ADDRESS TO STUDENTS

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5439, 24 June 1929, Page 1

ADDRESS TO STUDENTS

VALUE OF ADVERTISING. NEWSPAPERS FAVOURED. A very interesting address on advertising was given on Wednesday by Mr F. AV. Petterd in the University College lecture room, Auckland, Mr D. A. V. Hudson presiding. Advertising, said Mr Petterd, was the source of power in the business world to-day. It promoted mass sales as distinct from the individual sale. Authorities divided advertising into propaganda and publicity. When we were told of some wonderful invention or the latest in hygiene it often proved to be propaganda. It was hard to discriminate, as news and propaganda frequently overlapped. The power of a properly conducted advertising campaign was proved in America during the war, when the people were urged to eat less bread and so save wheat for the soldiers overseas. It had the desired effect. After the war another campaign advertised eating more bread, and this was also successful. A manufacturer made goods, but often found it took him longer to sell than to make them. He employed men to sell in his shop and further afield until he found it. cost more to sell than to make. Then he advertised his goods in the daily press and prospered. While each form of advertising had its special advantages, newspaper advertising was always on the job. It appealed to people when they had a receptive mind. Mere assertion was not good advertising. It should tell something about the goods advertised to arouse interest and make a logical appeal to the reader. Price was important, and was usually set in big type. Illustrations were always good, but should faithfully depict the article as misrepresentation would react against future sales. The days of quack advertising were gone, and objectionable or offensive advertisements were not accepted by the Press of New Zealand. To succeed an article had to be of good quality, and it was safe to say that the best goods were those which were well advertised. The people of New Zealand were good supporters of newspapers, and per capita we had more newspapers than in any part of the Empire.