ADVERTISING

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 111, 11 May 1923, Page 10

ADVERTISING

ESSENTIAL TO MODERN

BUSINESS

ADDRESS BY MR. APPLETON

"Advertising and Modern Business" formed the subject of an address delivered by Mr. W. Appleton to members of the V.M.C.A. Luncheon Club yesterday.

Opening with the declaration that the j profession of advertising had a longer j lineage than any other business, Mr. j Appleton said advertising promoted j commerce, it was an economic force, and j was an agency of civilisation. "Ab an . oconomic force," remarked Mr. Apple- j ton, "advertising gives birth to new : wants, and so creates an economic demand for more goods, thus tending to increase the demand for labour. Some modern economic thinkers have accorded to advertising its rightful place with agriculture, manufacturing, commerce, and transportation as one of the prominent forms in the creation of wealth, j Just as 'form utility' is created and add- j ed to the total utility of goods by manufacturing, a»i 'place utility' is created by transportation, so 'information utility' is created by advertising. Just as rough pig iron 'has only a potential value until made into a finished, usable form of manufacturing, just as the finished article has only a potential value until transported to the place pf its use, so the finished product, delivered to warehouse or store, has only a potential value until the public has been informed of its existence there, and educated to its use. The importance of this social service of advertising can scarcely be ovet-empLasised in view of the prevalence °f th* old .Aea that its value ia to the advertiser only—its cost Un unnecessary burden borne by the ultimate consumer. As f» matter of fact, the consumer is not only saved time and effort in selecting what he buys, but is enabled to get better qualities and lower prices per piece by this very power of advertising. There are five distinct ways in which advertising is of service to the consumer. ASSIST THE BUYER. " Publicity educates the public to better knowledge, and thus to quicker and more intelligent selection of goods on the competitive market. If the buyer does not know the relative claims or merits of the competing products, if he does not know where to find them, or if he is in ignorance, of the competing prices, he cannot effectively utilise either his time, his means, .or his selective ability in buying. Not knowing prices, he cannot buy as cheaply. Not knowing qualities, he certainly cannot find the best. The absence of advertising handicaps the consumer. Advertising not only assists the buyer to select the best qualities, but also gives him higher and higher qualities from which to select. Present-day competition forces the manufacturer to establish a sound claim of superiority for his article. This claim is voiced by advertising. Modern advertising of branded and labelled goods, through their established individuality and the general knowledge of their quality by the public, has set new standards for the market. The new and higher business morality brought about by advertising- makes misrepresentation unsafe and in many cases impossible of success. The social service of advertising in the introduction of new and useful devices, or o£ improvements on established products, need hardly bo':dwelt'.oipori ,here. Advertising has: brought "'new products to the consamer's attention, and taught him to us them. - In most cases these products have' added to the consumer's health, welfare, aud happiness. Soap and bath-tul) manufacturers have taught the value of cleanliness in pre&eTving th» health ; advertisements for tooth brushes and dentifrices have emphasised the necessity for care of the teeth until it is no longer considered entirely natural to lose one's teeth early in life. The makers of good food preparations have exposed many popular fallacies about eating coarse-, and unwholesome food, and they have spread all 'oad much information on tfce subject of pure food and sanitary cooking."

There was hardly a phase pf modern life into which the influence of advertising had not entered. It had taken down the screens from the windows of business, of directors' rooms, and even of departments of State. Advertising was the servant of truth. It assured and enlarged the market for the manufacturers' goods. The ultimate consumer who paid the cost of advertising did 60 with • a small proportion of what it had saved him. When a man wrote his name on his goods he endorsed them, and tho manufacturer who, by advertising, had given the purohaser a bond, dare not take liberties. He must fulfil every expectation that his advertising may have aroused, or lose part of his investment. NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING , ECONOMICAL. "Newspaper advertisins."' Mr. Appleton remarked, "is the most' economical kind of publicity procurable. Thanks to the organisation and development of our modern journals, it is, nc-w possible to produce, say. a quarter-page advertisement, and distribute this to thous- ■ ands of readers, at a- lesser cost than woald be the actual outlay for the paper in printing. This means that the newspapers really distribute your message free." The speaker said he was sorry to say that a great deal of money was i wasted in advertising," simply, because I many of those who used it did not realise it ■potentialities. Then, agaan, thousands of pounds were wasted in New Zealand annually in alleged publicity that was of no service whatevei' to the advertiser.

Mr. Appleton thought the time was coming when advertising would be used entensively in an effort to safaguaxd the people's health. Jusi as oxygen was one of the necessary component parts of the air which sustained life, so advertising had become one of the vital forces, that sustained business. In conclusion, Mr. Aijpleton' quoted the great authority on advertising. Lord Burnham, who said recently: "Advertising is the key industry of the universe; it opens every door, it leads through the street to the market place, through the market place to the home. It is the fine literature of trade, and tho illumination of business."