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Scientific Advertising By Claude C Hopkins Chapter 01 – How advertising laws are established ________________ Page 01 Chapter 02 – Just salesmanship ________________________________ Page 04 Chapter 03 – Offer service ____________________________________ Page 06 Chapter 04 – Mail order advertising – what it teaches _____________ Page 07 Chapter 05 – Headlines _______________________________________ Page 10 Chapter 06 – Psychology ______________________________________ Page 12 Chapter 07 – Being specific ___________________________________ Page 15 Chapter 08 – Tell your full story _______________________________ Page 16 Chapter 09 – Art in advertising ________________________________ Page 19 Chapter 10 – Things to costly __________________________________ Page 21 Chapter 11 – Information _____________________________________ Page 23 Chapter 12 – Strategy ________________________________________ Page 25 Chapter 13 – Use of samples ___________________________________ Page 27 Chapter 14 – Getting distribution ______________________________ Page 30 Chapter 15 – Test campaigns __________________________________ Page 32 Chapter 16 – Leaning on dealers _______________________________ Page 34 Chapter 17 – Individuality ____________________________________ Page 35 Chapter 18 – Negative advertising ______________________________ Page 36 Chapter 19 – Letter writing ___________________________________ Page 37 Chapter 20 – A name that helps ________________________________ Page 39 Chapter 21 – Good business ___________________________________ Page 40 Chapter 1 The larger agencies also come into intimate How advertising laws are established contact with experts in every department of business. Their clients are usually dominating The time has come when advertising has in concerns. So they see the results of countless some hands reached the status of a science. It methods and policies. They become a clear- is based on fixed principles and is reasonably inghouse for every thing pertaining to mer- exact. The causes and effects have been ana- chandising. Nearly every selling question, lysed until they are well understood. The cor- which arises in business, is accurately an- rect method of procedure have been proved swered by many experiences. and established. We know what is most ef- Under these conditions, where they long fective, and we act on basic law. exist, advertising and merchandising become Advertising, once a gamble, has thus be- exact sciences. Every course is charted. The come, under able direction, one of the safest compass of accurate knowledge directs the business ventures. Certainly no other enter- shortest, safest, cheapest course to any desti- prise with comparable possibilities need in- nation. volve so little risk. We learn the principles and prove them by Therefore this book deals, not with theo- repeated tests. This is done through keyed ries and opinions, but with well-proved prin- advertising, by traced returns, largely by the ciples and facts. It is written as a textbook for use of coupons. We compare one way with students and a safe guide for advertisers. many others, backward and forward, and rec- Every statement has been weighed. The book ord the results. When one method invariably is confined to establish fundamentals. If we proves best, that method becomes a fixed enter any realms of uncertainty we shall care- principle. fully denote them. Mail order advertising is traced down to The present status of advertising is due to the fraction of a penny. The cost per reply many reasons. Much national advertising has and cost per dollar of sale show up with utter long been handled by large organisations exactness. known as advertising agencies. Some of these One ad compared to another, one method agencies, in their hundreds of campaigns, with another. Headlines, settings, sizes, ar- have tested and compared the thousands of guments and pictures are compared. To re- plans and ideas. The results have been duce the cost of results even one per cent watched and recorded, so no lessons have means much in some mail order advertising. been lost. So no guesswork is permitted. One must Such agencies employ a high grade of tal- know what is best. Thus mail order advertis- ent. None but able and experienced men can ing first established many of our basic laws. meet the requirements in national advertising. In lines where direct returns are impossi- Working in co-operation, learning from each ble we compare one town with another. other and from each new undertaking, some Scores of methods may be compared in this of these men develop into masters. way, measured by cost of sales. Individuals may come and go, but they But the most common way is by use of the leave their records and ideas behind them. coupon. We offer a sample, a book, a free These become a part of the organisation's package, or something to induce direct re- equipment, and a guide to all who follow. plies. Thus we learn the amount of action Thus, in the course of decades, such agencies which each ad engenders. become storehouses of advertising experi- But those figures are not final. One ad may ences, proved principles, and methods. bring too many worthless replies, another re- 1 plies that are valuable. So our final conclu- bour; not a buoy showed a reef. The wrecks sions are always based on cost per customer were unrecorded, so countless ventures came or cost per dollar of sale. to grief on the same rocks and shoals. These coupon plans are dealt with further Advertising was then a gamble - a specu- in the chapter on "Test Campaigns." Here we lation of the rashest sort. One man's guess on explain only how we employ them to dis- the proper course was as likely to be as good cover advertising principles. as another's. There were no safe pilots, be- cause few sailed the same course twice. In a large agency coupon returns are watched and recorded on hundreds of differ- The condition has been corrected. Now ent lines. In a single line they are sometimes the only uncertainties pertain to people and to recorded on thousands of separate ads. Thus products, not to methods. It is hard to meas- we test everything pertaining to advertising. ure human idiosyncrasies, the preferences We answer nearly every possible question by and prejudices, the likes and dislikes that ex- multitudinous traced returns. ist. We cannot say that an article will be popular, but we know how to sell it in the Some things we learn in this way apply most effective way. only to particular lines. But even those sup- ply basic principles for analogous undertak- Ventures may fail, but the failures are not ings. disasters. Losses, when they occur, are but trifling, and the causes are factors, which has Others apply to all lines. They become nothing to do with the advertising. fundamentals for advertising in general. They are universally applied. No wise advertiser Advertising has flourished under these will ever depart from those unvarying laws. new conditions. It has multiplied in volume, in prestige and respect. The perils have in- We propose in this book to deal with those creased many folds. Just because the gamble fundamentals, those universal principles. To has become a science, the speculation is still teach only established techniques. There is a very conservative business. that technique in advertising, as in all art, sci- ence and mechanics. And it is, as in all lines, These facts should be recognised by all. a basic essential. This is no proper field for sophistry or theory, or for any other will-o'-the-wisp. The blind The lack of those fundamentals has been leading the blind is ridiculous. It is pitiful in a the main trouble with advertising of the past. field with such vast possibilities. Success is a Each worker was a law to himself. All previ- rarity, and maximum success an impossibil- ous knowledge, all progress in the line, was a ity, unless one is guided by laws as immuta- closed book to him. It was like a man trying ble as the law of gravitation. to build a modern locomotive without first ascertaining what others had done. It was like So our main purpose here is to set down a Columbus starting out to find an undiscov- those laws, and to tell you how to prove them ered land. for yourself. After them come myriad varia- tions. No two advertising campaigns are ever Men were guided by whims and fancies - conducted on lines that are identical. Indi- vagrant, changing breezes. They rarely ar- viduality is an essential. Imitation is a re- rived at their port. When they did - by acci- proach. But those variable things, which de- dent - it was by a long roundabout course. pend on ingenuity, have no place in a text- book on advertising. This is for groundwork Each early mariner in this sea mapped his only. own separate course. There were no charts to guide him. Not a lighthouse marked a har- 2 Our hope is to foster advertising through a better understanding. To place it on a busi- ness basis. To have it recognised as among the safest, surest ventures, which lead to large returns. Thousands of conspicuous successes show its possibilities. Their variety points out its almost unlimited scope. Yet thousands who need it - who can never attain their deserts without it - still look upon its accomplish- ments as somewhat accidental. That was so, but it is not so now. We hope that this book will throw some new lights on the subject. 3 Chapter 2 reveal the hook. Any studied attempt to sell, Just salesmanship if apparent, creates corresponding resistance. That is so in personal salesmanship as in To properly understand advertising or to salesmanship-in-print. Fine talkers are rarely learn even its rudiments one must start with good salesmen. They inspire buyers with the the right conception. Advertising is sales- fear of over-influence. They create the suspi- manship. Its principles are the principles of cion that an effort is made to sell them on salesmanship. Successes and failures in both other lines than merit. lines are due to like causes. Thus every ad- vertising question should be answered by the Successful salesmen are rarely good salesman's standards. speechmakers. They have few oratorical graces. They are plain and sincere men who Let us emphasise that point. The only pur- know their customers and know their lines. pose if advertising is to make sales. It is So it is in ad writing. profitable or unprofitable according to its actual sales. Many of the ablest men in advertising are graduate salesmen. The best we know have It is not for general effect. It is not to keep been house-to-house canvassers. They may your name before the people. It is not pri- know little of grammar, nothing of rhetoric, marily to aid your other salesmen. but they know how to use words that con- Treat it as a salesman. Force it to justify vince. itself. Compare it with other salesmen. Figure There is one simple way to answer many its cost and result. Accept no excuses which advertising questions. Ask yourself, "Would good salesmen do not make. Then you will it help a salesman sell the goods?" "Would it not go far wrong. help me sell them if I met a buyer in person?" The difference is only in degree. Adver- A fair answer to those questions avoids tising is multiplied salesmanship. It may ap- countless mistakes. But when one tries to peal to thousands while the salesman talks to show off, or does things merely to please one. It involves a corresponding cost. Some oneself, one is unlikely to strike a chord, people spend $10 per word on an average which leads people to spend money. advertisement. Therefore every ad should be a super - salesman. Some argue for slogans, some like clever concepts. Would you use them in personal A salesman's mistake may cost little. An salesmanship? Can you imagine a customer advertisers mistake may cost a thousand whom such things would impress? If not, times that much. So be more cautious, more don't rely on them for selling in print. exacting. Some say, "Be very brief. People will read A mediocre salesman may affect a small for little." Would you say that to a salesman? part of your trade. Mediocre advertising af- With a prospect standing before him, would fects all of your trade. you confine him to any certain number of Many think of advertising as ad writing. words? That would be an unthinkable handi- Literary qualifications have no more to do cap. with it than oratory has with salesmanship. So in advertising. The only readers we get One must be able to express himself are people whom our subject interests. No briefly, clearly and convincingly, just as a one reads ads for amusement, long or short. salesman must. But fine writing is a distinct Consider them as prospects standing before disadvantage. So is unique literary style. you, seeking for information. Give them They take attention from the subject. They enough to get action. 4 Some advocate large type and big head- Some advertising men go out in person and lines. Yet they do not admire salesmen who sell to people before they plan to write an ad. talk in loud voices. People read all they care One of the ablest of them has spent weeks on to read in 8-point type. Our magazines and one article, selling from house to house. In newspapers are printed in that type. Folks are this way they learn the reactions from differ- accustomed to it. Anything larger is like loud ent forms of argument and approach. They conversation. It gains no worth while atten- learn what possible buyers want and the fac- tion. It may not be offensive, but it is useless tors, which don't appeal. It is quite custom- and wasteful. It multiplies the cost of your ary to interview hundreds of possible cus- story. And to many it seems loud and blatant. tomers. Others look for something queer and un- Others send out questionnaires to learn the usual. They want ads distinctive in style or attitude of the buyers. In some way all must illustration. Would you want that in a sales- learn how to strike responsive chords. man? Do not men who act and dress in nor- Guesswork is very expensive. mal ways make a far better impression? The maker of an advertised article knows Some insist in dressy ads. That is all right the manufacturing side and probably the to a certain degree, but is quite important. dealer's side. But this very knowledge often Some poorly dressed men prove to be excel- leads him astray in respect to customers. His lent salesmen. Over dress in either is a fault. interests are not in their interests. So with countless questions. Measure The advertising man studies the consumer. them by salesmen's standards, not by amuse- He tries to place himself in the position of the ment standards. Ads are not written to enter- buyer. His success largely depends on doing tain. When they do, those entertainment that to the exclusion of everything else. seekers are little likely to be the people This book will contain no more important whom you want. chapter than this one on salesmanship. The That is one of the greatest advertising reason for most of the non-successes in ad- faults. Ad writers abandon their parts. They vertising is trying to sell people what they do forget they are salesmen and try to be per- not want. But next to that comes lack of true formers. Instead of sales, they seek applause. salesmanship. When you plan or prepare an advertise- Some ads are planned and written with a ment, keep before you a typical buyer. Your totally wrong conception. They are written to subject, your headline has gained his or her please the seller. The interests of the buyer attention. Then in everything be guided by are forgotten. One can never sell goods prof- what you would do if you met the buyer face- itable, in person or in print, when that attitude to-face. If you are a normal man and a good exists. salesman you will then do your level best. Don't think of people in the mass. That gives you a blurred view. Think of a typical individual, man or women, who is likely to want what you sell. Don't try to be amusing. Money spending is a serious matter. Don't boast, for all people resent it. Don't try to show off. Do just what you think a good salesman should do with a half-sold person before him. 5 Chapter 3 with a half-pound of coffee and says, "Ac- Offer service cept this package and try it. I'll come back in a few days to ask you how you liked it." Remember the people you address are self- Even when he comes back he doesn't ask ish, as we all are. The care nothing about for an order. He explains that he wants to your interests or your profit. They seek serv- send the women a fine kitchen utensil. It isn't ice for themselves. Ignoring this fact is a free, but if she likes the coffee he will credit common mistake and a costly mistake in ad- five cents on each pound she buys until she vertising. Ads say in effect, "Buy my brand. has paid for the article. Always some service. Give me the trade you give to others. Let me have the money." That is not a popular ap- The maker of the electric sewing machine peal. motor found advertising difficult. So, on good advice, he ceased soliciting a purchase. The best ads ask no one to buy. That is He offered to send to any home, through any useless. Often they do not quote a price. They dealer, a motor for one week's use. With it do not say that dealers handle the product. would come a man to show her how to oper- The ads are based entirely on service. ate it. "Let us help you for a week without They offer wanted information. They site ad- cost or obligation," said the ad. Such an offer vantages to users. Perhaps they offer a sam- was resistless and about nine in ten of the tri- ple, or to buy the first package, or to send als led to sales. something on approval, so the customer may So in many, many lines. Cigar makers prove the claims without any cost or risks. send out boxes to anyone and say, "Smoke Some of these ads seem altruistic. But ten, then keep them or return them, as you they are based on the knowledge of human wish." nature. The writers know how people are led Makers of books, typewriters, washing to buy. machines, kitchen cabinets, vacuum sweep- Here again is salesmanship. The good ers, etc, send out their products without any salesman does not merely cry a name. He prepayment. They say, "Use them a week, doesn't say, "Buy my article." He pictures then do as you wish." Practically all mer- the customer's side of his service until the chandise sold by mail is sent subject to re- natural result is to buy. turn. A brush maker has some 2,000 canvassers These are all common principles of sales- who sells brushes from house to house. He is manship. The most ignorant peddler applies enormously successful in a line, which would them. Yet the salesman-in-print very often seem very difficult. And it would be for his forgets them. He talks about his interest. He men asked the housewives to buy. blazons a name, as though that was of im- portance. His phrase is, "Drive people to the But they don't. They go to the door and stores," and that is his attitude in everything say, "I was sent here to give you a brush. I he says. have samples here and I want you to take your choice." People can be coaxed but not driven. Whatever they do they do to please them- The housewife is all smiles and attention. selves. Many fewer mistakes would be made In picking out one brush she sees several she in advertising if these facts were never for- wants. She is also anxious to reciprocate the gotten. gift. So the salesman gets an order. Another concern sells coffee etc, by wag- ons in some 500 cities. The man drops in 6 Chapter 4 ued, you know that it pays. It is therefore Mail order advertising - what it teaches good advertising as applied to that line. The probability is that the ad has resulted The severest test of an advertising man is in from many traced comparisons. It is therefore selling goods by mail. But that is a school the best advertising, not theoretical. It will from which he must graduate before he can not deceive you. The lessons it teaches are hope for success. Their cost and result are principles which wise men apply to all ad- immediately apparent. False theories melt vertising. away like snowflakes in the sun. The adver- tising is profitable or it is not, clearly on the Mail order advertising is always set in face of returns. Figures, which do not lie, tell small type. It is usually set in smaller type one at once the merits of an ad. than ordinary print. That economy of space is universal. So it proves conclusively that This puts men on their mettle. All guess- larger type does not pay. work is eliminated. Every mistake is con- spicuous. One quickly loses his conceit by Remember that when you double your learning how often his judgment errs - often space by doubling the size of your type. The nine times in ten. ad may still be profitable. But traced returns have proved that you are paying a double There one learns that advertising must be price for sales. done on a scientific basis to have any fair chance of success. And he learns that every In mail order advertising there is no waste wasted dollar adds to the cost of results. of space. Every line is utilised. Borders are rarely used. Remember that when you are Here is a tough efficiency and economy tempted to leave valuable space unoccupied. under a master who can't be fooled. Then, and only then, is he apt to apply the same In mail order advertising there is no pa- principles and keys to all advertising. laver. There is no boasting, save of super- service. There is no useless talk. There is no A man was selling a five-dollar article. attempt at entertainment. There is nothing to The replies from his ad cost him 85 cents. amuse. Another man submitted an ad, which he thought better. The replies cost $14.20 each. Mail order advertising usually contains a Another man submitted an ad, which for two coupon. That is there to get some action out years brought replies at an average of 41 of the converts partly made. It is there to cut cents each. out as a reminder of something the reader has decided to do. Consider the difference, on 250,000 re- plies per year. Think how valuable was the Mail order advertisers know that readers man who cut the cost in two. Think what it forget. They are reading a magazine of inter- would have meant to continue that $14.20 ad est. They may be absorbed in a story. A large without any key on returns. percentage of people who read an ad and de- cide to act will forget that decision in five Yet there are thousands of advertisers who minutes. The mail order advertisers knows do just that. They spend large sums on a that waste from tests, and he does not pro- guess. And they are doing what that man did pose to accept it. So he inserts that reminder - paying for sales from 2 to 35 times what to be cut out, and it turns up when the reader they need cost. is ready to act. A study of mail order advertising reveals In mail order advertising the pictures are many things worth learning. It is a prime always to the point. They are salesmen in subject for study. In the first place, if contin- themselves. They earn the space they occupy. 7 The size is gauged by their importance. The But this occurs only when the larger space picture of a dress one is trying to sell may is utilised as well as the small space. Set half- occupy much space. Less important things page copy in a page space and you double the get smaller spaces. cost in returns. We have seen many a test prove that. Pictures in ordinary advertising may teach little. They probably result in whims. But Look at an ad of the Mead Cycle Com- pictures in mail order advertising may form pany - a typical mail order ad. These have half the cost of selling. And you may be sure been running for many years. The ads are un- that everything about them has been decided changing. Mr. Mead told the writer that not by many comparative tests. for $10,000 would he change a single word in his ads. Before you use useless pictures, merely to decorate or interest, look over some mail or- For many years he compared one ad with der ads. Mark what their verdict is. the other. And the ads you see today are the final results of all those experiments. Note A man advertised an incubator to be sold the picture he uses, the headlines, the econ- by mail. Type ads with right headlines omy of space, the small type. Those ads are brought excellent returns. But he conceived as near perfect for their purpose as an ad can the idea that a striking picture would increase be. those returns. So he increased his space 50 per cent to add a row of chickens in silhou- So with any other mail order ad which has ette. long continued. Every feature, every word and picture teaches advertising at its best. It did make a striking ad, but his cost per You may not like them. You may say they reply was increased by exactly that 50 per are unattractive, crowded, and hard to read - cent. The new ad, costing one-half more for anything you will. But the test of results has every insertion, brought not one added sale. proved those ads the best salesman those The man learned that incubator buyers lines have yet discovered. And they certainly were practical people. They were looking for pay. attractive offers, not for pictures. Mail order advertising is the court of last Think of the countless untraced cam- resort. You may get the same instruction, if paigns where a whim of that kind costs half you will, by keying other ads. But mail order the advertising money without a penny in ads are models. They are selling goods prof- return. And it may go on year after year. itably in a difficult way. It is far harder to get mail order than to send buyers to the stores. It Mail order advertising tells a complete is hard to sell goods, which can't be seen. story if the purpose is to make an immediate Ads, which do that, are excellent examples of sale. You see no limitations there on the what advertising should be. amount of copy. We cannot often follow all the principle of The motto there is, "The more you tell the mail order advertising, though we know we more you sell." And it has never failed to should. The advertiser forces a compromise. prove out so in any test we know. Perhaps pride in our ads has an influence. But Sometimes the advertiser uses small ads, every departure from those principles adds to sometimes-large ads. None are too small to our selling cost. Therefore it is always a tell a reasonable story. But an ad twice larger question of what we are willing to pay for our brings twice the returns. A four-times-larger frivolities. ad brings four times the returns, and usually some in addition. 8 We can at least know what we pay. We can make keyed comparisons, one ad with another. Whenever we do, we invariably find that the nearer we get to proved mail order copy the more customers we get for our money. This is another important chapter. Think it over. What real difference is there between inducing a customer to order by mail or order from his dealer? Why should the methods of salesmanship differ? They should not! When they do, it is for one of two reasons. Either the advertiser does not know what the mail order advertiser knows. Or he is advertising blindly. Or he is deliberately sacrificing a percentage of his returns to gratify some desire. There is some apology for that, just as there is for fine offices and buildings. Most of us can afford to do something for pride and opinion. But let us know what we are doing. Let us know the cost of our pride. Then, if our advertising fails to bring us the wanted returns, let us go back to our model - a good mail order ad - and eliminate some of our waste. 9 Chapter 5 city. That article would be of intense interest Headlines to that woman and her friends. But neither she nor her friends would ever read it if the The difference between advertising and per- headline was "Egyptian Psychology." sonal salesmanship lies largely in personal So in advertising it is commonly said that contact. The salesman is there to demand at- people do not read advertisements. That is tention. He cannot be ignored. The adver- silly of course. We who spend millions in tisement can be ignored. advertising and watch the returns marvel at But the salesman wastes much of his time the readers we get. Again and again we see on prospects whom he can never hope to in- 20 per cent of all the readers of a newspaper terest. He cannot pick them out. The adver- cut out a certain coupon. tisement is read only by interested people But people do not read ads for amuse- who, by their own volition, study what we ment. They don't read ads which, at a glance, have to say. seem to offer nothing interesting. A double- The purpose of the headline is to pick out page ad on a women's dresses will not gain a people you can interest. You wish to talk to glance from a man. Nor will a shaving cream someone in a crowd, so the first thing you ad from a woman. say is, "Hey there, Bill Jones" to get the right Always bear these facts in mind. People person's attention. are hurried. The average person worth culti- The same in an advertisement, what you vating has too much to read. They skip three- have will interest certain people only and for fourths of the reading matter, which they pay certain reasons. You care only for those peo- to get. They are not going to read your busi- ple, so create a headline, which will hail ness talk unless you make it worth their while those people only! and let the headline show it. Perhaps a blind headline or some clever People will not be bored in print. They concept will attract many times as many. But may listen politely at a dinner table to boasts they may consist of mostly impossible sub- and personalities, life history, etc. But in jects for what you have to offer. And the print they choose their own companions, their people you are after may never realise that own subjects. They want to be amused or the ad refers to something they may want. benefited. They want economy, beauty, labor saving, good things to eat and wear. There Headlines on ads are like headlines on may be products, which interest them more news items. Nobody reads a whole newspa- than anything else in the magazine, but they per. One is interested in financial news, one will never know it unless the headline or in political, one in society, one in cookery, picture tells them. one in sports, etc. There are whole pages in any newspaper, which we may never scan at The writer of this chapter spends far more all. Yet other people might turn directly to time on headlines that on writing. He often those pages. spends hours on a single headline. Often scores of headlines are discarded before the We pick out what we wish to read by right one is selected. For the entire return headlines, and we don't want those headlines from an ad depends on attracting the right misleading. The writing of headlines is one sort of readers. The best of salesmanship has of the greatest journalistic arts. They either no chance whatever unless we get a hearing. conceal or reveal an interest. The vast difference in headlines is shown Suppose a newspaper article stated that a by keyed returns, which this book advocates. certain woman was the most beautiful in the The identical ad run with various headlines 10 differs tremendously in its returns. It is not Sportiest of Sport Bodies," might out pull the uncommon for a change in headlines to mul- other fifty to one. tiply returns by five or ten times over. This is enough to suggest the importance So we compare headlines until we know of headlines. Anyone who keys ads will be what sort of appeal pays best. That differs in amazed at the difference. The appeals we like every line, of course. best will rarely prove best, because we do not know enough people to average up their de- The writer has before him keyed returns sires. So we learn on each line by experi- on nearly two thousand headlines used on a ment. single product. The story in these ads are nearly identical. But the returns vary enor- But back of all lies fixed principles. You mously, due to the headlines. So with every are presenting an ad to millions. Among them keyed return in our record appears the head- is a percentage, small or large, whom you line that we used. hope to interest. Go after that percentage and try to strike the chord that responds. If you Thus we learn what type of headline has are advertising corsets, men and children the most widespread appeal. The product has don't interest you. If you are advertising ci- many uses. It fosters beauty. It prevents dis- gars, you have no use for non-smokers. Ra- ease. It aids daintiness and cleanliness. We zors won't attract women; rouge will not in- learn to exactness which quality most of our terest men. readers seek. Don't think that those millions will read That does not mean we neglect the others. your ads to find out if your product interests. One sort of appeal may bring half the returns They will decide by a glance - by your head- of another, yet be important enough to be line or your pictures. Address the people you profitable. We overlook no field that pays, seek and them only. but we know what proportion of our ads should, in the headline, attract any certain class. For this same reason we employ a vast variety of ads. If we are using twenty maga- zines we may use twenty separate ads. This because circulation's overlap, and because a considerable percentage of people are at- tracted by each of several forms of approach. We wish to reach them all. On soap, for instance, the headline "Keep Clean" might attract a very small percentage. It is too commonplace. So might the head- line, "No animal fat." People may not care much about that. The headline, "It floats" might prove interesting. But a headline refer- ring to beauty or complexion might attract many times as many. An automobile ad might refer in the head- line to a good universal joint. It might fall flat, because so few buyers think of universal joints. The same ad with a headline, " The 11 Chapter 6 Many articles are sold under guarantee - so Psychology commonly sold that guarantees have ceased to be impressive. But one concern made a The competent advertising man must under- fortune by offering a dealer's signed warrant. stand psychology. The more he knows about The dealer to whom one paid his money it the better. He must learn that certain effects agreed in writing to pay it back if asked. In- lead to certain reactions, and use that knowl- stead of a far-away stranger, a neighbour edge to increase results and avoid mistakes. gave the warrant. The results have led many to try that plan, and it has always proved ef- Human nature is perpetual. In most re- fective. spects it is the same today as in the time of Caesar. So the principles of psychology are Many have advertised, "Try it for a week. fixed and enduring. You will never need to If you don't like it we'll return your money." unlearn what you learn about them. Then someone conceived the idea of sending goods without any money down, and saying, We learn, for instance, that curiosity is "Pay in a week if you like them." That one of the strongest human incentives. We proved many times as impressive. employ it whenever we can. Puffed Wheat and Puffed Rice were made successful One great advertising man stated the dif- largely trough curiosity. "Grains puffed to 8 ference this way: "Two men came to me, times the normal size." "Foods shot from each offering me a horse. Both made equal guns." "125 million steam explosions claims. They were good horses, kind and caused in every kernel." These foods were gentle. A child could drive them. One man failures before that factor was discovered. said, 'Try the horse for a week. If my claims are not true, come back for your money.' The We learn that cheapness is not a strong other man also said, 'Try the horse for week.' appeal. Americans are extravagant. They But he added, 'Come and pay me then.' I want bargains but not cheapness. They want naturally bought the second man's horse." to feel that they can afford to eat and have and wear the best. Treat them as if they could Now countless things - cigars, typewriters, not and they resent your attitude. washing machines, books, etc. - are sent out in this way on approval. And we find that We learn that people judge largely by people are honest. The losses are very small. price. They are not experts. In the British National Gallery is a painting, which is an- An advertiser offered a set of books to nounced in a catalogue to have cost businessmen. The advertising was unprofit- $750,000. Most people at first pass it by at a able, so he consulted another expert. The ads glance. Then later they get farther on in the were impressive. The offer seemed attractive. catalogue and learn what the painting cost. "But," said the second man, "let us add one They return then and surround it. little touch which I have found effective. Let us offer to put the buyer's name in gilt letter- A department store advertised at one ing on each book." That was done, and with Easter time a $100 hat, and the floor could scarcely another change in the ads they sold not hold the women who came to see it. some hundreds of thousands of books. We often employ this factor in psychol- Through some peculiar kink in human ogy. Perhaps we are advertising a valuable psychology the names in gilt gave much formula. To merely say that would not be added value to the books. impressive. So we state - as a fact - that we paid $100,000 for that formula. That state- Many send out small gifts, like memoran- ment when tried has won a wealth of respect. dum books, to customers and prospects. They get very small results. One man sent out a 12 letter to the effect that he had a leather- The other gained added respect for his ar- covered book with a man's name on it. It was ticle by paying retail price to let the user try waiting on him and would be sent on request. it. An article good enough for the maker to The form of request was enclosed, and it also buy is good enough for the user to buy. It is asked for certain information. That informa- vastly different to pay 15 cents to let you try tion indicated lines on which a man might be an article that to simply say, "It's free." sold. So with sampling. Hand an unwanted Nearly all men, it was found, filled out product to a housewife and she pays it slight that request and supplied the information. respect. She is in no mood to see its virtues. When a man knows that something belongs But get her to ask for a sample after reading to him - something with his name on - he will your story, and she is in a very different po- make an effort to get it, even though the thing sition. She knows your claims. She is inter- is a trifle. ested in them, else she would not act, and she expects to find the qualities you told. In the same way it is found that an offer limited to a certain class of people is far more There is a great deal in mental impression. effective than a general offer. For instance, Submit five articles exactly alike and five an offer limited to veterans of the war, or to people may choose one of them. But point members of a lodge or sect, or to executives. out in one some qualities to notice and eve- Those who are entitled to any seeming ad- ryone will find them. The five people then vantage will go a long way not to lose that will all choose the same article. advantage. If people can be made sick or well by An advertiser suffered much from sub- mental impressions, they can be made to fa- stitution. He said, "Look out for substitutes," vour a certain brand in that way. And that, on "Be sure you get this brand," etc., with no some lines, is the only way to win them. effect. Those were selfish appeals. Two concerns, side by side, sold women's Then he said, "Try our rivals' too" - said clothing on installments. The appeal, of it in his headlines. He invited comparisons course, was to poor girls who desire to dress and showed that he did not fear them. That better. One treated them like poor girls and corrected the situation. Buyers were careful made the bare business offer. to get the brand so conspicuously superior The other put a woman in charge - a that its maker could court a trial of the rest. motherly, dignified, capable woman. They Two advertisers offered food products did business in her name. They used her pic- nearly identical. Both offered a full-size ture. She signed all ads and letters. She wrote package as an introduction. But one gave his to these girls like a friend. She knew herself package free. The other bought the package. what it meant to a girl not to be able to dress A coupon was good at any store for a pack- her best. She had long sought a chance to age, for which the maker paid retail price. supply women good clothes and give them all season to pay. Now she was able to do so, The first advertiser failed and the second with the aid of men behind her. succeeded. The first even lost a large part of the trade he had. He cheapened his product There was no comparison in those two by giving a 15-cent package away. It is hard appeals. It was not long before this woman's to pay for an article, which has once been long established next-door rival had to quit. free. It is like paying railroad fare after trav- The backers of this business sold house elling on a pass. furnishings on installments. Sending out catalogues promiscuously did not pay. Of- 13 fering long-time credit often seems like a re- flection. But when a married woman bought gar- ments from Mrs _, and paid as agreed, they wrote to her something like this: "Mrs._, whom we know, tells us that you are one of her good customers. She has dealt with you, she says, and you do just as you agree, so we have opened with you a credit account on our books, good any time you wish. When you want anything in furnishings, just order it. Pay nothing in advance. We are very glad to send it without any investigation to a person recommended as you are. That was flattering. Naturally those peo- ple, when they wanted some furniture, would order from that house. There are endless phases to psychology. Some people know them by instinct. Many of them are taught by experience, but we learn most of them from others. When we see a winning method we note it down for use when occasion offers. These things are very important. An iden- tical offer made in a different way may bring multiplied returns. Somewhere in the mines of business experience we must find the best method somehow. 14 Chapter 7 been reduced 25 per cent" he gets the full Being specific value of his announcement. A mail order advertiser sold women's Platitudes and generalities roll off the human clothing to people of the poorer classes. For understanding like water from a duck. They years he used the slogan, "Lowest prices in leave no impression whatever. To say, "Best America." His rivals all copied that. Then he in the world," "Lowest price in existence," guaranteed to undersell any other dealer. His etc. is at best simply claiming the expected. rivals did likewise. Soon those claims be- But superlatives of that sort are usually dam- came common to every advertiser in his line, aging. They suggest looseness of expression, and they became commonplace. a tendency to exaggerate a careless truth. They lead readers to discount all the state- Then under able advice, he changed his ments that you make. statement to "Our net profit is 3 per cent." That was a definite statement and it proved People recognise a certain license in sell- very impressive. With their volume of busi- ing talk as they do poetry. A man may say, ness it was evident that their prices must be "Supreme in quality" without seeming a liar, minimum. No one could be expected to do though one may know that the other brands business on less than 3 per cent. The next are equally as good. One expects a salesman year their business made a sensational in- to put his best foot forward and excuses some crease. exaggeration born of enthusiasm. But just for that reason general statements count for little. At one time in the automobile business And a man inclined to superlatives must ex- there was a general impression that profits pect that his every statement will be taken were excessive. One well-advised advertiser with some caution came out with this statement; "Our profit is 9 per cent." Then he cited actual costs on the But a man who makes a specific claim is hidden costs of a $1,500 car. They amounted either telling the truth or a lie. People do not to $735, without including anything one expect an advertiser to lie. They know that he could easily see. This advertiser made a great can't lie in the best mediums. The growing success along those lines at that time. respect in advertising has largely come through a growing regard for its truth. Shaving soaps have long been advertised "Abundant lather," "Does not dry on the So a definite statement is usually ac- face," "Acts quickly," etc. One advertiser had cepted. Actual figures are not generally dis- as good a chance as the other to impress counted. Specific facts, when stated, have those claims. their full weight and effect. Then a new maker came into the field. It This is very important to consider in was a tremendously difficult field, for every written or personal salesmanship. The weight customer had to be taken from someone else. of an argument may often be multiplied by He stated specific facts. He said, "Multiplies making it specific. Say that a tungsten lamp itself in lather 250 times" "Softens the beard gives more light than a carbon and you leave in one minute." "Maintains its creamy full- some doubt. Say it gives three and one-third ness for ten minutes on the face." "The final times the light and people realise that you result of testing and comparing 130 formu- have made tests and comparisons. las." Perhaps never in advertising has there been a quicker and greater success in an A dealer may say, "Our prices have been equally difficult field. reduced" without creating any marked im- pression. But when he says, "Our prices have Makers of safety razors have long adver- tised quick shaves. One maker advertised a 15 78-second shave. That was definite. It indi- cated actual tests. That man at once made a sensational advance in his sales. In the old days all beers were advertised as "Pure," The claim made no impression. The bigger the type used the bigger the folly. After millions had been spent to impress a platitude, one brewer pictured a plate glass where beer was cooled in filtered air. He pictured a filter of white wood pulp through which every drop was cleared. He told how bottles were washed four times by machin- ery. How he went down 4,000 feet for pure water. How 1,018 experiments had been made to attain a yeast to give beer that matchless flavour. And how all the yeast was forever made from that adopted mother cell. All claims were such as any brewer might have made. They were mere essentials in or- dinary brewing. But he was the first to tell the people about them, while others cried merely "pure beer." He made the greatest success that was ever made in beer advertis- ing. "Used the world over" is a very elastic claim. Then one advertiser said, "Used by the peoples of 52 nations," and many others fol- lowed. One statement may take as much room as another, yet a definite statement is many times as effective. The difference is vast. If a claim is worth making, make it in the most impressive way. All these effects must be studied. Sales- manship-in-print is very expensive. A sales- man's loose talk matters little. But when you are talking to millions at enormous cost, the weight of your claims is important. No generality has any weight whatever. It is like saying, "How do you do?" When you have no intention of inquiring about one's health. But specific claims when made in print are taken at their value. 16 Chapter 8 turns. So with some general ads. They are Tell your full story perfected ads, embodying in the best way known all that one has to say. Advertisers do Whatever claims you use to gain attention, not expect a second reading. Their constant the advertisement should tell a story reasona- returns come from getting new readers. bly complete. If you watch returns, you will In every ad consider only new customers. find that certain claims appeal far more that People using your product are not going to others. But in usual lines a number of claims read your ads. They have already read and appeal to a large percentage. Then present decided. You might advertise month after those claims in every ad for their effect on month to present users that the product they that percentage. use is poison, and they would never know it. Some advertisers, for sake of brevity, pre- So never waste one line of your space to say sent one claim at a time. Or they write a se- something to present to users, unless you can rial ad, continued in another issue. There is say it in your headlines. Bear in mind always no greater folly. Those serials almost never that you can address an unconverted pros- connect. pect. When you once get a person's attention, Any reader of your ad is interested; else then is the time to accomplish all ever hope he would not be a reader. You are dealing with him. Bring all your good arguments to with someone willing to listen. So do your bare. Cover every phase of your subject. One level best. That reader, if you lose him now, fact appeals to some, one to another. Omit may never again be a reader. any one and a certain percentage will lose the You are like a salesman in a busy man's fact, which might convince. office. He may have tried again and again to People are not apt to read successive ad- get entree. He may never be admitted again. vertisements on any single line. No more This is his one chance to get action, and he than you read a news item twice, or a story. must employ it to the full. In one reading of an advertisement one de- This brings up the question of brevity. The cides for or against a proposition. And that most common expression you hear about ad- operates against a second reading. So present vertising is that people will not read much. to the reader, when once you get him, every Yet a vast amount of the best-paying adver- important claim you have. tising shows that people do read much. Then The best advertisers do that. They learn they write for a book, perhaps - for added their appealing claims by tests - by compar- information. ing results from various headlines. Gradually There is fixed rule on this subject of brev- they accumulate a list of claims important ity. One sentence may tell a complete story enough to use. All those claims appear in on a line like chewing gum. It may on an ar- every ad thereafter. ticle like Cream of Wheat. But, whether long The advertisements seem monotonous to or short, an advertising story should be rea- the men who read them all. A complete story sonably complete. is always the same. But one must consider A certain man desired a personal car. He that the average reader is only once a reader, cared little about the price. He wanted a car probably. And what you fail to tell him in to take pride in; else he felt he would never that ad is something he may never know. drive it. But, being a good businessman, he Some advertisers go so far as to never wanted value for his money. change their ads. Single mail order ads often run year after year without diminishing re- 17 His inclination was towards a Rolls Royce. He also considered a Pierce-Arrow, a Locomobile and others. But these famous cars offered no information. Their advertise- ments were very short. Evidently the makers considered it undignified to argue compara- tive merits. The Marmon, on the contrary, told a com- plete story. He read columns and books about it. So he bought a Marmon, and was never sorry. But he afterwards learned facts about another car at nearly three times the price, which would have sold him the car, had he known them. What folly it is to cry a name in a line like that, plus a few brief generalities. A car may be a lifetime investment. It involves an im- portant expenditure. A man interested enough to buy a car will read a volume about it if the volume is interesting. So with everything, you may be simply trying to change a woman from one breakfast food to another, or one toothpaste, or one soap. She is wedded to what she is using. Perhaps she has used it for years. You have a hard proposition. If you do not believe it, go to her in person and try to make the change. Not to merely buy a first package to please you, but to adopt your brand. A man who once does that at a woman's door won't argue for brief advertisements. He will never again say, "A sentence will do," or a name claim or a boast. Nor will the man who traces his results. Note that brief ads are never keyed. Note that every traced ad tells a complete story, though it takes columns to tell. Never be guided in any way by ads, which are untraced. Never do anything because some uninformed advertiser considers that something right. Never be led in new paths by the blind. Apply to your advertising ordi- nary common sense. Take the opinion of no- body, whom knows nothing about his returns. 18 Chapter 9 So with correspondence schools. Theirs is Art in advertising traced advertising. Picturing men in high po- sitions of taking upward steps forms a very Pictures in advertising are very expensive. convincing argument. Not in cost of good art work alone, but in the So with beauty articles. Picturing beautiful cost of space. From one-third to one-half of women, admired and attractive, is a supreme an advertising campaign is often staked on inducement. But there is a great advantage in the power of the pictures. including a fascinated man. Women desire Anything expensive must be effective; beauty largely because of men. Then show else it involves much waste. So art in adver- them using their beauty, as women do use it, tising is a study of paramount importance. to gain maximum effect. Pictures should not be used merely be- Advertising pictures should not be eccen- cause they are interesting, or to attract atten- tric. Don't treat your subject lightly. Don't tion, or to decorate an ad. We have covered lessen respect for yourself or your article by these points elsewhere. Ads are not written to any attempt at frivolity. People do not pa- interest, please or amuse. You are not writing tronise a clown. There are two things about to please the hoi- polloi. You are writing on a which men should not joke. One is business, serious subject - the subject of money the other is home. spending. And you address a restricted mi- An eccentric picture may do you serious nority. damage. One may gain attention by wearing Use pictures only to attract those who may a fool's cap. But he would ruin his selling profit you. Use them only when they form a prospects. better selling argument than the same amount Then a picture, which is eccentric or of space set in type. unique, takes attention from your subject. Mail order advertisers, as we have said, You cannot afford to do that. Your main ap- have pictures down to a science. Some use peal lies in headline. Over-shadow that and large pictures, some small, some omit pic- you kill it. Don't, to gain general and useless tures entirely. A noticeable fact is that none attention, sacrifice the attention that you of them uses expensive artwork. Be sure that want. all these things are done for reasons made apparent by results. Don't be like a salesman who wears con- spicuous clothes. The small percentage he Any other advertiser should apply the appeals to are not usually good buyers. The same principles. Or, if none exist to apply to great majority of the sane and thrifty heartily his line, he should work out his own by tests. despite him. Be normal in everything you do It is certainly unwise to spend large sums on when you are seeking confidence and con- a dubious adventure. viction. Pictures in many lines form a major fac- Generalities cannot be applied to art. tor. Omitting the lines where the article itself There are seeming exceptions to most state- should be pictured. In some lines, like Arrow ments. Each line must be studied by itself. Collars and most in clothing advertising, pictures have proved most convincing. Not But the picture must help sell the goods. It only in picturing the collar or the clothes, but should help more than anything else could do also in picturing men whom others envy, in in like space, else use that something else. surroundings which others covet. The pic- Many pictures tell a story better than type tures subtly suggest that these articles of ap- can do. In advertising of Puffed Grains the parel will aid men to those desired positions. picture of the grains were found to be most 19 effective. They awake curiosity. No figure The general rule applies. Do nothing to drawing in that case compares in results with merely interest, amuse, or attract. That is not these grains. your province. Do only that which wins the people you are after in the cheapest possible Other pictures form a total loss. We have way. cited cases of that kind. The only way to know, as is with most other questions, is by But these are minor questions. They are compared results. mere economies, not largely affecting the re- sults of a campaign. There are disputed questions in artwork, which we will cite without expressing opin- Some things you do may cut all your re- ions. They seem to be answered both ways, sults in two. Other things can be done which according to the line, which is advertised. multiply those results. Minor costs are insig- nificant when compared with basic princi- Does it pay better to use fine art work or ples. One man may do business in a shed, ordinary? Some advertisers pay up to $2,000 another in a palace. That is immaterial. The per drawing. They figure that the space is ex- great question is one's power to get the pensive. The art cost is small in comparison. maximum results. So they consider the best worth its cost. Others argue that few people have art education. They bring out their ideas, and bring them out well, at a fraction of the cost. Mail order advertisers are generally in this class. The question is one of small moment. Certainly good art pays as well as mediocre. And the cost of preparing ads is very small compared with the cost of insertion. Should every ad have a new picture? Or may a picture be repeated? Both viewpoints have many supporters. The probability is that repetition is an economy. We are after new customers always. It is not probable that they remember a picture we have used before. If they do, repetition does not detract. Do colour pictures pay better than black and white? Not generally, according to the evidence we have gathered to date. Yet there are exceptions. Certain food dishes look far better in colours. Tests on lines like oranges, and desserts etc. show that colour pays. Col- our comes close to placing the products on actual exhibition. But colour used to amuse or to gain atten- tion is like anything else that we use for that purpose. It may attract many times as many people, yet not secure a hearing from as many whom we want. 20 Chapter 10 children it has age-old fame. Doctors have Things too costly advised it for many generations. People who don't serve oatmeal are therefore difficult to Many things are possible in advertising start. Perhaps their objections are insur- which are too costly to attempt. That is an- mountable. Anyway, the cost proved to be other reason why every project and method beyond all possible return. should be weighed and determined by a There are many advertisers who know known scale of cost and result. facts like these and concede them. They Changing people's habits is very expen- would not think of devoting a whole cam- sive. A project, which involves that, must be paign to any such impossible object. Yet they seriously considered. To sell shaving soap to devote a share of their space to that object. the peasants of Russia one would first need to That is only the same folly on a smaller scale. change their beard wearing habits. The cost It is not good business. would be excessive, Yet countless advertisers No one orange grower or raisin grower try to do things almost as impossible. Just could attempt to increase the consumption of because questions are not ably considered, those fruits. The cost might be a thousand and results are traced but unknown. times his share of the returns. But thousands For instance, the advertiser of a dentifrice of growers combined have done it on those may spend much space and money to educate and many other lines. There lies one of the people to brush their teeth. Test, which we great possibilities of advertising develop- know of, have indicated that the cost of such ment. The general consumption of scores of converts may run from $20 to $25 each. Not foods can be profitably increased. But it must only because of the difficulty, but because be done on wide co-operation. much of the advertising goes to people al- No advertiser could afford to educate peo- ready converted. ple on vitamins or germicides. Such things Such a cost, of course, is unthinkable. One are done by authorities, through countless might not in a lifetime get it back in sales. columns of unpaid-for space. But great suc- The maker who learned these facts by tests cesses have been made by going to people make no attempt to educate people to the already educated and satisfying their created tooth brush habit. What cannot be done on a wants. large scale profitably can not be done on a It is a very shrewd thing to watch the de- small scale. So not one line in any ad is de- velopment of a popular trend, the creation of voted to this object. This maker, who is con- new desires. Then at the right time offer to stantly guided in everything by keying every satisfy those desires. That was done on ad, has made remarkable success. yeast's, for instance, and on numerous anti- Another dentifrice maker spends much septics. It can every year be done on new money to make converts to the toothbrush. things which some popular fashion or wide- The object is commendable, but altruistic. spread influence is bring into vogue. But it is The new business he creates is shared by his a very different thing to create that fashion, rivals. He is wondering why his sales in- taste or influence for all in your field to crease is in no way commensurate with his share. expenditure. There are something's we know of which An advertiser at one time spent much might possibly be sold to half the homes in money to educate people to the use of oat- the country. A Dakin-fluid germicide, for in- meal. The results were too small to discover. stance. But the consumption would be very All people know of oatmeal. As a food for small. A small bottle might last for years. 21 Customers might cost $1.50 each. And the this subject. We do not the percentage of revenue per customer might not in ten years people who suffer from asthma. A canvass repay the cost of getting. Mail order sales on might show it to be one in a hundred. If so, single articles, however popular, rarely cost he would need to cover a hundred useless less than $2.50 each. It is reasonable to sup- readers to reach one he wants. His cost of pose that sales made through dealers on like result might be twenty times as high as on articles will cost approximately as much. another article, which appeals to one in five. Those facts must be considered on any one- That excessive cost would probably mean sale article. Possibly one user will win others. disaster. For reasons like these every new But traced returns as in mail order advertising advertiser should seek for wise advice. No would prohibit much advertising, which is one with the interests of advertising at heart now being done. will advise any dubious venture. Costly mistakes are made by blindly fol- Some claims not popular enough to fea- lowing some ill-conceived idea. An article, ture in the main are still popular enough to for instance, may have many uses, one of consider. They influence a certain number of which is to prevent disease. Prevention is not people - say one-fourth of your possible cus- a popular subject, however much it should tomers. Such claims may be featured to ad- be. People will do much to cure trouble, but vantage in a certain percentage of headlines. people in general will do little to prevent it. It should probably be included in every ad- This has been proved by many disappoint- vertisement. But those are not things to guess ments. at. They should be decided by actual knowl- edge, usually by traced returns. One may spend much money in arguing prevention when the same money spent on This chapter, like every chapter, points out another claim would bring many times the a very important reason for knowing your sales. A heading, which asserts one claim, results. Scientific advertising is impossible may bring ten times the results of a heading, without that. So is safe advertising. So is which asserted another. An advertiser may go maximum profit. far astray unless he finds out. Groping in the dark in this field has A toothpaste may tend to prevent decay. It probably cost enough money to pay the na- may also beautify teeth. Tests will probably tional debt. That is what has filled the adver- show that the latter appeal is many times as tising graveyards. That is what has discour- strong as the former. The most successful aged thousands who could profit in this field. toothpaste advertiser never features tooth And the dawn of knowledge is what is troubles in his headlines. Tests have proved bringing a new day in the advertising busi- them unappealing. Other advertisers in this ness line center on those troubles. That is often because results are not known and compared. A soap may tend to cure eczema. It may at the same time improve complexion. The ec- zema claim may appeal to one in a hundred while the beauty claims would appeal to nearly all. To even mention the eczema claims might destroy the beauty claims. A man has a relief for asthma. It has done so much for him he considers it a great ad- vertising possibility. We have no statistics on 22 Chapter 11 A $25,000-a-year man, before advertising Information outfits for acetylene gas, spent weeks in go- ing from farm to farm. Another man did that An ad-writer, to have a chance at success, on a tractor. must gain full information on his subject. Before advertising a shaving cream, one The library of an ad agency should have thousand men were asked to state what they books on every line that calls for research. A most desired in a shaving soap. painstaking advertising man will often read for weeks on some problem, which comes up. Called on to advertise pork and beans, a Perhaps in many volumes he will find few canvass was made of some thousand of facts to use. But some one fact may be the homes. Theretofore all pork and bean adver- keynote of success. tising has been based on "Buy my brand." That canvass showed that only 4 per cent of This writer has just completed an enor- the people used any canned pork and beans. mous amount of reading, medical and other- Ninety-six per cent baked their beans at wise, on coffee. This to advertise a coffee home. The problem was not to sell a particu- without caffeine. One scientific article out of lar brand. Any such attempt appealed to only a thousand perused gave the keynote for that four per cent. The right appeal was to win the campaign. It was the fact that caffeine people away from home-baked beans. The stimulation comes two hours after drinking. advertising, which without knowledge must So the immediate bracing effects which peo- have failed, proved a great success. ple seek from coffee do not come from the caffeine. Removing caffeine does not remove A canvas is made, not only of homes, but the kick. It does not modify coffee's delights, also of dealers. Competition is measured up. for caffeine is tasteless and odourless. Every advertiser of a similar product is Caffeine-less coffee has been advertised written for his literature and claims. Thus we for years. People regarded it like near beer. start with exact information on all that are Only through weeks of reading did we find a rivals are doing. way to put it in another light. Clipping bureaus are patronised, so that To advertise toothpaste this writer has also everything printed on our subject comes to read many volumes of scientific matter dry as the man who writes ads. dust. But in the middle of one volume he Every comment that comes from consum- found the idea which has helped make mil- ers or dealers goes to this man's desk. lions for that tooth paste maker. And has made this campaign one of the sensations of It is often necessary in a line to learn the advertising. total expenditure. We must learn what a user spends a year, else we shall not know if users Genius is the art of taking pains. The ad- are worth the cost of getting. vertising man who spares the midnight oil will never get very far. We must learn the total consumption, else Before advertising a food product, 130 we may overspend. men were employed for weeks to interview We must learn the percentage of readers all classes of consumers. to whom our product appeals. We must often On another line, letters we sent to 12,000 gather this data on classes. The percentage physicians. Questionnaires are often mailed may differ on farms and in cities. The cost of to tens of thousands of men and women to advertising largely depends on the percentage get the viewpoint of consumers. of waste circulation. 23 Thus a very large volume of data usually precedes an advertising campaign. Even an experimental campaign, for effective experi- ments cost a great deal of work and time. Often chemists are employed to prove or disprove doubtful claims. An advertiser, in all good faith, makes an impressive assertion. If it is true, it will form a big factor in adver- tising. If untrue, it may prove a boomerang. And it may bar our ads from good mediums. It is remarkable how often a maker proves wrong on assertions he has made for years. Impressive claims are made far more im- pressive by making them exact. So many ex- periments are made to get the actual figures. For instance, a certain drink is known to have a large food value. That simple assertion is not very convincing. So we send the drink to the laboratory and find that its food value is 425 calories per pint. One pint is equal to six eggs in calories of nutriment. That claim makes a great impression. In every line involving scientific details a censor is appointed. The ad-writer, however well informed, may draw wrong inferences from facts. So an authority passes on every advertisement. The uninformed would be staggered to know the amount of work involved in a sin- gle ad. Weeks of work sometimes. The ad seems so simple, and it must be simple to ap- peal to simple people. But back of that ad may lie reams of data, volumes of informa- tion, months of research. So this is no lazy man's field. 24 Chapter 12 It is a well-known fact that the greatest Strategy profits are made on great volume at small profit. Campbell's Soups, Palmolive Soap, Advertising is much like war, minus the Karo Syrup and Ford cars are conspicuous venom. Or much, if you prefer, like a game examples. A price, which appeals only to - of chess. We are usually out to capture others' say 10 percent - multiplies the cost of selling. citadels or garner others' trade. But on other lines high price is unimpor- We must have skill and knowledge. We tant. High profit is essential. The line may must have training and experience, also right have small sale per customer. One hardly equipment. We must have proper ammuni- cares what he pays for a corn remedy because tion, and enough. We dare not underestimate he uses little. The maker must have a large opponents. Our intelligence department is a margin because of small consumption. vital factor, as told in the previous chapter. On other lines a higher price may even be We need alliances with dealers, as another an inducement. Such lines are judged largely chapter tells. We also need strategy of the by price. A product which costs more than ablest sort, to multiply the value of our the ordinary is considered above the ordinary. forces. So the price question is always a very big Sometimes in new campaigns comes the factor in strategy. question of a name. That may be most im- Competition must be considered. What are portant. Often the right name is an adver- the forces against you? What have they in tisement in itself. It may tell a fairly complete price or quality or claims to weigh against story, like Shredded Wheat, Cream of Wheat, your appeal? What have you to win trade Puffed Rice, Spearmint Gum, Palmolive against them? What have you to hold trade Soap, etc. against them when you get it? That may be a great advantage. The name How strongly are your rivals entrenched? is usually conspicuously displayed. Many a There are some fields, which are almost im- name has proved to be the greatest factor in pregnable. They are usually lines, which cre- an article's success. Other names prove a dis- ate a new habit, or custom and which typify tinct disadvantage - Toasted Corn Flakes, for that custom with consumers. They so domi- instance. Too many others may share a de- nate a field that one can hardly hope to in- mand with the man who builds it up. vade it. They have volume, the profit to make Many coined names without meaning a tremendous fight. have succeeded. Kodak, Karo etc., are exam- Such fields are being constantly invaded. ples. They are exclusive. The advertiser who But it is done through some convincing ad- gives them meaning never needs to share his vantage, or through very superior salesman- advantage. But a significant name, which ship-in-print. helps to impress a dominant claim, is cer- tainly a good advantage. Names that tell sto- Other lines are only less difficult. A new ries have been worth millions of dollars. So a shaving soap, as an example. About every great deal of research often precedes the se- possible customer is using a rival soap. Most lection of a name. of them are satisfied with it. Many are wed- ded to it. The appeal must be strong enough Sometimes a price must be decided. A to win those people from long-established high price creates resistance. It tends to limit favour. one's field. The cost of getting an added profit may be more than the profit. Such things are not accomplished by hap- hazard efforts. Not by considering people in 25 the mass and making blind stabs for their fa- The attitude of dealers must be considered. vours. We must consider individuals, typical There is a growing inclination to limit lines, people who are using rival brands. A man on to avoid duplicate lines, to lesson inventories. a Pullman, for instance, using his favourite If this applies to your line, how will dealers soap. What could you say to him in person to receive it? If there is opposition, how can we get him to change to yours? We cannot go circumvent it? after thousands of men until we learn how to The problems of distribution are important win one. and enormous. To advertise something that The maker may say that he has no distinc- few dealers supply is a waste of ammunition. tions. He is making a good product, but much Those problems will be considered in another like others. He deserves a good share of the chapter. trade, but he has nothing exclusive to offer. These are samples of the problems which However, there is nearly always something advertising men must solve. These are some impressive which others have not told. We of the reasons why vast experience is neces- must discover it. We must have a seeming sary. One oversight may cost the client mil- advantage. People don't quit habits without lions in the end. One wrong piece of strategy reason. may prohibit success. Things done in one There is the problem of substitution and way may be twice as easy, half as costly, as how to head it off. That often steals much of when done another way. one's trade. This must be considered in one's Advertising without this preparation is original plan. One must have foresight to see like a waterfall going to waste. The power all eventualities, and the wisdom to establish might be there, but it is not made effective. his defenses in advance. We must center the force and direct it in a Many pioneers in the line establish large practical direction. demands. Then, through some fault in their Advertising often looks very simple. foundations, lose a large share of the harvest. Thousands of men claim ability to do it. And Theirs is a mere brand, for instance, where it there is still is a wide impression that many might have stood for an exclusive product. men can. As a result, much advertising goes Vaseline is an example. That product es- by favour. But the men who know realise that tablished a new demand, then almost mo- the problems are as many and as important as nopolized that demand through wisdom at the the problems in building a skyscraper. And start. To have called it some different brand many of them lie in the foundations. of petroleum jelly might have made a differ- ence of millions in results. Jell-O, Postum, Victrola, Kodak, etc. es- tablished coined names, which came to typify a product. Some such names have been ad- mitted to the dictionary. They have become common names, though coined and exclu- sive. Royal Baking Powder and Toasted Corn Flakes, on the other hand, when they pio- neered their fields, left the way open to per- petual substitution. So did Horlick's Malted Milk. 26 Chapter 13 make the coupon good for a package at the Use of samples store. Thus we get a longer test. The product itself should be its own best You say that is expensive. So is it expen- salesman. Not the product alone, but the sive to gain a prospect's interest. It may cost product plus a mental impression, and atmos- you 50 cents to get the person to the point of phere, which you place around it. That being writing for a sample. Don't stop at 15 cents so, samples are of prime importance. How- additional to make that interest valuable. ever expensive, they usually form the cheap- Another way in which samples pay is by est selling method. A salesman might as well keying your advertisements. They register the go out without his sample case as an adver- interest you create. Thus you can compare tiser. one with the another ad, headline, plan and Sampling does not apply to little things method. alone, like foods or proprietaries. It can be That means in any line an enormous sav- applied in some way to almost every thing. ing. The wisest, most experienced man can- We have sampled clothing. We are now sam- not tell what will most appeal in any line of pling phonograph records. copy. Without a key to guide you, your re- Samples serve numerous valuable pur- turns are very apt to cost you twice what they poses. They enable on to use the word "Free" need cost. And we know that some ads on the in ads. That often multiplies readers. Most same product will cost ten times what others people want to learn about any offered gift. cost. A sample may pay for itself several Test often show that samples pay for them- times over by giving you an accurate check. selves - perhaps several times over - in mul- Again samples enable you to refer cus- tiplying the readers of your ads without addi- tomers where they can be supplied. This is tional cost of space. important before you attain general distribu- tion. A sample gets action. The reader of your ad may not be convinced to the point of Many advertisers lose much by being buying. But he ready to learn more about the penny wise. They are afraid of imposition, or product that you offer. So he cuts out a cou- they try to save pennies. That is why they ask pon, lays it aside, and later mails it or pres- ten cents for a sample, or a stamp or two. ents it. Without that coupon he would soon Getting that dime may cost them from 40 forget. cents to $1. That is, it may add that to the cost of replies. But it is remarkable how Then you have the name and address of an many will pay that addition rather than offer interested prospect. You can start him using a sample free. your product. You can give him fuller infor- mation. You can follow him up. Putting a price on a sample greatly retards replies. Then it prohibits you from using the That reader might not again read one of word "Free," and as we have stated, that word your ads in six months. Your impression "free" will generally more than pay for your would be lost. But when he writes you, you samples. have a chance to complete with that prospect all that can be done. In that saving of waste For the same reason some advertisers say, the sample pays for itself. "You buy one package, we will buy the other." Or they make a coupon good for part Sometimes a small sample is not a fair of the purchase price. Any keyed returns will test. Then we may send an order on the clearly prove that such offers do not pay. Be- dealer for a full-size package. Or we may fore a prospect is converted, it is approxi- 27 mately as hard to get half price for your arti- the telephone is more common and conven- cle as to get the full price for it. ient than the use of stamps. Bear in mind that you are the seller. You Sometimes it is not possible to supply all are the one courting interest. Then don't make dealers with samples. Then we refer people it difficult to exhibit that interest. Don't ask to some central stores. These stores are glad your prospects to pay for your selling efforts. to have many people come there. And other Three in four will refuse to pay - perhaps dealers do not generally object so long as nine in ten. they share in the sales. Cost of requests for samples differ in It is important to have these dealers send every line. It depends on your breadth of ap- you the coupons promptly. Then you can peal. Some things appeal to everybody, some follow up the inquiries while their interest is to a small percentage. One issue of the papers fresh. in Greater New York brought 1,460,000 re- It is said that sample users repeat. They do quest for a can of evaporated milk. On a to some extent. But repeaters form a small chocolate drink, one-fifth the coupons pub- percentage. Figure it in your cost. lished are presented. Another line not widely used may bring a fraction of that number. Say to the woman, "Only one sample to a home" and few women will try to get more of But the cost of inquiries is usually enough them. And the few who cheat you are not to be important. Then don't neglect them. generally the people who would buy. So you Don't stint your efforts with those you have are not losing purchasers, but the samples half sold. An inquiry means that a prospect only. has read your story and is interested. He or she would like to try your product and learn On numerous lines we have for long of- more about it. Do what you would do if that fered full-sized packages free. The packages prospect stood before you. were priced at from 10 cents to 50 cents each. In certain territories for a time we have Cost of inquiries depends largely on how checked up on repeaters. And we found the they come. Asking people to mail the coupon loss much less than the cost of checking. brings minimum returns. Often four times as many will present that coupon for a sample at In some lines samples would be wasted on the store. children, and they are most apt to get them. Then say in your coupon "adults only." On a line before the writer now, sample Children will not present such coupons, and inquiries obtained by mail average 70 cents they will rarely mail them in. each. The same ads bring inquiries at from 18 cents to 22 cents each when the coupons are But one must be careful about publishing presented at a local store. coupons good for a full-size package at any store. Some people, and even dealers, may Most people write few letters. Writing is buy up many papers. We do not announce the an effort. Perhaps they have no stamps in the date of such offers. And we insert them in house. Most people will pay carfare to get a Sunday papers, not so easily bought up. sample rather than two cents postage. There- fore, it is always best, where possible; to But we do not advocate samples given out have samples delivered locally. promiscuously. Samples distributed to homes, like waifs on the doorsteps, probably On one line three methods were offered. never pay. Many of them never reach the The woman could write for a sample, or tele- house the housewife. When they do, there is phone, or call at a store. Seventy per cent of no prediction for them. The product is cheap- the inquiries came by telephone. The use of ened. It is not introduced in a favorable way. 28 So with demonstrations in stores, there is always a way to get the same results at a fraction of the cost. Many advertisers do not understand this. They supply thousands of samples to dealers to be handed out, as they will. Could a trace be placed on the cost of returns, the adver- tiser would be stunned. Give samples to interested people only. Give them only to people who exhibit that interest by some effort. Give them only to people whom you have told your story. First create an atmosphere of respect, a desire, an expectation. When people are in that mood, your sample will usually confirm the quali- ties you claim. Here again comes the advantage of figur- ing cost per customer. That is the only way to gauge advertising. Samples sometimes seem to double advertising cost. They often cost more than the advertising. Yet, rightly used, they almost invariably form the cheapest way to get customers. And that is what you want. The arguments against samples are usu- ally biased. They may come from advertising agents who like to see all the advertising money spent in print. Answer such arguments by tests. Try some towns with them, some without. Where samples are effectively em- ployed, we rarely find a line where they do not lesson the cost per customer. 29 Chapter 14 certain dealers, the average dealer wants to Getting distribution be included. It is often possible to get most of them by offering to name them in the first Most advertisers are confronted with the few ads. problem of getting distribution. National ad- Whether you advertise few or many deal- vertising is unthinkable without that. A ven- ers, the others will stock in very short order if ture cannot be profitable if nine in ten of the the advertising is successful. Then the trade converts fail to find the goods. is referred to all dealers. To force dealers to stock by bringing re- peated demands may be enormously expen- The sample plans dealt with in the previ- sive. To cover the country with a selling ous chapter aid quick distribution. They often force is usually impossible. To get dealers to pay for themselves in this way alone. stock an unknown line on promise of adver- If the samples are distributed locally, the tising is not easy. They have seen to many coupon names the store. The prospects who efforts fail, too many promises rescinded. go there to get the samples know that those We cannot discuss all plans for getting stores are supplied, if a nearer dealer is not. distribution. There are scores of ways em- Thus little trade is lost. ployed, according to the enterprise. Some When sample inquiries come to the ad- start by soliciting direct sales - mail orders - vertiser, inquiries are referred to certain deal- until the volume of demand forces dealers to ers at the start. Enough demand is centered supply. there to force those dealers to supply it. Some get into touch with prospects by a Sometimes most stores are supplied with sample or other offer, then refer them to cer- samples, but on the requirement of a certain tain dealers who are stocked. purchase. You supply a dozen samples with Some well-known can get a large percent- a dozen packages, for instance. Then inquir- age of dealers to stock in advance under ies for samples are referred to all stores. This guarantee of sale. Some consign goods to quickly forces general distribution. Dealers jobbers so dealers can easily order. Some don't like to have their customers go to com- name certain dealers in their ads until dealers petitors even for a sample. in general stock. Where a coupon is used, good at any store The problems in this line are numberless. for a full-size package, the problem of distri- The successful methods are many. But most bution becomes simple. Mail to dealer's of them apply to lines too few to be worthy proofs of the ad, which will contain a cou- of discussion in a book like this. pon. Point out to each that many of his cus- tomers are bound to present that coupon. We shall deal here with articles of wide Each coupon presents a cash sale at full appeal and repeated sales, like foods or pro- profit. No average dealer will let those cou- prietary articles. pon customers go elsewhere. We usually start with local advertising, Such a free-package offer often pays for even though magazine advertising is best itself in this way. It forms the cheapest way adapted to the article. We get our distribution of getting general distribution. town by town, then change to national adver- tising. Some of the most successful advertisers have done this in a national way. They have Sometimes we name the dealers who are inserted coupon ads in magazines, each cou- stocked. As others stock, we add their names. pon good at any store for a full-size package. When a local campaign is proposed, naming A proof of the ad is sent to dealers in ad- 30 vance, with a list of the magazines to be used, But don't start advertising without distri- and their circulation. bution. Don't get distribution by methods too expensive. Or by slow old-fashioned meth- In this way, in one week sometimes, mak- ods. The loss of time may cost you enor- ers attain a reasonable national distribution. mously in sales. And it may enable energetic And the coupon ad, when it appears, com- rivals to get ahead of you. pletes it. Here again the free packages cost less than other ways of forcing distribution. Go to men who know by countless experi- And they start thousands of users besides. ences the best plan to apply to your line. Palmolive Soap and Puffed Grains are among the products, which attain their distribution in that way. Half the circulation of a newspaper may go to outside towns. That half may be wasted if you offer a sample at local stores. Say in your coupon that outside people should write you for a sample. When they write, do not mail the sample. Send the samples to a local store, and refer inquiries to that store. Mail- ing a sample may make a convert who cannot be supplied. But the store, which supplies the sample, will usually supply demand. In these ways, many advertisers get na- tional distribution without employing a single salesman. They get it immediately. And they get it at far lower cost than by any other method. There are advertisers who, in start- ing, send every dealer a few packages as a gift. That is better, perhaps, than losing cus- tomers created. But it is very expensive. Those free packages must be sold by adver- tising. Figure their cost at your selling price, and you will see that you are paying a high cost per dealer. A salesman might sell these small stocks at a lower cost. And other meth- ods might be vastly cheaper. Sending stocks on consignment to retail- ers is not widely favoured. Many dealers re- sent it. Collections are difficult. And un- businesslike methods do not win dealer re- spect. The plans advocated here are the best plans yet discovered for the lines to which they apply. Other lines require different methods. The ramifications are too many to discuss in a book like this. 31 Chapter 15 comes back. Before we spread out, we prove Test campaigns our undertaking absolutely safe. So there are today no advertising disasters piloted by men Almost any questions can be answered, who know. cheaply, quickly and finally, by a test cam- Perhaps we try out our project in four or paign. That is the way to answer them, not by five towns. We may use a sample offer or a arguments around a table. Go to the court of free package to get users started quickly. last resort. The buyers of your product. Then we wait and see if users buy those sam- On every new project there comes up the ples. If they do, will they continue? How question of selling that article profitably. You much will they buy? How long does it take and your friends may like it, but the majority for the profit to return our cost of selling? may not. Some rival product may be better A test like this may cost $3,000 to $5,000. liked or cheaper. It may be strongly en- It is not all lost, even when the product trenched. The users won away from it may proves unpopular. Some sales are made. cost too much to get. Nearly every test will in time bring back the entire cost. People may buy and not repeat. The arti- cle may last too long. It may appeal to a Sometimes we find that the cost of the ad- small percentage, so most of your advertising vertising comes back before the bills are due. goes to waste. That means that the product can be advertised without investment. Many a great advertiser There are many surprises in advertising. A has been built up without any cost whatever project you will laugh at may make a great beyond immediate receipts. That is an ideal success. A project you are sure of may fall situation. down. All because tastes differ so. None of us know enough people's desires to get an On another product it may take three average viewpoint. months to bring back the cost with a profit. But one is sure of his profit in that time. In the old days, advertisers ventured on When he spreads out he must finance ac- their own opinions. The few guessed right, cordingly. the many wrong. Those were the times of ad- vertising disaster. Even those who succeeded Think what this means. A man has what came close to the verge before the time is he considers an advertising possibility. But turned. They did not know their cost per national advertising looks so big and expen- customer or their sale per customer. The cost sive that he dare not undertake it. of selling might take a long to come back. Now he presents it in a few average Often it never came back. towns, at a very moderate cost. With almost Now we let the thousands decide what the no risk whatever. From the few thousands he millions will do. We make a small venture, learns what the millions will do. Then he acts and watch cost and result. When we learn accordingly. If he then branches he knows to what a thousand customers cost, we know a certainty just what his results will be. almost exactly what a million will cost. He is playing on the safe side of a hundred When we learn what they buy, we know what to one shot. If the article is successful, it may a million will buy. make him millions. If he is mistaken about it, We establish averages on a small scale, the loss is a trifle. and those averages always hold. We know These are facts we desire to emphasise our cost, we know our sale, and we know our and spread. All our largest accounts are now profit and loss. We know how soon our cost built in this way, from very small beginnings. 32 When businessmen realise that this can be of all. It reduced our cost of selling by 75 per done, hundreds of others will do it. For cent. That is, it was four times more effective countless fortune-earners now lie dormant. than the best plan used before. The largest advertiser in the world makes That is what mail order advertisers do - try a business of starting such projects. One by out plan after plan to constantly reduce the one he finds out winners. Now he has twenty- cost. Why should any general advertiser be six, and together they earn many millions less business-like and careful? yearly. Another service of the test campaign is These test campaigns have other purposes. this: They answer countless questions, which arise An advertiser is doing mediocre advertis- in business. ing. A skilled advertising agent feels that he A large food advertiser felt that his prod- can greatly increase results. The advertiser is uct would be more popular in another form. doubtful. He is doing fairly well. He has alli- He and all his advisers were certain about it. ances, which he hesitates to break. So he is They were willing to act on this supposition inclined to let well enough alone. without consulting the consumers, but wiser Now the question can be submitted to the advice prevailed. verdict of a test. The new agent may take a He inserted an ad in a few towns with a few towns, without interfering with the gen- coupon, good at any store for a package of eral campaign. Then compare his results with the new-style product. Then he wrote to the the general results and prove his greater skill. users about it. They were almost unanimous Plausible arguments are easy in this line. in their disapproval. One man after another comes to an advertiser Later the same product was suggested in to claim superior knowledge or ability. It is still another form. The previous verdict made hard to decide, and decisions may be wrong. the change look dubious. The advertiser Now actual figures gained at a small cost hardly thought a test to be worth while. But can settle the question definitely. The adver- he submitted the question to a few thousand tiser makes no commitment. It is like saying women in a similar way and 91 per cent to a salesman, "Go out for a week and voted for it. Now he has a unique product, prove." A large percentage of all the adver- which promises to largely increase his sales. tising done would change hands if this These tests cost about $1,000 each. The method were applied. first one saved him a very costly mistake. Again we come back to scientific adver- The second will probably bring him large tising. Suppose a chemist would say in an profits. arbitrary way that this compound was best, or that better. You would little respect his Then we try test campaigns to try out new opinion. He makes tests - sometimes hun- methods on advertising already successful. dreds of tests - to actually know which is Thus we constantly seek for better methods, best. He will never state a supposition before without interrupting plans already proved he has proved it. How long before advertisers out. in general will apply that exactness to adver- In five years for one food advertiser we tising? tried out over fifty separate plans. Every little while we found an improvement, so the re- sults of our advertising constantly grew. At the end of five years we found the best plan 33 Chapter 16 a lion's share of the trade. Yet it may not in- Leaning on dealers crease your total sales at all. Those are facts to find out. Try one town We cannot depend much in most lines on the in one way, one in another. Compare total active help of jobbers or of dealers. They are sales in those towns. In many lines such tests busy. They have many lines to consider. The will show that costly displays are worthless. profit on advertised lines is not generally A growing number of experienced advertisers large. And an advertised article is apt to be spend no money on displays. sold at cut prices. This is all in line of general publicity, so The average dealer does what you would popular long ago. Casting bread upon the do. He exerts himself on brands of his own, if waters and hoping for its return. Most adver- at all. Not on another man's brand. tising was of that sort twenty years ago. The dealer will often try to make you Now we put things to the test. We com- think otherwise. He will ask some aid or con- pare cost and result on every form of expen- cession on the ground of extra effort. Adver- diture. It is very easily done. Very many tisers often give extra discounts. Or they costly wastes are eliminated by this modern make loading offers - perhaps one case free process. in ten - in the belief that loaded dealers will make extra efforts. Scientific advertising has altered many old plans and conceptions. It has proved many This may be so on rare lines, but not gen- long-established methods to be folly. And erally. And the efforts if made do not usually why should we not apply to these things the increase the total sales. They merely swing same criterion we apply to other forms of trade from one store to another. selling? Or to manufacturing costs? On most lines, making a sale without Your object in all advertising is to buy making a convert does not count for much. new customers at a price, which pays a profit. Sales made by conviction - by advertising - You have no interest in garnering trade at any are likely to bring permanent customers. particular store. Learn what your consumers People who buy through casual recommen- cost and what they buy. If they cost you one dations do not often stick. Next time some- dollar each, figure that every wasted dollar one else gives other advice. costs you a possible customer. Revenue, which belongs to the advertiser, Your business will be built in that way, is often given away without adequate return. not by dealer help. You must do your own These discounts and gifts could be far better selling, make your own success. Be content if spent in securing new customers. dealers fill the orders that you bring. Elimi- Free goods must be sold, and by your own nate your wastes. Spend all your ammunition efforts usually. One extra case with ten where it counts for most. means that advertising must sell ten per cent more to bring you the same return. The dealer would probably buy just as much if you let him buy as convenient. Much money is often frittered away on other forms of dealer help. Perhaps on win- dow or store displays. A window display, acting as a reminder, may bring to one dealer 34 Chapter 17 others. Then people come to know us. We Individuality build on that acquaintance rather than intro- duce a stranger. People do not know us by A person who desires to make an impression name alone, but by looks and mannerisms. must stand out in some way. Being eccentric, Appearing different every time we meet being abnormal is not a distinction to covet. never builds up confidence. But doing admirable things in a different way Then we don't want people to think that gives one a great advantage. salesmanship is made to order. That our ap- So with salesman, in person or in print. peals are created, studied, artificial. They There is uniqueness, which belittles and must seem to come from the heart, and the arouses resentment. There is refreshing same heart always, save where a wrong tack uniqueness, which enhances, which we wel- forces a complete change. come and remember. Fortunate is the sales- There are winning personalities in ads as man who has it. well as people. To some we are glad to listen, We try to give each advertiser a becoming others bore us. Some are refreshing, some style. We make him distinctive, perhaps not commonplace. Some inspire confidence, in appearance, but in manner and in tone. He some caution. is given an individuality best suited to the To create the right individuality is a su- people he addresses. preme accomplishment. Then an advertiser's One man appears rugged and honest in a growing reputation on that line brings him line where rugged honesty counts. One may ever-increasing prestige. Never weary of that be a good fellow where choice is a matter of part. Remember that a change in our charac- favour. In other lines the man stands out by teristics would compel our best friends to get impressing himself as an authority. acquainted all over. We have already cited a case where a woman made a great success in selling clothing to girls, solely through a created per- sonality, which won. That's why we have signed ads sometimes - to give them a personal authority. A man is talking - a man who takes pride in his ac- complishments - not a "soulless corporation." Whenever possible we introduce a personal- ity into our ads. By making a man famous we make his product famous. When we claim an improvement, naming the man who made it adds effect. Then we take care not to change an indi- viduality which has proved appealing. Before a man writes a new ad on that line, he gets into the spirit adopted by the advertiser. He plays a part as an actor plays it. In successful advertising great pains are taken to never change our tone. That which won so many is probably the best way to win 35 Chapter 18 The "Before and after taking" ads are fol- Negative advertising lies of the past. They never had a place save with the afflicted. Never let their memory To attack a rival is never good advertising. lead you to picture the gloomy side of things. Don't point out others' faults. It is not per- mitted in the best mediums. It is never good policy. The selfish purpose is apparent. It looks unfair, not sporty. If you abhor knock- ers, always appear a good fellow. Show a bright side, the happy and attrac- tive side, and not the dark and uninviting side of things. Show beauty, not homeliness; health, not sickness. Don't show the wrinkles you propose to remove, but the face as it will appear. Your customers know all about the wrinkles. In advertising a dentifrice, show pretty teeth, not bad teeth. Talk of coming good conditions, not conditions that exist. In ad- vertising clothes, picture well-dressed people, not the shabby. Picture successful men, not failures, when you advertise a business course. Picture what others wish to be not what they may be now. We are attracted by sunshine, beauty, happiness, health, and success. Then point the way to them, not the way out of the oppo- site. Picture envied people, not the envious. Tell people what to do not what to avoid. Make your every ad breath good cheer. We always dodge a Lugubrious Blue. Assume that people will do what you ask. Say, "Send now for this sample. "Don't say, "Why do you neglect this offer?" That sug- gests that people are neglecting. Invite them to follow the crowd. Compare the results of two ads, one nega- tive, and one positive. One presenting the dark side, one the bright side. One warning, the other inviting. You will be surprised. You will find that the positive ad out pulls the other four to one, if you have our experience. 36 Chapter 19 Just as men are doing now in all scientific Letter writing advertising. Mail order advertisers do likewise. They This is another phase of advertising which all test their letters as they test their ads. A gen- of us have to consider. It enters, or should eral letter is never used until it proves itself enter, into all campaigns. Every businessman best among many actual returns. receives a large number of circular letters. Most of them go direct to the wastebasket. Letter writing has much to do with adver- But he acts on others, and others are filed for tising. Letters to inquirers, follow-up letters. reference. Wherever possible they should be tested. Where that is not possible, they should be Analyse those letters. The ones you act on based on knowledge gained by tests. or the ones you keep have a headline, which attracted your interest. At a glance they offer We find the same difference in letters as something that you want, something you may in ads. Some get action, some do not. Some wish to know. complete a sale; some forfeit the impression gained. These are letters, going usually to Remember that point in all advertising. half-made converts, are tremendously im- A certain buyer spends $50,000,000 per portant. year. Every letter, every circular, which Experience generally shows that a two- comes to his desk, gets its deserved attention. cent letter gets no more attention than a one- He wants information on the lines he buys. cent letter. Fine stationary no more than poor stationery. The whole appeal lies in the mat- But we have often watched him. In one ter. minute a score of letters may drop into the wastebasket. Then one is laid aside. That is A letter, which goes to an inquirer, is like something to consider at once. Another is a salesman going to an interested prospect. filed under the heading "Varnish." And later You know what created that interest. Then when he buys varnish that letter will turn up. follow it up along that line, not on some dif- ferent argument. Complete the impression That buyer won several prizes by articles already created. Don't undertake another on good buying. His articles were based on guess. information. Yet the great masses of matter which came to him never got more than a Do something if possible to get immediate glance. action. Offer some inducement for it. Or tell what delay may cost. Note how many suc- The same principles apply to all advertis- cessful selling letters place a limit on an of- ing. Letter writers overlook them just as ad- fer. It expires on a certain date. That is all vertisers do. They fail to get the right atten- done to get prompt decision, to overcome the tion. They fail to tell what buyers wish to tendency to delay. know. A mail order advertiser offered a cata- One magazine sends out millions of letters logue. The inquirer might send for three or annually. Some to get subscriptions, some to four similar catalogues. He had that competi- sell books. Before the publisher sends out tion in making a sale. five million letters he puts a few thousands to test. He may try twenty-five letters, each with So he wrote a letter when he sent his a thousand prospects. He learns what results catalogue, and enclosed a personal card. He will cost. Perhaps the plan is abandoned be- said, "You are a new customer, and we want cause it appears unprofitable. If not, the let- to make you welcome. So when you send ter, which pays best, is the letter that he uses. your order please enclose this card. The 37 writer wants to see that you get a gift with the order - something you can keep." With an old customer he gave some other reason for the gift. The offer aroused curios- ity. It gave preference to his catalogue. With- out some compelling reason for ordering elsewhere, the woman sent the order to him. The gift paid for itself several times over by bringing larger sales per catalogue. The ways for getting action are many. Rarely can one way be applied to two lines. But the principles are universal. Strike while the iron is hot. Get a decision then. Have it followed by prompt action when you can. You can afford to pay for prompt action rather than lose by delay. One advertiser in- duced hundreds of thousands of women to buy six packages of his product and send him the trademarks, to secure a premium offer good only for one week. 38 Chapter 20 shared it because they could use the name. A name that helps The originators depended only on a brand. It is interesting to speculate on how much more There is great advantage in a name that tells profitable a coined name might have been. a story. The name is usually prominently dis- On a patented product it must be remem- played. To justify the space it occupies, it bered that the right to a name expires with should aid the advertising. Some such names that patent. Names like Castoria, Aspirin, are almost complete advertisements in them- Shredded Wheat Biscuit, etc., have become selves. May Breath is such a name. Cream of common property. Wheat is another. That name alone has been worth a fortune. Other examples are Dutch This is a very serious point to consider. It Cleanser, Cuticura, Dynashine, Minute often makes a patent an undesirable protec- Tapioca, 3-in-One Oil, Holeproof, Alcorub, tion. Etc. Another serious fault in coined names is Such names may be protected, yet the frivolity. In seeking uniqueness one gets name itself describes the product, so it makes something trivial. And that is a fatal handicap a valuable display. in a serious product. It almost prohibits re- spect. Other coined names are meaningless. Some examples are Kodak, Karo, Sapolio, When a product must be called by a com- Vaseline, Kotex, Lux, Postum, etc. They can mon name, the best auxiliary name is a man's be protected, and long-continued advertising name. It is much better than a coined name, may give them a meaning. When this is ac- for it shows that some man is proud of his complished they become very valuable. But creation. the great majority of them never attain status. Thus the question of a name is of serious Such names do not aid the advertising. It importance in laying the foundations of a is very doubtful that they justify display. The new undertaking. Some names have become service of the product, not the name, is the the chief factors in success. Some have lost important thing in advertising. A vast amount for their originators four-fifths of the trade of space is wasted in displaying names and they developed. pictures, which tell no selling story. The ten- dency of modern advertising is to eliminate waste. Other coined names signify ingredients, which anyone may use. Examples are Syrup of Figs, Coconut Oil Shampoo, Tar Soap, Palmolive Soap, etc. Such products may dominate a market if the price is reasonable, but they must to a de- gree meet competition. They invite substitu- tion. They are naturally classified with other products, which have like ingredients, so the price must remain in that class. Toasted Corn Flakes and Malted Milk are examples of unfortunate names. In each of those cases one advertiser created a new de- mand. When the demand was created, others 39 Chapter 21 offer to pay five dollars to anyone who writes Good business you that he read the ad through. The scarcity of replies will amaze you." A rapid stream ran by the writer's boyhood Think what a confession - that millions of home. The stream turned a wooden wheel dollars are being spent without knowledge of and the wheel ran a mill. Under that primitive results. Such a policy applied to all factors in method, all but a fraction of the stream's po- a business would bring ruin short order. tentiality went to waste. You see other ads, which you may not like Then someone applied scientific methods as well. They may seem crowded or verbose. to that stream - put in a turbine and dynamos. They are not attractive to you, for you are Now, with no more water, no more power, it seeking something to admire something to runs a large manufacturing plant. entertain. But you will note that those ads are We think of that stream when we see keyed. The probability is that out of scores of wasted advertising power. And we see it eve- traced ads the type, which you see, has paid rywhere - hundreds of examples. Enormous the best. potentialities - millions of circulation - used Many other ads, which are not keyed now, to turn a mill wheel. While other use that were keyed at the beginning. They are based same power with manifold effect. on known statistics. They won on a small We see countless ads running year after scale before they ever ran on large scale. year which we know to be unprofitable. Men Those advertisers are utilising their enormous spending five dollars to do what one-dollar powers in full. might do. Men getting back 30 per cent of Advertising is prima facie evidence that their cost when they might get 150 per cent. the man who pays believes that advertising is And the facts could be easily proved. good. It has brought great results to others; it We see wasted space, frivolity, clever must be good for him. So he takes it like concepts, and entertainment. Costly pages some secret tonic which others have en- filled with palaver which, if employed by dorsed. If the business thrives, the tonic gets salesman, would reflect on his sanity. But credit. Otherwise, the failure is due to fate. those ads are always UN-keyed. The money That seems almost unbelievable. Even a is spent blindly, merely to satisfy some ad- storekeeper who inserts a twenty-dollar ad vertising whim. knows whether it pays or not. Every line of a Not new advertisers only. Many an old big store's ad is charged to the proper de- advertiser has little or no idea of his adver- partment. And every inch used must the next tising results. The business is growing day justify its cost. through many efforts combined, and adver- Yet most national advertising is done tising is given its share of the credit. without justification. It is merely presumed to An advertiser of many years standing, pay. A little test might show a way to multi- spending as high as $700,000 per year, told ply returns. the writer he did not know whether his ad- Such methods, still so prevalent, are not vertising was worth anything or not. Some- very far from their end. The advertising men times he thought that his business would be who practice them see the writing on the just as large without it. wall. The time is fast coming when men who The writer replied, "I do know. Your ad- spend money are going to know what they vertising is utterly unprofitable, and I could get. Good business and efficiency will be ap- prove it to you next week. End an ad with an plied to advertising. Men and methods will 40 be measured by the known returns, and only competent men can survive. Only one hour ago an old advertising man said to the writer, "The day for our type is done. Bunk has lost its power. Sophistry is being displaced by actuality. And I tremble at the trend." So do hundreds tremble. Enormous ad- vertising is being done along scientific lines. Its success is common knowledge. Advertis- ers along other lines will not much longer be content. We who can meet the test welcome these changed conditions. Advertisers will multiply when they see that advertising can be safe and sure. Small expenditures made on a guess will grow to big ones on a certainty. Our line of business will be finer, cleaner, when the gamble is removed. And we shall be prouder of it when we are judged on merit. 41
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