Advertising as a “Fertiliser.”

The farmer knows that he must fertilise his land before he can expect good returns from it, and the successful businessmen are those who do not overlook the necessity of a “fertiliser” for their business in the form of effective advertising.

With the competitive conditions existing to-day, sheer necessity has made it a general practice in the more enterprising businesses to exploit any possibility latent in such by-products as are associated with the particular industry. Now, the Railway Department has a type of “by-product” in the space available on railway property throughout New Zealand for advertising purposes. It cannot afford to waste this 6,000 miles of “frontage.” Hence, in 1915 the Department established an Outdoor Advertising Branch, which, from a modest beginning, has developed into a complete and highly specialised organisation of artists, salesmen, signwriters, and sign erectors, such as is necessary for the successful conduct of advertising campaigns throughout the Dominion.

In many cases, no doubt, businessmen have found some advertising media too expensive for them in these days, and perhaps have neglected consideration of a most economical form of advertising, namely, outdoor signs. In addition to its comparatively low cost, outdoor advertising has a “circulation” value limited only by the population of the locality in which the advertisements are displayed and the volume of traffic passing them. The repetition value of outdoor advertising must also be taken into consideration, for many people pass and re-pass a given point day after day.

If one takes time to recall the successful businesses of recent years, the extensive outdoor advertising undertaken will be one of the first items noticeable. Take, for example, Liptons, Pears, Heinz, Wrigley, Wanamakers and Gamages. The financial success of these businesses is well known, and it cannot be doubted but that their executives are satisfied with the value received from the large page 43 sums they spend annually on outdoor advertising. And this is not surprising, for what advertising would catch the eye of the public more easily than a series of strikingly designed and effectively coloured hoardings—visible to residents of a locality and travellers alike, continuously?