Music Trade Review

()crOBER·20. 1923
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
5
Making Direct Advertising Profitable
The Seventh of a Series of Articles by Robert E. Ramsey, Covering Every Side of the Music Merchant's
Direct Publicity- -Not All Direct Advertising Delivery Men Wear Grey-Sixteen Forms of Direct
Advertising Other Than by Use of the Mails-Store Display Cards
.\ few months ago the wr it er happened to be
in charge of promotiona l activ iti es for the an­
nual convention and expos ition of the Inter­
na tional Direct Mail Advertising Association.
About the time interest started to simme r in
the local city I received a telephone call one
morning. There was an irate retailer on the
other end of the wire and the substance of hi s
conversation before I co uld cut in was about
this:
"Wha t in the blankety-blank does th e local
Chamber of Commerce mean helpin g this mail­
order convention which is go in g to be held here
next month? Aren't we havin g e no ug h trouble
ill the city and our surrounding ter ritories from
the mail-order houses witho ut the Chambe r o f
Commerce takin g our money to ' entertain a nd
make a fuss over a bunch of ma il-orde r men?"
Not All by Mail
There was more of it and stronger-b ut space
wi ll not permit, though the instance poi'nts a
moral. I tried to exp lain that not al l direct ad­
vertising (or, if you prefer to ca ll it by the mis­
110mer, "direct-by-ma il" advertising) was deliv­
ered or distribut ed by mail. Nor was anything
li ke a very lar ge part oJ the grand total even
lIsed by the mail-order houses per se.
The on ly way I cou ld eventually make a dent
was by sayin g:
";vIr. So-and-so, do yo u eve r get o ut a cata­
log o r booklet?
Use enve lope enclos ures?
I ss ue a store paper? Mail any lette rs? Send
out any fo lders? Well, if you do-(and I knew
that he .did)-you are using direct adver ti sing."
Mollified, he late r attended the convention
and learned that not a ll deliverymen of direct
3dvertising wear grey. In shor t, that by no
means all of direct advertising is direct-by-mail
a dvertising, and that not a ll direct advertising
h
delivered by 'Cnited States Government
employes, known as postmen.
House-to-house Distribution
'vVhat he learned is just beginning to per­
meate the national conscious ness of th e average
dealer, as well as of the manufacturer, for that
matter.
Let's examine a few of the ways that direct
advertising may reach the pr.o spect by other
than mail routes:
( I) From the retailers' s tandpo int, most im­
portant of a ll come the window ca rd s, store
di spla y cards and the like, a ll of which are,
strictly speaking, dir ect advertising. Therefore,
all these disp lays should tie-up with th e appea l
of the dire ct advertising which may reac h th e
prospect through ot her chan nels .
(2) By hou se-to- ho use distribution-where
not contrary to loca l statu tes- ei ther throu gh
your own employes or by emplo yi n g firm s who
specia li ze in thi s work.
(3) At exits to theatres, factories and other
places where crowds emerge. Suppose, for ex­
~.mp l e , that somc one of yo ur products you
ha ndle is named after a famous movie star.
Th e n the c rowd coming out from a show wher e
th a t star appeared on th e screen would be in
an extellent mood to bt handed a piece of direct
advertisi ng ' literature fea tur ing the product ·
bearing the screen star's name.
Making One Article Sell Another
(4) With packages of all kinds th a t leave
vo ur es tabli s hm ent. Each one sho uld carry a t
least one pitce of direct advertis in g. More than
that, you may be ab le to inser t in var ious prod­
ucts an insert about other products.
(5) Use of special co lor ed wrapping paper,
with or withou t adve rti sing th ereon, as a cai­
rier of "direct" appea ls to others . Care must
be taken not to antagon ize shoppe r s o r your
.:!III11II1I11IIII1I1IJ1I11II11I11I1I1UIIUIIIIIIIIIHlI llJlft 1:llllllllllllllllllt:llllllllilU·lllilIIIIIIIIIIUUllIlIlIllililllillIlIIlJIlIlIIlIlIllIIlIHili!;:
Robe-rt E. Ramsey, aut/tOr of this series of
articles, is w id ely kl10wn as one of the most
authoritative writers 011 this subject. He
has lectured on this in the ulliversities of
New York, Chicag o, Missouri and Toledo,
he is the author of two of the best books
dealing with the mbject, he is editor of
"Postage," th e direct advertising ma.gazine,
and he is past president of the Direct Ma41
A dvertisillg Association.-EolTOR.
1IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIJIlllllllllllllllllll llilllllllllllllilillmUUUllllllllllltllllllllllllllllill111111111111111 11
delivery bill will in c rease when you use "obnox­
ious" wrapping paper.
(6) Your loca l th eatre program can often
be used to carry a special insert or s lip-in en·
closure, which is really direct advertising as
contra-distinguished from th e th eatre prog ram
advcrtising itse lf. There are other carriers
available in some localities.
The Telegraph in Direct Advertising
(7) O ne manufacturer of after-d inn er mints
is making them in special packages of thre e
mints, which may be imprinted on the wrapper
with th e nam e of a loca l retailer and then dis­
tribut ed through restaurants and th e like.
()ther products could be used in a similar way.
(8) The telegraph may be used .as a carrier
of direct advertisi n g, sendin g appeals to out­
of-fown points, or in the c ity for some special
sale, for example.
(9) Though it is not a means to be considered
as excellent, distribution at certain banquets,
co nvent ions, special mee tin gs and the like. A
better plan than actually givi n g the direct a dver­
tising material .at the meeting is to provide a
card and offer to mail it to th e inquirer in due
course.
(lO) Use of special-made . racks to ca rry your
own and th e d irect advertising which may be
s uppli ed to yo u by your manufacturer and other
~o u rces of s upply.
"Take One" boxes around
the establishment may often give added dis­
tribution, but if this plan is used be sure the
boxes are kept in good condition and the con­
tents fresh and up-to -date.
Gummed Paper Tape
(11) 'vVith proper care to school children and
th rou g h them to their parents. Retailers of
some products find this method of distribution
-worked o ut with the school authorities, of
'co u'rse-their best method of contact.
(12 ) Gummed paper tape for wrapping up
bundles can be used to ca rry yo ur direct adver­
tising me ssage, a lso some varieties of stri n g.
(13) Envelopes for use of the local mo vie
an d theatrical houses at the t icke t offices can
car ry a direct advertising message and for some
retai lers (of things especially of interest to
theatre-goers) are an excellent method of dis­
tribution.
(14) In some cities the ba cks of street-car
ti ckets and s tree t-car transfers may be used to
carry direct advert ising appeal s.
Inserting Leaflets in Other Retailers' Packages
(15) If you use th e store-pape r as a means
of direct advertising it can often car ry an addi­
tiona l piece of direct advertising, such as an
envelope enclos ure.
( 16) In co -operation with other retailers, in
all ied but non-competing lines. For instance,
s uppose you are on good terms w ith th e sta­
tioner. You can supplement some of yo ur
adve rti si ng by inserting some of it in packages
se nt o ut by the stationer and he will s uppl ement
his by inser tin g some of his direct advertising
in your packages. (Thi s means, to be sure,
ad d s some compet ition to your own direct
a dver ti si n g and it is for this reason not to be
hi g hly recommended.)
But in co nsider ing these additional methods,
do not confuse them with the use of "novelty"
advertising. No one denies that novelties have
their place in certain schemes of advertising,
but when the va lu e of the so-called novelty
makes it in th e fina l essence the giving of a
motive, good-will or order-b u ying appeal, it is
1I0t to be recommended. These suggestions
we make h erein are novel, but do not call for
nor compete with " novelty" or "specia lt y" ad­
vertisin g in any way.
Most Original When You Adapt Ideas
Carlyle is credited with saying "That man
is most original who adapts from the most
so ur ces." A little thought and yo u can fi gure
out additio na l ways of us ing othe rs than post­
men to deliver direct advertising appeals. For
instance, take th e hotel business for a moment.
We had had our daily paper for some one
hundred and thirty-odd years, I think it was,
before t he merchan dising genius of E. M . Stat­
ler conceived the id ea of giving it away to every
gues t, <.;very day, carrying the direct advertis in g
l!les5age of the Stat le r hotds a nd dining rooms !
Have you thou g ht abo ut using this very idea
for your own purpost'S in your own home town?
Perhaps you can make arrangemen ts to give
away with your compliments a copy of the
morning pape r to all the guests of you r local
hostelry, bearing a sticker c"rrying your direct
advertising m essage, and if your establis hment
is near enough to th e ho te l, and your product
or service such as to appeal to the guests, it
wi ll be a paying investment.
" Go Thou and Do Likewise!"
The ave rage sugar-bowl advertises a certain
s ugar manufactur e r and the restaurant or hotel
or a brand of candies on the w ra pper around
th e domino-loaf; the average hotel lav'a tory
holds a cake of soap, the wrapper of which
direct advertises the hotel and the manufac­
tu rer of the soap-with no desire to be irrele­
"ant, let us clo~e with: "Retailers, go thou and
do likewise'"
For, truly, not al l deJiverymen of direct ad ­
vertising wear grey.
DEATH OF J. WARREN WRIGHT
Vete'ran Music Merchant of Michigan Passes
Away in Hospital in Detroit
DETROIT, MICH., ()ctober \·5.· J Warren Wrig ht,
a veteran of the music trade, died in the Harper
Hospital here recently from the .effects of an
operation.
The deceased was seventy-e igh t
years o ld and was born in Mira, K. Y., comi n g
to nattle Creek, Mich. , when a yo uth. He
s tarted in the music business in 1870 as · a ··sa les­
man for R. D. Bullock, a music deal e r of Ja ck­
son, Mich.. , and later opened a store of his own
in that cit y "vhich he operated untit coming to
Detroit in 1901. In this city he became asso­
cia t ed with the Bush & Lane Piano Co. as
bran c h manager a nd late r as who lesale tl'aveler.
He is survived by a w idow, Georgiana B.
Wright.
TUSSEV = WILLIAMS CO. OPENS
WE ing of the new store of th e Tussey-Williams
Mu s ic Co. was recently held h ere during the
fourth anniversary week of the t:ompany. The
new address of the concern is the building at
34 Nor th State s t reet, which will afford three
floors. two for showroom purposes.