NEW ZEALAND BUTTER IN ENGLAND.

Waikato Independent, Volume XII, Issue 1020, 3 June 1911, Page 5

NEW ZEALAND BUTTER IN ENGLAND.

■Bremenr to popularise if. H MONEY TO BE SPENT ON AD- ■ VERTISING. H; When an American millionaire was for the secret of getting rich he “Advertise,” and when Mr (of Mills and Sparrow) was in Zealand he was asked how to New Zealand butter at and he gave the same answer, ■“Advertise.” Ef: A. very large proportion of the at Home have no knowledge of excellence of New Zealand butter, Hand they are not likely to have unless ■educated by a vigorous advertising ■policy. It is pleasing to note that Mr ■ Ellison, the National Dairy Associarepresentative in London, is ■ strenuously urging the advertising of Hour butter and cheese, and he has ■doubtless seen some of the effects of put forth in this direction by Mills and Sparrow. It is a non now at Home that before ■ tßPpublic will appreciate an article ■they must be educated to understand H its virtues per medium of advertising. H In the past New Zealand butter has ■ been unknown to the British consumer ■ because it has been always sold by the B grocer as “finest butter” along with B other finest butters. Its identity is B only known to the shopman—’the conB sumer asks for butter and knows as I much about its origin as we do of, say, ■ rice. The shrewdest business men B have pointed out that if the British B public ask the shopman for New ZeaB land butter he will have to supply it or B lose his trade. If the public use our B butter they will take it and insist on B getting it regularly, for we are told it B has no superior in quality at Home B If clever and systematic advertising ■ of our butter and cheese is carried out I the investment will provide a handsome I return to the farmers. Experience I has taught that the benefits derived I from advertising are gradual—the I harvest is not reaped all at once —the I public is timid—it takes time to gain I .confidence, but once gained it holds on. I N ?ia year of grace, 1911, is the first I on record when New Zealand but--1? ter has been prominently brought under I the notice of the British public, and if I the good work done is continued in the i* future the benefits to New Zealand I will assuredly be worth the effort and I cost. I • The credit for this first advertising ■ campaign is due to the National Dairy | Association of New Zealand and I Messrs Mills and Sparrow, one of their , agents in Loudon, who spent a sum approaching £3OOO in' advertising this seaso n . The principal work of the campaign was to arrange with about 900 retailers throughout Britain to ; have, on a certain day, a large attractive window display of New Zealand butter in their shops. Messrs Mills and Sparrow supplied striking r . bills and cards to assist in this. Then in participation of this, large advertisements were inserted in all of the leading daily papers and trade journals /calling attention to the excellence, etc., of New Zealand butter, and on. ‘ the display day the advertisements . called attention to the display, and the ;t Daily Mail devoted the whole of its first page to a most remarkable advertisement, naming shops in almost every town where New Zealand butter i could be bought. Most of the papers also printed a short article referring to Zealand butter. Some evidence of the effect t:.e ad- - vertising has had may be learnt from one of Messrs Mills and Sparrow’s letters, which reads:— l “This morning we have letters to hand with reference to this display, . and we cannot do better than give you one from a retailer in Canterbury, Kent. This reads:—‘l must thank _ you fot 1 the parcel of cards, tin tickets. B> copies of the Daily Mail, etc., which |B came safely to hand yesterday. You will be glad to hear I have had splendid results from the advertisement. Unfortunately today has been a short day, as we close at one o’clock on Thursdays; still I had a very busy morning, with strangers coming in for New Zealand butter, saying they had seen my name in the Daily Mail as keeping it. I had a box turned out on the countermand made as good a show as possible, and am delighted with the result, for which again many thanks.’ “The final result, however, of this display with this man yesterday is more satisfactory, because while he had one down at the start the result'of the day’s trading was so good that he or- . dered six more boxes, so there is not merely the empty form of thanks but practical proof of the benefit arriving, not only to him, but to ourselves and to the factory, from this advertisement.” On display day New Zealand butter was quoted at and Danish at 1245, a difference of 18s per cwt. Prom that day forward New Zealpnd has improved in price and Danish declined, until today the difference is only 3s per cwt. Did the display and continued advertisement help? If the standard price-ibf New Zealand butter v is raised only Is per cwt., it means an increase to the New Zealand dairy farmers of £20,000 per annum. Surely it will pay the farmers to support the National Dairy Association of New Zealand in its desire to complete the most effective selling and advertising L organisation possible at Home,