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Decembcu 1, 1910. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



9 



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I THE RETAIL 



l^^^^ FLORIST 



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ADVERTISING A BETAIL STORE. 



Builds Business Quickly. 



It was Emerson, a Bostonian, and 

 most famous of American philosophers, 

 who once remarked: "Let a man 

 write a better book or build a better 

 mouse trap and, though he rear his 

 domicile in the woods, the world will 

 make a beaten path to his door." 



Perhaps, but Emerson himself had 

 passed on to other worlds before the 

 people of this mundane sphere had 

 time to give him his full rewards, 

 and it was not until the modern adver- 

 tising men began to read his books that 

 people really came to hear about him. 



Another Bostonian, H. S. Sogers, of 

 Penn's flower store, voices the modern 

 philosophy when he says: "Few 

 things will sell themselves nowadays; 

 they've got to be pushed into public 

 view." That's why the man who 

 builds a better "mouse trap" usually 

 has his store on Main street and fees 

 the printer regularly. 



Must Be Backed by Good Methods. 



' * Good advertising is a good thing, ' ' 

 continues Mr. Rogers. "We have 

 made a careful study of the results 

 obtained and find that we get what we 

 go after — sales. We are well satisfied 

 that advertising has been a large fac- 

 tor in establishing our business and 

 developing it to its present propor- 

 tions, not forgetting that good adver- 

 tising, unless backed up by a good 

 store, good stock and good salesman- 

 ship, expends most of its power for 

 naught. ' * 



You can't expect the ad to shoulder 

 all your responsibilities. 



"After we had been advertising 

 occasionally in one of the leading 



Boston daily papers, we decided to 

 start a series of ads that would bring 

 our stock and our store conspicuously 

 before the best classes in New England. 

 We therefore selected the paper that 

 had the largest circulation and con- 

 tracted to take a good sized space 

 daily for quite a period, entering into 

 the proposition faced by all the 

 doubts of success that precedent had 

 inspired. 



Concentrating the Effort. 



"But we didn't go into it blindly; 

 we considered all the available papers, 

 basing our choice on circulation among 

 the kind of people we wanted to reach. 

 You always can pick the best adver- 

 tising medium by noting the amount of 

 advertising carried. The paper that 

 prints the most advertising calculated 

 to interest the same people you are 

 after will always be the best adver- 

 tising medium for you. That large 

 volume of advertising is a summing up 

 of experience paid for by men who 

 want to get the most their money will 

 buy. 



"It seemed to us, and events have 

 proved that we were right, that the 

 one best paper was all that we needed 

 to use. Of course there are some pos- 

 sible customers we do not reach, but 

 are they worth while doubling the ex- 

 pense? We think not, and doubling 

 the expense wouldn 't reach every pos- 

 sible buyer; it would be necessary to 

 use all the papers to do that — so w« 

 let it go at the one with the biggest 

 circulation. When the soli(itors for 

 the others call we tell them frankly 

 how we stand: We are using one pa- 

 per, daily and Sunday. 



"And we never use the same ad 

 twice. 



Bight Copy a Big Factor. 



"Doubtless any advertisement is bet- 

 ter than none, but the right copy is 

 one important part of securing^ results. 

 Retail florists of the better class once 

 felt, and some may yet feel, that they 

 sacrificed prestige when they went into 

 the newspapers. It needn't be so. 

 Advertising may be effective and yet 

 be dignified. It will create prestige, 

 not destroy it. Almost always, adver- 

 tising, if written by the advertiser, 

 will reflect the advertiser's personality, 

 just as his store does. If prepared 

 outside, care should be taken that the 

 advertisement be in harmony with the 

 character of the store. We are strong 

 believers in the use of illustrations; 

 every ad carries a cut and the name ap- 

 pears in the form of a trade-mark that 

 also appears on boxes, tags and sta- 

 tionery. 



Covering the Seasons. 



"When we started our everyday se- 

 ries of ads we laid out a plan of daily 

 changes of copy to cover practically all 

 features of the stock and services of a 

 flower store. As the principal feature 

 of our advertising we selected the 

 Penn shower bouquet. Having taken 

 first prize for this particular style of 

 bouquet at the two preceding Boston 

 flower shows, in competition with some 

 of the best florists in New England, 

 we thought the publicity already re- 

 ceived would make a good basis for ad- 

 vertising wedding flowers. The copy 

 was written to exploit the flowers, the 

 facilities and the service and we soon 

 noticed a tremendous increase in this 

 particular line of work. 



"About a week before Memorial day 

 we started a series of ads calling atten- 

 tion to wreaths for cemetery use. The 

 advertisements were distinct and the 

 results were equally clear-cut and read- 

 ily traceable. It is worth while record- 

 ing that out of 840 wreaths made up in 

 anticipation of the demand, only five 

 remained unsold at closing time on 

 Memorial day. 



"During the month of June we dealt 

 again with the shower bouquet, occa- 

 sionally changing to commencement 

 bouquets and flowers for graduations. 



"The entire year was covered in this 

 manner, always featuring some season- 

 able specialty. Before Thanksgiving 



The 



DelighthlPerfume 



and freshneBM of the blooms 

 is so noticeable in the 



PENN VIOLETS 



that they call forth instant expressions 



of admiration. 



picked Fresh 3 Times a Day 



SEND VIOLETS TO HER 



ff^j 



^^rik- 



43 Bromfleld 

 StreeUBoston 

 Phones: 838' 

 839 Fort Hill 



Peon's Shower Boaqset 



Hand in hand with the famous wed- 

 ding march goes the Penn Shower 

 Bouquet. It is the bouquet that is con- 

 sidered good form by people of discrimi- 

 nation and judgment. 

 It is the bouquet that has won so many prize's ar 

 the expositions. 



The most .delicate and attractive arrangement of 

 flowers and ribbons an artist can conceive. 



43 Bromfield St. 



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Phones 838-839 Fort Hill 



To Start the Violet Season. 



Wedding March and Shower Bouquet. 



Examples of the Dignified a'nd Effective Newspaper Advertisements of a Boston Retailer."^ 



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