ADVERTISING AND BALLYHOO
f To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.]
SIR,—In your last issue there appears an advertisement, en- titled Ballyhoo, which indulges in some rather trite generaliza- tions at the expense of advertising agents.
Ballyhoo is an appropriate heading to the advertisement : those responsible for its appearance evidently are unacquainted with the nature of the work performed by the leading agencies and the comparatively small recompense received in return.
For the information of the writer of this curious advertise- ment, and others, I desire to point out that the recognized agents are not—as the announcement amiably infers—first- cousins to the proprietors of bucket shops, they perform func- tions other than merely designing pretty advertisements, inserting them in the Press, and generallydoing their utmost —as is the custom of racketeers in a more expansive land—to extract the last copper from the pockets of their helpless and hypnotized clients. The responsible agent, like the solicitor, acts in the capacity of adviser to his clients on questions deal- ing with such technical problems as distribution and sales. In order to be in a position to do this the agent—who is really a consultant to industry—must make an exhaustive and cell-se- less study of markets. An advertising campaign is not a happy-go-lucky affair ; every move is a matter of calculated strategy which is gained only after many years' experience in
a highly specialized business. - I have endeavoured to outline as briefly as possible some of the main functions of a reputable advertising agent who is not an apostle of:Ballyhoo but of Trade. But perhaps the best answer to the advertiser in your columns lies in the fact that the leading manufacturers in this country continue, year after year, to place their publicity in the hands of advertising agents of repute. And the -leading manufacturers in this country
are hard-headed business men ; they are not fools.--1 any [In regard to the second paragraph, of this letter it should be said that the advertisement in question was placed by a firm certainly entitled to be described as one of " the leading agencies."—En. The Spectator.]
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