Year: 1873

Does Advertising Pay2

 (From the Hat, Cap, and Fur Trade Review.

 We do not suppose that more vexed question has ever agitated the conner c1al world than that of advertising. Many believe in it as avery panacea, some are indifferent, while very considerable number abhor it, partly because, if in- dulged in, it adds so greatly to the ex- penses of their business, and partly be- cause they have conceived an opinion that 1t is not only of no avail, but even derogatory to any concern of standing

 It must be confessed that, as a system | of business, advertising has of late years suffered much at the hands of un- scrupulous people who have not hesita- ted to deceive and entrap the public 1; and consequently an impression has been created among very large class in the community that no goods of whatever kind, if advertised, can be genuine and worth purchasing. That this is manifest error, it would not be difficult to demonstrate and, further, that because some abuse the system, therefore it is not necessarily bad of it. self, would require but little argument. In this article, however, which from lack of space must be somewhat crude and imperfect, we shall not concern our selves so much with the abuse of adver- tising as with its proper aims and bene- dcial use. The primary object of this method of publicity is to make an arti- cle of commerce familiar to the minds of those who deal in or purchase it. Now, if the vender advertises that which is sound and genuine, and ex- poets to pay the cost of publicity by the increased business accruing from it, surely he is proceeding upon just business principles with which no one can find fault.

 The statement we have just made those who are lukewarm upon the sub- ject or hostile to advertisicg are dis posed to dispute. The former allege that their business is of long standing, IS good, their customers plentiful, and that as they have obtained their busi- ness without advertising, they see no reason why they should incur an expen- allure of which the results are, to Say the least, doubtful. To this we would reply that although their premise that they obtained their business without advertising is we'll founded, still their deduction is an error, that they need not advertise to keep it up. And the reason of this is very obvious. When they started in the commercial world, advertising was comparatively un- known, and consequently they were on an even footing with all their com petitors; now, however, that adver- Using has become almost a science, and that experience has shown that it does bear fruit, it is almost matter of ne- cessity to use this method to some ex- tent at least, in erder to keep pace with those younger houses who seek to rival the longevity of their fellows by in- creased energy and enterprise.

 To those who object to advertising on principle, and assert that it's vaunted results will not bear investigation, and are but the "vain imaginings of liter ary and other speculators, we would oppose the testimony of men who have publicly and readily stated that not only do they owe their enormous suc- cess in business to advertising, but, furthermore, whenever they have at tempted to decrease that item of their expenditure, they have inevitably suf- fered a proportionate loss. Finally, there is another class antagonistic to the system; namely, those who, having tried it, report it's utter failure. In nearly all such cases, the cause of their want of success may be traced to their own injudiciousness. Either they have squandered money by inserting their advertisements in newspapers that do not reach the class interested i'll their goods, or they have compiled their ad- vertisements in style at once ineffect- i've and distasteful to the public.

 These general principles and argu- ments apply to all newspapers more or less, but particularly to that portion of the field of journalism occupid by the trade organs. These are in all cases eff fective and legitimate means of adver- Using certainly for all manufacturers, importers, and wholesale dealers, as they reach by this means the very class, and that class alone, whom it is their object to obtain as customers. We are aware that this argument does not ap- ply with equal force to the retailers, who would naturally prefer to advertise in journals that circulate most extensive ly among the general public, from whom they derive their customers. Still, we say advertise, as we have yet to learn that such public spirit as would be displayed by retailer in thus supporting his trade organ would not meet with it's corresponding reward in the increased respect and standing that such member would acquire among the rest of the trade.

 In word, the mere existence of we'll educated and actively pushed con- mercial organ places the whole trade which it represents, under entirely diff ferent conditions to those under which it moved previously and, as its influence would naturally go with those who were foremost in supporting it, it is not difficult to see that such firms as were readiest in adapting themselves to the new order of things would derive the most lucrative advantage therefrom.