The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-09-26
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
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A BUREAU or ADVERTISING.
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efficiently--that is to say. unless you
plan your copy sl1ilIfully and place it
wisely where it will produce the best
results.
It would be a mere waste of money.
for instance, to advertise such articles
as concrete mixers in a woman's fash
| ion journal, or to attempt to create
| a demand for. electric fans in Nova
| Scotia in winter. The important thing
I is to reach the right markets for pro-
duet thru the proper advertising
medium. For the majority OF pro-
/ duets the daily newspaper is unques-
tionabIy the best advertising medium,
as it reaches the largest number OF
people but even newspaper advert1s-
| ing yields maximum returns only
when 1t is judic.ously distributed.s
| Realizing the tremendous import
auce of this factor, the American
Newspaper Publishers association sup
ports a bureau of advertising, with
! headquarters in New York, Chicago
and San Francisco, for the purpose
/ of helping advertisers to distribute
| their advertising to the best advant-
age. To do this, a man must be in
possession of certain facts concerning
market conditions as they affect MS
product, and these facts the bureau
Of advertising undertakes to secure
| for him.
Thru it's affiiiation with newspapers
all over the United States and Canada
| it is able to trail and catch the most
elusive commercial fact in any fair
sized town on this continent. If a
i prospective advertiser were to walk
| into its offices tom orrew and demand
| to know how many kinds of phono-
graphs or fireless cookers were SOLD
| in Portland, Ore, or Portland. Maine,
land why, the bureau could doubtless
have the information for him by tele-
graph within forty eight hours. But
while it is able to obtain facts with
amazing speed, it's investigations
usually are of nationwide scope, re-
1 curing weeks of exhaustive research.
| Not long ago for example, the
bureau conducted an inquiry into the
| state of the soft drink market, for the
benefit of soft drink manufacturers.
! with a view to determining whether
| OF not there had been a marked in
crease in the sale of soft drinks since
Itites coming of national prohibition.
HeEe are some of the facts that were
discovered:
Money in Soft Drinks.
| That the soft drink market is a re-
InaFkably fertile field for the manu-
facturer, for the governments tax re-
ceipts of $51,000,000 would indicate
that more than $500. 100000 worth of
soft drinks were sold at retail during
a period of eleven months
| That the soft drink market, and
particularly the ginger ale market, is
I IL d
| that are best sellers in one section of
the country are not at all popular in
others. Only one brand of ginger ale
enjoys a nationwide popularity, and
only one soda drink may be said to
have a weil-nigh universal sale.
That the demand for soft drinks<on
the whole had greatly increased since
prohibition, but that in some localities
the sale of ginger ale had fallen off
owing to the fact that it was no
! To-
| ingredient in alcoholic beverages.
| The detailed results of this inquiry
contained in one of the special trade
reports on file in the bureaus offices,
were> of great value to soft drink
manufacturers, who were at once able
| to see where and how to place their
| advertising. In other words, with the
aid of this information, they were able
| to direct their advertising to meet
| local market conditions, which were
shown to vary widely turnout the
| country.
In another instance the bureau was
asked by a tire manufacturer to help
| him gather quickly some data showing
| the size and condition of tire stock on
hand in dealers shops in this country
| and Canada. 1t promptly communi-
Gated with its newspaper representa-
| tives turnout the continent and in
| short time had long list of detailed.
reports from which it was able to COM
pile a valuable report on general con-
' The zignificanta discovery in this,
case was that tire stocks everywhere
were exceptionally low. Dealers were
found to be buying slowly and in
small quantities, yet most of them
would soon pick up. The public also,
it was disclosed. was exhibiting great
| reluctance in buying new tires. APP
parently believing that if it only wait
| ed long enough prices would come
| down. In this connection it was
pointed cut that cars had been used
more extensively that year than ever
before owing to the mild winter; that
| tires were being patched up to their
last extremity by car owners. and that
| even with no effort on the part of the
manufacturers to revive business, nat
ural wear and tear weuld soon make
pressing demands on the dealers.
| Demand for Tires Seen.
| This conclusion was based upon ac-
=, tuaf figures sent in from various cities.
1 The report from Fort Worth, for in
| stance, stated that there were only
/ 1900 tires of all kinds in that COM
munity, while 10000 cars were regis
tered and in use at that time. St.
| Louis reported total of 1851 tires
| against an estimated requirement for
| the spring season OF $4,000. In short
| with this report in hand the tire man.
ufacturer could calculate with pretty
| fair accuracy the tire demand, town
| by town, for the coming year. Incl
| dentaIly he could see that we'll
| planned newspaper advertising CAM
| paign, advising the public that tire
/ prices had reached their irreducible
| mininaum. would undoubtedly greatly
/ accelerate that demand.
| In the past few years the bureau
/ of advertising has investigated the
1 markets for all sorts OF products
from laundry. soaps and linoleurns to
gloves and jams. Altho in some cases
1 the inquiry is made at the request of
/ a single manufacturer, the results are
always placed on file in the Bureaus
/ offices for the benefit of the entire
/ trade.
1 The object of the inquiries is not
simply to prove the desirability- OF
/ newspaper advertising for the pro-
/ ducts investigated. Rather it is to
/ give the manufacturer conpre-
1 hensive view of market conditions with
4 the idea of helping him solve his