Fundamentals of an Advertising Agency Service

Let us now attempt to describe the service a capable advertising agent will render to a typical client :

1. He will add thorough gen­eral knowledge of selling methods and markets to his client's specific knowledge of his individual market and product.
2. He will recognize when data at hand are insufficient for basing accurate conclusions, and will know how to supplement these data by original investigations and trade research among dealers or consumers.
3. He will recommend suitable means of securing distribution, of handling salesmen, of winning dealers' co-operation, of cownter­acting or stopping unfair compe­tition, of stabilizing and broaden­ing consumer demand, of condens­ing unwieldy lines, of improving packages, etc.
4. He will know, or know how to find out, whether the time, the season, the market conditions, the dealers' attitude, all are favorable for the start of an advertising cam­paign.
5. He will suggest new markets, new uses of the product by con­sumers, and new products and ways of merchandising them, if such changes are necessary.
6. He will know with great ex­actness the merits of various media in relation to a given product; the value of various styles of copy, characters of art work, sizes of space, and lines of reasoning.
7. He will know the proper cost of the most suitable work, the plates and all other material en­tering into the preparation of ad­vertising copy.
8. He will know the lowest pos­sible cost of space in magazines, newspapers, billboards, car cards, trade-papers, or whatever media are to be used for the campaign. He will be in a position to buy this space at as favorable prices as any­one can obtain.
9. He will prepare in his own organization a complete recom­mendation as to advertising media to be used, together with illustra­tions, copy, plates, and finally, fin­ished advertisements, including catalogs, trade literature, and other printed matter incidental to the most effective use of the adver­tising by the manufacturer's sales organization.
10. He will forward copy to the media selected and after its ap­pearance will "check" the maga­zines, newspapers, and trade pub­lications, seeing that the space paid for is delivered, that the advertise­ments are inserted in schedule order, that they are given good position in the publication and that they are well printed.
11. He will render to his client carefully itemized monthly bills, showing exactly what moneys have been expended.

Any advertising agency that falls short of this service is not a modern agency, and is not deliver­ing the type of service which is most successful today. Any manu­facturer who pays an advertising agency for service which does not comprehend all of the fundamen­tals here outlined is paying for more than he gets.