-' '"^H ] Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/analyticaladvertOOshryrich Analytical Advertising Analytical Advertising By William A. Shryer Publishers Business Service Corporation Detroit, Michigan 1912 .2- <2_«^ Copyright 1912 by William A. Sliryer All Rights Reserved BNar Contents Page Sensation 1 1 Attention and Attention Values 15 Association 27 Suggestion 35 Reason 45 Instincts and Habit 53 The Emotions 59 Imagination 65 Cumulative Value 77 Advertising Record Keeping 87 Records of Consecutive Advertising 97 More Records of Consecutive Showings 111 An Exceptional Business and Its Records 121 A Women's Proposition 131 A Two-Inch Copy Record 137 An Art School Exhibit 149 A Four Years' Record 157 Relative Values of Small and Large Copy 171 Record of a Most Profitable Medium 181 A Small But Consistent Puller 195 Advertising a City 199 Waste in General Publicity 211 Conclusion * 225 4325S9 Introduction Literary charm and scholarly execution are slow to re- spond to the halting inspirations of a practical mind. As an apology for an exposition in many spots abstruse, I plead an innocence of literary skill that merits little com- ment. To the practical advertiser small opportunity is afforded to emulate the style of a Macauley or a Stevenson. As an introduction to any work on advertising many consider that some definition should preface philosophiz- ing. I am not inclined to regard this traditional conven- tion seriously, for as the greatest philosopher of them all discovered, we can know nothing except what our own sense impressions bring us. It is unnecessary to possess the genius of a Kant to realize that the conception of advertising held by every individual is truly his own, so diversified are his impressions, and so personal his reflec- tions on their relative importance. It appears a waste of time to attempt a definition of advertising. It is much more important to understand the principles that underlie it, than to speculate on what it is and does. The phenomena of advertising are ubi- quitous, but their law and order baffling and obscure. The concern of every intelligent advertiser should be to discover principles, that he may work in accord with them to his greatest profit. This premise assumes that advertising, in connection with any business, is for the sole purpose of selling at the greatest profit. This point granted we may turn to our real problem, which is an understanding of the laws that underlie ad- vertising results. Those results certainly depend on mental laws. It is equally obvious that in direct pro- portion to his understanding of the human mind one is successful or unsuccessful. This does not mean that a successful advertiser must have acquired his knowledge of men from a study of books. Many an expert in mental science has developed a rare power with no obligation to philosophical research. To many, however, handicapped by temperament or environment, such a personal knowl- edge of human nature seems denied. 10 Introduction Before attempting an analysis of mental activity it is necessary to appreciate that no exact science of mind ex- ists, exactly as there is no science of advertising. As old as thought, is the record of the philosopher and his works. Isolated facts, considered universally true, have stood out from time to time in the works of many. It has been a difficult task to make of them a science of the mind. Only within the last thirty years has any attempt been made to reduce the study to a laboratory basis. This branch of human knowledge has been branded with a name responsible for more abuse than any science should be expected to endure. This name is psychology, which is not nearly so frightful as its sound may imply. It has suffered much scorn, but bids fair to come into its own, by virtue of a commercial value hitherto ignored. A familiar acquaintance with the most important phases of mental activity is of value to any business man. It is especially helpful to the advertiser. A portion of this book is devoted to the practical application of psychology to every advertiser's problem. The entire discussion is one that has resulted from my own experience as an ad- vertiser, and is not the result of any abstract theorizing. An application of the psychological principles discussed will be found of practical value in examining the material that follows this portion of the book. In publishing actual results of the advertising done by a number of going businesses, a precedent is established that I trust will be welcome. The labor incident to gathering and tabu- lating this data has been as instructive and helpful as I trust their study may prove to those who read them. Having no sympathy with the secrecy that so widely pre- vails I present these actual records, with a realization that such a step must be taken by someone, at some time, and trusting that no time is better than the present. Foreseeing a revision of the tabulated material I will welcome any contributions of a similar nature. Before advertising may become a science thousands of such records must be gathered and analyzed. If the present contributions serve no other purpose than that of en- couraging similar exhibits, the effort will have been well expended. Sensation Advertising depends on the mental activity of human beings. The better any advertiser understands this men- tal activity the stronger his advertising should be. It is unfortunate for most advertisers that they realize so little the complex nature of their actual problem, and conse- quently devote practically no time to the real funda- mentals. The latter are undeniably the various laws governing the actions of the mind. A reasonable explana- tion for this indifference may be the acknowledged lack of final scientific proof as to exactly what the mind is, exactly what it does and how it does it. The very nature of the problem precludes the examination, physically, of a man's brain during consciousness, and it is extremely doubtful whether such an experiment would prove any- thing at all, were it possible to perform it. It becomes necessary, therefore, to assume a condition relative to man's consciousness. Nearly every philosopher has done this according to the flights of his fancy, but the present conception of the scientific psychologist is a theory made plausible by "corroborative" and experimental evidence. Being "plausible" it certainly may be as unquestionably accepted by us, as it is by those who have evolved it. This theory assumes that the seat of conscious mental activity is in the brain. The brain is nothing more nor less than orderly bundles of nerve matter. Any mental activity is the result of a nerve current which passes from a sense organ to a nerve center in the brain. A ray of light falls on the retina, the ending of the optic nerve in the retina is stimulated, this stimulus is carried over a nerve to a nerve center in the brain, which receives a sensation. This sensation is a mental activity. It is beheved that none other than a baby can secure "pure" sensations. No one knows how the stimuli are carried from the nerve endings to the brain, but the theory is that all stimuli follow "brain paths," and that these paths cross and recross one another. Other than in a babe, at least two things prevent a "pure sensation." Either before or at the time the nerve center receives the 11 12 Analytical Advertising sensation, other nerve centers discharge previously re- ceived sensations. These simultaneous discharges of other nerve centers are occasioned by "associations" of some nature, which so modify the original stimulus as to make its reception and recognition impossible as a "pure" sensation. Just what does happen can not be known, nor is the above description of the possible result known to be even an approximately accurate one. It is most certain, however, that no single brain action is a simple action, and it is further certain that no impression is re- ceived without being colored, affected, or in some way changed, either during its transmission to the nerve cen- ter, at the time it is recorded, or immediately after. The important point is that conceptions in the brain of almost any nature are variously associated with every new stim- ulus as the latter is in process of performing its function, with the result that everything we know or learn is re- sponsible for a mixed sensation instead of a pure one. It is definitely known that certain nerves, called afferent nerves, carry to the brain nerve currents induced by the stimulation of nerve endings. These nerve end- ings are located in the special organs of sight, smell, hearing and taste. There are also special nerve endings for heat and cold, for pain, motion, etc. We will not consider at this point any discussion of specific results following possible brain action after a sensation is se- cured, except to say that every idea, thought, concep- tion, perception, or whatever you have a mind to call the brain "stuff" into which sensations are converted, have a most certain effect on every new sensation that is re- corded. A salient point, of great practical value, is a thor- ough realization that no sensation or idea can be put into a man's brain in a "pure" form. It is bound to be colored by an immediate association with other ideas, which occurs automatically, so to speak, and this result is more complex in direct ratio with the complexity of the sensa- tions received. Other than the realization of this peculiar association ever present in all mental activity there is no point of especial value to the advertiser in a study of "Sensation," except to consider what is known as "Weber's Law." Sensation 13 Ernest Heinrich Weber discovered a law of sensation which Wm. Wundt expresses as follows: "The increase of the stimulus necessary to produce an increase of the sensation bears a constant ratio to the total stimulus." In ])roving this law Weber made most exhaustive ex- periments, the total number of which I find no record. A German professor, Herr Fechner of Leipsig, attempted to modify this law, with very indifferent success, and gives a record of 24,576 separate experiments on muscu- lar sensation alone, which may give a fair idea of the labor of Herr Weber, who worked out his law from simi- lar experiments on pressure, warmth, sound, light and muscular sensation. The significance of the law is this: A certain sensa- tion is secured by, let us assume, a certain volume of light. To increase the sensation so that it may be recog- nized by the subject as a stronger sensation it is necessary to increase the light 1-100 times. With muscular sensa- tion the stimulus must be increased 1-17, and for pres- sure, warmth or sound sensations the increase in stimulus to secure an added sensation is 1-3. It is, of course, an obvious condition that none of our sense organs can continue to record sensations above a certain point. By increasing the stimuli on the bases above quoted, a per- ceptible increase in sensation will be recorded up to a certain point, when a limit of reaction is reached, after which pain will obliterate every other sensation. The advertiser is, of course, directly interested in but one of the senses, insofar as creating a "sensation" is concerned, and that is the sense of sight, through which he reaches the brain of his possible customer by means of the printed advertisement. This very slight discussion of sensation is merely an introductory step before we con- sider one of the most important phases of mental activity from an advertiser's viewpoint, which is that of atten- tion. Attention is the first thing any advertiser must command for his copy, which makes an understanding of its fundamental principles essential. Before taking up this point there is an activity of the mind strictly dependent on sensation that must be con- sidered, as it is a factor in preventing attention. This is 14 Analytical Advertising the activity of the mind termed by James as "The Stream of Consciousness." Every normal mind, during con- sciousness, is constantly active. This activity always has its inception from a sensation. One sensation may be sufficient to keep the mind active for a number of moments, through associations set up in the brain paths. To cite a definite example of my meaning, I will assume that you receive as pure a sensation as possible by look- ing at a wall painted yellow. Recording the sensation of yellow in the brain may occasion any number of possible nerve center discharges at the same time, one of which we will assume to be the association of yellow with Chinamen. This association will occasion an association with Japanese, which in turn suggests Russia, which may as rapidly turn to the Czar, and in turn to Speaker Reid, then the House of Representatives, Uncle Joe Can- non, Danville, 111., the Wabash River, and so on, just as long as no new sensation is recorded from outside to break the stream of connected associations. This stream of thought, during consciousness, is always present in the normal human being, and you have only to consider that such a process is now going on in your own mind, and continues to be present during your everj^ waking hour. The interruptions to this stream invariably come from without, through the various nerve endings that supply sensations to the brain. It is the initial problem of the advertiser to interrupt this stream in every man he hopes to sell, and his first step is to wrest his attention. The consideration of this problem will be the topic of our next chapter. Attention and Attention Values Considering the many avenues for recording sensations, and the undoubted presence of hundreds of stimuli sent to the brain every second, we give attention to very few, and rarely to more than one at a time. Herr Wundt made exhaustive experiments and found that with con- scious effort the human mind was able to give intelligent attention to never more than two things at a time. He was unable, even, to watch a rapidly revolving hand on a clock and note exactly its position at the stroke of a bell he was waiting to hear. We all know that trick musicians are able to play four, five and even six instru- ments at once, but practically all are played through an established habit, which eliminates entirely any real prob- lem of attention. It is practically impossible for us to believe the story told of Julius Caesar, that he dictated four letters while he wrote the fifth. Each letter de- manded attention, and it is more than probable that such a story is no more reliable than many other marvelous performances proved ridiculous by the "higher criticism." The stream of consciousness referred to in the previous chapter is the prevailing obstacle that prevents steady attention. Stimuli of light, warmth, sound, feeling, taste, etc., are being constantly carried to the brain, but the attention of the mind is rarely given to hundreds of these stimuli, which fail absolutely to create a sensation, owing to the attention being centered where its immediate interest lies. The field of attention is a very narrow one, apparently, and as the advertiser is practically restricted to only one sense, that of sight, his chance for gaining the attention is restricted all the more. Any sudden or intensive stimulus will invariably at- tract the attention of the normal mind, which is purely involuntary. The same kind of attention is demanded by stimuli of an instinctive character, which depend on the character of their nature rather than on the volume or force of their impressions. The advertiser is not con- cerned in either of these methods of gaining attention, as both may be considered passive. 15 16 Analytical Advertising The advertiser desires to secure active and voluntary attention. He may do this in either of two ways, or better still, through a combination of both. First, he may gain attention through the presentation of some image to the eye that gains immediate interest on account of the thing itself, or Second, he may gain attention through an image that derives its value from the interest that is immediately occasioned, through the associations it arouses. It is obvious that if an advertisement contains an at- tention compelling interest, due to its form, contour or illustration, which in their turn immediately associate themselves in the minds of the readers w ith a conception impelling purchase, such an advertisement has secured the maximum of attention value spoken of above as a combination of the two. In compelling attention to an advertisement, a factor quite as difficult to overcome as that of the stream of consciousness, is what might be characterized (unscien- tifically) as a dispersed attention. This is the roving lack of concentration every reader of a magazine or paper displays in purposely seeking the advertisement of suffi- cient attention value to focus his interest. No one makes the slightest effort to center his attention on any object except for the immediate or remote interest he expects to experience. An advertisement is not read except as it impels attention through interest. Two very important principles relative to attention are given expression by Prof. James, and bear directly on the advertiser's problem, "There is no such thing as volun- tary attention sustained for more than a few seconds at a time." And: "No one can possibly attend continuously to an object that does not change." Helmholtz combines these two ideas by saying that if we wish to keep the at- tention on one and the same object we must seek con- stantly to find out something new about the latter. The advertiser who bears these principles in mind must so construct his advertisements that the inhibitions ever present due to these facts must be overcome by him through the very nature of his copy. The one great prin- ciple of copy writing that these principles suggest will be Attention and Attention Values 17 considered later under the heading of imagination, which has been a quahty almost entirely overlooked by most advertisers, and practically unmentioned by any writer so far consulted. I will attempt to show later that imagi- nation will not only supply the defects of attention value above mentioned, but actually attain attention most effectively through it. The idea suggested in the preceding paragraph is a digression from the immediate subject and the latter is sufficiently interesting to the advertiser to permit of no serious deviation. As practically no phase of mental activity is simple, a discussion of any almost necessitates reference to others, even when it seems inadvisable to discuss the complexities that suggest themselves. This division of interest in considering any phase of our subject is as indicative of the general vacillating char- acter of the stream of consciousness as one might desire. Is is certainly true of our consideration of attention, viewed from an advertiser's standpoint, as the most logical consideration of its value at this point appears to neces- sitate a jump from psychology to what may be termed a real science. The latter is the science of optics, which certainly deserves more thoughtful consideration than most advertisers have seen fit to give it. As an advertisement secures its attention value from either an inherent interest or a suggestive interest it is very clear that in the one case the rules of optics may make or mar an advertisement entirely, and in the other assist materially or detract decidedly. The average ad- vertiser is fairly convinced that something about his advertisement should serve the purpose of attracting at- tention. Knowing little or nothing of the principles in- volved he is quite as likely to insert an illustration for this purpose, with no conception of its most effective position in the copy, with no understanding of the value of association or inhibition, and quite possibly with no idea at all beyond printing something that ought to catch somebody's eye. It is also quite possible that a wretchedly composed advertisement may make sales, and even make a profit- able number. It should be a logical conclusion that if 18 Analytical Advertising such is the case, the maximum results would follow an ideal arrangement of the same copy. The object of every adver- tiser should be to secure the maximum results from the min- imum expenditure at all times, and an understanding of a few fundamentals is therefore of value to any of us. I have neither sufficient understanding nor inclination to attempt a scientific dissertation on the science of optics. It would bore almost anyone were it sufficiently accurate or exhaustive. There are plenty of works on the subject accessible to all, and a most worthy start has been made to apply its principles to advertising by the Association of National Advertising Managers. The chairman of the latter's educational committee, Wm. H. Ingersoll, of New York City, may supply information to those who would like to learn of this committee's re- searches. There are no limits to the problems subject to actual solution by test in this field. A small fraction of the millions wasted for advertising every year by the ad- vertisers who belong to the Association may eventually be directed to a campaign of experiment bound to save wasteful future expenditures, and at the same time prove as profitable from a publicity standpoint as a large pro- portion of their expenditures certainly merit. Our present concern with this fundamental subject is the barest outline of the several factors bound to enter in the construction of every advertisement, to ignore which weakens every piece of copy. The primary object of all copy is to secure attention, and attention presumes inter- est. We are interested in pleasing things, which is a fact about every one. An advertisement, being printed, as- sumes a definite form, and the most pleasing form adds the greatest degree of interest, if viewed from that angle alone. The forms of an advertisement follow the same principles as those of art relative to forms, of which there are three degrees. The lowest form is that of regularity, the next is that of symmetry, and the highest form is that of harmony. The form of advertisements has been as definitely set- tled for the advertiser as though decreed by law. This form is that of a rectangle of which the lowest form is the square. The square itself has every requisite of regu- Attention and Attention Values 19 larity, and is correspondingly pleasing, A more pleasing form is that of the oblong, and it is safe to say that 90% of the advertisements printed assume this form. The oblong has symmetry, and being a higher form of art, is more pleasing to the eye, and has more attention value than a square. The highest form must be obtained by the arrangement of copy within the oblong itself, when harmony heightens the pleasing effect to the maximum degree. The arrangement of copy within the square or within the oblong, should also attempt to realize these three forms of art, and if artistically conceived heighten the effect correspondingly as they reflect regularity, sym- metry or harmony. Below are shown three oblongs, with conventional arrangement within, which typify these three forms of attention value. It is easy for anyone to determine which of the three possesses the highest de- gree of j)leasing attention value. More important by far than the form of the rectangle chosen as the medium for copy, is the proportion. This feature is a matter that centuries of art and convention have settled for us beyond any chance for error, yet it is a proportion appreciated by so few that I have no recol- lection of hearing it recommended by any copy writer, any artist, any advertising solicitor, or indeed by any one, though it is referred to in a book on "x\rt and Science 20 Analytical Advertising of Advertising," by French, and given the importance it deserves by Professor Scott in his "Psychology of Adver- tising." The principle of the maximum attention value as referred to rectangles is one that has been recognized and followed for centuries by all masters of art, both graphic and sympathetic. The proportions of famous canvases, conventional sizes of pleasing book pages, and especially the correct proportions of the best architecture, all reflect the principle. It has long been recognized that any rectangle that reflects the proportion of approxi- mately three to five is the most pleasing. The rectangle with a base of three and a height of approximately five is the most pleasing, although one with a base of five and a height of three preserves a degree of harmony that no perfect square can equal. This proportion, the principle of the "Golden Section," may be tested by any one. It is particularly noticeable in the advertisements of any newspaper page. Glance at any newspaper, and being guided for attention value simply by the most pleasing forms of the various pieces of copy, decide for yourself those that please you most. You will be surprised to discover with what alacrity the eye will pick for attention the advertisements that reflect this proportion. With this principle in mind you will also be surprised to note the positive repulsion certain advertisements on the same page are bound to have for you. In the so-called standard magazines the contrast in attention value will be less noticeable, as the form of the page itself lends itself to fewer opportunities for the violation of the principle. The standard size of 8}i in. by 5^2 in. approximates the golden section, and the usual division of the page into vertical quarter sections as nearly approximates the same proportion. The hori- zontal quarter is next in attention value, and the upper and lower half pages sufficiently pleasing to prevent dis- tinctive loss of attention value. The division of such a page into two perpendicular half pages, however, is de- cidedly lacking in attention value, and it is quite safe to say that a quarter page will "pull" materially better than a half page of vertical form under almost any ordinary circumstances. Any space of smaller size on Attention and Attention Values 21 the standard magazine page, especially the 1-8 page, is generally recognized as a size absolutely worthless, although many exceptions have been found by the exper- imenting advertiser. A small piece of copy, such as an eighth of a page, cannot conform to this most important principle, and fails to secure attention, I am personally assured, for no other reason. The size of the space is not the element responsible for the loss incident to such show- ings, but rather the loss in attention value due to the lack of harmony in such copy with the principle of the golden section. I have tried for years to secure small copy that would pull, but have yet to secure such a piece of copy. Following is a piece of such copy. Four inquiries cost $7.83, with no sales whatever: GET THE MONEY Learn the Collection Business. Wonderful opportunity for money making. Requires no capital. But little competition. Our first lessons enable you to start a business of your own. We refer business to you. Write for "Pointers on the Collection Business." 347 State St., Detroit. Mich. AMERICAN COLLECTION SERVICE, This principle is most important in choosing a pleasing size for newspapers, where the competition for attention is marked and diversified. An exact proportion is pos- sible on every newspaper page, and he who scorns the principle is bound to suffer, through the attention value his more fortunate neighbor secures to copy designed to appeal through this forceful attention compelling ele- ment. Correctly proportioned newspaper copy is em- phasized by solid })orders that press the proportion value distinctly into the field of attention, merging all counter sensations into the background. The same principle applies to solid white margins, especially those observed on the printed pages of books, all of which observe conventional margins on all sides that leave the actual printed page in the same proportion as the page itself, namely, that of approximately three to five. We are inclined to attribute the uniform book 22 Analytical Advertising margins to the desire of the mind to view with interest a page that preserves the conventions of centuries in this regard, and to read with a certain sub-conscious discom- fort a book that disregards them through too wide margins, or too narrow ones. The more reasonable sup- position is certainly based on the theory of the golden section, as it is extremely doubtful that any "instinct" for a certain kind of margin could be formed through even centuries of conventional book reading on the part of our forbears. A consideration of the most favorable position for placing the attention compelling portion of the adver- tisement, within the form of rectangle chosen, naturally arises in connection with our discussion of the golden section. It is particularly pertinent, inasmuch as some base their decision as to the logical attention center on a theory that suggests the golden section proportion of three-fifths. It is plausible that one should confuse the actual center with this theory, as the point is undeniably about three-fifths from the bottom of the rectangle. That is, the portion of any rectangle on which the regard is most easily centered is a spot approximately three- fifths of the distance from the bottom toward the top. If the most compelling part of the advertisement appears at this spot it is the most likely to secure attention to itself, and through skillful association, made to embrace the entire advertisement, by means of which the proper action, embracing response, is secured. The point at which the lines of regard for each eye focus may be termed the line of orientation, and this line of orientation in the case of a rectangle is invariably slightly above the real middle of the figure. The eye seeks the point that ap- pears to divide it equally from top to bottom, and the tendency of the mind is to endow to the upper two-fifths an equality of space it attributes to the lower three-fifths. This tendency to exaggerate the actual space value of the upper two-fifths to an equality with the lower three- fifths is doubtless responsible for the pleasing attention value of the golden section itself. It is undeniably true that the most acceptable line of orientation is at a point that approximates three-fifths from the bottom of the figure. Attention and Attention Values !^8 Below are shown several forms illustrating the superior attention value possessed by the golden section and at the bottom appear four rectangles with the word ATTEN- TION placed at various distances from the top and bottom. It is easy to choose the one which carries the word on the proper line of orientation, which places for us the most favorable point for inserting the attention getting feature on which depends the primary interest to be aroused. The interesting illustration or strongest word picture should appear at this point in order to insure attention to the copy. In no other place is it as likely to arouse a sensation, thus insuring interest and attention. This is an important element too little considered in the arrange- At tent ion Allenlif Allenlion Allenlion 24 x\nalytical Advertising ment of copy. Granting a certain position in any adver- tisement to be the ideal point of regard for the location of an illustration, or an attention compelling head line, the ideal size is certainly very important. Careful and exhaustive experiments have decided both of these questions. Relative to an illustration it is fair to assume that the eye will fall on it or pick it out quicker and better if its size permits a complete visualization without any motion of the eye after fixation. Assuming this, the maximum attention value is secured by an illustration that permits this result. The mind will secure a complete percept without motion of the eyes, of no object larger than one inch square, at the normal reading distance. This is the average maximum. The minimum average is one-half inch square. The "ideal" average is, therefore, about three-quarters of an inch square. The same prin- ciple applies to lines of words. The eye rebels when con- fronted by long lines. Any line of reading that exceeds three and a quarter inches lacks, grossly, in attention value, as the mind will not attend if forced to follow lines of over this average length. A line of meaningless words, or of strange words, is much worse, as neither the eye nor the mind has any interest in them, except in rare in- stances from curiosity. The eye follows lines of conventional length, and is interested only in such lines as arouse interest through association or beauty. Head lines of capital letters lack in attention value, though a great many advertisers never appear to realize it. The eye is not accustomed to reading capital letters, nor is it interested in them. It is folly therefore, to prepare a head line for the purpose of attract- ing attention, and set it in capital letters, with which the eye is not familiar and never interested. Use upper and lower case always if you want attention, but never all upper case. The law and reason are too obvious to merit further elaboration. The attention value of the printed page depends very largely on the kind of type used and its size. The easiest read, and the most pleasing form is modern face roman type. The size should never be large if the advertisement Attention and Attention Values 25 is to be read at the normal reading distance. It is a great mistake to choose large type, except for a head, as the eye tires too quickly in its attempt to read a meaning into it. To test this j)rinciple simply try to read a '^poster" at short range. You will discover yourself actually spelling out the words, thus inhibiting any action of interest that the connected words may have as their object. Ornate type is often used by advertisers, with the idea that its unusual appearance heightens the attention value of the advertisement. The fancy appearance of an advertisement, due to an unusual type, may very easily draw attention to the announcement, but real interest in it quickly wanes when an attempt to read the copy is made. The manufacturers of type have been slow to appreciate this condition, and many have constantly designed new styles of type in order to increase their sales. Printers have sampled a little of everything, and the* weird typographical results have done much to kill the effect of much excellently written copy. Before terminating this discussion of attention value some reference should be made to the importance of light and color. It will be more of a "negative" character, however, than anything else. The advertiser unskilled in the science of color will do well to let it alone. The conflicting theories on the subject are manifold and cer- tainly confusing, and I freely admit of absolutely no real conception of the subject. It is bad enough to attempt a grasp of plain black and white. The very essence of what these two represent has been the basis for tireless debate. Such acknowledged authorities as Helmholtz and Hering base their theories on the assumption that black is a sensation, while eminent authorities, as Fick and others, declare it is the absence of sensation. It is a good rule to follow, that black and white, in their various pro- portions and relations, present sufficient opportunities for inhibiting interest and attention. It is a certainty that no two persons in the world see any one color in the same relation with others. The gradual modification of this condition ranges from slight differences in shade tones to absolute color blindness in a vast number of individuals. The safe side in advertising is the "color- -za Analytical Advertising less" side. Secure all the attention value possible through principles of art, but shun "art for art's sake." The menace to attention value arising from injudicious color arrangements is so obvious to most advertisers that but few attempt the color appeal, and copy in colors is for the most part the exclusive luxury of cover space buyers, whose measure of fancied results is quite likely to be as grotesque as the effect of their artistic transports. The calamity likely to attend the attempted harmony of art and commercialism in black and white copy is more subtle. It is to be apprehended on account of the prin- ciple of association, which deserves a chapter of its own, which will immediately follow. Association Every sensation arouses associations. The principle of all conscious neural activity, mentioned previously as the brain path theory, depends on association. Associa- tion is the basis for the present day understanding of the phenomena of memory, habit and imagination, a reference to each of which will be necessary in discussing association, though a more complete analysis of the three will follow later. The popular acceptance of almost every psychological term is not in keeping with the psychologist's meaning, from a technical standpoint, and considerable confusion results, with attending lack of agreement on the part of all. This is especially true of psychology's interpretation of association. Almost insane devotion is exhibited by a certain class of advertising writers to what they term "suggestion." The real meaning this word may have for many of them is an obscure problem, though it is quite reasonable to suspect reference to it by some relates to their conception of what association really is and does. Suggestion, from a psychologist's standpoint, means a command, expressed or implied, direct or indirect, arising from the suggestion of a hypnotist to his subject. Since the first use of the term in this connection its meaning in popular fancy has been distorted to represent almost anything, until any discussion of it appears as futile as to attempt to reason about religion. The word or its possible meaning will not be the subject of discussion in this chapter, and is merely mentioned here to avoid any misapprehension in our discussion of association, on which it has no scientific bearing. Present-day psychology is an evolution from the asso- ciation-psychology of Hartley, Hume and Locke, who were more philosophers than they were psychologists. Their restricted meanings relative to "simple ideas," "simple impressions," and "association of ideas" are still held by many as a basis for understanding the action of the mind. These meanings assumed the possibility of sensations being "pure" and attributed to ideas the 27 28 Analytical Advertising quality of objects that were associated together in the mind, subject to repetition in consciousness in exactly the same form as that in which they were first presented. Were these theories correct an object once seen and after- ward remembered would recur exactly as it originally came into consciousness, and as the original sensation of it was a pure one, it could only be recalled in perfect and true form. It is too plain to anyone that nothing of the kind is true, as it is absolutely impossible for anyone to remember perfectly, no matter how recent the impression. It is also quite as certain that no sensation reaches the brain as an exact counterpart of the object creating the sensation, for in the first place we read into everything seen or sensed certain associated ideas relative to it. This vital principle of different conceptions of any one object by every individual is known as apperception. That is, instead of actually perceiving anything as it is, we do something more than that — we surround or put on top of it other ideas associated with it — a comprehen- sive term for which is the word apperception, which means more than perception. It is a peculiarity of apperception that we actually seem to surround any object about to arouse a sensation with certain associations, and we appear to do it before having time to associate anything. The very same note struck on a piano does not sound exactly the same the second time it is struck, no matter how close to- gether the two occur. The impressions following a dupli- cation of any first sensation are colored by the first, and associations, however minute, make the actual receipt of the sensation different on account of the apperception of any object. We seem to be actually waiting for every sensation that comes, with a meaning in our mind for it before it gets there, and such a term as pre-perception would not be a bad one to explain, partially at least, the meaning of apperception. The recognition by every advertiser of the principle of apperception would be productive in this: the prepa- ration of copy so simple and direct in quality as to per- mit of as little difference in interpretation as possible. Granting there is a difference in every one's appercep- Association 29 tion of any object, the more simple the object the less opportunity for the observer differing from the concep- tion held by the author of the advertisement. The importance of the apperceptive faculty in each individual is manifest, as a single sentence, such as a headline, will mean as many different things to the read- ers, as there are readers. In proportion to its simplicity and directness the chance for marked differences lessens. A graphic illustration of apperception is afforded by the drawing here given. At first glance the idea pre- sented by the picture is one of two possible ones. Some immediately see a pair of steps. Others see a block of wood, peculiarly cut. After recognizing the possibility of the two distinct ideas you are able to read the mean- ing of either one into the figure at will. Some find it necessary to turn the picture in order to secure the second 30 Analytical Advertising picture. Once perceived, however, the mind is able to see the figure in either of two ways. This element of divergent apperceptive qualities ob- tains in connection with every word and sentence of an advertisement. But far more important are the associa- tions each sentence of an advertisement arouses after apperception. It is with this phase of mental activity that we are especially concerned in this chapter. Associations rapidly succeed themselves after every sensation. One idea suggests another. An idea of soap may be succeeded by one of lather, lather by foam, foam by sea, sea by ship, ship by Mayflower, MayfloAver by England, and so on indefinitely. The more untrained and stolid the mind of an individual, the less fanciful and divergent are his associations. An educated, or well informed, man is less likely to be restricted in the wide range of his associations than is a man of less in- formation or agility of intellect. A large proportion of the reading public, the "common people," as we conde- scendingly designate them, have a certain restriction placed on their associative ability through the limita- tions of their mental equipment. These people are the more susceptible to advertisements, for they are easier led by strongly associated copy to follow the line of associations such copy provides. The more highly in- tellectual a man is the less likely is the advertisement to hold his interest to the buying point, as any one of thou- sands of associations may impel such a man to neglect the lead of the copy entirely, and instead follow one his interest may suggest through an association entirely irrelevant to the copy itself. It is notoriously a truism that the ''high brow" does not succumb to the plea of the advertiser, where his more stolid brother easily yields. If this is true, as I believe it to be, the explana- tion may certainly be found in this tendency of certain minds to follow the lines of association that emanate from within, instead of following a line of association ''canned" for their benefit by the advertiser. The tendency so marked in the intellectual man is always present in varying degrees in all men. To over- come the inhibition ever present from this source the Association 31 advertiser must preserve not only a palpably logical association of ideas from the first to last in every piece of copy, but he must also maintain an interesting one. The tendency of the mind to follow almost any idea with what appears to be absolutely irrelevant associa- tions is the problem absolutely baffling to the psycholo- gist. He has been able to decide in a general way cer- tain broad rules for their occurrence, but as to why or how they act as they do, he pleads justifiable ignorance. James, for instance, sets down four causes, or rather tendencies, of associations. He states they follow cer- tain brain paths because of habit, recency, vividness or emotional congruity. Very naturally such cate- gories are not of very great concern to the advertiser, especially, as another authority might add to the num- ber, or even subtract from them, with no particular practical benefit to anybody. What is of greater im- portance is that the associations do follow each other in the normal mind, on account of one fact, INTEREST. An advertiser can never tell when his copy will contain an idea at a certain point that will shoot the reader's mind a thousand miles from the printed page through an association it evolves. He can be certain that if his copy is not interesting in itself, and does not hang closely together at every point in an interesting manner, the mind of the reader will waver and probably scoot, when it reaches that point. The mind follows only those ideas with which it is interested. This is a LAW. All associations depend on interest. This is a law. Granting these two laws, can any one justify an illus- tration that is not directly associated with a piece of copy to which it attempts to attract the attention? The answer will be even more applicable to a head line, or to any integral portion of the display. An interesting asso- ciation between any feature inserted in copy for its atten- tion value and the selling portion of the copy itself is thus manifestly important. We may go so far as to say that it is the essential requirement. It is thus the height of wasteful ignorance to employ art in beautiful illustration, unless the association between the picture and the copy is palpably interesting. Art in copy is dangerous also on 32 Analytical Advertising account of the inherent quahty of all art to arouse asso- ciations in its own field, inhibiting any consideration of contiguous pleas to the attention. The tendency of the mind to associate all ideas is mani- fested in two distinct channels. The first is assimilation, or the association between elements of like compounds, and the other complications, or associations between unlike compounds. The mind is just as prone to associate contrasting ideas as it is to associate similar ones. It is therefore one of the important problems of copy to avoid as much as possible all chance for inciting association by contrast. Nothing so well illustrates this tendency of the mind, in its importance to advertising copy, as the effect produced by the "negative suggestion." A printer desir- ing to secure the high grade work to which his efficiency entitled him submitted to me a piece of copy he proposed running in a local publication. He wished to secure orders through copy outlining his superior qualifications, and a portion of his copy was excellent along this line. In the very body of it, however, he had introduced the fol- lowing: "Over a million dollars worth of printing is sent out of our own town by local houses every year. We ought to have this business, for the cheapness of the work done by outsiders is more than overcome by our artistic workmanship." Such copy would almost inevitably arouse in the reader associations of contrast. He would be almost forced to think of Chicago and outside cities having such superior facilities that would warrant taking such a volume of printing from local houses. This ])rinter actually contrasted cheapness and dearness to his own detriment, for in addition to the contrasting associations aroused, he forced on the mind of any thoughtful business man not only a line of reasoning (which is inhibitory), but an interesting association of ideas relative to outside printers, thus completely nullifying his own copy. In writing any advertising these two principles of asso- ciation should be borne in mind constantly, and every effort made to arouse associations of similarity as favorable as possible. As interest is the law of association, the deeper your understanding of human interest the better equipped you are to successfully appeal through it. Association 33 A realization of the dual character of conscious mental activity presumes personality in the individual human being. It is an understanding of the interests of this personality, on which all advertising copy is predicated. There is always the stream of consciousness, produced, or affected by objective stimuli, and there is always the subjective recognition of this stream, through which pro- cess we identify it as belonging to us. This element of personality is the one factor that elevates the human being above all other forms of animal life. Reason is commonly quoted as the one factor of human activity that elevates man above the beasts, and while it is practically certain that reason is peculiar to the human being it is not as distinctively an individual possession of the human as is his consciousness of personality. In connection with these two phases of self-consciousness there is still an- other designated by Prof. Sidis as the sub-waking self. The importance of the latter will be discussed later, as our concern is self-conscious activity in associations through interest. This pre-eminent attribute of personality reflects itself in the interest of the individual. Every human being, in a normal state, is vitally concerned and interested in his own being. The strongest human interest is invariably connected with his own well-being; and, associations aroused by copy that lead to an identification of that copy with the personal well-being of the individual must hold his interest. Every normal individuality is selfish. The very essence of personality is "m^." I am interested in my health, my work, my home, my family. Health is a paramount interest of man. It always has been and always will be so. The salutation of almost any language is a variation of "How do you do." To interest a man you ask how he is. It is even a secondary consideration to ask how his wife or how his family is. This prevailing phenomenon is responsible for the patent medicine man and his almost universal success. It transcends every other interest of the personality. With modifications our every interest reflects this one great interest. Professor James mentions as an instinct the desire of the individual "to have and to hold"— the all prevailing 34 Analytical Advertising desire to own something. Others profess to believe that the rehgious emotion is an instinct. Neither are abso- lutely universal, though undoubtedly arouse great per- sonal interest. My interest in me is greater than an in- stinct — it is vastly more stable than an emotion. It is the one universal undebatable attribute of human per- sonality. All human interests revert in their last analysis to this one functional interest. If the advertiser will remember this in his copy he will secure the action he desires. The more direct the appeal to the me the less likely is the copy to fail of its purpose. The principle in writing copy is to arouse associations in the individual that appeal to the interest of his per- sonality. The variations of this interest have no limit, except the possibilities of activity for the individual. The principle of associations is important only in relation to an individual, and should not be considered in connection with suggestion as related to moving human beings con- sidered as a social body, which will be spoken of in the next chapter. Suggestion There is probably no single term so universally em- ployed by advertisers, by advertising writers or by those in any way connected with advertising as the word SUG- GESTION. Its potency has been the subject of more discussion than any single phase of mental activity, and practically every deduction relative to it has emphasized some degree of usefulness in its relation to advertising, advertising copy or advertising results. All psycholo- gists refer to it, and every advertising "authority" has some belief relative to it. The almost unanimous opinion concedes a rare power to it as an element of profit for the advertiser. Until I actually commenced to write this book I was as favorably impressed with the value of suggestion as is the average man who advertises. During the prepara- tion of the material I had gathered for several years I had entertained what may be termed the popular con- ception of the subject of suggestion, but had not gone to the trouble of informing myself on the scientific meaning of the word. Reaching this point in the book I sought more specific information relative to suggestion than that contained in the slight references to it in those works I had read or examined. Quite by chance I secured a copy of a book that dealt with the subject of suggestion in an exhaustive manner, and its treatment of the subject com- pletely changed my preconceived ideas of both the mean- ing of the term and its significance to the advertiser. The book referred to is "The Psychology of Sugges- tion," by Dr. Boris Sidis. This book will repay careful study by every advertiser, as its logical presentation of the subject, and the wonderful sequence of the experi- ments it unfolds will convince every reader that the popu- lar conception relative to suggestion rests on a miscon- strued understanding of the very meaning of the term itself. The popular faith in suggestion has for its basis a confusion of meaning that endows the supposed action of suggestion with what really develops through imagina- tion. The popular idea of suggestion is also confused 35 36 Analytical Advertising with other common phases of mental activity, of which imitation is a material factor. It is as much the duty of advertisers to simplify the meanings of terms, as it is to analyze results, and for that reason I propose to devote this chapter to presenting the salient points of Dr. Sidis's book, insofar as they directly affect advertising and the advertiser. The material of this chapter is rather abstruse, and to many will lack in interesting features, and I therefore bespeak a patient reading of it, for it appears to me the points made by Dr. Sidis are extremely vital. The purpose of Dr. Sidis is to prove that man is a sug- gestible animal, and his masterly deductions prove this conclusively. In deducing these conclusions he makes very clear that the conditions necessary to successful suggestion are not those that ever occur in their entirety for the advertiser. An understanding of these conditions is therefore of great concern to the advertiser. His every conclusion is based on definite experiments, which in the aggregate number thousands. His experi- ments on normal suggestibility are the ones with which the advertiser is concerned, and this series covered 4,487 separate experiments, quite sufficient to command re- spect for the deductions reached. I will attempt to out- line the important points of the book, for those who might find a careful reading of it uninteresting. Brevity of this outline entails patient thought by the reader at every point, that the final conclusion may be clear. To promote thorough agreement on terms the defini- tion of suggestion by Dr. Sidis will be given as he gives it: "By suggestion is meant the intrusion into the mind of an idea; met with more or less opposition by the per- son; accepted uncritically at last; and realized unreflec- tively, almost automatically." Without elaborating the meaning of each clause I think this definition expresses what most advertisers believe they accomplish for their copy through what they believe to be suggestion in their advertisements. By "suggestibility" Dr. Sidis means "that peculiar state of mind which is favorable to suggestion." To one interested in hypnotism, hysteria or any patho- logical condition the study of the whole book is absorb- Suggestion 37 ingly interesting, but the portions dealing with sugges- tion on the normal individual are the only ones of direct profit to the advertiser, in that they contradict practically all prevalent superstitions so rife among the laity. It will be my attempt to show the importance of such deduc- tions as bear directly on the advertiser's problem, and no other. In doing this I will ask the reader to accept as proved any hypothesis stated by Dr. Sidis, as it would take a book to prove each as he has done. This may be verified by the skeptical through a study of the book it- self. iVny opinions of my own will be given as such. Dr. Sidis gives in detail the results of a large number of experiments. I will confine this exposition to one of them. The experiment to be considered was really a series, and was made on perfectly normal men. It was for the purpose of learning whether normal men were suggestible to direct and indirect suggestion, also whether they were suggestible to immediate and mediate suggestion. The experiments permitted the subjects a choice, that is they had the choice of following the suggestion made or of not following it, and every precaution known to the experienced laboratory ex- perimenter was taken to eliminate the various elements of error. The operations were as follows : Six small squares of different colors were placed on a white background. A piece of black cardboard concealed them from view. The subject was told to fix attention on the black cardboard for five seconds, after which it was lifted, exposing to view the six colored squares on the white background. If the subject was influenced by the suggestion given he picked out one of the six squares. Each test was for the purpose of discovering the degree of suggestibility exerted by one of the following conditions: 1. Abnormal position of one of the squares. That is, one of the squares would be pasted crooked on the back- ground. (See illustration page 88.) 2. Colored cover. Instead of a black cardboard cover a colored cover exactly identical with the color of one of the squares would be used. 3. Strange shape. Instead of a square one of the six would be a different shape, as a star, rectangle, etc. (See illustration page 38.) Suggestion 39 4. Color verbally suggested. One of the squares would be placed in the subject's hands and the color determined and mentioned, after which it was replaced in the series and the experiment completed. 5. Place verbally suggested. As the cover was raised the position of the square to be suggested was cried out by the operator, as "Three," or any number decided on as the square to be suggested. 6 . Environment . One of the colored squares was pasted over a slightly larger square of a different color. A fringe environing the square was thus formed. (See illustration.) In the above six experiments a direct suggestion would be made as in experiment 5 by directly calling out "three," when the third square was to be suggested. Indirect sug- gestion would be made in experiment 1, where the abnor- mal position would suggest the square it was desired to have the subject choose. If he reacted to the suggestion he chose one of the squares. Dr. Sidis carefully tabulated all of the results also to discover whether the subject would choose the exact square suggested, or the next one to it. If the exact square was chosen he designated the action Immediate suggestion. If a square next to the one suggested was chosen he termed the result Mediate suggestion. The tabulated results of these experiments, expressed in terms of proportion, are as follows: Table of Immediate Suggestibility. Per cent. Abnormal position 47.8 Strange shape 43 . Colored cover 38 . 1 Environment 30 . 4 Color verbally suggested 28 . 8 Place verbally suggested 19.4 Table of Mediate Suggestibility. Per cent. Environment 22 . 2 Strange shape 13.0 Colored cover 5.8 Abnormal position 5.3 Color verbally suggested 4.4 Place verbally suggested 0.5 40 Analytical Advertising The first of the above tables represents the results where the exact square suggested was chosen. The second table represents the results where the square sug- gested was not chosen, but where the square on either one side or the other of one suggested was chosen. A table of percentages combining both Immediate and Mediate suggestibility results in the following: Table of Total Suggestibility. Per cent. Strange shape 56.0 Abnormal position 53 . 2 Environment 5'^.6 Colored cover . 43.9 Color verbally suggested 33 . 3 Place verbally suggested 19.9 It is obvious that the results of the above experiments point to a very salient factor of normal suggestibility, which is that "Iw the normal state a suggestion is more ef- fective the more indirect it is and in proportion as it becomes direct it loses its efficiency ^ I will quote several more of the important deductions noted by Prof. Sidis, all italics being his statements. A familiar thing in a strange abnormal position or shape produces the most effective suggestion. An adorned, beautiful object sheds glory on its homely neighbors and makes them more eligible. In the case of normal suggestion indirect suggestion is far more effective than direct suggestion. Normal suggestibility varies as indirect suggestion, and inversely as direct sttggestion. Prof. Sidis does not give the actual number of tests the above experiment covers. It was but one of a number of different tests that had for their object the suggestibility of the human being under normal conditions. The re- sults and deductions are of interest to the advertiser if not of direct value. The conditions absolutely necessary to secure any results from normal suggestion are more than interesting to the advertiser. They are directly valuable, and I may say of vital importance. The seven conditions discovered by Prof. Sidis must be present in every case of suggestibility. Wherever one of them Suggestion 41 failed to enter the experiment was a failure, that is, no suggestion was carried out. These seven conditions are as follows: First condition. There must be fixation of attention. This fixation was never longer than five seconds in all of the 4,487 experiments, except in five hundred, where the limit was somewhat longer. The subject had to hold a small point before attention for five seconds, after which the opportunity for choice was given. The subject ex- pected the experiment to follow, but did not suspect its character. If fixation of attention wavered the experi- ment was a failure, and no suggestion resulted. Second condition. There must be distraction oj the attention. That is, there must be an element of distrac- tion for the subject, in order to prevent his centering his attention on the thought of the object of the experiment, (namely on the suggestion itself). This is served through fixating his attention on something else, which was the small point he had to fixate before the actual experiment was produced. If the subject centered his attention on the experiment itself, the experiment almost invariably failed, and there was no suggestion. Third condition. There must be monotony. Each ex- periment had to be produced in an atmosphere of silence and monotony. Any outside noises, or disturbances of any kind prevented the success of the experiment. With- out monotonous surroundings there is no suggestion. Fourth condition. There must be a limitation of vol- untary movements. That is, the subject had to be in a comfortable position and not move or change his position. Any movement or discomfort prevents suggestion. Fifth condition. There must be a limited field of con- sciousness. Such a condition is naturally the outcome of the conditions mentioned above, and their co-existence naturally assumes a limitation of the field of conscious- ness, which hardly warrants considering it as a condition for suggestion, as it is naturally inseparable from the others as long as they continue constant. Sixth condition. There must be inhibition. To ap- proximate this condition is the most difficult task of the subject, as it means inhibiting associations that constantly 42 Analytical Advertising arise from outside stimulations. It means making the mind a perfect blank during the experiment, and banishing from the mind any association that may arise before the mind's eye, claiming attention. Whenever the subject failed to inhibit the intrusion of such outside associations the experiment invariably failed. This is particularly important to the advertiser, as it is a practical certainty that no reader of an advertisement is consciously trying to banish the natural associations that constantly present themselves in his mind, and without this element of in- hibition it is hopeless to expect any result from suggestion. Seventh condition. The last condition is considered by Prof. Sidis as the most important, and is that of im- mediate execution. If the opportunity for immediately executing the suggestion is absent there is no action. This condition is particularly important to the advertiser, as it makes absolutely futile any suggestion that does not permit of immediate action on the part of the prospective purchaser. A synopsis of the conditions of normal suggestibility is as follows: 1. Fixation of attention. 2. Distraction. 3. Monotony. 4. Limitation of voluntary movements. 5. Limitation of the field of consciousness. 6. Inhibition. 7. Immediate execution. Exhaustive study and experimentation by Dr. Sidis deduced conditions relative to abnormal suggestion that were very interesting. Nearly all experiments of abnormal suggestion were made with hypnotic subjects, but did not neglect various phases of pathological conditions that presented opportunity for study in this connection. He found that exactly the same conditions obtain relative to abnormal suggestibility as those discovered in normal suggestibility, with the exception of two, which were en- tirely absent from abnormal suggestibility. These two were the conditions distraction, and immediate execu- tion. He also discovered that in abnormal suggestion it is the DIRECT SUGGESTION that is the most impor- Suggestion 43 tant, whereas in normal suggestion it is the INDIRECT SUGGESTION that is most potent. In this connection an important point was discovered which has to do with the state of mind in perfectly conscious human beings, under conditions that present almost perfect suggestibility of an abnormal character, which is the phenomenon of the results of suggestion on men in crowds. A crowd or group of men present opportunities for abnormal sugges- tion exactly similar to those experienced with the hypnotic subject. Perfectly intelligent normal human beings are abnormally suggestible when gathered together in crowds, and under such conditions react to suggestion in a manner absolutely foreign to their natural or accustomed habits. A man in a crowd will act through suggestion as those around him act, and he will do things under such condi- tions that it is hard for him afterwards to believe or admit he has done. This fact is taken advantage of by all skilled orators, and is a perfect example of the results of sugges- tion under abnormal conditions. It is important to the theory of Dr. Sidis to consider in this connection that such acts are more likely to be harsh and brutish than otherwise and give rise to his deduction that there is a sub-waking, reflex consciousness, entirely distinct from all normal forms of human action, that causes certain reflex actions under proper conditions of suggestibility. This theory is worked out so logically in his book that one must be almost abnormal himself to doubt the scientific truth of his deductions. Suggestion on a crowd is peculiarly effective. Almost everyone has observed it and fully realized it. It is nat- ural that a great many should concede the same human tendency to individuals, but the reverse is true. The experiments of Dr. Sidis, quoted in this chapter, were made with the distinct purpose of discovering whether the normal human being was prone to react to sugges- tion. The results quoted prove that under certain con- ditions the individual will react to suggestion. The vital point for the advertiser is that the necessary conditions are not those that prevail for him. If we grant that the experiments made by Dr. Sidis are at all conclusive, we must concede that suggestion is 44 Suggestion futile as an advertising appeal. Such a conclusion is vastly important, as it upsets the favorite hobby of almost every advertiser. It will be extremely difficult for a great many to accept such a conclusion, due to a confusion as to the exact meaning of suggestion. A great deal of copy is termed suggestion copy, when in reality there is no element of suggestion in it. The same is true of so-called "reason- why" copy. If, however, we grant the definition of Dr. Sidis, and grant his experiments conclusive, suggestion is a waste in advertising. Reason There are valid excuses for the varied interpretations given to the term suggestion, since many unrestricted meanings have been read into it. This charitable judg- ment fails to extend itself to those who attempt to cover a multitude of sins with the blanket of "reason why" arguments. Since Reason is conceded to be the crown- ing glory of man alone, there is little excuse for igno- rance relative to its limitations. Superstition breeds ignorance, and the frenzied pratings of those contribu- ting to the "reason why" controversy rival in dogma the transcendental scholasticism,with none of the latter's studious preparation. It is a favorite superstition that because reason is pe- culiar to the human being it is his prevailing guide to action. Nothing could be much farther from the truth. Man is potentially a reasoning being, but actually he is a creature of habits. Every normal man can reason a little. Some can reason a great deal. Few reason very much, and all reason as little as possible. It is distinctly hard and tiresome to reason, and as a result the ordinary, average man lives his life the easier way, relying on habit, imitation and imagination which are quite suffi- cient to make the ordinary paths of life easy and conven- tional. Since every man has the potential power to reason it is natural to assume that he knows what reasoning is. Since advertising men are exploiting reason as the one factor susceptible to profitable appeal, it is reasonable to suppose that they understand the result of such an appeal. The actual facts appear to point to an aching void where knowledge on this subject might be expected reasonably to obtain. It is a popular superstition to attribute any choice or any deliberation to the faculty of reason. Both may ob- tain in an operation that entails reasoning but neither is an indication of reasoning. x\n animal both chooses and deliberates, but it is practically certain that he never reasons. If you place before a dog or cat both fish and 45 46 Analytical Advertising meat the dog will choose the meat and the cat the fish. If you place before a cat a savory vegetable and milk it may deliberate some time, and finally choose one or the other, or choose neither. Reason consists in the consideration of abstract rela- tions. Reason is an analysis of the abstract qualities of any problem considered. It is not a consideration of any concrete thing, or the relation, one to another, of concrete ideas. The object of any process of reasoning is to attain some particular solution, which the mind is set on obtain- ing. It is neither haphazard, nor the result of ordinary association of ideas. Ordinarily, reason is evoked in an emergency, when a decision embracing new lines of action must be made. Any action that has been once per- formed needs no decision dependent on reason, as habit or memory will serve in such cases. When any problem presents itself for solution through reason its properties of a general character are abstracted and an analysis carried out through similarity. The solution, or judgment finally achieved may result in a concrete idea, but it is made up of abstract ideas resulting from the analytical process that preceded the judgment. An illustration given by James is given herewith, as it represents the type of decision often made by a pur- chaser of goods, which is one involving no reason at all, but more likely a choice from emotion: ''Suppose I say, when offered a piece of cloth, T won't buy that: it looks as if it would fade,' meaning merely that something about it suggests the idea of fading to my mind — my judgment, though possibly correct, is not reasoned, but purely em- perical; but if I can say that into the color there enters a certain dye which I know to be chemically unstable, and that therefore the color will fade, my judgment has been applied." In a process of reasoning the analysis naturally pre- sumes a comparison of ideas that occurs entirely from within the mind. No outside stimulus enters in the reasoning. The consideration is entirely that of abstract ideas, which is the important phase of the mental process particularly interesting to the advertiser. Reason 47 The most important consideration in relation to the scope of reason as appUed to its probable value as a matter of appeal is the fact that reason plays but a most unim- portant part in the ordinary routine of the average man's existence. If but few men understood German no adver- tiser would attempt to sell his product through an appeal in German. The faculty is potential in the mind of almost any man to learn and understand German, but few do understand it, or possess any facility in its use. Exactly the same principle applies to the matter of reason. Any normal human being has the faculty of reason, and under certain circumstances may develop a remarkable facility in exercising its powers, but the fact remains that the ordinary conduct of life demands but little exercise of reason, and as a result the great majority of human beings do little or no reasoning from one day's end to the other. It is therefore unprofitable for the advertiser to center his appeal around copy that presumes the exercise of a function so slightly developed in the average man as that of his faculty of reason. It is a very common superstition of both the advertiser and the average man that the guiding principle of human life is conduct through reason, whereas habit is the pre- vailing motive. Anything that has once been done is the easier to do a second time, and the prevailing tendency of human activity is to choose the easier way. It is only in the face of an entirely new problem that there is the slightest tendency on the part of the mind to invoke the power of reason in order to arrive at a solution. Even in such contingencies the emotions are quite as likely to present a solution of the problem, on which our action will be as confidently predicated as if decided by a matter of judgment, and in many cases with equal likelihood of ultimate satisfaction. It is so very easy to go through life by following the dictates of habit that it is a difiicult mat- ter for a great many people to realize the slight part that reason plays in normal existence. If on arriving home you imlock your front door and find it does not open readily you push and it yields to pressure. This operation is purely mechanical, and the result of habit, as you have been wont to do the same 48 Analytical Advertising thing repeatedly before. No reasoning is necessary to secure entrance. If instead of yielding to pressure your door resisted every ordinary effort, and a condition confronted you foreign to any previous experience with that door it is quite possible that some reasoning process might be neces- sary in order to gain entrance. You would first be sure that you had turned the lock, and try again to push the door open. Still unsuccessful, you would examine the door and possibly note that it had sagged and was resting heavier on the bottom sill than it should. Your mind would turn to the abstract problem of unequal pressure. You would call up the abstract idea of friction caused by pressure, and by analyzing the particular facts before you, decide that by relieving the pressure at the bottom the friction would disappear at both top and bottom. You make a judgment to that effect and if your reasoning is correct, on raising the door slightly by an upward lift on the handle the door would open. This process would be reasoning. If you had done before exactly the same thing with that door or any other door it would not be reason- ing. In the latter event there would be no abstract ideas to consider, but by means of a memory of a similar situa- tion you w ould secure a result in which the act of reason- ing would not be necessary. Those who rely on the judgment of the men who reason appeal to a comparatively small portion of the population susceptible to advertising. Those who can reason well, and those who do reason a great deal, owing to the ex- igencies of their business lives, are not on that account men likely to be susceptible to advertising that requires reasoning. To compel an action through a tedious pro- cess is no more pleasant to the subject whether he is capable of performing the necessary mental gyrations or unaccustomed to them. No one likes to work things out during his supposedly leisure moments, and it is actually at just such moments that the avalanche of advertising slides at the head of the unsuspecting reader. Aside from any consideration of the capability of the ordinary reader to reason, and entirely independent of his desire to do so in connection with any advertising. Reason 49 there is still a more important objection to employing it as an advertising appeal. This objection is that of in- evitable delay. The process of reason presumes deliberation and de- layed conclusions. A judgment presumes an array of abstract ideas. Both pertinent and impertinent abstract considerations are likely to arise in the mind of any one attempting to make a decision through a process of reason- ing. Attention is conceded to each idea as it presents itself, and a consideration of relative values is bound to ensue. In the course of this deliberation time is con- sumed, and a delayed judgment more likely to follow than a decisive one leading to voluntary action. The tendency of the mind to put off till tomorrow is especially noticeable under such conditions. An attempt to enforce a judgment through such a process often results in the presentation of facts that do not meet with any "apperceptive re- sponse" on the part of the subject, and entail the tempta- tion of later investigation, fatal to the immediate execution of the action so desirable to the advertiser. This is par- ticularly true when an advertiser attempts to show through a process of reasoning that his product is superior to that of a competitor, and whether the name of the latter is mentioned, or whether it is not, the abstract idea of comparative value arises to confuse the conclusion of the subject, with a very common result of procrastination or downright scepticism. Contemplation of the merits or demerits of the func- tion of reasoning should not confuse itself in the reader's mind with the popular mania known as "Reason Why" advertising. It is extremely doubtful whether many of the latter's doughty champions would recognize a non- sequitur if met in the middle of a desert, and the argu- ments advanced in defense of the hydra-headed monster are so devoid of sense or logic as to suggest the fallacy of the false cause as a prevailing dementia among its de- fenders. As an illustration of the absurd lengths to which this controversy has been drawn a quotation from a booklet published by the "discoverers" of "reason-why" copy will serve as an illuminating example: 50 Analytical Advertising "Cream of Wheat is likewise declared to be a con- spicuous example of an article of merchandise advertised by general publicity copy, pretty picture copy. There- fore, if much credit for the success of Cream of Wheat is due to advertising, then general publicity, pretty picture copy is a success. "There is no other conclusion. "If Colonel Mapes were charged with using 'reason- why' copy he would probably enter an emphatic denial. S^^P« Typical Cream of Wheat Copy Reason 51 "But— "Does ColonelMapes know what is and what is not 'reason-why' copy? "Let us see. "Perhaps Colonel Mapes is like many another adver- tiser who looks at form-in-copy and doesn't stop to ana- lyze the contents. "Perhaps to him an advertisement filled solid with type is 'reason why' and one that contains 99 per cent pictorial art and one per cent text is not. "Which is a conclusion altogether erroneous. "For— "Mere words or mere pictures are form only, and be- hind the form, underneath the form, inside the form, is the fact, the truth, the real thing itself. "And the truth with respect to Cream of Wheat is that, no matter what may be the form of its advertisement, no matter how egregiously Colonel Mapes may laden his back cover space with meaningless art — the fact is that Colonel Mapes could not publish other than a 'reason why' advertisement — "Unless he should absolutely omit the name of the food. For Cream of Wheat is in itself a 'reason why' name that needs no text to make its merits known. "No housewife needs to be told that wheat is wholesome, that it is the bone and sinew of the staff of life. As well try to paint the lily as to reason out the merit of wheat. "Cream needs no introduction as to the superlative product of milk, while 'cream,' used figuratively, means the best part of the thing to which it is related. When we skim the cream from milk or from anything else, we separate the superior from the inferior, the fine from the gross, the pure from the less pure. "And so when a mother reads 'Cream of Wheat,' she instinctively knows that this is the food of foods for her babes, for is it not made of the very cream of the most nourishing of all cereals.'^ "And to add words to Cream of Wheat advertising would simply be a case of carrying coals to Newcastle, of bailing water through a sieve, of lighting a candle to illuminate the sun. 52 Analytical Advertising " 'Cream of Wheat' — just those three words — printed without amplification of any kind, makes one of the finest specimens of 'reason- why' copy that ever appeared on a printed page. "And if Colonel Mapes hasn't known the fact all along (and laughed when critics lambasted his 'pub- licity' copy) he isn't nearly as clever at analysis as he was in selecting that many million dollar 'reason-why' name." Bend the head, dear reader, and view with reverent homage the picture of the Colonel as the creator of an INSTINCT in the aforesaid mother's trusting breast, chuckling with goulish glee at the consummation of a miracle worthy of the greatest of the Lord's anointed. Fancy, if you can, an instinct, bred during the lifetime of "Cream of Wheat," and endow it with the power of transforming into a product of reason the figurative, imaginative qualities it so strongly reflects and you have a result likely to tickle the risibilities of a man of much less humor than we will assume the dear Colonel Mapes possesses. Fed on such futile piffle and confused by such maudlin solecisms it is no wonder that some advertisers are willing to contribute to funds of $1,000 a minute for copywriters capable of making them believe a figure of speech is "reason-why" copy, and that telling others so is quite sufficient to entitle them to at least the tail of the Golden Fleece. A little reasoning why among the advertisers is what we advertisers need. It is high time that waste be turned to profit. Specious arguments are plentiful, and the susceptibility of the advertiser promotes their increase. One of the strongest proofs of the absence of reason in daily life is the very gullibility of the advertiser himself. It is worth thinking about, for we are all equally guilty. Instincts and Habit In the preceding chapter especial emphasis was directed to the importance of habit in the daily routine of the average human being. Since there is a decided tend- ency on the part of a great many to confuse habit with instinct it appears pertinent to discuss the two, espec- ially as a comprehension of their importance is essential to a better understanding of the subject of the emo- tions. It is with the latter that the advertiser must constantly concern himself, and as there is the constant temptation to confuse the emotions with instinct, a thorough understanding of the latter is more than valu- able. It is a common fallacy to consider that a large pro- portion of human or animal actions results from instinct. In considering the subject it must be clearly understood at the start that while all animals, including human beings, have instincts there is no general function of the nervous system that may be termed instinct. The human being is endowed with a number of instincts but it is a characteristic of those he possesses that they are very transitory and exceedingly subject to inhibitions through the creation of habits. An instinct- is a reflex, impulsive reaction performed involuntarily, and is invariably of inherited character. The present theory of instincts presumes the formation of habits, through a long line of ancestors, that have become transmitted as functional attributes of our nervous systems. Their very character presumes an habitual employment of certain acts through countless generations. Wundt divides all instincts into two classes, which arise from particular sensations or sense feelings having their sources in either the alimentary or genital organs. Instincts manifest themselves in the very young, and Prof. James is responsible for the state- ment that by the age of 16 the array of human instincts is complete. It is a very natural presumption that instincts are transmitted for the purpose of assisting the young to perform necessary actions inseparable from development, 54 Analytical Advertising preservation and procreation. Aside from very early infancy the child finds the development of instincts unnecessary as the modern parent is able to direct the child in almost every essential step toward full mental and physical growth. As a result the exhibition of purely instinctive tendencies is observed only in very young children, and as a factor in adult life its consid- eration has little or no value to the advertiser. The function of the mind resulting in habitual per- formance is by far more important, as the normal hu- man being is guided almost entirely by the unconscious performance of innumerable habits. An action originally instinctive may become a habit through repeated per- formance, and the operation of habits may entirely inhibit the tendency of the mind to react instinctively in the face of certain stimuli. A habit is presumed to follow the repeated perform- ance of any given action, through the tendency of the mind to discharge impulses along the same "brain paths" previously followed in responding to any given sensa- tion. The more times any action is performed in a certain way the deeper the path formed in the brain, over which the identical impulses were discharged. A certain stimulus being received in the brain occasions a certain return impulse which follows certain brain paths in its transmission to the motor centers. The action which results is definite and certain, dependent on the exact path or paths over which the impulse passed in being transmitted. The recurrence of the same stimulus would result in a similar impulse being again transmitted to the motor center, which would follow the same path previously traversed if that path be suffi- ciently distinct for the repetition of the same message. The continued repetition of the same stimulus, even at irregular or extended intervals, results in an impulse being sent in the same old way, over the same old path, with the attending similar result. The continued repe- tition of similar actions results in a "fixed" habit, the importance of which every one realizes when attempting to break undesirable ones. What is true in such ex- treme cases as those designated "bad habits" obtains Instincts and Habit 55 in every other repeated action to a greater or less degree. Every one of us performs some habitual actions each day that are just as much a part of us as waking and sleeping, and the entire routine of our daily life is based on just such actions, exactly similar in character, though differing in degree. There are always certain things that every one of us does exactly the same from one year's end to the other. Some of us carry our keys in the same pocket, always. Others of us never fail to have a match in the same easily accessible place, while others never are able to find one. Many of us, after arising in the morning and eating our breakfast, take a car at the same point, get off at the same point, follow the exact route every day after alighting, and perform our daily work in the same manner from eight in the morning until five at night, repeating the essential actions of our waking hours in a perfectly conscious, though habitual and automatic fashion, week in and week out. An illustration of the force of habit appealed strongly to me only a few days ago. To accommodate our land- lord our office had been removed from the fifth floor of our building to the first floor next door. The latter location was purely temporary, until new quarters would be completed. For two years I had gone to lunch at eleven thirty, returning over the same route every day. After our removal to the ground floor I had felt the desire several times to enter the old door, take the ele- vator and enter my old office. I had resisted this impulse through a distinct realization that my new tem- porary office was next door. One noon, being some- what preoccupied, I entered the old door, rang for the elevator, entered the lift and actually walked into my old office, taking off my coat as I entered. Not until I turned to hang my coat did I realize I had no business there and had not for possibly ten days. My every action was performed through habit, which had guided my steps and impelled every action I had taken until a sudden realization of misdirected effort awoke my slumbering active consciousness. Such experiences are extremely common, and it is absolutely unnecessary to be an "absent minded" individual to experience them 56 Analytical Advertising constantly. For those who have given the subject but Httle thought it will be extremely interesting to review as many of the acts of a whole day as it is possible to remember, when a realization of the overwhelming number that were due purely to habit will be a strong factor in comprehending its all embracing influences over our conventional existence. Owing to the extreme diversity of individual habits it is a difficult thing to aim an appeal that will result in a desired action through habit. This is especially true relative to a general advertising appeal, as even the general habits of individuals, as revealed in special locali- ties, will be absolutely the reverse of those in some other community. The one great exception to this is the very successful appeal through the well-known habits regu- lating style and fashion. An attempt to change or modify styles and fashions is always risky for this very reason, though at certain seasons new styles and fashions are as habitually accepted as those followed blindly for the conventional period. The advertiser may easily ride to success if shrewd enough to launch his craft on a wave of popular habit, just as to attempt stemming a similar tide means almost certain financial ruin. A par- ticularly interesting illustration of the latter is given by Mr. Lorin F. Deland in "Imagination in Business," whose story of an usually clever fight to perpetuate the Congress gaiter habit proves the futility of an attempt to stay the march of fashion, once it has become a habit. The potential value of habit, to the advertiser, lies in its power to perpetuate a profitable relationship through satisfaction after the initial purchase has been made. The advertiser who has once made a satisfac- tory sale starts the laws of habit on a never-ending circle, and the law of the plateaus of habit is the bulwark of his defense against competition. The increasing ease and facility with which the mind reacts in forming a habit is represented not by a gradual curve, but by a set of "plateaus." To form a habit a thing must actually be done repeatedly. No matter how much we may understand the manner in which a thing should be done, we have absolutely no facility or Instincts and Habit 57 speed in doing it until we have actually repeated the operation a number of times. A thing once done is the foundation of any habit, as the mind will tend to repeat the operation a second time exactly as it per- formed it the first. No appreciable increase in facility is apparent until any operation has been performed a number of times, That is, we are able to do nothing with greater apparent speed or accuracy until we have done it a certain number of times, when our facility jumps "without notice" to a much higher plane, or plateau. The more a thing is done, the higher and higher become the plateaus, although we are never able to rise above one plateau until a certain number of opera- tions have been performed on it, after which we jump suddenly to the next higher, and so on, until the maxi- mum of efficiency is reached. This increase in facility may occur not only during the practice or performance of any certain act, or set of actions, but often succeeds a rest of several days between performances. This law of acquiring habit certainly may be consid- ered as an active feature in habituating a purchaser to any advertised brand of goods. The one essential in forming such a habit is a complete satisfaction in the original purchase, which will supply an emotional im- petus to the potential habit started with the first pur- chase. The more times a purchase of certain goods is performed the stronger becomes the habit, and the less likely the purchaser to be influenced by any rival induce- ments for the purchase of similar goods. It is the great impelling force of habit that builds an advertiser's busi- ness, and it is the inherent quality of honest goods that makes a second sale easier than the first. It is because of this principle, largely, that "honesty is the best policy." If it were as easy to sell a dishonest article a second and third time, the merchants of the country would doubtless be selling dishonest goods. A great many of them are still doing it, but they are not the ones who are making the advance to the greatest business successes. It is idle to prate of morals or ethics to the business man, but he is keen for the future profit, if he is wise, and it is the wise advertiser who endures 58 Analytical Advertising the vicissitudes of this day and age and in spite of them grows and expands. The winning pohcy is rooted in pure psychology and neither in ethics, morals or re- ligion. As soon as the entire business world recognizes the profit in being honest, it will become honest. He who recognizes it in advance simply has the edge on the other fellow, and will, other things being equal, pass him in the race as sure as his advertising appeals have the proper psychological relationship to this great prin- ciple of habit. There is a secondary by-product of habit that in- creases the sales of advertised goods, which, in itself, is a primary motive to human action. It is imitation. Imitation is a stronger impulse in the young than is habit, for a child will perform an action for the first time through imitation that he would have no means of performing through habit. It is of primary import- ance in the life of every adult as well, as it makes the performance of initiatory actions easy, and it is always the tendency of the mind to perform that act which is easiest. This principle acts in extending the sale of an advertised product through the involuntary effect the performance of such a habit by one man has on his neighbor who witnesses its performance. It is imitation, in most cases, that prompts a man at a cigar counter to call for a certain cigar he has just seen another pur- chase. The conditions previously noted as being neces- sary to suggestion do not obtain in such an instance, and what many consider as purchases through suggestion are nothing more nor less than acts of pure imitation. It is a most vital characteristic of the human being to act through imitation, and a great deal of the mystery attrib- uted to the effects of suggestion are easily explained when viewed from the proper analyzation of conditions, which point in most cases to acts of imitation and to nothing else. The more habits formed among the great- est number for the purchase of certain goods, the more the consequent sales are increased through imitation of neighbors, friends and associates. The increase so often attributed to "cumulative value of mediums" may be accounted for by this much more reasonable explanation. The Emotions There is probably less popular misunderstanding re- garding the scope and importance of the emotions than there is of any other mental function. It is certainly fortunate that this is so, for in proportion to the adver- tiser's understanding of them he succeeds or fails. I think that every thoughtful, conscientious advertiser will admit that the sole end and aim of advertising is for the purpose of inciting human beings to voluntary action. The plethoric general publicity advertiser may grudgingly admit it, if he clings to the "sub-conscious cumulative effect" theory, but he is bound to admit that even his ultimate object is to make sales. There can be no sale without voluntary action. We have an eminent authority in Wilhelm Wundt, who states there can be no act of the will without an emotion. ErgOy without arousing emotion there is no sale. It is certainly fitting, therefore, that the advertiser should be as keen in his appreciation of the emotions as his training and education will permit. It is my con- fident opinion that advertisers now spending $1,000,000 a year on mere suspicion, and reducing to laboratory tests every sample of crude material that enters their works, will in a few short years insist on laboratory tests for their advertisements. Such a prophecy is not as chimerical as it may appear. The publicity given to imaginary psycho-criminal investigations, in the interest- ing fiction by William McHarg and others, has already aroused the sluggish "criminologist" to a realization of its possible practicability. Mr. McHarg's stories are but psychological laboratory methods combined with fancied practical problems. No practical application of their effi- ciency, in determining changes in respiration and blood pressure due to emotional states, could exceed in prac- tical value the test of every advertisement by just such methods. It is characteristic of every emotion that it is accom- panied by definite physical changes in the human body. The most constant and invariable of these are variations 59 60 Analytical Advertising of the reflex conditions accompanying breathing and heart action. If any advertisement fails to excite a noticeable emotion, the delicate instruments of the psychological laboratory will detect the obscure manifesta- tions of it, if they are there. If they are not present, it is a certainty that the advertisement is a poor one, for there will be no volition without emotion, no sales without action. If advertising is ever reduced to a science, these re- flections may justify themselves. In the meantime there are plenty of practical facts about the emotions directly applicable to present day advertising. An emotion is a series of feelings, directly connected in time, and consciously experienced as a unified whole. Every emotion in some way prepares for a voluntary action, or is a part of the volition itself. There is a very general distinction between the two classes of emotions. Every one understands that they may be either pleasur- able or unpleasurable. It is also fairly well understood that strong emotions of either class are usually attended by bodily reactions that are not beneficial. It is particu- larly noticeable that strong, unpleasant emotions, such as anger, hate or fear react in a manner absolutely pre- judicial to bodily health. The attending depressions succeeding strong pleasant emotions, such as excessive joy, may also present the same undesirable results. It is no part of the advertiser to arouse too strong emotion, as the attending bodily effects vitiate the desired end. The one profitable emotion that every advertiser seeks to arouse is desire. Properly aroused, and skilfully fostered, desire will accomplish the sale. The proper amount of desire is an emotion suflftcient to recall its own memory even after the volitional moment of immediate execution has actually passed. The opportunity for immediate execution is often lacking with any advertisement, but the actual memory of the emotion, at the proper psychological moment, is quite sufficient to arouse an equally favorable recurrence of the emotion itself. An emotion in this re- spect is somewhat similar to a habit. It is subject to similar potency in action under recurring similar condi- The Emotions 61 tions. It is characteristic of an emotion that the memory of it may be as strong, if not stronger, than the original state. The recurrence of an emotion in this fashion is unhke habit in that it must have that essential of memory known as recognition. In habit an action is practically unconscious, and almost reflex, whereas in memory (of an emotion or anything else) there must be conscious recognition of the present state as a repetition of a past one. There are many different phases of emotions, some ex- ceedingly interesting, but aside from avoiding the excita- tion of unpleasant emotions the advertiser has little concern with these abstruse manifestations, except to consider another division of the emotions into objective and subjective. An emotion is aroused in two fashions, and concerns itself with two phases of mental activity. It arises either from stimuli from within, such as the mental consideration of certain ideas, or is aroused by stimuli from without. In the latter case there is the tendency to refer the emotion to the object arousing the emotion. In the former case the tendency is to amplify its scope by turning the emotion inward, so to speak. It is manifest that the skill of the advertiser arises in his ability to con- nect with his product, through his advertisement, a pleasant emotion that refers itself to the external object being advertised, and through such a process secure a voluntary act that fulfills the purpose of the advertise- ment itself. The potency of memory is of direct concern to every advertiser, and there is a characteristic of this function he should thoroughly understand. It is the various forms of memory possessed by different individuals. This diversity of form exhibits itself in the way different people remember things. Some are able to remember distinctly exactly how any previously experienced object looked. Such persons possess a visual memory. Others are abso- lutely unable to remember distinctly any visual particu- lars of a previous experience. Some have distinct motor memories. Some distinct tactual memories. Others dis- tinct auditory memories, etc. Any advertisement that does not possess as an attribute the element of immediate 62 Analytical Advertising execution, must depend on memory to enforce its later execution. It is thus important to rely on no one element in the expectation of a result from memory. Simply a picture of any kind, or even a trade mark, is thus pos- sessed of no power over the man who has no sense of visual memory, and there is a large proportion of men who do not possess it. The best kind of picture is a vivid word picture. The result of such an image will be a memory of it translated by the reader into terms of his particular form of memory. A successful picture of this kind is most effectively translated into any of the various forms of memory through an appeal to imagination. The advertisement which solves the problem of arous- ing an emotion that will prompt immediate execution is naturally the most effective. This is due to the fact that memory fades very rapidly after two seconds, when it is most vivid. At the end of twenty minutes we have for- gotten more of an experience than we have a tendency to forget during the ensuing several weeks. If the emotion aroused serves to connect the advertisement with some method of performance applicable to a future time, the element of fading memory is of course minimized. The object of the coupon is admirably served through this principle, as any one moved to employ a coupon over- comes for the advertiser the inevitable fading memory that ordinarily succeeds sensation, feeling, emotion or any other mental functioning. The "Do It Now" idea is to prevent this characteristic tendency of every mind as exhibited by the rapidly fading memory. Where there is no opportunity for securing an imme- diate execution, the emotion of desire must be strongly linked through association with as many pleasant, inter- esting images as possible. Its recall depends on the strength of these "apperceptive" ideas, and their inherent tendency to become associated when the moment of buy- ing presents itself. Up to this point in the discussion I have attempted an analysis of various mental functions, to appeal through which seems futile if considered as specific individual ap- peals. I am convinced that appeals through reason and suggestion for instance, are the last appeals an advertiser The Emotions 63 should attempt to make, if he expects to move ordinary, average, normal human beings. I do not wish any one to understand, however, that this exposition is for the purpose of even implying that mental actions of any kind are simple, or that it is possible to consider any voluntary act as the result of any simple impulse. On the contrary, every human act is a very complex affair, and the pur- chase of any product influenced by an advertisement is one dependent on a combination of mental processes. Among the elements influencing any action of this kind it is quite probable that a certain amount of reasoning may enter, and that under the proper conditions sugges- tion may be a factor. The point I have attempted to make is that there are certain functions of the mind of exceedingly doubtful value, if employed individually and specifically for the purpose of influencing men to buy. The strongest appeal is fundamentally that which com- bines, in exactly correct proportions, the various elements that produce purchasing action. It is obvious that no one knows or understands just what this proportion is, for we would then possess the perfect advertisement, which I think it is safe to say has not yet been discovered. Many profess to believe that advertising will always remain a sure gamble, and they may be right. There are scientific methods of lessening the odds, however, and one of them is experiment. Copy reflecting nothing but suggestion might be tested in a certain way. A duplica- tion of the same test, with copy appealing to reason, would present some basis for comparison. A large num- ber of such tests, covering a considerable period, and reduced to a definite record of results, might be carried on by actual advertisers. By testing the specific value of each appeal, the result would doubtless astound a good many. If ten advertisers published copy at the same time, each piece of copy the same size, and in the same mediums, their results would prove something, if the experiment were properly conducted. If this ten appealed purely through suggestion, and another ten appealed purely through reason, and a third ten appealed purely through imagination, the net results of each group of ten would give some idea of the value of each appeal. 64 Analytical Advertising If the results of one group of ten, appealing through imagination, showed returns three times more or three times less than those of another group of ten it would be pretty conclusive evidence as to the value of the imaginative appeal. The same thing would be true of every specific appeal so tested. Such a plan as that suggested above may appear very fanciful to a great many. However, there is a great cry being made about "scientific advertising," and the "science" of advertising. It can never become a science without literally thousands of such experiments being conducted. Such experiments might just as well be made by advertisers, in the interest of science, as by those experimenting through imaginary advertisements. We cannot have a science until one or the other is done. The experiments suggested above would cover a very small portion of the great task before some future inves- tigator. Such experiments would give some line on the relative value of the various elements of appeal. All of the elements so far discussed are in my judgment the minor features of adaptability. The most important and profitable to the advertiser is the one reserved for the next chapter. It is the function imagination. Imagination All human beings, whatever their age or experience, are but the reflection of the development of the race. This development is essentially rapid and progressive in both the man and the race during their infancy. The acquisitiveness of the child is especially noticeable as long as the acquirement of knowledge is easy and as long as the diversity of new impressions absorbs his interest. The mental development of the great mass of humanity is es- sentially infantile in its scope, limited as it is, with the vast majority, to knowledge from observation. The con- cern of man, as a rule, is not a study of the abstract, but rather a consideration of the concrete. The development of the child and of the race is replete with examples of facility in observing the concrete mani- festations that are common property, and of making these manifestations personal experiences. A child ob- serves the manifestations of the conventional home life about him, and choosing what appear to him as the essen- tials, injects his own being into a relationship with them, and enacts in play a counterpart of the concrete concep- tion he imagines is a reproduction of the reality. He "plays house" in a dry goods box for a parlor, with sticks of wood as furniture, with a doll as himself, and himself as "papa." During a certain period of his existence his entire time is engrossed in observing concrete examples of life about him, and in combining these observations into larger wholes, of which he invariably makes a part. It has been recognized for centuries that play meant healthy development, but it has been only within the memory of us all that the principle behind the play was the essential. It has yet to be learned by many a parent that the tendency of the child to "tell stories" is simply a healthy manifestation of the principle of imagination, and one to be encouraged, instead of being met with an invitation to witness a performance in the wood shed that "hurts me worse than it does you, my son." The power to combine observations of concrete mani- festations and to the product add elements associated 5 65 66 Analytical Advertising through their apperception is the function of imagination. Imagination is not only the most potent element of a child's development, but is the most persistent function in expanding his knowledge and making it of practical utility. It is so much easier than learning through the process of abstract thinking that it persists throughout as the predominant force in life, and is as characteristic of the adult as it is of the race. The most simple manifestation of the utility of the imagination is the conception by an individual of any concrete idea, as a reality outside of his own previous ex- perience, which he makes real and personal through a combination of ideas that presumes his actual participa- tion in the performance of the idea presented. The actual performance of this act of imagination is much simpler than the description of it. You see a picture of a man painting a wall with a stream of paint from a hose. You never saw such a thing done, and never even heard of it. Painting is no new idea to you. Sprinkling with a hose is no new idea. Neither are new ideas so far as your ex- perience is concerned. The combination of the two is new to you, but your previous experience with both paint and sprinkling make it perfectly natural to imagine your- self in the position of the man in the picture, and you put yourself there. Combining this idea of yourself doing what the man in the picture is doing is an act of the imagination. Doing so creates a desire to enact the part. This is the result the advertiser wants to secure. He se- cures it through the imagination. A higher manifestation of imagination is that which does not necessarily include any idea of the individual's connection with a combination of ideas, such as that ex- hibited by any artist or craftsman in creating any new- conception which is a synthetic combination of experi- enced concrete ideas. All art is an excellent example of the workings of imagination. All inventors exhibit the workings of imagination in this higher plane. Most great works of all industrial progress are the direct result of the imagination, though the details of most in their technical execution are the results of later reasoning. The great bridge builders have a perfect vision of what a structure Imagination 67 will look like before any details of its actual construction are worked out. The process is a combination of definite concrete ideas worked up into larger and larger wholes until the ultimate conception is a perfect vision, every portion of which has its counterpart in smaller concrete wholes previously experienced. The basic principle that vmderlies imagination is exactly the same as that which characterizes reason, namely, the relating activity of apperception. In reason the mind is concerned in the analysis of abstract ideas, whereas in imagination the mind synthesizes concrete ideas. In reason we tear down, while in imagination we build up. The first concerns itself in analyzing abstract ideas, which is the most complex and difficult operation of which the mind is capable. In the latter the mind builds up, synthetically, actual concrete experiences, a much easier operation, and one with which every mind concerns itself passively as well as actively. The essentially easier method of the two is evident. The advertiser who approaches his problem with a well defined idea that all human beings are essentially prone to act as children act, is much closer to a solution than he who assumes that his prospective customers are endowed with superior reasoning attainments. This is no reflec- tion on the trade of the most discriminating class, as in our most pliable moods the tendency is to react to "child- ish impulses," and the pliable mood is the one every ad- vertiser yearns to strike at the proper moment. As pre- viously pointed out, the vast majority of individuals, irre- spective of age and experience, is the majority possessed of concrete facts and information rather than abstract knowledge and erudition. It is certainly sane and logical to center the advertising appeal where it will hit the greatest num})er in the most vulnerable spot. Such a course is certainly that of the appeal through imagination, as it api)eals to jill at every age, and to most almost uni- versally. It is a normal characteristic of the human being to believe everything that is presented as a truth. It is a characteristic of a large number of individuals to dis- believe everything, but such mental conditions are con- 68 Analytical Advertising sidered abnormal. It is a mental law that the inclina- tion of the mind is to believe everything is true, if so presented by the various senses. This tendency to consider everything as true would work to the civilized man's undoing, were it not for another tendency which inhibits belief. Such inhibitions increase in strength according to a man's apperceptive ability. He who knows most, doubts most. The child, up to a certain age, will believe anything told him. As most men are simply grown up children the prevailing inhibition is one usually contained in the very presentation of what presumes to state a truth. An advertisement, therefore, has the potentiality of carrying conviction with it to the greatest number of its readers, unless it contains what should be an obvious inhibition even to the man who writes it. Many truthful advertisements contain inhibitions that actually prevent credence in those pre- disposed to give them credit. If, however, an advertisement is skillfully prepared, it not only gains credence, but has the power of inciting to action another vital mental law, which will secure for it the desired result. This law is the tendency of the mind to put in execution every idea of an action presented as such to the mind. The contrary tendency is some inhibition that prevents the mind from carrying out its tendency to act. One of the prevailing inhibi- tions is reason. It is thus actually arousing inhibitory processes to induce a reader of an advertisement to reason about the ideas it presents. By avoiding inherent inhibitory elements the adver- tisement has every opportunity to create belief. If the advertisement pictures, through words or actually, an idea of action there is a distinct tendency on the part of the reader to perform the action pictured. As most advertisements seek to create the performance of an act, new to the subject, it presents the essential requisite of inducing action through imagination. The pictured idea of a new action prompts the imagination of the reader to place himself in the picture. Once placing himself there he is impelled to actually per- form the action himself, and the emotion of desire is Imagination 69 added to these elements and actually creates a volun- tary act on his part, unless inhibitions, stronger than the desire, prevent. The more simple the depiction of the action, the more succinct the picture in concrete elements, the quicker the action of the imagination and the stronger the desire to make the imagined result a reality. No single element of mental processes is as potentially valuable to the advertiser as imagination. If there is any single function susceptible to profitable exploitation it is that of imagination. There is none other safe to employ absolutely alone. Because it possesses this potentiality it is not necessary to employ the imagination as the sole requisite of an advertise- ment, but it is a certainty no other function may be relied on to go so far or work as effectively for the adver- tiser. The advertiser, above all others, should possess imagi- nation himself, but in its application should be exceed- ingly careful to limit its manifestation to the exploitation of facts, and not confuse its sphere of usefulness as one embracing fancy. Fancy is strictly a product of the imagination, and as a characteristic example presents every fundamental of the more practical process. It is distinctly harmful as the basis for any advertising copy, however, as the image it creates is one never realized in actual operation. An advertisement should appeal to the imagination, but never to fancy, as the satisfac- tion after purchase is dependent on a preconceived idea that must not be exaggerated. An advertisement should always spur the mind to action by arousing an image susceptible of not only being duplicated through actual possession, but of being appreciated more fully after purchase than before. Every sale of an advertised product should be made on the theory that more is actually given than advertised. The product that realizes this ideal condition is, it must be admitted, rather rare, but the success of an advertiser increases in proportion as this element prevails. To give, always, a little more than is promised creates an emotion of satisfaction that can not be overestimated. The old theory of merchan- dising, the caveat emptor basis, has wrecked many adver- 70 Analytical Advertising tising barks that skillful advertising copy might other- wise have piloted to success. It is no part of imagina- tion's power to be employed in fanciful appeals that create a strong desire to purchase, only to disillusion the purchaser after the actual purchase fails to realize the glowing description that prompted the sale. Strict honesty is thus hardly the acme of success. It is better policy to restrict the description of a product to one that leaves some room for pleasant surprise, than to adhere to a strictly honest description that accentu- ates every detail with religious exactitude. It is better to leave to the imagination a few good points, than tell every favorable one and at the same time hide the bad ones. ' Graphic instructions should accompany the goods wherever sales are made by advertising. This is par- ticularly essential where goods are sold to women, who can reason as well as men, it is true, but whose judg- ments, nevertheless, are more likely to be based on the emotions than on any logical principle. This is par- ticularly noticeable in the marketing of any mechanical device. Many manufacturers rely entirely on the adver- tising that precedes a sale to insure satisfaction in the use of an article after it is purchased, which is a great mistake. I have been personally in touch with the sale of two household devices, both of which, were used by women in the kitchen, and the history of each presented no sign of a realization of this principle prior to my having interested myself in their sale. No definite in- structions accompanied either device before I undertook to improve the condition of either business. The lack of success in each case might well have been attributed to this fatal oversight, had not entire lack of method, the natural accompaniment of such carelessness, been equally apparent. It is no part of an advertising suc- cess to leave the operation of any device to the presumed reasoning power of the purchaser. He simply does not possess it, or resents the necessity of having to employ it through the indifference of an advertiser. What applies essentially to a device, is correspond- ingly important in the satisfaction of any purchase. Imagination 71 The more complete and comprehensive the directions or explanations relative to any advertised product, the greater the satisfaction, and hence the more resultant sales. A result of an activity accompanying imagination, of prime importance to the advertiser, is that which in- variably manifests itself in connection with novelty. The mind is constantly seeking the new. It is extremely rare for the educated man of ripe experience to realize any real new sensations. Those he has not before ac- tually experienced are perfectly familiar through having heard or read of them. It is harder to interest an edu- cated man for this reason. The man of narrowed oppor- tunities for observation is by far more susceptible. There are more experiences that appeal to him as new. Every mind is interested in making its own any new experience that presents itself. This is easiest done through imagi- nation, which projects the personality into any concrete ideas that are presented, making the new ideas personal experiences. The element of novelty is thus of para- mount value, and I will attempt to show later that it is only in presenting a new idea to new readers that is sufficient explanation of any advertised product's suc- cess, or even its continuous prosperity. Novelty is one of the essentials of a successful appeal to the imagina- tion. It is almost always successful if not confused with fancy, granting of course that merit is the foundation of the product. The element of interest through novelty, and apper- ceptive activity through imagination are constant and invariable manifestations of human progress, irrespec- tive of age or educational advantages. They are in fact the most important accompaniments of all progress, either individual or racial. There never was a single new thing in the world. Everything that has its exist- ence possesses it through a combination of previously experienced entities. No truth is more true or more vital. It is the essential of all life, growth and knowl- edge. It is the paramount manifestation of mental ac- tivity. It is the strongest force in advertising appeal. I can appreciate no condition where its efficiency can be 72 Analytical Advertising comparable with any other single function of mental activity, as. viewed from the advertiser's position, which is that of the maximum profit for the minimum of cost. There is a growing tendency to discard the old super- stition that man is guided through reason. It is a char- acteristic of the decline of a superstition to accompany its admission by a qualified acknowledgment. Even for those "about to be persuaded" it is too unconventional to admit more than a partial truth at a time. A result of this spirit is responsible for the admission by a great many that advertising may appeal through imagination on small purchases, but that it does not apply to large or important ones. It is particularly hard for these devotees to admit that imagination and not reason impels purchases, though they are absolutely forced to the admission that it is a potent factor in many instances. As a concession they seek to divide the purchasing power of reason and imagi- nation by drawing a line of value, below which imagina- tion is operative, and above which the light of reason holds full sway. Some even go so far as to name the amount, endowing the magic sum of $1,000 as possessing the power of invoking reason in its expenditure, since it is a large sum. As most automobiles cost over $1,000, it is clear, from their viewpoint, that no automobiles may be sold on any other principle than that of reason. The apparent absurdity of such reasoning is clear when we consider the question of relative values. One hun- dred dollars to most men is by far larger than is $1,000 to the average purchaser of an automobile. Any quib- bling over such illogical premises simply invites ridi- cule. The solution, if any, is certainly one of principle and not of relative monetary values. I have no doubt that the purchase of a railroad or any equally momentous undertaking is the result very largely of reasoning, though imagination is bound to be a factor. Those in a position to undertake such a purchase are by training and habit inclined to reach conclusion through this faculty, but the imagination certainly is a potent factor even in such cases, as the development of such properties is always one of the salient features in promoting such undertakings. Imagination 73 The future possibilities are certain concrete images, almost purely the result of imagination, which the skill and resourcefulness of those able to manipulate such deals usually consummate. It is the portion of even the exceptional advertiser to experience few situations where such conditions ordinarily Qialmors r. t,\ rcnncm Spring- Days are Motoring Days Qialmers Motor Company Detroit, Mich. Typical Chalmers Copy 74 Analytical Advertising obtain, which makes any analysis thereof sufficiently fanciful to obviate the necessity of discussion. As a practical problem the question daily arises in the advertising of automobiles. No automobile copy of re- cent years created as favorable attention as the copy designed by Mr. Harry Ford in advertising Chalmers motor cars through the imaginative appeal. The cam- paign being started in 1910 and continued until the present time was outlined by Mr. Ford with the appeal to the imagination as the keynote of its purpose. The illustration given on the preceding page of one of these characteristic advertisements is designated by Mr. Ford as typical of the series. No keying is attempted by Mr. Ford, who feels it is impossible to trace direct results in any way. He has advised me, however, that more requests for information resulted directly from this copy than any previously experienced, and for weeks after the first appearance of this kind of copy letters of commendation on its conception and execution simply overwhelmed him with the unexpected nature of their sincere praise. Single pieces of copy and exceptional short campaigns have from time to time created mild sensations in auto- mobile circles, but for sustained interest and uniform commendation the Chalmers imagination copy has per- haps done more to awaken the automobile manufacturer to the possibilities of an entirely unique method than any other previous campaign. The time-worn method of advertising automobiles has been to fill space with tech- nical, abstract expositions relative to length of wheel- base, length of stroke, width of bore, drop forge axles and similar abstruse material. Such copy has doubtless sold automobiles, and a lot of them, but could such copy begin to interest and move to purchase the maximum number that might have been appealed to with a more intelligent use of such extravagance of space? It is hard for a technical, unimaginative man to write other copy than that reflecting his own mental attitude. It has been necessary for an imaginative mind such as Mr. Ford's, not only to conceive such a campaign, but pos- sess sufficient courage to see it through, for you may Imagination 75 rest assured it took courage. The results in less than a year's time have completely justified the experiment. A completely new model announced about July 8 of 1911 resulted in orders of over 1000 in about forty -five days. None of the machines had been manufactured or shipped to the territory affording the orders. Dealers took de- posits for this model through the desire of purchasers to own the car that had been described to them in an understandable, concrete, imaginative way. They pur- chased, on confidence, the machine whose possession meant more to them than ownership of gears, tires, bodies, transmissions and what not. The success of this imaginative campaign is one that will sooner or later stand out as the dawn of imaginative copy for automobile advertising. The "thousand dollar reason why limit" is as ridiculous in selling any automobile, as imaginative copy has been successful in selling the Chalmers. It is not necessary to restrict the development of imaginative copy to either mediums or product. Street car advertising lends itself with peculiar force to imagin- ative copy, and some excellent examples of it may be found in any street car, side by side with copy almost anyone would condemn except the men who write and pay for it. The mental picture is best produced through the imagination, and in proportion to its strength will be effective. It is an easier matter to remember forceful imaginative copy than it is to recollect arguments or reasons. The percentage of advertising that may produce an immediate action is much smaller than that relying on memory for later results. The copy most likely to endure in a prospective's mind is imaginative copy. It is possible to draw a picture for the imagination even in small classified space. A word picture is just as strong for many persons, as a real picture, and is quite as likely to produce results of the desired charac- ter. In considering imagination as a strong element in copy, it is not necessary to limit its usefulness to actual advertisements. All sales letters present opportunities for securing action through the imagination. Figures and quotations are often neccessary in sales letters, and 76 Analytical Advertising if placed first may be followed most effectively by draw- ing a picture for the prospect, the elements of which reflect the imaginatiA^e appeal discussed throughout this chapter. In considering the importance of the imagination from an advertising viewpoint, it is well to consider it as an essential part of every phase of a campaign. All litera- ture and letters, as well as copy, lend themselves to the reflection of this important principle, and for most propo- sitions will be found profitable. Many advertisers are fully aware of the importance of the imaginative, and it is, of course, unimportant whether they call it Imagina- tion, Suggestion, or Reason Why. A thorough under- standing of terms would doubtless dissipate a great deal of the confusion which now lies in the minds of many, and for that reason more stress has been placed on the subject than would have been justified otherwise. Cumulative Value Any successful business, whether an advertised business or not, is the result of growth. It is very difficult to create a successful business, as both trade and profits appear to pile up gradually, with the tendency to constantly increase. In practically every unadvertised business a maximum of increase is attained in a comparatively short time. In an advertised business the limit of profitable extension is usually commensurate with the skill, courage and ability of the advertiser. Some advertised businesses exhibit the maximum of profit quickly, defying all attempts to expand thereafter. Such cases are comparatively rare among those skillfully advertised, although the conditions of certain lines of trade preclude any increase after a certain limit of possible business is reached. An accompaniment of advertised business is this tendency of cumulative increase. This marked char- acteristic of most advertised businesses has been turned to immense profit by the publishing interests, who long, long ago pounced on the principle and declared it the essential property of the advertising medium, instead of a principal of the business advertised. This pernicious doctrine, so skillfully fostered by the space seller, has developed for him a superstitious fetichism that is ac- tually venerated as an unshakable law. Conceived in the dim past the doctrine of cumulative value is kept alive by the seller of advertising through the pure ignor- ance of the buyer of advertising. In discussing the sub- ject here let it be thoroughly understood that any attack of mine is not against the principle of cumulative value, but against its appropriation by the publisher who claims cumulative value is an attribute of his medium, whereas it is strictly an attribute of honest, satisfactory business methods. Cumulative value is no more the peculiar attribute of an advertised business than it is of an un- advertised business. An advertised business, however, has a potential area manifestly greater than any unad- vertised business. To secure real cumulative value the advertiser must be infinitely careful, honest and honor- 77 78 Analytical Advertising able in dealing with purchasers, and through such poli- cies he may expect a degree of cumulative value that is absolutely beyond any possible return of such character for the unadvertised enterprise. It has never been hard for the seller of advertising to hoodwink the purchaser of advertising. The proper appeal to our imagination will always "get" us, no matter how unlikely the slick argument is, when viewed in the sane light of reason. The psychological explanation of this superstition relative to cumulative value is easy. The sellers of advertising have always said it was the true word. Few if any advertisers ever doubted the statement sufficiently to put it to a true test. iVs a result those who failed to succeed were content to berate themselves as the "experts" berated them, and the failures were chalked up to "wrong copy," or what is more prob- able as the experts' opinion, "not enough money spent." There are plenty of other excuses that might be conjec- tured, but these two are sufficiently prevalent to make a catalogue of the others superfluous. The favorite platitude of the seller of advertising is "constant dripping wears away the biggest stone." A careful analysis of the meaning behind such a platitude will convince most advertisers that their chances for success through such a process are about as slow and sure during the course of an ordinary life time, as the practical geological result is likely to be manifest in any ten human generations. The cumulative value of pub- lications and the wearing away of geologic formations are equally effective and practical. The concrete manifestations of this platitude take the following forms as selling points: Every advertiser is familiar with each of these statements : 1. The first insertion of your advertisement is no practical test of its efficiency. 2. In order to secure any practical test for your ad- vertisement it must appear not less than three times, in a publication. 3. By constant repetition of your advertisement in a publication you will at last secure profitable returns for yourself from it. Cumulative Value 79 4. You cannot secure profitable results by spasmodic insertions of an advertisement in any publication. If you do not have the "courage" to run an advertisement constantly and long you will fail. 5. The longer and more persistently you run your advertisements in any publication the more profitable it will become for you. A self-evident corollary is the necessary result of such superstitions. It is that unless the advertiser has an un- limited amount of money for experimental purposes and an unbounded faith in such representations he will fail, unless some divine providence endows him with a degree of prescience that insures copy of miraculous pulling power. On entering the advertising field I was aware, in a more or less hazy fashion, that each of the above five "laws" were supposed to have been written by some advertising Moses and to be the more reverenced on ac- count of their Apocryphal character than might be the case were their authority vested in any ordinary hUman of modern times. With characteristic agnosticism I asked to be shown, but no facts nor figures were adducible. 1 have yet to learn of any scientific data in support of the prevailing dogma. I quickly commenced gathering data myself, with the uncontrovertible result, the farther I went, that each and every claim in support of this com- mon belief was, in my particular case, absolutely erroneous. During my extreme infancy as an advertiser I exhibited a degree of bull-headed obstinacy that was the despair of many a magazine special. Their cumulative value theory attracted me mightily, first because it violated every principle of psychology, logic and reason and never- theless appeared to be the guiding principle of every seller of space I met, as well as the accepted belief of most advertisers. Second, because, if true, it certainly meant a great deal to me as an advertiser and I wanted to be sure of it. But, I had to be shown, and no one in over four years has been able to do it. I have listened to many spell- binders, and have participated in many wind jammings and have many the time and oft asked for facts and figures to support the fanciful oratory so plentifully em- 80 Analytical Advertising ployed in eulogizing old cumulative value. No facts — no figures — just faith. Faith is a great thing, and with- out it this life would be a desert waste, but in buying advertising of the seller of space I prefer faith in facts and figures to faith in ignorance, especially as faith in the seller's theory is purely at my expense. He rarely if ever tries it, you will notice. With the firm conviction that the problem was in reality one easy of solution in my particular case I started out to solve it, and did so to my own satisfaction. I exhibited my results to the devotees of the dogma. They were considerably surprised to learn that my records were absolutely open to their inspection, and on account of it were much inclined at first to entertain grave doubts as to my sanity. As time went by and the records of month to month strengthened in convincing material, doubts of my personal sanity seemed to wane, and in its stead the records were dubbed "perfectly extraor- dinary, don't you know." "Most interesting and remark- able, but absolutely unique ^ don't you know." Never having had any experience in advertising I began to view my proposition as the one great exception, and for a number of months took pardonable pride in having evolved a business that presented manifestations abso- lutely contrary to those of any other advertiser since advertising was discovered. As time passed I became directly interested in the exploitation of other proposi- tions through advertising, and from time to time secured more or less complete records of the results of other advertisers. The facts then began to come out. My original observations relative to cumulative value were exactly the same, in all essential particulars, as those that invariably manifested themselves wherever careful dependable records were kept. All of my own records will be given later, as well as a number of others, and they will all show that the prevailing theories of cumu- lative value are absolutely erroneous, misleading and in many instances are absolutely fanciful. By means of accurate records, without which few adver- tisers have any excuse for being, I succeeded in deducing the following laws jor my own business: Cumulative Value 81 The first insertion of a tried piece of copy in a new medium will pay better, in every way, than any subse- quent insertion of the same copy in the same magazine. The reappearance of the same piece of copy in the same magazine will pay less in direct proportion to the number of times it runs consecutively. By inserting a certain piece of copy in a certain magazine and skipping every subsequent issue until the first (or any insertion) pays out it is possible to use certain publications that would mean almost dead loss if used consecutively. Changing copy and running consecutively will not prove any more profitable than running the same copy consecutively, if each change is equally strong copy. The first piece of copy in any publication will, per dollar spent, produce more business than any piece of copy ever run in that publication. The longer any copy is run in any publication the more it costs to run it and the less results it pulls. All advertising from which these rules were deduced was keyed according to size of space. The spaces used varied from four lines classified to three page readers. Every piece of copy of a certain size, in a certain medium, was keyed the same irrespective of the number of times it showed, or the intervals succeeding insertions. A piece of fifty-six line copy run in 1909 in Everybody's Magazine, for instance, was keyed 29. It was repeated often, the latest showing being in July, 1911, and keyed the same. This style of keying gives every benefit to the magazine, as sales are just as likely to result one time as another, as a continuous follow-up is working on every prospect all the time. All inquiries that come in at any one time may be the result of the same advertisement in any one of the preceding issues. This results in giving any single inser- tion a decidedly favorable handicap, but in spite of this every rule outlined above has proved there is no such thing as cumulative value in any publication. Now and then some isolated cases violate these rules, and more inquiries may be secured on a second insertion than on the first. By subtracting those proportionately attribu- table to the first, it would almost invariably prove the second or later insertion poorer than the first. By keying 82 Analytical Advertising all the same in this fashion, it has also been possible to maintain a fairly even average of interest for several months. Sometimes an intermediate insertion would actually show better than the first or subsequent inser- tions. Such cases usually proved some particular feature responsible for such differences. Better position, some especially interesting article in some number, or one of any number of possible explanations would be evident. In some cases no explanation would be apparent, but one great rule has never been changed, and it is a death blow to any publication trying to sell me space on cumulative value theory. Every publication either wears out for any single proposition, if used consecutively, or increases in cost to a decidedly marked degree, usually prohibitive. Varying in no essential particulars every set of records I have had any opportunity to examine have proved exactly the same things as mine have proved. Several years ago a popular magazine conducted a sub- scription campaign which actually embraced the use of magazines as well as newspapers. The subscription price was $1.00. The size of the space varied somewhat in dif- ferent mediums, but the table of advertising costs will show the approximate sizes. The results of this campaign were given to me with the recjuest that I use them with no mention of the publication's name. The copy pulled subscriptions direct. The tabulated data of this campaign follows: Cost No. Cost Date run Medium of ad. of subs. per sub. March Technical World $40 . 00 51 $0 . 79 April Technical World 40.00 20 2.00 Feb. 19 Saturday Evening Post 250.00 338 .72 March 6 Saturday Evening Post 250.00 181 1.38 Feb. 12 Scientific American 37.50 47 .80 Feb. 17 Youth's Companion 200.00 234 .85 March Circle 30.00 10 3.00 April Circle 30.00 3 10.00 Feb. 26 Collier's Weekly 100.00 136 .73 Feb. 19 Literary Digest 45.00 58 .74 March 19 Literary Digest 62.50 35 1.80 March American Boy 50.00 66 .75 Feb. 3 Chicago Journal 12.00 17 .71 Mar. 3 Chicago Journal 27.00 13 2.07 Feb. 6 Chicago Examiner 90.00 258 .35 Feb. 27 Chicago Examiner 90.00 94 .95 Cumulative Value 83 Date run Medium Mar. 6 Chicago Examiner Mar. 13 Chicago Examiner Feb. 5 Chicago American Feb. 6 New York American Mar. 6 New York American March American Magazine April Cavalier April Argosy April Rail Road's Magazine April All Story Feb. 13 Chicago Inter Ocean Mar. () Chicago Inter Ocean Feb. 15 New York Journal Mar. 8 New York Journal Feb. 27 San Francisco Examiner Mar. 20 San Francisco Examiner Feb. 27 Los Angeles Times Feb. 27 Denver Post Feb. 27 New York World Feb. 25 Detroit News Feb. 27 St. Louis Globe-Democrat Feb. 27 Minneapolis Journal Mar. 13 Minneapolis Journal Mar. 27 Minneapolis Journal Feb. 27 New York Herald Feb. 27 Chicago Record-Herald Feb. 27 Philadelphia Times Mar. 20 Philadelphia Times Feb. 27 Los Angeles Examiner Mar. 13 Los Angeles Examiner Feb. 27 Chicago Tribune Mar. 20 Chicago Tribune Feb. 27 Boston Post Mar. 13 Boston Post Feb. 23 San Francisco Weekly Feb. 20 Philadelphia Inquirer April Blue Book Magazine April Popular Magazine Feb. 20 St. Louis Post-Despatch Mar. 13 St. Louis Post-Despatch Feb. 20 Cincinnati Enquirer Mar. 20 Cincinnati Enquirer Feb. 19 Saturday Chronicle-Telegraph Feb. 20 Pittsburg Gazette Times Feb. 20 Kansas City Star Feb. 20 Rocky Mountain News Mar. 7 Cleveland Press April Hampton's Magazine Mar. 23 Christian Herald Cost No. Cost of ad. of subs. per sub. $90.00 57 $1.60 90.00 25 3.60 31.50 24 1.35 112.50 131 .85 112.50 71 1.38 52.50 74 .74 20.00 6 3.33 60.00 29 2.06 30.00 19 1.63 40.00 13 3.07 15.00 20 .75 33.75 29 1.16 49.00 62 .79 112.50 53 2.12 30.00 67 .45 42.50 9 4.71 15.00 2 7.50 12.00 6 2.00 25.00 18 1.40 15.00 23 .65 30.00 21 1.43 11.00 21 .52 24.75 2 12.37 24.75 1 24.75 42.00 39 1.08 20.00 23 .88 12.00 22 .55 27.00 3 9.00 10.00 16 .62 22.50 11 2.22 30.00 72 .41 67.50 9 7.50 20.00 32 .63 45.00 7 6.42 20.00 23 .90 25.00 23 1.09 37.50 16 2.34 56.25 16 3.51 20.00 38 .52 45.00 26 1.73 18.00 24 .75 40.50 8 5.05 18.00 19 .95 20.00 14 1.43 10.00 6 1.66 14.00 16 .87 58.44 42 1.40 36.00 6 6.00 84 Analytical Advertising An analysis of these actual results in securing magazine subscriptions develops many interesting features. I will point out several that are particularly illuminating in reference to the cumulative value superstition. The average cost per subscriber from the entire cam- paign is $1.10; $3,147.94 in advertising resulted in 2855 subscribers at $1.00 each. The average cost per subscriber from the first insertion of these advertisements is 85 cents. This includes a count of the publications used only once. The total amount spent in one time insertions and in the first insertions of those used more than once was $1,870.19, which resulted in 2196 subscribers. The average cost per subscriber an the subsequent in- sertions is $1.91. "Cumulative value" raised the cost from 85 cents to $1.91. The "magic third" insertion was tried but twice. In the first case it raised the average cost in that medium from 35 cents to $3.60, over ten times the cost. In the second case it raised the average cost from 52 cents to $24.75, an increase of over 47 times. Old cumulative value was evidently asleep at the switch. Twenty-one insertions in magazines yielded 1400 sub- scribers for $1525.69, at an average cost of $1.08. Forty-four insertions in newspapers at a cost of $1621.25 secured 1455 subscribers, at an average cost of $1.11. An increase in the size of space for second insertions failed to develop even as many subscribers as the first insertion with smaller space. This is found to be true not only relatively, but actually, as no second insertion of even more than twice the space resulted in as many sub- scribers as the first insertion of half the space. This campaign is not quoted here because it is unique, for its results will be found to duplicate themselves in subsequent records quoted. It is shown here because of its pertinent reflection of the principles I wish to show, and because the results secured are those of a magazine whose presumed talking points for space embrace the exploita- tion of a theory it finds impossible to sustain for itself .|jg| The sellers of space are being confronted with adver- tisers' records that are gradually reflecting actual condi- Cumulative Value 85 tions. The importance of complete scientific records is being constantly recognized by the careful advertiser. The result has been evidence susceptible of little or no doubt relative to most "keyed" publicity. There is still the great mass of "untraced" returns with most keyed campaigns, which present opportunities for the seller of space to keep the superstitions alive. By eliminating this feature of doubt any advertiser will be in a position to convince himself absolutely that there is no such thing as cumulative value as applied to publications. This can be done in almost any advertising campaign which keys results. In my own particular case I have been able to reduce unkeyed results to six-one-hundredths of one per cent. I will show how this has been done later. It is on account of this approximate accuracy of returns that the records I will show leave no room for conjecture. The chance for specious argument by the seller of space de- pends on the varying incompleteness of any advertiser's records. The more careless the record keeping the greater chance for the seller of space to hoodwink the advertiser. One man's guess in such a case is about as good as anothers. There is no excuse for guessing about results you can prove. One set of records that will be shown in their entirety will indicate the result to the advertiser of incomplete record keeping. It will show that whereas only about 2% of inquiries were received unkeyed, over 15% of cash was not credited to keys. This discrepancy of about 13% rep- resented money sent by inquirers who had keyed their initial inquiries, but whose keyed cards could not be found when the money arrived. This was due to a burdensome system of record keeping, as well as a costly and inaccurate one. This 15% represented almost $20,000 in cash. Such a sum blinded the advertiser to the real meaning of his keyed returns, and I am convinced cost him not less than $30,000 in profits he might have had. Such gaps in accurate record keeping make it easy for the seller of space to pull the wool over the eyes of the advertiser. It is the remaining ragged edge being des- perately clung to by the seller of space in attempting to keep the superstition alive with the keyed advertiser. As 86 Analytical Advertising more advertisers put in dependable record systems the less chance for the publisher to perpetuate the old superstition. He has therefore taken another very clever stand. He is now beginning to admit what he is forced to concede. His admission is something as follows : "Keyed advertising is 'mail order' copy. It is entirely different than any other kind of advertising. The laws and rules that govern its profitable use do not apply to any other kind of advertising. You have no right to as- sume that the mental laws governing sales through keyed advertisements are laws of general applicability. If our publications do not present cumulative value for mail order copy it is because the latter is an abominable freak. If your records force an admission from us that keyed copy does not show cumulative value we will of course admit it. But look at the general publicity copy. It secures cumulative value from us. It is not keyed and nothing can be traced to it. We defy you to prove anything is true about it except what we tell you is true. You will never be able to prove us wrong about general publicity, as the chance for proving it rests with God alone.'' In analyzing the possible grounds for any faith in cumu- lative value we must therefore consider this clever stand of the publication selling pages of space on the strength of it. Before doing so it is not sufficient for me to simply state that there is no cumulative value in my own case. I must prove it in order to warrant any faith greater than that I deplore as the prevailing superstition relative to the other side of the case. In a later chapter I will show actual records proving the claims made above. Some of them will have a direct bearing on what is supposed to happen in general publi- city appeals. We will try to understand the latter to the limit of the evidence and the apparent facts. Advertising Record Keeping The greatest number of records, in any one business, to be shown in this book are those of The American Collection Service. It is therefore pertinent and desirable that I explain in some detail just what The American Col- lection Service is. An understanding of the proposition itself will make the records of its growth more clear. The American Collection Service is a correspondence school. It teaches the collection business, exclusively by mail. In x\ugust, 1907, I inserted a classified advertise- ment in System magazine offering to teach the collection business to any one who desired to learn it. The adver- tisement was inserted simply as an experiment, as I had made up my mind to enter the advertising field. My knowledge of the collection business was the only thing I could think of that I could possibly sell. With the excep- tion of selling a list of Justices of the Peace, I had never been engaged in selling anything. This "list" was a book entitled "Merchants' Preferred Justices List," which I tried, unsuccessfully, to sell through salesmen and after- wards "broke even" on by selling through the "direct advertising" plan through letters to credit men. At the time my first advertisement was published in System I had no idea what interest it might arouse, or what I should do if any interest was manifested. I simply wrote the advertisement, sent it to System, and waited. As soon as the August issue was out I began to secure in- quiries, and soon learned that I was securing them in un- heard of numbers. I had prepared nothing to sell, had no follow-up letters written and no advertising literature of any kind to mail. I immediately draughted a synopsis of what a course on the collection business should com- prise, and ordered modest literature to be printed. Pend- ing its delivery I composed a first letter and sent postal cards to all inquiries that I was swamped with requests for particulars, but would send full information "as soon as our force caught up with the rush." My first letter with synopsis of the course went out with very modest circular matter about the fifteenth of August, and the advertise- 88 Analytical Advertising ment continued in the September issue of System. On September 5th I received the first enrolment for the course. I then started to write the course, and delivered it one lesson at a time as I finished writing each. It was the hardest job I ever undertook in my life. During September I enrolled two more students, both long before I had completed the lessons. The first man who enrolled established a collection business that has grown and flour- ished ever since. It is still conducted in Oklahoma City by an associate of the original student, and has been contin- uously operated with increasing success from the first day. Nearly all who take The American Collection Service course join the movement with the object of starting a collection business and of becoming a Co-operative Bureau member, v This Co-operative Bureau is composed of all members who comply with the necessary requirements and become representatives of the Bureau. A list of these representatives is printed every month in Business Service magazine. Over this list an almost unbelievable volume of collection business passes every month. Any man who takes the course may use the list, and if he uses it he is en- titled to a degree of service on collections it is impossible to obtain through any other channel. A large number of business men have taken the course, and they also use the list in sending their collections throughout the country. The School has really become a movement, and has been successful in every sense of the word. The course is being constantly improved, and with each improvement is usu- ally increased in price. Four increases have been made, the price having gone from $25.00 cash for full member- ship to $40.00 and from $30 in installments to $50. During the entire existence of The American Collection Service I have experienced an absence from complaints that rarely obtains in any business conducted by corre- spondence. The course is sold subject to absolutely no return, and no satisfaction is "guaranteed." Nevertheless every one who buys it appears to be more than satisfied with it. I have never had anything but the most unim- portant complaints, usually due to misdelivery by the ex- press companies, failure to receive Business Service maga- zine, or similar minor errors. At one time I accepted pay- Advertising Record Keeping 89 merits as small as $5.00, and have had complaints from several of such installment payers, possibly six in four years. I always returned their money at once without argument. These men usually "kicked" because I would not send them the entire course on payment of $5.00. These complaints have been entirely eliminated, as we now accept $15.00 as the smallest initial payment. I have never had even a suspicion of "trouble" over a complaint. This condition is explained by two facts. In the first place I always manage to give every student a little more than he has contracted for. In the second place he hears from me every month, no matter how long ago he enrolled. He knows I am interested in him and his success, and he knows why. Through his success other students are se- cured. Each and every member is interested in more members and good members, for every new member means another prospective client, through the business he may send over the directory list. Our follow-up ma- terial contains hundreds of letters with pictures of success- ful students' offices, all due to our training. Any interested inquirer will receive an answer from any of them, and a copy of that letter is almost invariably sent to me the day it is written. This spirit of co-operation could not obtain in an ordinary correspondence school, but the psychologi- cal principles behind the kind of treatment every student or inquirer receives is the item of interest for the adver- tiser. It is costly, but it pays. In developing The American Collection Service I was handicapped with very few theories of selling, by mail or otherwise. I had never sold anything. My business had never been selling, and I admitted an ignorance of it. I therefore set out to learn how to sell, with the distinct pur- pose of reducing my results to principles. To do this I determined to be bound by what accurate records would prove, and take no one's word for anything that could be proved. It was largely from the records of The American Collection Service that I deduced the principles on which all advertising done by me is based, as I have found the principles are largely as adaptable to one business as another, although matters of detail will vary in every advertised business. 90 Analytical Advertising That the records to follow may be made as intelligible as possible a short outline of the system employed will be given. The system of advertising record keeping now in use is a refinement of the collection record system employed by me in the collection business for some ten years, which was originally based on the alphabetical system of the Bradstreet Co., and the R. G. Dun & Co. systems, both of which were familiar to me through a mercantile agency experience secured while in the employ of each. It is not my purpose to outline the detailed workings of the present system of record keeping employed. Should the exposition of its results here given appeal to any advertiser needing a scientific record system I will be glad to communicate every detail of its installation, which will be found applicable to any "keyed" advertis- ing campaign. A detailed outline of it would consume unnecessary time and space, that were better devoted to showing its efficiency and economy. The system consists in a card index that gives the name and address of the inquirer, as well as the key of the advertisement which prompted his inquiry, and a working wrapper that contains a perfect record of all material sent him, which includes copies of all special letters as well as all original letters from him. This sys- tem entirely does away with letter filing. Every inquiry received is recorded and the first letter sent the day inquiry is received. Every new inquirer receives a regular series of follow-up letters. The num- ber of regular letters in this series varies from four to six. After the regular series of follow-up letters is sent the working wrapper goes in a special file. Tests are made constantly on these files. A letter is tried almost every month on three thousand. If the returns are profitable on three thousand the same letter is sent to the entire list, which numbers about 50,000. A complete record of the number of letters sent out on the regular follow-up will appear later. The same record will also show the number of special "letters" sent out. The latter will show how many have been tried, and how many have been successful. An inquiry once received is sent the Advertising Record Keeping 91 regular follow-up and in addition receives about three special letters a year. The inquiries received from our first advertisement are receiving letters today. Good in- quiries keep yielding returns every few months, no mat- ter how old the original inquiries. This serves to give the highest credit possible to every advertisement. I know of no business besides The American Collection Service that never ceases writing inquirers and who gives credit to the advertisement that secured them, indefinitely. Every advertisement of a certain size is given a certain key for each publication. Our second advertisement in System magazine was a classified advertisement keyed 16 State St. Every subsequent insertion of the same advertisement in System, and even those with a slight change in wording, have been keyed 16 State Street ever since. Our first quarter page advertisement in System was keyed 15 State St. Unless some subsequent quarter page advertisement in System was of a distinct character deserving an especial key, all quarter page copy in Sys- tem was keyed 15 State St. Our original half page copy in System was keyed 39 State St. and has been run under the same key repeatedly since, the latest being in 1911. The same system of keying is followed in every publi- cation used. It is clear that were there such a thing as cumulative value in any publication nothing would show it quicker than a system that gives to a piece of copy run in September, 1911, credit for all inquiries received that month and thereafter, as well as every inquiry that might come in from the same piece of copy that had run possibly 48 times before under the same key. Every dol- lar received in September, 1911, from that key, would also reflect the same condition. This system gives the publication the benefit of every doubt, and follows up for it every inquiry as long as the address is correct. In spite of these conditions favorable to the magazines the results will show what little basis there is for con- sidering any publication possessed of an ability to deliver cumulative results. Some inquiries will always come to an advertiser bear- ing no key. It is usually this class of inquiries that gives 92 Analytical Advertising the seller of space an advantage over the advertiser, as one guess about them is as good as another. (You can gamble on what the seller's guess will be.) It is impos- sible and impractical to attempt learning keys for such inquiries as long as they fail to produce returns. We have devised a system of learning the keys on such of these that buy, however. For four years we have suc- ceeded in crediting the proper publications with every dollar received except in the proportions below: 1907 None 1908.... 006% 1909 0094% 1910 0091% 1911 0125% The small amounts thus remaining uncredited repre- sent such an inconsiderable total as to be negligible. Of all the enrolments secured I do not think more than three were from men of whom we had no previous record. No money can be entered on our records until the proper clerk finds the card and wrapper. About once a month some enrolment is received for which the records cannot be found immediately. These exceptional cases are usually connected with their proper records in about two hours, although about five in four years have taken about forty- eight hours to turn up. The task of making it easy to connect every enrolment with the proper records is the one rule no employee dares to violate. We therefore have no trouble over them. One interesting case is worthy of recording. In Feb- ruary, 1909, we received an enrolment from Delhi, India. The money order was pinned to a reprint of a three-page advertisement from System, which we had used several months previously in our regular follow-up. We knew some publication was responsible for the enrolment, and we had no previous record of the remitter of the order. We wrote for information relative to the magazine in which our advertisement had been seen, and secured an answer that no magazine at all had been seen containing the advertisement. Information was given to the effect that remitter had happened to inspect a house just vacated Advertising Record Keeping 93 and that therein he had found our reprint of the three page reader, which included the terms of our course. Thinking this information was all we desired to know, nothing further was furnished, until we wrote a second time and requested the name of the man who had occupied the house. This our student sent, and the name of that man was on our records as having answered an advertisement from key Q5 State St., which was Harper's Weekly. We then gave credit to the publication about five months after the money had been secured, and reduced the record of our unkeyed cash $25.00. I quote this case, as it is more or less interesting in itself and also for the purpose of demonstrating to what lengths we go to secure the proper information, that every publi- cation may be credited with every dollar it could possibly have been the means of securing for us, either directly or indirectly. Our advertising record consists of a book with sufficient pages to afford a double page for every key ever used and runs from 3 State Street to the highest number on State Street used by us. The record for 1911 at this writing shows a total number of keys of 487. Many of the keys used represent advertisements run in 1907 and 1908, which were never repeated, but to which are credited every dollar resulting from them day to day. As a general follow-up goes to every inquiry at least three times a year, money is constantly secured from the oldest inquirers, and proper credit given. Our record of each publication shows the entry of every inquiry received every day, every dollar secured each day, also the date and amount paid for the advertisement. The advertisement itself is pasted on the proper page and the totals of previous years shown in the margin. A cost sys- tem has been devised that determines at the end of each year just how much it has cost to follow up every inquiry of that year. This cost is our entire cost of business for that year, and represents the difference in total receipts less cash profits and inventory. This net sum is divided by the actual number of inquiries received during the year which gives the average cost of following every inquiry. Advertising, being charged directly to each medium, is of 94 Analytical Advertising course deducted. This inquiry cost is used as the basis for the ensuing year, at the end of which the entire record is corrected by the actual cost. The difference in actual cost and estimated cost rarely varies to any great extent. It has appeared both safe and liberal to use the cost of an ended year as the basis for the ensuing year. Our advertising record shows at the end of each month, for each key, the following information: Number of in- quiries received. Amount of money secured. Amount spent in advertising that month on each key. To the amount of advertising is added the cost to follow-up each inquiry and this sum represents the total cost for the month. This sum subtracted from the total cash secured each month gives the net profit for that month on that key. If the sum taken in shows a less amount than the total cost the result shows the net loss for the month. The totals for each month are carried forward and the total loss or total profit show for the entire period at the end of each month. To make it easy to see just what any publication has done we transfer the totals every month to cards alpha- betically arranged as to publications, one card for each publication. These cards show a record of results for every key used in any publication. All ordering is done from the cards. The system of charging each inquiry with a certain amount is a system overlooked by all but a very few adver- tisers. A cost system is operated by practically every ad- vertiser with the slightest business training, but the opera- tion of these various systems, for the most part, is confined to actual sales. It is evident to an;^ one that every inquiry received costs something to answer. The cost system above outlined charges every inquiry received with the average sum of doing business, which is the only fair basis for a business dependent entirely on the follow-up of in- quiries. So few realize that inquiries are a liability that charging a publication with them rarely occurs to the advertiser, yet a definite, exact provision must be made for this expense, if dependable records are to be relied on for the success of an advertising campaign. One adver- tiser, whose complete records will be shown, made the Advertising Record Keeping 95 great mistake of simply subtracting from the cash returns of any advertisement the amount spent for the advertise- ment itself. As a result he continued to run advertise- ments in a large number of publications because he saw from his records that he was continually taking in a little more money than the advertisements cost him, and he thus "guessed" they were yielding a profit. As he had failed to charge anything against every inquiry secured he had been running a large number of showings that proved to be almost dead losses to him from one year's end to the other. Any advertiser who fails to run a cost system against his inquiries is likely to waste a great deal of money, as some publications will pull inquiries to a remarkai3le degree, and even return more money than the advertisements themselves cost, and still lose a great deal for the advertiser, in following up a large number of un- productive material constantly. In the records to be shown of American Collection Serv- ice returns the costs charged against inquiries vary. This is especially true from year to year. The costs of showings in publications will also vary somewhat. In some cases costs have been computed at "card rates," gross. Some at card rates net. Some at 10% above net cost, etc. Hav- ing placed our advertising with four different agencies the method of billing varied. In transferring to our adver- tising record the usual method has been to copy the amount as charged by the agency. Some would charge the gross rate on a number of showings on one bill, and although I have never missed a cash discount for adver- tising, these discounts were rarely extended for each in- sertion, but rather on the sum total. In transferring, the gross amounts would thus vary. If a single bill called for payment of a single showing the cash discount would ap- pear on the bill, and be thus transferred. The differences of contract rate from 10% above net cost, up, also will occasion some differences, and these I have made no at- tempt to equalize in the records to be shown. These dif- ferences will be noticeable throughout the records, and I mention the explanation here that no discredit may be attached to the records, that otherwise might arise from a close comparison of various charges of this nature. 96 Analytical Advertising The records to be shown of results from American Col- lection Service advertising will be incomplete in one re- gard. They will show returns on all advertising done, with the exception of "trade advertising." Since Business Service magazine was started we have traded space with a very large number of publications. A very large number of inquiries resulted from these trades and also a large volume of money. No record of these returns are given for several reasons. In the first place space has been traded with a large number of high-grade publications who would not care to have it generally known that trade advertising is indulged in by them. In the second place the basis of exchange payment has been of such an elastic nature as to preclude any scientific basis as to the exact cost of the space in cash. Any record of such showings would confuse the general result. By omitting this large volume of returns it will also be impossible for the curious to other than guess at the actual volume of business done by The American Collection Service, an exact idea of which could benefit nobody. In the next chapter a number of records will be given that disclose interesting data relative to the fallacy of the cumulative value theory. A number of businesses other than The American Collection Service will be quoted. In any such cases an explanation of the business itself will be given later when the complete records of such business are tabulated. Records of Consecutive Advertising In this chapter will be shown several sets of records. The first set shows the results of every consecutive series of showings made by The American Collection Service since its inception. I have chosen for this exhibit every showing that ran more than twice consecutively in the same medium, under the same key. These results are not chosen with any idea of substantiating my theory that there is no such thing as cumulative value in magazines. Every consecutive showing is exhibited without regard to the deductions that may obtain. That they prove un- erringly that no cumulative value has attached to their repeated showings is a result these records prove for them- selves. And they do prove it, as I am convinced any other well kept records will. Were there any such thing as cumulative value, the re- sults in actual inquiries from repeated insertions of any copy in the same mediums would constantly increase in number from month to month. The number of inquiries from any advertisement run for more than two times would thus have to hold even, at least. It will be discov- ered from these records that only in very exceptional cases do any showings hold even. The longer any show- ing is run the less the number of inquiries every consecutive insertion. The proof of cumulative value, if there were such a thing, would be in the increasing number of inquiries, and in nothing else. With these records, however, I have shown the actual cash returns from month to month. It will be noted that even the cash returns do not exhibit any real cumulative results. Even if they did, it would be no proof one way or the other, as such a piling up of cash returns would be entirely due to the follow-up letters, and not to the repeated showings of the advertisements. It is interesting to note that about all the cash returns can show is a tendency to almost hold even. A full record of the follow-up returns will be shown later, when it will be seen that there is no cumulative value to be expected in that direction either. 7 97 98 Analytical Advertising It is particularly desirable that a comparison of the first returns in inquiries be made with the last. It will be seen that the largest number of inquiries are almost always secured in the first and second insertions. The second month is usually the largest. This larger return the second month is slightly deceptive, as in reality the large number is almost always due to the very first insertion. An adver- tisement run in the January issue of most publications is paid for on the 25th of January, and usually appears about the 20th. In spite of the few days given it to pull in Janu- ary it is significant to note that a large number of showings pull more inquiries in the few days credited to the first appearance in January, than those that are credited in the next month, February, for instance. Of all the records here given hardly an exception will be found to the rule that the very first insertion, added to the second (an in- tegral part of it) will show more inquiries than the last two insertions under the same key, no matter how many show- ings appeared between them. The last insertions are credited by our system with every inquiry that comes in during that month, a certain portion of which always comes from the previous insertions. In spite of all these factors in favor of proof for cumulative value they prove the contrary, absolutely. The records first shown are those of consecutive show- ings of American Collection Service advertising. The rec- ord of the very first showing under each key is quoted, for the sake of comparison. These records are arranged ac- cording to the number of times each has shown consecu- tively during four years. Key ^",¥^^^- ^ tion Mo. Year Inq. Cost Returns 16 System Aug. 1907 67 $4.75 (linch) First Ins, Classified Sept. 1907 83 9.50 (1 inch) $45 . 00 Oct. 1907 13 No Insertion 80.00 Nov. 8 No Insertion 5.00 Dec. 45 9.50 (1 inch) 10.00 Jan. 1908 53 9.50 (1 inch) 50.00 Feb. 1908 36 9 . 50 (1 inch) 99.00 Mch. 1908 49 4.75 Q inch) 145.00 Apr. 1908 37 4 . 75 (^ inch) 60.00 May 1908 22 4 . 75 (i inch) 55.00 Records of Consecutive Advertising 99 Key Publica- tion. Month June 16 System Classified July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mch. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mch. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mch. Apr. May June July Aug. Year Inq. 1908 27 1908 20 1908 18 1908 11 1908 27 1908 25 1908 23 1909 19 25 37 29 29 19 15 13 19 21 16 25 1910 19 17 11 10 26 22 25 17 19 16 30 26 1911 26 31 31 17 14 16 16 23 Cost $4.75 Qinch) 4.75 (^inch) 4.75 (^inch) No Insertion 4.75 (iinch) 4.75 (iinch) 4.75 (I inch) 4 . 75 (^ inch) Same Same Same Same Same Same Same Same Same Same Same $5 . 75 (I inch) 4.95 (I inch) Same Same Same Same Same Same Same Same Same Same $4.95 (Hnch) 4.95 (^inch) 7.17 Same 7.17 Same 7.17 Same 7.05 Same 7.06 Same 7.06 Same Returns $20.00 36.00 76.00 5.00 65.00 78.00 53. 91. 91. 75. 15. 15. 95. 79. 14.40 2.72 42.72 19.10 67.62 14.00 30.00 80.55 38.10 51.06 24.00 79.50 32.50 9.00 53.75 50.00 61.25 57.50 78.43 29.75 20.00 25.00 52.50 Key 51 Publication Collier's 2 times Classified 1 time 1 time 2 times 2 times 2 times 2 times Month Year Inq. Cost Returns Sept. 1907 94 $25.00 $20.00 1st. ins. Oct. 119 Nov. 116 Dec. 138 Jan. 1908 202 Feb. 126 Mar, 96 12.50 12.50 25.00 27.00 40.00 30.00 25.00 156.00 25.00 140.00 24.75 42.00 100 Analytical Advertising Key Publication 51 Collier's Classified 2 times 3 times 3 times 3 times 3 times 1 time 2 times 2 times 2 times 2 times Same 2 times 1 time 2 times 2 times 1 time 1 time Same Month Year Inq. Cost Returns Apr. 50 $24.75 $77.50 May 73 37.13 25.00 June 81 37.13 142.00 July 96 37.13 75.00 Aug. 91 37.13 95.00 Sept. 53 12.37 70.00 Oct. 46 24.74 45.00 Nov. 48 24.74 28.00 Dec. 61 24.74 35.00 Jan. 1909 53 23.50 133.17 Feb. 67 23.50 98.00 Mar. 48 23.50 71.00 Apr. 27 23.50 106.75 May 29 23.50 80.00 June 43 23.50 124.75 July 30 23.50 35.00 Aug. 33 23.50 18.00 Sept. 31 23.50 85.75 Oct. 33 23.50 179.00 Nov. 39 23.50 69.60 Dec. 32 23.50 74.75 Jan. 1910 55 23.51 44.10 Feb. 49 11.76 109.34 Mar. 27 23.51 7.63 Apr. 23 23.63 45.00 May 20 11.82 83.00 June 6 No ins. 62.00 July 9 11.76 Aug. 2 11.76 27.50 Sept. 17 11.61 26.00 Oct. 22 11.61 72.00 Nov. 30 11.61 5.00 Dec. 25 11.61 26.00 No insertions until March 1 time 1 time 1 time 1 time 1 time Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. 1911 38 11.61 20 11.61 2 No ins. 12 11.60 14 11.60 24 11.60 42.50 20.00 87.50 5.00 18 Everybody's 5 lines classified Nov. 1907 95 $12.50 $10.00 1st ins. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May 1908 116 152 88 89 47 36 12.50 12.50 12.50 20.00 35.00 91.00 12.50 120.00 12.50 87.25 12.50 43.00 Records of Consecutive Advertising loi Key Publication Month Yr. Inq. Cost Return 18 Everybody's June 58 $12.50 $55.00 5 lines classified July 56 12.50 47.00 Aug. 38 12.50 90.00 Sept. 42 12.50 78.93 Oct. 40 12.50 37.50 Nov. 35 12.50 47.50 Dec. 46 12.50 25.00 Jan. 1909 90 12.50 72.40 Feb. 48 12.50 115.55 Mar. 35 12.50 85.25 Apr. 12 12.50 150.00 May 14 12.50 49.60 June 21 12.50 36.25 July 16 12.50 60.00 Aug. 18 12.50 56.00 Sept. 22 12.50 28.61 ' Oct. 18 12.50 41.00 Nov. 14 12.50 10.00 Dec. 12 12.50 29.00 Jan. 1910 30 12.50 80.50 Feb. 18 12.50 2.00 Mar. 7 12.50 Apr. 12 12.50 28.00 May 16 12.50 16.00 June 16 12.50 52.00 July 11 12.50 4 lines classified Aug. 31 10.00 71.00 Same Sept. 11 10.00 13.50 Oct. 20 10.00 57.00 Nov. 27 10.00 40,00 Dec. 29 10.00 85.00 Jan. 1911 41 10.00 112.50 Feb. 16 10.00 148.65 Mar. 28 10.00 122.50 Apr. 25 10.00 72.50 May 21 10.00 77.50 June 19 10.00 26.00 July 24 10.00 45.00 " Aug. 23 10.00 35.00 56 Literary Digest Feb. 1908 73 $8.65 $10.00 Classified No insertions until June 2 times each month June 1908 24 9.01 40.00 July 26 9.01 26.00 Aug. 14 9.01 25.00 Sept. 22 9.01 Oct. 22 9.01 65.00 Nov. 19 9.01 40.00 Dec. 54 9.01 25.00 102 Analytical Advertising Key Publication Month Yr. Inq. Cost Return. 56 Literary Digest Jan. 1909 38 $9.88 Classified Feb. 27 9.88 $45.00 2 times each month Mar. 26 9.88 90.00 Apr. 9 No ins. 75.00 One time May 9 4.94 10.00 June 2 9.88 July 15 9.88 2.00 Aug. 11 9.89 31.10 Sept. 12 9.88 Oct. 15 9.88 4.10 Nov. 14 9.88 2.00 Dec. 15 9.88 23.75 Jan. 1910 33 9.88 69.00 Feb. 7 No. ins. 70.50 Once a month Mar. 13 6.81 26.06 Apr 8 5.93 7.50 May 6 5.93 31.00 June 21 5.93 13.00 July 9 5.96 26.00 Aug. 15 5.96 26.85 Sept. 2 No ins. 10.00 Oct. 5 No ins. 47.00 Nov. 5 5.93 13.00 Dec. 6 5.93 Jan. 1911 12 5.93 5.00 Feb. 18 5.93 15.00 Mar. 13 5.93 37.50 Apr. 15 5.93 35.00 May 13 5.93 25.00 June 9 5.93 July 7 5.93 20.00 €€ tt Aug. 10 5.93 100.00 17 Bookkeeper Oct. 1907 58 $5.00 $5.00 Classified Nov. 36 6.00 6.00 Dec. 19 6.00 5.00 Jan. 1908 47 6.00 5.00 Feb. 21 No ins. 25.00 March 16 7.00 15.00 Mar. 1909 8 3.32 3.00 April 7 3.32 55.00 May 10 3.32 June 7 3.32 July 11 3.32 50.00 Aug. 5 3.32 1.00 Sept. 10 3.32 5.00 Oct. 9 3.32 25.00 Nov. 14 3.32 25.00 Dec. 14 3.33 1st ins. Records of Consecutive Advertising 103 Key Publication Month Yr. Inq. Cost Returns 1 7 Bookkeeper Jan. 1910 12 $3.33 $43.00 Classified Feb. 10 3.33 5.00 Mar. 2 No ins. 50.00 Apr. 5 3.34 May 9 3.36 26.00 (2 ins.) June 4 3.35 July 6 3.34 11.00 Aug. 8 3.34 41.00 Sept. 13 3.34 31.00 Oct. 13 3.34 12.00 Nov. 8 3.34 40.00 Dec. 5 3.34 58.00 Jan. 1911 15 3.34 32.50 Feb. 7 3.34 2.00 Mch. 7 3.34 Apr. 6 3.34 May 5 3.34 10.00 June 2 3.34 3.40 July 6 3.34 6.25 13 Spare Moments Jan. 1908 37 $4.11 Classified Feb. 21 4.11 $5.00 Mch. 23 4.11 25.00 Apr. 39 4.11 30.00 May 35 4.11 36.00 June 22 4.11 65.00 July 16 4.11 Aug. 11 No Edition Sept. 15 4.11 50.00 Oct. 13 4.11 5.00 Nov. 11 4.11 30.00 Dec. 16 4.11 5.00 Jan. 1909 10 3.91 Feb. 7 3.91 15.00 Mar. 10 3.91 25.00 Apr. 8 3.91 30.00 May 5 3.91 5.00 June 7 3.91 55.00 July 3 3.91 85.00 Aug. 4 3.91 3.00 Sept. 6 3.91 26.00 Oct. 7 3.91 1.00 Nov. 6 3.91 10.00 Dec. 9 3.91 1.00 Jan. 1910 2 3.91 2.50 Feb. 3 3.91 No insertions for 8 months Nov. 4 1.42 Dec. 4 1.42 1st ins. 104 Analytical Advertising Key Publication Month Yr. Inq. Cost Returns 20 Success Dec. 1907 90 $27.16(1 inch) $ 5.00 1st ins, One inch dis. Jan. 1908 84 No insertion 50.00 Three inch Feb. 110 81.48 (3 inch) 146.00 Display Mar. 50 No insertion 110.00 56 lines Apr. 75 81.48 (3 inch) 130.00 May 86 81.48 Same 66.50 June 83 81.48 Same No insertions until October Oct. 1908 80 110.88 (56 lines) 100.00 Nov. 79 110.88 Same 186.20 Dec. 121 110.88 Same 146.50 Jan. 1909 140 110.88 Same 95.00 Feb. 78 110.88 Same 165.00 Mar. 131 110.88 Same 181.00 Apr. 133 110.88 Same 351.00 May 138 110.88 Same 145.00 No position June 116 81.48 Same 292.75 " July 67 81.48 Same 155.00 Aug. 19 No ins. 157.20 Sept. 36 No ins. 85.00 « Oct. 56 81.48 (50 lines) 214.60 <( Nov. 59 81.48 Same 101.90 " Dec. 64 81.48 Same 108.50 53 Associated Nov. 1907 98 $47.52 $60.00 1st ins, Sunday Jan. 1908 113 47.52 40.50 Magazines Feb. 70 47.52 55.00 14 lines Mar. 73 47.52 70.00 Display Apr. 44 47.52 65.00 May 7 No insertion 49.00 June 33 47.52 72.50 July 16 47.52 80.00 Aug. 43 47.52 35 . 00 Sept. 54 47.52 25.00 Oct. 42 47.52 50.00 Nov. 48 47.52 20.00 Dec. 64 47.52 40.00 May 1909 37 47.97 3.00 June 32 47.97 No insertions until October Oct. 1909 41 47.97 26.00 Nov. 33 47.97 1.00 Dec. 36 47.97 31.00 Key Publication Month I Yr. Inq. Cost 25 Review of Reviews Feb. 1908 35 $6.25 1st ins. Classified Mar. No insertion Apr. 22 $5 . 98 $25 . 00 May No insertion June 26 7.17 15.00 Records of Consecutive Advertising 105 Key Publication Month Yr. Inq. Cost Returns 25 Review of Reviews July No ins. Classified Aug. 20 $6.81 $40.00 Sept. 20 7.27 25.00 Oct. 14 7.27 10.00 Nov. 23 7.50 12.50 Dec. 21 7.50 Jan. 1909 23 7.27 40.00 Feb. 18 7.27 50.00 Mar. 26 7.27 45.00 Apr. 21 7.27 50.00 May 19 7.27 115.00 June 15 7.27 10.00 July 14 7.27 15.00 Aug. 7 7.27 11.00 Sept. 22 7.27 1.00 Oct. 21 7.27 25.00 Nov. 21 7.27 47.00 Dec. 11 7.27 31.00 11 Argosy & All Story Jan. 1908 142 $11.25 $20.00 Classified Feb. 58 Same 20.00 Mch. 45 Same 35.00 Apr. 58 Same 35.00 May 82 Same 35.00 June 66 Same 25.00 July 60 Same 50.00 Aug. 51 Same 90.00 Sept. 55 Same 70.00 Oct. 64 Same 45.00 Nov. 68 Same 35.00 Dec. 87 Same 35.00 Jan. 1909 76 Same 70.00 Feb. 70 Same 40.00 Mch. 75 Same 70.00 Apr. 52 Same 39.75 May 38 Same 45.00 101 Popular July 1908 31 $2.25 Mechanics June 1910 20 3 . 65 Classified July 17 3.65 $11.00 Aug. 4 No. ins. . 80.00 Sept. 25 3.20 62.00 Oct. 43 3.20 63.00 Nov. 32 3.20 21.00 Dec. 14 3.20 Feb. 1911 26 3.20 27.00 Mar. 12 No. ins. 48.00 Apr. 28 3 . 20 67.00 1st ins. 1st ins. 106 Analytical Advertising Key Publication Month Yr. Inq. Cost ] Returns 101 Popular May 28 $3.36 $20.00 Mechanics June 28 3.36 45.50 Classified July 24 3.36 76.00 Aug. 32 3.36 15.00 21 Red and Mch. 1908 36 $7.50 R. B. 1st ins, Blue Book Apr. 1909 18 7.50 R. B. $75 . 00 Classified May 24 3.33 R. 7.01 R. B. B. 25.00 June 12 3.33 B. 7.01 R. B B. I 50.00 July 13 7.01 R. B. 15.00 Aug. 18 7.01 R. B. Sept. 25 7.01 R. B. 12.00 Oct. 26 7.01 R. B. 49.00 Nov. 30 7.01 R. B. Dec. 34 7.01 R. B. 31.50 Jan. 1910 26 7.01 R. B. 23.00 Feb. 28 7.01 R. B. Mar. 17 7.02 R. B. 63.00 136 System Oct. 1908 7 $4.75 $34.00 1st ins. Classified Nov. 8 4.75 43.00 Dec. 5 4.75 15.00 (This copy called Jan. 1909 4 4.75 14.88 for cash for a set Feb. 4 4.75 28.00 of collection let- Mar. 6 4.75 18.00 ters. The inquir- Apr. 1 4.75 34.00 ies shown are in May 4 4.75 40.00 addition to the June 9 4.75 36.00 cash sales) July 4 4.75 17.00 Aug. 5 4.75 22.00 Sept. 2 4.75 54.00 Oct. 3 4.75 15.00 Nov. 1 4.75 9.00 Dec. 3 4.75 18.00 Jan 1910 3 5.75 19.10 Feb. 5 4.95 31.00 Mar. 8 4.95 16.00 Apr. 6 4.95 165 Business June 1909 2 $1.65 1st ins. Philosopher July 6 1.65 $25.00 Classified Aug. 2 No ins. Sept. 2 : No ins. 26.00 Oct. 3 1.66 Nov. 2 1.66 Deo. 3 1.66 Records of Consecutive Advertising 107 Key Publication Month Yr. Inq. Cost Returns 165 Business Jan. 1910 2 $1.62 Philosopher Feb. 4 1.62 Classified Mar. 1 No ins. 1 B22.16 Apr. 3 1.15 May 1 1.15 35.30 June 2 No ins. 6.00 July 4 1.14 11.00 Aug. 6 No ins. 23.00 Sept. 3 No ins. Oct. 5 1.14 21.00 Nov. 3 1.14 23.00 Dec. 2 1.38 Jan. 1911 4 1.38 Feb. 5 1.38 Mar. 2 1.38 Apr. 1.38 May 1 1.38 5.00 June 3 1.38 July 3 1.38 20.00 Aug. 1 1.38 9 Technical World Jan. 1908 11 $4.40 1 $10.00 1st ins, Classified Jan. 1909 9 4.21 12.11 Feb 17 4.21 Mar. 17 4.21 - Apr. 6 4.21 7.50 Feb. 1911 4 4.68 20.00 Mar. 7 4.68 2.50 Apr. 16 4.68 May 10 4.68 20.00 June 9 4.68 65.00 July 5 4.68 32.50 Aug. 8 4.68 15.00 Sept. 4.68 5 American Magazine Feb. 1908 29 $7.60 1st ins. Classified Mch. 22 7.60 $25.00 Apr. 16 7.60 May 14 Sept. 1908 7 7.60 10.00 Oct. 21 7.60 Nov. 16 7.60 10.00 Dec. 17 7.60 25.00 Jan. 1909 24 7.60 Feb. 19 7.60 No insertions until May May 1909 7 7.60 30.00 June 14 7.60 July 14 7.60 1.00 Aug. 11 7.60 81.00 108 Analytical Advertising Key Publication Month Yr. Inq. Cost Returns ! 67 Philadelphia Inquirer Classified Jan. 3-17 1909 24 $2.10 1st ins. Apr. 4-18 10 .98 $30.00 May 2-1 e I 12 2.10 June 6-2C \ 12 2.10 July 4-18 9 2.10 Aug. 1-15 12 2.10 25 .00 Sept. 5, 12, 19, 26 10 4.20 1 .00 77 System, % p. Nov. 1909 13 $7.60 $10. 00 1st ins. Dec. 9 7.60 40 .00 Jan. 1910 12 7.60 143 Busy Man's Dec. 1909 4 $1.42 1st ins. Magazine Classified [ May June July 1910 3 1 1 1.42 1.42 1.42 Aug. No insertion Sept. 2 1.42 Oct. 1 1.63 Nov. 1 1.63 Dec. 3 1.63 148 Busy Man's Mar. 1909 4 $8.88 1st ins. Magazine Class Apr. 5 8.88 X page May June 5 5 8.88 8.88 50 Collier's Feb. 1908 140 100.24 110. 00 1st ins. 42 line display Mar. 109 100.24 140 .00 Apr. 94 100.23 102 .50 May 68 100.23 128 .00 June 60 100.24 90 .00 113 Business Life Aug. 1908 17 $4.49 1st ins, Sept. 8 4.49 $10.00 Oct. 1 5.28 30 .00 127 System Classified Apr. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. 1908 1908 8 6 9 7 13 4.71 4.71 4.75 4.75 4.75 1st ins, 54 Hearst's Sunday American Mag. 1 time Oct. 1907 39 $12.00 1st ins. 2 times Nov. 65 24.00 $10, .00 2 times Dec. 45 24.00 35 .00 2 times Jan. 1908 67 24.00 35. .00 2 times Feb. 51 24.00 bb 00 2 times Mar. 50 24.00 52 .00 1 time Apr. 21 12.00 50 .00 Records of Consecutive Advertising 109 Key Publication 54 Hearst's Sun. Am. Mag. Month Yr. Inq. Cost Returns 3 times May 43 $36.00 $30.45 2 times June 47 24.00 65.00 2 times July 47 24 . 00 2 times Aug. 48 24.00 1 time Sept. 38 12.00 1 time Oct. 26 12.00 20.00 7 Cosmopolitan Feb. 1908 51 $10.00 Classified No insertions until May May 1909 13 10.00 $35.00 June 19 10.00 25.00 July 35 10.00 55.00 Aug. 38 10.00 Sept. 36 10.00 35.00 Oct. 36 10.00 52.00 Nov. 32 10.00 50.00 Dec. 32 10.00 1st ins. 15 System 56 line display 8 Munsey's Classified 343 System, yi Page 424 System, 1 Page Oct. 1907 170 $29.69 1st ins. 1909 Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Feb. 1908 Feb. 1909 Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. 1910 1910 27 25.46 $36.00 40 25.46 35.00 18 No ins. 80.00 23 25 .46 65 . 00 40 25.46 20.00 53 $12.50 24 12.50 $61.00 41 12.50 90.00 21 12.50 25.00 16 12.50 25.00 44 $62.66 $58.00 67 62.66 93.00 93 62.66 133.50 74 62.66 55.85 1st ins. 135 125.32 52.25 1st ins. 149 125.32 166.50 169 125.32 261.50 182 125.32 375.25 1911 192 167.09 381.00 148 167.09 547.75 119 167.09 434.75 6 Merchant's Record and Show Window X Page Feb. 1908 May 1911 June July 15 $12.54 4 12.54 4 12.54 2 12.54 1st ins. 110 Analytical Advertising Key Publication Month Yr. Inq . Cost Returns 428 Popular Electricity Classified Nov. May June July Aug. 1910 1911 14 $1.91 1st ins. 3 1.91 4 No ins. 7 1.91 11 1.91 456 System, 1 Page 245 Case and Comment yi page May June July Aug. Jan. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May 1911 1909 1910 119 167.09 $70.00 123 167.09 206.00 32 No ins. 102.50 112 167.09 142.50 24 13.61 1st ins, 9 5.82 6 5.82 13.00 9 5.82 10.76 6 No ins. 7 5.45 26.00 Key Publication 219 Common Sense 7 lines Dis. 7 lines Dis. yi page Month Yr. Inq. Jan. 1909 6 Feb. 1 Mar. 3 Cost Returns $4.66 4.66 14.25 $10.00 246 Pacific Monthly, % page Feb. Mar. Apr. May June 1909 12 9 12 11 9 28.87 None 28.87 " 28.87 28.87 28.87 " 253 Advertisers' Magazine 56 lines Feb. Mar. Apr. 1909 6 7 11 7.98 $25.00 9.50 9.50 25.00 263 System, 1 Page Mar. 1909 143 106.88 50.00 Apr. 159 106.88 125.00 May 74 No ins. 125.00 June 133 106.87 135.00 Were there the slightest tendency exhibited by the above records to show anything but one thing relative to "cumulative value" it would be interesting to further analyze why certain showings appear to gain now and then. For the purpose of the point made by them it is only necessary to call attention to the workings of the law of diminishing returns. The latter is the real law of ad- vertising, and not cumulative value. Other records to follow prove the same law. More Records of Consecutive Showings In a later chapter will be found the complete records of Prof. Beery's School of Horsemanship. An explanation of his wonderful school, as well as an exposition of the records given will make the present excerpts from the ad- vertising returns more lucid. Prof. Beery's records cover a period from October, 1909, to July, 1911, and from them I have had great difficulty in picking out any considerable number that permitted study from the viewpoint of cumu- lative value in its relation to consecutive insertions. The policy of Prof. Beery has been to key alike all ad- vertisements in any single publication. This has been distinctly confusing, as it has permitted no dependable date on the comparative pulling power of different sized copy. For the present purpose it also made it practically impossible to show the exact results of consecutive show- ings. Even those chosen are bound to reflect the influence of previous showings to some extent, as every old adver- tisement run at any time in the publications quoted may be expected to yield some returns from time to time, all of which are credited to insertions in no way responsible for such returns. This fact detracts to a certain extent from the value of the records. The tendency of the in- sertions that preceded practically every series quoted has been to give them credit for some returns not due the in- sertions tabulated. In studying these returns there are two features respon- sible for certain manifestations that on their face seem to show some cumulative value. It is my judgment that they do not, however. One is that a number of second insertions show more inquiries than the flrst. This is ex- plained by the fact that a large number of the publications are issued well toward the middle of a month preceding the date of issue. A January insertion in most magazines begins to pull about the twentieth of December, or earlier, and a very large proportion of the inquiries for that month are in before the count begins in January itself. A first insertion also usually pulls well for almost two months, 111 112 Analytical Advertising and if repeated the next month is responsible for an in- creased showing then, due entirely to the actual inquiries resulting from the first insertion. This explanation has been previously made, but is repeated that no one may overlook its importance. A second fact of interest is that the second or any sub- sequent showing that reflects an increase in returns will be found falling in the months of January and February. These are the two best months for this proposition, ap- pealing as it does to the farmer boys and small town readers. The cumulative value, if any, would be reflected en- tirely in the number of inquiries, and not the cash received. The latter shows no such gain as it should, due to a short follow-up. In the present records, however, only inquiries are quoted, as it is through them alone that cumulative value would be manifest, if any. As the follow-up was working on all previous inquiries from these publications it was absolutely impossible to attempt proving anything by the cash returns during the months quoted, which I think will be perfectly obvious. Publication Collier's Weekly- Farmer's Advocate Farm & Fireside Farm Progress Year Month Inq. Adv. C^ost 1909 Dec. 129 $65 . 25 1910 Jan. 67 65 . 25 1910 Feb. 112 65 . 25 1910 Mch. 21 No ins. 1910 Apr. 74 65.25 1910 May 121 65 . 25 1910 June 51 65.25 1910 Nov. 7 $ 5.88 1910 Dec. 11 5.88 1911 Jan. 21 5.88 1911 Feb. 11 5.88 1911 Mch. 15 5.88 1911 Apr. 5 5.88 1911 May 6 5.88 1910 Dec. 63 $84.00 1911 Jan. 233 84.00 1911 Feb. 183 84.00 1911 Mch. 138 84.00 1910 Dec. 252 $100.00 1911 Jan. 326 100.00 1911 Feb. 172 100.00 More Records of Consecutive Showings 113 Publication Year Month Inq. Adv. Cost Farm, Stock & Home 1911 Jan. 220 $80.00 1911 Feb. 274 80.00 1911 Mch. 140 80.00 1911 Apr. 150 80.00 The Farmer 1911 Jan. 403 120.00 1911 Feb. 379 120.00 1911 Mch. 179 120.00 1911 Apr. 125 120.00 Farmer's Voice 1911 Jan. 18 14.70 1911 Feb. 14 14.70 1911 Mch. 17 14.70 Green's Fruit Grower 1910 Oct. 11 21.00 1910 Nov. 4 21.00 1910 Dec. 10 21.00 1911 Jan. 21 21.00 1911 Feb. 34 21.00 Holland's Magazine 1910 Nov. 8 12.60 1910 Dec. 4 12.60 1911 Jan. 9 12.60 1911 Feb. 29 12.60 Kansas City Star 1911 Jan. 333 100.00 t 1911 Feb. 422 100.00 1911 Mch. 237 100.00 1911 Apr. 135 100.00 Ohio Farmer 1911 Jan. 231 85.00 1911 Feb. 198 85.00 1911 Mch. 116 15.00 Outlook 1910 Dec. 24 29.00 1911 Jan. 44 29.00 1911 Feb. 22 29.00 1911 Mch. 14 No ins. 1911 Apr. 4 29.00 Penn. Grit 1911 Jan 307 240.00 1911 Feb. 365 240.00 1911 Mch. 298 240.00 R. F. D. News 1909 Oct. 10 7.50 1909 Nov. 10 7.50 1909 Dec. 8 7.50 1910 Jan. 16 7.50 1910 Feb. 10 7.50 1910 Mch. 11 7.50 114 Analytical Advertising Publication Year Month Inq. Adv. Cost R. F. D. News 1910 1910 1910 1910 1910 1910 Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. 8 2 7 3 8 13 $7.50 7.50 7.50 7.50 7.50 7.50 Rural Weekly 1911 1911 1911 Jan. Feb. Mch. 191 159 139 50.00 50.00 50.00 Sovereign Visitor 1910 1910 1910 Jan. Feb. Mch. 145 114 74 63.00 03.00 63.00 Southern Cultivator 1911 1911 1911 Jan. Feb. Mch. 57 20 34 8.40 8.40 8.40 Up-to-Date Farming 1911 1911 1911 Jan. Feb. Mch. 120 219 100 100.00 100.00 100.00 Wallace Farmer 1911 1911 1911 Jan. Feb. Mch. 334 352 249 110.00 110.00 110.00 Weekly Dispatch 1911 1911 1911 Jan. Feb. Mch. 203 182 124 50.00 50.00 50.00 Wisconsin Agriculturist 1911 1911 1911 1911 Jan. Feb. Mch. Apr. 147 215 164 lOG 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 As a sidelight on the above records the results of a single insertion, not followed immediately by any other showing, will give a good idea of the proportion of inquiries due to previous insertions. These records will show that a num- ber of the above records are swelled in the second insertion by answers from the first, and those in the third from the first and second, and those of the third by those of the first, second and third. Where single records (not affected by previous showings) could not be picked out none will be shown. More Records of Consecutive Showings 115 Examples of the pulUng power of one insertion in the above mediums: Publication Year Month Inq. Adv.Cost Collier's Weekly 1910 June July Aug. Sept. 71 25 9 14 $94.50 Farmers' Advocate 1910 Jan. Feb. Mch. Apr. 16 16 2 2 12.00 Farm Progress 1909 Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. 18 28 7 4 42.00 Farm, Stock & Home 1910 May June July Aug. 15 3 2 1 16.80 Kansas City Star 1910 Feb. Mch. Apr. 172 49 3 100.00 Outlook 1910 May June July Aug. 27 16 5 2 57.00 Penn. Grit 1910 Feb. Mch. Apr. May 461 85 9 4 120.00 Sovereign Visitor 1910 1911 Dec. Jan. Feb. Mch. 83 14 10 7 63 . 00 Up-to-Date Farming 1909 Nov. Dec. Jan. 17 33 6 29.40 Wisconsin Agriculturist 1910 May June July 20 11 1 10.50 116 Analytical Advertising The records of a small business taken over by The Amer- ican Collection Service may be of some interest, as they reflect the steady pulling power of the so-called standard magazines. This business was conducted about six months, as an attempted competitor. It was a flat failure. It is one of some twenty who have attempted to emulate the example of The American Collection Service. After its demise its records were taken over for what they might prove to be worth. Why? Why? Why will ambitious men toil for others when only honest effort and practically no investment are needed to establish a big, paying, independent business of their own ? The answer is — they don't know — they are in the dark. Are YOU in the Dark? Do you think the Collection Business arduous — undignified — slow or unprofitable ? Do you J v.-ant the TRUTH? Will you investigate, then decide for yourself ? Then write today for our free book — "Collection Mfthods" and learn of the opportunity awaiting YOU. Do it NOW. J MOHAWK MERCANTILE BUREAU ^ 137 Mohawk Bldg., Chicago These records show much better returns from the single insertions, relatively, than for the repeated showings. The results from the single showings also make clear why the repeated showings appear to grow stronger with repeti- tion. The single Circle insertion, for instance, pulled stronger the second month tha^i the first, and pulled almost as many the fourth as the first. The complete records of this failure are given below: Circle Magazine — Space 21 lines — Ad. cost $11.78 — Cash returns $5.00 Inquiries, January, 21 Only one insertion February, 31 March, 14 April, 14 Collier's Weekly — Space 6 line classified — Ad. cost $45.00 — Cash $10.00— Three insertions — Nov. 6, Nov. 20, 1909 and one time in January, 1910. Inquiries, Nov., 1909, 7. Ad. cost $30. Dec, 6; returns $5.00 Jan., 1910, 34; Ad cost $15. Feb., 1910, 48. March, 1910, 17; returns $5.00. More Records of Consecutive Showings 117 Everybody's — Space, 5 line classified — Ad. cost $37.50 — Cash $10.00 — Three insertions, Nov. and Dec, 1909, and Jan., 1910. Inquiries, Nov., 9; Aci. cost, $12.50. Dec, 11; Ad cost, $12.50. Jan., 28; Ad. cost, $12.50; Returns, $10.00. Feb., 34. Mch., 16. April, 20. Success — Space, 21 lines — Ad. cost, $31.50 — Returns, none. Inquiries, Jan., 109; Only one insertion 1910. Feb., 116. March, 47. , April, 59. May, 3. System— Space, 6 line classified— Ad. cost, $28.75— Cash, $35.00. Five insertions as given below, two in 1909, and three 1910. Inquiries, Nov., 5; cost, $5.75. Dec, 11; cost $5.75; returns, $5.00. Jan., 19; cost, $5.75; returns, $10.00. Feb., 31; cost, $5.75; returns, $15.00. March, 28; cost, $5.75; April, 25; returns, $5.00. May, 1. System — Space 21 lines — Ad. cost, $12.69 — Cash, none. Inquiries, Jan., 25; cost, $12.69; only one insertion 1910. Feb., 37. March, 26. April, 20. May, 1. Unkeyed returns. Inquiries, Jan., 1910, 8. Feb., 1910, 16. March, 1910, 9; returns, $5.00. April, 1910, 11. May, 1910, none. June, 1910, none; returns, $5.00. Another business whose advertising results next appear, is particularly interesting, as the advertiser had been en- couraged to order three consecutive insertions in a num- ber of publications. These records are those of a fireless and electric cooker business, and are its first advertising records. The advertiser started his campaign in absolute ignorance of proper mail order procedure, knew absolutely 118 Analytical Advertising nothing of proper record keeping, and at the end of three months had no conception whatever of the results of his efforts, or their causes. I was called in on the case to ana- lyze his records, put them in shape and install a proper system of record keeping. I found the records in a per- fectly hopeless condition, and was forced to start an en- tirely new set. This was done by checking every original inquiry with such cards as could be found, and making new cards for hundreds of inquiries of which no record had been made. Dozens of orders had been secured, with no record of any inquiry to be found. This precluded any degree of proper credit being given for a majority of the sales, which I was forced to check as unkeyed. The largest volume of sales in proportion to any one medium, was that to the trade. These orders were secured through a direct advertising campaign, which had been foolishly "keyed" to the address used on the regular stationery. This served to complicate the case for checking purposes, but I am of the opinion that the results finally worked out and checked give an approximately fair credit to each publication used. In addition to the hopeless state of the records, no proper follow-up had been sent to original inquiries. A large number had been sent one letter and catalogue, and no record kept of the inquirer. A few had been sent a second letter, but no proper records had been kept of them. A complete set of follow-up letters had to be written and an entire set of new circulars prepared, after which it was possible to check up nearly all of the previous inquiries and sales. In the table that follows will be shown the results of all advertising done by this business. I am including the one time showings with the rest. Wherever three time showings were carried out in any publication the law of diminishing returns is striking. In the "Ad. Cost" column the number of times each showing ran will be made clear, as an entry is made in this column for each appearance of the copy. In these records, as in others shown, the publi- cations have been given more than a chance to prove cumulative value, as every piece of copy was keyed the same each time it was repeated in the same publication. The complete records follow: More Records of Consecutive Showings 119 Publication All 1911 Inq. Returns Ad. Cost. Bee Keeper 56 lines Aug. Sept. 1 4 $12.50 Not shown Christian End. World 56 lines June July 3 1 $25 . 20 Christian Herald All 56 lines May June July Aug. Sept. 98 51 8 4 2 55.80 138.85 115.53 215.14 84.80 84.80 84.80 No. ins. Clinical Medicine 56 lines June July Aug. Sept. 2 14 12 10 22.40 94.50 24.00 46.60 Not Shown Columbian 56 lines June July Aug. Sept. 6 20 18 8 11.50 31.25 Good Housekeeping All 56 lines except July, which was one page May June July Aug. Sept. 154 139 177 74 54 90.00 253.65 596.64 381.10 149.30 84.00 84.00 336.00 No ins. House Furn. Review All 56 lines June July Aug. 2 38 12 11.50 232.50 85.95 32.00 32.00 32.00 Iron Age Hardware All 56 lines April May June July Aug. Sept. 9 2 21 5 1 5 24.60 39.00 108.50 16.00 32.00 32.00 32.00 32.00 Ladies Home Journal 42 lines, One time July Aug. Sept. 192 334 71 499.90 202.25 294.00 Lippincott's Mag., 56 lines Aug. Sept. 2 1 13.20 Not shown Michigan Churchman, 56 lines July 3.50 No. Western Christ. Adv. 5G lines June July 2 11.50 7.72 120 Analytical Advertising Publication All 191 1| Inq, Returns Ad. Cost. Pittsburg Christ. Adv., 56 lines June 3 $14.00 Popular Electricity May 25 56 lines June 10 $63.90 25.00 July 6 41.65 25.00 Aug. Sept. 4 17.00 Popular Mechanics May 112 91.50 75.00 56 lines June 63 224.78 75.00 July 35 125.50 75.00 Aug. 18 201.50 Sept. 14 46.10 Record of Christ. Work June 6 56 lines July 3 11.50 10.08 Aug. 1 6.00 Red Book May 41 103.80 75.00 56 lines June 25 51.60 75.00 July 13 12.50 Aug. 1 Sept. 4 Saturday Eve. Post June 247 78.50 252.00 42 lines July 44 288.88 One time Aug. 15 202.85 Sept. 9 63.50 Sunday School Times May 76 58.00 44.80 56 lines June 36 49.29 44.80 July 10 83.00 44.80 Aug. 35.00 Sept. 1 92.30 Western Christ. Adv. June 2 5.60 56 lines July 1 Trade Circulars June 107 218.75 (No record (Return Postal Direct Adv.) July 129 712.48 of number Aug. 3 438.23 of cards Sept. 7 24.79 mailed and no cost record) Unkeyed April 41 May 29 47.50 June 78 342.41 . July 96 385.50 Aug. 101 173.15 Sept. 2 163.12 An Exceptional Business and Its Records Among the records shown in the previous chapter are several from the tabulated results of Professor Beery 's School of Horsemanship. Having been furnished with the complete results of this institution's advertising from October, 1909, to July, 1911, I believe that the interest it afforded me will prove equally strong for other advertisers. Professor Beery has been engaged in teaching Scientific Horsemanship by mail for a number of years. He is a thorough master of horse training, and has been wonder- fully successful in teaching the principles of his calling to others. His school has enrolled thousands of students, all of whom he has taught exclusively by mail. His course naturally appeals most to young men in rural communi- ties, where the opportunities for dealing with horses are greatest. His instruction is not limited to mere horse "breaking," however, but includes the training of colts, the submission of vicious horses, and the gentler arts of training saddle and driving horses to gaited performances. The very sincerity and earnest purpose of Mr. Beery account, in a very large measure, for his success, for, in spite of extravagant expenditures for advertising, his school is a decidedly successful achievement. The price of Professor Beery 's course is $10.00. His instruction furnished by mail is undoubtedly worth a great deal more, and one of my suggestions to him was raising the price of his course not less than $5.00, at which figure I am convinced he would sell more scholarships than he does at $10.00. My own experience in raising the price of a course has proved that more are sold after an increase than before. In addition to the fees for tuition his school secures a very material revenue from the sale of special harness, supplies, driving carts, etc. A patented breaking bit is also the source of royalties from the trade, the income from which is not included in any of the records that follow. The figures to be shown have credited to the various publications the sales from 121 122 Analytical Advertising supplies to students, however, as well as the sums received for lessons and instruction. Although Professor Beery has operated his school for a number of years no attempt was ever made to check re- turns until 1909. The records to follow have been copied from the record books of the school, which were particu- larly well kept, as far as it was possible to give the proper credit for the inquiries and cash received. The most cur- sory examination of the record book exhibited a condition extremely interesting to me, for while the records them- selves had been proved and balanced with cash books and ledgers, their most significant import had been constantly ignored. The most important and obvious thing they proved was the entire absence of a cost system on in- quiries. A more subtle deduction, but not less important, Train Your Colt in 8 Hours— Break Your Horse of Any Bad Habits by my simple method. I can teach you to break any colt in 8 hours thru my wonderful mail sys- tem, or break your horse of any bad habits, such as , balking:, kicking, shying, beingf afraid of automo- biles; in fact, any habit can be cured by my method. Instructions complete and simple; mastered in a short time with little study. $1,200 to $3,000 a Year At Home or Travellngr Several of my pupils are making big money giving exhibitions in different cities. Others train horses at home, making^lS to S2S a head. You can do the same. I have graduate pupils in everv walk in life- Farmers. Professional Horse Trainers, Horse Breeders. Rldingr Masters, Teamsters, etc. I have two courses— one. '•How to Train a Oolt to Drive, and Break Horses of Bad Habits" ~th© other. How to Ride and Train the Saddle Horse; Differens (jraits and Fancy Steps " Let me send you my Free Book on horses, and the opportunities open to you. Write today, now, while you think of it, for Free Book. Also tell me about your horse. (14) Prof. Jesse Beery. Box , Pleassint Hill. Ohio 42 line Copy An Exceptional Business and Its Records 123 was the proof they gave of an inefficient initial record keeping system. Professor Beery allowed me to take his record book, and the figures were transferred by me to cards. The entire transfer took one clerk four days of fast copying, after which I returned the record book to Pleasant Hill, Ohio. Two other clerks have since checked and recopied the records, but the initial transfer had to be done so quickly, that a number of slight errors resulted. The original record book was the regular working book of the school and my desire to get it back to the Professor with as slight inconvenience to him as possible, made careful checking of the original transfer out of the question. The "average error" was thus somewhat magnified, which will be suffi- cient to excuse several slight discrepancies in the records themselves. I make this explanation, as I do not wish to present these records as absolutely accurate, as several minor errors are apparent. Eliminating from consideration several minor errors of this character the records will disclose a condition fairly accurate. Several sources of income are not included in the records to be shown. On the profit of this income, from sources not credited to magazine advertising, the business has been carried along, as the old superstition of cumulative value committed the Professor to advertising expenditures, extravagant to the highest degree. This was made perfectly clear through the simple expedient of determining the cost of doing business in one year, 1910, and on that basis computing the average cost of follow- ing-up every inquiry. When I secured the records, no attempt had ever been made to compute accurately the amount of profit or the amount of loss each publication had yielded. Out of 107 mediums used I discovered that only 23 showed a profit. This percentage would not have been so important had it not proved that a large number of publications were being used constantly at an ever increasing loss, due to a system of ordering that simply subtracted from the cash received the amount paid to each publication for the advertising. As a large number of publications pulled in- quiries to an astonishing degree, they were constantly used 124 Analytical Advertising at an ever increasing loss, on account of the small per- centage of money they actually developed. It was a favorite theory of the Professor that "one inquiry was as good as another." Clearly illogical in this, he might have saved himself thousands of dollars by accurate record keeping. After tabulating the results from all mediums, and checking with the "unkeyed" returns I was immediately impressed by a discrepancy between the relation of un- keyed inquiries to the total inquiries, and the unkeyed cash with the total cash. The returns checked showed a total number of inquiries of 95,795, of which 2,361 were unkeyed, an average of .024%. Out of cash returns of $131,700.12 I found $19,696.73 unkeyed, or an average of .149%. This difference of 12>^% clearly proved that proper care had not been taken to check every payment with the original inquiry. This suspicion was amply confirmed on questioning the clerks and members of the school's staff, who frankly ad- mitted that hundreds of orders were received on which the original inquiry could not be found at once, and that the money would be credited to unkeyed, when a record of the key was somewhere on file, but difficult to find. This condition was not the fault of the office force, but abso- lutely due to the system, which consisted in a geographical distribution of original cards, instead of alphabetical. Double records were kept of original inquiries, but the system of recording them made scientific checking impos- sible, and moreover took four girls on filing that a simple and more rational system would reduce to an accurate and inexpensive record, needing not more than half the labor. I had condemned the system before seeing the records, as it was obvious that the method of indexing made accurate checking impossible. The cumbersome expensive system would have merited consideration had it been accurate, but its extravagance proved its own unworthiness in the analysis of results relative to unkeyed cash returns. Before attempting to secure an accurate idea of the cost of follow-up I made a rough guess that each inquiry cost $1.20 to follow-up. An accurate analysis showed that it cost $1.17 (plus) during the year 1910. As accurate An Exceptional Business and Its Records U5 Attention, Horse Owners! Send for Handsome Book Absolutely FREE ,^^— You Can Train Your Colt in 8 Hours or Break Your Horses of Any Bad Habits by Prof. Beery's Simple Methods Prof. Jesse Beery, kingr of horse tamers and trainers. has retired from his marvelous career in the arena' and Is now teaching his wonderful system by mail to thou- sands of interested horse owners. Prof. Beery is acknowledged to be the world's master horseman. His wonderful exhibition of 'taming: fierce, man-killinsr horses and conquering horses of all disposi- tions have thrilled vast audiences all' over the world. He can teach you the same simple, yet marvelous, principles which have brought him such remarkable success, so that you can take the most vicious horse and subdue him in a few minutes.' He can teach you to train a green colt, break any horse of bad habits, teach a horse to drive without reins, tell the disposition of any horse at a single glance, train him to do difficult tricks and, in, fact, gain complete mastery over any horse, young or old. You can take a useless and dangerous animal and double his value In a short time by these easy, simple methods. And these horses, will be cured of shying, kicking, balking, biting, fear of automobiles and all other bad traits forever. Prof. Beery's lessons afe siinple, thorough and practical. $1,200 to $3,000 a Year At Home or Traveling! Competent Horse Trainers are in demand every- where. People gladly pay S15 to $25 a head to have horses tamed, trained, cured of bad habits, to have colts broken to harness. A good trainer can always keep his stable full of horses. What Prof. Beery's Students Are Doing Breaking horses of every conceivable habit, no mat- ter how long standing it is. Training (yjlts to be ab- solutely trustworthy and useful in 8 hours. Riding with perfect ease a;nd control. Training horses to go all the saddle gaits and- do fkncy steps. Training horses to do the most difficult and interesting, tricks. Tellingr any horce's disposition at right— judging a horse right the first time. There is no limit to what a horse can be taught when you know how. We receive hundreds of letters like the foHowinK: J. O. Brown. Cameron. Mo., R. R. 4., vrfites, "Lust month I made $90.00 training oolts, besides m.v regiilnr farm work." A. W. Bower. Tipton. Ind.. writes. '•You have made me a practical colt trainer, have all the work I can do and make more money than ever before." S. M. R.vder, Mercersburg, Pa., writes, "lam makincmone.v bn.ving 3-year-old kickers cheap, handling them a few days and selling them, perfectly broken, at a large profit." . » Levi Smith,- Admire, 4|^^ Kans., R. R. 2, writes, "I % jfc have used your methods on ■ ^ ^M^ some very mean and vicious ^■^^ _^^^R^.^^^ horses and had good suc- ^^^^■■^^^^■^Bk ^^^k broke a tive-year-old ^^^^^^^^^^^^l^^^^^l^ from kicking in two hours. ^K ^^^^^^^i^^^^^V^ The owner offered to se 1 1 Z^^^^ M^W ^or $''5.00. but after I J^^^ 9 ^ trained her he refused ^^ ^ 1 $175 00." PROF. JESSE BEERY OOO Academy St. Pleasant Hill, Ohio The Only instruction off Its Kind In the World Never before in the history of the world has there been offered such a wonderful opportunity as this — a chance to learn a money-making, fascinating profession right atliome, under the instruction of the acknow- ledged tnaster-horsem an of the world. If you love to travel, to give exhibi- tions, to train your own and neigh bors' horses, write at once for hand- some, free prospectus, also big FREE CIRCULAR of the Beery Exhibition. 7,000 Satisfied Graduates There are now more than 7,000 sat isfied^ and successful Beery graduates in all parts of the world Iney are reaping the benefits of their foresight in taking Prof. Beery's wonderful course. They comprise Fnrmers, Professional Horse Trainers, Horse Breeders, Riding Mas- ters, Teamsters, etc. They are able to pick up plenty of money on the side -...,.*j,.!_.. .-i.... rk...,« r».^..... A.......I.A *!.».« FREE BOOK! Cut Out This Cou| and Mail It Today 1 200 line Copy (reduced) 126 Analytical i\dvertising figures were not available for 1909, owing to the fact that no proper system had been installed until October, and as no trial sheet had been taken for the six months in 1911, I took $1.17 as a fairly accurate basis for computing the probable cost per inquiry for the entire period. The rec- ords that follow are all computed on this basis. Owning their building, no account was taken of rent. Neither was interest nor depreciation considered. Both should enter, but for purposes of comparison I proceeded without a more accurate basis for the period than $1.17. This figure is therefore not strictly scientific or accurate. It is probably not more than five cents out of the way, however, and that difference will not serve to make the comparative results less significant, either way. After deciding on $1.17 as the cost per inquiry it was necessary to apportion to each publication its average share of the large amount of unkeyed cash. It is, of course, undeniably probable that the best publications are respon- sible for the largest percentage of the unkeyed cash. I disregarded this, however, in an effort to give the weak sisters every advantage of doubt. An expert accountant was secured by me to reduce this problem to a scientifically accurate basis, as I somewhat distrusted my own figures on this distribution. He found that each inquiry was en- titled to a credit of .181 cents, and this sum was added to every inquiry. The total profit or total loss on each of the publications whose records follow, therefore show a cost of $1.17 for follow-up with a credit of 18 cents for its share of the unkeyed cash returns. I give the twenty-three magazines that show a profit in the first series. In the second series appear the publica- tions that show a loss. In the two series each publication appears alphabetically. The final results and deductions are as follows: Mediums Showing a Profit Ad. Inq. Total Name Space Ins. Inq. Returns Cost Cost Cost Profit Am. Blacksmith 42L 18 362 $795.77 $197.06 $423.54 $620.60 $234.17 Appeal to Reason 11.25 11.25 Bit and Spur 28 L 18 71 192.73 100.80 83.07 183.87 21.71 Blacksmith and Wheelwright 22 104.34 25.74 82.58 An Exceptional Business and Its Records 127 Name Space Ins 1. Inq. Returns Ad. Cost Inq. Cost Total Cost Profit Breeder's Gazette 28 L 29 L 42 L 4 4 17 200 L 5 2698 $5571.48 $1331.45 $3156.66 $4488.11 $1571.70 Co. Life in America 28 L 3 70 L 2 175 376.25 132.70 204.75 337.45 70.47 *Farm Journal 200 L 4 42 L 7 12706 23866.35 6165.10 14866.02 21031.12 5134.78 Farmers' Advocate 42 L 7 120 240.30 53.76 140.40 194.16 67.86 Farm and Ranch 42 L 4 144 182.85 81.92 121.68 203 . 60 5.31 Good Literature 42 L 94 340.60 73.50 109.98 193.48 174.13 Horseman 42 L 200 L 14 1 28 L 1 391 593.37 202.68 457.47 660.15 3.99 Household ]Mag. 4 22 . 00 4.68 18.04 ^Michigan Farmer 200 L 4 42 L 8 831 1404.06 390.16 972.27 1362.43 192.04 Ohio Farmer 200 L 42 L 29 L 957 1719.10 665.63 1119.69 1785.32 106.99 Rider and Driver 3 10.00 5.60 3.51 9.11 1.43 So. Cultivator 42 L 152 264.65 31.80 177.84 209.64 57.18 So. Ruralist 42 L 1 28 L 1 51 86.70 35.00 59.*67 94.67 1.26 20th Century Farmer 44 L 251 452.45 110.40 293.67 404.07 93.81 Veterinarian IP 200 L 42 L 1 3 3 29 L 3 474 1280.66 129.46 554.58 684.04 682.41 Wallace Farmer 200 L 7 42 L 7 1521 2960.00 732.55 1779,57 2512.12 723.18 Wiltshire's 8 96 00 9.36 88.08 * Woman's ^Mag. 1 10.60 1.17 9.52 *See Loss Table lor smaller spaces. Mediums Showing a Loss Name Space Ins. Inq. Returns Ad. Cost Inq. Cost Total Cost Loss Am. Farm World 42 L 4 265 $301.00 $168.00 $310.05 $478.05 .$129.09 Agric. Epitomist 42 L 1 83 98.00 42.11 97.11 139.22 26.20 Am. Home Journal 4.20 4.20 4.20 Am. Agriculturist 42 L 11 200 L 6 2393 2966.46 1017.12 2799.81 3816.93 417.34 Am. Issue 75 L 1 51 15.12 52.59 59.67 112.26 87.91 Am. Journal of Veter'y Medicine 200 L 1 52 12.50 60.84 73.34 63.93 Am. Poultry Advoc, , 200 L 2 42 L 4 212 168.25 113.60 248.04 361.64 155.02 Am. Swineherd 42 L 1 6 21.00 7.02 28.02 26.93 Argosy 42 L 3 276 424.99 225.00 322.52 547.52 72.58 Ass. Sun. iVIag. 42 L 7 1206 1120.26 945 00 1411.02 2356.02 1017.48 Boyce's Weekl>- 29 L 1 53 1.25 46.40 62.01 108.41 97.57 Chi. Inter-Ocean 42 L 4 200 L 1 63 183.25 128.20 73.71 201.91 7.26 Christian Herald 29 L 5 75 L 3 648 456.20 394.39 758.16 1152.55 579.07 Collier's Weekly 28 L 42 L 1 29 L 1 1037 953.91 735.44 1213.29 1948.73 807.13 Dakota Farmer 42 L (5 200 L 3 496 390.95 284 . 34 580.32 864.66 383.94 Everybody's 42 L 1 179 241.54 187.48 209.43 396.91 122.98 Family Herald 42 L 28 L 13 14 200 L 7 3367 3702.15 714.00 3939.39 4653.39 341.82 128 Analytical Advertising Name Space Ins. Inq. Returns Ad. Cost Inq. Cost Total Cost Loss Farm and Fireside 42 L 200 L 8 2 75 L 1 2299 $1630.41$1532.25 $2689.83 $4222.08$2175.56 Farm and Home 42 L 7 200 L 3 4239 4512.76 1835.60 4959.63 6795.23 1515.32 Farm Journal 28 L 29 L 558 779.56 529.50 652.86 1182.36 301.91 Farm Mag. 200 L 1 42 L 8 413 333.60 209.80 482.21 692.01 283.66 Farm Press 200 L 1 42 L 3 359 450.70 326.00 420.03 746.03 230.36 Farm News 42 L 9 200 L 1 1372 1063.40 590.15 1605.24 2195.39 883.66 Farm Progress 56 L 200 L 1 7 42 L 7 2222 2060.60 1245.06 2599.74 3844.80 1382.02 29 L 1 Farm, Stock & Home200 L 5 42 L 9 29 L 1 1246 1327.35 583.80 1457.82 2041.62 488.75 Farmer, The 200 L 4 42 L 4 1225 981.55 580.80 1473.25 2054.05 850.78 Farmers' Guide 42 L 2 20 2.50 16.80 23.40 40.20 34.08 Farmers' Review 200 L 42 L 774 791.70 297.06 905.58 1202.64 270.85 Farmers' Voice 42 L 3 64 49.75 44.10 74.88 118.98 57.65 Green's Fruit Grower 42 L 5 155 111.35 105.00 183.35 288.35 148.25 Holland's Mag 42 L 4 91 94.73 52.40 116.47 168.87 57.67 Home Friend 200 L 1 42 L 1 405 369.60 227.60 473.85 701.45 258.55 Independent 28 L 2 15 10.00 17.10 17.55 34.65 21.94 Iowa Homestead 200 L 5 42 L 6 1463 1416.30 731 . 20 1711.71 2442.91 761.81 Journal of Agric. 42 L 11 127 56.50 70.56 148.59 219.15 138.67 Kansas City Star 200 L 42 L 5 11 29 L 2 1798 1873.00 760.00 2103.66 2863.66 665 . 23 Leslie's Weekly 75 L 1 29 L 5 320 240.70 178.90 374.40 553.30 254.58 Literary Digest 75 L 29 L 28 L 575 617.65 554.14 672.75 1226.89 505.17 McClure's Mag. 50 L 1 152 78.95 110.06 177.84 287.90 181.44 Mail and Breeze 200 L 42 L 5 1476 1730.04 860.00 1726.92 2586.92 589.73 Met. & Rur. Home 42 L 2 467 352.60 201.60 546.39 747.99 310.87 Mo. & Kans. Farmer 200 L 2 42 L 5 392 227.45 152.08 458.64 610.72 312.32 Mo. Valley Farmer 200 L 42 L 3137 3684.65 2173.60 3670.29 5843.79 1591.35 Nat. Farmer and Stock Grower 42 L 1 17.64 17.64 17.64 National Ripsaw 42 L 2 170 147.80 54.60 198.90 253.50 75.93 Nat. Sportsman 28 L 1 10 1.25 12.50 11.70 24 . 20 21.14 Nat. Stockman and 200 L Farmer 28 L 42 L 1385 2034.90 711.38 1620.45 2331.83 46.25 National Tribune 28 L 1 1 16.80 1.17 17.97 17.97 Nebr. Farm Jrnl. 2 33 38.00 13.44 38.61 52.05 8.08 N. E. Homestead 200 L 42 L 674 1044.55 861.74 788.58 1650.32 483.78 N. W. Agriculturist 200 L 42 L 8 3 29 L 1 1249 1097.00 689.75 1461.33 2151.08 828.02 Orange Judd Farmer 200 L 42 L 2206 2686.15 934.59 2581.02 3515.61 430.18 All Exceptional Business and Its Records 129 Name Outdoor Life Outlook Penn. Grit Peoples' Home Jrnl. Peoples' Pop. Mo. Pittsburg Dispatch Popular Mechanics Practical Farming Prairie Farmer Republic R. F. D. News Rural New Yorker Rural Weekly Saturday Blade Scientific Amer. Sovereign Visitor Success Successful Farming Team Owners' Rev. To-Day's Mag. Toledo Blade Town & Co. Life Tribune Farmer Uncle Remus' Mag. Up-to-Date Farm'g Weekly Dispatch Western Home Mo Wichita Eagle Wisconsin Agric Wisconsin Farmer Woman's Farm Jnl. Woman's World Youth's Comp Space Ins. 28 L 28 L 200 L 42 L 29 L 42 L 42 L 42 L Inq. Returns Cost Loss 200 L 42 L 200 L 42 L 42 L 200 L 200 L 42 L 42 L 200 L 42 L 200 L 42 L 28 L 42 L 200 L 42 L 29 L 42 L 42 L 200 L 42 L 28 L 42 L 200 L 42 L 200 L 80 L 42 L 200 L 42 L 200 L 200 L 42 L 200 L 42 L 200 L 42 L 42 L 75 L 28 L Inq. Total Cost Cost 15 $ 10.00 $ 9.80 $ 17.55 $27.35 $14.64 193 225.20 201.00 225.81 426.81 166.68 1779 619 23 498 17 247 338 444 1581 1257.02 1008.60 461.05 453.60 21.60 42.00 419.10 546.00 10.60 297.85 140.70 369.75 149.16 1216.35 574.00 481.43 193.00 1519.10 634.40 2081.43 3090.03 1511.02 724.23 1177.83 604.75 26.91 68.91 43.15 582.66 1128.66 619.43 19.89 19.89 6.22 288.99 429.69 87.14 395.46 544.62 113.70 2186.73 2760.73 1232.10 519.48 712.48 150.69 1849.77 2484.17 678.91 552 288.60 192.00 645.84 837.84 449.33 3193 2089.97 1683.20 3735.81 5419.01 2751.11 4 541 468 10.00 21.00 509.05 252.00 453.46 234.70 4.68 632.97 547.56 25 .68 14 . 96 884.97 278.00 782.26 244.10 7055 9364.34 3790.50 8254.35 12044.85 1403.56 3 36.00 3.51 39.51 38.97 297 326.10 105.00 347.49 452.49 72.64 9 1305 1196.68 489.00 1526.85 2015.85 582.97 2 107 89.00 7 3.00 5.60 62.74 2.34 125.19 8.19 7.94 7.57 187.93 79.58 8.19 3.93 857 540.20 413.40 1002.69 1416.09 720.78 1673 868.65 373.19 1957.41 2330.60 1159.14 1227 1231.21 185.72 1435.59 1621.31 168.02 91 35.00 20.00 106.47 126.47 75.00 1161 1221.95 452.16 1358.37 1810.53 378.44 771 608.25 343.62 902.07 1245.69 497.89 290 380.10 153.00 393.30 546.30 113.71 1542 968.76 710.00 1804.14 2514.14 1266.28 2150 2028.13 1796.50 2515.50 4312.00 1894.72 A number of conflicting features enter into any attempt to analyze these records. An attempt was made to show as accurately as possible the number of insertions that were placed in each publication, also to show the number of times each different sized copy appeared. This was 130. Analytical Advertising difficult to determine, and the information recorded is only approximately accurate relative to these two features. It will also be noted that a number of showings are listed with no particulars regarding the cost of the advertising, the number of times run, or the amount paid for the space. Such cases are due to copy that appeared prior to October, 1909, of which no record was accurately kept. The same condition is responsible for a large proportion of the cash returns, as orders resulted from old advertising that ap- peared before the present record was prepared. Owing to the system of keying employed, it was found impossible to make other than a guess as to the relative pulling power of different sized space, as every piece of copy that appeared in any one publication was keyed the same. This prevented accurate analysis of the important prob- lem of space values. This table of advertising results doubtless will be found interesting to many farm paper advertisers, and the rec- ords are shown for comparison with those of other ad- vertisers employing the same class of mediums, rather than for any definite scientific value they may have from an analytical standpoint. A Women's Proposition Having in my possession a set of records on an adver- tised household machine, I propose pubhshing them for the possible interest the various returns may have for other advertisers. An explanation relative to their incompleteness, is at the same time an apology for their lack of scientific value. This business manufactured a machine which was amply protected by a basic patent. It appealed, in the final analysis, entirely to women, as they alone used the machine after its purchase. The business had changed hands a number of times and a very large number of sales plans had been tried by the different managements. At the time I became interested in its possibilities the machine was being sold on a cash in advance plan, with a guarantee of refund in thirty days in the event of any dissatisfaction. The director of its affairs was a very busy man, who frankly acknowledged that he needed the help of someone experienced in mail order procedure. The demands of his own growing business precluded a proper attention to the manufacture and sale of the machine, which he was conducting practically as a side line to his other affairs. As the business had absolutely no real competition, and its product presented aspects of real merit not to be denied, I was extremely interested in the problem of developing it into an extensive mail order business. At the time it was turned over to me, sales were being made through a regular follow-up system of letters. Magazine advertising was being carried, and inquiries secured through this advertising came from possible con- sumers, some agents and some dealers. The manage- ment, however, had never kept either accurate or depend- able records, and in taking charge of affairs I was con- fronted by a number of problems of the most baffling character. The expenditures of the company had been somewhat extensive, and a very large number of different publica- tions had been used. Inquiries were coming in every 131 132 Analytical Advertising day in respectable numbers, and quite a little foreign business was constantly secured through copy in several export papers. The regular magazine advertising also developed inquiries from foreign countries. The first problem to be settled was a definite sales plan, as the one in operation sold indiscriminately to consumer, dealer and agent, with no definite aim as to an ultimate distribution that would confine the sales to either one of these three channels. My first decision was to eliminate all agent business. The records of previous business be- ing most incomplete, I could only guess as to the volume that had been done through agents. In order to get some line on the actual conditions I was forced to run the business for some little time on the old plan to secure some definite idea of the exact proportion of sales coming from each of the three possible channels. During this time sales were made to a number of agents. As a rule, how- ever, requests for agents' terms usually resulted in the sale of but a single machine at a greatly reduced price. The machine itself was quite heavy and exceedingly bulky, and I could not believe that the ordinary agent would find the sale of the device an easy one. The diffi- culties of demonstration were evident. In taking hold of the advertising I discovered that a great many pieces of copy had been used, and that a large number of key numbers had been employed. My first, and practically only orders, were placed before the real condition of record keeping disclosed itself. I therefore made the mistake of using the same old key numbers in each publication. In attempting to run down previous records I discovered that no record had been kept of the sizes of space used, or the amounts paid for them. Neither could I discover the number of times any showing had been repeated, or the exact number of replies or orders secured. In the records that follow it will therefore be impossible to gain any definite idea of the value of any medium, as the price paid for each is usually for the last irsertion only, for which I paid, and of which I kept record. The number of unkeyed inquiries is also a most confusing element, as I found numbers of publications had been used with no keys at all. No letter record had ever been A Women's Proposition 133 thought of, and in another chapter I give the results of the letter record that was kept during the nine months I operated the business. In view of the facts given above it will be readily under- stood that the records are valueless from any dependable standpoint. I reproduce them simply to give a line on various mediums, that may prove interesting to some, in spite of their meager and confusing character. Practically all of the copy was 21 lines display, although pages were used in some instances, and a few quarter pages. The record follows : Name Yr. Ins. Sales Inq. Returns Ad. Cost Amer. Club Woman 1911 3 2 15 $30 . 00 $240.00 Beautiful Homes 1910 1911 6 13 2 75.00 Boston Cooking School 1910 2 20 30.00 Magazine 1911 1 2 15.00 Business Service 1910 6 11 160 160.00 130.00 1911 1 2 15 27.50 40.00 Chautauquan 1910 1 3 15.00 12.50 1911 3 16 37.50 Child Lore 1911 1 1 6 12.50 45.00 Ch. End. World 1910 1911 2 2 19 7 25.00 29.64 Christian Herald 1910 1911 1 4 88 2 57.50 25.46 Ch. Work & Evang. 1910 1911 2 13 1 21.60 Circle 1910 1 3 17 42.00 14.96 Collier's Weekly 1910 2 29 248 442.94 105.00 1911 8 22 145.00 Columbian 1910 1911 3 7 142 3 147.50 225.00 Continent 1910 1911 1 3 6 6 42.50 5.25 Cosmopolitan 1910 1 16 165 219.75 56.00 1911 12 37 150.00 Delineator 1910 1911 1 27 132 15 397.50 23.00 99.75 Designer 1910 1 4 50 60.00 29.93 1911 2 7 30.00 Everybody's 1910 1 12 138 177.50 59.37 1911 2 11 40.00 Farm & R. E. Journal 1910 1 2 8.40 134 Analytical Advertising Name Yr. Ins. Sales Inq. Returns Ad. Cost Good Housekeeping 1910 38 101 $594.50 1911 9 15 113.00 Harper's Weekly 1910 5 26 75.00 Harper's Bazaar 1910 2 20 69 305 . 75 $39.90 1911 1 10 30.00 Housekeeper 1010 1911 1 1 37 3 12.50 31.50 Independent 1911 1 3 22 42.50 14.00 King's Business 1911 2 2 10.00 Ladies Home Journal 1910 1 72 420 1042.50 147.00 1911 27 123 385.00 La FoUette's 1910 2 15 92 228.00 20.00 1911 1 2 55 25.00 Literary Digest 1910 1 9 125 132.50 26.25 1911 1 3 15.00 McCall's Mag. 1910 1911 5 15 2 74.90 15.00 Mother's Mag. 1910 1911 1 8 77 2 115.00 24.94 National Mag. 1910 1 2 6 27.50 50.00 Naturopath 1910 1911 2 4 20.50 20.00 New Idea 1910 1911 1 3 56 2 40.00 19.95 Pacific Mo. 1910 3 Pictorial Review 1910 1 12 84 114.00 39.90 1911 3 7 32.50 Popular Electricity 1910 1 1 52 12.50 14.00 1911 1 6 15.00 Red Book 1910 3 Sat. Eve. Post 1910 1 54 244 812.00 105.00 1911 5 35 62.50 School Progress 1910 3 1 25 12.50 60.00 1911 2 7 30.00 Success 1910 1911 4 5 2 72.00 S. S. Times 1910 1911 3 1 14 209 17 204 . 75 31.92 Sunset 1910 1911 1 5 15.00 To-Day's Mag. 1910 1911 13 2 20th Cent. Mag. 1910 3 2 18 35.00 21.00 1911 1 7 15.00 Uncle Remus's 1910 1911 1 2 23 3 30.00 21.00 Union Signal 1910 2 4 30.00 Western Mo. 1910 1911 3 1 1 3 15.00 20.00 22.50 A Women's Proposition 135 Name Yr. Ins. Sales Inq. Returns Ad. Cost Woman's Home Com. 1910 1 36 183 $540.25 $73.50 1911 9 203.00 Woman's Mag. 1910 5 39 77.11 47.88 Woman's Nat. Daily 1910 1 2 9 30.00 42.00 1911 1 1 17.50 Unkeyed 1910 60 261 920.25 1911 37 124 625.50 Nine months' experience with this proposition occasioned a number of general deductions relative to selling to women, that are not reflected by the records in any way. My previous experience having been re- stricted to selling men, I anticipated much greater difficulties than those experienced. I discovered that there is no especial difference in selling itself, although the attitude of a woman customer after purchase is likely to be decidedly different than that of a man. The machine having been purchased on trial would often be returned by a woman with no advices whatever, except a request for a return of the purchase price. This request would often be accompanied by severe reproaches relative to our delinquency, an investi- gation of which would disclose the return of merchandise weeks before. In all such cases the returned goods would be found at freight houses with no identification marks, to show its consignor. Dozens of machines would be returned without notice to us, and rarely with bills of lading. Attempts on our part to discover the cause of dissatisfaction often resulted in absolutely no informa- tion of an illuminating character. As a rule we were simply advised that they had tried the device and were returning the machine. Where the purchaser was a man he would almost invariably write for fuller instructions, definitely outline his difficulties, or ask for shipping in- structions. It was also learned that women are less influenced, directly, by testimonials. A business man is prone to take at its face value the recommendation of a good testimonial. A woman wishes to interview users, rather than read what some purchaser says about your product. This principle is fully reahzed by the Kalamazoo Stove 136 Analytical Advertising Co., which pubHshes in its catalogue the name of a satis- fied user in ahiiost every town in the country. A woman will go out of her way to call on a purchaser of an adver- tised product, in order to satisfy herself, at first hand, that your testimonials are genuine and of a dependable character. Descriptions, in selhng to women, must be pains- takingly accurate. I have known them to compare merchandise with catalogue descriptions, and return goods that varied a fraction of an inch from the advertised description. Their decisions and satisfaction depend, in many cases, more on a faithful description than on usefulness or material and workmanship. A Two -Inch Copy Record This chapter will be devoted to a record of results, furnished with the distinct understanding that no hint of the advertiser's identity be given. I am sorry that this restriction makes it necessary to withhold a full de- scription of the proposition, and also prevents showing the copy which resulted in the records that are to follow. A general description of the advertising must take the place of specific details, for the advertisement, as well as the advertiser, is so well known as to make some disguise necessary. The copy used consisted in two-inch, magazine size, space. This copy is only one of a large number used by the advertiser, and the analysis to be given covers a record of this size in detail. The goods consisted in a combination of merchandise selling for slightly less than $30.00. A small payment with order secured the goods, with regular monthly installments for the balance cov- ering a period of nine months. Most of the advertising was placed at the old "publishers' rates," which accounts for an advertising cost somewhat less than the prevailing price for space. Had the regular rates been paid, prac- tically all of the results would have shown a loss. The copy was "inquiry copy." Each inquiry was fol- lowed up under one-cent postage with a series of letters to the number of five. Each piece of copy was keyed differently every month, giving opportunity for analysis on each separate piece of copy run in any publication. Eighteen publications were tried with more or less con- sistency. The record is given in alphabetical order as to publications, and is followed by a recapitulation. AMERICAN MACHINIST Cost of No. In- Cost per No. % of Orders Space quiries Inquiry Orders to Inquiries January 14, '09 $8.50 16 $ .53 January 21, '09 8.50 6 1.42 January 28, '09 8.50 20 .42 February 4, '09 20.00 29 .69 2 .069 (>^ Page) February 11, '09 8.50 13 .66 1 .076 February 18, '09 8.50 10 .85 137 138 Analytical Advertising AMERICAN MACHINIST— Continued February 25, '09 March 4, '09 March 11, '09 March 18, '09 March 25, '09 April 1, '09 April 8, '09 April 15, '09 April 22, '09 Cost of Space $ 8.50 20.00 8.50 8.50 8.50 8.50 8.50 8.50 8.50 No. In- Cost per No. quiries Inquiry Orders % of Orders to Inquiries 27 7 13 8 14 7 13 12 SI. 07 .74 1.21 .66 1.07 .61 1.21 .66 .71 .038 (>i Page) .076 May, '09 June, '09 July, '09 September, '09 October '09 November, '09 October, '10 November and December, '10 January, '11 February, '11 March, '11 April, '11 May, '11 June, '11 July, '11 August, '11 $150.50 213 $0.71 5 BOOKKEEPER Cost of No. In- Cost per No. quiries Inquiry Orders Space $15.42 15.42 15.42 18.22 12.31 12.31 14.55 29.10 14.55 14.55 14.55 14.55 14.55 14.55 14.55 14.55 26 62 7 54 33 28 77 44 39 79 39 23 27 35 33 $0.64 .25 2.20 .34 .37 .44 .21 .38 .33 .37 .18 .37 .63 .54 .41 .44 .059 % of Orders to Inquiries .154 .065 .143 .037 .030 .250 .058 .039 013 .037 .057 $249.15 675 $0.37 30 .044 COLLIER'S Cost of No. In- Cost per No. % of Orders Space quiries Inquiry Orders to Inquiries October 16, '09 $45.12 123 $0.37 8 .065 November 20, '09 45.12 154 .29 10 .065 December 18, '09 45.12 137 .33 7 .051 January, 15 '10 45.12 163 .28 7 .043 February 19, '10 45.12 122 .37 March 19, '10 45.12 74 .61 5 .068 April 16, '10 45.12 109 .41 6 .055 May 21, '10 45.14 140 .32 8 .057 $360.98 1022 $0.35 51 .05 A Two-Inch Copy Record 139 HARPER'S WEEKLY Cost of No. In- Cost per No. % of Orders Space quiries Inquiry Orders to Inquiries January 30, '09 $22.50 14 $1.61 1 .071 February 13, '09 22.50 7 3.22 February 27, '09 22.50 19 1.18 1 .053 March 13, '09 22.50 9 2.50 March 27, '09 22.50 14 1.61 1 .071 April 10, '09 22.50 13 1.73 1 .077 April 24, '09 22.50 9 2.50 1 .111 May 8, '09 22.50 6 3.75 May 22, '09 22.50 17 1.32 June 5, '09 22.50 9 2.50 $225.00 117 $1.92 .043 LIFE Cost of No. In- Cost per No. % of Orders Space quiries Inquiry Orders to Inquiries February 4, '09 $18.00 7 $2.57 2 .287 February 18, '09 18.00 27 .66 2 .074 March 4, '09 18.00 5 3.60 March 18, '09 18.00 12 1.50 April 1, '09 18.00 7 2.57 1 .143 April 15, '09 21.00 11 1.91 April 29, '09 21.00 18 1.17 1 .056 May 13, '09 21.00 9 2.33 May 27, '09 21.00 6 3.50 2 .333 June 10, '09 21.00 13 1.61 1 .077 June 24, '09 21.00 15 1.40 July 8, '09 21.00 16 1.31 1 .131 July 22, '09 21.00 13 1.61 August 5, '09 21.00 41 .51 1 .024 August 19, '09 21.00 16 1.31 2 .123 September 16, '09 21.00 25 .84 1 .040 September 30, '09 21.00 13 1.61 October 14.. '09 21.00 19 1.11 1 .053 $363.00 273 $1.33 15 .055 LITERARY DIGEST Cost of No. In- Cost per No. % of Orders Space quiries Inquiry Orders to Inquiries October 9, '09 $20.31 78 $ 0.26 1 .013 November 13, '09 20.31 55 .37 3 .054 December 11, '09 20.31 31 .66 1 .032 December 25, '09 20.31 2 10.15 January 8, '10 20.31 52 .39 1 .019 140 Analytical Advertising LITERARY DIGEST— Continued Cost of No. In- Cost per No. % of Orders Space quiries Inquiry Orders to Inquiries February, '10 $20.31 57 $0.38 2 .035 March 12, '10 28.21 36 .78 1 .025 April 9, '10 28.21 17 1.66 1 .069 May 14, '10 28.21 15 1.88 1 .066 $206.49 343 $9 . 60 .032 MERCHANT TRADE JOURNAL Cost of No. In- Cost per No. % of Orders Space quiries Inquiry Orders to Inquiries May, '09 $5.03 7 $0.72 June ,'09 5.03 14 .36 1 .071 October, '09 5.03 12 .42 1 .083 November, '09 5.03 20 .25 2 .100 December, '09 5.03 24 .21 January, '10 5.03 12 .42 , February, '10 5.03 35 .14 2 .057 March, '10 5.03 31 .16 1 .032 April, '10 5.03 32 .16 1 .031 May, '10 5.03 17 .30 1 .059 June, '10 5.03 14 .36 1 .071 $55.33 218 $0.24 10 045 N. Y. MAGAZINE OF MYSTERIES Cost of No. In- Cost per No. % of Orders Space quiries Inquiry Orders to Inquiries October, 1908 $23.98 63 $0.38 5 .079 March, 1909 23.98 142 .17 2 .014 April, 1909 23.98 175 .14 6 .034 May, 1909 23.98 129 .19 5 .038 June, 1909 23.98 110 619 .22 5 23 .045 $119.90 $0.19 .037 OUTING Cost of No. In- Cost per No. % of Orders Space quiries Inquiry Orders to Inquiries March, 1909 $21.60 12 $1.80 April, 1909 21.60 32 .68 1 .031 May, 1909 21.60 10 2.16 $64 . 80 $1.20 018 A Two-Inch Copy Record 141 OBERMAYER BULLETIN Cost of No. In- Cost per No. % of Orders Space quiries Inquiry Orders to Inquiries January, 1909 $4 . 80 29 $0.16 March, 1909 4.80 19 .25 1 . 052 May, 1909 4.80 14 .34 July, 1909 4.80 16 .30 2 .125 September, 1909 4.80 16 .30 January, 1910 4.80 7 .69 February, 1910 4.80 15 .32 May, 1910 4.80 5 .96 1 .200 $38.40 121 $0.32 .033 POPULAR MECHANICS Cost of No. In- Cost per No. % of Orders Space quiries Inquiry Orders to Inquiries August, 1910 $22.86 144 $0.16 9 .062 September, 1910 22.86 117 .20 6 .051 November, 1910 31.98 118 .27 7 .059 December, 1910 31.98 165 .19 11 .066 January, 1911 31.98 152 .21 6 .039 February, 1911 31.98 194 .16 9 .046 March, 1911 31.98 164 .20 3 .018 April, 1911 31.98 100 .03 4 .04 May, 1911 31.98 107 .30 1 .009 June, 1911 31.98 105 .30 3 .029 July, 1911 31.98 91 .35 1 .011 August, 1911 31.98 90 .36 3 .011 September, 1911 31.98 73 1620 .44 $0.24 1 64 .013 $397 . 50 .039 POPULAR TRIO Cost of No. In- Cost per No. Space quiries Inquiry ' Orde December, 1909 $36.23 106 $0.34 9 January, 1910 56.94 139 .41 10 February, 1910 56.94 179 .32 12 March, 1910 56.94 149 .38 7 April, 1910 56.94 102 .56 7 May, 1910 56.94 110 .52 8 June, 1910 56.94 118 .48 7 $377.87 903 $0.42 60 % of Orders to Inquiries .084 .072 .067 .047 .067 .072 .059 .066 142 Analytical Advertising POWER Cost of No. In- Cost per No. % of Orders Space quiries Inquiry Orders to Inquiries January 5, '09 $11.25 50 $0.22 3 .06 January 12, '09 11.25 28 .40 January 19, '09 11.25 17 .66 January 26, '09 11.25 32 .35 1 .031 February 2, '09 11.25 28 .40 1 .35 February 9, 09 11.25 32 .35 2 .062 February 16, '09 11.25 26 .43 2 .076 February 23, '09 11.25 19 .59 1 .52 March 2, '09 11.25 28 .40 March 9,'09 11.25 32 .35 March 16, '09 11.25 10 1.12 March 23, '09 11.25 16 .70 March 30, '09 11.25 26 .43 2 .076 April 6, '09 11.25 21 .54 1 .047 April 13, '09 11.25 22 .51 2 .09 April 20, '09 11.25 20 .56 April 27, '09 11.25 25 .45 May 4, '09 11.25 13 .87 May 18, '09 11.25 11 1.02 1 .09 June 1, '09 14.07 16 .88 June 15, '09 14.07 11 1.28 2 .182 July 6, '09 14.07 10 1.41 July 20, '09 14.07 26 .54 2 .077 August 3, '09 14.07 13 1.08 August 17, '09 14.07 12 1.17 ' September 7, '09 14.07 20 .70 September 21, '09 14.07 8 1.76 October 5. '09 14.07 15 .94 October 19, '09 14.07 22 .64 November 2, '09 14.07 10 1.41 November 16, '09 14.07 18 .78 1 .055 December 7, '09 14.07 22 .64 December 21, '09 14.07 15 .94 January 18, '10 14.07 28 .50 2 .71 $424.70 702 $0.61 23 033 PRINTERS' INK Cost of No. In- Cost per No. % of Orders Space quiries Inquiry Orders to Inquiries January 20, '09 $7.46 10 $0.74 February 4, '09 7.46 12 .62 February 18, '09 7.46 4 1.86 1 .25 March 3, '09 7.46 11 .68 1 .09 March 17, '09 7.46 4 1.86 March 31, '09 7.46 4 1.86 A Two-Inch Copy Record 143 Cost of No. In ■ Cost per No. % of Orders Space quiries Inquiry Orders to Inquiries April 7, '09 $7.46 12 $0.62 May 5, '09 7.46 15 .50 1 .066 June 2, '09 7.46 7 1.06 July 7, '09 7.46 1 7.46 August 4, '09 7.46 2 3.73 September 1, '09 7.46 1 7.46 September 15, '09 7.46 3 2.48 September 29, '09 7.46 6 1.24 November 3, '09 7.46 6 98 1.24 $1.14 3 $111.90 .031 PROGRESS Cost of No. In- Cost per No. % of Orders Space quiries Inquiry ( Orders to Inquiries October, '09 $5.37 40 $0.13 7 .165 November, '09 5.37 41 .13 1 .024 December, '09 5.37 27 .20 January, '10 5.37 40 .13 1 .025 February, '10 5.37 7 . .77 March, '10 5.37 18 .29 1 .055 April, '10 5.37 32 .17 1 .031 May, '10 5.37 58 .09 2 .034 June, '10 5.37 62 325 .08>^ $0.15 3 16 .048 $48 . 33 .049 SATURDAY EVENING POST Cost of No. In- Cost per No. % of Orders Space quiries Inquiry Orders to Inquiries March 27, '09 $71.25 366 $0.19 17 .046 April 3 71.25 185 .38 6 .032 April 10 71.25 239 .29 20 .083 April 24 71.25 270 .26 12 .044 May 8 71.25 133 .53 7 .052 May 15 71.25 154 .46 9 .058 May 22 71.25 238 .30 16 .067 May 29 71.25 171 .41 7 .040 June 5 71.25 252 .28 16 .063 June 26, 71.25 258 .27 20 .077 July 3 71.25 222 .32 13 .058 July 31 71.25 209 .34 12 .057 Aug. 7 71.25 290 .24 18 .062 Aug. 28 71.25 236 .30 11 .046 Sept. 4 71.25 174 .40 7 .040 Sept. 11 71 . 25 190 .37 8 .042 144 Analytical Advertising SATURDAY EVENING POST— Continued Cost of No. In- Cost per No. i of Orders Space quiries Inquiry Orders to Inquiries Sept. 18 $ 71.25 228 $0.31 15 .065 Sept. 25 71.25 198 .37 12 .060 Oct. 2 71.25 189 .37 9 .047 Oct. 16 114.00 182 .62 7 .038 Oct. 23 114.00 153 .74 11 .071 Oct. 30 114.00 243 .46 13 .053 Nov. 6 114.00 193 .58 18 .093 Nov. 13 114.00 208 .54 13 .062 Nov. 27 114.00 269 .42 8 .029 Dec. 11 114.00 280 .40 17 .060 Dec. 25 114.00 309 .36 15 .048 Jan. 8, '10 142.50 479 .29 25 .052 Jan. 22 142.50 380 .37 25 .066 Feb. 5 142.50 357 .39 16 .044 Feb. 19 142.50 570 .25 44 .077 Mar. 5 142.50 262 .54 14 .053 Apr. 2 142.50 347 .41 26 .074 May 7 142.50 312 .45 11 .035 June 4 142.50 244 .58 13 .053 $3405.75 8890 $0.38 511 .057 SUCCESS Cost of No. In- Cost per No. % of Orders Space quiries Inquiry Orders to Inquiries August, 1909 $45 . 00 143 $0.31 10 .069 September, 1909 45.00 183 .24 12 .065 October, 1909 45.00 166 .27 10 .060 November, 1909 45.00 172 .26 8 .046 December, 1909 45.00 143 .31 12 .083 January, 1910 45.00 182 .24 9 .049 February, : 1910 45.00 215 .20 17 .079 March, 1910 45.00 104 .43 5 .048 June, 1910 45.00 117 .38 3 .025 November, 1910 45.00 90 .50 3 .033 December, 1910 45.00 124 .36 4 .031 April, 1911 45.00 92 .48 2 .021 May, 1911 45.00 66 .68 June, 1911 45.00 59 .76 1 .016 September, 1911 45.00 91 1947 .48 $0.35 1 97 .011 $675.00 .050 SYSTEM Cost of No. In- Cost per No. % of Orders Space quiries Inquiry Orders to Inquiries April, '09 $15.06 48 $0.31 4 .083 May, '09 15.06 41 .36 5 .121 A Two-Inch Copy Record 145 SYSTEM— Continued Cost of No. In- Cost per No. ^ of Orders Space quiries Inquiry Orders to Inquiries June, '09 $15.06 56 $0.26 2 .035 August, '09 15.06 40 .37 6 .150 September, '09 15.06 48 .31 2 .041 October, '09 14.44 31 .46 3 .096 December, '09 14.44 35 .41 1 .280 January, '10 14.44 28 .51 3 .107 February, '10 14.44 36 .40 2 .055 March, '10 14.44 32 .65 1 .045 April, '10 14.44 25 .57 2 .080 June, '10 14.44 31 .46 1 .032 August, '10 14.44 58 .25 3 .051 October, '10 22.50 71 .31 4 .056 November, '10 22.50 58 .39 5 .086 December, '10 22.50 93 .24 4 .043 $258.32 721 $0.35 A recapitulation of the above follows : RECAPITULATION 48 066 Cost of No. In- Cost per No. % of Orders Magazine Space quiries Inquiry ( Orders to Inquiries American Machinist $150.50 213 $0.71 5 .023 Bookkeeper 249.15 675 .37 30 .044 Collier's 360.98 1022 .35 51 .050 Harper's Weekly 225.00 117 1.92 5 .043 Life 363.00 273 1.33 15 .055 Literary Digest 206.49 343 .60 11 .032 Merchant Trade Jrl. 55.33 218 .24 10 .045 N. Y. Mag. of Myst's 119.90 619 .19 23 .037 Outing 64.80 54 1.20 1 .018 Obermayer Bulletin 38.40 121 .32 4 .033 Popular Trio 377.87 903 .42 60 .066 Popular Mechanics 97.50 1620 .24 64 .039 Power 324.70 702 .61 23 .033 Printer's Ink 411.90 98 1.14 3 .031 Progress 148.33 325 .15 16 .049 Sat. Evening Post 3405.75 8890 .38 511 .057 Success 675.00 1947 .35 97 .050 System 258.32 721 .35 $0.39 48 977 .066 Totals 1 $7533.02 18861 .051 Add Unkeyed Inquii •- ies (11%) and Un - Unkeyed Orders 2074 293 (30%) $7533.02 20935 $0.35 1270 .060 10 146 Analytical Advertising In order to make a profit it was necessary to secure inquiries at 40 cents each, and develop into orders at least 6% of the inquiries at this cost. It may be seen at a glance how few of the publications tested were profit- able. In some cases inquiries were secured at an average cost of less than 40 cents, when a somewhat lower per- centage of orders would yield a profit. The general average of inquiry cost dropped below the standard when the unkeyed inquiries were added. The average cost per sale, by the same process, showed 6% on the entire campaign. The few profitable mediums carried the en- tire campaign, and an examination of the records plainly shows the unprofitable mediums. In connection with the above results in magazines I have been furnished with a record of results in newspapers tried by the same advertiser on the same proposition. The record is less complete than the above showing, in that no definite idea is given of the sizes of space used in the different papers, nor the number of times each was tried. The newspaper results quoted cover a campaign in which a number of different sizes of copy appeared. In but few instances do the records show results of copy less than 30 lines. This latter copy has been used by this advertiser in newspapers, when the results have been a cost lower than the average costs shown below. The percentage of orders from newspapers fell below that of magazines, and in addition the losses from bad debts on newspaper accounts proved much higher. The record is reproduced exactly as sent in, that a comparison of the results in various papers may be made by other advertisers who have used the same papers. Plus Plus Proportion Cost Proportior 1 Per- Dailies Cost In- Unk. per Sales Unk. cent- quiries Inq. In(j. Sales age N. Y. Evening Sun $^3^.18 464 505 $0.46 29 32 .06336 N. Y. Morning Sun 250.71 301 328 76 19 21 . 06402 Globe Democrat 151.60 262 285 53 15 17 .05964 Chicago Tribune 319.24 445 484 66 15 17 .03512 Record-Herald 194.84 358 390 50 18 20 .05128 Post-Dispatch 60.33 109 119 51 6 7 .05882 New Orleans Item 39.57 70 76 52 5 6 . 07894 Commercial Appeal 43.95 94 102 43 7 8 .07843 Washington Herald 32.42 50 54 60 1 1 .01851 Pittsburg Press 60.85 133 145 42 5 6 .04137 A Two-Inch Copy Record 147 Plus Cost Plus Per- Cost In- Proportion per Sales proportion cent- Dailies quiries Unk. Inq. Inq. Unk. Sales age Cincinnati Times-Star $ 103.94 262 285 $0.36 4 4 .01400 Kansas City Times-Star 195.41 218 237 82 12 13 .05458 Minneapolis Tribune 73.92 84 91 81 3 3 .03296 Cleveland Plain-Dealer 46.46 69 75 62 4 4 .05333 N. Y. Mail 81.36 73 79 1.03 3 3 . 03797 N. Y. World 65.00 112 122 53 5 6 .04918 Milwaukee Sentinel 20.08 29 32 63 1 1 .03125 Baltimore Sun 108.98 136 148 74 3 3 . 02027 Washington Post 76.27 65 71 1.07 3 3 .04225 Omaha Bee 20.92 13 14 1.49 2 2 . 14280 St. Louis Times 78.98 139 151 52 .2 2 .01324 Chicago Journal 59.39 102 111 54 5 6 .05405 Atlanta Constitution 55.38 49 53 1.04 4 4 . 07547 North American 12.80 22 24 53 2 2 .08333 Boston Post R3.36 197 214 39 6 7 .03271 Boston Globe 127.62 103 112 1.14 2 2 .01785 Indianapolis News 41.33 52 57 71 2 2 .03508 Chicago Examiner 81.99 217 236 35 7 8 .03393 Los Angeles Times 29.07 31 34 8.55 2 2 .05882 St Louis Republic 43.01 44 48 90 1 1 .02083 Baltimore American 20.50 34 37 55 1 1 .02702 N. Y. American 73.49 225 245 30 6 7 .02857 Evening Telegraph 26.96 27 29 93 2 2 .06896 Cleveland News 31.17 30 33 94 1 1 .03030 Springfield News New York Press 19.06 13 14 1.36 1 1 .07140 34.00 68 74 46 6 7 .09456 Chronicle-Telegraph and Pittsburg Gazette-Times 49.98 52 57 88 3 3 .05263 Denver News 17.21 20 22 78 Detroit Free Press 34.13 33 36 95 1 1 .02777 Cleveland Leader 21.51 3 3 7.17 Los Angeles Examiner Terre Haute, Muncie and 12.20 11 12 1.02 2 2 . 16666 Indianapolis Star 32.23 32 35 92 San Francisco Examiner 35.88 16 17 2.11 New York Times 220.77 351 5218 382 5678 58 $0.60 18 234 20 258 .05235 Total $3420.08 .04543 An Art School Exhibit The records shown in this chapter are those of the W. L. Evans School of Cartooning. They were secured from Mr. Evans through the courtesy of Mr. H. Prescott Simpson of The Fowler-Simpson Co., Cleveland, Ohio. All advertising for this school is left entirely with Mr. Simpson, who follows a definite, fixed system in placing its orders. The school moved in May, 1911, and all re- records prior to that month were either lost or mislaid. A comparative study of the records of previous years, with those of 1911, is thus made impossible. The main value of the records furnished will be to show the accurate system employed. This system permits the order of no showing in any magazine until the previous showings have yielded a profit. There will thus appear but few publications carrying consecutive showing every month. The school teaches the subject of cartooning by mail. A peculiar fact in connection with the business is that only one size of copy is ever used and that is one inch copy. Moreover this copy is never changed. Both size and style of copy were changed once, with unsuccessful results, and the present copy is now their standard. A follow-up of three letters goes to every inquirer. These letters are sent under first class postage. The course sells for $20.00 cash and $25.00 in installments. The course is a successful one and has been for several years. No experimenting is done now and all orders are for papers that have proved their worth. All copy in each publication is keyed the same. The copy is striking, in spite of its small size, and its request for six cents in postage, unusual. The revenue from the postage accompanying an inquiry cuts the cost of follow-up materially. It also serves to eliminate the curiosity seeker to a remarkable degree. Having a short follow-up, the cost is small and subject to definite computation. A cost system is in effect that makes it possible to know with certainty when to reorder any showing. Having passed the experimental stage 149 150 Analytical Advertising the business is steady, sure and profitable. They are not susceptible to any spell-binding, nor does the cumulative value theory cause them to waste profits in vain attempts to force results. The copy used uniformly is that given below: DO YOU LIKE TO DRAW? THAT'S ALL WE WANT TO KNOW Now, we wiU not give you any grand prize — or a lot of free stuff if you answer this ad. Nor do we claim to make you rich in a week. But if you are anxious to develop your talent with a successful cartoonist, so you can make money, send a copy of this picture with 6 cents in stamps for portfolio of cartoons and sample lesson plate, and let us explain. THE W. I. EVANS SCHOOL Of CARTOONING, 333 Kingmoore Bid?.. Cleveland, 0. The records that follow cover a period of monthly results from May 25th, 1911, to November 23rd, 1911. All orders are given on the showing of a monthly record submitted to Mr. Simpson on the 23rd of every month. With a given average inquiry cost there must be a certain minimum sale cost in order to yield a profit. Each publi- cation that shows by the record that the cost per sale average is a profitable one receives an order to repeat the copy. Those which fail to show returns that are profitable, by this standard, do not receive orders for repetition. The method of keeping the records totals all results every month. On the average showing of all copy run in any publication it is reordered on the 23rd of each month or allowed to go without copy until it shows a profit. In the records that follow, each publication is started with the total results up to May 25th, 1911. The loss of the previous record of results does not affect the business in any material way, as they have the totals before them just the same, and it is from these totals that all orders are given. In order to discover which of the publications that fol- low are the profitable ones, simply examine the fourth column, that of "Cost." Those that show an increase in this column every month are those that are paying stead- An Art School Exhibit 151 ily. Those that show no increase in this eohimn are pub- Hcations that have not yielded any profit. They are not reordered until they show a profit. As old inquirers often enroll months after the follow-up ceases, such cases then warrant reordering in publications that have showed no profit for a long time. As all of the copy is fourteen line copy the number of times it has run prior to May 25th may be easily deter- mined by those interested in this feature. It will be read- ily appreciated how few publications have warranted monthly showings. By waiting from two to six months a number of magazines will often show a profit for any proposition, where repeated showings, every month, mean continuous loss. It is also worthy of note that this policy of irregular showings serves to keep the average cost of inquiries almost even. With repeated showings every month such costs almost invariably increase with any proposition. The above explanation will, I think, make the following set of records entirely clear: ( ^ost per reply ] Cost Magazine Month Replies Cost Sales per sale Ainslee's To May 25, '11 48 $52.50 8 $1.09 $6.56 To June 23, '11 49 52.50 8 1.07 6.56 To July 23, '11 49 52.50 8 1.07 6.56 To Aug. 23, '11 50 52.50 8 1.05 6.56 ToSept. 23, '11 50 52.50 8 1.05 6.56 To Oct. 23, '11 50 52.50 8 1.05 6.56 To Nov. 23, '11 50 52.50 8 1.05 6.56 American Boy To May 25, '11 538 212.00 64 39 3.31 To June 23, '11 579 240.00 67 41 3.58 To July 23, '11 596 254.00 71 42 3.57 ToAug. 23, '11 619 268.00 74 43 3.62 To Sept. 23, '11 641 282.00 81 43 3.48 To Oct. 23, '11 665 296.00 84 44 3.52 ToNov. 23, '11 710 310.00 88 43 3.52 American Magazine To May 25, '11 159 159.60 25 1.00 6.38 To June 23, '11 166 159.60 29 95 5.15 To July 23, '11 169 159.60 30 94 5.32 To Aug. 23, '11 173 159.60 31 92 5.14 To Sept. 23, '11 178 159.60 32 89 4.98 To Oct. 23, '11 185 180.60 33 97 5.47 To Nov. 23, '11 201 201.60 36 1.00 5.60 Argosy To May 25, '11 375 308.00 59 82 5.22 To June 23, '11 401 364.00 62 90 5.87 To July 23, '11 405 364.00 62 89 5.96 ToAug. 23, '11 412 364.00 63 88 5.77 To Sept. 23, '11 418 364.00 64 87 5.68 To Oct. 23, '11 428 364.00 65 85 5.60 ToNov. 23, '11 433 364.00 67 84 5.43 152 Analytical Advertising Magazine Assoc. Sun. Magazine Month ToMay 25, '11 To June 23, '11 To July 23, '11 To Aug. 23, '11 To Sept. 23, '11 To Oct. 23, 'II ToNov. 23, '11 Replie; 525 555 558 561 567 569 574 Cost $315.00 364.00 364.00 364.00 364.00 364.00 364.00 Cost per Sales reply $0.60 65 57 70 Cost per Sale $5.52 65 64 64 63 63 5.60 5.43 5.35 5.27 5.20 Beach's Magazine To May 25, '11 To June 23, '11 To July 23, '11 ToAug. 23, '11 To Sept. 23, '11 To Oct. 23, '11 ToNov. 23, '11 12.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 2.00 3.42 3.42 3.42 3.42 3.42 3.42 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 Cin. Times Star To May 25, '11 To June 23, '11 To July 23, '11 To Aug. 23, '11 To Sept. 23, '11 To Oct. 23, '11 To Nov. 23, '11 35.34 35.34 35.34 35.34 35.34 35.34 35.34 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25 Collier's To May 25, '11 To June 23, '11 To July 23, '11 To Aug. 23, '11 To Sept. 23, '11 To Oct. 23, '11 To Nov. 23. '11 676 722 749 790 826 863 909 472.50 567.00 598.50 630.00 661.50 693.00 724.50 103 108 110 117 122 130 136 4.58 5.25 5.44 5.38 5.42 5.33 5.32 Cosmopolitan To May 25, '11 To June 23, '11 To July 23, '11 ToAug. 23, '11 To Sept. 23, '11 To Oct. 23, '11 To Nov. 23, '11 106 139 156 179 184 56.00 112.00 112.00 140.00 140.00 140.00 168.00 70 4.00 6.22 4.86 2.15 2.05 2.02 2.49 Everybody's To May 25, '11 To June 23, '11 To July 23, '11 ToAug. 23, '11 To Sept. 23, '11 To Oct. 23, '11 To Nov. 23, '11 705 766 797 841 888 929 978 500.25 562.75 594.00 625.25 656.50 694.00 731.50 97 110 115 121 128 133 141 5.15 5.11 5.16 5.16 5.12 5.12 5.18 Green's Fruit Grower To May 25, '11 To June 23, '11 To July 23, '11 To Aug. 23, '11 To Sept. 23, '11 To Oct. 23, '11 To Nov. 23. '11 14.00 14.00 14.00 14.00 14.00 14.00 14.00 4.00 7.00 7.00 7.00 7.00 4.66 4.66 Hampton's To Mar.25, '11 To June 23, '11 To July .23, '11 To Aug. 23, '11 To Sept; 23, '11 ToOct. 23, '11 To Nov. 23, '11 183 195 215 241 253 101.50 126.50 151.50 176.50 201.50 201.50 226.50 4.34 5.75 6.06 6.78 6.50 5.75 5.96 An Art School Exhibit 153 Cost per reply Cost Magazine Month Replies Cost Sales per Sale Leslie's To May 25, '11 180 $108.50 25 $0.60 $4.34 To June 23, '11 209 143.50 28 68 5.12 To July 23, '11 219 143.50 30 65 4.78 To Aug. 23, '11 225 143.50 31 63 4.62 To Sept. 23, '11 239 161.00 32 67 5. OS To Oct. 23, '11 247 161.00 33 65 4.87 To Nov. 23, '11 248 161.00 36 64 4.47 McCiure's To May 25, '11 163 120.40 17 73 7.08 To June 23, '11 172 120.40 19 70 6.33 To July 23, '11 173 120.40 19 69 6.33 ToAug. 23, '11 176 120.40 19 68 6.33 To Sept. 23, '11 ToOd. 23, '11 182 120.40 20 66 6.02 187 120.40 20 64 6.02 To Nov. 23, '11 190 120.40 20 63 6.02 McLean's To May 25, '11 1 6.00 6.00 To June 23, '11 4 18.00 4.50 To July 23, '11 4 18.00 4.50 18.00 ToAug. 23, '11 5 18.00 3.60 18.00 To Sept. 23, '11 6 18.00 3.00 18.00 ToOct. 23, '11 7 18.00 2.57 18.00 ToNov. 23, '11 7 18.00 2.57 18.00 Modern Methods To May 25, '11 (Started next month) To June 23, '11 5 6.25 1 1.25 6.25 To July 23, '11 6 9.38 2 1.56 4.69 ToAug. 23, '11 7 9.38 2 1.34 4.69 To Sept. 23, '11 7 9.38 2 1.34 4.69 To Oct. 23, '11 9 9.38 2 1.04 4.69 To Nov. 23, '11 9 9.38 2 1.04 4.69 Pacific Monthly To May 25, '11 71 31.50 18 1.17 4.52 To June 23, '11 74 89.65 20 1.21 4.48 To July 23, '11 75 89.65 20 1.19 4.48 ToAug. 23, '11 80 97.80 21 1.22 4.65 To Sept. 23, '11 82 97.80 22 1.19 4.44 To Oct. 23, '11 82 97.80 22 1.19 4.44 To Nov. 23, '11 82 97.80 23 1.19 4.25 Pearsons To May 23, '11 49 52.50 4 1.07 13.12 To June 23, '11 50 52.50 4 1.05 13.12 To July 23, '11 50 52.50 4 1.05 13.12 To Aug. 23, '11 50 52.50 4 1.05 13.12 ToSept.2.S, '11 50 52.50 4 1.05 13.12 To Oct. 23, '11 50 52.50 4 1.05 13.12 ToNov. 23, '11 50 52.50 4 1.05 13.12 Physical Culture To May 25, '11 51 57.00 8 1.11 7.12 To June 23, '11 54 57.00 9 1.05 6.33 To July 23, '11 56 57.00 10 1.01 5.70 ToAug. 23, '11 57 57.00 11 1.00 5.18 To Sept. 23, '11 57 57.00 11 1.00 5.18 To Oct. 23, '11 58 57.00 11 98 5.18 ToNov. 23, '11 59 57.00 11 96 5.18 Popular Electricity To May 25, '11 106 78.96 12 71 6.33 To June 23, '11 116 87.30 15 75 5.82 To July 23, '11 120 87.30 15 72 5.82 To Aug. 23, '11 126 87.30 16 69 5.45 To Sept. 23, '11 126 87.30 16 69 5.45 To Oct. 23, '11 127 87.30 17 68 5.13 To Nov. 23, '11 . 128 87.30 17 68 5. IS 154 Analytical Advertising Cost per Cost Magazine Month Replies Cost Sales reply per Sale Popular Magazine To May 25, '11 499 $ 230.30 $0.86 46 $2.67 To June 23, '11 536 261.10 91 48 2.86 To July 23, '11 563 276.50 92 49 3.00 To Aug. 23, '11 606 291.90 101 48 2.89 To Sept. 23, '11 651 307.30 111 47 2.76 To Oct. 23, '11 681 322.70 124 47 2.60 To Nov. 23, '11 711 338.10 128 47 2.64 Popular Mechanics To May 25, '11 709 276.00 108 39 2.55 To June 23, '11 763 314.00 121 41 2.59 To July 23, '11 804 332.00 125 41 2.65 To Aug. 23, 'H 859 350.00 133 40 2.63 To Sept. 23, '11 916 368.00 141 40 2.60 To Oct. 23, '11 982 386.00 150 39 2.57 ToNov. 23, '11 1060 404.00 160 38 2.52 Red Book To May 25, '11 423 294 . 00 55 69 5.34 To June 23, '11 439 315.00 60 71 5.25 To July 23, '11 445 315.00 60 70 5.25 To Aug. 23, '11 466 336.00 60 72 5.60 To Sept. 23, '11 484 336.00 62 69 5.41 To Oct. 23, '11 491 336.00 66 68 5.06 ToNov. 23, '11 502 336.00 67 66 5.01 Saturday Eve, Post To May 25, '11 1442 1218.00 213 84 5.71 To June 23, '11 1545 1386.00 232 89 5.97 To July 23, '11 1573 1386.00 244 88 5.68 To Aug. 23, '11 1592 1386.00 251 87 5.52 ToSept. 23, '11 1649 1470.00 257 89 5.71 To Oct. 23, '11 1694 1470.00 260 86 5.65 ToNov. 23, '11 1781 1554.00 269 87 5.77 Short Stories To May 25, '11 66 34.00 7 51 4.85 To June 23, '11 75 38.00 11 59 3.45 To July 23, '11 77 38.00 12 49 3.16 To Aug. 23, '11 78 38.00 12 48 3.16 ToSept. 23. '11 81 38.00 13 46 2.92 To Oct. 23, '11 83 38.00 13 45 2.92 ToNov. 23, '11 83 38.00 13 45 2.92 Signs of the Times To May 25, '11 8 8.76 1.09 To June 23, '11 8 8.76 1.09 To July 23, '11 8 8.76 1.09 To Aug. 23, '11 8 8.76 1.09 To Sept. 23, '11 8 8.76 1.09 To Oct. 23, '11 8 8.76 1.09 ToNov. 23, '11 8 8.76 1.09 Sovereign Visitor To May 25, '11 50 56.00 3 1.12 18.66 To June 23, '11 52 56.00 3 1.07 18 66 To July 23, '11 52 56.00 3 1.07 18 66 ToAug. 23, '11 52 56.00 3 1.07 18 66 To Sept. 23, '11 52 56.00 3 1.07 18 66 To Oct. 23, '11 52 56.00 3 1.07 18 66 ToNov. 23, '11 52 56.00 3 1.07 18 66 Students' Art Magazine To May 25, '11 65 20.00 10 30 2.00 To June 23, '11 72 30.00 10 41 3.00 To July 23, '11 76 30.00 10 39 3.00 ToAug. 23, '11 79 30.00 10 37 3.00 To Sept. 23, '11 80 30.00 10 37 3.00 To Oct. 23, '11 81 30.00 10 37 3.00 ToNov. 23, '11 82 30.00 11 36 2 72 An Art School Exhibit 155 Cost per Cost Magazine Month Replies Cost Sales reply i oer Sale Success To May 25, '11 69 $50.00 6 $0.81 $9.33 To June 23, '11 71 56.00 6 78 9.33 To July 23, '11 72 56.00 6 77 9.33 To Aug. 23, '11 73 56.00 6 76 9.33 To Sept. 23, '11 74 56.00 8 75 9.33 To Oct. 23, '11 74 56.00 6 75 9.33 To Nov. 23, '11 75 56.00 6 74 9.33 System To May 25. '11 109 112.50 20 1.03 5.62 To June 23, '11 118 112.50 23 95 4.89 To July 23, '11 119 112.50 24 94 4.68 To Aug. 23, '11 120 112.50 24 93 4.68 To Sept. 23, '11 123 125.00 24 1.01 5.00 To Oct. 23, '11 131 137.50 25 1.04 5.50 To Nov. 23, '11 U4 137.50 26 95 5.28 Technical World To May 25, '11 188 157.00 33 83 4.75 To June 23, '11 192 167.00 34 86 4.91 To July 23, '11 192 167.00 34 86 4.91 To Aug. 23, '11 198 167.00 34 84 4.91 To Sept. 23, '11 205 177.00 37 86 4.78 To Oct. 23, '11 211 187.00 37 88 5.05 To Nov. 23, '11 220 197.00 38 89 5.18 Today's Magazine To May 25, '11 44 42.00 6 95 7.00 To June 23, '11 44 42.00 6 95 7.00 To July 23, '11 45 42.00 6 93 7.00 To Aug. 23, '11 45 42.00 6 93 7.00 To Sept. 23, '11 45 42.00 6 93 7.00 To Oct. 23, '11 45 42.00 6 93 7.00 To Nov. 23, '11 45 42.00 6 93 7.00 World's Almanac To May 25, '11 • 35 32.50 1 92 32.50 To June 23, '11 39 32.50 2 83 16.25 To July 23, '11 39 32.50 2 83 16.25 To Aug. 23, '11 39 32.50 3 83 10.83 To Sept. 23, '11 39 32.50 3 83 10.83 To Oct. 23, '11 40 32.50 3 81 10.83 To Nov. 23, '11 43 32.50 3 75 10.83 Unkeyed To Nov. 23, '11 341 191 The above record includes showings in thirty-three mediums. Of the thirty-three there are only four that pay with sufficient regularity to permit a showing every month. These four are the American Boy, Collier's, Everybody's and the Popular. There appear to be several other good pullers in the list, but it is necessary to "skip" insertions in order to secure a working margin of profit from them. A. discussion between Mr. Simpson and myself in 1909 resulted in a test that proved most interesting. It arose out of Mr. Simpson's faith in the first-class postage plan operated by the Evans School. As previously stated, this school uses first-class postage in its follow^-up. I use 156 Analytical Advertising third-class postage. Mr' Simpson was of the opinion that a high-grade stationery, under first-class postage, would yield me better returns than I secured from cheaper paper and third-class postage. I decided to test his theory, and for over three months sent out two classes of follow-up. One was accompanied by cheap, sixteen pound letterheads and No. 10 manilla envelopes, mailed third-class. The other used fancy twenty pound paper, printed in three colors, with bond envelopes to match. Our inquiries were divided equally every day and the different letters sent to half of each. The entire follow-up was carried out in this fashion. Theresults, after a three months' test, showed a percent- age of enrolments of .06 plus for the third-class postage, and .05 plus for first-class postage. As the cost in postage alone was doubled on the first-class letters, the net loss on the first-class was a considerable figure. The results of this test are significant. With any new propo- sition I always make a postage test, and have found the third-class as good as first-class in every case tested, but one. The latter was test on direct advertising to lawyers, where I found it necessary to use first-class in order to secure any profitable returns. A Four Years' Record This chapter will contain an advertising record, cover- ing a period of four years, of American Collection Service showings in some 150 different mediums. A large number of ''trade" records are omitted, for reasons of policy previ- ously outlined. This record of four years is given mainly on account of its comparative value to other advertisers, although such a complete record will reflect a certain interest for any advertiser. The comparative value will manifest itself to many in the degree of profit or loss the same publications reflect in their own experiments. That a thorough understanding of the table may be secured by every reader certain explanations are necessary, which will be found outlined in the next paragraph. In the second column will be given the year. The records for 1907 were not kept in tabulated form, making it desirable to start this record with 1908, when the present system was installed. In the first column on the left the name of each publication is given in alphabetical order, and the year given in the second column indicates the period of twelve months during which the first inser- tions in each publication started. In the third column is given the number of times all copy showed in each publi- cation. The number of insertions includes all sizes of copy from small classified to three page readers. In the fourth column is given the total number of inquiries secured each year from each publication, regardless of size of space. In the fifth column the total cash returns secured during that year are shown. In the sixth column the cost for all space used in each publica- tion is totalled. In the last column I have indicated whether the results show a profit or a loss. For obvious reasons I do not care to give the actual profit or loss in dollars and cents. It must be borne in mind that the final result must take into consideration the total cost in following up all inquiries received during the year, as well as all fixed and overhead expenses connected with doing business. These expenses are charged against the pro- ceeds, as well as the definite cost of space, and the final 167 158 Analytical Advertising You Have a Right to Independence w H\ll\rR \fur^oTuh ion \ou tohtht\t th it ounn i nt,ht l tittdon t \ n ^ xii \i i <1 Mth c i"^--) it r 1 )le lust that \OU ICtlU K ! c-^ - ence lf\<>uh3%c Nou ilsortaliA that i not < nU an earn st achii vt 11 Ha come absfilutt-h ir 1 the ODponunUit s f >• Your Head — Your Capital A Trained Brain Better Than Cash Capital March $348.02 April 430.48 May 439.72 A'!>,ur Fh,!:f Hu I Can Make Your Brain Pay You Dividends W. A. SHRYER, President THE AMERICAN COLLECTION SERVICE, 3 9 State St., Detroit, Mich. This Page Yielded a Net Profit of $421 .67 A Four Years' Record 159 result expressed in comparative form as either Small Profit, Profit, or Good Profit, and Small Loss, Loss or Decided Loss. Such a plan obviates the necessity of quoting the exact profit or loss, which would serve no serious purpose and simply aid the unduly curious. The records for 1911 are totalled only as far as October first. During the three months to follow practically all of the publications showing a small loss will be turned to profit, as our regular follow-up will doubtless reach each inquirer at least once before January 1st, 1912. By means of the system now employed no publication receives any order for any repetition of a certain piece of copy until the previous showing pays out. A number of losses incurred during 1911 are likely to be permanent losses, as the insertions responsible for the bad showings were made purely as "experiments," some in new mediums, and others in old ones. Among the latter several "Standard Magazines" were chosen for experiments (on account of large increases in circulation), in spite of the fact that previous experiments showed a loss. The results have been valuable in so far as they have confirmed the fixed theory now employed, namely, to reorder in no publica- tion as long as any losses from previous showings appear. The returns already in since the date of closing this record, show a profit for a number appearing as losses in the following table. Any advertisers desiring any particular information not recorded in these results will be cheerfully accorded any pertinent facts they desire. The complete table is as follows : To Sept. 30, 1911. Name Yr. Ins. Inq. Returns Ad. Cost Profit — Loss Advertisers' 1909 5 59 $187.05 $47.19 Profit Mag. 1910 4 38 91.00 16.12 Loss 1911 47.50 Profit Alcolra Mag. 1909 2 1 30.40 Decided Loss American Boy 1909 1 22 11.33 Decided Loss 1910 5.00 Small Profit Am. Bus. Man 1908 2 48 129.50 11.87 Good Profit 1909 5 53 . 00 Profit 1910 2 70.00 Good Profit 1911 5.00 Small Profit 160 Analytical Advertising Name Yr. Ins. Inq. Returns Ad.Cost Profit — Loss Am. Legal Newsl909 4 25 S9.00 $31.65 Decided Loss 1910 40.00 Profit 1911 1 Small Loss American Mag. 1908 7 158 125.00 66.80 Loss 1909 10 262 403.00 128.01 Profit 1910 15 94.75 Good Profit 1911 1 35 117.50 74.10 Small Profit App. to Reason 1908 2 19 14.96 Loss 1909 4 5.00 Small Profit 1911 20.00 Profit Appleton's Mag [1909 1 5 3.98 Loss Argosy and 1908 13 1109 782.00 549.77 Decided Loss All Story 1909 6 441 769.90 127.50 Good Profit 1910 19 250.00 Good Profit 1911 12 185.50 Good Profit Ass. Sun. Mag. 1908 14 985 970.50 1220.92 Big Loss 1909 11 408 651.50 361.72 Loss 1910 3 103 310.75 95.94 Profit 1911 3 353.50 Good Profit Atlantic Mo. 1909 1 3 2.96 Small Loss Base Ball Mag. 1909 1 5 14.25 Loss Beach's Mag. 1909 4 80 41.00 40.00 Loss 1910 1 46 136.00 40.00 Profit 1911 6 133 562.06 241.80 Good Profit Black Cat 1909 2 11 8.15 Loss 1910 1 6.00 Small Profit Blue Book 1909 3 31 25.00 20.75 Loss 1910 3 5.00 Small Profit 1911 1 Small Loss Bonville's West. Mo 1909 2 8 26.00 25.00 Small Loss Bus. & Finance 1909 1 2 1.56 Small Loss 1910 1 5.00 Small Profit Business 1908 3 116 115.00 21.08 Small Profit (Bookkeeper.) 1909 14 206 430.00 133.86 Small Profit £1910 12 103 377.00 50.29 Good Profit 1911 10 98 174.15 50.77 Small Profit Busy Man's 1908 1 4 Mag. 1909 12 39 25.47 49.09 Decided Loss 1910 2 10 11.00 3.26 Small Loss 1911 1 1 1.39 Small Loss Business Phil. 1909 14 250 317.50 85.26 Small Loss 1910 11 96 365.96 37.26 Good Profit 1911 5 27 132.50 9.66 Good Profit Business World 1908" 2 3 1.18 Small Loss 1909 7 9 65.75 14.50 Profit 1910 1 5.00 Small Profit Canadian 1908 1 2 4.21 Small Loss Courier 1911 11.00 Small Profit A Four Years' Record 161 Name Yr. Ins. Inq. Returns Ad. Cost Profit — Loss Canadian Sun. 1911 1 $ 1.60 Small Loss Papers Canada West 1909 1 11.68 Small Loss Case & 1909 5 106 $347.05 68.05 Good Profit Comment 1910 5 66 133.00 32.68 Profit 1911 2 11 70.00 10.90 Profit Chi. Daily 1908 1 17 50.00 2.40 Profit News 1909 2 9 1.00 4.20 Small Loss 1910 1 3 5.00 ,1.00 Small Profit Chi. Ledger 1908 1 12 25.00 free Small Profit 1909 1 U 7.70 Loss 1910 3.00 Small Profit Chief 1909 1910 .1 9 21.00 14.21 Loss Profit Chris. End. Wd 1909 1 28 25.00 34 . 58 Loss Chris. Herald 1908 2 58 55.00 39.60 Small Loss 1909 2 51 52.00 40.06 Loss 1910 1 21.00 Profit 1911 1 10.00 Small Profit Chris. Republic 1909 1911 1 20 5 18.88 Loss Small Profit Circle 1908 3 80 60.00 26.94 Small Profit 1909 9 237 338.97 109.52 Small Profit 1910 4 51 93.50 33.01 Small Loss 1911 8 116.00 Good Profit Civil Service 1909 1 66 4.57 56.43 Decided Loss Rec. 1910 1 49.00 Profit Collier's Wkly. 1908 31 1619 1985.00 851.64 Good Profit 1909 30 1146 1791.47 649.11 Small Loss 1910 23 505 1230.07 634 . 73 Good Profit 1911 7 303 787.00 303.49 Good Profit Comfort 1909 1910 1911 ^ 84 4 32.50 31.10 Decided Loss Small Loss Profit Com. Trav. Mg 1911 1 3.62 Small Loss Common Sense 1909 2 14 25.00 9.33 Small Profit Continent 1910 2 4 20.00 13.88 Small Profit (Interior) 1911 3 28 52.50 42.94 Loss Cosmopolitan 1908 3 183 55.00 101.48 Decided Loss 1909 9 328 342.00 100.74 Decided Loss 1910 5 101 138.50 50.00 Loss 1911 2 123 133.94 112.00 Decided Loss Current Liter. 1908 1 9 5.98 Small Loss 1909 2 71 88.00 33.55 Small Loss 1910 2 33 44.00 33.31 Small Loss 1911 1 17 35 . 00 30.02 Small Loss Cushman's Couple 1909 1 11 4.45 Small Loss Domestic Eng. 1909 1 8 25 . 00 7.25 Small Profit 1910 2 2 16.42 Small Loss 162 Analytical Advertising Name Yr. Ins. Inq. Returns Ad. Cost Profit — Loss Epworth Her. 1909 1 25 $ 6 . 00 $ 26.60 Loss Everybody's 1908 18 1078 1163.68 485 . 76 Good Profit 1909 13 583 1052.41 529 . 63 Profit 1910 17 348 944.83 238.45 Good Profit 1911 11 335 1159.15 317.50 Good Profit Everywhere 1909 .67 Small Loss Everywoman's 1909 8 26.00 3.12 Small Profit Mag. 1910 3 2.62 Small Loss Farm & R. E. 1910 3 .90 Small Loss Journal Glean, in Bee Cult. 1909 9 9.97 Loss Golden West Mag. . 1909 1 Grey Goose 1909 8 25.00 4 . 27 Small Profit 1910 2 21.00 Small Profit Great South- west 1909 4 9.95 Loss Green Book 1909 1 2.34 Small Loss 1910 1 26.00 Small Profit 1911 5 5.00 2.34 Small Loss Gregg Writer 1911 1 1.15 Small Loss Hampton's Mag 1908 18 11.22 Loss 1909 49 15.96 Decided Loss 1910 3 5.00 Small Profit 1911 2 73 97.50 105.00 Decided Loss Hapgood's Op. 1908 3 27 40.00 13.37 Small Profit Bus. Life 1909 2 79.00 Good Profit Harper's Mo. 1909 1911 2 8 2 11.06 Loss Small Loss Harper's Wkly. 1908 4 51 42.50 51.92 Loss 1909 1 25.00 Profit 1910 55.25 Profit Hearst's Sun. 1908 22 486 427.45 265.48 Decided Loss Mag. 1909 1 63 168.00 15.84 Good Profit 1910 5 45 47.00 52.00 Loss 1911 11.50 Small Profit Holland's Mag. 1910 1 9 4.66 Loss Home Corr. 1909 1 22 94.05 Decided Loss Sch. Cat. 1910 32 17.23 Loss 1911 34 5.00 Loss Home Herald 1908 1 28 25.00 10.24 Small Profit 1909 2 12 41.00 42.01 Loss 1911 20.00 Small Profit Human Life 1908 3 109 85 . 00 29.18 Small Profit 1909 5 80 87.00 69.32 Loss 1910 3 24 18.00 13.35 Small Loss 1911 1 1 130.00 2.66 Good Profit A Four Years' Record 163 Name Yr. Ins. Inq. Returns Ad. Cost Profit — Loss Illus. Sun. Mag . 1908 3 142 $132.50 $148.06 Loss 1909 1 34 92.50 31 . 72 Good Profit 1910 2 25 . 50 Small Profit 1911 32.50 Small Profit Jnl. of Ace. 1909 1 3 .84 Small Loss Kans. City Star 1908 7 Kansas Mag. 1909 1910 1 ^ 26.00 1.33 Small Loss Profit La Follette's 1910 5 105 9.00 64.62 Decided Loss Wkly 1911 110.00 Good Profit Law Student's 1909 4 52 48.87 21.80 Loss Helper 1910 1 9 31.00 Trade Profit Leslie's Wkly. 1908 1 6 2.34 Small Loss 1911 1 45 92.50 49.40 Small Loss Literary Digest 1908 16 289 306 . 00 72.65 Good Profit 1909 25 336 538 . 95 247.88 Loss 1910 9 135 366 . 06 68.21 Good Profit 1911 10 140 307.50 113.30 Profit Literary Mag. 1909 1910 2 3 4.78 7.46 Small Loss Small Profit Lupton's List 1909 1 34 2.00 57.56 Decided Loss 1910 2 26.00 Profit McClure's Mag .1908 1 89 84 . 00 85.50 Loss 1909 2 45 56.00 28.60 Loss 1910 1 13 29.00 28.60 Loss 1911 4 32.50 Profit Mail Order Jnl. 1908 1 5 4.55 Loss Mereh. Rec. & 1908 1 17 25.00 15.00 Small Profit S. W. 1909 3 14 61.00 42.75 Small Profit 1910 3 27 91.00 25.04 Small Profit 1911 3 14 40.00 37.62 Small Loss Merch. Tr. Jnl. 1909 2 19 25.00 14.22 Small Loss 1911 1 20 15.39 Loss Metropolitan 1909 3 16 53.58 Loss 1910 1 12 44.42 Loss 1911 1 23 Free Loss Mich. Alumnus 1911 1 27 40.50 19.00 Small Loss Model Mag. 1908 4 154 137.50 1.07 Profit 1909 9 613 1350.00 200.71 Good Profit 1910 33 592.85 22.40 Good Profit 1911 2 32 . 50 Profit Modern Meth. 1908 5 56 130.00 58.00 Profit 1909 4 116 273.80 105.93 Profit 1910 2 30 34.75 Small Profit 1911 3 78 283 . 00 82.71 Good Profit Mod. Miracles 1909 1910 1 30 30.00 20.00 12.45 Loss Profit Modern 1908 1 52 30.00 44.88 Loss Woodman 1909 2 73.50 Profit 164 Analytical Advertising Name Yr. Ins. Inq. Returns Ad. Cost Profit — Loss Munsey's Mag. 1908 6 349 $237.50 $108.00 Small Profit 1909 4 136 345.50 50.00 Good Profit 1910 12 65.00 Profit 1911 5.00 Small Profit Nat. Home Mg. , 1908 1 6 2.33 Loss National Mag. 1908 1 10 3.74 Loss 1909 5 25 63.96 Loss 1910 3 Small Loss National Post 1911 1 2 20.00 13.00 Small Profit Nat. Sp'tsman 1911 1 13 20.00 22.20 Loss Nautilus 1909 o 88 143.50 41.20 Profit 1910 1 102 68.00 111.10 Loss 1911 2 Small Loss New Eng. Mag. 1909 'l 1 ^ 3.35 Small Loss New Thought 1908 1 14 5.00 4.48 Small Loss 1909 1 7 3.79 Small Loss 1910 3 36 116.00 29 . 64 Profit 1911 3 32.50 Profit N. Y. Mag. of 1908 1 14 13.46 Loss Myst. 1909 2 Small Loss N. Y. World Almanac 1911 1 19 13.17 Loss No. Am. Rev. 1909 2 7 5.26 Loss Opportunity 1909 1 1.49 Small Loss 1910 •2 11 4.46 Small Loss 1911 3 37.50 Profit Optimist 1911 20.00 Profit Outing 1908 1909 1 4 6 15.84 Loss Small Loss 1910 2 26.00 Profit 1911 2 6 20.00 52.91 Loss Outlook 1908 3 29 40.00 9.44 Profit 1909 7 125 143.00 126.91 Decided Loss 1910 2 22 139.50 7.72 Good Profit 1911 3 8 66.50 27.37 Small Profit Overland Mo. 1909 1 4 1.70 Loss Pacific Mo. 1908 3 19 110.00 19.98 Profit 1909 7 94 56.00 150.57 Decided Loss 1910 1 13 68.00 3.23 Profit 1911 2 Small Loss Pearson's Mag. 1908 2 20 25.00 34 . 54 Small Loss 1909 5 35 50.00 31.93 Small Loss 1910 7 13.00 Small Profit Penna. Grit 1908 1909 1 15 2 3.37 Small Loss Small Loss People's Pop. 1909 2 29 6.22 Loss Mo. 1910 4 Small Loss Phila. Inquirer 1909 16 134 81.00 15.68 Loss 1910 7 11 52.00 6.34 Small Profit A Four Years' Record 165 Name Yr. Ins Inq. Returns Ad. Cost . Profit— Loss Physical 1908 1 16 $10.00 $14.96 Small Loss Culture 1909 3 52 36.00 59.74 Loss 1910 3 32.50 Profit 1911 32.50 Profit Pittsburg Ldr. 1910 3 8 28 . 50 3.22 Small Profit Popular 1909 3 17 5.32 Loss Electricity 1910 2 20 7.92 Loss 1911 5 38 52.50 7.64 Small Profit Popular 1908 4 122 28.40 Loss Mechanics 1909 3 104 159.15 6.27 Profit 1910 6 165 326.00 37.50 Good Profit 1911 8 239 341.00 24.36 Profit Popular Trio 1908 2 127 117.50 46.63 Small Profit 1909 1 51 72.00 15.94 Small Profit 1910 4 128 221.93 55.08 Good Profit 1911 3 109 313.00 48.64 Good Profit Progress 1909 7 124 151.00 41.13 Small Loss 1910 4 127 233.73 134.79 Small Loss 1911 42 191.00 Good Profit Putnam's Read . 1909 1 3 4.66 Small Loss R. R. Man's 1908 1 22 25.00 16.00 Small Profit Mag. 1909 1 49 50.00 39.90 Loss 1910 2 47.00 Profit Ry. Carmen's Journal 1909 3 9 25.00 19.05 Small Loss Ry. Clerk 1909 3 1 9.52 Small Loss Ry. Employee 1909 3 2 9.52 Small Loss 1910 1 26.00 Profit Real Est. Natl. 1910 1911 2 2 1 15.49 Loss Small Loss Red Book 1908 5 108 65.00 52.67 Small Loss 1909 10 92 266.00 147.41 Decided Loss 1910 7 154 246.50 51.06 Profit 1911 2 40 82.50 14.04 Small Profit Retailer's Jnl. 1909 1910 1 2 14.25 Small Loss Loss Rev. of Revs. 1908 10 227 217.50 103.75 Profit 1909 14 262 475.00 137.25 Profit 1910 4 86 102.00 22.66 Small Loss 1911 2 34 203.00 11.16 Good Profit Scribner's 1909 2 20 19.94 Loss Sample Case 1909 1 9 1.56 Small Loss School Journal 1909 1 2 1.71 Small Loss Scientif. Amer. 1908 1 14 2.37 Small Loss 1909 3 29 67.50 15.77 Small Profit 1910 2 12 8.47 Loss Seattle Times 1909 1 4 Loss 1910 4 3 26.00 4.44 Profit Shop Notes Quarterly 1911 1 6 8.89 Loss 166 Analytical Advertising Name Yr. Ins. Inq. Returns Ad. Cost Profit — Loss Short Stories 1909 3 7 $ 27.00 $ 2.49 Small Profit 1910 2 11 8.87 Loss Show Card 1909 2 9 5.00 Loss Writer 1910 1 3 2.55 Loss Sovereign Vis. 1910 1 100 47.79 Decided Loss Spare Moments 1 1908 10 254 276.50 38 . 67 Good Profit 1909 14 129 299.00 122.19 Profit 1910 5 27 103.77 23.55 Profit 1911 2 22 85.50 2.84 Profit Spokane Spoke-Rev. 1910 3 2 1.07 Loss Stellar Ray 1909 1 10 8.58 Loss Stenographer 1909 2 10 1.77 Loss Strand 1908 1 7 20.00 5.00 Small Profit 1909 3 32 70.75 24.20 Small Profit 1910 1 2 4.40 Loss 1911 1 2 2.72 Loss Success 1908 11 1264 2055 . 45 952.54 Good Profit 1909 14 1366 2652.30 1074.85 Good Profit 1910 8 689 1737.75 770.62 Good Profit 1911 2 206 993.13 207.52 Good Profit Sunday Papers 1908 350 321.50 104.00 Profit 1909 350 324.00 230.00 Profit 1910 97 352.00 78.97 Good Profit 1911 2 57 149.35 18.53 Profit S. S. Journal 1909 1 18 6.58 Loss S. S. Times 1908 3 45 85.00 28.89 Small Profit 1909 5 122 214.00 75.25 Small Profit 1910 4 96 146.35 63.17 Small Loss 1911 4 64 227.25 94.33 Profit Sunset 1908 2 36 7.92 Loss 1909 5 35 75.00 23.42 Small Profit 1910 4 22 52.00 32.03 Small Loss 1911 2 Small Loss Swastika 1909 1911 1 6 1 3.23 Loss Loss Switchman's Journal 1909 3 2 17.16 Loss System 1908 33 1269 3329.10 1217.90 Good Profit 1909 39 3067 6902.64 1674.22 Good Profit 1910 48 3082 8159.36 2534.76 Good Profit 1911 23 2111 7141.40 2250.24 Good Profit Taylor- 1909 4 19 25.00 18.79 Small Loss Trotwood 1910 1911 4 14 2 6.84 Small Loss Small Loss Technical Wrld .1908 6 99 86.20 31.94 Small Profit 1909 fi 100 151.13 40.26 Small Profit 1910 48 133.00 27.46 Profit 1911 8 69 175.00 37 . 44 Good Profit Ten Story Book 1909 2 7 3.72 Loss A Four Years' Record 167 Name Yr. Ins. Inq. Returns Ad. Cost Profit — Loss Traveling Man 1909 2 4 $8.48 Loss Type & Phono. 1909 2 8 .|26.00 15.00 Small Profit Uncle Remus' 1908 1 8 2.50 Loss Mag. 1909 1 12 1.00 4.45 Loss Utica Globe 1908 1 9 7.33 Loss 1910 10.00 Profit Van Norden's 1908 7 7 1.87 Loss 1909 5 28 25.10 7.10 Loss Wide World 1909 1 6 2.31 Loss Woman's Mag. 1909 5 94 80.49 67.32 Loss 1910 2 26.00 Profit World To-Day 1908 1 12 3.28 Loss 1909 18 4.65 Loss 1910 7 8 3.11 Loss 1911 15.00 Profit World's Events 1908 1 14 25.00 12.62 Small Profit 1909 2 29 52.00 26.06 Small Loss 1910 3 20.00 Profit 1911 1 Small Loss A table of average costs per inquiry covering all adver- tising done in the publications given above shows a con- stantly increasing expense. The table is as follows: 1907 Average cost per inquiry ... . $0.23 1908 " " " " 606 1909 " " " " 586 1910 " " " " 702 *1911 " " " " 807 *Through Oct. 31st. The fluctuating returns from month to month, relative to loss and gain, have also been recorded by The American Collection Service. A table of these results will disclose what appears to be a very peculiar situation, as in no two of the four years are found any months that coincide as to largest loss or largest gain. The real explanation of the great differences in returns, as shown by months, is that in no two years have good letters been sent out to our entire list of names at exactly the same time. The largest gains usually fall in the months when the largest number of good letters have been sent to a large list. The returns, in other words, reflect profit or loss in direct ratio to the intelligence and effort exhibited at specific times. The table proves rather conclusively that there 168 Analytical Advertising ISOOO^AYear SUCCESS For a*15 a >veek clerk Over the heads of the "passers-by" is the sign-post that points to Success for the man who looks. I have an offer to make to you — the alert,, wide awake man who has no capital but his ambition and energy. Are you worth $15,000 a year to the business world ? Vou may know that you are— and yet not see the way to prove it and io'realhe on your abilities. A few years ago / stood right where you are~stan7j- ing now — equipped for bigger, more remunerative work than I had ever been able to get a chance to do. So I made my own opportunity— and my income quickly grew from $15.00 a week 'to $15,000 a year. 1 started with a chair and a kitchen table in a corner of my own home. Xow I occupy a large suite of offices in the center of Detroit's business section, with a board of executive heads of departments, and a busy force of assistants. I have not put a dollar into this business except as I have used a part of my surplus earnings to enlarge my equipment and extend mv operations. You are just as capable a man as I am. With the benefit of my experience to guide you, your rise to a position of big income is made easy. / have met the obstacles and have cleared them out of the path to Business Success Ithat lies before you. The stability of the commercial and industrial 'world depends upon the stability of Credits. The man who can be a factor in the maintaining of credit relationships between sellers and biiyers, is like the ^1^^^ Keystone in an arch of masonry'- the ^^"^^ whole structure dej>ends upon him. And any man upon whom the business world depends, is able to name his own compensation. Independence is the first thing to I be gained when working to establish yourself where you will command I your own destiny. Right at the start— I offer you independence— in- depcndence from the irksomcness of uncongenial tasks — from the grind of being held to a desk by the clock, instead of being attracted to the desk by inUrest in your work — from the uncertainty of steady employ- ment — from the direction of your efforts by another, instead of by yourself — independence from liEPEXD- E.XCE on some one else for the right to make a liv- ing. f offer you the opportunity to secure this independ- ence and all the benefits you will gain through inde- pendence—the freedom to let your best abilities work for you and for your own good fortune. Beginning just as I began, without capital, you can build up a prosperous business under your own man- agement and ownership in the commercial agency field. The merchants and manufacturers of your community will come to look on you as one of the most important factors in the local business situation, and you can gradually extend your operations over as wide a territory as seems advisable. You will be the mul- ern Commercial .Agency manager- saving money for your clients, helping people to meet their obligations by your advice and encouragement, and increasing your income to an amount that may now look forever out of your reach. You can do all this through the mails— using the methods that I have proved success- ful, and that I will make clear and easy for you to follow. Will you let me tell you just what I can do for you? How you can make arrangements with me to become a master of the Commercial .Agency business? Let me show what others have done with my help. I will show you how you ran take advantage of the biggest opportunity that faces you today — and how to turn it into big money for yourself. Your request will bring you full information at once. Write me — or clip this coupon and mail it to me immediately— for a quick start to your own big success in business. W. A. SHRYER, President, American Collection Service, 456 State St., Detroit, Mich. You may tell me the full details about the opportunity for me in the commercial agency business— how you have succeeded — how you have helped others to succeed— and how you can help me. I shall be interested in seeing photographs, sent free, showing how this business is conducted in many of the offices you have helped men establish. Recent Page Copy. Three Times in SyfK.TIt()IT, )ll('ll. YOU have a Right to INDEPENDENCE If you liave an honest desire to escape salaried drudgery. I can instruct you how to gain finan- cial independence — how to secure a business of your own. Over 800 others have succeeded and are ready to help— for you will lielpthem Let Me Send You, NOW, the story of this new business, with convinc- njc FACTS and FIGURKS. Write today for Pointers on the Collection Business. «0 State Street DKTKOIT, MICH. No. of No. plications Inser. 12 12 American Collection Service, RESULTS OF 20 LINE DISPLAY In- Adv. quiries Cost 127 $185.48 Cash Returns $114.00 The average cost of inquiries was $1.47 plus, and the copy practically a dead loss, as only one publication of the twelve yielded any profit, the net amount of which was only $3.65. The copy had nothing to commend it and was as follows : SPLENDID PAY— EVENING WORK Ul to 50 percent, coiniiiission paid on l)ills collected in ynur coiuiiiu- nity. A jirofessioiially trained collector— not the coiiuiion "hainiuer and tongs" sort— but the man trained to say and do the right thing and make a friend of every man he collects from, can make as much in an hour's evening work as he makes all day. Starting without any capital, with but a little study and practice, you can stop working for an employer in a short time and build for yourself with your own hours a steadily in- creasing, paying business. In 1910 over five hundred men trained by us left unprofitable positions and are now successfully conducting their own Collection Businesses. How tliese men were trained to be professionals, and how they started in a business where the demand is great and constant in every community, and the profits 10 to 50 per cent., is told in detail in our booklet. "Pointers," sent FREK on request. It discloses a field for money- making that will be a revelation to you. THK AMERH'AIV COLLECTION SEKVICK .S2.1 Slate Street »ETR(HT, MICH. RESULTS OF 36 LINE "BLIND" COPY No. of No. In- Adv. Cash Publications Inser. quiries Cost Returns 15 18 1078 $486.78 $827.72 174 Analytical Advertising The average cost of inquiries on this "Bhnd" cojjy was 45 cents, plus. The cost was exceptionally low, and the large number of inquiries resulting from the first tests oc- casioned the trial of the copy in a number of mediums, be- fore returns had been given any chance to show. The low cost and the large number of inquiries were decidedly mis- leading, and occasioned a decided loss, as only two publica- tions out of 15 showed any profit, and the combined profit of the two amounted to but $33.00. This copy proved con- clusively for me that blind copy, or curiosity copy, was de- cidedly bad. Inquiries from our best pullers, resulting from this class of copy, proved very costly in follow-up, as very few enrolled. The experiment is valuable from this stand- point, as it is a common superstition that one inquiry is as good as another, as long as it is received from a good medium. A piece of this blind copy, reduced, follows: Big money and independence with nothing to sell livery ambitious man cannot b;come a salesman, yet without capital to invest, no other load to financial success seems open. Selling goods may or may not pay you, but why risk the uncertainty ?. I Have a New Business for You If you would establish yourself in a highly profitable, dignified and growing business, without risking either capital or your present employment, ask for my new plan. 1 will tell you how to start earning in your spare time; I will send you my new " Testimony Book" with a wealth of evidence from those 1 have helped to build their own businesses. Vy>i/e me today fV. A. .SHRYER, President, 49 State Street, Detroit, Mich. RESULTS OF 56 LINE COPY No. of No. In- Adv. Cash Publications Inser. quiries Cost Returns 42 99 2760 $2,109.92 $3,730.65 The average cost of our quarter page, magazine size copy, was 76 cents plus. The average enrolment from this copy has yielded a very fair profit, in spite of a number of experimental showings that proved unsuccessful. There have been several heavy losses from it from showings in several standard magazines, the orders for which were placed contrary to our present policy, which is to order nothing in any publication as long as losses obtain in con- nection with previous showings. The copy has been prac- tically the same for three years, and is the most consistent puller we have been able to deyelop. The copy, reduced, is the following : Relative Values of Small and Large Copy 175 You Have a RIGHT to Independence ! "^"^^^ You have a right to independence, but you must have an honest purpose \o earn it. Many have purpose, ambition and energy, but thorough Erection and intelligent help must be supplied. My instruction supplies the first, and our Co-operative Bureau fulfills the second. Large numbers have availed themselves of boih, succeeding to a remarkable degree. Investigate without prejudice, this o|iportuniiy to LEARN THE COLLECTION BUSINESS and escape salaried drudKety lor lile. 1( you have an idea that the collection busines-, as I leach it IS not as safe, sure and dignihea as a bank, or any oiher profitable business, you are mistak- en, and I will ijrove it,i( you earnestly desire to get ahead. No essential branch of business is sa limitless, nor less crowded. No business may be built so large without iovestmeDt of capital. * will gladly leod you, for the asking, •POINTERS ON THE COLLECTION BUSINESS" It may mean comfort for life, if not a k'reat deal more. Write lor it now. W. A. SHRYf R. Prei. ANfRICAf* COLLtCTION SEBVICC. Stale St.. Dtlrail, MM. HALF PAGE, MAGAZINE SIZE, COPY No. of No. In- Adv. Cash olications Inser. quiries Cost Returns 21 60 . 2458 $2,246.17 $6,095.75 The average cost of inquiries was 92 cents, plus. The records from which these results were taken, comprised for the most part returns from "trade deals," which were not very profitable. The half-page showings as a whole were made extremely profitable by the influence of the showings in Business Philosopher, Modern Methods and System, particularly the latter. The same showings in the other mediums were not profitable, but these were largely me- diums which we would never have picked for space of this size were cash being paid for the advertising. In this con- nection we have tabulated the returns from half-page showings in the large page magazines, such as LaFollette^s and Opportunity. These records show an added cost per inquiry ($1.44 plus, each) but a greater profit on the whole, for the lot, although they, also, were largely trade deals. In the regular standard size magazines we used slight varia- tions of four pieces of half-page copy, the most profitable of which is reproduced on page 176. The average cost of inquiries was $1.11 plus. FULL PAGE, MAGAZINE SIZE, COPY No. of No. In- Adv. Cash Publications Inser. quiries Cost Returns 18 69 4296 $4,774.45 $10,772.11 The record on the i)age showings reflects the same con- dition noted above in connection with half-page showings, relative to the "trade deal." Also, the same three maga- 176 Analytical Advertising Build a $5,000,. ^ " Business^ r^ of your own and be Independent: A Specialist is Always Well Paid CAN YOU DO WHAT xn'X' nruya'i HAVF noNv AMERICAN COLLECTION SERVICE Rest Half Page Copy zines in the list served to make the entire number of show- ings profitable. In connection therewith it may be noted that 60 half -page showings costing $2,*£64.17 show over $400 more profit than 69 full-page showings costing $4,774.45. In connection with the full-page records just given a rec- ord on eight showings of full pages in the large sized publi- cations was kept. All showed loss except two showings in a semi-obscure magazine now dead, the Model magazine, which at one time bid fair to rival our best payers. The same result relative to the small pocket edition size of magazine showings was discovered by us. Out of twenty- four full pages in the small magazines all were failures in six publications, except one. Beach's Magazine, which showed a profit on ten insertions. Several pieces of our best pulling full-page copy are reproduced on nearby pages. The tabulated results given do not cover every size we have tried. To give such a record would mean a book in itself, as I have tried a large number of odd sizes, as well as been forced to adjust our copy to peculiar shapes, Relative Values of Small and Large Copy 177 Can You do what 800 Others Have Done? ( I Hi r t I r r 11 1 ! \\ i I \ 1 C ^1 s I t 1 K 1 1 ! l\l \\ Bn( k li r i i 1 1 r r c nl 1 t! t 'Showed" the very first one. ! 1 r 1 r 1 r The Collection Business 11 in r led Growing rapidly — en- tirely indebted to the course \ U\ ill Will You Investigate? W- uthcful B Made $35 the first d-iv / Closed 136 accounts and well satisfied. W. A. Shryer, Prea., AMERICAN COLLECTION SERVICE, 263 Statf; Street, Detroit, Mich. Making good down South. / INVESTIGATION COUPON W. A. SHRYER. Prrt. , Aroencon f olloction S< rv.rc. 263 '>l.»te- St , Octroit, M.< Best page copy. Four times in System yielded net profit of $1258.70. 883 inquiries for $427.50. 12 178 Analytical Advertising There is No RoycJ Road to Wealth— But— Some Roads are Easier Than Others have helped thousands of men to succeed — and my definition of acquiring success is: "To make more money, in a more congenial >^ occupation." If you will read this page, you will learn how to find ^^^1^ ^$^%^^ ^ The way from wage-earning to business management '^' " '*^ "^ and how you can make that way upward in the business world your own. I have succeeded — others have succeeded with me — this is Success's invitation to you. Disappointed ambition is the curse — fulfilled ambition the glory — of any man's life The average man who succeeds in this world is the And how many men have died from disappointed man who realizes he was not born to set the world commercial s.xn\>\\\or\ simply because ihcy did not on fire— but aims at a goal within his reach and ^«^u, ho-o) to succeed is bevond the count of any keeps on with courage, persistence, and intelligcntlv pirihlv r<-rnrd directed ?5«r;)oj^ until he gathers the sweet fruits ^''"'"> '^'•^"™- ■ ■ u of his laborsi B"' ''^'^ number of successful, life-enjoymg busi- Henry Clay, Daniel Webster and James G. Blaine j^^^^ "^^^ is growing e^cry day In the P^^t "J" diedfromdisappointmenloftheirthwartedambitions have pursue^ and acquired „ccdcmu knowlcd^e- to attain the Presidency. They aimed probably not 'hi5 is the day when men seek and acquire busoiess toohigh, but with all their statesmanship they lacked knowledge through avenues suih as / o^^x you. the k nowle dge of lioisj to achieve their purpose. Will you profit by my experience ? ^3 I, W. A. Shryer, was a grown man ^MK earning $15 a week when I learned j^^an easier way to make $15^000 a year 1 found that many honest people neglect to pav their bills — but that they w/7/pay them if ihcir obligationi arc presented in a dignilied, business-like, human-nature way. That way is so easy that I can make it clear and easy for you — for any man with ambition Merchants have their hands so full with the problems of buying and selling merchandise that they have •-.. « .1 r- . P. "Til. »t no time to look after delinquent accounts. This Coupon the First Step Take It Now tHc men who, for various reasons, do no( pay Ihcir bills, are • •••aiaaat-as —ai a—a.aiaa- just like any oiher class of men— a class of many iype^ c!uc>vi7i> n -J I And the knowledge of /lotti to approach and handle taih ot W. A. SHRYER, Pr"«idenl, these lypes is the specialized training that make i successful, Aaericu Collectioa Scrrice, 424 State Sl, Detroit. Micb. , commercial agency manager. „, . ,„., • -11 . J .. . ' you do no/ need rapi fa Mo establish youreelf in this busi- Please send me full information, illustrated with pholos, ■ ness. You can begin in your spare lime, just as 1 began. about how you and other men have succeeded m ihe " „,,.-.,.. . ,1 t u •• •.• ... i.. i ii.j .i. . Commercial Agency Business, starting without capital. | ?;';=, «/A1iin\s"w[l'f'lutwyou"wiTh'Lu^h? c'^Tpiu-li^f n'e'^d' jjj—, • for expansion. Every ambilious man who wants to eslabl'sl- I himself in his own successful business should write to me at • •••••■« I once. Mail the coupon. I W. A. SHRYER. President . , , I American Colleclion Service, 424 Stale St., Dttroil. Micb. Most consistent page copy. Eight times in Sydem gave 1410 inquiries with a net cash profit of $1048.28 Relative Values of Small and Large Copy 179 due to unusual page sizes in a large number of semi-obscure publications. These have for the most part been tests of little value to the general advertiser and are not repro- duced. If space permits, illustrations of several odd sizes, with a short record of each will be rejjroduced in different parts of the present volume. The general deductions I have been able to secure from my own records, as a whole, show that the lowly classified advertisement is the most consistent puller I can find. In many cases a five line advertisement, classified, has brought more inquiries and yielded more money than 56 lines display in the same publication. During the first year's experience our classified carried the business, and made success possible, where failure would certainly have resulted had we confined our showings to display. The losses due to inexperience and superstitious advice were all in connection with the use of display. Classified has not only paid better, dollar for dollar, than any other form of advertising, but has actually pulled a great deal more in some publications than any size of display used in them. Other than classified the 56 line size has been almost the only one safe to use with any freedom. The difference in cost and relative returns of pages and half pages is noted in dollars and cents above. I think it will be found (where accurate checking is possible) that larger space is rarely more valuable than 56 lines or half a page, granted of course, that either of the latter has proved itself profitable copy. As there are relatively few acceptable sizes of copy for any business, every advertiser should be as reasonably sure as possible that his "favorite" copy is his best pulling copy. The conclusions of many advertisers in this regard are hard to reconcile with any principle of rhyme or reason. If, how- ever, actual records prove certain sizes the best, the logical action is obvious. The most crying need, apparently, is a dependable record keeping system. If this book encour- ages any advertiser to install a system that he knows is practical and dependable the time will have been well spent. It is certain that there can be no science of adver- tising until dependable records are gathered from many sources. 180 Analytical Advertising An Unplowed Field The Surface has Hardly been Scratched uires Tremendous sums are lost to merchants and manufacturers every year through bad accounts. Anyone who can redeem these accounts from the loss side of the ledger will have miore business than he can handle. We will teach you how to do it. We teach the business of collecting bad accounts, giving you the same system that we employ in our own successful collection business. It is a lucrative business — easy to learn — W. A. Shryer, President ^j^h little competition, and— Req " No Capital, but integrity. Every dollar collected for your customers adds to your bank account and your business standing. Why fritter away the best yeers of your life in uncongenial service of others? Why not build up a profitable business of your own where your are master of your own time and reap the reward of your own exertions? Our first lessons will enable you to start a collection business, the full course gives you complete mastery of it. We help you at the very outset by referring customers to you. Now is the time to declare your independence. Every day spent in your present drudgery makes it harder for you to get out of the rut. Do not delay. Write today for "Pointers on the Collection Business," FREE. AMERICAN COLLECTION SERVICE 373 State Street, - - DETROIT, MICH. Page Copy Used in Small Mediums Record of a Most Profitable Medium The records of The American Collection Service, as re- flected by the returns from its best paying medium, will doubtless prove interesting to a number of readers. This publication is System, published by Mr. A. W. Shaw. System was the first magazine used by me, and has, from the first, yielded steady, consistent returns little short of marvelous. A number of magazine representatives appear to find no explanation for my apparent prodigal use of space in Sys- tem, with a circulation of possibly 115,000, when no word picture they can draw is sufficiently alluring to secure an order for 56 lines to be placed before their "millions of readers." The answer, however, is perfectly plain. System pays me. The advertising manager of a publication whose pages should be profitable complained of my disinclination to use as large space with him as I did with System. To my an- swer that his publication failed to pay he appeared much injured, claiming that if I would use large space long enough with him it was bound to pay out. I called to his attention that System was never developed by me in that fashion, and that on any such theory no one could benefit except the publishers. Orders for System are placed by us on the same basis that other showings are ordered. As one pays out another space is ordered. The remarkable fact regarding System, in connection with our advertising, is that almost any space will pay out. It sometimes takes a long while for some experiments to prove profitable, but nearly all have. With the possible exception of two or three pieces of copy every showing ever placed in System has yielded a profit. I have been able to find no other publication in the coun- try that would yield profitable returns, month in and month out. In spite of the almost wanton space used in this magazine it has done even better than hold its own at certain intervals. In 1910 the average cost per inquiry was 66 cents plus. This was two and one-half cents lower than the year before. The fluctuations of inquiry cost in System 181 18£ Analytical Advertising Build a $5,000 Business of Your Own of every business is ready money. Collections The field is unlimited. I lerchant. manufacturer and business mani has plenty of both easy and hard— and gladly shares proceeds of collecti Slow pay" and "bad debts" have wrecked many a prosperous concern. lexptase and your commissi The profits are large t A-,«, omKa4«/%<«c mttn (^3" ^'^■'1 ■" '^'^ profitable business at home, workinir eveniDRS and rvay aniDIUUUS Uiail time at tirst. Later, many entirely quit working for others, and h« independent building their business steadily because of ihe resujts. Others quality for tftter fosiitonf in the Credit Department of large mercantile bouses, for whic training and experience fits ihem. Good Credit Hen thtn Sp.ooc Ij &.0OO a }ear salary. WHAT OUR COURSE WILL DO FOR YOU A very hriif outline of the most imporlani features. Lesson 1— General outline of the Collection .Agency Busi- ness — Lesson II— How to gei husi- Lesson III— How to h.--ld business. Lesson I\' — Keeping collec- tion records. Lesson V— How to get the money— dty collections by mail. Lesson VI— City collections by personal work. Lesson VII— How to get the money — out of town collec- tions by mail. Les.son VIII -Tracing moved debtors. _ Lesson IX— Using our Mer- chants preferredjust ice livi Les-wn X — Iirlveloping and expanding business Addenda — Complete set of model letters, follow-up. system, etc . 65 carefully prepared forms for every WHAT STUDENTS AND GRADUATES SAY About my course and what it hai done for them. A feTv extracts from letters of men Tir have made successful Full addresses of these and many others matted 't^'hen you ivnte. "I have Jnut eolleetod the first claim. It wasfnOand three years old. My client Immediately (rave mo all bl9 accounts." writes H. A. Clark. Louisiana. "Lesson IV alone 18 worth the price of the whole course"— C. R. Bryan, Louisiana. "Am getting along well: have eolleetod a lot and they are still coming," says O. N. Neuman, Florida. 'Your course Is of great service to me as Credit Man for present firm." G. P. Basenback.Wlseonsln. "Starting Feb. Ist, I h,iTe eoll. etod IISS..* I time In two months, at 25? commission." K. ring. Kansas. "Fourcllints In four days on first Interview: their bills agnregate 1H62." F. C. Hodge-. Pennsylvania. "I am very much Interested In your course." A. L. Campbell, Ontario. "your systematic course of training meets the re- qulrmentHof the commercial wr.rld. "J. W.Moore. Mo. 'Averaging JIOUO a week In bills to collect, and half what 1 get In Is mine." writes Geo. W. Purcell. Col. "Fees close to tSOUO for one Arm." 6a>B F. E. Plnk- enon. Ills. "Notwithstanding extensive experience, your les- sons were a re' elation to me."A. L. Caison, Ills. "Starting with no practical exp<-rlence 1 have built a collection business second to none In th S. W." C. F. Curlee, Oklahoma. "Received list of claims from you. and wll! now give my entire time to my collection business." Holmes. Oolorado. T.Z SPECIAL TRAINING FOR CREDIT MEN Synopsis 0/ our Post Grad uate Course. IKEE to graduates, planned to fit students for tetter posi- tions in Credit Depart- ments and Mercantile Aecncio. Part 1 — General explanation of the subject. Part II— ".Modem Collec- tion Methods" — Member- ship Fee Graft" — \ aluable pointers. Part III— "How to Handle Credits." Part IV — CoMectftm Agency Book-keeping. Part V — How to become a Credit .Man. Pan \I— How to establish your own Collection Agen cy, saving fees and com- missions. Part \U— How to buildup a Mercantile Re()orting Sys- Part VIII — Post Graduate Training in Collections and hintsfor advanced students. I BuiltUpa$5,000 Business in two years — made $5^000 gross profit. I still conduct' 'nal busi- ness and do far more today. That is the reason my rtistruction is complete, thorough and practical— it is the result of that experi- ence. I teach you all the secrets of the Cuilection Ai^f ncy Busi- ness, give you complete plans, all forms and systems and show how to succeed. And More than That we take care of our graduates who open agencies. Our ov.n agency handles claims all over the United States. We need local repre- sentatives everywhere. In short, no such opportunitv was offered " itious men as this making plan and free poi:iters. W. A. Shryer, President. AMERICAN COLLECTION SERVICE 36 state Street. Detroit. Mich. Fir.st page display used. One time in System, yielded net profit of $210.69. Record of a Most Profitable Medium 183 have been due to a number of causes, varying most in direct proportion to the total yearly expenditures. The differ- ences at the end of our fiscal year, which is December 31st, are not entirely accurate indications, but everything considered, the slight increase in the average cost is remarkable, and the nearest approach to holding even that any advertiser may hope for, unless he is a devotee of cumulative value, when he is likely to hope for anything. Our first advertisement in System was one-half inch classified, which produced inquiries at an average cost of 7 cents each. This showing appeared in August, 1907, and the average at the end of December 31st increased to 13 cents. This average very rapidly increased during 1908 to almost $1^00, and decreased slightly thereafter for two years until the present year, when it has reached an aver- age cost per inquiry of $1,147. Using such a large amount of space in System has per- mitted a degree of familiarity with it that is in itself an ex- planation for the low average costs of 1909 and 1910. Dur- ing these two years the rate in System increased twice, and each time a material increase in circulation occurred. Through a prudent reservation of space I was enabled to enjoy a rate lower than many advertisers were forced to pay, and such reservations usually protected me for a pe- riod of from three to four months. During these periods large space would be used at the old rate, yielding inquiries at the average figure. Such returns are largely responsible for my low average rate per inquiry during the two years mentioned, for were the new rates charged against such inquiries the average cost would show a gradual increase, such as occurs in 1911, where I am forced to pay the regu- lar page rate. Having used this publication so long and so consistently I have naturally learned a number of interesting facts rela- tive to its pulling powers. Securing the nearest approach to uniform returns from it I became interested in learning the true exj)lanation for such a condition. The circulation of System was originally secured in two ways^ — through circular letters and through personal solici- tations. Both of these methods were directed toward the business man, and a substantial rating was necessary, 184 Analytical Advertising so far as he was concerned, before any subscription cam- paign was launched in his direction. As a result the large bulk of the original subscription list represented substan- tial business men or fairly prosperous business houses. The original plan of securing subscriptions still obtains, but other avenues have gradually been opened. The men likely to be interested in American Collection Service advertising copy are not the owners of commercial establishments, nor are they successful business men of any prominence at the time they answer our announcements. Our prospects are the men who seek a business opening of their own. The set of conditions outlined above made a logical ex- planation as to the large number of inquiries received, a dif- ficult one. In order to secure some light on the subject I picked out the letters of 100 men who had enrolled for our course through System advertising. The original letters of inquiry were sent to Mr. Shaw with a request to check with his subscription list in order to learn how many were subscribers. This was done abotit three years ago, but the tabulated results of this investigation have been lost. It is my recollection, as well as that of Mr. George R. Wilson, the Western Advertising Manager, that out of the 100 names, record of 16 was found. Of these 16 nine were on the letterheads of subscribers, though not sent by sub- scribers themselves. The other seven were subscribers. Of the remaining 84 no record of any nature was to be found. A similar plan was tried in October, 1911. The names of 500 men whose inquiries had been received during 45 days preceding were sent to Mr. Shaw for checking in the same manner, but the original letters were not sent. Each of these five hundred had answered advertisements from System during the time specified, and the result of the in- vestigation made by System is as follows : Of the 500 names it was found that 121 were subscribers of record. Thirty-seven were not on their list of subscrib- ers. Five came from territory covered by the English edi- tion of System, and no record of their being subscribers was found in the Chicago office. All keys being from the Amer- ican edition it is fair to assume that these five were foreign readers, not subscribers. The addresses on the remaining Record of a Most Profitable Medium 185 two of the 500 were indistinct, making any identification of them with possible subscribers out of the question. It is a favorite boast of many pubhcations that every subscriber means five readers. It is only the extremely im- pressionable that give any credence to such claims. The above records actually show that in System circulation I am securing inquiries from a little over 75% of readers who are not subscribers. If a few other publications rendered $ ) W. A. Shryer, Prestj $ Your Head is Your Fortune A trained mind is bet- ter than cash capital. No one knows this better than the man with both. Without the trained mind, he could neither get the cash, nor keep it after getting it. Every man's mind is capable of paying dividends. Are yours paying You, or some- one else ? I Can Show You Hob? to Capitalize Your Head No business demands a trained mind more than the collection business — a business that needs no cash capital to start— but pays big re- turns to the men I train to manage it. If you are willing to learn, I will show you how to make your head your capital in this profitable business. Write me for the proof. The postal-card that put some men into com- munication with me has earned them a million per cent dividends. I will show you what the collection business offers in actual dividends to you. W. A. Shryer, President American Collection Service State Street Detroit, Michigan $ $ Run but once. Brought 35 inquiries from Sifstem and $107.50 in cash. 186 Analytical Advertising such returns there would be larger profits for everybody. It is very evident that in addition to its regular subscribers a valuable host of readers see System every month and answer advertisements that show in it. It is no uncommon experience to receive from three to four requests a month for copies of System. 1 have had more than that number ask to borrow copies. If it happens to me it is easy to un- derstand that others experience it. The results show that outsiders secure it and answer from it. It is this great un- known army of readers that makes System such a wonder- ful publication. Without it such returns as I receive would be impossible, if average returns from proportionate thou- sands of circulation are any criterion. The significant fact in connection with the record is this : System is not a news- stand publication. If it were the above results would be worthy of little notice. It is my opinion that the men who answer our advertise- ments in System are the clerks of subscribers, but this, of course, is simply a "guess," and as such has little real value. A table of results, which includes every showing in Sys- tem from August, 1907, to the time of this writing, follows. The results in inquiries and cash are given for each month, as well as the cost for space and the various spaces used each month. I think the table of returns will be perfectly clear without further explanation : RESULTS OF ADVERTISING IN SYSTEM MAGAZINE Space 1907 Inq. Cost Cash ^ in. class, Aug. 67 $4 . 75 None 1 in. class. Sept. 83 9.50 $45.00 56 lines Dis. Oct. 183 29.69 80.00 No insertions Nov. 19 17.50 1 in. class. Dec. 56 9.50 65.00 Space 1908 Inq. Cost Cash 3^ in. class. Jan. iiii $9.50 $60.00 K in. class. Feb. 39 9.50 124.00 K in. class. Mar. 70 4.75 155.00 >i in. class. Apr. 58 35.63 70.00 >^ in. class. May 97 122.26 261.50 1 Page >2 in. class. June 10 inches 141- S2.06 215.00 H Page July 1908 Inq. Cost Cash Aug. Sept. 144 158 $102.18 74.33 $314.00 256.00 Oct. 134 380.62 431.50 Nov. 131 125. G2 559.10 Record of a Most Profitable Medium 187 Space yi in. class. 10 in. y^ in. class. 10 inches y% Page 3 Page A in. class. A. in. class. A in. class. Page A Page A in. class, in. class. % in. class. 2 Page 94 237.00 535.50 A in. class. Dec. A Page A in. class. A in. class. Space in. class. A in. class. Page Page 180 .$87.83 $323.10 42 lines Feb. >2 in. class. Page ^ in. class. 172 82.24 417.20 yi in. class. Mar. Page A in. class. Page 307 169.82 594.70 \ Page April A in. class. A in. class. Page 263 143.10 485.47 i Page May A in. class. A in. class. Page 233 143.09 453.10 A in. class. June A in. class. Page 226 116.37 406.00 A in. class. July A in. class. 1 Page 36 lines 267 133.56 802.23 137 69.94 563.50 1909 Inq. Cost Cash Jan. 188 Analytical Advertising Cost Cash $62.94 $551.12 463.71 611.05 62.94 805.54 169.82 447.72 490.44 653.04 Cost Cash $140.85 $1150.97 72.73 893.00 261.25 451.92 146.34 437.43 67.61 575.60 130.27 562.06 103.44 446.00 67.61 595.67 318.25 406.85 161.60 799.91 Space 1909 Inq >^ in. class. Aug. KPage yi in. class. 169 y2 in. class. Sept. yi in. class. >^ in. class. Oct. >^Page % in. class. 303 yi in. class. Nov. >^Page Yt. in. class. 1 Page 205 >2 in. class. Dec. K in. class. 3 Page 374 Space 1910 Inq. >^ in. class. Jan. K in. class. 1 Page 363 K in. class. Feb. >2 in. class. K Page 280 yi in. class. Mar. Y in. class. 2 Page 113 K in. class. April K in. class. 1 Page 20 lines 244 Y in. class. May K Page 196 % in. class. June KPage KPage 172 yi in. class. July KPage 14 lines 25 lines 25 lines 163 K in. class. Aug. KPage 173 yi in. class. Sept. >^Page 1 Page 1 Page 360 y2 in. class. Oct. 1 Page >^Page 1 Page 357 320.71 871.00 Having repeatedly tried all sizes of copy in System the results will serve to help some advertiser, possibly, who is perplexed over the matter of sizes in relation to their relative pulling power. The tabulated results of these various show- ings in System make no distinction between different copy, the tables showing results according to size of space only. The best pieces of copy for each size are shown in another chapter, and the best pieces there reproduced are uniformly the ones that proved best in System, as well as elsewhere. 190 Analytical Advertising RESULTS OF CLASSIFIED COPY IN SYSTEM No. Insertions In- quiries Adv. Cost Returns Average Cost per inq. 59 1360 $307.19 $2,911.77 $.226 Results of Quarter Page Copy in System 10 680 $291.63 $1,406.55 .438 Results of Half Page Copy in System 19 2,076 $1,223.33 $5,473.31 .589 Results of Full Page Copy in System 22 3,386 $2,829.08 $8,859.86 .860 Results of Two Pages Copy in System 2 137 $434.94 $641.25 3.190 Results of Three Pages Readers in System 3 850 $1,189.13 $3,133.77 1.269 The above records cover System advertising from Au- gust, 1907, to August 31st, 1911. The average cost for all System inquiries during this period was 77 cents, plus. The first cost, in August, 1907, was 7 cents, while the average cost for 1911 through August was $1.04 per inquiry. The average costs mentioned here include, also, a number of '*odd" sizes, not tabulated above. The results from most of them are more or less meager, each size usually being used in the nature of an experiment. While most eventu- ally paid out, the results were sufficiently conclusive to brand the spaces unprofitable. Several were 25 lines and several 36 and 42 lines. Two pieces of twenty -five line copy used in System are reproduced on opposite page. The first piece yielded 22 inquiries at an average cost of $.636 per inquiry, with cash re- turns of $70.00. The second produced inquiries at $1 .00 each, with enrolments amounting to $32.50. Each ran but one time in System, and proved unsuccessful in other mediums. Record of a Most Profitable Medium 191 PRIVATE OFFl his is \rour office f 8 Stepping stone from hopeless drudging for others to an easy, lu- crative and independent business of your own is just a mental decisic n. Decide now "to be the employer instead of an employe. Our first lessons enable you to start a Collection Business. No capital required. But little competition. Remarkable op portunities. We refer business to you. Write for "Pointers on the Collection Business." AMERICAN COLLECTION SERVICE, 348 State St., Detroit, .Vlich. Enjoy life as you live it and insure comfort for your old age. The Collection Busi- ness is your chance. We will teach it to you, giving you the secrets we employ in our own successful Collection Business. No capital required. Easy and congenial work. Quick and growing income assured. Our first lessons enable you to start in business. We refer ness to you. Write for ''Pointers on the Collection Business." AMER- ICAN COLLECTION SERVICE, 405 State St., Detroit, Mich. The first piece of display copy run by The American Col- lection Service was fifty-six lines that appeared in the October issue of System in 1907. In three months, or up to December 31, 1907, it had pulled *241 inquiries. In the April, 1908, issue of System we changed the copy, but continued the same key, which was 15 State Street. From January first to the ajjpearance of the April issue, eight more in- quiries came in, swelling the total for the first insertion to 249 inquiries. It is quite possible that a small number of subsequent incjuiries under that key resulted from the first and only ap])earance of this piece of copy, but no attempt can be made to check direct results to this one piece after A})ril. The average cost per inquiry for the 192 Analytical Advertising 249, resulting from the first display copy, was eleven and nine- tenths cents. Our first display copy was very crude, and the attention compelling illustration exceedingly archaic. After being used by us possibly three times it was "lifted" bodily by another advertiser, and this mark of his appreciation went far to convince us of the wisdom of a change. The copy, reduced, appears immediately below: BUILD UP A $5,000 BUSINESS IN TWO YEARS We show yon how it has been done and teach you how to do it yourself. Our course in "Collections" gives you all the secTRtB of collecting money — turning bad debts into cash. You can start a collection agency at home and your spare time will begin earning you a handsome income at once. "You earn while you learn." BIG NEW FIELD. NO CAPITAL NEEDED. to start in this lucrative bus yours. E hard — and is glad to share proceeds of collections. WE SEND GRADUATES BUSINESS. e today for our new plan. Synopsis of Lessons anH free pointers on iiness. Don't delay. THE AMERICAN COLLECTION SERVICE IS STATE ST.. DETROIT, MICH. Please mention SYSTEM when wn'tWie to advertisers It is a favorite theory of some that the first insertion of an advertisement yields more inquiries than subsequent showings because of the "curiosity seeker." It is also pointed out that competitive firms always answer the first advertisement, thus swelling the total. Both of these theories may be good ones, but if so I would like to have the same class of people answer our advertisement in similar numbers constantly. By our system of keying it is impossible to tell with cer- tainty just what month our advertisement was seen in a certain publication, since we key it the same every time. In the matter of our first showings in System, however, we have a pretty good idea of the cash returns. We have en- rolled over seventy-five percent of the men who inquired during the first few months. We know this because we started to keep a record on vertical files, and changed to horizontal files a few months later. The original files are alphabetically arranged with the later ones, and are all the same size records, but filed sidewise, instead of vertically. In running our entire list on special letters we rarely find an "open record" on the old file, proving the high j^er- Record of a Most Profitable Medium 193 centage of enrolments secured from our first names. At that time, also, we had no competitors whatever, as our advertisement was the first collection school announce- ment in System. This obviated any swelling of returns by "competitors." After we had been running our ad- vertisements a number of months we discovered another similar proposition had run an advertisement in Collier's, but of this we were thoroughly ignorant. Competitors' inquiries being therefore eliminated, the low cost was ex- plained by the interest a new proposition has for those looking for correspondence instruction. There are always a certain number of "curiosity seekers," it must be ad- mitted, but these are almost a constant quantity. The man who answers from curiosity, moreover, is not necessarily an undesirable prospect, provided that he knows exactly what you have to offer him. A skillful and forceful follow-up will often sell a man who had no inten- tion in the world of allowing himself to be interested to the point of purchase. There is a great difference be- tween the value of such a prospect and the man who ans- wers "blind copy." I have proved the latter very poor, so far as my own case is concerned. On the other hand I have had a great number advise that they answered our advertisement from curiosity, and enrolled eventually through the manner in which the plan was outlined in the follow-up. This has occurred so often as to make such prospects good ones to secure. A comparison between the low cost of inquiries for our first display copy and that of four years later will give a good idea of the force of the law of diminishing returns. In September, 1911, we used three and one-half pages of display in System. This space was divided into two whole pages, one half -page and three quarter-pages. The best quarter-page of the September, 1911, issue was vertical copy, which pulled 44 inquiries up to December 20th, 1911. The returns for a similar period in 1907 were 241 inquiries at an average cost of .119 cents. The average cost of the best 56 line copy in September, 1911, was $.949. The entire number of inquiries from the three and one-half pages run in September, 1911, was 540 at an average cost of $1.08. From an average cost of eleven 13 194 Analytical Advertising cents to $1.08 in four years is quite a jump. It is a signifi- cant feature in connection with any consideration of "cumulative value." The copy used in September, 1911, which was the best of the three quarter-pages used in that issue, is repro- duced below: Will /V^ You Open This Envelope? Of course you must send for it first — but "Pointers on the Collection Business", which it contains, is worth walking many blocks for. A post card will bring it to you by return mail. " Pointers on the Collection Business " tells how a $15 a week man rose from the uncertainty and hardship of salaried drudgery — to the ownership of a big-paying, $15,000 a year business. You'll find tremendous interest in the story because what this man did then, you can do now. For I am the man — arKi my personal experience in the collection field — and the success I have had in teaching others what I know, is suffici- ent assurance that what I have taught hundreds of others — I can teach you. Capital is unnecessary to starting in the col- lection business. All you need is a willingness to earn more— and the ambition to get ahead. The postcard necessary to bring this booklet to you may mean the difference between the stru^firle for a livelihood and an independent competence for life. Others have found it so. Learn what it means to you. W. A. SHRYER, Pres. American Collection Service 481 State Street, Detroit, Michigan A Small But Consistent Puller The Business Philosopher, published by Mr. Arthur W. Sheldon, is a magazine used by The American Collection Service steadily since our first insertion was tried in Janu- ary, 1909. The publication is large in neither size nor cir- culation, but has proved a very consistent puller. It is the only magazine, except System, which we have used prac- tically every issue, for which reason a tabulated result of the advertising will be shown, in the same form as that em- ployed in the previous chapter on System results. The Business Philosopher, has a circulation of some 30,000 and goes for the most part to students and graduates of Shel- don's School of Salesmanship. Its readers are obviously the kind of men to whom our proposition should appeal, as the great majority of them are ambitious, young men. They are, moreover, favorably predisposed toward any scientific instruction by correspondence, the result of the excellent training most of them have secured in the Sheldon School. The net profit from our continuous advertising in the Business Philosopher does not in any degree compare with that of our System advertising, which, however, is not a result at all surprising, as no magazine has been able to do for us what System does regularly and consistently. For the size of its circulation Business Philosopher has pulled steadily for us to a rather remarkable degree, as the follow- ing table of results will show : BUSINESS PHILOSOPHER 1909 Inq. Cost Cash 16 lines Jan. 19 $1.35 $10.00 16 lines Feb. 14 1.39 23.00 42 lines Mar. 18 6.66 >^Page June yi inch class. MPage July 25 lines Aug. No Ins. Sept. K inch class. 1 Page Oct. >2 inch class. 1 Page Nov, K inch class. 1 Page Dec. 1911 iPage y2 inch class. Jan. K inch class. 1 Page Feb. yi inch class. 1 Page KPage Mar. yi inch class. 1 Page Apr. >2 inch class. KPage IPage May K inch class. >^Page 1 Page June yi inch class. KPage July KPage 1 Page Aug. yi Page 1 Page Sept. No Ins. Oct. Inq. 38 Cost $ 1.66 Cash $ 63.00 16 6.85 1.48 29 6 36.34 120.00 48.16 22 105.31 51.00 16 19 18.51 17.36 62.30 32.00 16 17 5 18.50 5.72 26.00 65.00 108.00 19 35.86 89 . 42 32 35.86 58.50 23 36.10 41.00 Inq. Cost Cash 32 $36.10 $25.00 32 36.10 31.00 38 85.96 67.50 21 56.10 51.00 26 53.46 155.00 16 53.46 32.50 35 18.74 205 . 00 28 52.08 70.15 36 52.08 92.50 13 110.00 An analysis of the results from this publication prove the absence of any cumulative value, just as every other series of results has done. The increase in cost has been steady. In the year 1909 the average cost per inquiry was 63 cents, A Small But Consistent Puller 197 COLLECT IT YOURSELF— AND SAVE 10% Any io9^ collpction can bo collected quicker and belter by you than anybody else, tchen you learn how. Shrver's "Collection Sense and Science" is short, but cumplcteand forceful. So simple in operation that none but an cxT'cri could devise so much in so little. The first remedy alone has saved the largest abstract com- pany in America thousands of dollars. COLLECTIO.V SENSE AND SCIENCE fulfills every reqiiJrement for current collections. Coupled with the new Collection Magazine you m.iy Icjra how to prevent and reduce your "desperate collections." BUSINESS SERVICE i* the NEW COLLECTION MAGAZINE :e" course in credits and collections. It is now runn cles tiiat will save any business man hundreds of do defense^ iS Bankruptcy. Statute of Limitations. Infat The other licries deals with Cotlectioa Psychology, BUSINESS SER\ICE is a "Post-Graduate" course in credits and collect other vital collection helps, two series of articles ti.at will save any business plains how to prevent and overcome such defense^ iS Bankruptcy. Statute of Limitations. Infancy. Statute A Two DoUar Bill will bring vou B postpaid, by return mail Send the worth we' 11 send it luck. W. A. SHRYER, Editor BUSINESS SERVICE, 352 Mack Bldg^ D^oit. Mich. Reduced 56 line Cash-with-Order Copy. Did not pjiy. plus. The following year the average cost increased to $1.43, plus. The past year, 1911, shows an average cost of $1.60, plus, up to November 1st. The continuous showings of our copy in Business Phi- losopher showed a decreasing profit some time prior to Octo- ber, but with that issue we withdrew all copy for two months, in order to allow the publication a chance to "catch up." It has been found possible to continue many publications as paying mediums by following this policy with much greater frequency. A publication that shows an increasing net loss, if used every month, may be turned into a fair payer by keeping out of it for intervals of several months' duration. Inasmuch as most publications secure new readers constantly, and secure them in respectable numbers, it is possible to continue showings in them that would be impossible if the appeals were being repeated, even in different form, to the same old readers. It is the changing circulation that makes any publication valuable to advertisers. The more staid a publication and the more constant its reading circulation the poorer the medium. Many exceedingly "respectable" and conventional maga- zines appear to hold the wonderful theory that because the same old grandfathers read their sheets month in and month out, for decades at a time, they have in that fact a great talking point for advertising patronage. Nothing can be more stultifying. It is the new readers that make any consistent repetition of advertisements in any degree possi- ble. The more there are of them and the faster they change the better the publication from an advertiser's viewpoint. 198 Analytical Advertising A good many publications devote considerable effort to convincing advertisers that their readers renew in large proportions. I would rather have new readers, gained in almost any way, than old ones renewed constantly. Free subscriptions are better than the same old readers month in and month out. Every new reader is a new prospect, likely to be appealed to through the novelty of your first appeal to him. Changing copy or changing the entire style of your appeal is less effective than having new readers for old copy. Advertising a City All of the records in the preceding chapters lend no strength to the cumulative value superstition. I think that this statement will occasion no denial from any but the most hopelessly prejudiced. The answer from the latter, however, will be as ready as it is pat, namely, that "mail order records are in a class by themselves." Having secured a set of returns that are in no sense "mail order" results I wish to "spread them on the record" at this juncture, as they are of interest from more than one view- point. *^ In May 1911, at the Affiliation of Advertising Clubs in Cleveland, Mr. Lucius Wilson, Secretary of the Detroit Board of Commerce, spoke at the evening banquet. In discussing "Advertising a City" he took occasion to em- phasize the cumulative value secured by the city of Des Moines in the advertising campaign inaugurated there by Mr. Wilson himself. On our return to Detroit I challenged him to produce any proof for the statements so glibly made, at the same time expressing as my opinion that his remarks had as little foundation in fact as every other statement of a similar kind I had previously succeeded in running to earth. Presuming on our pleasant relations in connection with the Detroit Board of Commerce Publicity Committee, I at- tempted to read Mr. Wilson a lecture on the evils of teach- ing the young pernicious doctrine. He in turn upbraided me as an iconoclast whose utter confusion he would force me to admit. Possessing the records, he cheerfully agreed to produce them, but was prevented from doing so for sev- eral weeks, when they were at last found. Our wordy argu- ments over the subject were tempered with a great deal of friendly banter, culminating in a rout for Mr. Wilson, he was sufficiently magnanimous to confess, when the figures were at last produced. It is extremely unlikely that any advertising man is entirely ignorant of the campaign itself, as the publicity efforts of Des Moines have been turned to profit by the pub- lications carrying the copy and the agents placing the busi- 199 200 Analytical Advertising ness. These by-products of the original expenditures have doubtless served in a large measure to put "Des Moines on the map," of however doubtful vahie such a result may prove intrinsically. The campaign started in iVpril, 1910. Mr. Wilson was at that time Secretary of The Greater Des Moines Com- mittee, and had worked heroically for a number of months in convincing his members that a national advertising cam- paign was the tonic Des Moines needed. His efforts were rewarded by an appropriation of $10,000, to be spent in magazines of national distribution. In order to secure "cu- mulative value" it was decided that this appropriation should be spent in a limited number of publications, and that the insertions of the copy should be as consecutive as possible. The campaign of the first year started with the Saturday Evening Post on iVpril 23, with a full page spread, and was followed at intervals with six quarter pages and one half page. In the May issue of the World's Work a two-page spread started, followed by four full pages at intervals to be shown in the tables that follow. Before the expiration of the first year Mr. Wilson left Des Moines to accept the secretaryship of the Detroit Board of Commerce, but the work started by him was carried on during the year 1911 by his successor, Mr. Ralph P. Bolton. I am greatly indebted to both Mr. Wil- son and Mr. Bolton for the complete record of the adver- tising done by Des Moines, and I take this occasion to acknowledge my indebtedness to each. The records that immediately follow show the totals for the 1910 advertising. Each separate piece of copy was keyed differently and the results show the total number of inquiries up to December 8, 1910. iVs a matter of actual fact the records on which Mr. Wilson assumed to base a deduc- tion of cumulative value afforded no real basis for any con- sideration of this nature, as no regular or consistent system of absolutely consecutive showings had been observed. The record of the World's Work campaign will be shown first, as follows : Advertising a City 201 THE SATURD/tr EVENING POST First Des Moines Copy 202 Analytical Advertising WORLD'S WORK Advertising Report up to December 8th, 1910 Name of Magazine No. of pages Date No. of replies Cost Av. Cost W. W. Double Page May 61 $306.24 $5 . 002 W. W. One " June 75 153.12 2.04 W. w. " " Sept. 34 153.12 4.50 w. w. " " Oct. 25 153.12 6.012 w. w. << " Nov. 27 153.12 5.67 Six Pages 222 $918.72 $4,138 The average cost of these six pages was $4.13, plus, per inquiry. • Only one of the five showings made developed a cost of less than the average, namely that of the second showing, in June. The last cost is greater than the first cost, and greater than the average cost. The low cost of the June insertion is perfectly understandable, when the copy is examined. The June copy is the one good piece of copy of the lot. This is not given as a criticism, as the records prove the statement. On the opposite page I have repro- duced the four full pages used in World's Work. It is easy to understand the interest quality of the copy "How Will You Invest Your Son," and in view of its increased pulling power justify an instant choice for it as the one good piece of copy of the lot. The justification for this comparison further proves itself in the record of the Saturday Evening Post. This copy did even better there, reducing an aver- age cost from $3,198 to $1.21, the best of the entire series by over 100%. The two-page spread is not reproduced. Such copy takes up entirely too much space, and is inter- esting to but the few with money to throw away. The record of results in Saturday Evening Post for 1910 will be illustrated by reduced reproductions of the copy run. Eight pieces were used. The June copy in World's Work was used as a quarter page in the Post on July 23rd. The page reproduced from the September issue of World 's Work was used as a quarter page in the Post on May 14th. The World's Work full page of October was used more effectively in the Post as a half page on September 24th. Advertising a City 203 June, 1910 September, 1910 I Des Moines rjt.vcfrf;rt(\int>iGs' !^^DfsMoines.("itvoF( c-rtuintics^^ ) Hill Siin'f . / (,i„:iiii- (Jt) /.s tin .S,//<-,»/ -rhiiC ,., |,,,,.^. iiji l.arth fnr brci'stiiicnts. M-HK \.:.iinu' .T OlNCK 1<>(((I i)^sM..nH-s— th<- Citx ..t" r.crt.imtics .. IS t.ikiii^ no D „!,,,>. .'r,.«n in iiopulatKin trcm 62,1,V; to „ the Crv ,.f ,n,M.r,o i^ rh.it in •, uhat? /Ay:- // /// ) I)f ^Mmth'S ( il\ ot ( Des Moines.Citv of Certainties Fitl) j)iikrtnt \v\\ \la lul u ni,Li> U UHHf !-pi!iR . .Ill Of^portiniity or ii CcrtdiiitY: \l^|■^ MOlMSwn.^i kn,.un all <,x cr the Inilcd iiiiin October, 1910 November, 1910 204 Analytical Advertising These pieces are not again reproduced. The other Post quarter pages are four in number and will be found repro- duced on one page in this chapter, properly marked as to dates run. I have also reproduced the full page advertise- ment with which the campaign was inaugurated in Satur- day Evening Post on April 23, 1910. The tabulated re- sults are as follows: Name of Magazine SATURDAY EVENING POST Advertising Report up to December 8th, 1910 No. of s. E. P. 1 Page s. E. P. X ' s. E. P. K ' s. E. P. X ' s. E. P. X ' s. E. P. X ' s. E. P. K ' s. E. P. K ' Tota Is, 3 Pag es Date 4-23-10 5-14-10 6-11-10 7-23-10 8-13-10 9-10-10 9-24-10 10-22-10 ,. Cost replies 733 $2970.00 742.50 156 139 611 285 296 423 189 2823 742.50 742.50 742.50 742.50 1485.00 891.00 19058.50 Av. Cost $4 . 05 4.75 5.34 1.21 2.64 2.50 3.51 4.71 $3,198 An analysis of this record reveals no semblance of proof of cumulative value. The records are purely indicative of the various pulling powers of the several different pieces of copy run. In but three instances are dis- covered costs lower than the average cost. These are in July, August and September. The lowest cost is that of July the 23rd, when the best copy appeared, the "How Will You Invest Your Son?" copy. The last cost is higher than the first cost, and after the appearance of the best copy there is a gradual increase in cost of incpiiries every month. Mr. Wilson, in furnishing me with the above records, was forced to admit the slight grounds afforded by them for the statement made by him for them. In acknowledg- ing this fact he advised me that what he really had in mind was the 1911 record, which he assured me would sustain his position. Through the courtesy of Mr. Bolton, Mr. Wilson's suc- cessor, I have been furnished with the results of the Des Advertising a City 205 June 11 August 13 EVENING TOST Des Moines .Ceti^iTvtyfalk nM ^SDes'Moin'es^Gftai^nWlaiKNb^ of chance elsewhere are Certainties Moines. 2,500,000 people in Iowa— so they average J200 deposited in the and that their per capita wealth is buy things from Dcs Moines. op|>ortuni(y— you want a ccr- yOU-^on't want taint^ Dcs Moines has more people of inde- pendent iiliicoinc than any other city of its size in the United Sj^alcs. Whether your money works for you, or you Utork with your brains or your hands, Des Moines rsVour City of Certainties. CERTAINTY is yours because you are in the midst of prosperity. Opportunity knocks when the neighfi^orhtxjd is lonesome. Dcs Moines is the City of Ccrtainlies. • It is the heart of the State of Success. Des Moines is the most-talked-aboui city of its size in the country. No other city in the world is located, in the center of as rich and prosper- ous a trade territory, with no competition. \\ MhN are rsUMbhing lic^ II has nMhiim to scll-n iic!« nn*n in the City of CrrtAliK. tlraiiiaj Vhyi The tcrriloty is (fewktpcd ^a^- to >-ou has frowa fitly vears am] has really uAN lanl to do. No charge foe vised tn sootheni our|rrrice«. eser. 150,000 left over. \S T«,,Ai.ii. I &o ■pvRSMC A^ fw farm tneons ire rrquiffl in Iowa. -HK-y iiijkM » w«ll in ar»l sold froai Drs Moinrs. tn railwjiyscrnlcTin Tin Moines. September 10 October 22 206 Analytical Advertising & Moines advertising for 1911. Before reproducing the record I call attention to the fact that the continuity of the advertising had been seriously impaired, as nothing appeared between November and February. Moreover the 1911 copy is noticeably an improvement over that of the year before. It is stronger in attention value, and savors less of the abstract. It is no matter of opinion, so far as I am concerned, that it is better copy. The results show that. That it is stronger in attention value I may advance an instance that was brought home to me. In seeking the various pieces of copy in the different maga- zines I found it necessary to hunt through the Saturday Evening Post twice for over half of the 1910 showings. In two instances I was convinced the wrong dates had been furnished me, and was forced to hunt a third time before finding the copy. With the 1911 copy the pictures irresistibly drew me to the proper copy the first time I came to it in each publication, and in two instances caught my eye in column form jn the Post, when the instructions quoted quarter pages. Both are quarter page sizes in the Post, but I was not expecting to find these two in this form. In this connection I was surprised to find my attention caught by the two perpendicular half pages in Every- body's, when seeking what I had mis-read to be full pages. This tendency of the perpendicular copy emphasized the increasing attention value of the new 1911 copy, but the tabulated results disclosed an increase in cost for this half page position almost four times as great as the page copy in the same publication. It would have been ex- ceedingly interesting if one of the half pages had been run horizontally, that a comparison might have been made that would serve to sustain the previous point made rela- tive to attention value and the golden section. What horizontal copy loses in the Post it gains by virtue of its position throughout its length next reading matter, which the figures that follow will make interesting. The following chart shows the results of the Des Moines advertising in the Saturday Evening Post, the World's Work and Everybody's: Advertising a City 207 This Aclvertisenieut is for the Young Man Possih/v lie is )'niir Son -f> Des Moines ' is the ;;', ';•••;;; ^.' f \^, i Young Man 's City sinDcs\l< P li.llj ulth, ,/, >i,i iit'iry. NO ni,m has an mlinitu Mn ^'^;-'"" '"■■" THE yoii'n: •! Hi ..I mi, MLi'T i-iii tision, who «jn;s to T'lii bru'Mi hn-.mL,-, f..r !ko.iiii' W« kh> w Win «hr rxn t ( and ad*i*c htm 'f )w v /)«• Moines, The City of C'erlaiiilics The Greoler Dcs Moines Oimmillcc 1 hi man il Im .^ ii)il\ to hi lii^ n fl-JSS shniilJ lu'< III J)ts Mon. Ihs I/../;,,-.-- 7' Dts Moines Comniitlcc »i,s Moll.c Des Motnes is the Ideal l^ocation fur \nn a% a Manufacturer 1 (BXMKJI) IM IVll) , ^.11, un nui l),srnl>ut.»n ,n I .'t .silM ihtrc Wtslull Ik a' >»'i"i Mmstton I if I (inuicr I)es Moines Committee lis Cutii»:tm l^iiz.. //» i UotwtTi. fowa Characteristic 1911 Copy 208 Analytical Advertising REPORT OF GREATER DES MOINES COMMITTEE ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN Up to October 1, 1911 A,r Magazine Space Date No. of replies Cost ^^^.tP^"" inq. S. E. P. >^Page June. 1911 37 233.75 6.31 " >^Page Sept., 1911 35 233.75 6.68 1 Page Oct., 1911 18 467.50 25.97 Total 633 $1870.00 $2.95 The 1911 results as above given show a steadily in- creasing cost every month that is too consistent to need analysis. The absence of "cumulative value" is mani- fest. Owing to the improvement in the copy no com- parison with last year's costs is even justifiable, and the 1911 campaign reflects, to all intents and purposes, a new set of advertising records. In justice to Mr. Wilson it may be pointed out that the low costs for the first months were the only ones in his mind when he compared 1911 costs with 1910. The obvious lack of comparative rela- tionship between the two campaigns is the point abso- lutely neglected by him. A four months' gap in publicity, and the marked superiority of the new copy make any comparative analysis absolutely futile. Advertising a City 209 On another page will be found four characteristic pieces of the 1911 copy reproduced. The same style of illustra- tion and attractive design were carried out with all copy used. Variations of the same copy appeared in all of the three mediums, slight differences being noticeable, due to changing sizes and shapes of the copy. In connection with the two best pieces of copy used in the Saturday Evening Post it is interesting to note that each reflects the attractive features of the only good piece of copy of 1910. The copy of February 18, 1911, had this head line: "This Advertisement is for the Young Man — Possibly He Is Your Son." The next best piece is that of February 4, the "Des Moines is the Young Man's City" copy. Eliminating these two human interest, personal appeal pieces of copy, the cost advances mate- rially. Next to one's self, nothing is so near or personal as your boy. Many parents are really more interested in their children than in themselves, and the pulling power of this rare little touch has manifested itself in the returns to a degree that is noteworthy. Before closing this chapter I wish to make myself per- fectly clear on one point, which is my motive in discredit- ing a statement made by my very good friend, Lucius Wilson. ]VIy persistence in calling attention to his claim of cumulative value, where the records show none, is in no degree a personal reflection. As I thoroughly ex- plained to Mr. Wilson, and as I feel assured he under- stands, my criticism was a general one and not particular. It is my belief that the present superstition has been fostered by a lack of analysis on the part of the advertiser quite as much as it is due to calculated misrepresentation on the part of the seller of advertising. In the present instance a speaker endowed with implied authority makes a statement that is definite and direct to some three hun- dred advertisers. This statement is credited at its face value by practically every man present, except myself. Such statements have been made at almost every gather- ing of advertising men I ever attended. This is the first time I felt close enough to the man making the statement to openly question his basis forj believing what he said. W ith a magnanimity a smaller man would entirely lack, 14 210 Analytical Advertising Mr. Wilson afforded me every help with the present rec- ord, and I can only hope that my deductions have con- vinced him, as I trust they may convince others, that a great degree of our confidence in cumulative value is no more stable than that attending any character of fetish worship. Waste in General Publicity So strong is the superstition of cumulative value, that any contemplation of its possible shortcomings is viewed as a sacrilege by those who guide their advertising lives by the light of its luring beacon. Those who are forced to admit the discrepancies of this doctrine, when confronted by proof of its fallacy, as applied to keyed advertising, still cling with devotional faith to its great efficiency in "general publicity." A philosophical consideration of this phase of advertis- ing phenomena will therefore be pertinent, if not convinc- ing, to the prejudiced. As the human mind is prone to be- lieve as true any plausible theory of action, it is easy to understand the grip exerted by this belief, so comforting to those who would overcome a re^sting people by the mere force of riotous publicity. Advertising history, meager and garbled at best, is replete with popular legends, tending to confuse the un- initiated, and to spur the successful to repeated orgies of wasteful expenditures. Many are the wonderful stories of advertising successes, repeated with convincing details of millions spent ere the goal was reached. Many are the glowing tributes paid to far-seeing masters of publicity, content to spend, and spend and spend, knowing that in the end the tide would turn, and the golden flood, blown by the steady wind of cumulative value, spread its wealth of advertising success at their deserving feet. In proving to my own perfect satisfaction that there is no such thing as cumulative value, per se, in repeated showings of advertisements, it has become necessary to devote some thought to the claims made for this super- stition by those the hardest to confound. This class of believers embraces all who advertise on the pure "pub- licity" theory. Any supposition entertained or advanced by them presents a problem that absolutely defies solution, as the very nature of the conditions precludes the presen- tation of any definite proofs. In settling this question for himself every advertiser is, moreover, strongly biased by desire to give full credit to the man who "guesses" there 211 212 Analytical Advertising is such a thing as cumulative value. As an advertiser I would hke nothing better than to feel such a belief were true, for the proof of such a doctrine would be comforting to an incalculable degree. The operation of such a law, were it proved to exist, would excuse and compensate many an error of past performance. It would be a steady guide for all future action, palliating the conviction of error that now succeeds so many disastrous advertising gambles. Convinced to the contrary, a discussion of the several phases will be outlined, fully aware that my reasons for a belief opposed to that of so many savors as strongly of the suppositious as do the arguments of those whose conclu- sions I so strongly decry. The most persistent evidence claimed for the theory is that just noted, that so many advertising successes follow a long and tedious campaign, unsuccessful for a consider- able period, but ultimately profitable through sheer per- sistence. As a corollary to this argument instances are frequently advanced of vast sums being spent in futile attempts to secure public recognition, only to achieve success after untold amounts have been sunk in preparing the way. Many are the veracious cases where such con- ditions have existed, but a close scrutiny of any one or more will almost invariably disclose a change in policy directly responsible for the final success. Spurred by curiosity I have run down a number of these wondrous tales. It has been remarkable to note that the stories of the vast sums squandered have usually been distorted beyond all semblance of truth. It is also a noteworthy phenomenon that the tide has always appeared to turn when real intelligence was injected into such a campaign. An entire reversal in policy, such as the "chance" use of real pulling copy in the darkest hour before dawn, or the interjection of a real human idea into the campaign itself, is usually found to be the real basis for the sudden success of many a long drawn out failure. I am of the personal opinion that most belated successes are due to an educa- tion secured at a most costly price, and that the real suc- cess might have been secured easier and better on the start, had the eventually successful plan been the one tried Waste in General Publicity 213 first, rather than last. So firmly have the sellers of ad- vertising convinced their public that vast sums must be spent in order to turn the public tide that the subject of appropriations seems to be the most natural thing in the world. A business about to embark on an advertising campaign sets aside a certain amount it feels able to lose, kissing the money good-by with as few feehngs of regret as it would entertain in shipping a prodigal to the other side of the world. Until the last few years it seemed exceptionally penurious to even ask where the money was to be spent, much less to expect any return until a long period of waiting had elapsed. That immediate results are the real results, is beginning to possess the advertiser. This is forcibly reflected in a masterpiece of advertising literature now being widely circulated by an agency whose claims to divine inspiration are somewhat miti- gated in that a realization of actual returns is emphasized as the one desirable aim, toward which their every effort is confidently directed. This same noteworthy booklet quotes several examples of the point above mentioned, making clear, whether they so intend or not, that the most profitable results are the quick and certainly predicated ones. That such as quoted have inevitably followed their masterful grasp on a previously wobbling tiller, is ob- viously the idea they seek to convey. A master hand wrote the book, which is beside the issue, to be sure, for the point I make is the number of advertising failures they turned to advertising successes, not because of the cumu- lative effect of the previously squandered fortunes, but of the instantaneous results following intelligent direction. Granting that millions are squandered before a success is assured, there is little to prove by it except the ignorance of an establishment willing to spend foolishly. A success- ful success is greatest at its birth. Time and "cumulative value" increase costs and lessen profits. One of the greatest causes for a belief in this theory is a disregard for records. Compare your present cost of doing business with that of five years ago. If you have not kept dependable cost records, now is a good time to begin. Compare your cost of today with that of six months hence. Advertising costs are increasing for every- 214 Analytical Advertising body. It has notably increased for almost all of us during every passing year. If there were cumulative value, costs would decrease. This is so obvious that it seems absurd to quote it, yet many whose actual records show a steady increase in cost will argue longest that there is cumulative value. The favorite example of the seller of space is that of a man who has read of an advertised product for years, and suddenly having a need for that certain product unhesi- tatingly buys the article he has so many times slightingly considered in hundreds of advertisements. Such men undoubtedly exist. Many buy in just this way, but such sales would not pay for one-fiftieth of the advertising car- ried to secure such sales. It is the man or woman who reads an advertisement and almost at once responds to its charm that makes constant advertising profitable. In attempting to predicate a law of human action on such occasional tendencies it is claimed by those who believe in it that such actions are the inevitable result of what they term the workings of the "sub-conscious mind." Any consideration of this most interesting phase of psycho- logical action would necessitate a volume in itself. There are, nevertheless, a number of fairly certain established facts in connection with the sub-conscious that may be profitably considered. The general theory of sub-conscious mental activity as- sumes a brain centre, directive in character, and most potent in all human action. The function of the sub-conscious is strictly an economical one. Its greatest function appears to be the direction of movements of an habitual character. Such movements are within the province of the sub- conscious only after they have been made habitual through active and voluntary performance. By far the greatest number of our daily actions are directed and made harmonious through the workings of the sub-conscious mind. We are actually unconscious of the most custom- ary actions that attend our movements throughout every working day. It is easy to secure a realization of the vast influence they exert by analyzing our movements of a single hour. If you will turn the voluntary attention to your actions on arising, and do nothing for a single hour Waste in General Publicity 215 except perform voluntary movements, you will appreciate the vast amount of energy conserved by the action of the sub-conscious. You will find it impossible to tell which movements to make on arising, and will find it utterly hopeless to guess accurately just how you put on your every garment. You will find an uncontrollable impulse to put on one certain sock first, or to stoop in a certain position to tie your shoe, and so on with every little action that accompanies your every movement. These actions have been rendered automatic through habit, and their direction assumed by that portion of our nervous system we term the sub-conscious. The seat of activity direct- ing such movements is for the most part the spinal cord. This has been proved, in connection with a large number of actions, through experiments on animals, and a good many on human beings. An excellent book on this sub- ject is Joseph Jastrow's "The Sub-Conscious." With this class of sub-conscious activity the advertiser is not primarily concerned, as the presence of a habit can- not be subject to possession until a certain number of performances ensue. The reading of an advertisement any number of times cannot induce a buying habit, even when the attention to the reading is voluntary. The phenomenon of the sub-conscious, chosen by the cumulative value believer as a bulwark, is that of what may be termed associative sub-conscious action. Aside from the proved centers of sub-conscious activity, located in the spinal cord, there is doubtless another center, or centers, located possibly in the brain itself. The function of this activity is particularly noticeable under abnormal conditions. It is also highly important in the normal states of consciousness. In a previous chapter mention was made of the very narrow range of the field of con- sciousness. This narrowed field applies to attention or any other phase of consciousness. In focusing the atten- tion at any time there is always a range of perfect clarity, which may be likened to our perfect visualization of a cer- tain room. There is a certain limited portion of the room that stands out with perfect clearness, but the exact point at which things cease to be clearly seen and recognized in their proper proportions is a hard matter to decide. As 216 Analytical Advertising a matter of fact we are more or less conscious all the time of intruding features of interest that seem to crowd in from the edges. We seem to be aware of certain objects beyond the range of direct vision. Their outlines are more or less indistinct, and our ideas of them may be en- tirely foreign to the exact nature of the objects arousing such images in the mind. These outside images are prone to change and fluctuate constantly, while all the time the perfect range of vision has not been changed at all. We are perfectly conscious of the objects within the direct range of vision. We are imperfectly conscious of those without the field of consciousness. The presence of those without the field of consciousness is just as real as those within, and both are integral portions of our waking condition. It is obvious that we are able to attend voluntarily to a very limited radius. It is just as obvious that sensa- tions are millions in number that might be secured were the field of consciousness one that allowed attention to every stimulus surging in on us from all sides. It is a favorite theory on the part of a good many that the human mind is receptive to all these sensations in some mysterious man- ner, and that they get through to the brain and find ac- tual lodgment there. Such a theory assumes that in spite of the concentration of the active mind, there is another mind that soaks up every sensation that is cast our way, and that under the proper sub-conscious stim- uli these sensations come to the front and are guides to action, as sub-conscious in character as were their original reception. The greatest faith placed in such a remark- able condition is usually the product of mental investi- gators susceptible to manifestations they are unable to explain except from a supernatural basis. There are many vagaries of perfectly normal minds that present associations it is impossible to trace. A believer in the mysterious power of an all-seeing sub-conscious mind can explain almost any manifestation by endowing it with a power no logic or reason could sustain. To many the operation of a "Planchette" is an indication of almost supernatural powers, while to others it appears a "fake," pure and simple. As a matter of fact it is neither, when Waste in General Publicity 217 conscientiously operated. It is the purely sub-conscious operation of the hand and arm, directed by lines of association in the sub-conscious mind. It cannot be oper- ated successfully unless the attention is utterly submerged, and the power to do this is rare. Those who possess such a power do really remarkable things, but there is nothing mysterious about them, nor anything beyond the range of actual experience. It is a favorite theory of a good many, especially ad- vertisers, that the repeated appearance of a certain piece of copy will at last have its effect on the individual, whether he consciously attends to it or not. This theory is that mentioned above. It assumes that the persistent and repeated picture of a thing at last seeps its way to some seat of consciousness, either the sub-conscious or the active conscious. It further assumes that if the picture is repeated long enough there is no chance on earth for the individual to escape it eventually. There are absolutely no proofs of any kind to substantiate any such belief. If there are any I have failed to find them. There are any number of weird theories, as numerous as fortune tellers, but no proofs. There are plenty of proofs that a sub-conscious mind exists, and that it directs the action of human beings aside from the habitual operations everyone recognizes and admits. The manner of its exact operation is still to be demonstrated scientifically, but it is safe to prophesy that it will be. Dreams are a manifestation of this sub- conscious activity, and they are being rapidly dissected and understood in a manner to throw a great deal of light on an interesting subject. The explanation of the sub-conscious given by Professor Jastrow is quite likely to be as near the true solution as any. It certainly has the quality of rational and logical common sense so foreign to a great many of the trans- cendental meanderings now prevalent. Jastrow" endows the normal mind with a sub-conscious, directing center. This center directs many actions that would prove burdensome if necessity demanded conscious attention to everything we did. In this sub-conscious mind are stored the results of all experience, colored to be 218 Analytical Advertising sure, by ever changing associations, but always there in hazy if not definite and conclusive outline. These thoughts are what I may term "storage ideas," and they are subject to the laws of association in a large degree sim- ilar to those of conscious activity. In order to grant the possession of a single idea in the sub-conscious mind it must first be granted that such an idea at some time entered the mind through the channel of direct attention. That is, no idea can become stored in the mind, or be sub- ject to recall either voluntarily or by the sub-conscious mind unless it first passes through the portals of voluntary attention. Such a belief in the sub-conscious mind is to me the only sane or logical solution of the entire problem. It appears trite to repeat that you can take nothing out unless it went in. Unless the mind actively attends to an idea there is small chance for any one to prove a mysterious channel of entry, that is contrary to every known and proved fact about the human brain. If this position of Professor Jastrow's is correct it sim- plifies the cumulative value theory to a nicety. Unless an individual is consciously impressed with your advertise- ment there is no chance for action from him. It is a tru- ism that repetition of a sensation breeds heedlessness to it. Therefore unless at some one time an individual sees an advertisement, is impressed with it, and desires to possess the article it describes, and wants it then, the greatest power of that advertisement, for that individual, abso- lutely passes. To continue the advertisement, hoping to get that individual through repetition, is downright folly. To continue an argument relative to such a subject is a waste of time. Those who do not grant these premises will never believe it. Those who would convince them- selves may read Jastrow, Sidis, or any number of author- ities. There is little but superstition and mysticism to any other viewpoint. A characteristic of the associations manifested by the sub-conscious mind is that of a mixed or incomplete ex- pression. The action so directed is quite likely to be ap- parently foreign to the stimulus that occasioned it. From an advertiser's standpoint the associations that prompt a final action through the sub-conscious mind are very un- Waste in General Publicity 219 reliable, and likely to be anything but profitable. iVn in- stance of this pecuHarity of the sub-conscious developed in my personal experience in June, 1911. At the Buffalo banquet of the Affiliated Advertising Clubs I devoted a brief ten minutes to an attack on the cumulative value superstition. One of the subsequent speakers at the dinner took grave exceptions to my utter- ances on the subject. I had chanced to compare my rela- tively short stature with that of our tall friend, Tom Dockrell, and had mentioned my inches *'in my Hole Proofs.'" The advertising counsellor who followed glee- fully pounced on this expression as a proof that cumula- tive value had sold me "Hole Proofs," and took a great deal of satisfaction in confounding an argument so repugnant to his attitude of mind. I was asked later whether I really wore "Hole Proofs." I was unable to say truthfully, but proceeded to find out. The development is a beautiful example of the unreliable associations of the sub-con- scious mind. My wife buys my socks, a dozen pairs at a time, and on returning home I asked her whether I was wearing "Hole Proofs" or not. She advised that I was not, and told me her experience. A year ago she had seen an advertise- ment that guaranteed hosiery, and called at a store to buy me that kind. She asked for " Wear-for-E ver " socks, and described them to the clerk as the kind that furnished coupons good for a new pair for every worn out one. The clerk had never heard of such socks, but showed her "Hole Proofs," with the exact kind of coupon she described. These she bought. A year elapsing she called at the same store for another supply, but could not secure my size in the kind she previously purchased, namely, "Hole Proofs." The clerk advised her, however, that he had an equally good sock known as the "Ever- Wear," which was the kind she evidently had in mind the first time, for which the clerk had easily substituted "Hole Proofs." I was therefore wearing in Buffalo, not "Hole Proofs," purchased through any cumulative value in their advertising, but an entirely different make, purchased after a year's wear of "Hole Proofs." The tendency of the sub-conscious mind in the first purchase was distorted, 220 Analytical Advertising from the advertised name "Ever- Wear" to "Wear-for- Ever," and both sales were made through the recommen- dations of the clerk, which practically nullified the adver- tising's impulse each time. Such manifestations are typical ones, and nullify most advertising that does not occasion a direct and certain sale the first time it arouses attention and interest. Any study of the sub-conscious mind is productive in the conviction that a certain percentage of human action is due to impulses secured through repeated stimuli. To predicate such results with any degree of certainty it is necessary to have present an abnormal state of con- sciousness. The average mind is normal. The abnor- mal condition is always in the minority. Moreover, the abnormal state is a very fluctuating one, and subject to a reversion to normal without warning. It is quite pos- sible that a certain degree of successful advertising is due to cumulative effect on just this class of human beings. It is hardly reasonable to suppose that it is a condition sufiiciently constant and stable to warrant an expectation of results in profitable average returns. Some advertising appeals to the abnormal at all times. Patent medicine advertising is an example of this. For the general adver- tiser to expect the law of averages to yield him such a profit is certainly a false hope. As intimated at the beginning of this chapter actual proofs of the results of repeated appeals are very meager and unsatisfactory. The conditions that exist with a mail order business, in the matter of following up inquiries, compare favorably with the attempt of the general ad- vertiser to stimulate sales through repeated showings of copy. With mail order businesses an element not present in general publicity obtains, namely, that their re- peated letters or advertising material fall on more recep- tive ground than do general appeals. In this respect a record of such results should throw a profitable light on the workings of the average mind when stimulated by re- peated appeals. That each recipient is presumably inter- ested gives the mail order man an advantage. If, in spite of this advantage, the response proves to be a decreasing quality, the proof is not only of comparative value, but Waste in General Publicity 221 reasonable grounds for deducing that the general law works to greater disadvantage to the general advertiser. The records of such results are the basis for any mail order success. It is astounding to learn how few keep such records, but those who do may find a parallel with the results about to be shown. The American Collection Service keeps an accurate record of the pulling power of every letter, both regular and special. In the regular fol- low-up five letters are used, which are mailed at intervals of fifteen days. With each letter more or less elaborate booklets are sent. After the expiration of the five regular letters a special letter is mailed about every three months. It usually takes about three months to discover a letter that will pull sufficiently well on a test list to warrant sending to the entire number. If the showing on a test letter is profitable the entire list is sent the same letter, with an average return in keeping with the average of the test. The record that follows is a typical one, and will reflect the same average returns of any other lot that might be chosen from our records. Number No. of Amount Per- Order of Letters mailed sales cash centage First 28,576 368 $7,844 .012 plus Second 27,623 443 8,882 .015 " Third 27,202 303 5,736 .011 " Fourth 26,966 288 5,166 .0106 " Fifth 21,962 233 3,512 .0106 " Sixth 12,101 161 2,282 .018 " Seventh 10,140 137 2,109 .013 " Eighth 8,558 38 460 .0046 " Ninth 1,205 4 57 .0033 " Tenth 2,808 Eleventh 23,307 90 1,569 .0038 " Twelfth 2,546 16 267 .0062 " Thirteenth 942 7 77 .0074 " Fourteenth 945 3 55 .0031 " Fifteenth 2,644 19 323 .0071 " Sixteenth 29,607 155 3,057 .0052 " Seventeenth 1,828 6 30 .0032 " Eighteenth letter never used Nineteenth 30,983 78 1,434 .0025 " Twentieth 16,102 63 1,188 .0039 " Twenty-first 15,824 15 239 .0009 " 222 iVnalytical Advertising The last two are the same letter, the " twenty -first " going to a list two years older than those sent the "twentieth." It is not necessary to point out the decreasing returns due to repeated appeals. The same tendency of any series of repeated appeals proves the fallacy of the theory that repeated stimuli cause a final surrender of the indi- vidual. Some are prone to be influenced by repeated ap- peals. Otherwise it would not pay to appeal more than once to any one. The point of the matter is this: The strongest appeal is the first, other things being equal. As appeals are repeated, fewer and fewer respond. This certainly is a law. If it is a law, there is no such thing as cumulative value in publications. Another set of letter records I am able to show reflects the same tendencies as those just quoted. The following are results from the kitchen device whose advertising results are quoted in a preceding chapter. The varying number of letters sent from time to time needs slight ex- plaining. When I undertook straightening out this bus- iness no records of any kind had been kept. I found several thousand names had been sent one, two and even three letters at irregular intervals. After digging out the inquiries, I started a series of letters on each lot, and from time to time discovered additional names to which I started the various letters as the names turned up. The names of the previous record had each one secured every letter of the series, had the test on any one letter proved profitable. In the following record I can not vouch for this element of continuity, owing to the conditions just ex- plained. The general results in percentage form, how- ever, reflect the principle in the same manner: No. Sales Cash Percentage First letter 4,109 166 $2,522.35 .04 plus Second letter 4,821 83 1,209.80 .017 " Third letter 5,700 78 1,188.76 .013 " Fourth letter 9,577 145 2,283.44 .015 " Fifth letter 7,286 66 1,005.25 .009 " Sixth letter 8,051 71 978.10 .008 " Seventh letter 3,127 7 102.50 .002 " Eighth letter 823 7 85.00 .008 " Waste in General Publicity 223 Before closing this chapter I wish to show a final record that reflects the condition of continuity, in large space, at an exorbitant price, run consecutively for a period of six months. I will name neither the publication nor the advertiser. The magazine in this instance charges $100 a page and is a "class" publication. The page is longer than the standard size, but narrower. The number of lines would be about the same as a regular standard size. The publication is a weekly, thus affording a most excel- lent opportunity to prove the existence of cumulative value, if any existed. The record is as follows: 1911 April 12 May 24 May 31 June 7 June 14 June 21 June 28 July 5 Julv 12 July 19 July 26 August 2 August 9 August 16 August 23 August 30 September 6 September 13 September 20 September 27 Page 8 inquiries Cost, $100 Returns nothing Page Page 3 inquiries Cost, $200 Returns $20 Page Page Page Page 11 inquiries Cost, $400 Returns, $32.50 Page Page Page Page 16 inquiries Cost, $400 Returns, $20 Page Page Page Page Page 13 inquiries Cost, $500 Returns, $54.50 Page Page Page Page 10 inquiries Cost, $400 Returns, $37.50 If you are an advertiser, give these figures a little thought- ful analysis. If you are inclined to have any faith in cumulative value of publications, seek your records for the slightest proof of its real existence. If you find any, send it to me. I have yet to see or learn of any actual proof that will convince any but the prejudiced that cumulative value is not a myth. If I am right, it is time to explode a fallacy that is draining millions of dollars from the pockets of the ultimate consumer. He foots the bills, not us, but it is time to rectify a great evil. Some are palpably guilty. Conclusion Hungering for both knowledge and experience I have devoted many days and weeks to gratuitous advertising labor. Realizing possibilities, I have investigated a great number of advertising propositions, hoping that among them I might discover the "Great Idea," which is an ideal I trust some day to find. This investigating spirit, spurred, it may be, by the hope of personal profit, has put me in touch with many degrees of advertising efiiciency. It has permitted rare oppor- tunities for analyzing many causes of failure. The great- est of these appears to be ignorance. The novitiate pos- sesses an abiding faith in the potency of advertising that spurs him to almost any absurd length, provided it be called "advertising." This child-like adolescence is not restricted to the beginner, and its blind faith has no counterpart in any other serious business of life. It is often pitiful to analyze the most simple factors of an advertising failure, which were simply incomprehensible to the victim. Aside from fundamental deficiencies that are insuperable, the most glaring evil of the unsuccessful advertiser is a lack of method. It is no uncommon thing to discover a busi- ness expending large sums of money in advertising, with no more record of it than the entry of the payments to an advertising agency. It is the shame of a good many agencies that they do not insist on records being kept by the advertiser. It is not hard to understand why some neglect such important training, but there is no excuse for its prevalence. Much may be learned from failures, but nothing more important than the vital necessity of dependable records. Constantly fluctuating as is all business, striking similarity may be traced in all fundamental tendencies, if records, properly kept, be studied. Careful method in record keeping, with conscientious deductions from the evidence they are bound to afford, will serve to fortify many a struggling advertiser. That a careful study of accurate records will substan- tiate many of the points I have made in previous chapters 15 225 226 Analytical Advertising is illustrated by an article that appeared in Printers' Ink, of November 9tli. It is an extract from an address by S. Roland Hall, of the International Correspondence Schools, whose access to dependable records and his analysis of them are both unmistakable. The whole article is well worth reading, but I will reproduce only short portions of it: "I have been asked if our advertising hasn't a great deal of cumulative effect. Perhaps I will surprise you by say- ing that I think the cumulative effect is small. I think that considerable of the cumulative effect idea is a delu- sion. No doubt we get a fair number of enrolments from people who saw our advertisements long ago, but did not act, and who were later induced to act by special circum- stances, but in general, I think we fail if a man reads a single advertisement of ours and then fails to act, for bear in mind, that we have a right to expect him to send in his inquiry. "It sounds interesting to talk about the effect of adver- tising being like the drop of water that keeps falling until it wears away the stone, but if you believe in cumulative effect for a business like ours, please tell me why inquiries are costing us a little more all the while instead of becoming cheaper. "I have given you some opinions; now let me read you some figures. Here are the number of inquiries received from a printers' magazine from a series of advertisements that I prepared myself. I read the returns from the first month the advertisement appeared to the last: 15, 5, 13, 17, 14, 28, 11, 7, 10, 10, 5, 15, 8, 3, 20, 6, 5, 5. If the effect was cumulative, why was there not a steady in- crease instead of the rise and fall that this record shows? "And to show you that the returns were due more to the strength of the individual pieces of copy than to any- thing else I will tell you that the advertisement that pro- duced the twenty-eight inquiries was also the one that, repeated later, produced the twenty inquiries. We have seen pretty clearly in our own experience that a good deal of cumulative effect is merely the effect of old advertise- ments, belated returns from them, I mean; the key num- bers show that unmistakably." Conclusion 227 The thoughtful advertiser, whether he is one who keys his results or not, is the man who deals in averages. The good advertiser is not the one who guesses, but rather the one who proves. It is almost as easy to prove as it is to guess, and immeasurably more profitable. The rule of good advertising is the rule of tests. This great rule is subject to many reversals and often needs the unprejudiced criticism of the man with a view- point not restricted by the narrow vision of the advertiser himself. An idea from an outsider may solve a problem the man at the desk fails to analyze properly. One of the keenest advertising counsellors in the country cites an instance of this that serves to prove the value of an out- sider's viewpoint. One of the largest ready-made clothing houses sells from catalogues. A number of garments are subjected to elaborate tests before being advertised in their mammoth catalogue. In a recent campaign these tests had appeared conclusive to them, but orders failed to result. The advertising expert being called in consul- tation to discover the cause, requested an outline of the test. He was told that several hundred women had been asked to choose from a dozen waists the one that appeared to them the best for the money. The waist chosen by the greatest number from each of these tests was pictured and skillfully advertised in the catalogue, but several, heavily stocked on account of the favor produced by the test, failed to sell. The expert asked that the test be performed in his presence, which was done. He com- pared the pictures of the waists with the originals and immediately solved the problem. The pictures of the failures only slightly resembled the waists themselves. He advised having the test performed in future by having the women choose from the pictures, and not from the waists, which solved a problem that had cost the institu- tion thousands of dollars. Such little points arise in every business. Too proud to ask advice, many advertisers pocket the loss and charge it to bad luck. The help that one advertiser is capable of affording another rarely depends on a similarity of pur- suits. Most problems are problems of the mind, where a fresh, unworried perspective is more valuable than a har- 228 Analytical Advertising ried technical one. For such aids every advertiser should feel free to call in his fellow professional worker. It will be found to the surprise of many that we, as advertisers, possess few if any real secrets. Why maintain this occult mysticism longer? The ever increasing waste in advertising is an economic factor of no mean importance. Whatever its sum may be, each advertiser is conscious of a contribution to it. If the advertiser really paid the bill the problem would be his alone, and the loss but a charge against his individual profits. It is the consumer, however, that foots the bills, and every useless page, and every wasteful repetition are added burdens to the high cost of living. Skillfully sold, hundreds of publications continue to exist and thrive by virtue of a superstitious standard, while the dear public pays, little suspecting the real cause of its ever increasing tribute. It is a specious argument that advertising reduces the cost of selling. That it may do so is certain. To attain such a result the advertiser must lessen the waste, which means an ever deeper analysis of conditions, and a realization of fundamentals quite within the scope of his skill and power. JOSEPH MACK PRINTING HOUSE DETROIT ui RETURN TO the circulation desl< of any University of California Library or to the NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY BIdg. 400, Richmond Field Station University of California Richmond, CA 94804-4698 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 2-month loans may be renewed by calling (415)642-6233 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing books to NRLF Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior to due date DUE AS STAMPED BELOW I NOV 15 1988 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY FORM NO. DD6, 60m, 3/80 BERKELEY, CA 94720 ®$ f /^