Better Business
A 45-page booklet that N. W. Ayer & Son, which calls itself the largest advertising business in the world, published in 1914 to win clients.
What it is
A 45-page booklet that N. W. Ayer & Son, which calls itself the largest advertising business in the world, published in 1914 to win clients. Its short essays argue that business must now be open and useful: the maker of a better mousetrap has to tell people, because unknown goods are sub-standard in the buyer's mind however good they are. "Standardizing Merchandise" treats advertising as insurance on a business. "Glorious Pioneers" cites Uneeda Biscuit, Prince Albert tobacco, 1847 Rogers Bros. silverware and Ferry's Seeds as first movers who kept their lead. "Advertising Is Salesmanship" puts advertising inside the sales department and says Ayer may study a client's sales for a year before any ad runs. "The Friendly Foes of Advertising" warns against agents picked by publishers' salesmen. "An Invitation" lists five criticisms of Ayer and answers each.
Why read it now
Most of this booklet still holds, because its argument is about proof and trust, not media. The claim that unknown goods lose to known ones whatever their quality matches modern evidence that buyers choose brands that come to mind easily and feel safe. The Uneeda case, fifteen years of "keeping everlastingly at it", fits research showing that steady advertising builds share and that going dark hands it to rivals. "The Friendly Foes" is the chapter to read today: it warns that data collected by a media seller tends to recommend that seller's media, which is the same problem as platform-reported results now. The pioneer chapter has dated: studies of first movers find many pioneers fail and later entrants often take the lead, so being first is not a strategy on its own. The boasts about size and experience carry no numbers. The move to copy is in the last chapter: write down the objections buyers raise about you, in their words, and answer each one plainly.
Passages worth keeping
Business may be selfish, but the way to business success is through an increasingly better service to others.
لا بأس أن يسعى النشاط التجاري إلى مصلحته، لكن الطريق إلى نجاحه يمر بخدمة الناس خدمة تتحسن باستمرار.
merchandise possessing every other element of excellence is today sub-standard in the minds of hosts of people unless it is branded and advertised.
البضاعة الجيدة في كل شيء تبدو لكثير من الناس أقل من المستوى ما دامت بلا علامة ولا إعلان.
It is nothing uncommon for us to work a year with a manufacturer before any advertising appears.
الوكالة تقول إنها قد تعمل سنة كاملة على فهم مبيعات العميل قبل أن ينشر أي إعلان.
We have said many times, that, generally speaking, the only business that is worth advertising is the business that would succeed without advertising.
الإعلان يسرّع نجاح نشاط ناجح في أصله، ولا ينقذ نشاطًا لن ينجح من دونه.
1. We are behind the times. 2. We are too conservative. 3. We are too large. 4. We are too independent. 5. Our location is against us.
الوكالة تسرد بنفسها أشيع الانتقادات الموجهة إليها كما يقولها الناس، ثم ترد على كل واحد منها في الصفحات التالية.
The scanned text has OCR errors. The passages are quoted from it, with only obvious slips fixed.
What it teaches best
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