Our advertising story...results
With its inception 25 years ago,
LANCASTER FARMING not only
provided news coverage of farm
related events, but became a unique,
new advertising medium for those
trying to reach area farmers. For the
first time, a publication went directly
to the farm, and its people, with
news of products and services many
businesses could provide. We use
the term “news” because ad
vertising is just that...news the
businessman wants you to know
about his products, his services and
his special offers.
Over the years, the advertising
message of LANCASTER FARMING
has kept pace with the many changes
in farming itself. In many cases,
changes in farming practices and
trends came about because of the
Jay B. Miller, advertising sales director, left, and his
layout assistants, Michele Heller, center, and Kay
20 years ago
Bureau Cooperative
Farm
purchases top $4 million
Patron purchases exceeded four
million dollars in 1959 for the first
time m the history of the Lancaster
County Farm Bureau Cooperative
Association, members were told at
the fifth annual meeting at the
Pequea Valley High School on
Wednesday
The 600 members and guests in
attendance heard general manager,
Charles C. Burkins cite advances in
the purchases of every commodity
except miscellaneous farm supplies
over the previous year.
John Wolgemuth, assistant
manager and sales manager, told the
farmers in attendance that Farm
Bureau will institute bulk fertilizer
service in the very near future Some
of the advantages of the bulk ap
plication pointed out by Wolgemuth
included no handling of the material
by the farmer and direct application
on the field at the time of use with no
less in storage on the farm.
new and innovative ideas
manufacturers were, able to tell you
about in our pages. Research for this
article revealed those many changes.
However, space will not permit
detailing this information.
Instead, let's see where our
message goes today as opposed to
the early years.
Regional and Local Coverage '
Having grown to over 38,000 paid
circulation in Pennsylvania and
adjoining states, we can now boast of
giving regional coverage for national
advertisers and still provide basic
readership in all areas of our
coverage to benefit those wanting to
reach their local market.
Using a figure of four persons per
household, our 38,000 newspapers
have the potential of being read by
more than 150,000 persons every
week. We in the advertising
department keep abreast of these
figures and this article could expand
■with more statistics. But, again, that
is not our purpose here.
Let’s turn our attention in a far
more interesting direction...what
happens to your ad from the time you
tell us about your ideas and the time
it appears in print.
Advertising Production Steps
We sometimes get the impression
that readers and advertisers think
their copy of LANCASTER FARMING
“magically” appears in the mailbox.
After all, only seven days have
passed since you received your last
copy, right?
Let’s follow your ad’s journey
through our production steps to give
Gibble, right, discuss ad layouts for upcoming week.
25 years ago
Farm Show Premiums
at Record $55,968
HARRISBURG - The Penn
sylvania Show Commission,
Harrisburg, has announced an all
time record $55,968 to be offered in
cash premium payments to com
petitive exhibit place winners at the
40th Pennsylvania Farm Show here
next Jan.
Cash premium offerings for the
coming show exceed the amount
offered at the 1954 show by $156,
Dr. Henning said The largest single
department amount is $15,749 for
dairy cattle, followed by $9,344 50
for poultry and $8,113 for place
winners in the beef cattle classes.
Offerings in the remaining 22
departments of the show include;
horses, $3,650, sheep, $3,921;
swine, $2,947, dairy products, $118;
corn, $475; small grains, $297,
potatoes, $270, grass silage, edible
nuts $213, vegetables $l-$lBO,
tobacco, $258, apples $2,343, maple
products, $lB5
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 8,1980—€19
you some recognition of why we have
deadlines which must be followed.
Whether it s a “mailbox market", a
reader classified, a two or three
column display ad or a full page
message, we pride ourselves at
LANCASTER FARMING on personal
service. The individual on our staff
who takes your ad - whether by
phone, by mail or in person will be
responsible for its content and ac
curacy when it appears in print. That
is the best way to assure that your
message is precisely what you want
to say.
Once our ad person has the in
formation you wish to convey, a little
“magic" does take place and steps
are taken to get your ad into
production...
(1) Size of the ad must be deter
mined - 2 column, 4 column, full
page, etc. If an advertiser is not sure
of the space requirements, our
people can judge very closely just
what the finished ad size should be.
(2) A rough layout is drawn up by
the person handling your account, or
a highly qualified assistant. The
layout will indicate various sizes of
print and location of illustrations that
will be included.
The exact wording of the ad
vertising message will be attached to
the layout and forwarded to our
production department.
(3) Here, in production, up-to-date
technology is put to use. Modern
typesetting equipment and com
puters produce type (print) in various
sizes, using the layout as a guide.
Photography equipment reduces
or enlarges photos and illustrations
according to the layout
requirements.
(4) Once all the elements of the ad
have been produced, "paste-up”
people follow the layout and produce
the finished product. Inside a border
the exact size of the ad, print and
illustrations are arranged. By varying
the size of print to emphasize certain
items, and positioning illustrations,
the ad takes form.
The final product should be easy to
read and make it easy for the reader
to respond to the products and
services being offered.
(5) At this point your ad person will
check every word and detail to verify
the accuracy of your ad An “OK” is
given if ready for print If not “OK”,
corrections are marked and made,
and the ad is rechecked for final
approval
With these steps, your ad is now
ready to appear in the current
edition With this brief outline, we
hope you can understand the time
involved and the reason deadlines
must be established.
Sufficient time must be allowed to
handle your message personally and
to avoid haste that could lead to
mistakes.
What has enabled LANCASTER
FARMING to grow to its present
status 7
We feel personal service and
sufficient time for proper and ac
curate production are two important
factors.
And, what are the rewards of
working in the advertising depart
ment 7 Perhaps the best reward is
hearing that an advertiser was
pleased with how we presented his
message and, that the message did
its job produced results 1