DOMINION ADVERTISING

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1955, 12 January 1914, Page 6

DOMINION ADVERTISING

WHERE CANADA LEADS. NEW ZEALAND LACGINC BEHIND. Now Zealand is lagging behind in tho advertising field in England, while Canada adopts every device to koep interest in that Dominion beforo tho public. That summarises the views of Mr. T. 10. Sodgwick, who is visiting New Zealand after an absence of some time, during which he has conveyed parties of boy immigrants from England to Canada. The average Englishman, says Mr. Sedgwick, is deplorably ignorant of tho conditions existing in New Zealand and Australia. To remedy matters he advocates strongly the use of the biograph with interesting pictures dealing with everyday affairs overseas. A strong appeal is made by the picture palaces on tho more ignorant classes at Homo, and Mr. Sedgwick has found that many boys will not come out to the new lands because they are frightened at the conditions of the colonies shown in exaggerated films dealing with buihrangors, eto. Tho last party of boys ho piloted to Australia came prepared to meet any dangers, and from them ho took seven revolvers. What would have become of the boys had they attempted to walk up Georgo Street, Sydney, with revolvers in their hands is hard to imagine.

English newspapers, again, publish very little news about New Zealand. Recently Mr. Sedgwick saw in one of the leading London dailies a, two-line cable message from New Zealand, stating that Parliament had sat for 30 hours. It did not say what Parliament was talking about. Alongside was a three-line paragraph detailing an egglaying contest. Tljis showed tho rein tive importance of the two subjects. If, says Mr. Sedgwick, tho High Commissioner had a largo stock of suitable photographs on New Zealand affairs the newspapers would be only too pleased to publish them. The whole thing needed is to keep on emphasising New Zealand; make the people, tho countless throngs .who never seo beyond a day's existence, realise that thero is a sunny part of tho Empire which would welcome adaptable citizens. The power of tho shop window as an advertising agency is being realised in the larger cities. New Zealand has no shop window in London. From every part of the metropolis gaudily decked windows reflect tho graudeur of Canadian scenery, reflect tho greatness of Canada's possibilities, and show the value of Canada's products. "Canada is the granary of tho world," proclaims one advertisement, and a novel method is taken to impress this on the people who watch. A miniature Niagara Falls is fitted up in the window, but insteadof water pouring over ; thero flows an endless stream of glowing, golden corn.

It is hard of get New Zealand butter in London, says Mr. Sedgwick, that is, hard to get it as New Zealand butter. He inquired on one occasion where the article under its right name, could be bought and could only find it in tho Army and Navy stores, and in a shop in Clapham. This would be done away with if Now Zealand was better known. Kinematography shows should bo utilised to advantage in many ways. At shows, for.instance; there wore always many attendants, agricultural workers, who would flock to such shows if they wore free. At tho Royal Agricultural Show, 150 to 200 men were ompToyed to look after tho exhibits. These men were all free in tho evenings and would go to a picture show describing farming scenes, sporting, and other views of the Dominions. In this way the fact that the conditions wore better in-'the now land would be forcibly brought homo. Nat, Gould, with his racing stories, full of descriptions of Australia, has been one of the best advertising mediums for that country, claims Mr. Sedgwick. Amongst other things Mr. Sedgwick advocates an exhibition in London run entirely by, and for, New Zealand, which he thinks now of sufficient growth to warrant such an undertaking.