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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 7, Issue 3 (July 1, 1932)

The Cumulative Value of Publicity

The Cumulative Value of Publicity.

Whilst in the case of certain excursions and special types of service definite returns from advertising have been noted, much of the publicity for the railways must be of a general nature. The net returns from special excursions can be calculated with considerable accuracy, and comparisons can be made regarding the stimulating effect of different allocations of advertising upon such excursions, but what measure can be made of the profit to the Railways accruing, for instance, from the safety they provide? A record of 150 million passengers carried without fatality in six years is an excellent advertising point; it is a point of service that attracts much business to the railways; it must be advertised freely, but its monetary value cannot be calculated. Similarly, in the matter of comfort and convenience, the Railways have special points in their favour which must be explained adequately and emphasised to attract additional traffic. But the direct return from such advertising cannot be assessed. However, the general effect is there, and on this point one cannot do better than quote from an article contributed in 1930 to the “Newspaper News” by Mr. H. H. Sterling, then General Manager of Railways and now Chairman of the Government Railways Board. Mr. Sterling said:

“Probably no better illustration of the value of advertising in time of need can be afforded than the railways. We in New Zealand, believe we have a message regarding our product (transport) worth conveying to the people; and we have within recent years very substantially increased our advertising allocation. Has it been worth while? It may be difficult to assess the returns from advertising with mathematical precision, but I say with confidence that what we have spent on publicity work has been well worth while.”