Publicity as a Research Tool

Publicity takes on new value to the ad agency and its clients as a tool of market research. We've discovered this additional function of the "new product" publicity campaign and advocate it especially for the account whose budget does not run to complicated market surveys.

HERE'S WHY...Major manufacturers can make sizeable investments in product introduction to the trade using many methods; the John Doe Co., however, has only X dollars with which to advertise its new widget. The question publicity now can answer is: where to spend those X dollars most advantageously?

HERE'S HOW...Conduct a horizontal "new product" campaign for the widget. Don't be content with a news release to one or two publications in a single field. Broaden your publicity horizon by testing it in all editorial columns which bear upon the field. As an instance...the widget is considered to be a chain store item. Test it, too, in hardware, houseware, premium and mail order trade publications.

HOW TO USE THE TEST...Editorial acceptance is the first factor; poor response from editors in a categoric field indicates a poor potential market. Then, tally resultant inquiries and sales from various fields. Compare results from categoric markets and determine which books in each field pulled the highest return.

HOW YOUR CLIENT BENEFITS...Publicity not only serves to open new markets, but shows where to best spend future ad dollars. It helps you to make the most of his budget; helps him to use it in prime markets.

September 1956