Here is a system which enables au advertiser to localise his expenditure, to know exactly where his publicity is operating, and to bring his forces to bear upon any district, or any part of a district, which for trade reasons he may desire to influence. Ile can look at an advertisement on a hoarding and say to himself, "That advertisement is costing me (say) a penny a day— there must be at least a thousand people looking at it during the twenty-four hours; it surely ought to be worth a penny to get a thousand people to read my story (or see my picture)." That is the sort of reflection which increases billposting business. The public is in a hurry; people sometimes will not read an advertisement if they can help it, but going down a street and being suddenly struck by bright colour or forcible design, they are, willy-nilly, compelled to look at the advertisement, and the result thereby justifies the expenditure. But it must not be thought by the uninitiated that this is the whole ba'lle. An advertiser has to deal with many difficulties. Every station has not the same value; some positions are of excellent worth, others are in hack slrects and of doubtful value. Sonic seemingly useless ones may be full view of passing trains; others may meet the gaze of groups of factory hands, chapel or theatre goers, and in this way be seen daily by far more people than a casual visit would suggest. Then there is the question of lighting, the value of shop approaches, and many other considerations; so that, after a little investigation, it is seen that the subject is a deep one and should be handled by some one experienced in it.
Before dealing with the design of the poster, a word may be said on the subject of the size of the bill. Posting stations are roughly divided into bles and hoardings. Gables are the large stations on the sides of buildings and can generally take posters of any size ; hoardings are wooden structures, frequently temporary only, and erected in front of buildings or on unoccupied lands. These latter vary in size in different districts, but in London and many prominent centres extend as a rule to 12 feet in height. Therefore a poster 10 feet in height is about the best size for general purposes, and if a smaller bill is desired, it is better to make it 5 feet high, half the full size. Posters are most often reckoned in double crown sheets, A double crown sheet is 20 inches by 30 inches, and the 10-feet high poster referred to would ordinarily be a 16-sheet bill, namely, four double crowns in height (120 inches), and four double crowns in width (HO inches); but a glance at every hoarding will show that though 16-sheet bills may predominate and are the most convenient size, yet 8, 12, 21, 32, and other sizes, are quite common. Still, whatever the sheetage is, it is convenient to base it upon the double crown measurement and to keep the height to either 5 or 10 feet.
So much for the size and shape of the bill. A matter of far more consequence is the design. And before the design can be considered, the object the advertiser has in view should be clearly determined. If, sometimes happens, billposting is the only advertising done, then the design should tell a story or engender a sympathy. More often billposting forms part of au advertising scheme; then the duty it has to fulfil must be settled. In the case of an unknown article, it may do the best work if in a loud and striking manner it exhibits the name of the product, and so paves the way for and supports the more explanatory press advertising. A poster which does this is mere publicity. It may be a type bill or a pictorial one, but it must be strong enough to attract attention—in fact, it must be a shout. But if the posting is relied upon to tell a story, to be an object-lesson, to create a definite desire to buy, or to drive home some simple fact such as a reduction in price, then it should be of a different character; the artist's skill must be called into requisition and an effort made to tell the required tale in a simple illustration, which will attract attention by its strength, its humour, or its colour, and will then get home with the lesson it is intended to convey. This is the poster which is generally the best, and this is true advertising.
It is to b. regretted that there is not more art on the hoardings than there is. Art properly applied should help, not hinder, commercial effects ; but notwithstanding the development of art teaching and the increase in the number of art galleries, the artistic poster has not yet become fashionable, and advertisers seem to light shy of educational work in this direction. If art is out of fashion, humour is perhaps at its zenith. And yet humour is not necessarily good advertising. Like art, it should be made use of with care and judgment, and the practical commercial value of the design should govern its adoption for billposting purposes.
Before closing this notice, sonic general information may be given on the subject of costs and quantities. Billposting is charged at so much per double crown sheet per week. In London the rate ranges from a penny to a penny and a fifth. 'lids price covers the cost of posting and maintaining, but not that of the bill itself, which is provided by the advertiser. In the provinces the rentals are less, and average about a halfpenny per double crown sheet.
The life of a bill depends upon the weather, but in practice it lasts in normal circumstances about five weeks. A rough-and-ready calculation of the cost of paper can be made by adding .20 per cent. to the cost of the rentals on a general scheme.