1939: Advertising

Until the outbreak of war in Europe in September, the development of advertising during 1939 was proceeding along healthy lines. The downward trends in the quantity and quality of advertising which were evident in 1938 had been reversed early in the new year and after January nearly every month showed a larger volume of advertising than the corresponding month in 1938. Of the major classes of media, radio showed the greatest gain, and, in fact, reached the highest volume in its history. Magazine, newspaper, and outdoor advertising increased slightly but remained below their volume for 1937. Printers' Ink advertising index showed them in most months about 80 per cent of their monthly average for the five-year period from 1928 to 1932.

The upward swing of advertising activity was checked toward the close of the year. In Great Britain, of course, the amount of advertising was abruptly cut in half. Such classifications as winter tours and air lines were almost entirely eliminated. Government pooling of petrol and restrictions on the use of automobiles reduced advertising of motor cars, and their supplies and accessories to a small fraction of their normal volume. Advertising of beverages, cigarettes and other luxuries was drastically curtailed, and the loss was only partially offset by increased advertising of foods, clothing, household articles, and insurance.

Radio.

Except in such relatively small classifications as foreign travel, advertising in the United States was not immediately reduced by the war. Increased use of the radio for war news possibly stimulated radio advertising somewhat, though the interruption of programs for news bulletins occasionally disarranged the sponsor's plans. Radio programs during the year showed a wholesome tendency toward more educational and informative material. Methods of testing program popularity were improved, and the results of tests were interpreted with greater caution. More attention was paid to the listening habits of rural audiences. Competition between the two leading networks was keen, but the lesser networks made excellent progress. Some advertisers increased their use of spot broadcasting.

Newspaper and Magazine.

Although newspaper advertising showed only a slight increase over 1938, the newspaper continued to be the leading medium for national advertising. This position was partly attributable to the fact that certain classes of commodities, such as intoxicating liquors, were barred by radio and by some magazines. Largely because of the Robinson-Patman Act prohibiting discriminatory advertising allowances, there was a tendency for national advertisers to handle their own local advertising, or merely supply cuts and copy to be used in space paid for by dealers.

Magazines as a whole showed little gain in advertising volume, but the weeklies had an increase of nearly 15 per cent for the first three quarters of the year. A substantial share of this was due to the rise of the pictorial weeklies, one of which nearly doubled its 1938 linage. The largest weekly had in its October 14 issue (the automobile show issue) its greatest volume of advertising since Sept. 12, 1931. A survey made by an independent research organization, supervised by a committee of experts, reached the conclusion that the four leading weekly magazines reached an average total audience of 40,000,000 readers. This survey also found that among the weekly magazines tested there were wide differences in the number of readers per copy. One magazine was reported to reach on the average 4 readers per copy; another, 8.5 readers per copy. By continuation of the study it was hoped to obtain reliable figures of the number of actual readers of magazines as a supplement to the circulation figures.

Other Media.

Outdoor advertising and direct advertising varied considerably in activity from month to month, but both were estimated to average slightly above their 1938 levels. Large expenditures for premiums and prizes continued probably above $300,000,000, but apparently on a declining scale from the two preceding years. Some users of these sales stimulants who frankly admitted them to be forms of 'depression advertising' found it inexpedient to abandon them abruptly. Many manufacturers emphasized merchandising policies of various sorts designed to win the cooperation of dealers and others involved in the distribution of merchandise. Much space was devoted to the task of winning support of various professions and trades that influence consumer purchases, such as doctors, dentists, and painters.

The most spectacular special media available for advertising during the year were the World's Fairs at New York and San Francisco. Insofar as these were advertisements of their respective cities, their results were below expectations, since the number of visitors was far below advance estimates. The disappointing attendance was thought by some experts to have been due to reliance upon free publicity rather than advertising to attract people from a distance. However, the 26,000,000 visitors to the New York Fair and the other millions at San Francisco constituted a large potential audience for the exhibits of leading industrial companies and commercial associations. Some of the exhibits that provided both instruction and entertainment were crowded to capacity throughout the period of the Fair, with benefit to the exhibitors' sales and good will. Other trade-marked articles found ingenious methods of impressing their names and talking points on the public mind, notably Life Savers with its parachute jump. Several advertisers incorporated their World's Fair theme in their other advertising.

Not only in the World's Fairs but in other media, a number of important cooperative campaigns were conducted in behalf of associations. The railroads, the air transportation companies, and several groups of competing producers used various media for good-will and institutional advertising, or to influence public opinion regarding legislation and taxation. In some localities, advertising was extensively used in connection with the political issues of the Fall elections.

Advertising Copy.

Both in newspapers and magazines there was a tendency toward greater accuracy in copy. Several factors appear to have been responsible. The enlarged powers of the Federal Trade Commission under the Wheeler-Lea Act operated to correct some abuses, and to induce a more cautious policy by advertisers, advertising agencies, and publishers. Naturally in some cases the rulings of the Commission were felt to be an unjust hardship, and in a few the alleged offender chose to dispute the question in the Federal Courts.

To assist advertisers in their observance of the Wheeler-Lea Act, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and other recent legislation affecting advertising, the National Better Business Bureau published in loose-leaf form 'A Guide to National Advertising.' This analyzed and clarified the important laws and rulings, and was of material assistance both to the Government and to business men in securing compliance with the rather complex legal restrictions, particularly in such fields as foods, medicines, cosmetics, and alcoholic beverages.

No important new legislation regarding advertising was passed although such legislation was strongly recommended by the Department of Justice toward the close of 1938. In an announcement concerning the automobile financing companies, Assistant Attorney-General Thurman Arnold digressed to denounce the advertising of trade-marked brands of various commodities, on the ground that such advertising tended to establish monopoly control. Among other things he said, 'By a variety of modern refinements upon the methods of the circus barker, advertising is used to build up public preference for the products of one producer or manufacturer solely because he has the most advertising money and can make the most noise. To meet the monopoly control which this advertising gives, the anti-trust laws by themselves are inadequate.'

This pronouncement caused some excitement in advertising circles, and the advertising journals devoted considerable space to articles and editorials replying to this accusation. A more practical refutation was given by the sales performances of products in several fields. Thus in cigarettes the 'big four' leaders were confronted by the rivalry of a lesser brand which made startling gains in sales with a comparatively modest advertising appropriation, but with a good product and a good copy theme. In other fields, also, some newcomers made excellent progress.

Copy slants showed increasing variety, with no one method conspicuous enough to be considered a ruling fashion. Such previous fads as the strip or balloon method appeared to be on the wane and those still using the method generally showed more mature skill and greater restraint than some of the earlier examples. An increasing number of advertisers adopted the policy of having special copy prepared to fit the different media on their lists. Photographs continued to be the favorite form of illustration, and advances were made in the technique of dramatic photography.

Scientific Aspects.

Advertisement-testing increased in importance, but the results were received with more scientific caution. A committee of experts, under the direction of the Advertising Research Foundation, carefully analyzed and compared the various methods (opinion, inquiry, recognition, recall, sales test, etc.) and reported on their advantages and defects.

An important advance was made in the technique of the popular recognition test by providing a method of determining the amount of allowance to be made for false or confused recognition, due to lapses of memory. Other precautionary methods were advised to secure results of greater validity in advertisement tests. One New York department store, after detailed analysis of thousands of advertisements devised a check list of points that were commonly found in its advertisements that were above average in effectiveness, and used this as a guide in planning future advertising. General check lists were used by some agencies, but regarded with scepticism by others.

The consumer movement continued to show hostility to national advertising, but progress was made toward reconciling the views and aims of the movement with those of private business. Significant evidence of this was furnished in a two day conference in June, 1939, held by the National Better Business Bureau with the cooperation of 100 business, consumer, government and educational organizations in the United States and Canada. Practically every shade of opinion was represented by a spokesman. The discussion, which was conducted in a dignified and amicable manner, helped to bring about a better understanding between advertisers and consumer representatives.

Among the important new books of the year were 'The History of an Advertising Agency' by Ralph M. Hower, 'Copy Testing,' a report by the Advertising Research Foundation, and 'Radio Advertising' by Warren B. Dygert. 'Does Distribution Cost Too Much?' a report by the Twentieth Century Fund gave authoritative data on the cost of advertising, and showed it to be much lower than is popularly supposed.