Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1912-11-15
ADVERTISING COPY
NEEDS DISTINCTION
Most Successful Ads Are Those
That Attract Greatest
Attention.
by GEORGE w. MERCER.


story In words or picture or both.
1t must serve a definite. distinctive
purpose, indicated by some trade ne
cessity, season phase, public need or
transient circumstance. either singly
or jointly and universally. The adj
vertisement that is not distinctive
and has not a style of its own is the
advertisement which fails to bring
advantageous results, either directly
or indirectly, although not instantly,
no matter how cleverly written. illus
trated, created or circulated.
There never was, or never will be,
an acceptable substitute for sound
metal legitimate goods. or honest
men. The conscious satisfaction of
possessing the genuine, to say moth
ing of the recognized and negotiable
worth of the real thing, outweighs
every consideration for the tawdry and
the false, however artfully disguised.
Your advertising copy will be distinc-
tive and will ring, or show solid gold
if it possesses that ingredient of q
carat. 1t must be genuine to possess a
style of it's own.
One of the most distinctive adver-
Using features of any retail business
is the merchants show window. 1t
is in his show window that the mer
chant can create style of his own.
Originally, the window performed its
complete function when it introduced
into the establishment as much light
as it's varying degrees of opaqueDess
and the universal presence of dust
laden cobwebs permitted. That was
In the good old days" before the
store window was promoted into the
sales division and forced itself into
its present place at the head Of the
procession as a money producer
Light can be produced in various 9th
er ways, but business drawn into the
store by reason of goods displayed in
the show window cannot be obtained
In any other way. Hence, the mod
ern show window.
A Silent Partner.
The display in the window has be-
come a partner in the business. A
whose silence is particularly golden.
The power of the display window is
measured by the cash in the register
at the end of the week.
The real value of the distinctive
window display is measured by these
two standards of business units: New
customers made and increased sales
to old customers. Now, if anything
more can be asked from bit OF
space confined within the limits of a
pane Of plate glass. two walls and a
background. / would like to have
someone name it. The development
that has come in recent years is
based on such a principle that 1t
seems almost incredible that it was
so long in reaching the present stage.
Perhaps that is due to the fact that
only within recent years was it dis
covered that window glass may be
cleaned by the use of certain COM
pounds of water, soap and elbow
grease, and it is surprisingly true that
we have some merchants on our main
streets today that have not discovered
the peculiar properties OF the above
compound.
The principle is this: Every one
wants to buy what he can" The con-
verse of this principle is about 20 per
cent. true, that is, mo one wants to
buy what he cannot see." Your adj
vertising copy, to be distinctive and
have style of its own, must be. just
as opaque as the merchants window,
SO that "he who runs can read" as
we are all running today.
Example of Distinction.
One of the best known and distinc-
tive advertisements that had style
of its own of the pictorial class that
has ever been published was the fam
Gus Bovril illustration OF the OK in
the teacup. In addition to its effec-
tiveness for its primary objects and
purposes 1t was also in a striking de-
gree. typical of the business tendency
of the time-the condensation and
disqualification OF whatever lends it.
self to the process.
Advertising is not an exact science.
II 1t were everything could be done
by rule Advertising Is an expert
mental science. Each case must be
treated on its own merits and in ac-
cordance with its special conditions
It is needless for me to say that
one Of the most engrossing matters
of concern In the conduct OF modern
business is advertising. It is no long
err theory but a condition that con-
fronts the merchant, and its COMPEL
Ing force is felt in every department
OF trade. Without advertising an un-
dertaking has little or no chance in
the long run. Publicity is a wave Of
Information which rolls along and
gathers force by its very momentum
Study it over. your advertising. Study
it over. your copy Study 1t. your
PROOF. and here in closing | want to