Title: Florists' review (microform)
Identifier: 5205536_40_3 (find matches)
Year: 1912 (1910s)
Authors:
Subjects: Floriculture
Publisher: Chicago : Florists' Pub. Co
Contributing Library: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Digitizing Sponsor: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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Sbptbmbeu 6, 1917 The Florists Review
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A State Fair Display by a Florist in tlie City in which the Fair is Held is an Excellent Means of Advertising. such advertising and, further, showing whether or not the "good" advertis- ing also was profitable advertising. Per- haps the average exhibitor would main- tain that there is no sure way of check- ing up the results; that such exhibits class as straight publicity—simply a means of keeping one's name before the public. If the returns cannot be made to prove the profitableness of the advertising, perhaps enough weak links can be found in it to prove that returns really cannot exist in numbers sufficient to pay the expenses incurred and leave something over in the till. The attendance at any state fair is supposed to be representative of the state. Each town or city sends a repre- sentation according to its size and dis- tance from the fair grounds. Then there are the farmers and a compara- tively small number of out-of-state visitors. Prom this it is clearly apparent that the retailer who exhibits at a state fair is advertising to the entire state, or rather to a representation of the state. But what does that profit the florist whose business is not state-wide, but local, and confined to the territory in which his establishment is situated? When It Is Wasteful. As an example, let it be assumed that there were 200,000 visitors at the Illi- nois state fair at Springfield last year, and that 20,000 of these were _ from Chicago. Now suppose that a Chicago retailer, one who carries on a business within the city limits, were to enter a display at the Springfield fair. At a glance it may be seen that, although he would be advertising to 200,000 people, his prospects would number only 20,000, inasmuch as this was the number of Chicagoans at the fair. The Chicago retailer would be in the same position as the medical advertiser who paid for the entire circulation of a popular mag- azine in order to reach a small number of the readers who were medical men. His advertising would be rated as ninety per cent wasteful, for only one- tenth of the attendao^ta at the fair are residents of his toHritary. There may and F. T. D. orders in be mail order% an the remainint: *i aini,n"g 'tiihe-tenths of the at- tendance, but mail-order' flowers as yet do not amount to much and the F. T. D. orders would be handled by other flo- rists at the receiving ends, and these may prefer some other Chicago retailer to the exhibitor. Why Go Away to Advertise? Then there are other points to be considered by the Chicago state fair ad- vertiser. What kind or type of people are his 20,000 prospects? How many of them are in the flower-buying class? How many are men? How many are women? It is certain that a sifting process of this sort would make for a big reduction in the 20,000 and leave a small field of live prospects. Last, but not least, there is the alternative for the Chicago advertiser to consider. Instead of leaving his territory, would it not be more profitable for him to re- main at home and spend his money on one of the local and less expensive forms of publicity? His attendance then would be as large as the city, and not 20,000. It is patent that the small-town flo- rist who goes to the state fair will have a greater percentage of wasteful advertising than the large city florist, for the small town's representation at tlie fair is much smaller than that of the large city. If there were two re- tailers in one town, and one of the two made a display at the state fair, it is certain that the stay-at-home could more than offset his competitor's publicity by using a few inches of space in the town's daily press. Where the Tables Turn. But quite another angle presents it- self in the case of the florist who car- ries on a local business in the city or town in which the fair is held. Here practically the entire popu^tion goes to the fair and the florist. Iio situated has an opportunity to advertise his flow- ers and name to his entire field, besides the large out-of-town crowd. Further- more, this exhibitor has little expense incidental to his display—no express bills, hotel expenses, etc. As a good e:^mple of the last-men- tioned class, a state fair exhibit of the State Fair Floral Co., of Sedalia, Mo,, is cited. The State Fair Floral Co, conducts a large business at Sedalia, where the Missouri state fair is held each year. As shown in the accompany- ing illustration, the company had an unusually good exhibit. The design be- hind the wedding gates was a first pre- mium winner, and the display undoubt- edly was profitable publicity. Practi- cally Sedalia's entire population saw tlie show and the expense incurred by the company surely was much smaller than would be that of a St. Louis florist, who would have to send his display and men across the state, and at that ad- vertise to only a small portion of the St. Louis people. Advertising First; Prizes Second, In arranging his exhibit at the state fair, the florist should remember that his kind of business,' his name and his address are of more importance than the prizes and first premiums offered by the fair promoters. The florist who hopes to make his state fair advertis- ing pay dividends must feature his name and address. The signs or posters should be attractive and large enough to hinge the display with the adver- tiser; otherwise, the display is simply a decoration and not an advertisement. A few years ago a clever state ex- hibitor distributed inexpensive sou- venirs to the spectators who stopped at his booth. Each recipient of the sou- venir was politely requested to write his name and address in a large book. By this method the advertiser sociirol a good-sized iiuiiliiig list, which he later

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