The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-03-26

Yerttsing points into the breakfast food and more into the package. Then they started national advertising Campaign, at time when they had dealer-d distribution in only four cit les, Duluth, Superior, Minneapolis and St. Paul Their campaign was con ducted in periodicals of national cir culation, none of which, by the way, were printed in Swedish. so they had only a partial effect at best on the four towns where they did have dis tribution. (Laughter.)
 As q result of that campaign thou sands of housewives all over the United States went Into grocery stores in Maine, and said to the grocers. T want to get a package Of this new breakfast food" The grocer didn't have it; his jobbers didn't have 1t; the wholesaler didn't have 1t, but the grocer had two or three other brands on his shelves. Did he say, Why. I am sorry I haven't got what you want?. No, he set out to make the customer want what he had, and in most cases succeeded. And so In sell ing our tooth brush today, in line with modern merchandising methods, we will get dealer distribution na- tionally before we start national ad- vertising, We may do 1t by starting m our home town and using local newspapers, the bill boards, the street car cards, direct mail order media, whatever our proauct will war rant In the way of expense, to ere ate local demand among the entire population and to concentrate that demand upon local dealers. Local dealers will prove responsive to that kind of demand, and they will stock up If we are able to produce a de- mand of that kind So we may null
 tiply cities, either one at time or many at once according to our re- sources, until we have distribution on c national scale; and may use na- tional advertising with the Knowledge that every dollar put into 1t may be turned into cash. If we start our national advertising too soon before we have national distribution, what we are doing is precisely this: We are bringing thousands of our pros pective customers Into stores where they will either be disappointed or diverted to some other article; and that isn't good business. Of course. in the meantime We will be building up better prestige and distribution among dealers by the effective use of their own trade periodicals.
 Having completed this whole pro- cess of the national advertising cam paign; having picked out our prod uct; having built our nine advertising points into our product, six into the article itself and three into the pack age containing the article; having then obtained national distribution and then perhaps appropriated $600,- 0OO for national campaign, where do we wind up? Just here. If our cam paign Is successful, someday shall We say young man walks into a drug store in Podunk, Cal. and says to the salesman behind the counter, T have been thinking about getting Beaver brush or whatever name We have selected, and right there is where 55 per cent of our potential sales fall down. Fifty-five per cent of the customers who come into the store to get the article go out with out it or with something else. Even from the standpoint of a retailer who secures the 45 per cent sales, what happens after the 45 sales? In so per cent of the case the salesman makes some positive suggestion such as, Now Is there something else this morning." But in 20 per cent of the cases some negative thought is given, such as; "Will that be all this morn- ing?" All the customer has to do to the negative form is to agree and walk out; while even to the positive form of that shibboleth, the obvious answer Is, No, I think not" And after walking a block perhaps, the customer says, T forgot I needed some tooth paste. Why didn't that <S. f1a kat l xe something else? Why, only this morning I had to pass the handle of the tooth brush along the tube Of paste in order to get out enough to clean my teethH If instead of saying
 something else" That salesman had mentioned the names of number ot articles related to the thing the GUS
 toner had just purchased, what would have taken place? Dropping back IT years for the answer: de- partment store in Chicago created series of little trays that just fitted Into the show cases and in these trays were displayed articles that logically went together, a little collection of tooth brushes. tooth paste, mouth wash. all such things that went to- gether. The salespeople were then instructed that whenever 8 customer came III dltQ dSiNtQ LOT any AIllCle, 4lOk to lift the article out, but to lift out the whole tray, place It in front of the customer with us collection ot associated articles, stand back, and let nature take her course. daugh- ter). Now you can readily imagine tray of that kind getting in it's work in the case of our tooth brush. A young man comes in and he sees our carton in that tray. Remember that is why we made that carton. He asks the price and the salesman says
 "Thirty-five cents.'' The customer says, All right, I will take it." In the meantime his eyes wander over the tray, and perhaps he sees little bottle of Listerine and he says, Haven't you got larger bottle or Listerine?" and he makes another purchase. You see the point there IS the customer does not necessarily buy the article in the tray, but the articles in the tray suggest the things he uses. Seventeen years ago that tray made an average sale of a dol lar and half to the customer. There isn't a retailer that wouldn't want something that makes a sale of dollar and a half instead of a two- bits sale. It costs about as much In overhead charges to sell two oits worth as 1t does to make the dollar and a half sale. and to the merchant who can make the larger sale is not only cutting down overhead. but also he Is building up turnover-the two things that merchants have got 10 watch carefully today If they are to meet this new condition successfully It may be said that any salespersons who will make it mental habit not to say Something else?' but Instead to repeat the names of two or three articles that logically go with the article the customer has just pur- chased, can increase his sales at least 10 per cent That isn't real selling. though. because we have seen that an