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Show NIGHTMARE FOR MQTORDEJU.ERS Conditions Are Vastly Different Differ-ent in Sellinq Game Than They Were in 1917 BY 1 RJEDBRK K 1 I hi nv Vdvartistna Manager, i h- nn viiiim mnpanj One heart considerable these days about "the r.uiers' market.'- "nonnal- the swinging of the pendulum. ', "sales analysis." etc., etc. To the lay- man it means, in a vaicue way. a re-adjustment re-adjustment of our methods of living, i i onfOSlOn with respect to prices and values, a rather hazy, headachy con-: dltlon that he wishes was all over with and that he could go to bed nights and .sleep as in the good old davs "iiefore the late war.' To the manufacturer, merchant or! anyone else who has something to I sell ll if more or less of ,t nightmare alio It Is nol necessary to repeat, hero what ban come to be an old story In a short time the easy condition, of the past four years and the rather abrupt return to the necessity for real -'illnc methods in all lines. The automobile manufacturers were :m ercf-uiion to the general rule of la.H in real merchandising. Businens canv so sasy for the na?t three or; foui years that they became flabby In their methods particularly In then advertising They talked prestige they specialized largely in institutional" institu-tional" advertising. They talked every thing in their advertisements but real bi lling arguments. They used the national na-tional rnagaslnea and did sot feel the necessity of checking up on the re-j turns. When the Dtlce cuttlntr horn). shell w.i.' dropped in their midst, adverlis- mg and merchandising plans were thrown into confusion. W ithout elaborating elab-orating upon the indecision and the ! folly of that distressing period, it will be sufficient 10 say that when the ; manutai tiirers 'fad time to collect I their thoughts this one realization Stood out above all others the neces- t winning baok the confidence of the public as to the stability of the industry and In getting into direct contact Miili this public in the quickest quick-est possible manner. Nor is the dealer to be forgotten He ;ii. n i.st be held In line so that .. do able problem facea the auiomo-bile auiomo-bile maker, it does not take "much ; knowledge of advertising to know i that the best contact medium between ! retailer and ofasuiner is the newspaper. newspa-per. By the use of the newspaper the manufacturer accomplishes a ! double purpose reaches the consumer effectively and encourages his local dealer at the same tirnr. The newspaper is also more flexible j than a national medium. Where a national distribution is not enjoyed, it is wasteful to employ the purel na- Clonal publications. On the other hand, modern merchandising methods j favor the zone or territory system I the building up of certain blocks of i population on the sales map by in-I in-I tensive work In this Intensive work ' there is nothing so effective in my : opinion as Ihe use of the newspapers, noi nothing so quickly and easily I manipulated It is the one melho'd for quick results and the big need in automotive business today is immediate imme-diate sales The manufacturers are not so much concerned about business six months from now Ixrts than a year ago the automobile automo-bile manufacturer was less mindful of how he spent his advertising funds. "Come easy go easy " Now it Is different, dif-ferent, Jie is going to demand a hun-dred hun-dred cents worth of returns for ever', dollar spent, and us sales nre realh what he wants and the "consumer" Is the elusive fish he wants to land, the wis.. Manilla' Hirer Is going to empire. the medium m each community that displays fresh bait . very day and hic-i a greater chance f landing some-1 thing the newspaper. |