The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1916-09-28
BANK ADVERTISING
OF GREAT VALUE
Publicity for Savings Banks Urged by Z
C. McWilliam of Los Angeles Be-
fore American Bankers
Association

Kansas City. No. Sept, 2s-How saw
inps banks should advertise was told by
f. q, McWilham OF Los Angeles, bank
publicity man, at the meeting OF the
savings bank section OF the American
Bankers association convention here.
The savings bank men are celebrating
the centennial OF the establishment oil
savings banks, and are concluding TINS
year a nationwide campaign for the pro-
motion of thrift, which has largely been
furthered by advertising. Mr.. McWll-
liam urged the carrying on OF this cam
paign. and declared that the mutual
savings banks as well as the ordinary
stock savings banks should enter heart
ilv into the advertising field.
u know" he said, that many OF my
mutual banker friends feel that they
have right to spend any OF their deposit.
ors money for anything that savors oil
advertising further than the law re-
auires. However, in my own mind,
have always felt, as some one has ex-
pressed it, that mutual savings banks
perform function second only to that OF
the church, and as churches do not hesl-
tate TO advertise in order to aid them in
saving souls, it seems to me that mutual
banks quite as consistently might adver-
tise to aid them in saving people from
the evils of improvidence. Their publlci-
tv efforts should be purely educational
while as | have suggested, it is the duty
OF stock banks to attract depositors to
those banks in addition to educating the
public in thrift
! As starting point in their advertising
Icampaigns, Mr. McWilliam said, bankers
must realize that "a teller or cashier
with a crouch will waste whole year
advertising appropriation. What does 1t
| avail YOU if Won advertise that man with
| a dollar is as welcome as man with a
thousand, if the man with the dollar
/ finds it isn't So"
/ The value Of syndicated advertising,
such as is made to order with the pur-
pose of fitting any bank, was deprecated
| bv the speaker who declared that bank
advertising should be studied carefully
to fit local conditions, and bankers who
purchased syndicated matter without
careful analysis constituted "a fine IL
lustration OF the triumph of hope over
experience as did the man who married
his seventh wife"
Although many bankers still felt that
the publicity department was a luxury
without any practical value, Mr. Nc
William told Of many ways in which
| it had demonstrated its service, and he
Preferred to newspaper advertising as one
OF the essential items in the program
| for publicity. He presented a statistical
table showing tests OF people selected at
random in various large cities on the
question of what advertising had most
attracted their attention, and in all cases
street cars and newspapers, or newspa-
pers and street cars were named as the
two first in rank.
"Manv banks are also overlooking the
tremendous value their windows possess
as an advertising medium" he declared
,Through the display of home or pocket
banks with appropriate reading matter,
or the display of bonds, mortgages, mon
ey or pictures, it is possible to, IN a
measure. give to bank that value from
its windows which the merchant gets
from his, without in any degree lessen
ing the dignity of the bank, and banks
are rapidly coming to realization OF
this fact
In conclusion he said:
"The effect OF advertising is psychology
cal. Probably not one depostor in hun
dred will admit that he has come to you
because of your advertising As mat
ter Of fact he may not know it, but il
may be so just the same. Depositors
like to be identified with a bank which
BY advertising indicates that it is pro
rressive and going institution"