NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXII, Issue 4353, 9 December 1921, Page 1

NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING.

ITS BUSINESS VALUE.

CHEAPEST AND MOST EFFECTUAL. Some interesting aspects of newspaper advertising were narrated by Mr R. J. Strong in an address delivered before the Auckland Advertising Club. The president, Mr Robt. A Laidlaw, presided. Although newspaper advertising was a matter everybody knew something about, said Mr, Strong, still, like everything else that came within the range of study, it had infinite things yet to reveal. Advertising had a natural affinity for the newspaper, for advertising .was itself news. Newspaper publicity started, off with the great advantage that the people looked for the newspaper each day. Moreover, the people paid for it, and thus bought the advertisements. This meant that the sheet which carried an advertiser’s announcement was no dead thing; it was nbt laid hold of with indifference or inattention; it was welcomed and was a focus point of interest compelled by the' combination of elements that| went to make up a newspaper. Thus the newspaper had immense publicity value above all other means of l advertising, such as hoardings, tram signs, or films. The customer bought the advertisements ; he already had an interest in the sheet in which the announcement appeared, and had not to be attracted to it; he came all expectant.

Among the numerous results newspaper advertising accomplishes, the lecturer enumerated the flpllowing '• (1) It figuratively fftultiplied an advertiser’s. sale force by creating the desire for the article advertised. (2) It gave business prestige. The public took it for granted that the man. who could afford to advertise was a successful man, and liked to trade a" successful shops. (3) It stamped goods as reliable-; buyers made their purchases on tjhe theory of “if- it’s advertised, it’s good.” Other important points were that advertising made it easier to make_sales ; it awakened salesmen to new activity, and finally it sold goods to the unknown. Newspaper advertising, continued Mr Strong, was unique in that it 'offered facilities to all classes, and was of equal service in degree to the housewife seeking domestic help as to the merchant dr seller of Peal estate. The low cost of newspaper space was one of the compelling factors to be considered, and it would be of interest to compare postage rates, cost of printing, mailing, or delivery, with the cost of newspaper space. Effective newspaper advertising did not necessarily demand the utilisation of large spaces—many of the city? large businesses had been built up by the judicious use of' •small advertisements. - “Advertising is a real business Insttraftce— newspaper# are the best media,” quoted the lecturer from an advertising manager for a large manufacturing concern. The advisability of! securing expert assistance in the composition of ad.Ve'rtisements was emphasised. The newspaper advertisement-writer,- said the speaker, should be an artist in words, and it was a truth worth realising that the lines written after much forging in t|he fifes of thought were the lines worth while.