The daily commonwealth. (Greenwood, Leflore Co., Miss.) 1916-1919, 1917-04-21
THE TRUTH ABOUT ADVERTISING.
IA

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NM
Every newspaper man has met the business
man who asserts: II never advertise unless l have
some rare special bargain to Offer" says an ex'
change. =.
a You say you must have some rare bargain to
offer. But, having that bargain, WHY do you ad-
~vertise? Is it merely to sell the special article?
And do you, in your heart, realize that you can't
sell it without advertising? And again, Why do
YOU want to sell it? Is it because there is profit
for you in the sale? If so, it can't be such a great
bargain.
Now just be frank and admit that your great
bargain is itself nothing but an ADVERTISE
MENT.
: Let US look at the matter in this way: Suppose
you are a clothing merchant. You pick up a job
lot of suits that you get at a real sacrifice. You
find that by eliminating most of your legitimate
profit you can sell those suits for about what your
competitor can buy them for. This you do, and
the goods are sold with a rush. But if you knew
that none of these customers would buy anything
but the suits, would you offer them in this way?
NOT ON YOUR LIFE! They would stay in your
store until you sold them at the regular figures.
The truth is, you have made of them a leader by
which you hope to benefit in other lines and in
future dealings.
To sum up the matter, you have carried TWO
ads-one, the sacrifice Of your legitimate profit on
a lucky purchase; the other, the advertising in
order to sell your regular line. And for WHAT?
Frankly, to attract an indirect custom in all lines,
from which you hope to benefit.
And you were correct in your judgment, so
far as the one instance is concerned. But you are
DEAD WRONG in limiting your advertising to
instances. You admit that, after counting the
cost of the ads and the sacrifice of profits, you
have cleared scarcely anything on the bargain
suits, and that your only hope of profit lies in the
advertising your business has received.
The plain truth is, no merchant would think
of advertising special or bargain lines if he knew
thai his customers would con6ne their purchases
to these lines. It is the indirect advertising by
which he hopes really to benefit. And this is the
secret of all advertising that is successful. The
live wire business man is constantly on the alert
to get wares to public notice. A drive in one line
lis always utilized to attract attention to other
lines, and the process forms, as 1t were, an endless
chain of interlocking causesaand effects.
! And, Just as no merchant expects to reap his
full profits on any one line of bargains, just so no
shrewd business man expects to reap the full re-
turns in single instance from any line of adver-
Using. 1t is only through the cumulative effects
of persistent advertising that he hopes to-and
does-beneit. An ad today may develop results
months hence and in altogether different lines. In
fact, this is frequently the case.
The business world furnishes multitudes of in
stances where seemingly ~profitless advertising
has developed results long after the advertiser had
forgotten the circumstance.
I This is a basic truth that is recognized by all
of the masters Of advertising. Not one Of these
expects any one concrete case to return a due prop
portion Of profits. He does, however, expect the
cumulative effects to build up a custom that shall
not only recompense for all Of his OUTLAWS, but add
substantial profits over and above all,
And NOT ONE of them would advertise did he
not KNOW that such would be the result.
AAAAAAAn
| BILLY SUNDAYS STRONG LANGUAGE.
EAAA
! The nation likes strong talk. Most of us re-
member the days when George Ads was in his
prime and regaled us with his fables in slang.
The stories were quite ordinary, but the manner
of their telling captivated the nation, so that AIDE
became famous and wealthy.
Most of US also are more than indifferently &C.
uuainted with the stories of O.. Henry, SO fraught
with slang and the picturesque 'lingo" Of the
common people. The "plots" are for the most part
slender, but it's the original manner in which they
are told that has made the name of Q. Henry
famous.
! Billy Sunday, our most aetsd pulpit FOUNDER,
has taken a leaf from the George Ade-o. Henry
book-if not in addition, a few leafs from the