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THE:
MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
point principally through The Review's exhibit, which has been con-
ceded to be one of the most attractive in the Liberal Arts Building.
This is the first great Fair to be held west of the Rocky Moun-
tains under the sanction and aid of the United States Government.
A LTHOUGH the Lewis and Clark Exposition will not be as
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large as those held at Chicago and St. Louis, it is by all
odds the biggest thing ever attempted in the far West. The people
of that section have gone heartily into the undertaking, and the
Portland Fair will be well worthy of a visit from every one who is
able to afford the time and expense necessary to the trip.
Miss Emelie Frances Bauer, of The Review editorial staff,
is now on the Coast, and will assume charge of our interests at the
Exposition. We extend to all readers of The Review, whether
East or West, a hearty invitation to make The Review booth their
headquarters during their tarry at the Fair. They will be w T armly
welcomed, and the booth will be found to be a convenient rendez-
vous.
F ) ROGRESSIVE men generally see the benefits of advertising,
1
but none of the more successful concerns of to-day overlook
the importance of trade advertising. There has been during the
past few years, or since the power of advertising became so widely
recognized, a desire on the part of some advertising agents and pub-
lishers to belittle the position and importance of the retailer, and to
urge their customers to go over the heads of the dealer and interest
the consumers direct.
Their argument is based on the theory that if they possess
interest, the consumer or dealer will be forced to take on their
wares. Plenty of good men adopted that advertising policy, which,
to a large degree left the retailer out of the calculation.
B
UT has this kind of advertising been successful? In the main,
only where the purchase price of the article involved some
trifling amount, but with the larger and more expensive industrial
and artistic creations, it has been found not to have been successful.
All of this general advertising has not lessened one particle the
influence of the retail merchant; he is the king of business, and his
influence is essential in the distribution of wares, of position and
standing. Some large piano manufacturers have learned this lesson
as well, and have cut down their magazine and general advertising
and increased their trade paper appropriations. The cry of adver-
tising only to the consumer, is not logical, and that is gradually
being admitted by the leaders in the advertising world.
ORE and more it is coming to be seen and to be understood
that the retail merchant is the one whom the average manu-
facturer should seek, though he may, if he wishes to spend the
money, supplement such advertising with publicity direct to the con-
sumer. Then, too, much of the advertising in publications of a
general nature fails of its object, for the reason that the mass of
readers cannot be interested in the article, whereas the reader of a
trade paper is constantly in search of merchandise on which he can
make a profit. The general advertiser is paying for an enormous
circulation, only a small proportion of which is of value to him,
while in the trade which is covered by well circulated journals, his
announcements have a direct and indirect influence. There is cumu-
lative value to all trade advertising which is incalculable.
M
T
HE importance of trade paper advertising has never been so
clearly recognized as to-day, for the retailer must be inter-
ested as the medium before the public is reached in articles in which
considerable money is involved in the individual sales.
The retail merchant controls the domain of distribution, and
from the manufacturer to consumer can never be made effective,
save to a very limited degree, and with comparatively few lines of
merchandise.
In this trade, perhaps, as in no other, the personal influence
and standing of the retailer must be considered a powerful factor.
It is the dealer's persistence, his standing, which frequently deter-
mines the customers in the selection of instruments, and it is impos-
sible, even through enormous appropriations in the magazines, to
change this condition of affairs. The dealer's suggestion to his
customer on the merits of particular instruments will be more effec-
tive in ninety-nine cases out of one hundred than hundreds of
pages in the magazines.
T
HE trade papers which to-day have splendid distribution are
more valuable adjuncts than ever before to manufacturing
enterprises. They are more of a necessity, and recognizing that we
have perfected the machinery of this institution to such an extent
ihat it is more powerful to-day than ever. One New York adver-
tiser last year closed a special advertising deal with The Review
and one more trade paper. The amount involved was considera-
ble, but on this investment he cleared over $8,000, and the returns
were about equally divided between the two trade papers.
Another manufacturer who had an announcement in The
Review two weeks ago received in four days, forty-five replies to
his announcement. This was a piano manufacturer. A specialist
through a single advertisement in The Talking Machine World,
which is a part of this organization, sold thirty-five thousand of
his inventions through a single advertisement. One concern in the
West received orders from almost every city in the Union and four
foreign countries through one announcement in The Review and
The Talking Machine World. These are only a few cases, and they
are of recent date, and it is a fact easily demonstrated that all
advertisers in this trade paper combination have found that the
results were most satisfying, and after all, there is nothing so elo-
quent as results.
N advertiser asks if we believe it will pay to get up expensive
illustrations of pianos.
Most assuredly it will pay, and pay well, and while seeking to
find some way to cut down expenses, no advertiser should reduce
the cost of his engravings, for by so doing he reduces materially
their attractiveness.
From time to time our attention is called to advertising matter
which reaches us which is of such an unattractive character that
it could not interest purchasers. On the contrary, they would be
repelled by the crude, coarse illustrations which pretend to give a
correct impression of certain pianos. If the impression which they
give is a true one, then the sale is killed at once. Compare these
cheap and grotesque illustrations with some of the finer types and
how different the feeling towards the instruments. One shows re-
finement and grace and attracts. The outline and detail work is
perfect, and one feels that it fairly represents a piano, as it should.
A
O, we say to our friend again, do not try to save a five or ten
dollar note on a piano illustration. It would be better by far
to cut it out of something else than out of an engraving which is
supposed to convey a correct idea of the latest products of a con-
cern. These are sent forth primarily with the idea of interesting
customers, either wholesale or retail, and if they embody the best
talent procurable among photographers and engravers, they most
assuredly will attract and interest. Money expended on good illus-
trations will bring back returns a thousand fold.
N
GOOD many retail piano concerns have discontinued the plac-
ing of price cards in their windows. Still there are some
who hold to this plan because they affirm that their show windows
are the best, at the same 1 time, the cheapest advertising mediums
that they can find, and they propose to use them all the time to
exploit their specialties.
Objection has been raised to this method, owing to the fact
that a good many piano merchants exploit the names of pianos
controlled by their business rivals in a way which is not complimen-
tary to the local representatives. There are plenty of ways in which
the show space can be utilized to excellent advantage without bring-
ing ones neighbor's pianos into disrepute. There are splendid dis-
plays along novelty lines which may be easily arranged and which
will draw and attract people in a large way.
A
OME local trade associations have passed rules condemning
the exhibition of price cards, but there are no particular rules
that may be enforced to stop those who are outside of the organiza-
tion, doing as they please regarding this matter, and presumbably
price cards will continue to be displayed in some piano windows in
every city in the land.
The first essential, however, in any window, whether card or
otherwise, is to have a clean window, and there are a good many
who have not as yet learned that lesson well, for frequently the
windows look dirty and unattractive. A bright, clean show-glass
is frequently indicative of clean business methods inside.
S