Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1917-04-20
The Truth About
Advertising

business man who asserts: II new
er advertise unless | have some
rare special bargain to offer"
Well, let's see.
You say you must have rare bar
gain to offer. But, having that
bargain, WHY do you advertise?
Is it merely to sell the special
article? And do you, in your
heart, realize that you can't sell it
without advertis ng? 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 advertisement.
Let us look at the matter in this
way: Suppose you are clothing
merchant. You pick up job lot
of suits that you get at a real
sacrifice. You find that by elm
mating 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 anhthing but
the suits, would you offer them in
this way Not on your life! They
would stay in your store until sold
out 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 deal
ings.
To sum up the matter, you have
carried TWO ads-one, the sac
rifce of your legitimate profit on a
lucky purchase; the other, the ad-
vertising in order to sell your re
gular line. And for WHAT?
Frankly, to attract an indirect sus-
tom in all lines, from which you
hope to benefit.
And you were correct in your
Judgment, so far as the one in
stance is concerned. But you are
dead wrong in limiting your adver-
Using to such instances. You ad-
NIT 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 ad-
vertisement your business has re-
ceived.
The plain truth is, no merchant
would think of advertising special
or bargain lines if he knew that his
customers would confne their pur
chase to these lines. 1t is the in
direct 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 his wares to public notice.A drive
in one line is always utilized to at
tract attention to other lines, and
the process forms, as it were, and
endless chain OF iuterlocking causes
and 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 returns in a single instance from
any line of advertising. 1t is only
through the cumulative effects
of persistent advertising that he
hopes to-and does benefit. An
ad today may develop results
months hence and in althogether
different lines. In fact, this is
frequently the case.
The business world furnishes
multitudes of instances where SEEM
ingiy proftless advertising has de-
veloped results long after the ad-
vertiser had forgotten the circum-
stance.
This IS basic truth that is re-
cognized by all of the masters
of advertising. Not one of these
expects any one concrete case to
return a due proportion of profits.
He does, however, expect the
cumulative effects to build up a |
custom that shall not only recon-
pense for all of his OUTLAWS, but add |
substantial profits over and above
all. =
And not one of them would ad-
vertise did he not know that such
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