PUSHING TRADE

Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 19, 22 July 1932, Page 3

PUSHING TRADE

THE MIDLAND COUNTIES

DOMINIONS CAMPAIGN

(From "Thi Post's" Representative1.); ■'->,;. <. > .LONDON, 17th June,!

'. ;■.. New /Ze&larid'ffe: produce-selling leampaign iii- SheJfyeidVv which came to an" ; ejpil onf|jth' June^pr^yed a great' Sue- '" cess., ■f;;v:---» '"* ~Vij';''>;«/"; 'v'^i:- ---': r ".>The;;c'ampaign centre^ around the Do--1 pjinion's teriancyVof,the,Empire Marketing Board's shop, which Was situated.in the most popular shopping street of i Sheffield. This shop, its has been dono : in other towns, yras rented' by the board and^fitted up in" skeleton fashion.. Each Dominion and colony in turn was given a fortnight's tenancy, . making their : own displays at jthejr own costs, and . also'placing iii: charge their own staffs. Canada .occupied-.the, shop first, then : came Australia,'; and \<Ncw Zealand followed. ' The period allotted to New Zealand, was chosen by.the Dominion's produce boards as being most suitable as regards the. seasonable supplies of its produce. •■ '' ' ' ' In the fortnight's occupancy of tho Shop' 34,322, samples..of butter,, cheese, honey, and > apples \yere/sold, and thus introduced into" that'number of new homes in the Midlands. Seven thousand of these samples were of-butter, 14,000 of cheese,* 3500 of ' honey, 8000 of -apples, and-1400 of tinned tongues. Tho total value was £46,6. New Zealand thus put itp a record for the shop, Canada'having disposedl of only- 24,000 samples and. Australia 23,366. The 8000 samples of apples represented a sum of £200, and'the 3600 honey samples an amount of'£Bß. '•■:: ?.'>•' - . There is no. doubt ..that "New Zealand's ■ greater success Was due to the campaign that surrounded her occupancy of the shop. Almost every day the local'papers published short articles regarding New Zealand produce, supplied them by the Dominion's Publicity Officer. These' articles were in addition to the three special pages which were published at intervals during the fortnight/and -which' contained altogether oyer 80pO words of New- Zealand matter. In addition, the 1000 posters in various parts town and, district called-Upon-people,, to visit, the shop and try samples of New Zealand produce, and also urged them to ask for it in the •hops-if it met with their approval., The,appeal was strengthen; ed in all the .newspaper articles by em- ' phatic' references 'to' the consistency with which,New IZealanders bought the manufactures of Shemeld and surrounding^towns, of'vrhiejb, indeed, they were the greatest per capita: purchasers m the world. Emphasis was laid on the two points, yiz.: The quality of the New Zealand produce, and ,the return ofthe money so, spent, to purchase Shemeld goods and thus keep employment going in the local mills. This, also was the main theme of thte Publicity Officer's two lectures in the large V.M.C.A. hall. Among the meat and provision retail shops there was an active canvass by the '-',wltilde" representatives ox the Meat »nd Dairy BoaTds/specially directed, respectively- by Mr. K. S.- Forsyth and Mr. H.E. Davis, This undoubtedly "had a wonderful effect in stimulating furthc? trade. Almost all the shop exbibitfeS the New Zealand advertising material in' their >indbws. -Mr. Foray th ran aVitodow-'dressing eompotmon> among butchers, for which there were 24 entries, the prize being a silver cup. There were difficulties in the way of-a similar competition for grocers. '■ On 14th June, the Lord Mayor of Sheffield' p*jd< an offleiajj. visit =to the shop. As ihV=High Commissioner : was in Geneva at the Lausann? Conference, he was represented by Mr. ■ Forsytb, who was accompanied' by ; ;the Publicity Officer. In presenting the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress with a basket of New Zealandproduce, Mr. Forsytlrgave an interesting: statement of; the desire of New-Zealand to extend her markets iir the Midlands,, stressing also the extent of the Dominion's trade with the Mother Country, and the quality of the produce. Subsequently, the Lord Mayor attended, the 'presentation of the win-dow-dressing.'prizes, which he himself handed to the, winners. The Press cave a cood account of the ceremony, which naturally assisted the general campaign. ;■. ' i . , ' As in the case of the Leeds campaign, the four New Zealand produce boards provided the necessary finance, and the organising and co-ordinating of the effort into a national campaign was carried out under the duection of the High Commissioner by his tr,ux>?. licity. Officer.