(1) Directly presenting the product to the market
(2) Urging the market to accept the product
But Institutional-Advertising is far more psychological. Here enters
the supreme function of the merchandising arts, to create consumer
“good-will.” This may be defined as encouraging consumer-benevolence,
that is, educating the public to a sense of subjective interest in the
entire business, and a conscious awareness of benefit therefrom. A
feeling of friendly satisfaction engendered by Knowledge, Understanding
and Appreciation is the inception of this consumer-benevolence.
The various factors that jointly and severally enter into these great
merchandising truths I will not insist upon. But it would give me
great satisfaction if you and Mr. Russell would meet the members of
our organization and talk the whole matter over frankly and fully. Mr.
Russell and your good self and the writer ought to get together in the
near future for a long, serious talk on the whole proposition. We could
not do nearly so well for you if our headquarters were not in New York,
where we can have daily intimate conference with your organization
headquarters. Our psychological director for the Chicago Territory,
Mr. Alfred Ampere, has been so stimulated by what he has heard of your
plans, that he wires me asking to be transferred to New York if our
proposition goes through. I am inclined to favour appointing him as
chief contact man, so that he could be summoned at any time within
twenty minutes if a conference were called.
The objectives are all clearly defined, and we are ready to go to work.
This is simply to assure you of my own personal appreciation of the
splendid energy and fighting spirit your organization exhibits, and
to hope that from the very inception of the Ginger Cubes we may be
accorded an opportunity to coöperate in the public educationalization
which is the real satisfaction of the advertising profession.
Cordially yours,
GEO. W. GRAY.
Technical Director, Gray Matter Advertising Agency.