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USINESS is a tremendously serious proposition and advertising is a vitally important élement in business. So-called "clever schemes," "brilliant ideas," "misleading inferences," "jokes," "puzzling phrases," in fact any caricatures of word or illustration have no place in advertising. Even the most confirmed advocate of the burlesque in advertising wouldn't think of introducing clownish, vaudeville characteristics in his

manufacturing

accounting or office departments. Not only is your sense of the "eternal fitness of things" jarred by these caricatures, but you are not permanently impressed by them. Your attention is SO completely taken up by the "smartness" of the phrase or illustration that the commodity advertised is lost sight of.

A common sense,

comprehensive, carefully developed plan is the first step in a successful advertising campaign.

Must Have Detail.
A man would be re-

garded as extremely foolish to start building a permanent home

and illustration and the name of your product is better than no advertising at all. But just as a completely furnished and wisely finished home brings the maximum satisfaction that a home could bring, so a wisely planned, sensibly executed advertising campaign brings the maximum benefits that may be expected of real advertising.

Let us think of an advertising campaign as a circle divided into three segments; one repre

without first securing complete specifications. It would not be enough for the contractor to know that a home was wanted, he must have the details, not only for the outside general appearance but for the arrangement of the rooms, the location of the windows and doors, the heating and lighting and plumbing and other elements too numerous to mention, which go to make the finished construction a satisfactory and suitable home. Just as the shell of a building would furnish more protection than nothing at all, so the mere placing of type

sents the magazine advertising, one represents the co-operation of your selling department; the other the co-operation of your dealers. Your advertisements in the magazines reach millions of families and tell them

the story of your product. For the sake of argument let us presume that your copy is perfect; in other words it not only places your name and the name of your commodity before the readers of the magazine, but that it also makes them want to buy the article you are advertising. This much help certainly benefits your business. Co-operation Necessary To get anything like help you might, the overlooked. your maga

100 per cent of the other two elements cannot be You have not been able in zine advertisements to tell your prospective customers where your article may be obtained. It is also possible that your dealers. especially those you want to sell, would be more interested in your proposition if they knew how you were stimulating a demand for your particular commodity in their locality. In order to give the ultimate consumers of your product the names of merchants within their

reach who could supply them, you must have the co-operation of your dealers. In order that dealers may understand the importance of your account to them you must have the co-operation of your sales organization. The circle would be incomplete with any one of these three omitted, and yet there are concerns spending a considerable amount of money in advertising who have entirely disregarded one or two of the three elements so essential to successful advertising. Common sense must be applied first in formulating and constructing a comprehensive plan and second in unifying and completing that plan.

One of the important functions of an advertising plan is that it gives you a birdseye view of all of your business promotion work. It makes possible a campaign that "hangs together," that gets the utmost out of every effort, and every phase of your advertising activity. In a campaign that has for its basis the national magazines there are two divisions which deserve special attention, first the copy, which includes size of space and media, and second the use made of the copy with dealers and members of the advertiser's organization.

Is Classed Differently.

Copy may fall into any one of numberless different classifications-the most obvious perhaps is the one that simply keeps the name of the commodity before the public and the other that really educates-explains the superiority of the commodity. Either can be prostituted by the introduction of any suggestion foreign to the merchandising purpose, or by the introduction of any element not sanctioned by common sense.

Magazine readers are seekers after information. They read advertisements mostly to learn something about the different articles on the market. They unconsciously form an opinion about the advertiser as well as the advertised article. On this account it is worth while to see to it that the copy reflects the true personality of the advertiser. It's pretty difficult to give in a piece of advertising copy an accurate impression of the personality of a firm when the most obvious characteristic of the advertisement is a caricature of any sort.

It's also difficult to tell a convincing, comprehensive story in an advertisement without using words and phrases and sentences. The exact number of words necessary for a page in one of the magazines, of course, cannot be determined. But there certainly is a way of writing copy so that you catch the reader who only

glances at the page as well as the reader who really wants to know the reasons for spending his money for the particular article advertised.

Wise advertising makes it possible for folks to exercise intelligent selection. To be able to choose one of many different brands of the same goods they must know more than the name. They must be familiar with merits and characteristics of each. The one they choose is the one they know the most about.

Must Attract Attention.

It's a perfectly self-evident fact that copy must attract favorable attention. Some attain this through illustrations, some through an individual style of type arrangement, some through striking headlines. Much may be said in favor of each. It does seem like a waste of space and energy to use an illustration entirely foreign to the subject. When the picture tells part of the story or is an argument in itself, or brings out some particular point of merit then the picture is good. A special style of type arrangement must be radically different and widely used before it accomplishes its purpose. The striking headline, it seems to me, is the common sense, logical, permanently effective way to stop the reader.

In determining the wording of the caption one can accomplish at the outset a peculiar interest because the subject can be opened up from the point of view of the reader. Your story has a much more immediate as well as permanent effect when it is presented from the point of view of the one who uses the article you sell. In other words, when you put into type what the consumer thinks, or feels he ought to think, your story will convince. Compare these two captions which were copied from a recent class publication:

"The Kind we build is the Kind we should like to buy." This is vague; it doesn't give any information; it hasn't the intimate, personal appeal.

"You get threshing efficiency with a Blank outfit." This tells something; it gives expression to a characteristic that the farmer hoped to find in the threshing outfit; it gives him an excuse for paying out a lot of money for a piece of machinery he could get along without.

Common Sense Important.

Common sense is nowhere more important after the preparation of captions than in the copy. In the first place, copy must be set up in type that emphasizes the important points. A lot of big type or a dozen different styles of

type in the same advertisement is very likely to detract from rather than secure the desired emphasis. Copy ought to be simple, easy to understand. Very few of those who read advertisements are going to take the trouble to puzzle over a vague sentence or far-fetched inference. Straightforward, sincere, human common sense copy that has a "punch" can't help being effective.

The merchandising of any commodity includes the efforts of the sales as well as the advertising department in addition to the "firm personality," the policies of the company in all its transactions. It's out of the question, it isn't common sense to think of divorcing advertising from the other activities, the other parts of the same organism. The co-operation, the co-ordination of the sales and advertising departments are absolutely essential to a realization of the full value of either. The advertising department is perhaps more dependent upon the sales department. The value of a consistent, persistent advertising policy to any firm may be largely measured by the extent to which the individual salesmen are convinced of its importance and assistance. Advertising by itself helps some, but that 100 per cent efficiency everybody wants can be secured only when those connected with the selling organization make the advertising do its full share of the work.

Is a Big Force.

The fact that advertising is a tremendous force in every locality where the goods are carried avails little unless the merchants know about it and know how to take advantage of it. The men who are in closest touch with the dealers are the logical missionaries. If every salesman of an advertising firm would spend 15 minutes thinking about this proposition he couldn't help seeing the logic, the common sense of putting his shoulder to the wheel and taking every possible advantage of the advertising activities of his firm.

The salesman who appreciates advertising and uses it as one of his important selling points has everything to gain and nothing to lose, even from the most selfish point of view. Advertising is the salesman's servant, not his substitute. It helps him secure a larger volume of business; it makes him worth more to his firm as well as to himself; it makes his salary check bigger. In addition to the certain personal benefits to be gained by taking advantage of advertising, the representative has a certain duty in connection with it. It's his duty to

himself to make the most of his opportunities. It's his duty to energetically carry out the policies of his company; how otherwise can he be loyal to his firm. It's his duty to give every merchant he calls on all the information about his goods that will help him re-sell them at a profit. It's his particular duty to explain the exact way Mr. Merchant can focus national advertising on his own store and point out how the merchant can take advantage of a great existing force; otherwise the salesman isn't doing his duty by his trade. After all is there any reasonable, common sense view that can exist other than that the sales and advertising activities are inseparably co-related?

Dealers Must Be Considered.

The dealers who retail your goods must be considered in much the same category as the salesmen who sell the dealers. They are a most important element in your distribution plan. The mere fact that they are one step further from the executives simply makes it all the more important that they are given the necessary consideration. In the first place, your dealer wants co-operation, not coercion. I like to think of the dealer as a partner; as the head of an important branch of the business. He has a very definite part in the distribution of any commodity. He alone can forge what would otherwise be a missing link in the merchandising plan. It's largely up to him to see to it that Mrs. Brown or Mrs. Jones or Mrs. Smith know that they can buy from him the articles they see advertised in their favorite magazines. Otherwise much of the demand created by the magazine or other national advertising is lost, temporarily at least. The merchant's customers and prospective customers must know he carries your goods or they will not ask him for them. Folks don't go to a drug store for horseshoes.

The most economical and effective way to connect general advertising with specific local distributing points is for the local distributor himself to see to it that every family knows he handles the article in question. Your local dealer will want to do his part just as soon as he fully understands the details of your plan and appreciates that it is to his interest in dollars and cents to focus your general promotion work on his specific local business. Just the minute your dealer gets to the point of wanting to take advantage of his opportunity of making your national advertising work for him, he can bring about the desired results better than anybody else.

Must Be Consistent.

Most retailers appreciate that national advertising helps them, and few advertisers nowadays attempt to deceive the trade regarding the scope of their advertising campaigns. Retailers realize that there is a difference between spasmodic advertising spread out over a great big territory so thin that it isn't noticed, and consistent, persistent advertising every month and every year for a term of

years.

It is true that not every dealer understands the importance of co-operating with the manufacturer nor is every dealer able to see how such a course will pay him in increased profits. You've got to show him. You can't compel him to see through your eyes. Information, not imposition, is what he wants. You, through letters and printed matter, and your salesmen, through personal explanation, must accept the responsibility of describing clearly the details of your promotion work. It's certain that your dealer can't possibly work with you unless he knows what your work is and how far it goes. In order to make it easier for the dealer and in order that your plan may be unified you should provide window displays, inside and outside signs, store cards, circulars and other suitable advertising material. Yours is the pioneer work, your dealer may localize your efforts and use them to his own advantage.

Encouragement Required.

In some cases, on account of unfamiliarity with advertising, the dealer requires a certain amount of encouragement. He at least deserves to know that you appreciate the importance of his part in the merchandising plan and to know that you are ready and willing to give him every reasonable assistance. Advertisers have in a way undertaken to see to it that every possible customer is provided with information about their particular article. When a housewife has been interested by advertisements and attempts to secure specific information about the article in which she is interested she naturally goes to her dealer. You are casting a slur upon her credulity unless you have provided your dealers with information about your product. It is simply good common sense for you to see to it that everyone connected with your distributing organization-retail clerk as well as traveling salesman-is fully prepared to answer questions about your product. Your dealer's interest and yours is a common one. The dollars and cents profits of one insure the profits of the other. It is impossible for any

product

manufacturer who distributes his through retail dealers to increase his volume without increasing the volume of the retailer's business. It is out of the question for any dealer to appreciate this point until he knows the facts about your merchandising efforts.

It is just as important to apply common sense in the elimination as in the construction of advertising activities. There are very few firms who can take advantage of every opportunity for investing money in advertising. Just as there is a limit to the life insurance which a man on a small salary can carry so there is a limit to the advertising appropriation which any concern can carry.

Must Have System.

With the existence of a carefully developed, definitely formulated advertising plan, the elimination of extra advertising investments can be handled very easily. In the absence of such a definite plan the situation can not help becoming more chaotic with the suggestion of When every superficially beneficial scheme. your advertising activities have a definite purpose and a sincere effort is being made to keep them unified and every one directed to a certain goal, the question as to whether this scheme or that scheme will prove beneficial is not the important one. The situation resolves itself rather into a question as to whether the absence of the particular scheme will detract from your general campaign. The question you have to answer is not, "Will this do us some good?". but rather, "What harm will result if we do not do it?"

At first thought you might be of the opinion that the only reason for advertising is to sell more goods. There are, however, other reasons frequently not admitted by the advertiser that influence advertising policies. One which has been called "Advertising for a halo" is worth mentioning. It may also be characterized as "Advertising vanity." The man who chooses medium and insists on copy simply to gratify his own individual whims, to secure the applause and approbation of his friends and acquaintances, who advertises not for the good it will do his business, but for personal glory and applause, is guilty of one of the worst blunders in our modern business life.

Hours might be spent in analyzing the question, "Who pays for advertising?" Advertising is an economic saving; in the long run it pays for itself. And any dealer, if he won't be convinced that advertising pays for itself, can easily be shown that he cannot possibly