Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1918-05-31
DOES ADVERTISING PAY?

asked by country merchants and other
small business men. Some say that
it does not, and base their assertion
upon experience. They state that
they have written advs., had them in
serted in the newspaper and have not
been abe to note any iscrease in their
trade. That ought to be conclusive
proof, based upon personal experience
as it is, and should put an end to the
waste(?) that goes on in the country
each year for publicity. And yet we
find that the great majority of mer-
chants and business people go right
on spending good money for advertis-
ing, and appear satisfied with results,
or they would not be doing it.
In the same way, and for precisely
the same reasons, we find men who
say that there is nothing in trying
to catch trout with hooks baited with
worms, flies or other bait They have
tried it for hours at time and failed
to catch anything, excepting possibly
a root or snag at the bottom of the
stream. Therefore, there is nothing in
fishing. You successful fishermen will
all admit that it takes considerable
tact and knowledge of the use of
the bait, pole, reel line, foater and
sinker, as well as an understanding
of the nature and characteristics of
the fish in order to become success
full fisherman; and yet many mer-
chants blunder into the newspaper
with any kind of an old advertisement
that may have been prepared by the
errand boy or any other employee Of
the establishment, not because he was
fitted by education or a knowledge of
merchandising to handle the work in
an efficient manner, but because he
could not help himself, and so the UNI
pleasant task was thrust upon him.
Is there any wonder that under these
circumstances the advertisement fails
to produce results?
Advertising, like fishing, requires
knowledge, thought and care. The
first consideration is the bait" or ar
ticles to be offered to the public. If
man were to go down to the brook
to fish with nothing but wire staples,
or even dried grasshoppers, for bait,
he wouldn't be likely to catch many
fish, would he? You must show the
fish something they like and want. if
you get them to "bite." Just SO with
people. In order to entice them into
your store, you must show them some
thing that they want and like-some-
thing different-better cheaper, fresh
er, cleaner or in some way more at
tractive than your competitor dowr
the street has to ocer them, or they
are just as likely to go to him as they
are to come to you. Therefore, we say
that the "bait" should be the first con
sideration And if the bait is right
and it is placed (advertised) so that
it will be seen and noticed, it makes
little difference how the advertisement
is worded.
But the parallel between fishing ant
advertising, or merchandising, must
end here, because you do not jerk the
customer out of the human stream
and devour him, but depend upoI
pleasing him to such an extent tha
he will return for more goods. TIL,
ttrhA nj Ni
his customers for suckers" and con
ceals a barbed hook within fai
representation of values, does not las
long. Because you are dependent up
on securing the future business of tn
customers who come to you as re
suit of your advertising, it is highl.
important that your advertisement
be absolutely truthful; that there b
no exaggeration or misrepresentation
Because some men make failure o
advertising is no indication that ad
vertisng itself is wrong, or misplace
effort or expense The fact remain
that the big brainy men of the coun
try still recognize the value of adyer
Using, and use it in their business
Even Rockefeller, the founder of tn
Continental Oil company, is convert
ed to advertising and reaches on
through the medium of the countr
papers all over the nation for bus
mess, spending hundreds of thousand
of dollars annually to do so. Yet tn
Standard Oil company if a fairly we
established business and the manage
ment could consistently say with man
local merchants, "Oh, the people a
know us and what we carry. There
no need for us to advertise
The history Of the development {
Tanlac, the now famous tonic remed
} of by any of you year or two ag
of outside OF possibly a few person
is now almost a household word. 5
great is the demand for it, create
through newspaper advertising, thi
drug stores find il impossible to q,