Mention this Magazine.
_FRAME FOOD CO.; Ltd. BATTERSEA, LONDON, S.W._ ]
Try again, and this time run through the pages rapidly, so that every leaf of the journal falls quickly from your thumb. There are certain to be one or two pages which will stand out conspicuously and leave their impression on your eye beyond all the rest, and you will turn back to see what it is all about.
[Illustration: SEVENTH.
Quaker Oats]
[Illustration: EIGHTH.
ROBINSON'S GROATS]
The cunning advertiser has thus obtained his audience--it is now his aim to keep it, Here he has to introduce some connecting link to hold the attention until his message has been duly delivered. Where the original design has nothing particular about it to hold the attention, there is no better method than the insertion of some catch sentence, generally a question, which you are compelled to read, and, of course, to investigate further.
It may be said that the language of a good advertisement should resemble that of a telegram--straight to the point; the information is to be given in the most concise, clear, and complete form possible, confined to the main feature or features of the article advertised, so as to convince the prospective buyer of the excellence of the goods in a short, logical manner, and to do this so that fact and not fiction is apparent to the reader.
[Illustration: NINTH.
Government Tea]
In drawing up an advertisement there are many ways of incurring failure, and one very sure method is the abuse of one's rivals. An advertisement which is meant to be taken too seriously is rarely a success. Let the reader's eye catch any of the hackneyed phrases, "Beware of Imitations," "Thousands of Testimonials," "Is the Best," and such like, and it will immediately pass on to something else. Such well-worn and unconvincing statements excite in him no interest, but rather a feeling of distrust.
[Illustration: TENTH.
BEECHAM'S PILLS.]
It has been said that a magazine advertisement has three things to accomplish before it can be called good, but in judging the quality of the complete article two more things should be added, of less importance, and really subdivisions of the striking home of the message.
The points one might apportion for each feature might be as follows:--
Points. 1. Power to attract attention 40 2. Power to hold attention 20 3. Prominence of the article advertised 20 4. Brevity of necessary information 10 5. Composition 10
And now, how do we stand in comparison with other nations in this matter of effective advertising? It is universally admitted that advertisement is the soul of business. How, then, does the business man of this country compare with the business man of America. Some of our great advertising firms certainly display no very marked inferiority, but as a rule it is unfortunately true that to glance through the announcements in an American magazine is to be brought face to face with the enormously superior ability in design of the American over the Englishman. Here you have, as it were, your finger on the pulse of a country's commerce; you can feel the vigorous beats, or the languid and anæmic current. And the main reason is just this: that the American never loses sight of the fact that the first three essentials in attracting and keeping attention are novelty, novelty, novelty. Their skill in attracting attention in new ways is always a matter of admiration.
[Illustration: ELEVENTH.
WRIGHTS COAL TAR SOAP]
The question altogether is one of far more importance than it may seem on first consideration; it is hardly too much to say that the prosperity of a nation's trade depends upon its ability in attractive advertising.
Advertisement is an art of its own, and if you are going to advertise to any considerable extent and do it yourself, either your business must suffer to allow you time to do your advertising well, or your advertising must suffer so that you may properly attend to your business.
[Illustration: TWELFTH.
HOLLOWAY'S PILLS & OINTMENT]
Of course, it is the advertising that suffers. If you do it yourself, sooner or later it becomes a worry, and when a reminder arrives that your copy is due very likely your instructions will be to repeat the last, or possibly, if you have a minute or two to spare, you will sit down and grind out a lot of nonsense which no one cares to read. If you wish to make any genuine effort properly to employ the most important factor in commerce, get someone who understands the art to do it for you; engage a good man, and do not expect to get the same for five pounds as you would for ten pounds.
_Curiosities._
Copyright, 1904, By George Newnes, Ltd.
[_We shall be glad to receive Contributions to this section, and to pay for such as are accepted._]
"HUMAN NOTES."
[Illustration]
"I beg to send you a photograph of some little boys in this parish who were taking part in a Band of Hope entertainment. The item on the programme was called 'Human Notes,' and the little songsters, each taking the note he represented, sang a peal of bells and extracts from nursery rhymes. I thought the idea might be useful for other places. The framework is easily made and costs little, and was most heartily received wherever tried."--Miss Statham, River Vicarage, Dover. Photo. by Mr. Ray Sherman.
HOW A SHOT BIRD REALLY FALLS.
[Illustration]
"Painters of sporting subjects have often portrayed, from memory necessarily, a bird in the act of being shot, either immediately before or after the event. Here, at last, is an actual photograph of a wild duck at the moment of receiving its _coup de grâce_. It was in a lonely, low-lying bay on the West Coast of Ireland. Ducks were homing in fair numbers overhead on their way to the large lakes lying inland, when, telling my photographic friend to get well behind me and snap away as fast as he could, I advanced a few paces and also merrily snapped away. Upon developing the series at home that night we found that between us our snaps had resulted in our obtaining the photograph here reproduced. It shows clearly that a duck--well shot--falls like a plumb to the earth, head foremost, and may serve to correct some of the imaginary pictures of similar incidents."--Mr. Dudley M. Stone, 8, Chichele Road, Cricklewood, N.W.
A FLOATING CHAPEL.
[Illustration]
"I took this photograph during the recent heavy floods in Wales. A mission-room had been washed away during the night, and it was an uncommon sight seeing a party of men 'towing' the edifice back to a place of safety. It struck me as being a unique incident, so I forward it on to you."--Mrs. E. L. F. Mansergh, 59, Madeley Road, Ealing, W.
HOUSE-MOVING EXTRAORDINARY.
[Illustration]
"This extraordinary photograph was taken a short time ago in Pittsburg, Pa., of a house which is being moved up a hill, the former site being bought by a railway company. It is a fifteen or twenty-roomed house, built of brick, the hill is one hundred and fifty feet high, and the cost of moving the house between £6,000 and £7,000."--Mr. D. Munro, 21, Sydney Road, West Ealing, W.
A STONE INSIDE A TREE.
[Illustration]
This is a photograph of a piece of oak with a stone in the centre, two inches square, found by Mr. A. Steven, sawyer, St. Mary's Isle Estate, Kirkcudbright. The stone was situated three feet from the ground and three inches in from the bark. Nothing could be discerned of it from the outside.--The photo. is by Mr. A. Kello Henderson, chemist, Kirkcudbright.
WILL READERS HELP?
[Illustration]
"Can anyone give a clue to this 'Curiosity'? It is a dark-green silk ribbon eight inches by one and a half inches, the accompanying letters, figures, and key being beautifully embroidered in silver thread. The dots between the upper letters are small metal discs secured by a tiny metal bead sewn on with yellow silk. The wards of the key are sewn in black silk. The embroidery is backed with canvas and interlined with seemingly soft paper. I found it some years ago in a parcel of doll's finery given to my little daughter by a friend who could throw no light upon it. This badge has been the cause of much guesswork, speculation, and earnest inquiry and search."--Mrs. Anne W. Newton, Ballybeg, Ballinglen, Rathdrum, Ireland.
THE BITER BIT.
[Illustration]
"The fox in the photograph was discovered quite dead in this curious position on the morning of November 17th, 1903, by Mr. H. Sparling, dairyman, Tadcaster. The wooden erection is a poultry house, and the hole from which the fox is hanging is, when the door is shut for the night, the only possible means of entering or leaving the same. Reynard had evidently entered by this aperture, for inside were discovered three fowls he had killed. (These are shown at the foot of the photograph.) In leaving by the same means he stuck fast, the hole narrowing to quite a point at the bottom, and the more he struggled the faster he had got, till at last he could struggle no longer, and death intervened, probably from exhaustion."--Mr. John H. Hull, chemist, Tadcaster.