SELLING GOODS.

Taranaki Daily News, 12 October 1922, Page 6

SELLING GOODS.

VALUE of the newspaper.

“THE BEST MEDIUM.” Advertising is one of the great deveiopiqents of the modern newspaper, sj great, indeed, that it has now developed into a science of its own. How remunerative an attractive, honest and well-worded advertisement is every successful business man knows to his profit, but there is reason to doubt whether all businfess men have given the subject the scientific analysis it merits. It was fitting, therefore, that, at the first luncheon of the New Plymouth Sheldon Club, held yesterday, advertising should form the subject of a talk by Mr. P. J. H. White (of White’s, Ltd.), who is prominent in the business circle of the town. Mr. G. Champion presided, and, after explaining that the aim of the moment was to make better men and increase efficiency, he introduced the speaker of the day.

Mr. “White said he would deal with some of the fundamentals which might be applied in connection with the businesses and professions represented at the meeting. Successful advertising had been defined as the attractive presentation of the truth a’bout goods to be sold. There were various means of advertising. For instance, such institutions as banks and insurance companies conveyed the idea of solidity and steadfastness by investing in a good location and erecting fine, substantial-look-ing buildings. Similarly, but perhaps to a lesser extent, wholesale houses did the same, as did some retailers.

The printed word, however, was the great medium of advertising, and. in this connection, newspaper advertising was admittedly the best. Advertising, said Mr. White, called for a great diversity of appeals, as could be seen by examining any newspaper, which contained all kinds of advertisements. The advertising of proprietary lines and infant foods differed from the advertising of musical wares; foodstuffs, 'bootp; etc., from life insurance and building; motor-cars from educational courses, and so on. “You must see, then, that you get the proper’ medium,” said the speaker, “and, personally, I do not think there is anything to compare with newspapers.” Quite a lot of money was lost in advertising by not considering the medium to be used. He did not wish to belittle advertising on concert programmes, for example, but to a great extent this was useless, 'but, if at an entertainment some new piece of music was to be played for the first time, or some new instrument was to be used, the concert programme provided a useful medium for a musical Warehouse dealing in these lines, to get in an- appeal whilst the mind of the reader was most receptive.

Dealing with newspaper advertising, Mr. White said several factors had to be considered. Firstly, did the paper reach the people that the retailer hoped

to v h wi'.h i’is iroods? Different trades could make a wider appeal than others. Musical instruments could be sold over a much wider area than soft goods, or drapery than groceries. Having chosen the medium, then the next thing to do was to choose the right location for the advertisement. The business man had to analyse the type of person who would be likely to read his advertisements. Ninety-five per cent of the drapery advertisements. for instance, would ‘be read by women. Very few advertisements of any kind were read in the ordinary way ,by men. he asserted, unless they were in the form of locals or paragaphs. Consequently advertisers had to study where a woman looked when she opened the newspaper. He guaranteed seventyfive per cent, of the ladies did not first look at the cables about the position in Turkey. They probably looked first at the social news, then at the wanted column, and next, perhaps, at the ‘births, marriages dnd deaths notices. It was essential, then, that a close study should be made of the location of the advertisement. An appeal by«a clothing store could quite well be made on the sports’ page, while, if books were reviewed, a bookseller’s advertisement on that page would reach the reader at the psychological moment.

“The type of matter that goes into a newspaper advertisement must also be critically examined,” continued the speaker. This applied even if the -business man did not write his own advertisement. Some advertisements were positively harmful, while others were useless. ' He. did not think that “Watch this space,” for example, or letters placed upside down, did any good for people nowadays were getting beyond that sort of thing, and such an appeal fell flat, as it did not awaken the imagination or enthusiasm of the reader. There was need, also, to study grammar and literature, for harm was done by conveying more or less about the goods than was warranted or intended. This phase |of advertising could not be studied without wid and extensive reading, but he believed it could be done by anyone who was enthusiastic about his business.

“Having secured the facts about the goods, you should see that they are properly and accurately presented,? continued the speaker. It was a bad policy to create the idea of giving something away, and then, when the purchaser got the goods home, he felt disappointed with them. It must be borne in mind that the question that mattered was not whether the goods came ‘back, but whether the customer did. Business firms must always do business from a

customer’s standpoint, and do their best to please him. Statements that could not be proved should not be made. A customer was not interested in a declar-

ation that a certain firm had the largest store and the biggest quantity of goods in the town. What did interest him was whether that firm had the goods he. wanted at the right price. Another fundamental stressed by the speaker was that the kind of advertisin'* used by a firm fitted its clientele. An advertisement should be non-offen-sive and in good taste. Very seldom, cither, did prices alone make any kind of appeal whatever. The prospective purchaser’s first concern was whether the articles offered would do the work it was called on to do with the greatest amount of efficiency. The price was for. gotten long before the quality. The most productive advertisement was the satisfied customer.

The help given to an advertiser by books of biography, travel, geography, etc., was stressed by the speaker jn his concluding remarks. These were a great help indeed in giving an understanding of what people meant when using the current expressions of the day, and thus gave the advertiser a choice of right and fitting expressions for use in his

advertising for eighteen years now.” sai l Mr. White, “and 1 have not finished the study yet.”

corded Mr. White by the chairman expressing appreciation of the very valuable address the speaker had jrivan