Printers' Ink, January 4, 1917 (Volume 98, Number 1)
The first 1917 issue opens with an N. W. Ayer cover ad for Beardsley's Shredded Codfish.
What it is
The first 1917 issue opens with an N. W. Ayer cover ad for Beardsley's Shredded Codfish. The lead story tells how Bauer & Black raised Blue-Jay corn plasters from ten to fifteen cents: its famous tramp posters had won distribution, but the agency found 60 per cent of buyers were women whom the tramps did not reach, so the company moved to magazine copy aimed at women. J. E. Bullard argues that utilities advertise to avoid municipal ownership. A Western Electric toy range ad is traced from first idea to layout. Thomas Russell reports a British steam-truck maker giving free advice even to owners of rival trucks. Other pieces cover sales conventions, Marine Corps recruiting ads, Gillette's single eight-page mailer to 110,000 dealers, and F. K. Gardner on keeping proven selling points. Editorials praise Standard Oil's open-door statement and scold firms that leave inquiries unanswered.
Why read it now
Three ideas here have held up. The Bauer & Black story shows a mascot that became famous without making anyone want the product, and a fix that started from who actually buys; brand tracking still separates fame from purchase intent, and checking buyer data before briefing creative is standard practice. Gardner's case against changing ads because the advertiser is bored with them matches later evidence that consistent campaigns and distinctive brand assets build more over time, and that marketers tire of their ads long before buyers notice them. The editorial on unanswered inquiries repeats a point the journal made often, and lead-response studies still find that speed of reply shapes conversion. The sewing-machine editorial, arguing that ads keep owners using and valuing what they bought, anticipates post-purchase reassurance. Dated: the war language of the Gillette mailer, the treatment of women as one buying block, and Bullard's anecdotal claim that advertising alone kept utilities private. Use: before replacing a campaign your team is tired of, check whether buyers have seen it often enough to remember it.
Passages worth keeping
Those vagabond trade characters of yours worked themselves into popular acquaintance, but they never bent a shoulder to the wheel actually to make people want your product.
الشخصية الإعلانية قد تشتهر لذاتها دون أن تدفع أحدًا إلى شراء المنتج الذي تمثله.
the main reasons why the average prospect buys your goods are very few, and the chances are that there may be just one cardinal reason.
أسباب شراء المنتج قليلة، وقد يكون هناك سبب رئيسي واحد، فالأجدى تكراره بدل البحث عن كلام جديد.
Every lead and every near lead, he says, is followed with bloodhound relentlessness.
نجاح الحملة جاء من متابعة كل عميل محتمل، حتى الضعيف منهم، بإصرار لا يفتر.
It has been discovered that while canvassers can sell a sewing-machine to a woman, they cannot make her use it.
البائع المتجول يستطيع أن يبيع الماكينة، لكنه لا يستطيع أن يجعل المشترية تستعملها، وهنا يأتي دور الإعلان بعد البيع.
The gauge of copy ability is creative foresight, not critical hind-sight.
مهارة كاتب الإعلان تظهر في بناء إعلان جديد قبل نشره، لا في نقد إعلانات الآخرين بعد نشرها.
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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