July 21, 1917
THE FOURTH ESTATE
9
PUTTING OVER THE BIG CAMPAIGNS
ARTICLE V.
WHEN CORNING GLASS CO. SAW LAWS AHEAD ON AUTO HEADLIGHTS, IT ACTED AND ADVERTISED. BY W. LIVINGSTON LARNED.
Selling automobile accessories is not without peculiarly aggravating trade difficulties.
The average garage handling accessories is not alert. It doesn't seem to care very much whether it sells them or not. When otherwise engaged than selling gasoline and oil and washing cars; it would really prefer to tilt a chair back and "take things easy."
Conditions around garages and large repair shops are undergoing a change just now.
Uncle Sam is dangling bait under the nose of the expert mechanician. "Voluntarily enlist now." says the Navy, for instance. "and we'll give you an officership on submarine chaser wait for conscription aNd you'll get around forty a month as a common seaman. Come while the fat jobs are open—the Navy pays you handsomely to serve your nation's cause.
Result—a gradually stripping clean of the young vigorous men—they are leaving the garages in droves. Indifferent mechanics and unexperienced help are filling their places. This internal confusion has militated agains: the heavy sale of accessories. There has been a lack of "push" behind the line.
When an automobile owner sees a certain article in a window (or hears of it) some such conversation as this takes place :
"Is that a Noise-o Horn?"
"Yep. "How are they?"
"Oh! all right. I guess—ain't heard anything different—they're all about th' same—them horns.
"Would you recommend them?"
"Well here's th' horn I'd buy if I was gettin one. (Business of designating an inferior article, on which there is far greater profit.)
In short, what we are endeavoring to present is the disheartening fact that the automobile business has attracted an alarming number of carefree pirates, who care nothing for tomorrow's good will and trade, so long as they sell today.
It must not be inferred that all are of this calibre. It must not be inferred that an overwhelming majority are careless in their business dealings. But the bad fellows "hurt" the good ones, and with war conditions prevailing, the canker is more annoying.
REACHING THE AUTO OWNER.
The manufacturer of accessories. then, is face to face with this problem
"I can't rely upon the dealer to sell the article. I must not depend upon the garage shop or the repair station, or the service station, or the automobile sundries depot, to put over my proposition for me.
"National advertising in standard magazines will not hold my goods in line from month to month of itself —I must so impress the automobile market and Mr. Dealer. looking at it at first as an impractical novelty. was lax in salesmanship.
There is no question but what ist direct with the worth of my line that be will go for it; demand it: insist upon receiving it and accept no substitute."
And that's where the daily newspaper comes in.
A quick, sure impression made, with a purchase to follow before that agreeable impression has been eradicated
The Corning Glass Company, manufacturer of "Conaphore. 3 patented and highly desirable automobile headlight. had been through somewhat this same experience before. The firm puts out glass cooking utensils an innovation on the highly concentrated campaigns in newspapers everywhere were the determining factor. It was a campaign of small-town education.
Prejudice and doubt were beaten down by intensive "show how" copy.
Every dealer handling "Pyro could have as many illustrated advertisements as be desired. The goods were shown and most alluringly. Any number of sound reasons were advanced why "Pyro" was the logical cooking-ware.
Following on the heels of the "Pyro" newspaper advertising is the educational copy for "Conaphore" headlights.
These headlights are scientifically "OK." There is nothing "hit-or-miss" about them. Yellow in color and expert in design. they answer every motoring need for a headlight that will not blind the other chap.
For three years the urgent need of a curb on headlights has been known to students of the automobile.
Thousands upon thousands of thoughtless motorists have not been particularly considerate "on the road." They have turned terrific streams of light into the eyes of the advancing traffic—and laughed at reprimand.
"Look out for yourself" has been the motto.
THE FIELD PEPARED.
Investigation went to show that a liberal number of the serious accidents at night were caused by "eye glare."
The man at the wheel was blinded by an oncoming machine with uncensored headlights.
Murmurings began to be heard along "Automobile Row."
"There'll be legislation," it was whispered.
And this was the opportune time for "Conaphore."
They cut down glare without decreasing light.
They minimized that intense white flash in the eyes.
They held the shaft of road light down to a level with the radiator—the radiance fell on the road not on the tops of trees and cars.
The usual "dealer ad" is two columns in width.
"Conaphore" newspaper advertisments were made three and four columns an unprecedented allowance for a campaign of this magnitude.
But two things had been definitely settled upon before the publicity was launched:
There was to be room enough for "Conaphore" argument.
There was to be room enough for illustration of what "Conaphore" did on the road.
You need space when you picture headlights.
Various art departments discovered this when they began the series of illustrations.
But "every picture told a story."
The reader was presented with an actual visualization of how the "Conaphore" worked. The beams of radiance were shown-the principle of the invention put in diagram form—and mixed in with it all were sure-fire flashes of human appeal.
A startled and unhappy motorist almost "life-size." frowned at you from four-column space. He held his hand across his eyes in a desperate attempt to shut off the blinding glare of an approaching car.
It was perfectly obvious that he could not see to guide his own machine. He was confused and frightened.
The text beneath this design put the problem up to the thoughtless man that he was doing a great injustice to his fellow-motorist when he used the wrong type of headlight. Was it quite fair—quite reasonable quite on the level to blind a "road pal?"
In fact, perhaps the most significant feature of "Conaphore" advertising is its quiet, well-mannered "appeal to reason." There's no straining for effect—it's simply one man saying to another:
"Here—let's be reasonable about this thing. You know as well as I do that night driving is made many times more dangerous and difficult because of the wrong type of head-light. Suppose we get together. It's as much for your sake as it is for mine. We'll beat the law-makers to it and be rational and reasonable without waiting for legislation. Here is a headlight that holds the radiance down to the road, where it belongs—keeps it out of the other fellow's eyes. It's a mighty good light to adopt."
The great difficulty with much of the headlight advertising in the past has been an inclination to treat the subject technically and to go into long dissertation of a schoolroom character on how results are achieved. Many of the lights are worked out on scientific principles and the transference of the how and the wherefore of glass manufacture become pretty complicated.
Unfortunately, the average man will not take the trouble to digest text matter of this character. He seems to have neither the time no the inclination. It makes what is known as "hard reading."
"Conaphore" copy for newspaper advertising is exceedingly readable-
It possesses all the flavor and interest of real "news."
And the nearer newspaper advertising approaches "news" the more apt it is to be read-the more sure of success.
A LIQUOR AD SOLUTION.
Because liquor advertising contracts are deemed of more importance than out-of-state subscriptions the Redding (Cal) newspapers have cancelled subscriptions in Washington and Oregon.
The choice becomes necessary be cause liquor advertising is forbidden in Washington and Oregon. It seems likely that the step taken by the Redding papers will be followed by others operating under similar conditions.
CLARK REBUILDING.
J. E. T. Clark, editor of the Colgate (Okla.) Courier, is re-equiping and repairing his newspaper plant. which was badly damaged by a recent tornado. Mr. Clark is authority for the statement that the only thing the cyclone left him was his disposition. He made an inspection of the Dallas (Tex.) News plant in order to gain new ideas for his rejuvenated establishment.
BACK WITH OLD FRIENDS. Thomas Buchanan, a New York playwright. has returned to Louisville. Ky., to enlist in the First Kentucky Regiment to be Grass friends. among Blue Buchanan, formerly a reporter on the Courier-Journal, served in the Spanish-American war with the First Kentucky and now desires to tour France with the same victorious command.
RUSSIAN PAPER PRINTS AN ENGLISH EDITION. In honor of the arrival of the Russian Commission in New York the daily Russian newspaper. Russkoye Slovo, last week published a special edition printed in Russian and English. Telegrams from Secretary of War Newton D. Baker and from Secretary of the Treasury W. G. McAdoo were published
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