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aBYENIfrQ. LB-DftTimPTTYT,ATinT,PTrTA. MONDAY, MARCH 8, 1915.
ARE THE BANKS TO BLAME?
It is frequently said that one reason why some
Philadelphia industries have not expanded as those
in other cities have done is that the banks of Phila
delphia do not encourage and support aggressive
selling methods. Notably, it is said, they often de
cline to loan money to be invested in advertising.
And yet the first great national advertiser of
the United States was a Philadelphia banker.
A Philadelphia banker, Morris, stood behind the
nation and carried it through the Revolution. A
Philadelphia banker, Clark, financed the Govern
ment in the Mexican War. And again, in the time
of the Civil War, it was a Philadelphia banker, Jay
Cooke, who supplied the sinews of war. He did
it by advertising.
He was appointed fiscal agent by Abraham
Lincoln, and his job was to sell war bonds. He
abandoned the old-line, conservative methods, and
by aggressive advertising in every good newspaper
in the North, he sold $1,240,000,000 worth of bonds.
That was the first national advertising campaign
ever known and it was planned and executed by a
Philadelphia banker.
Our bankers have been staunch supporters of
their nation in the wars of history. So too should
they be staunch supporters of the city's business and
business men in the modern warfare of commerce.
It is true that the banks are often unjustly
criticised for refusing to loan to manufacturers
who really have not the qualifications necessary to
make a success of any selling campaign whether
or not advertising is a part of it In order to loan
on something other than tangible security, the bank
has to be convinced of the ability and energy of the
man who wants the loan.
It is equally true that the same complaint is
heard in other cities as well as in Philadelphia. .
Edward Mott Woolley, in an article in Printers'
Ink last fall, said :
" The banks in the, great advertising centres,
such as New York and Chicago, are generally liberal
in their viewpoint on advertising. In the smaller
centres, the old distrust is often seen.
"An inquiry at some of the largest banks in
New York shows that loans are being made heavily.
If a concern intends to put $25,000 or $100,000 into
the next year's advertising appropriations, the sagac
ity of the managers is trusted for the result. But
reports from other places show decided conserva
tism and misunderstanding of the true mission of
advertising.
" In a small city of Pennsylvania, three adver
tising manufacturers, who really constitute the sum
total of the industry of the town, are today practi
cally closed down because of the disinclination of
the local banks to let them carry on their usual
campaigns. The result is that the town is stag
nated, the one savings bank losing deposits heavily,
the merchants doing no business except in bare
necessities, and credit seriously overtaxed all around.
" In a New Jersey town there is a manufacturer
of specialties who has been obliged to reduce his
advertising 75 per cent, because his bank would not
loan him money unless he did.
"The main trouble has been that bankers have
never given any considerable study to the subject of
advertising. They have taken the more spectacular
advertising as typical. They have seen tremendous
successes, and some big disasters. These they have
lumped together and called the whole thing
chance.'
The writer goes on to show that bankers have
a misconception of modern advertising. He adds
that the time is coming when large banks will
have on their staffs men with trained knowledge
and appreciation of the true value and force of ad
vertising. He says: "If this seems far-fetched, remem
ber how, only a decade or two ago, there weren't
any real credit men attached to banks.
"With the growing recognition of advertising
as a necessary sales force, advertising methods must
be made more and more a matter of study by the
banks; and an advertising adviser, either as a mem
ber of the bank's actual staff or in the position of a
counselor, might easily accomplish wonders in the
legitimate development of a community and of the
bank."
We should appreciate an opportunity to place in the hands of every Philadelphia banker who is interested
to know more about advertising AS AN INVESTMENT RATHER THAN AN EXPENSE our 282-page
illustrated book entitled "Selling Forces, " which is a study of the basic principles of national advertising.
The Ladled Home Journal
The Saturday Evening Post
The Country Gentleman
The Curtis Publishing Company, Independence Square, Philadelphia
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