Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1944)

r Advertising Tomorrow by FRED ELDEAN, public relations consultant Advertising faces its biggest job and its biggest opportunity, writes the former assistant director of public relations to the General Motors Corporation. V After the war, advertising has a big job ahead of it. All of us are conscious of the necessity of jobs for millions in the post-war peacetime pursuits. Jobs do not come out of the air; they cannot be manufactured. No factory or industry has any mysterious power to give employment. Jobs are a result of a process. Ultimately, they depend upon the consumer. In this free coiuitry, we cannot force the consumer to buy anything. He has to be persuaded that it is in his interest to buy. We have to cater to the customer. \Ve ha\e a customer-controlled economy. If we are to attain a level of national income of one-hundred billion or more a year, which is the goal to be reached if we are to have a high level of employment, we have to sell a lot of goods. Wq aren't going to get that income by waiting for customers to come in to buy what we have to sell. We are going to have the biggest selling job that this great selling nation has ever had. We are going to have to sell goods for a long time to come. And we know we can't sell goods without advertising. In the institutional advertising field, many concerns which never before the war had advertised their institutions now recognize the necessity of keeping their names before the public. These concerns, having learned the value of institutional advertising, are not likely to forget that value in the peace to come. There will be a carry-over of additional institutional advertisers, and this will supplement product advertising. We do not know what changes in habits and preferences may result, from this war. BiU a manufactiuer will need to be on the alert to detect these changes. Advertising will be needed to re-introduce the returning soldiers to products and institutions. During the last war, the men came out of the service with certain habits which they continued in civilian life. In the army, they had become accustomed to having two-piece suits of luiderwear. As a result, a pre-war manufacturer of single-suit underwear found out that he could never get back his old market; the veterans wanted the separate garments. The men in the service got used to collar-attached shirts. A collar manufacturer lost both sales volume and income trying to restore his market for collars. Caution advertising to establish a balance between demands and goods available, will be in order at times. Many concerns established in the war will have products for peace. All of this will call for advertising. Advertising has played an important part in the development of America as a strong nation, in that it was instrumental in the creation of a large volume demand for goods. Advertising has brought a vision to the American people of more and better things that make up a higher standard of living. Beyond the vision, the advertisements persuaded people to buy these products and services. It is no mere coincidence that the nation which has had the highest per capita advertising is the nation which has had the highest standard of living in the world. It is our belief that advertising will continue to play an important part in the progress of this nation. JUNE, 1944 185