-far
beyond the widest imaginings of those
who sought to switch him to magazines
and the more aesthetic avenue of adj
vertising.
He figured the electric as an auxil-
larry to the big gasoline cars and
hundreds were sold to those who own
ed various makes of standard automo-
biles.
In supporting his position as a heavy
user of newspaper spaceifor advertis-
ing automobiles Mr.. Pelletier insists
that many Of the most astute business
men in the United States do not read
S~hakspere and know nothing of
Browning. The lack of this literary
culture has nothing to do with their
ability to buy automobiles.
The automobile industry as a whole
y and the people generally do not realize
how much is owed to newspapers for
the present gigantic proportions of the
business. Vast quantities of reading
matter have been given to 1t and 1t is
now the largest consumer of newspa-
per advertising space in the world, full
ly 30 per cent of every 81 spent in au-
tomobile advertising going into the
daily press. The other 10 per cent is
scattered throughout various kinds Of
/ mediums.
} In the matter Of copy Mr.. PelIetier