Daily Kennebec journal., 1917-06-30
ADVERTISING is NOT A WASTE.
Fioures Given Out by the Association
of National Advertisers snow Low
Percentages of Advertising Costa
when Compared with Gross Re-
ceipts.

The favorite plant Of the business
man who has fallen asleep by the way
side is that advertising is huge
economic waste; that millions OF dol
lars are spent and wasted, in arunc1a4
attempts to stimulate selling, to the ul-
innate injury of both buyer and seller.
At first glance, and to the man VINO
has not really studied the subject, this
argument may appear logical. The
only trouble with the logic il that II
does not square with the facts. Most
people know more things that are not
so about this subject than any other
under the sun.
Let us see how much the big ad-
vertisers spend" says Alan c. Reiley,
President of the Association Of Ma
tional Advertisers. in discussing this
matter. THE average man hears talk
every day about the millions and mil
lions spent for advertising. and he
finally gets the notion that somehow or
other the buyer has got to pay for 1t.
II wonder if Mr.. Average Man ever
stops to realize that those millions
spent in advertising sell hundreds OF
millions worth of goods-goods that
could never be sold SO cheaply in any
other way. And it is this immense
saving in selling cost that helps to
make lower r-priced goods.
millions spent for advertising
sounds big, but hundreds of millions
worth Of goods sold by advertising
makes the actual amount spent for ad-
vertisng look small.
What is the exact ratio Of advertis-
ing to sales anyhow? This is some
thing that every buyer would like to
know.
Il am glad to be able to tell the pub
lie. The Association of National Ad-
vertisers has collected some valuable
facts and figures on this subject. Lis
ten to few of them.
"The advertising of one of the lead
ing paint manufacturers of the Goun-
try averages 1-3 per cent. of their
total sales. In other words. for every
dollars worth of paint they sell. they
spend 1-3 cents in advertising. This
is about equivalent to the price of a
postage stamp and a cents worth of
paper for every dollars worth of goods
sold. Another big paint and varnish
manufacturer spends from 81 to "a per
cent
Next take clothing. We have OBJ
tanned figures concerning two of the
biggest clothing manufacturers In the
country. One spends II per cent; the
other per cent. An equally promi-
nent shoe manufacturer spends IL per
cent.
but shoes and clothing are ne
cessities,' you may say. How about
the luXuries?'
"All right! Take one of the most
popula" luxuries in the world-candy.
One of the best known candy makers
in the country and one of the biggest
advertisers, spends per cent.
"Then take the big automobile and
tire manufacturers with their full page
and double page spreads. Surely now
the percentage figures will begin to
jump. Will they?
"You will be surprised when l give
you the figures for two of the most
famous automobile builders in the
country. One is per cent: the other
is per cent. Also two of the leading
tire manufacturers: one spends : per
cent; the other per cent. And all
four rank among the biggest advertis-
ers in the country.
"These figures are authentic, and
when you consider the enormous vol
ume of the automobile and tire busi-
ness you will see that the small per-
centages are ample to provide for the
wonderful publicity.
"And then we come to the big de-
partment stores-where at one time or
another every buyer buys. You can
see them fairly eating up the news
papers with their big spreads. But If
you expect to find big percentage fig
ures here, again you will be agreeably
disappointed. The figures possessed
by the Association of National Ad-
vertisers shows that the average de-
partment stores advertising does not
cost more than 3 per cent Of its total
business.
"The fact is that the great majority
Of all nationally advertised articles
articles which are Familiarity known in
every home in the country, which are
famous for their quality as well as
their immense distribution, belong in
the per cent or under class.
"And let this final point be remem-
bered. Even if this advertising repre-
sented a direct advance on what the
buyer would otherwise have to pay,
this would make little difference in the
price of the goods. But it does not.
And why not?
Because advertising is the most ef-
f1cient method of marketing ever de-
veloped by business enterprise-there-
fore it's effect Is to decrease and not to
increase the sum total of selling cost
This ,s a simple fact about advertis-
ing that every buyer Of advertised
goods ought to know"