Standard Marketing Appeals

September 10

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , , , ,

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Providence Gazette (September 10, 1774).

“He has removed his Shop to … the Sign of the Hat in Hand.”

When William Barton moved to a new location as the summer came to a close in 1774, he placed an advertisement in the Providence Gazette to inform “his good old Customers in particular, and the Public in general” where to find him.  Having established a clientele, the hatter did not wish to miss out on subsequent business if customers went to his former shop and did not discover him there.  All prospective customers, whether or not they previously acquired hats from Barton, could recognize his new location by the “Sign of the Hat in Hand.”  The hatter did not indicate whether that marketing device had marked his previous location or if it was an innovation on the occasion of setting up shop on Weybosset Street.  Either way, it became part of the landscape of advertising that colonizers encountered as they traversed the streets “near the Long Wharff” in Providence.

To entice consumers to visit his shop, Barton made a variety of appeals.  He promised quality, stating that he made hats “in the best Manner.”  He emphasized fashion, declaring that his hats reflected “genteelest Taste.”  He touted his own skill and industriousness, asserting that “the greatest Expedition” went into producing his hats.  He offered choices to consumers, proclaiming that his inventory included “all Kinds of Hats.”  For his boldest appeal, he trumpeted that he was “determined to dispose of his Hats on as reasonable Terms as any Hatter in America.”  Barton did not merely compare his prices to his local competitors.  He confidently declared that consumers would not find any better deal anywhere, even if they sent away to Boston or New York or any other city or town in the colonies.  He challenged readers to visit his shop, learn his prices, and judge for themselves.  If his claim could get potential customers through the doors, that increased his chances of making sales.  Though his advertisement was not particularly lengthy, Barton incorporated many of the most common marketing appeals advanced by artisans in eighteenth-century America, anticipating that they collectively became more even more convincing.

October 16

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Maryland Journal (October 16, 1773).

“As they are but new beginners, country merchants may depend on being served with any of the above articles at the lowest rates.”

When Daniel McHenry and Son advertised their “Wholesale and Retail store, on the east side of Calvert-street” in Baltimore in the October 16, 1773, edition of the Maryland Journal, they described themselves as “new beginners.”  Though they had little experience as merchants and shopkeepers, their advertisement followed a format familiar to readers and consumers.  Advertisements for goods and services were so ubiquitous by the 1770s that “new beginners” could craft their own newspaper notices by selecting from among many standard elements that regularly appeared in advertisements throughout the colonies.

McHenry and Son, for instance, emphasized consumer choice.  They described their inventory as “a large and various assortment of merchandize.”  To demonstrate, they listed more than two dozen items from among their “DRY GOODS,” mostly textiles but also “playing cards, rose and Indian blankets, [and] women’s made up cloaks.”  They promised that they stocked “HARD-WARE,” but did not enumerate any of those items.  McHenry and Son devoted a separate list to “GROCERIES.”  Both lists concluded with “&c.” (an abbreviation for et cetera) to indicate that customers would discover so much more on the shelves when they visited the store.  Additional elements of the advertisement replicated other newspaper notices.  McHenry and Son sold goods “suitable to the season.”  They also assured prospective customers that they carried new goods rather than hawking leftovers; they acquired their merchandise via “the last vessels from London, Liverpool, Ireland,” and other ports.  McHenry and Son also promoted “the quality of their goods” and low prices or “the lowest rates” for their customers, especially “country merchants” looking to stock their own shops.

McHenry and Son sought to take advantage of common advertising strategies to entice customers.  At the same time, they attempted to leverage their status as “new beginners,” asking prospective customers to take into account their willingness to set lower prices (for goods of the same quality) compared to merchants with more experience.  To establish their reputations and secure their position in the marketplace, McHenry and Son offered the best bargains in hopes that doing so “will induce the public to give them a trial” and then continue purchasing from them in the future.  They made their status as “new beginners” a selling point, even as they crafted an advertisement that otherwise testified to their understanding of what mattered most to colonial consumers.

June 11

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Jun 11 - 6:11:1767 Virginia Gazette
Virginia Gazette (June 11, 1767).

“JUST IMPORTED, In the Rachel & Mary, Capt. Anderson, a fresh ASSORTMENT of DRUGS and MEDICINES.”

At a glance, a significant number of eighteenth-century newspaper advertisements look much the same as many of their counterparts. This often has the effect of underplaying the distinctiveness and innovation of some commercial notices. In addition to inciting demand for the goods and services they sold, advertisers simultaneously pursued two goals when writing copy.

First, they sought to incorporate several common appeals (price, quality, choice, fashion, gentility) that they believed resonated with potential customers. They often deployed formulaic language in the process. While this gave the impression that their notices more or less reiterated others, it also demonstrated that advertisers understood the conventions of current marketing practices. It implied a level of competence that presumably transferred to other aspects of operating their businesses.

On the other hand, advertisers also attempted to distinguish their commercial notices from others in hopes of attracting customers or clients that might otherwise employ their competitors. The Adverts 250 Project regularly identifies and examines such innovations. As a result, some of the repetitiveness and standardization of eighteenth-century advertisements gets overshadowed.

Today’s advertisements help to remedy that. Published one immediately after the other, both advertisements for “DRUGS and MEDICINES” use the same language and structure: a notice that the wares were “JUST IMPORTED,” the name of the vessel that transported the goods and its captain (which allowed readers to compare to the shipping news and assess how recently they had been “JUST IMPORTED”), and a brief indication of that customers could choose among an array of merchandise (“A large ASSORTMENT” versus “A fresh ASSORTMENT” in these two advertisements). William Biers and Benjamin Catton posted advertisements that looked and read strikingly similar to each other.

Still, the notices had small variations. Biers doubled down on his appeal to choice by listing more than three dozen specific items. In contrast, Catton emphasized low prices when he pledged to sell “wholesale or retail, on reasonable terms.” Neither advertiser devised any sort of innovative appeal. Even in making decisions that created advertisements slightly different from the other, both Biers and Catton selected from among well-established elements of eighteenth-century advertising. Then, as now, many advertisements played on methods widely considered effective rather than attempting to create some sort of marketing sensation.