Religion is opinion Advertising should be based on facts. Religion must continue in the realm of
Opinion, because no one can decide which Creed is right;, and which wrong, till he dies and finds
out the facts for himself. And no mere man who died has ever come back to Earth to settle the
dispute. But, it is different with Advertising, as it is with Mechanics or with Medicine, all three
of which can be conclusively tested.
Too many business owners seem content to spend their
money on mere opinions about advertising when they might have invested it on facts about
advertising. These are the Advertisers whose business must die before they can be convinced that
Branding is wrong and reason why advertising is correct.
They blindly gamble in
Advertising when they might have safely invested in it. If they were to buy any other kind of
Service, except Advertising, they would demand tangible proof of its efficacy before they spent
money on it. If they hired a Salesman, for instance, they would expect him to prove he was earning
his salary by making a satisfactory Record on Sales. They would not accept, for long, statements
from him that he was? Making a General impression on the Trade? for his salary. Nor would they be
satisfied with the statement that he was branding profitably enough to compensate for lack of
sales.
Advertising is and should be "Salesmanship-on-paper." If it is anything less than
Salesmanship it is not real Advertising, but only "name recognition." And, "General Publicity"
admittedly claims only to "Brand," to make sales easier for the salespeople.
Bad
Advertising makes the same lame excuses as a Salesman who failed to earn his salary in actually
selling goods. But General Publicity, or any other Advertising, should be judged by the same
standards as the Salesman is judged, viz., by the goods it is clearly proven to sell at a given cost
per dollar invested in it.