Blog

A rapid stream ran by the writer’s boyhood home. The stream turned a wooden wheel and the wheel ran a mill. Under that primitive method, all but a fraction of the stream’s potentiality went to waste. Then someone applied scientific methods to that stream – put in a turbine and dynamos. Now, with no more […]

There is great advantage in a name that tells a story. The name is usually prominently displayed. To justify the space it occupies, it should aid the advertising. Some such names are almost complete advertisements in themselves. May Breath is such a name. Cream of Wheat is another. That name alone has been worth a […]

This is another phase of advertising which all of us have to consider. It enters or should enter, into all campaigns. Every businessman receives a large number of circular letters. Most of them go directly to the waste basket. But he acts on others, and others are filed for reference. Analyze those letters. The ones […]

To attack a rival is never good advertising. Don’t point out others’ faults. It is not permitted in the best mediums. It is never good policy. The selfish purpose is apparent. It looks unfair, not sporty. If you abhor knockers, always appear a good fellow. Show a bright side, the happy and attractive side, not […]

A person who desires to make an impression must stand out in some way. Being eccentric, and being abnormal is not a distinction to covet. But doing admirable things differently gives one a great advantage. So with salesmen, in person or print. There is a uniqueness that belittles and arouses resentment. There is refreshing uniqueness […]

We cannot depend much in most lines on the active help of jobbers or dealers. They are busy. They have many lines to consider. The profit on advertised lines is not generally large. And an advertised article is apt to be sold at cut prices. The average dealer does what you would do. He exerts […]

Almost any question can be answered, cheaply, quickly, and finally, by a test campaign. And that’s the way to answer them – not by arguments around a table. Go to the court of last resort – the buyers of your product. On every new project, the question comes up of selling that article profitably. You […]

Most advertisers are confronted with the problem of getting distribution. National advertising is unthinkable without that. A venture cannot be profitable if nine in ten of the converts fail to find the goods. To force dealers to stock by bringing repeated demands may be enormously expensive. To cover the country with a selling force is […]

The product itself should be its own best salesman. Not the product alone, but the product plus a mental impression, and atmosphere, which you place around it. That being so, samples are of prime importance. However expensive, they usually form the cheapest selling method. A salesman might as well go out without his sample case […]

Advertising is much like war, minus the venom. Or much, if you prefer, like a game of chess. We are usually out to capture others’ citadels or garner others’ trade. We must have skill and knowledge. We must have training and experience, also the right equipment. We must have proper ammunition, and enough. We dare […]

An ad writer, to have a chance at success, must gain full information on his subject. The library of an ad agency should have books on every line that calls for research. A painstaking advertising man will often read for weeks about some problem that comes up. Perhaps in many volumes, he will find few […]

Many things are possible in advertising which are too costly to attempt. That is another reason why every project and method should be weighed and determined by a known scale of cost and result. Changing people’s habits is very expensive. A project which involves that must be seriously considered. Yet countless advertisers try to do […]