WHAT THE BANKER THINKS OF ADVERTISING.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17393, 2 March 1922, Page 9

WHAT THE BANKER THINKS OF ADVERTISING.

Mr Guy Emerson, vio6-prosid#nt, National Bank of CVnmherce in New York, writing in "Commerce Monthly," the bank's magazine, £or February, 1923, on the subject of says

lt N is becoming more and more com-1 mon for bankers to regard 9 radical cutting down of an advertising expenditure with close attention. The sharp reduction in the advertising of nationally distributed articles, the reputations of which were apparently so fannly established that nothing could affect j them adversely, has been foltowed so | regularly by a heavy off in sales, i that the need for caution jn such cases is widely , recognised. The banker is ! coming to realist! that public interest j is. hot necessarily a permanent possession. It can be won only by skillful competition in a world wlvCe every device is mobilised to win the notice and stimulate the action of the average or woman, from the hour of rising in the morning till the hour of Retiring at night. The morning mail Is full of circulars; selling appeal fillp the newspapers and magazines, the billboards, the street cars and the short windows, as ono goes to work and returns in the evening. To win a plac4 in the crowded and besieged mind of the modern man is not equivalent to holding suoh a place. It is more like creating a melody which the prospect liears enjoys and inevitably forgets. It must be played and re-played, or other melodies will take its place. Not even the greatest corporation or tta6 most popular jproduct can hop® N to build up a reputation which will of lis own force endure. The history of advertwii*; is filled with striking proofs of human forgetfulness. If a further instance is needed of the progress of the banker's belief jn advertising, it is to be found in the great volume of advertising placed by bankers purely for purposes of developing g9od will. Banks have been among the pioneers in this fielcj. Many large banks, having nothing tangible for pale, find it advisable to advertise extensively. The aim is not to secure direct returns. The object-in view is to develop the ihigtiesi type of national good will for an institution doing a countrywide but at the same t.im6 a highly specialised business. To understand the value of advertising which produces demonstrable and early returns in dollars and cents is simple. enough.- But when bankers are willing to spend substantial sums year r.fter year for advertising to build their standing, and to keep their good name continuously before the public, it indicates a receptee attitude, at le&st toward this particular branch of advertising. Unquestionably advertising lias an : infaortant future. 'Many business men ; believe that the ultimate tendency of : modern salesmanship is toward operations on a large Scale, that the crcat sales successes of the future will be based tipon volume and wide distribution. If this is true, -th© test of success will be an honest product, manufactured with the highest efficiency and economy and marketed, widely on a small margin of. profit. Advertising will be a powerful factor in this development.