Printers' Ink, January 5, 1910 (Vol. 70, No. 1)
The first 1910 issue of the New York weekly for advertisers, opening with an N. W. Ayer & Son cover ad about a rug maker's new specialty line.
What it is
The first 1910 issue of the New York weekly for advertisers, opening with an N. W. Ayer & Son cover ad about a rug maker's new specialty line. James H. Collins leads with the story of Wrigley's "Spearmint": a flavor the trade said would fail, $300,000 of advertising in the first year, mostly on street-car cards, a coupon for a free box sent to 17,000 retailers, and more space bought on credit during the 1907 panic. Collins also traces Carnation Milk from a Pacific Coast brand to national sale with posters and newspapers. Other pieces: the Hot Point electric iron's national dealer campaign; advertisers training retail clerks; Stuart Benson on grammar in copy; Herbert Kaufman's signed fundraising ads for the Chicago YMCA; L. N. Hammerling on reaching 13 million foreign-speaking consumers through their own papers; Brill Brothers dropping bargain ads; and Van Camp's all-copy milk posters.
Why read it now
Two stories here match what modern evidence says. Wrigley kept buying space through the 1907 panic, cheaply and on credit, and came out with a national brand; studies of later recessions find that firms which hold or raise spend tend to gain share, because rivals go quiet. Brill Brothers' account of how constant sales made the store "synonymous with cheapness" and filled it with bargain hunters is what promotion research confirms: frequent discounts mostly reach existing and deal-seeking buyers and train people to wait for the next one. The Wrigley piece also puts distribution first, with a free box for every retailer; Collins says advertising did not do it all. Hammerling's case for foreign-language papers applies directly to the Gulf, where large expatriate groups often follow news in Hindi, Urdu, Malayalam or Tagalog. What has dated: Van Camp's all-copy posters, which assume a passer-by with time to stop and read, and the rate-card complaints. One success story is also not proof. Use: set a floor for brand spend before the next downturn, and cap how many weeks a year you run sales.
Passages worth keeping
Instead of stopping my own advertising, though, I bought more and took advantage of the depression to get credit.
حين أوقف الآخرون إعلاناتهم في الأزمة، زاد ريغلي إعلانه واستغل ركود السوق للحصول على مساحات بأسعار أقل وبالأجل.
His method of selling to the retailer is, to never ask him to buy.
بدل أن يطلب من التاجر الشراء، يعطيه علبة مجانية ليجربها، فإن باعت طلب المزيد بنفسه.
The constant hammering in of bargain sales made Brill Brothers synonymous with cheapness.
التخفيضات المتواصلة ربطت اسم المتجر بالرخص في أذهان الناس، فصار من الصعب بيع البضاعة الجيدة الغالية.
There can be no picture or art combination so sure of winning the interest of readers as the simple appeal to one of the problems of daily household life.
العنوان الذي يلمس مشكلة يومية في البيت يجذب القارئ أكثر من أي صورة أو زخرفة.
Few of them read English fluently and most of those who do depend on the newspapers printed in their own tongue for their world news.
المهاجرون يتابعون الأخبار بلغتهم الأم، فمن أراد الوصول إليهم فليخاطبهم في صحفهم وبلغتهم.
The scanned text has OCR errors. The passages are quoted from it, with only obvious slips fixed.
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