Creating a New Want

Advertising may be defined as the art of creating a New Want, for successful advertising does not stop with publishing the claims that are made for a product. The advertising must not only tell the possible consumer all about the product, but must create in his mind a desire to possess it-in fact, I am willing to go far enough to affirm that advertising which does not create a New Want in many minds is not good advertising.

It is not enough to tell an automobile enthusiast of the good, strong mechanical points in a particular machine. The advertising should not stop with giving information to those who are already interested in automobiles; it should create "automobile enthusiasm."

In other words, it should imbue the mind of the reader with a longing to participate in the pleasures and delights of driving that particular car, for if the sale of the particular machine which is being put upon the market is to be limited to those who are already enamored of it, the possibilities of the industry would not justify a very heavy or extended expenditure for publicity.

Take the safety razor as an illustration. There are now many safety razors on the market, but the man who made the first safety razor and ventured to put it on the market had to spend a lot of money creating a New Waat in the minds of men. He had to talk to that portion of the race which grows, a beard on its face and which was anxious to escape the tiresome thralldom of the barber shop.

He had to appeal to the universaI desire of man to escape the enslavement of the imperial tonsoral fiend who, with reckless disregard for his time and patience, makes him fritter away precious momemts, even hours, in his shop awaiting his turn.

In other words, the maker of the first safety razor had to lay the foundations for all future business with an educational campaign. At mch expense and through the tribulation of possible loss he blazed the way for the manufacturers of safety razors yet unborn. It was his lot to convince mankind that they could emancipate themselves from the despotism of the barber shop.

It was his mission to point out the avenue of escape. It was his task to convince bewhiskered humanity that the safety razor was a practical thihg; that it was a time-saver, a money-saver, a blessing to tender faces and that it was possible for the man who could not shave himself with the old-fashioned razor to scrape his face quickly and smoothly with this new device.

Thousands of other examples might be adduced to illustrate the fact that modern advertising must seek to create a New Want, and the man who knows best how to do this through the medium of the English language is the successful advertiser of today. So go out there and create a New Want for your product.