NATIONAL INSTITUTION.

Waikato Times, Volume 109, Issue 18256, 18 February 1931, Page 9

NATIONAL INSTITUTION.

WAIKATO WINTER SHOW. _ I MAY 26 TO JUNE 3. Advertising men, in spite of their acquaintance with shows, do not generally regard winter shows with an understanding eye as a medium. The following is intended to show- how the Waikato Winter Show may be made to fit Into l the marketing scheme and to present its advantages lo both buyer and seller. Advertising. “Advertising Is a business of many mediums, each playing its own part in the development of a profitable product. Each has its own particular function which, it’ properly employed, will result in an increase of ihe general level of profit. Big, lasting advertisers are generally built up from a modest start. One medium is used. It proves itself a paying proposition. Gradually _ the effect of advertising upon the htisiness makes itself felt, and the owners feel an 'increasing confidence in its power. New mediums are taken on, some profitable, some not so. Disappointing experiences are forgotten just ns one would forget a worm in a cigar and not damn the entire cigar industry 'because of the one unpleasantness —-forgotten because proof of the general profitableness of advertising has been received. Commercial Advertising. Commercial journals, direct advertising, winter shows, newspapers, posters—all these and others do their part towards impressing upon a man the value of advertising by producing

results. They- start him and the results he gets keep him going. ■But no medium brings a man’s prospect’s up to his front door for such a heart to heart talk as does the Wai- | kato Winter Show. There not only does the new advertiser see for himself the results of his bit of advertising and is logically led to more, but the old hand has an opportunity of finding out how large a section of the buying public reacts to the selling points of his products and those of his com- ] petators. There is in that last thought a world of benefit to be derived. But taking space at a Winter Show is only part of the job. In order to secure maximum results from every shilling expended, liberal use should be made of local newspapers. Those advertisements should drive homo vigorously the main selling points about which flic exhibit is built. Attention should be dlre.'ctcd to the exhibition together with an invitation to visit it. Newspapers. In newspaper copy it is recommended that for one or two months beforehand the advertiser call attention ' jto the fact that his products will he I jat the Waikato Winter Show, he I ’should follow the Winter Show up with | ■ a picture of his exhibit and a re- j j capitulation of the points made in it. j i Thus lie will prepare his prospects’ i j mind for the exhibit, and by reminding j i them of it follow up tlie impression | he has made. Newspaper advertising during a ! Winter Show is genearlly intended I merely to make the public more famij liar with the name and perhaps the i one or two selling points that dislin- ! guish the product from its cornpclij tors. Motor car advertising is a good example of this, especially with cam- [ paigns which are planned entirely I will) Waikato Show visitors in mind. I After all, any form of advertising is profitable in direct proportion to its j lvalue to the buyer.

The Waikato Winter Show advertising is of value to the buyer, because, first, it affords 'him the opportunity of comparing competitive products on the one floor and selecting that particular type which is best lilted to do the work he will require of it, If he is in the active market. Second, it enables him to get in actual working touch with new appliances, new devices of which he may have read but which heretofore have left him cold; he can see their actual application to his business. Third, he receives personal expert advice from many concerns on equipment that will save him money. Advertiser’s Point of View. From the advertiser’s point of view, if he really has a meritorious article, that is just exactly what he wants his prospective clients to be able to do. Add to ibis fact that it puts the advertiser, -first, in -touch with the man who considers himself to busy to read advertising—and there are some such; j second, opportunity to meet dissatisfied buyers and straighten out their attitude; third, to get their personal and business reaclions to his wares; fourth, to close prospects, and we have a medium that will make even the most hardened sit up and take notice —if lie lias a product that can hi; advertised through the Waikato j Winter Show. ; That this type of advertising pays I is evident since ninety per cent of j I hose who lake space sign contracts for the’ next Winter Show. Naturally many advertisers secure direct sales at Hie Show whereas other classes can only hope for leads or general publicity to be turned later into actual cash orders, just as in the case of those same advertisers in magazines, business papers, etc. Value of Waikato Winter Show. There is one other point that should be touched upon, and that is 'the value

of the Waikato Winter Show to an industry itself. It gives the general public an idea of the size and importance of that industry, it dignifies it in the eyes of those engaged in it, and gives them an idea of its function | and methods that perhaps nothing j else could. The Winter Show is a profitable form of advertising. Proof of that fact lies in the extraordinary high percentage that renews—ninety per cent. It has its distinct place in the marketing scheme and, because of its definite, proved power, deserves thorough investigation from those whose main interest, after all, is the pursuit of profitable sale.