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The Way It Was
by Henry J. Kaufman
I was asked to do a few sketches of what constituted
our local advertising world during the 1920s and to briefly
describe some of the changes that transformed our earliest
advertising agencies into those which exist today.
As I look back upon the scene I entered as
a classified advertising salesman during the summer of 1923,
I find it difficult to believe that my memory isn't playing
some tricks. During the twenties, Washington had five newspapers,
some billboards, carcards, a few users of mail pieces and hand-delivered "shoppers
guides" — no local magazines; radio and TV didn't
exist. Nationally circulated mass-oriented magazines and a
few rough forerunners of what are now recognized as business
publications were available to advertisers. None of the publishers
could profile their readership. Even their circulation figures
lacked credibility. Each attempted to cover the largest possible
audience. None even thought of confining their focus to population
segments of similar tastes, education, wealth, occupation or
hobbies. Circulation was a numbers game, and there was little
sophistication to media-buying. Market research hadn't been
discovered. "Marketing" as we understand it today
wasn't even a gleam in anyone's eye. Selling was directed by
sales managers whose tactics and techniques probably gave birth
to the Better Business Bureau, whose tardy arrival provided
the long-needed protection of badly abused consumers.
Washington's five newspapers were the then-dominant Evening
Star, the slowly fading Washington Post, the morning
and evening Hearst papers — The Herald and The
Times — and the Scripps Howard Daily News, a
tabloid. AR offered free or very low cost creative services
to their advertisers. These services included copy, layouts,
art, composition, and engravings. This kind of competition,
in a community which had no manufacturers bidding for national
attention, left little room for independent advertising agencies,
and indeed, agencies were few.
When I launched my agency in 1929, there were
only a handful of companies that could qualify as advertising
agencies. The Star had discontinued its Star Ad Bureau and
had encouraged Norman Kal and Williams to move out with all
of the Ad Bureau's clients. Despite the minuscule fees its
clients had paid the Star Ad Bureau, the huge number of advertisers
gave Kal Williams a running start on the local advertising
front. For years thereafter, the agency, which became Kal,
Ehrlich and Merrick in 1928, had little competition for the
retailers who constituted the largest source of local area
advertising.
The three other agencies that most closely
approximated the professional standards upheld elsewhere by
such agencies as J. Walter Thompson, N.W. Ayer, etc., were
Frank Romer, Gabriel Tauber and Lewis Edwin Ryan.
Romer was a gifted writer who ran a tiny shop
catering to national advertisers. Remington Arms was a Romer
client. Tauber was an unwitting forerunner of today's sales
promotion specialists. He served regional companies offering
products and services which he promoted with sales contests,
games and prizes. He ultimately left the agency field and became
a representative of the manufacturers of advertising specialties.
He was successful because he knew how the novelties could be
used to generate sales.
Perhaps the closest to today's concept of
an agency was Lewis Edwin Ryan's company. It was a small shop
in terms of staff, but big in terms of creative and sales planning.
Unlike Washington's other agencies — all focusing on turning
out ads (as, opposed to campaigns) — Ryan exhibited broader
interest and broader capability in dealing with the sales planning
of his clients. He confined his attention to a few, but very
substantial, clients who appreciated his talents. He served
Capital Airlines, Wilkins Coffee and the area's largest bakeries
and dairies, which promoted their products and services with
strong advertising campaigns.
Kal's retail clients didn't expect anything
but good advertisements, which Kal's outfit produced in volume
and at a profit. Eventually the agency's management realized
that it had to offer more than creative services, which it
did in small doses. The agency was launched as a high volume
advertising production shop, and it focused on that function
for a long time.
My philosophy about agency services was closer
to Ryan's. As a newspaper space rep, I had dealt with many
advertisers and their agencies. When I called upon an advertiser,
I usually dealt with the company owner or general manager.
I gained a liberal education in how they conducted their affairs,
how they hoped to grow, and what they expected from their resources.
I sold a lot of space by conceiving the copy and layouts which
filled that space. And I wasn't content to let those I served
think from ad to ad. They had to think of advertising in terms
of what it contributed to their goals. That meant campaigns — not
just ads. The planning included other factors that influenced
the consummation of a sale. I came closer to being a marketing
man than an advertising man, although it took a while for me
to recognize the niche I was creating for myself.
At the beginning, agencies had to work with
media whose circulation couldn't be profiled, with markets
that were not well defined, with clients who thought "ads" were
what agencies were born to create. And at the agencies, the
owners and account service people were expected to be able
to write copy, lay out the ads, supervise art, handle production
and perform the media selection and placement functions. At
least that's how it was in the 1920s. But during subsequent
years, the scene went through a lot of changes, caused by some
interesting characters. I hope to introduce you to some of
them and to tell you how they influenced the progress of advertising
in the greater Washington area.
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In two previously published articles I described the advertising agencies
that existed in the Washington, D.C. area during the late twenties and
early 1930s. They were very small companies. They prepared ads for the
five local newspapers that were published here and they designed and
produced the relatively moderate outdoor, carcard and direct mail programs
their clients sponsored. Radio stations were just beginning to operate
and advertising agencies conceived and produced the programs their clients
sponsored.
Most publishers (magazines, business publications,
newspapers) and broadcasters sought mass audiences. They went
for big numbers — not special categories of readers and
listeners. Research wasn't a well understood nor frequently
used tool of business. The word "marketing" wasn't
used, nor well understood either. Media selection for advertising
programs wasn't a very sophisticated procedure. It couldn't
be. Publishers and broadcasters couldn't describe their audiences.
The one big advantage that our early advertising
agencies possessed was their contact with the owners or managers
of the companies they served. Agencies weren't expected to
do more than conceive and produce effective advertising. But
they were dealing constantly with the most knowledgeable executives
of the companies they served. And those executives were real
entrepreneurs. They were actively involved in all major aspects
of their companies. They knew the companies who served them,
and they knew the customers they served. They provided meaningful
information and wisdom to their agencies, and they knew how
to use the information and advertising programs their agencies
provided to them.
In the 1920s and early 1930s, an agency didn't
have to deal with layers of executives before their proposals
could get through to the top executives for approval. Much
of what was conceived and executed lacked the benefits provided
by today's many, important resources — but it reflected
knowledge gained from intimate exposure to producers, users
and all the channels of distribution and communication, which
linked the sellers to their buyers. The many changes which
have occurred over subsequent years have affected every aspect
of business — but none more than marketing. In this area
and many others, today's advertising agencies have many helpful
resources. For years the American Association of Advertising
Agencies has conducted studies relating to every aspect of
agency operations. These studies have resulted in the publication
of much data and the conduct of many seminars that have helped
their members become more knowledgeable and more effective
in the management of their own agencies, in the development
of fiscal stability and in the servicing of their clients.
Networks of independent agencies have also contributed to better
management, better conduct of client services and relationships.
Specialists in various categories of agency operations and
service now provide consultation. The annual Advertising Age
seminars have attracted many leaders of agencies of all sizes
who wish to improve their business and professional skills.
Advertising Clubs in all major metropolitan areas regard as
major responsibilities the continuing presentation of seminars
dealing with skills improvement and business management techniques.
No longer do agencies offering marketing and communications
services have reason to lack the business management know-how
essential to their own operations.
Today's advertising agencies are (or should
be) involved with every activity which relates to the movement
of their clients' goods and services — as well as to the
communications programs designed to identify their clients
and to move the products and services they provide.
Today, research is a constant resource. Today,
the media world is splintered by special interest publications
and programs, a wide variety of business publications within
single categories of business plus direct mail, outdoor boards,
radio, TV, cable, special events and more. Dozens of marketing
choices exist that weren't known or understood just a few years
ago — i.e., direct marketing, shopping malls, credit cards,
instore marketing techniques, couponing, etc. All affect choice
of outlets, character of presentation, category of users, selection
of media, etc., etc., etc. Decisions regarding the foregoing
require knowledge and experience that few individuals possess.
Today's advertising agencies, including those
in the Washington area, have varying degrees of capacities
and abilities to deal with the many aspects of marketing available
to their clients or prospects. The important thing today, for
the company seeking an agency, is to be aware of the skills,
experience and scope his or her company's situation requires.
Knowing how to identify needs — and how to determine the
qualifications essential to handling them — are capabilities
that many company executives lack. Agency selection is not
an easy process, and seldom is it approached with the degree
of knowledge and care it deserves.
The D.C. area has many capable agencies. Some
are branches of the nation's largest agencies. Some confine
their services to a few categories of business, and some confine
their services to a relatively few functions. Some that are
small or medium-sized have highly talented staffs. One locally
headquartered agency is among the top twenty-five to thirty
agencies in the nation. There are many choices, so it is important
to know how to identify those whose qualifications and other
attributes are ideally suited to the existing situation.
Since I retired from my own agency and have
functioned as a consultant to agencies and advertisers, I've
learned that many agencies of all sizes are providing capable
support to many clients here and elsewhere. What I've also
learned is that many companies seeking agency services — do
so with little appreciation of what they need and little understanding
of how to recognize the kinds and levels of talents they require.
Agency candidates can't be expected to assume
that a potential client doesn't really know what's needed nor
how to recognize it when it is clearly presented. This has
been a long-time source of agency/client relations problems.
It is a subject that agencies and advertisers should have a
common interest in resolving. Poor selection can be costly
to both — and good selection can be very profitable to
both. Most area clients can be capably served by an agency
that lives right here. The effort to learn how to recognize
a good relationship would be well worth whatever it costs in
time or money.
This article was supposed to trace the history
of the advertising agency world from the mid-thirties to the
present time. I believe that the real value of any history
comes from the lessons it imparts. The one continuing problem
that has never been satisfactorily resolved is the one I've
alluded to in this treatise. I believe that most companies
approach agency selection without the essential awareness of
what they are seeking and without the ability to recognize
what they need when it is clearly presented. If I've persuaded
a few advertisers to give serious attention to this subject,
I will feel well-rewarded for the effort.
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