Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1915-08-01

Speech delivered before the Associated
Advertising Clubs Of tho World at Chi
oAgo:
One Of the best proofs that 0dvertis-
ing has helped our business and has
made us known. lies In the fact that 1
am invited to talk to this big advertis-
ing organization. We were so little
known when we began advertising. and
have become so we'll known everywhere,
that there Is no doubt IN the minds Of
any OF our organization that advertising
is doing all for US that we could expect
it TO do. 40 further proof that this il
true, 1914 was the most successful year
in the history of our company. In spite
OF the general business depression, and
so far this year we are ahead OF the like
period for 1914 in every way. In some
ways we are very much ahead.
In order that you man fully under
stand our position in some Of these mat
tiers. II will be advisable TO give a short
outline OF our early experiences before
we began 10 advertise. We began by
selling goods with statesmen 10 dealers
There was a real demand for some such
product and II was wanted at a reason
able price Similar products had been
slightly introduced but always at very
firm prices. and by building mills which
could turn out a substantial volume and
do all the work OF manufacturing from
start to finish, we were able to offer
goods OF good quality at lower prices
The demand kept growing and the job
bling trade began TO sit up and talSo
notice. and we soon got to selling the
great bulk OF our business through job
Ding channels. We looked upon the jobber
as a necessary part Of modern. up-to-
date. economical business We thought
he could give service, distribution and
a credit which were necessary for
the most up-to-date results. In the be-
ginning we were successful In this. be-
cause OF the better bargain which was
offered. but competitors In our lines
found that by sending clever talkers--
men who wero better informed In our
si-Jcialties. direct to the dealer. or large
consuming trade. they could outsell our
jobbers statesmen who had hundreds VI
thousands of articles to sell. who were
generally not well informed on our spe-
cialties. etc.
We realized that we must give some
further aid to the selling plans, and that
goods when shipped from our mills to tho
Jcbber or dealer were not really sold.
We learned that people want to know,
or feel that they know, something about
what they are buying. and in case they
do not have this feeling a very clover
talker Will set the order. with a less
favorable proposition than an ordinary
presentation would get with the very best
proposition. We had tho mill facilities
and the organization to carry on much
larger business. 30 We took up the plan
OF general advertising. We adopted a
coined word-"Certain-teed." as our trade
mark and began to toll the story OF what
it meant when placed upon q roll OF
roofing. OF roll OF building paper or In
sulating paper. We wanted the buying
public to know that It meant respon-
sibility and guaranteed satisfaction when
goods carried this label We have al
ways claimed that the man 10 not living
who can tell tie life Of piece OF roofing
by looking at II or making chemical
tests, but tine manufacturer who knows
what he puts in Il and who then stands
behind the goods that he puts out as his
best. and ali backed by ample respon-
slbility. Il offering something which the
public can afford to buy. The public
cannot afford to guess. such haa been
our general condition and general plan
for Improvement
We began by advertising In farm
papers principally. but later extended to
various publications. and finally entered
into the general Newspaper Geld for our
big campaign.
In travelling this road we. Of course.
met with many bumps and many unex-
pected experiences. We found. for In
stance. that we spent over $4,000 in one
year for space and booklets. etc. to am
swer direct inquiries. although after we
got them we found that direct inquiries
were the thing we least wanted. While
such inquiries may be q guide as TO the
pulling power or effectiveness OF adver-
Using, they do not suit our goods. Then
We began to learn that what was good
for one line OF business might be bad
for another. and because one concern
had made a big success along one limo
OF procedure did not at all signify that
such methods would be good for Certain
teed roofing. In short. we began to
study the situation properly and 10
Ialt every man. from those in the most
advanced posts Of the firing line to
those in the mill. making observation, Of
fering suggestions and ideas, etc. We
found that out OF 100000 people, or
100000 heads of families. there are a
great many who never buy roofing We
found that among those who buy the
purohasing Is more infrequent, outaide of
some contractor or builder. and among
the actual buyers the average is probably
not more than three or four purchases
during lifetime. We realized that we
lcouid not have statesmen. and neither
could our Jobbers have statesmen at these
few points at remote periods at the
proper time TO set the order. ana rea-
eoned exactly the opposite way from
what we did before Investigation, at
which early time wo concluded that adj
yertising would not be good for our line.
because advertising was good only for
something that could DO sold every day.
like chewing gum. for instance.
We found also that many publications
have wonderfully clever representative
who could come IN and make US believe
that We should have his publication and
use Tremendously large space In cases
where u the publications were all spread
out before use We would have probably
overlooked his and left II among those
not used. This only called attention to
the fact that statesmen are Just as neces.
sary as advertising. and that advertisins