OCTOBER 13, 1923
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
7
Making Direct Advertising Profitable
The Sixth of a Series of Articles by Robert E. Ramsey, Covering Every Side of the Music Merchant's Direct
Publicity- Capitalizing National and Local Holidays- Handling Letters for Holiday Busi
ness- The Birthday Anniversary and Methods of Turning It Into Sales
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_\n experienced mail order advertiser will tell
Illany line s of business can make use of this
you that, though the great .'\.merican public ca n
birthda y event , as we ll as all of the other events
-
Robert E. Ramsey, author of this se"ies of ~
be induced to ant icipate Christmas, to buy
of a p e r so nal nature previous ly li s t ed .
aI,ticles, is widely known as one of the mo st
things for that event prior to its occurrence, he
Have yo u a ha rd pros pect to s el!? . Has he a
authoritative writers on this subject. He
or s he can not be made to anticipate Easter.
sp ark of se ntiment in his make-up? (Very few
=
has lectured on this in the universities of
Yet it is a fact that "events " have almost as
Illen but ha\'e, by the way). \Vell, try this
~ Nei1J York , Chicago, Missouri and Toledo ,
much to do with sales as any other factor ill
even t letter on him, if he is a married man:
he is the author of two of the best books
the conduct of hum an lifc .
" O n th e s ixth of t hi s month you wi ll cele
dealing with th e mbject, he is editor of
\\'ise direct adve rti sers amOng th e retailers
brat e vou, - . - - -- - anniversary. In connec
"Postage," the direct advertising magazine,
capital ize this fact alld, though the tie-up with
tion with that hav e yo u ever thought of a
and he is past president of the Direct M04/
anyone fi e ld or industry is neces sa rily individ
I,'. s tin g prese nt- which yo u, too, could and
Advertising Association.-EDITOR.
ual, for instance, the coming of )J'ew Year' s day
would enjoy a ll your life-to present Mrs. So
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means that the ch ildren dress up in grotesque
a nd-so wi th ( w bat eve ritis) ?", etc.
costumes, but no s uch cus tom prevail s in th e
Did spa ce permit we would s how yo u inllu
H he is si n gle, watch for his promotions 111
West, they create sal es.
Illcrabl e instances of how bright d ea ler s in .v' ou r
bu s iness, or hi s e ngagement, or his changes of
fie ld had capitalized upon the ('vcnt of Spri n g
What yo u s h o uld do is to il1JlI1~diately set
positi o n, and follow in th e way of a personal
down on pap er a ll of the local, city, county,
ill the sa les of goods. Th e Illain thin g is to
;cppea L Do you yoursel f know how and when
State a nd t e rritorial events, when they are to
plan to be far enough ah ea d of the run of s low
th e county In which yo u do busin ess was
take pl ace , and plan your mailings accordingly.
1l10 v in g dealer s to get your appea l in earl y .
11<1III cd? \Aiell , wouldn't that be interesti ng to
In ad ditio;, to these eve nts, which are, for in
Personal Events Real Makers of Sales
1110st of th e rc , t o f your county folks? And,
stance, th e birthdays of the prominent loc a l
Summer as an eve nt offers spec ial appeals for
ti('(l up w ith you r OWIl business, you will get
ce lebritie s, the found ing o f the count y, the nam
those having anything to do w ith the r e tailing
Ical sa les ammunition. Then, how abo ut the
in g of the State, or its admission into the
of vacation Ilia terial" comfort de vices, and the
nalll ('S of the to wns you do business ill ; the
Unit ed States, there are', of course, a larg~
lik e.
n<'arb} town s, and so forth ; tell abo ut them.
IlUIll b e r of national "events," secular and politi
Fall spe eds up lhe heavy clothing li e ld and in
Taken ill co nne c tion with their birthdays these
· most sect ions retard s building project" for ex
ca L
;lr c a ll "ev e nts" wh ich cast th ei r direct adver
t ;,i ng s hacIow , bef ore th em.
Still another c lass of "events" afford s a pos
a mple, but do es not materially affect your sal es.
sibility for the planning-in-advance d ealer to
Winter automatically makes sa le s for somc
Tie Up Your Product With Event
get more sal es -namely, "events" of a personal
goods and as an event has but littl e effect oth er
The mOre SlJpic your line of business, the
nature. From many s tandpoints the latt er af- . wise.
Ie" you ha ve to off~r in the way of novelty,
ford better sales-making possibilities than the
Now, let us take up the national political holi
the 1ll01'C it will p ay you to capitalize local
other classes of even ts, despite the statement
days, covering as they do Lincoln 's B irthd ay,
news thr o u c; h this subject of "events."
of the mail order advertiser quoted in our open
V!a s hington's, Yl:emorial Day, Fou rth of July,
\nd if yo u can c los e ly tie your product or
ing para g raph.
l ,abor Day , Armisti ce Day, and in SO lilC places
s er vice \\ilh the ('v ent about which you are
When to Mail Your Christmas Letters
Elec tion Day. These ev ents off~r but little in
\\ r itin g, which usuall y can be done with a little
The secular holida ys are, of co ur se, easily
the way of help for iilcreasing sa les ' in your
!h o u~: ht in plannin g-, all the better. In fact, it IS
r ec alled ; Christmas, New Yea r's (that, by the
qorc, provin g especia lly profitable mainly to
ile st not t o usc th e C'v e nl unless y ou can tie it
d ea ler s of noveltie s and postal cards.
w ay, is a sec ul ar holida y; ver y few people who
up with your own bllsiness, unl ess you run a
hav e not looked it up know that celebrates an
The n ex t events ar e those of semi-national
,cr ies of "event" letter" or other mailing pieces,
ages-old religious rite of certain people) , Lent
importance, or ev e n of lo ca l State imp o rtan ce,
so as to form a historic back g round for all of
(first as a general approach a nd specifically as
s uch a s Bunker Hill Day in Massachusetts, Co . VO lll' direct adv erti s ing.
to Church holidays, depending, of course, upon
lumbus Day in New York City, and t he like.
If good-will is yo ur aim ge t your mailings out
the preponderance of your lo ca lity observing
The personal events are th e real ma ker s of
quite early; if yo u ar e trying to sell goods by
the holiday), Easter an d Thanks g iving.
Of
sa le s, aside from Spring, C hristm as and other
mail be fairly earl y, but not so far from the
exce ptions previousl y noted.
th es e Christmas is at the top, from the sai<'s
event as to permit the pro s pect to procrastinate,
E\ er y retailing establishment s hould im Ine
makin g standpoint. Yet let a wo rd of warning
lhinkill ~'!: he or sh e has ample time, and if you
be ut tere d right h ere. If yo u intend to dire c t
diat e ly start a sys tem of keeping up the per
want to bring th e lol to your es tabli s hment for
adverti se to your prospects for Chri s tmas trade
so nal events of their clientage and possible cus
a d ec is ion be earl y , but not too far in advance;
tomers. 13irths, deaths, marri ag es, birthday s, an
do it between November 25, approximately, a nd
not so far a s i f tr y in g to g et th e order itself
by maii.
l1i vcrsarir:~, graduat ion s, e ngage nlent s, c han ges
December 12 and I S. Mail order records show
that ma ilings arriving later than the fifteenth · of position s , newl y made wea lth or prosperit y,
:Make up a li s t o f th e " events" you can use
or thereabouts receive scant attention, at best
fires, illness and re cov erie s o f illn <'sscs, all offer
;1, yo ur dire c t ad ve rtising right now.
C heck
only arousing th e slow-movers a nd those who
th e mo s t tellin g of material for the manufac
o\' er th e lis!.s h e rewith and then keep that mas
procrastinate to th e last moment.
tur er of effect iv e direct advertising.
ter li s t before yo u for use in plannin g all direct
a
Tha nksgiving is the poore st fro111 the s ales
You can u se a larg(' proportion of the se
- - ". _ - - -
making sta ndpoint, for, unless you are sell i n g
events in your efTort to incr~ase sa les.
food products, especially the t urkey and his
An d you .can do like a certain jewe ler I know,
TAKES ON THE KIMBALL LINE
attendant supplies for the table, there is ver y
who uses the f' n gaf'ement ann ouncements to
little to feature in regard to the Thanksgiving
send direct advc rti s in ~ not only to immediate
TlALTIMo!~r., .\[fl., Oc tober 8. - The well-known
holida y.
ia milies of those eng ag ed, but, wh e n he cou ld
nlll s ic house of A. Durdwise has now taken on
Ea s ter we have a lre ady comlllented upon ,
se c ure th e lists--a nd w i th proper planning in
a line of pianos, the Kimball piano being se
there being only one main exception to th e
advan ce th ey usuall y could be obtained-friend s
lect ed . This fiflll, situated on Howard street,
1 ule set forth-that of the florist a nd others
of tho se who are engaged. Think of th e cf
has built up a lar.g e busin ess in the distribution
who s ell Rowers for the holid ay.
fccti v c-ne ss of any direct advertising to the
of Illusi ca l mer c handis e and the retailing of the
Seasons Greatest of All Events
friends of e n gaged couples, whether you offer
s;illle and talking ma c hines. The addition of
Lent is used for sales making in this wi, e:
them a piano, automobile se rvice , flovv'er s, gro
pian os well round s out the organization along
Take a dealer in New York Ci ty, you will find
cc ries, co nfe ctione ri es, or an y other art icle of
the li nes of t h e' gene ral music house handling
thos e appealing to the more ex clu s ive sect ion s
mer c handi se or so me se rvice!
a ll mu s ica l merchandis e.
of th e ci ty get their ca mpai gns under way early
The Birthday Event
in the Spring as possible, before L e nt, where
Tak e life in s uranc e as an example, ior it is
FRANK AUERBACH IS MARRIED
th ey can, for results s how that mailings late
hard to se ll, and note how caref ull y the wide
in L e nten period arrive at about the tim e when
awake insurance "re tail e r" wat c hes thr birth
Fra nk .'\ ucrba ch , secre tar v of the Henkelman
they are preparing for a trip to a Summer
day s of hi s prosp ec ts. 'Nhy ? Because oll ce
Piano Mfg. Corp., New Yo rk, and Mi ss Alice
resort or abroad .
ev ery six months there is a chan ge of age to
Gibn ey wer e united in marriage on Saturday
In o ne respect the seaso ns are in themselves
be talked about. :t-;o w the increased cost of
at Mr. ,\uerbach's home, 1159 Union av e nue,
the greatest of all eve nt s and should be com ·
thirt y-fi ve over thirty-four is no t ver y star tlin g,
Bronx. The newlyweds are now spending th eir
mented upon here. There is hardly a line of
but th e "event" offers a real thin g to hin g e a
honeymoon in 'vVa s hington and expect to make
retailing but can make usc of the gen e ral event
,ales ta lk upon , and good s e llrrs of thi" sen
an extens ive trip from th ere before returning
of Spring to sell more goods.
· icc find it is a woriderful "clos er." Dealers in
to )J'ew York.
I