EVENING- EEpgBB-rHIUADEEPKia:, FftlP&Y, MAY IX 19lfr;'
i - - 1 1 i r i i 1 1 ' . . ..
gyi'' -
m
THE ADVERTISING OF TIRES
G
nF.
u i
m i
I
m
iili
a
i
sm
r
i II,
lv
I-
J?V
'
.mi
V TJfi
e
T ill
m.'j ill
.1
i 11
rrj
-H IS
Wm
via
111
ESrl
? IJWII
S IVfcW H Tr r
In these columns some time ago we pointed out
that the last census showed an increase of 118 in
the manufactured output of Akron, Ohio, in the five
years 1905-09. Exact government figures for the
period since 1909 are not yet available, but it is cer
tain that the increase since then has been even
more striking.
This growth has been due almost solely to the
growth of the tire and rubber companies of Akron
which today produce about half of all the auto
mobile tires made in the country.
Previous to 1909, the growth
was a by-product of advertising.
The tire companies themselves
had not then advertised exten
sively, but had gained heavily
through the reflected effect of the
increased sale of automobiles, in
which advertising was a primary
factor.
Since 1909 the tire compa
nies have taken up national ad
vertising and the greatly accel
erated rate of growth has been
directly due to its influence.
It is noticeable that the tire
companies which have selected
the national periodical as the me
dium for their advertising have
made the greatest strides.
For example, the table below
shows the increase in sales of one
of the Akron companies which
was the first to adopt the nation
al method of advertising
ADVERTISING of TIRES
SATURDAY OTHER STANDARD
EVENING -"" " --
' POST WEEKLIES MONTHLIES
I
400,000 "ffl
300,000 irii
aoo.ooo I "!" Ill
100,000 5" I "" ii"i"'" mm
ill
1 1012 n mors 1
1Q11I
1912
1914
SATURDAY EVENING POST? 68
OTHER-.WEEKLIES 25
STANDARD MONTHLIES 7
mobile industry itself is the cause for some of this
increase.
But compare the increase in these tire sales
with the increase in the number of automobiles sold,
and note that whereas the number of automobiles
sold in 1914 was less than three times as great as
in 1910, the number of these nationally advertised
tires sold was seven times as great.
This company has obtained a steadily increas
ing percentage of the market. So with other tire
companies which have used national advertising,
while those which tried to sell
tires without national advertis
ing were left behind in the race.
Another Akron manufac
turer whose advertising appropri
ation is one of the largest in the
country, although it is less than
3 per cent, of the gross sales, says:
"There is no other force that
can possibly accomplish as much
and is so far-reaching and perma
nent in its effect as advertising.
We would no more consider the
discontinuance of our advertising
than we would consider abruptly
cutting off our sales force."
The benefit of this advertis
ing to the public may be seen in
the fact that in the past three
years as a result of economies
and improved processes made
possible by the large volume
given by advertising the price
of advertised tires has been re
duced very heavily in some
cases nearly cut in two.
1913
11914
Year
1910
1911
1912
1913
1914
Number of tires aold br Approximate number st
one Akron company automobiles aold
207,442 186,000
332,458 275,000
883,224 375,000
1,132,864 485,000
1,478,396 515,000
It is true that .the natural growth of the auto-
The success of automobile
.tire advertising as a whole may be judged by the
fact that in the past four years it has grown as
indicated on the chart on this page.
Today tires are advertised in the national peri
odicals to the extent of more than $750,000 annually
-more than 60 per cent, of this being in The
Saturday Evening Post.
i
S4
, THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY, INDEPENDENCE SQUARE, PHILADELPHIA
The Ladies' Home Journal The Saturday Evening PostK Ttye Country Gentleman
sfi-
?ir
!mii
1 If I 'lit 1 '
I If:. film 1
.HikH
l ijij I l Nffl
VtKjril I I m
' mm,.- ill . :---"" '" irin.nTirni-ll-tT--r.rf "rr-nn , .,,, ,-
m rxfuvuri j-
m mu- MJium i