Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
MUJIC TFADE
VOL. LXV. No. 9
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., at 373 4th Ave., New York. Sept. 1,|1917
W
Single Copies 10 Cents
92.00 1'er Year
E would never expect a first-class workman to carry on his labors with antiquated, worn-out and
inaccurate tools if there w r ere brand-new, up-to-date tools at hand and awaiting his use. We
should naturally expect the workman to take advantage of the opportunity offered by the new tools
to turn out more and better work with less effort.
There are similar situations in the retail piano trade, however, and we do not always see the retailer make
use of modern equipment that is his to command in preference to old-time methods that follow the lines of
least resistance. It is unfortunate but it is true that a surprising number of piano men, and retailers in other
lines of trade, be it said, are content to travel along in their fixed channels without making any effort to
make use of the advertising and sales helps furnished free for their use by many manufacturers, or to profit
by the successful experiences of other merchants as set forth in the trade papers.
In the piano trade to-day there are thousands of dollars spent monthly in the preparation of advertising
matter of various sorts designed primarily for the use of retailers. A number of concerns furnish electrotypes
of complete ads, attractively designed by experts, for the use of the dealer in his home territory. Some
manufacturers also supply specially prepared street-car cards and literature for mailing, all so arranged that
the dealer's name and local address may be inserted at a minimum of expense.
Some manufacturers have an advertising service, in fact, that is at the command of the dealer for dis-
tinctly local work, preparing advertising copy and offering selling suggestions in connection with some event
of strictly local interest, and are providing special catalogs and window and wareroom displays, all calculated
to, and most of which actually do, bring business into the store. All these helps may be looked upon as tools
which are at the command of the dealer without charge, and by which he may not only lighten his labors,
but make them more effective and productive.
It was only last week, however, that one well-known advertising manager deplored the fact that actually
less than 20 per cent, of the dealers on his list made any use of the material thus supplied them, or which
was offered to them, and it is stated that the proportion holds good in other trades where such service is
found. In other words, 80 per cent, or more of the dealers are content to plod along in their own way,
depending upon their own initiative for developing selling ideas, and if they advertise at all, they do their
advertising in a small way and at a small expense, or prepare their advertising at a cost that may be out of all
proportion to the business they do.
This 80 per cent, of dealers, on the other hand, are actually paying for the advertising service that the
other 20 per cent, are taking advantage of, and paying without getting any direct returns, for such service
rendered by the manufacturer must be charged proportionally against every piano leaving the factory.
Manufacturing ideas, like selling ideas, have changed materially, and the modern manufacturer does not
consider his duty done when he has produced an article and sold it to the retailer for the best price he can
get. The modern manufacturing system demands that the article be followed from the factory until it is
in the hands of the ultimate consumer. The manufacturer realizes that by supplying advertising material
and sales helps to the dealer he is enabling that dealer to increase his turnover, and an increased turnover
means a greater demand for the manufactured product.
In direct ratio as the demand is increased at the factory, so is the cost of manufacturing decreased as
it applies to the individual article. In short, the charge for advertising service, which, in the ordinary
course of events, would be a direct charge upon every article sent out, is automatically taken care of by
decreased manufacturing costs.
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It is a notable fact, proven by experience, that the most consistent users of the advertising and selling
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