ADVERTISING PAYS

Greymouth Evening Star, 29 June 1922, Page 7

ADVERTISING PAYS

AUCKLAND FIR.M’S EXPERIENCE. The fact that the Auckland Farmers Union spent £12,000' last year on adver tising evoked a- discussion at the annua meeting of shareholders. One though there was a little too much of th American hustle system in giving away new £l4 10s sewing machine to stimu late competitive purchasing. Anothe questioned the value of full page display in relation to sales. Giving sewing ma chines and the system of rewards to pin chasers was stated by another shareholde to be “a very near relative to the totalis ator.” Laughter was evoked by a share holder referring to the possibility of higl prices being put on and afterwards takei off by way of emphasising an apparen bargain. After a lot of desultory dis cussion more in regard to methods adoptei than the amount expended on advertising the general manager pointed out that th latest American reports justified the ex penditure of from 2 to 4 per cent, of re tail sales on advertising to get still mor sales, and it paid. The company’s sale last year totalled £1,236,000, and som £12,000 was spent in advertising, or onb I per cent, of its sales. That was ex ceedingly economical. As a matter o fact, the sales by the branches in Maj were £8,600 over those in April, while th headquarters’s sales were £21,800 more, oi practically a total of £30,000 more retai sales in May over April. If that wa; not a satisfactory position for share holders, he was perfectly satisfied that ad vertising pays. They could not possiblj send out commercial travellers under ai expenditure of 5 per cent, of the tota sales. He was afraid that if the com pany were not to continue advertising il would have to get a new manager.