The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1920-01-01

! tWenty-fOurth anniversary | said to an
ad man Of the newspaper: 81 want TO
get out a good ad; going to have an an
niversary sale on certain date, and
l want to make it a good one"
"Why don't you make it a good one?"
he said.
We'll, all right. Show me how it is
done"
why don't you get out special edi-
ton to the people, II or IA page pa
PERI"
"All right. How will you go about
it?"
you write all the firms you have
been doing business with for the past
10 or IL years and tell them you would
like them to take some space in the
/ paper Have them pay for it."
That was outside OF that paper.
We got out the 14-page advertisement
II made a wonderful advertisement and
brought a great deal of business and
established us more firmly in the eyes
of the consumer.
l have been doing a great deal Of
work with the jobbers and manufactur-
ers and retailers. About one-third of
the business Of North Dakota was 60
ing to mail order houses. We sent out a
man, DR.. Carr, to investigate. / hired
him because he is running magazine
advocating "Trade at Home" When
we found mail order houses doing busi-
ness at home we became interested in
mail order business in North Dakota.
Seyenty-two solid car loads of cata-
logues from mail order houses were de-
livered in North Dakota at that time.
hired two men and sent them out
over the state. They went and inter
viewed merchants. l had little sheet
made out for them to fill out asking
about advertising. Well, | found that
rs per cent of them didn't believe IN
advertising. Then I knew at once
what was the trouble to a great eX-
tent. I estimated that over million
dollars was being spent in that state
by mail order houses. l found that
$75,000000 were being spent in the
United States by the mail order houses
and that a million went to the state of
North Dakota To those consumers
every single day almost came cata-
logues or pamphlets of some kind and
the retailers of that state absolutely
not making an appeal to the consumer
G.. lNz,,, I,,E,s - .-lN
bers and manufacturers. They didn't
know what was going on. 1t never en-
tered their head that they were losing
25 per cent of the business in that
state. l told them, "You ought to re-
alize the retailer is your agent, and
when he is gone you won't have any
one to distribute your merchandise"
have been in Chicago in Marshall
Fields and Carson, Pirie, Scott & Co.
They have been interested along that
line I said to these jobbers, Il want you
to do something for the retail merchant
along these lines" l found in talking
to these men they do not understand
advertising and do not believe in it.
am satisfied that IS per cent of the
business people in the United States
outside the larger cities do not believe
in it, do not use it and do not realize
the wonderful opportunities they are
losing. l started to educate them, TO
interest them in this work, so that now
when the merchant wants advertising
for his paper or his letters or circulars
or pamphlets that he will go to any of
the houses and they will help him.
They have become interested in it.
Also the question of price has come
up. To this day great many people
figure that the retail merchant cannot
compete with mail order houses. l laid
it before these men: You must fur
nish the retailers merchandise at a
price in order that he can meet mail
order competition. He is your agent.
Are you going to let them clean him up
or keep in business yourself?" They
promised they would furnish merchan-
disc that would meet all mail order
competition. ! tell the retailers II the
wholesale house don't give them the
tition to correspond and let me know
about it, and in two years have not
had single instance where the jobber
and manufacturer has refused to meet
mail order competition. l got away
with the price; got backbone in the
merchants.
Then I started on the advertisins
game. / talked before travelling men
and got their houses to go out and sell
merchants not only merchandise, but
advertising.
l found that the peddlers were sell
ing an immense amount of groceries