He has to employ copy writers whose salaries frequently exceed the earn. ings of the average professional man. It is, for instance, a common thing in America for a service advertising agent to employ copy writers whose remune ration exceeds that of the President of the U.S.A. He employs artists who, besides being skilled in their art, possess that rare and valuable quality, the advertising instinct. He has his rate clerk, long trained in the purchase of advertising space to best advantage ; his printing expert, his follow-up specialist, his bill-posting specialist, and so on. The services of all these trained experts are placed at the disposal of his clients.
The Space other class of advertising agent is the space broker. He has no interest whatever in the success or failure of the adver tiser's venture. He merely acts as an intercepter of contracts between the advertiser and the newspaper, and to obtain business he offers to cut the commission he receives from the newspaper, and give a portion of it back to the advertiser. The advertiser who is not familiar with the real principles of advertising simply applies the ordinary method of commerce to his advertis ing transactions, and buys in absolutely the cheapest market. Newspaper space or any other space represents to him so much space worth so much money. If he can buy that space from the space broker at 7- per cent, less than he has to pay for it to the service agent he will buy it. He loses sight of the fact that the space is in itself valueless, and that it is the use it is put to, together with the general administration of the campaign, that will ultimately make for success or failure of the campaign upon which he is about to enter.
It is claimed that the space-broking agent is of assistance to that class of' large advertiser who retain the services of an advertising expert or advertising e, • manager, who applies all the service and skill in conducting the campaign, and merely uses the space-broking agent as a clerk to carry on details of correspondence with the newspapers, check accounts., &c. &c.
As to whether this is a wise step or not is a very moot point. It would seem that as advertising space is so expensive that the very best advice can scarcely be bought too dearly, and that whilst the space broker is enabled to return 5 per cent. or even 7i per cent. of his commission to the advertiser, the service agent is worth that extra 71 per cent. by reason of the co-opera
tion and advice he can give to even the most skilled advertising manager.
As the majority of advertisers, however, could not possibly afford to pay the immense salaries that are expected and obtained by advertising experts who specialise for one firm only, it follows that the majority of advertisers should entrust this advertising to the service agent if they wish their campaign to be administered judiciously and with chances of ultimate success.
One thing is certain, that where the space broker is merely used by the advertiser as a buyer of space, which he, the advertiser, through his retained expert chooses and definitely decides upon, there can be no great danger that the advertiser will receive injudicious advice from an outside source. Where, however, the advertising agent cuts his commission and is allowed to advise on the conduct of the campaign, it is certain that he will recommend mediums which will show him the greatest commission, irrespective of their value to the advertiser. The margin of profit to any advertising agent is a small one, so when it is cut to 5 per cent. or even 21- per cent. it is impossible to make a business pay unless there is some other source of revenue. This other source of revenue generally comes in extraordinary and special commissions from outside mediums, whose only claim to an advertiser's or an agent's patronage is that they give a large commission, it being a fact that the newspapers most valuable as advertising mediums do not give high commissions.
It is now beginning to be acknowledged on all sides that the wisest course for an advertiser to adopt is to deal with a fully equipped service agent, receiving the benefit of his impersonal and unbiassed advice regard ing the conduct of his campaign, and in return allowing him to retain his full commission. The advertising agent should be able to advise on almost any phase of the advertiser's selling problem. He should understand thoroughly the distribution of goods, and understand how to treat the trade on any given problem ; be familiar with the different characteristics in different sections of the country; be able to buy space at the lowest possible net rate from the various newspapers; know the ,cost of posting, printing, and, in fact, every detail that has to do with an advertising campaign. Such an agent can render the advertiser very valuable service.