Poster Advertising

Part 1

POSTER ADVERTISING

BEING A TALK ON THE SUBJECT OF POSTING AS AN ADVERTISING MEDIUM, WITH HELPFUL HINTS AND SENSIBLE SUGGESTIONS TO POSTER ADVERTISERS, AND WITH THIRTY-TWO PAGES OF FULL COLOR REPRODUCTIONS OF POSTERS USED BY NATIONAL ADVERTISERS

BY G. H. E. HAWKINS ADVERTISING MANAGER OF THE N. K. FAIRBANK COMPANY (MAKERS OF GOLD DUST WASHING POWDER, FAIRY SOAP, SUNNY MONDAY SOAP, COTTOLENE, ETC.) CHICAGO, ILL.

1910

PRICE, $3.00

“Speed booklet! Tell thy message. How the man Who could not charm with colors, henceforth can. This portion of its vast and fruitful fields Lithography to advertising yields.”—ADAPTED.

COPYRIGHT, 1910 BY G. H. E. HAWKINS

Introduction

The trend of everything in the business world to-day is specialization. To my knowledge, there has never been a book written on the subject of posting. I believed there was room for one—that such a book would be welcome to advertisers, and that such a popular form of publicity as posting should have representation in advertising libraries. That is the only possible excuse I have for offering this volume to the advertising world.

There are so many forms of advertising to-day that have proven successful that no one would have the temerity to stand forth and say that any one medium is absolutely away and above better than any other medium. The wise advertiser has found that no one medium is “sufficient unto itself,” and that only by dove-tailing different mediums can the maximum of results be secured.

The purpose of this book is not to decry any medium of advertising, or place posting above all other advertising mediums, but to tell the truth about posting, its advantages, why it has proved one of the best forms of local advertising, and to give such information and crumbs of guidance as have been gleaned from a ten-year practical experience with posting and the expenditure of over a million dollars in that medium.

I trust that in the following pages the story I have to tell may prove of profit to some and good, easy reading to all.

I wish to thank my many advertising friends who have given me help with this book and encouraged me to issue it. May they not be disappointed!

G. H. E. HAWKINS.

You have got to believe in your goods before you can make the public accept your advertising talks at par value. There’s something about honesty and earnestness that is catching.

Table of Contents

PAGE

WHY BILL-POSTING IS A GOOD MEDIUM 7-8

SIZE OF POSTERS 9-11

COST OF POSTERS 12-13

COPY AND SKETCHES 14-15

COMMENTS ON POSTERS 16-17

COLOR REPRODUCTIONS OF ACTUAL POSTERS 1 to 16

VALUE AND HARMONY OF COLORS 18-19

BILL-POSTING FOR THE LOCAL ADVERTISER 20-22

CHECKING THE SERVICE 23-25

CONNECTING POSTER ADVERTISING WITH SALES 26-27

GENERAL HINTS TO THE POSTER ADVERTISER 28

Part 2

GENERAL HINTS TO THE BILL-POSTER 29

OFFICIAL SOLICITORS, ASSOCIATED BILL-POSTERS AND DISTRIBUTORS 30-31

COMMENTS ON POSTERS 32-33

COLOR REPRODUCTIONS OF ACTUAL POSTERS A to P

COST OF POSTING BY STATES 34

OFFICIAL LIST ASSOCIATED BILL-POSTERS 35-38

Why Bill-Posting Is a Good Medium

Repetition means reputation.

Celebrities are often credited with having said things which they never thought of. There are a hundred and one stories told on Abraham Lincoln that poor Honest Abe never even heard.

Barnum is quoted as having said: “The American public like to be humbugged,” but it is a significant fact that whatever feature the wily P. T. brought out—whether it was Jenny Lind or Jumbo—he always gave the dear public a good run for their money.

And so it always will be—you must deliver the goods in order to make good. Bill-posting is an accredited medium of advertising simply because it deserves it—it has won its spurs.

Posting has many advantages over other methods of advertising. First may be mentioned the large display which it makes possible, and its consequent conspicuousness. You simply cannot get away from it, and, consciously or otherwise, it burns its way into the mind through an ever alert vision. It appeals to masses and classes—every one who passes. The size of an eight-sheet poster is 84 inches by 112 inches, and, outside of painted boards and electric signs, it is not possible to get such a display in any other medium of advertising. The possibility of reproducing a trade-mark, figure, or the article itself, in mammoth size tends to impress it upon the mind in an uncommon way and with great force.

Another distinct advantage which bill-posting has over most other advertising mediums is the opportunity it offers for the use of colors. Colors are agreeable to the eye, they command attention, and the advertiser who fails to utilize the full possibilities of color in getting out his posters is missing his opportunity. It costs just as much to post a poorly printed sheet or an ineffective one- or two-color poster as it does one printed in bright, clear-cut, attention-commanding colors which the eye cannot pass.

Without going into the respective results to be obtained, posting is the cheapest medium for local advertising. The cost per town is less than any respectable sort of a campaign could be conducted for in any other medium.

It has been contended that poster advertising is only good as publicity advertising for a well-known product needing mainly a constant reminder to keep it before the public. I believe, however, that posting is effective and can be made profitable for even a new product, for, while a detailed story cannot be told on a poster, one single argument can be brought out on each poster, and, in time, the complete argument given.

Advertising has made more reputations than literature—Scott’s Emulsion is better known than Scott’s Marmion, the grim pill of Dr. Munyon takes the palm from the Pilgrim of John Bunyon, while Douglas, the $3 shoe man, won fame, fortune and a governorship, while Stephen A. Douglas, the little giant and foe of Abe Lincoln, is almost forgotten.

Size of Posters

It takes a live advertiser to swim up stream; any dead one can float down.

Posters are measured by sheets, the standard size of a sheet being 28 × 42 inches, which includes the white margin.

An 8-sheet poster consists of eight 28 × 42 sheets. A 12-sheet poster of twelve 28 × 42 sheets. A 16-sheet poster of sixteen 28 × 42 sheets. A 24-sheet poster of twenty-four 28 × 42 sheets. A 32-sheet poster of thirty-two 28 × 42 sheets.

The following diagrams will show the sizes of posters of most common usage:

2-Sheet 56 × 42

4-Sheet 8 ft. 10 in. × 3 ft. 6 in.

8-Sheet 8 ft. 10 in. × 6 ft. 9 in.

12-Sheet 8 ft. 10 in. × 10 ft.

16-Sheet 8 ft. 10 in. × 13 ft. 3 in.

24-Sheet 8 ft. 10 in. × 20 ft.

32-Sheet 8 ft. 10 in. × 26 ft. 3 in.]

Part 3

The writer several years ago discovered that there was no standard size among lithographers for posters; that is, while they were made on the 28 by 42 basis per sheet, posters are pasted up in such a varied combination of sections that the lapping precludes the possibility of having a standard size. This is largely accounted for by the tendency of lithographers to save on printing. For instance, a certain sheet in an 8-sheet poster may carry four colors; another sheet may carry but two, and they will so arrange their posters as to make the printing of the largest number of colors come on as few sheets as possible. I recently took thirty 8-sheet posters, which had been used by national advertisers and measured them. Hardly any two of them were the same size; they ran from the largest—114 inches in length by 76 inches in width—to the smallest—109 inches in length by 75 inches in width. The average length of the thirty posters was 111.3 inches, and the average width 75.7 inches, while the largest one contained 8,664 square inches and the smallest 8,175 inches. This brings up a question which has apparently heretofore been overlooked by advertisers; that is, the actual amount of space to which an advertiser is entitled on the bill-boards. The space allotted by the bill-poster for an 8-sheet poster is 112 inches high by 84 inches, and the advertiser who is only getting 109 or 110 inches in length by 75 or 76 inches in width is apparently not getting the best run for his money. It would, therefore, seem that all posters should be made so that they will occupy the full quota of the allotted space when pasted up. This may add slightly to the cost of paper but it will mean an added prominence for your posters.

The following will show just the amount of space an advertiser is entitled to on the boards:

4 sheets 42 × 112 inches. 8 sheets 84 × 112 inches. 12 sheets 126 × 112 inches. 16 sheets 168 × 112 inches. 20 sheets 210 × 112 inches. 24 sheets 252 × 112 inches. 32 sheets 336 × 112 inches.

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