Jasper County Democrat, Volume 14, Number 100, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 March 1912 — Advertising Talks [ARTICLE]

Advertising Talks

TIMELINESS IN ADVERTISING

Facility for Quick and Appropriate Adaptation Adda Greatly to Value, and Interest. Timely advertising adds greatly to Its Interest —stale ideas and allusions fall flat. The American public responds quickly and with genuine admiration to the advertiser who shows that he is up-to-date and fully abreast of the times in the wording and general preparation of his announcements.

Timeliness is often the keynote to success—tardiness to that of failure. More and more do we look for news in advertisements, and news must be new to be interesting. The text in the introductions to most of the successful department store advertising is founded upon some important news item of the day. And it has now become a fad, even with those who do not advertise in the daily newspapers. to display “up-to-the-hour news” in their store windows. This shows the tendency of the modern belief in havirg advertising matter thoroughly up-to-date. 1 There is always something going on of sufficient importance to the community to make the allusion to it in advertisement of special „ interest to the puh’ic. It is an apepal for quick attention, and the public responds to the demand. It Is ■'rapid transit” from the news of the day to the news of the store, and interest can be easily maintained in the transition. Even a wrner with average intelligence can a tract and hold the reader’s interest in this way. The greater and more important the event; the quicker will the public be-orce interested in the allusion to it and the facility with which the news is used to lead up to store intelligence.

tie seasons and anniversaries of important dates ought to be remembered and used when practicable. The pub.ic is invariably in a responsive burner to patriotic talk around Lincoln’s and Washington's birthdays, the Fourth of July and Thanksgiv- . mg. it would be considered an error jof judgment to refrain from some pertinent allusion to those days in one’s advertisement. And the Christmassy flavor in the announcement! At Yuletide it would be an unpardonab’e crime to omit hin'ts at the festive season, the “spirit of good-will to all men" (not forgetting the ladies. God b!ess ’em), and the holiday decorations. Woe betide the careless advertiser who would approach his public around the Christmas holidays without a proper veneration for the season and its courtesies.

But the seasons and anniversaries are fixed, and usually are far between The advertiser cannot depend npon them fdr the “timeliness” of his text. He must be ready all the year found to avail himself of the current *f d 80 h * Te h,s announcements at all times timely. It is not a difficult matter. It requires no knack, and calls for no special training. A SSL for , qa |s k * nd appropriate adaptation is all that is necessary to keen the advertising at all up-

to-date and Interesting. Such advertising la looked for and generally welcomed by the public, where stale and trite statements go unread and unheeded. Last week’s newspaper has very little Interest for us today, but tonight’s news, being news, is awaited by eager readers. And advertising, being news of the store, of trade and commodities, is read and enjoyed only when fresh in facts and the manner of presentation.