The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1917-03-15
Advertising Not a Real Expense.

Many men make the mistake in con.
sidering advertising as an expense. 1t is
not an expense Rent is an expense
Light is an expense. Transportation is
an expense, because when these things
are used up the results are done. Ad-
vertising is not an expense because it
pays its way as its goes along, and is all
the time adding to the cumulative value
OF good will.
Let me give you an example--the vic
trola. Considerably more than a million
dollars a year has been spent and is be-
ing spent in advertising this particular
talking machine.
II has no monopoly of the market.
Anyone can make talking machine. and
scores of concerns are doing so, yet the
victrola continues to earn so per cent
dividends for its stockholders.
Vow suppose calamity were to sweep
away every tangible asset of the vic
trola Suppose its entire plant were to
be destroyed, and all it had left was the
name victrola. The stock would be
worth pretty nearly as much after the
disaster as before il, for in short time
the factories could be replaced and bust
ness and dividends would be as large as
ever.
Suppose on the other hand someone
should take the name victrola away from
this company and leave il all its factor
les and real estate. Do You imagine that
it wouldRtill continue to pay so per cent
dividends and still continue to maintain
the leadership in the field? The million
dollars year the yictrola has spent in
has helped to pay for itself
many times over in these big dividends,
and all the time it has added more mil
ions to the value of the trade. mark and
good will
Apply this line Of reasoning to any
)ther well known trade marked article
% Royal baking powder, postum, the |
Gillette safety razor. etc. Apply it to
Tour own storekeepers, or your own man
Ifacturers and you find that the intan-
tible thing called good will is the most /
asset any of them have.
There are many ways in which adyer
Using can be made to pay for itself. As
[ enlarges demand for manufactured
rticle, it cuts down the proportionate
ost of producing that article. You see
his every dav in the automobile bust
ess. where universal distribution has
made the automobile almost nominal in
rice You buy a better watch to-day
or $50 than you used to buy for 500
ecause advertising has so enlarged de-
land as TO cut the cost of production.
Frequently in business. and especially
I the retail business, advertising can be
lade to reduce expenses by equalizing
olume of sales Take store that sells
1000 worth of goods on Monday, and
MY 81 900 worth on Tuesday, Wednes-
ay, Thursday. Friday and Saturday.
hat store has got to maintain an or
capable of doing a $1,000 a
Nv business and yet five days out of six !
is only doing half OF this volume. !
Frequently by planning its advertising
can change the trend OF this business
I'd bring the dull DAYS up.
If the plan can be worked out so that
lie store is made to do 81 200 a day on
ch one of these days, its volume is a
tile greater, and its overhead can be
It down from a $1,000 day basis to
200 day basis.
The February and August furniture
les are an example of Eow this mer
andizjng idea has worked out IL used y
be that the stores and the manufac
rers sold no furniture at all during
csc two months. Now they sell more !
rniture in February and in August :
an in any other month in the year.
ley have so advertised furniture that J.