Jasper County Democrat, Volume 20, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 August 1917 — SHOULD THE BANK ADVERTISE? [ARTICLE]

SHOULD THE BANK ADVERTISE?

We say most’ certainly, YES. The* bank is a public institution, depending entirely for its support upon public enterprise and consequently, the public should be fully informed as to all that the bank means. One of the greatest drawbacks to banking 1 prosperity is the lack of information the public has to the real workings of the banking business. .. . .'/ . ‘ There are thousands of people who are still afraid to trust their money in banks. They don’t know how the state laws protect them. They don’t know how strong these institutions are.. They don’t know what interest amounts to. They don’t know how much safer it is to have money in the bank vault than to have it tucked away in some corner of the house. Th,ey don’t know how a bank makes money. They don’t know the full benefits of borrowing from banks and so it is very clearly the duty of every worth while bank to buy space in the local ..papers, and through this space deliver .your message to the people you want to interest.

There is no use buying a block or . space and just saying, “The Fourth National Bank is open for deposits,’’ or “Has MoneyVo Loan.’’ Copy of that kind is wasting money. What you want to do is to use advertising as a means of educating the public to the advantage of doing business with the bank. The bank is no stronger than public patronage makes it. Let the bank think of this. The banker doesn’t make the public—the public makes him. Then why not advertise and tell the people the,story of banking, just as a successful merchant advertises and tells them the story of his merchandise, and when, you think of advertising, remember the local press. It comes nearest the heart of the comnhunity, because of the service it renders. ■ Nothing will build the confidence of the farmers so quickly as bank advertising in the' local papers. These farmers believe, all they read in their local papers,-and bank advertising would make an interesting part of every paper. It seems strange that the ba’nks of this great state have not given more consideration to this opportunity of making themselves more powerful for the best interests of their own comm unities, and thereby to the whole state. Some day a man with real foresight will organize a convention for the banker, the merchant and the publisher and on the floor of that, convention each will make his own statement and so get a very much better idea of how these three great pillars of community development can work and stand together in—the construction of community prosperity.—Farmers’ Guide.