The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-01-01
ADVERTISE WHAT THEPUbL|C WANTS WHEN|T WANTS|T John w. Anderson, Adver- Using Manager For Pizitz,
 Gives His Views TRUTH IS ALWAYS
 FIRST REQUISITE Defends the Quotation of Honest Comparative Values as Legitimate
 and Effective Means of
 Advertising

than news of a business. It is its news value that makes it readable and when it lacks that news value nobody reads it and hence 1t produces no results.
 Often have l written an ad that I thought was a gem. I could not see how that ad when printed could help but swamp the sales force with business. Yet when it was published perhaps 1t brought few people to the store. Other times I have written an ad rather indifrerently and without much aim in view and the answer to it would be tremendous rush of customers The reason for this I at tribute to a mistake in Interpreting the wants of the people. When I tried to do 1t I simply made mistake, and when I hit it.
 The general appearance and makeup of an ad has a whole lot to do with it's productive results. On that depends the ability of the ad to catch the eye of the reader. Then on the text-or the meat of the ad depends whether or not the ad makes a customer.
 Truth First Requisite
 'Of course, truthful advertising is the making of business. Truth must head the list of all advertising requisites But in catering to what might be called the popular trade, it Is a wrong impression to believe that truth and quotation of comparative values cannot go hand in hand. For the popular trade. I believe that the biggest pulling power of an ad comes from truthful but interesting quotation of comparative values. That trade wants to know when they can buy things at a reduction and to tell them of that fact honestly brings their business. This store, and others as well, I suppose, does sell many goods at cut prices. and believe it is good advertising to say it. To do so fictitiously, however. will make the scheme work the other way: you try to fool the people by that sort of thing and you soon wake up to the fact that you've fooled yourself, for once you mis- state facts in an advertisement you Ina ye lost just as many customers az read the advertisement and then examine the goods.
 An advertising item is nothing more than piece of business news, and If 1t Is not news no one will read 1t. How long would people read The Age-Her aid If it refused to print any war news? Why do people want war news? Because 1t is interesting. And if stopped writ ing ads for Pizitz that were not inter- esting the people would stop reading them just the same way.
 'The main way to make an ad ,n- teresting is to keep closely in touch with the people you expect to buy ana conditions affecting them and then ad vertise, as l said, what they want when they want it For instance, how many Palm Beach suits would Pizitz sell to- morrow if l ran big avertisement about 1t? Very few. People don't want Palm Beach suits. now.
 Faith Comes From Experience
 People must have faith in your ad- vertising and that comes only from ex- perience If. after trying you out, they find your ads are honest, then the pull Ing power of future ads is that much increased. Pizitz guarantees always that his goods must come up to his adver- tisemcnts, and if they don't he asks no one to buy them. MT. Pizitz has always made it rule to advertise only what he has in his store and nothing else.
 The window display of the store and the inside store display should always back up tho advertisement, and above all, every salesperson in the store. in every department. should be perfectly with every ad the store prints Every ad Pizitz prints is sent to the head of every department each morning and the department head Is expected to ,ee that every clerk under him reads tho ad through and, through. If they ion't somebody is liable to lose a job.
 have seen a customer walk into a store md ask a salesgirl about some article advertised.
 Hey. Mamie!' the girl will yell lcross the counter, did we advertise a paper of bins for q penny apiecer And fight then and there the customer be- gins 10 lose interest. She thinks. and hinks naturally, that if an article was though bargain to advertise 1t surely would be enough of bargain to get out 'n the counters and have the salesgirls informed about It.
 For my part. however. I think the done by the merchants of generally speaking. is up | o the standard of that done anywhere 'lse. We all have something to learr # course. I don't think the ad men os his town are perfect, nor do I think hey are in any way behind the times
 try to keep up with what is going on n advertising all over the country. . ellow often picks up some good ideas hat way, and think we do just about Is good work here as any of them"
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