The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-03-08

each kind " material to complete IN,
contract.
| Now the contractor in building uI
a business Is the ad. man. What are
the materials he must use; Newspa
| pers. circulars. letters soliciting bust
ness. btllhoards, street car cards, book
let's and inserts for the monthly state.
ments. package slips and mail-ordeI
cataiogs. These materials must be
used in their proper places and be put
together consistently. so that there Is
no contradlcting X we want to see
the building up process rising steadily
and according to the plans.
Like the general contractor on . big
Job. many parts In the advertising Pro.
SEsc1 E1yst ~ v.,A1~tl h Artet EAf0
the Work of consistent suoadvsrtAnn4
appearing La, signs ON tho axtertor of
the building. decorated show windows
wagons. flags. illuminated sig n .
throughout the city, and uniforms on
the porters and doormen.
All these are used before the Gus
toner enters your door: thus. they
compare with Mr.. General contractors
finished house, before the owner en-
tiers to take possession and set up his
furniture and furnishings according to
his taste and tho size OF his purse.
Mr. Ad. Man you have done the ex-
terror work. now let's sec tho agencies
we must use inside the store to back
up and put the finishing touches to
the building up Of tho business with
you.
On entering q progressive store We
find the outside Advertising backed up
by showcase displays. folders and
samples, showcards and signs. store
directories brlletin boards. best rooms
nj aSa
displays. telephone service. bureaus OF
Information and adjustments and &C.
commodations OF many kinds. All
working together with the ad. man to
give the customer full value for his
money and to provide 4 pleasant place
In which~to trade.
Right hero let me say. II 10 not ex-
pected of merchant that he sell goods
below cost: and tho store that works
the old below cost" game In its ads.
will soon find It hard to sell anything
that bears . Legitimate proft
Tho time has gone by when the Gus
toners who came after the bargain
which is sold below cost. will also stay
10 buy something at q profit They
rush on to the next bargain At the
same store and then go home to lie in
wait for the next sale. They take the
bait of the misguided merchant, but
they seldom, or never spring the trap.
very serious inconsistency in adj
vertising Is the constant use Of COM
parative values-and by the way, the
Miller & Rhoads' store was the first
store In Richmond to adopt tho no
comparative price" plan.
It is not necessary to continually
advertise articles as worth more than
you're selling them for--the customer
naturally asks why this undsrprice,
Is II damaged7 Is IT an imperfect ar
ticie9 Is II out OF style. And such
other questions. which leaves An un-
satisfied feeling even after purchas-
Ing.
There's plenty TO DO TO advertise
your wares at legitimate pront and
leave the customer to Judge tho values
they receive. Talk with the good
points and create thereby a desire to
own. Ivory soap would never have
been 40 popular with a comparative
price In the ads.
Gillette advertises the good POINTS
Of his safety razor and has thus built
up an international demand. Train
your customers to expect full value
for the price and let your goods back
up your ad,. little better than ex-
pected and you'll and more crafty
ing response next time. Underrate
rather than overstate and youth win
public confidence.
Some ada. after you read them once
or twice. seem as clear as mud. Did
you ever read an ad. and wonder what
the fellow was driving att Yes, some
of them seem SO strained you almost
have the cramps reading them. BE
naturarA-talk like you would II you
had the customer right In front of you
and were trying to make a sale.
man in St Louis once advertised,
Bull dog for sale. VIII eat anything.
Very fond of children" DO you think
anyone with children In the home
would want to take a chance on that
dog7
In ono OF our own daily papers In st
fall. no. ced this ad-"wanted a
nicely furnished front room by a sin
gle lady: steam heated" These ads.
probably didn't pull. Last Tuesday. I
noticed In one OF our evening papers
this item--"short end towels. four for
Twenty-Five cents" Figure out the
meaning, will you? Which end was
short? Avoid trade terms in ads,
Have you ever noticed blank
snace in newspaper with this line.
Watch this space tomorrow" And
ibid you think II wAs cute advertising
Then probably you again noticed a
blank space with the label TOO busy
to write an ad. today" Did II occur
rushing around waiting on the crowds
that he couldn't solicit more busi-
ness or did you just think. That's
Just camounaKe. he's too lazy to get
up his ads? At any rate It didn't make
you want to go down and add your
presence to his throng.
Honesty. straightforward advertts-
Ing of meritorious merchandise will as
surely bring results as night follows
the day. Consistency and persistency
are the patron saints OF successful ad :
vertising.
Keeping everiastingfy at II with a
real message in every ad. will win out
for anything with merit. Ever think
OF the continual pounding of the
Uneeda Biscuits ad.? When they be-
gan advertising uneeda biscuits you
were buying crackers In bulk, by the
pound-They were then shipped In
wooden boxes containing about TWEEN
tyf1ve pounds.
The National Biscuit company he.
gan with their messaxe--Uneeda bis
cult. and a picture OF tho box, and
again Uneeda biscuit. with a picture
or the cracker and still again Uneeda
biscuit with tho boy in slicker
showing the moisture proof idea OF
their in-er-seal package. until Uneeha
biscuits stuck. And you fell in line
with the rest Of the millions who stow
ped asking for a pound Of Xxx soda
crackers. and you said "Uneeda" bis