TRUST ADVERTISING.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16433, 29 January 1919, Page 8

TRUST ADVERTISING.

(By Herbert 0. Ridont, Joint Editor of the "Advertisers' Weekly.")

Those in close touch Trith publicity methods agree that never in the history of commerce has there occurred such an opportunity. for the ambitious trader to enter the business field as an advertiser as that which offers at this time. 'Never have all the governing principles been ,so readily applicable— never the prevailing conditions so auspicious. It is an unprecedented moment for manufacturers to take -advantage of a unique trade situation— one that, with the war finished properly, is hardly likely to occur again.

[ For one thing, there is an open marj ket, with both retails traders and public sympathetic. During the four years of war many of the leading manufacturers, with depleted resources, were compelled to restrict supplies, and this afforded opportunities for new lines, bearing unknown names, to be introduced to the public. In this way numerous varieties of goods previously unknown, have obtained a footing in retail shops, and a hold on the public, that in normal times it would have taken years to establish. This means that the only thing remaining to be done 'is to strengthen the goodwill already created —and advertising alone can do that.

Without advertising, those lines must of necessity drop back into their former comparative obscurity when the great manufacturers resume their publicity on the grand scale. At this time also the public itself is not merely educated to an appreciation of advertising as such, but also recognises its sincerity and its value as a form of guarantee. This mental attitudo is largely due_to the magnificent use to which advertising has been put by the. Government Departments during the war. The public have learned to trust advertising.

As a natural corollary, the responsivoness of the public to advertisements has increased to an extent that even thfi most practised in publicity arts admit is unprecedented. . . . The opportunity now presented for newcomers to apply advertising with all conditions favourable to success is one that is without parallel in the history of business.