Newspaper Is Key To Mass Communication

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29154, 15 March 1960, Page 15

Newspaper Is Key To Mass Communication

[By W. A. WOOLWARD in the “Scotsman Edinburgh] (Reprinted by arrangement)

A report from the United States says that the last New York newspaper strike gave the retail stores “a new awareness that newspapers are vital to them.” For lack of newspaper advertising they lost a massive slice of sales and profit, in spite of the lively existence of TV. . The newspaper is the retailer’s key to the mass communication of news to the public—news about the goods he has to sell. It is now in certain cases aided and abetted by TV but the newspaper remains the bridge between the shop and the public, and we are apt to take this for granted till the bridge is closed, then we realise anew the vital function of the press in sustaining trade and prosperity within the community. It is fairly simple to envisage that advertising builds sales and profits for retailers. But what of the public? Is it not a simple case that the New Yorkers saved themselves money during the newspaper strike because there was less inducement to spend? Nonsense - The rationalisers sense a waste of money in advertising, say it makes people spend more than they should, believe it puts up the “real” cost of the goods. That, of course, is nonsense. The New York strike, for instance, gave independent research people a golden opportunity to study and analyse public reaction. Sixty per cent, of the people interviewed said they had been inconvenienced by the lack of newspapers: of these, nearly 20 per cent, said they had missed the advertising more than they missed the news! In fact and indeed, advertising long ago proved itself the lifeblood of the competitive economy where people have freedom of choice—freedom to buy or not to buy, freedom to take this brand or that brand, freedom to go to any shop they like —or can be persuaded to like. Advertising has also speeded up our standard of living—and it is not at all wicked for a woman to be “made” to want a washing machine, to be “induced” to see one in a shop, and to be “sold” on the idea of buying one. Pays For Itself Nor is it true that advertising increases the costs of goods, that a “saving” could be passed on to the customer if the money was not "wasted” on advertising. Advertising (good advertising) pays for itself and reduces the cost of goods. This simple economic process starts at the factory and there are boundless examples of it—a classic one (pre-war) is Lyons Swiss Rolls, selling 10,000 a week at Is each before they “added a penny per roll for advertising” and were soon able to sell 600,000 a week—at 8d each. In fact, mass production, which gives lowest cost per unit of product is impossible without mass distribution, which depends on mass advertising, which creates the mass demand. And that process, which spreads wealth right through the community, in value to the public, in wages and spending power to employees, and in prosperity to the shops, is not complete till the retailer plays his part, and moves the goods off his shelves, in volume by advertising. Three Ways

The retailer has three and only three ways of selling the goods he buys. These are:—

(1) The selling display of his goods, in his windows and inside the shop. (2) His personal sales force behind the counter, not including those who merely stand and deliver.

(3) Advertising—The vital selling force which reaches out beyond his shop, beyond his street, beyond his town, to pull the customers in.

All three must work together and all three are subject to the same rules of good merchandising but, of these three, advertising is the most potent weapon to progress, profit, and value to the customer.

It goes without saying that the advertising—the • advertisements themselves—must be effectively written and presented. But the basic planning—the integration of advertising in the over-all merchandising plan—is the most important thing of all—it is the approach to advertising which spells success.

From the retailer’s point of view (and the general public has a vested interest in this, because

in the end it means better shopping value) it is or should be as simple as this:— If Mr A opens a new shop, and spends thousands of pounds on premises and stock, and commits himself to more thousands of pounds in wages, and finds he has nothing left over for advertising, he’s going the long way about it—he is doing nothing to build up the name-value of his shop except “waiting till the word gets around.” It may cost him a pretty penny. To convert his - investment into a profit-mak-ing machine, he should get steam up, by advertising, right away. One Less Shop

If Mr B has an established trade, and thinks it is now safe to cut out advertising, he’ll find sooner or later, that trains roll to a stop when you take away the engine—which in the end means one less shop, and that much less of a buyer’s market for shoppers. If Mr C has the right kind of shop in the right kind of place, and has built up a “sound” business showing a "comfortable” profit, with little or no expenditure on advertising, he may confidently turn to advertising to improve, his particular set of economics. If he will now budget say 2} per cent, of his turnover for effective advertising, he will increase his sales out of all proportion to any increase in his overheads, he will be on the way towards a bigger profit (plus a capital appreciation on the value of his business) and towards offering his customers still better selection and still better value. That is the simple way it works. Planned, budgeted and handled correctly, advertising builds volume sales, reduces overheads relative to sales, pays for itself, creates profits, and gives better value to the buyer because volume sales make it feasible to offer more attractive prices.