Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1913-04-04
| Advertising V
Talks @
PUBLIC UTILITIES
NEED ADVERTISING
Publicity as Valuable to Them as
to Manufacturers and
Merchants.
BY JOHN MERkLE.


not differ materially from that carried
on by other enterprises. A merchant,
for instance, calls the public's atten-
ton to some particular brand or class
of goods which he especially desires
to dispose of, or to Great demand
for. The manufacturer calls attention
to the particular product which he has
to offer. In like manner public util-
ity has either it's product or its serv-
ice to dispose Of
1t might be said that the product
or service of the public utility re-
quires no advertising, that it speaks
for itself, according to its quality. 1t
may be supposed to have a demand
equal to its output if the quality Is
first class. This is not altogether
true.
There is catchy advertisement
used by firm which manufactures in
fants' foods. This advertisement is
well known. and shows a display of
chubby infant with statement that
I'VE are advertised by our loving
friends" At the same time the man
ufacturer is advertising that fact as
well as the statement, showing the ne
cessity of advertising in some other
way than the good words of our
friends.
Educates Patrons.
1t is the practice of many utilities
to publish statements by display, by
pure reading matter, by calendars,
ETC., covering certain phases of their
operation, instructions to their sug-
gestions, etc.
These differnt productions are not
advertisements, although they may
indirectly result as such in a small
way. They are simply courtesies to
the public which will be helpful and
In some instances afford protection.
They are like handrail on a closed
stairway, helpful to get up and down
the stairs by, but not actually nee
essary.
The utility then is DESTROYS of sell
ing more of its product or service
than it has a demand for and its adj
vertising seeks to reach the greatest
number of ultimate consumers and
patrons, and it therefore seeks that
method which will produce such re-
suit. One utility may find this meth
cd best in one way of advertising, an
other still in another, but all are desir-
Gus of using the method that will be
the most lasting and effective, except
in certain instances when 1t is thought
best to get something before the pub
lie at once. In this respect they are
like the department store merchant
who has special sale, but only on
cases. In most all other cases display
advertising at frequent recurring in
tervals is adopted. as well in some
instances calendar and novelty adver-
tisements and still in other instances
well prepared folders.
Advertising Edcates.
There have been instance where a
utility has thought it had nothing to
advertise such as for instance, GER
tain water company located in Iowa
was not selling all the water it could
pump. Gradually it began to lose Gus
toners, and the word went around
that its filters were bad, that the wa
ter was not taken from the right
point in the stream which supplied it,
etc. People built cisterns, drove wells,
and rarely used the water fer
potable cooking, or even bathing pur-
poses.
In another town not SO miles away
water company took its water from
the same river in about the same man
ner, but this company took especial
pains to call the attention of its Gus
toners by advertising and invitations
to visit it's plant, to the fact that
their filters were filed with sea sand
from the Gulf of Mexico and were
sterilized often by live steam, and
after the water had passed through
their filters it was the purest any
where on earth.
They would put water from wells in
bottles and water out of their filters
in other bottles and stand them side
by side in windows. They published
and advertised the quality of their
water in many ways. The result was
that in the first town the company
lost its patronage and was very un-
popular. In the other town the COM
pany increased its patronage. was
popular. and the people. when they
went away from home, always main
tanned that their water system was
the best in the United States.
This may have been true, but
they would not have known it II the
water company had not kept it before
them.
Therefore, the advertising OF util-
ity should be as carefully studied as
truthfully stated and as scientifically
handled as that of any other enter
prise which has anything to sell. and
desires to use the means OF Advertise