Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
MARCH 24,
1923
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
The Slogan as an Advertising Force
Difficulty in Obtaining a Phrase Which Will Not Only Attract Prospective Customers' Attention But
at the Same Time Have a Close Relation to the Product—Some Outstanding Examples Used in the
Piano and Talking Machine Industries Where These Aims Have Been Achieved
A fair majority of business houses of the
country, particularly manufacturers, have seen
fit to adopt some sort of slogan to be used in
their advertising for the purpose of attracting
and holding public attention and tying up that
attention with the products offered. In the mu-
sic trade there are not so many slogans as there
might be, but, nevertheless, there are a suffi-
cient number to make the consideration of the
question of their choosing a subject of interest.
Those who have had experience in the prepa-
ration of advertising copy will readily agree
that many of the slogans are poorly selected
for the reason that the manufacturer and his
advisers hit upon a word or phrase that rings
pleasantly to the ears and do not take the trou-
ble to determine just how the slogan describes
or fits in with the product featured.
In the selection of a slogan the first thing
to be considered is just what it is expected to
accomplish. If it is simply designed to attract
attention, and by that means arouse interest in
the product, then it may well be a phrase that
fits easily on the tongue and is calculated to
prove successful through that fact. If, on the
other hand, it is designed to set forth'some
characteristic of the product a study must be
made of just what load the slogan is expected
to carry and make the selection accordingly.
In a general sense, the rules that apply to
the selection of slogans apply with equal
strength to the selections of advertising char-
acters which are designed to make an appeal
to the public and, through their close and steady
asssociation with the advertising of certain
products, keep that product constantly in the
public mind.
Some Good Characters and Slogans
Among the best-known characters used in ad-
vertising are the Victor Dog, the Campbell
Kids and the Gold Dust Twins. The Victor
Dog is looking directly into the talking ma-
chine and the inference is that the reproduction
of the human voice is sufficiently natural to
make the dog respond to his master's orders.
Tn this case the figure of the dog is tied up
directly with the product and what it accom-
plishes. The pictures of the Campbell Kids re-
flect health, and a close merchandising tie-up in
advertising copy ascribes that health to the use
of Campbell soups. The Gold Dust Twins are
always shown busily scrubbing and they, too,
emphasize directly the use of the product.
A character used by a piano manufacturer
which is steadily gaining recognition is the ba-
by featured in connection with the Gulbransen
player-piano and the slogan "Easy to Play."
Here is a direct connection that cannot be over-
looked. The picture of the baby and the ap-
pearance of the slogan either in newspaper or
window display immediately bring to mind the
Ciiilbransen player.
Another slogan without a special character
that is being heard in the music trade is that
used in connection with the Duo-Art piano,
namely, "To Hear Is to Desire," and serves to
emphasize the fact that a real appreciation of
the qualities of the instrument can best be
gained through a demonstration—a fact recog-
r.ized by the manufacturers themselves in the
it.ethods adopted for the exploitation of that
instrument.
Tt is generally surprising that the talking ma-
chine manufacturers have not gone in more ex-
tensively for slogans that are calculated to em-
phasize something more than' clarity of tone.
We have among other slogans those of the
Columbia "Note the Notes," and of the Sonora
"Clear as a Bell," but neither slogan is calcu-
lated to wean the prospect away from the fact
that he expects to hear some rasp or needle
scratch in the reproduction. Instead of empha-
sizing clarity why not lay stress on mellowness
of tone and the ability of the instrument to
produce a softness of tone that will reduce or
eliminate the rasp? Why not, for instance,
"Music as Soft as a Lullaby"?
Analyzing the burden that the trade charac-
ter or slogan must bear is illustrated in the
case of the Gulbransen baby, which must actu-
ally operate the merchandise to make the talk-
ing point worth while. A somewhat similar
case is found in the "Phoebe Snow" advertis-
ing of the Lackawanna, which put upon a frail,
white-clad figure the burden of building up a
railroad's passenger traffic. The frailness, the
whiteness and the cleanliness of the character
riding on or alighting from a Lackawanna train
drawn by an engine burning dustless anthracite
coal and tied up with a straight merchandising
verse had a direct sales appeal that did the trick.
The direct tie-up with a product in the selec-
tion of a slogan is found in the case of the
United States Music Co. and its trade-marked
phrase, "The Roll of Honor"—the slogan itself
naming the product.
A particularly happy slogan of the few in the
piano trade is that coined for the Steinway
piano—"The Instrument of the Immortals."
There are few products other than musical in-
struments of which the same claim to tradition
can hold good and, in the case of the Steinway
piano, the musical artists listed among the im-
mortals who have used that instrument in the
past make good on the slogan.
The great difficulty in the selection of a slo-
gan is the tendency of the creators to stick to
superlatives and to endeavor to build around
the words "greatest," "best," "peerless,", etc.
These terms arc so general that they have lost
their significance and it is much better to select
a less impressive phrase that applies more di-
rectly to the qualities of the product for which
it stands sponsor.
The same rule holds good in a measure in the
selection of advertising characters. It is not
sufficient that they are grotesque, attract atten-
tion and perhaps a laugh. It must be that their
activities illustrate the use of the product, or the
text woven around them be of the direct mer-
chandising order. It is not sufficient simply
to have a tie-up. That tie-up must mean some-
thing.
TENTH FOREIGN JTRADE CONVENTION
MISS DE ROCHEMONT TO WED
Important Subjects to Be Discussed at Three-
day Session in New Orleans in May
Miss Louise de Rochemont, daughter of Max
J. de Rochemont, vice-president and treasurer
of the Lafrargue Co., New York, will be mar-
ried on April 10 to Roland Muirhead Craigmyle.
A number of matters of general interest to
all branches of trade will be discussed at the
Tenth Annual Foreign Trade Convention to
be held in New Orleans on May 2-4, but the
two central topics will be, first, Europe's ability
to buy American goods, as evidenced by a
thoroughgoing study of European conditions
to-day and the progress made during the last
year, and, second, the best ways and means to
cheapen and perfect the movement of exports
and imports beUveen the Central United States
and the seaboard.
The first topic will be discussed upon the
basis of a carefully prepared report, rendered
by a special committee which has been at work
for a year, under the auspices of the National
Foreign Trade Council, and a special paper on
the year's progress in Europe, rendered by Dr.
J. W. Jenks, of the Alexander Hamilton Insti-
tute of New York.
A group of nationally noted bankers will dis-
cuss the financial aspects of foreign trade, the
effects of the exchange situation and the present
state of credits.
Among other topics included in the program
for the three days that are of general interest
are "European Trade Barriers," by W. F. Gep-
hart, vice-president, First National Bank, St.
Louis; "Trading in the Face of Depressed Ex-
change," by A. Kains, president, Federal Inter-
national Banking Co., New Orleans; "Financing
Foreign Trade," by Robert H. Bean, secretary,
American Acceptance Council, New York;
"Cutting Factory Overhead Through Bigger
Exports," "Does Price Predominate in Export
Selling?", "Foreign Piracy of American Trade-
Marks," "Forms of Agency Contracts," "Most
Promising Market Prospects," and "Credit
Granting in Central America."
There will also be many other topics of gen-
eral interest to exporters scheduled to be dis-
cussed at the New Orleans meeting.
The Mehlin piano was used in a piano recital
given by Henna Menth in the Town Hall, New
York, Saturday afternoon, March 17.
Th
ine
is a complete line
It comprises a range of artisti-
cally worthy instruments to
please practically every purse:
The Hardman, official piano of
the Metropolitan Opera House;
the Harrington and the Hensel
Pianos in which is found that in-
built durability thatcharacterizes
all Hardman-madeinstruments;
the wonderful Hardman Repro-
ducing Piano; the Hardman
Autotone (the perfect player-
piano); and the popular Playo-
tone.
O-ver Eighty Tears of Fine Piano Making
413 FIFTH AVENtIK, NKW YORK.