300 MANAGEMENT OF DAIRY PLANTS 



be discussed from that standpoint. However, what is said 

 specifically from that standpoint may be applied generally to 

 other forms of advertising. 



I. Fundamental Considerations. — An advertisement, if it 

 is a real advertisement, is written to secure favorable action 

 upon some proposition of the advertiser, usually to induce a pur- 

 chase — to sell something. It is essential that this be always 

 kept in mind by the writer of advertisements. 



It follows, then, that the writer of an advertisement must 

 have a definite objective, the selUng of a commodity, and a 

 thorough understanding of that objective or commodity; also, 

 he must understand how men and women may best be appealed 

 to and influenced, and finally, he needs to know something 

 about the advertising tools by which they may be influenced. 



II. Understand the Commodity. — It may seem superfluous 

 to advise a creamery man to understand his product thoroughly 

 before he undertakes to write an advertisement to sell it, yet 

 this is true : It is one thing for him to understand it for himself 

 and another to understand it so that he may make its merits 

 clear to others. We often know things that we cannot readily 

 explain. The writer of butter advertising, for example, should 

 think over the merits of his butter, discover how and why it is 

 different from and better than the common run of butter, and 

 then write out brief, pointed statements covering these facts. 

 Then he will know his butter definitely, not indefinitely; he will 

 have a clear, not a hazy, understanding of it; he will have his 

 talking and selling points — the material out of which an adver- 

 tisement may be "built." 



ni. Understand the Buying Public. — A good salesman 

 never approaches a prospective customer without first learning 

 all he can about him. A good "ad" writer likewise seeks to 

 know as much as he can about the people to whom his adver- 

 tisement is addressed, for his is a selling task also. What are 

 their likes and dislikes? What are their circumstances, finan- 

 cially and otherwise? What emphasis do they put on quality 

 or on price? What is their interest in considerations of food 

 and health? Through these and many other questions create a 



