(Chapter 10) Things Too Costly
Many things are possible in advertising which are too costly to
attempt. That is another reason why every project and method
should be weighed and determined by a known scale of cost and
result. Changing peoples habits is very expensive. A project which
involves that must be seriously considered.
To sell shaving soap to the peasants of Russia one would first need to change their beard wearing habits. The cost would be excessive. Yet countless advertisers try to do things almost as impossible. Just because questions are not ably considered, and results are traced but unknown.
For instance, the advertiser of a dentifrice may spend much space
and money to educate people to brush their teeth. Tests which we
know of have indicated that the cost of such converts may run from
$20 to $25 each. Not only because of the difficulty, but because
much of the advertising goes to people already converted.
Such a cost, of course, is unthinkable. One might not in a lifetime
get it back in sales. The maker who learned these facts by tests make no attempt to educate people to the tooth brush habit. What cannot be done on a large scale profitably can not be done on a small scale.
So not one line in any ad is devoted to this object. This maker, who is constantly guided in everything by keying every ad, has made
remarkable success.
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