Selling Rail Transportation.

Selling rail transportation is quite as much of an art as disposing, say, of a bar of soap or a patent washing machine. The railway advertising expert must to-day work on essentially commercial lines, and there is a big opportunity within the railway service for young men equipped with the selling sense.

A thought-provoking paper on railway salesmanship and advertising was recently read before the Railway Students Association of the London School of Economics, by Mr. W. M. Teasdale, assistant general manager of the L.

Lucerne-Milan Express on the Italian Border.

and N.E. Railway. Pointing out that there were two ways of promoting sales—by personal canvass and by advertising—Mr. Teasdale remarked that advertisements fell under three heads. There was the plain announcement of facts, simple, correct and incapable of misinterpretation. Secondly came the advertisement which helped to make the public desire to see some place or experience some facility. Thirdly there was the advertising which was not issued with the idea of creating a direct sale, but was intended to develop goodwill.

Any form of railway advertising must to-day be on the most intelligent lines. A carelessly planned newspaper or poster announcement is just as useless and harmful as a traffic producer as a carelessly attired and slovenly human canvasser. The live advertiser is constantly varying his publicity plan, but he should not allow himself, as Mr. Teasdale pointed out, to be carried away by erratic and fantastic advertising “brain waves.” The man who said that the advantage of railway advertising could not be proved was out of date. If an advertising man, having been given power to demand the necessary figures from the direct selling departments, could not prove that advertising paid, it was surely time that he was removed, but not time the advertising was stopped.