Auditing Your Advertising Gan Save You Lots 0f Bottom Line Dollars and Produce More Gustomers

If you're satisfied with the look, and the results of your advertising . if you're satisfied with the a.mount of time and method in which you produce your advertising . . . then don't bother to read any further. But, ifyour ads appear tired and your traffic count is down, and the guy that prepares the ad is constantly complaining he doesn't get the right information from the guy who buys the merchandise, and the newspaper is stll/ making errors, and you don't have the right product illustration when you need it, and you never seem to collect all the co-op dollars that you've accrued then read on!

I love retail advertising. I've been involved in it throughout my business life. My early training along Madison Avenue was servicing major retailers. I was also the advertising director of Masters, Inc., the first giant discount store. As Executive Vice President of Group Promotions, Incorporated, I worked with 32 different retail clients. For 13 years I was the Director of Sales Promotion for Forest City in Cleveland and since 1973 l've been helping large and small Home Centers revamp their advertising procedures. So, I bring a lot of Home Center merchandising and advertising know-how with me when I visit with you and review your advertising. Together, here's what we'll audit: o The compatibility of your advertising "look" with your showroom "look." a The role of the merchandiser (buyer) and advertising. o Advertising function as it relates to your long range plans. a Communication-letting everyone prepare for the advertising results-(The sign maker, the store manager, the department manager, receiving, the sales personnel). o Allocating the proper merchandise mix in your ads. o Appealing to the casual do-ityourselfer, the dedicated DIY'er and the professional. o The effectiveness of electronic and other media in your market. o The sales potential for tabloids and booklets. o How to make an advertising checklist work. o Effective total saturation without overkill. o Soliciting and administrating cooperative advertising funds. o Public relations and publicity as a function of advertising. o The advertising bookkeeping procedures. o The inability of utilizing in-house ad making andlor signing equipment. o The direct and collateral responsibilities of the advertising personnel. o The advertising job description and skill requirements. o Advertising production resources. o Overlap of responsibilities. o Advertising personnel in-store responsibilities. o Institutionalizing the copy. o Making the product's value come through the newsprint. o Selling "benefits" highlighting "features. " o Using color effectively. o Attracting women shoppers. Does it seem like a lot to cover in a one day visit? Well it is. We'll both be exhausted by the end of the day. I know because I've been through it so many times before.

O Measuring the results of your advertising.

O Provisions for last minute ad changes.

Your Job Will Just Begin

Within a week after my visit you'll get a copy of my notes. My job will be over . . . but maybe yours will just begin.

"Let me reYlow your adYgrtlsing"

Through my experiences, I'll b€ able to demonstrate how to make your advertising functions run more smoothly, be more cost effective, and more sales productive. But it's you who will have to implement the programs that we both agree are necessan/. I guess I mean this as kind of a warning. Yourresponsibility doesn't end when you call me to come visit your operation. It reaily Dqgr'rrs when I leave.

Home Center retailers are allocating approximately 290 of the gross sales for advertising. That's a lot of bucks that come off your bottom line. If they're not working hard for you, you're losing the most effective force you have to increase your traffic and your penetration in the market. Find out now if you're really maximizing the benefits from your advertising.

Phone me today and let's set an appointment for your Advertising Audit. The fee is only $9(X) plus travel for the audit and report. You'll probably recover that amount in production economies and co-op rebates after the first month.

When dealers compare computer systems their overwhelming choice is Dataline.

The underlying reason is that Dataline understands the complexities of your business. We speak gour language. Direct, results-oriented dealer language.

Unique among computer companies, Dataline has specialized for over eleven years in designing only programs to meet the special needs of building supply and home center customers. We start by helping you ask the right questions, by exploring the various aspects of your business, by identifying problems and opportunities. Only then do we begin applying the flexibility of a Dataline svstem.

And we don't stop there. Working with your staff, we make sirre that every piogram is running smoothlg, efficientlA, profitablg.

The results? It is commonplace for Dataline users to reduce inventorv levels bv as much as 157", double product turnover rates, double collection of finance charges and increase gross margins by as much as 5 percentage points (and sometimes more).

It is also commonplace for dealers to achieve payback on investment within eight months of operational startup.

A California dealer uncovered all the answers he needed when 45 of our customers responded to his inquiries. He now relies on his own Dataline System.

Shouldn't you be considering a Dataline Computer System, too?

I Send for the complete Dataline storyJust fill in i this coupon and mail today: n Please send me Dataline literature.

I Please have a Dataline representative call me

Computer Systems for Bulldlng Supply Dealers/Home Centers

4 Danbury Road, Wilton, CT 06897 QO3\ 762-2473

Publisher David Cutler

Editor Juanita Lovret

Contributing Editors

Dwight Curran o Gage McKinney

William Lobdell

Art Director Martha Emery

Strff Artist Nicola O'Fallon

Cjirruletion Kelly Kendziorski

Building Products Digest is published monthly at 4500 Campus Dr., Suite 480, Newport Beach, Ca.9266O, phone (714) 549-8393 by Cutler Publishing, Inc. Advertising rates upon request.

N)VERTISING OTTICES

FR(M TTIE Y)UTHEAST & OXLA.

HOMA: contact Timothy J. Nclson, Marketing Communications, Inc., 5ll5 So. yaldrlia, suite E, Tulsa, Ok. 74135. cdl (918)4968777.

FROM TEXAS, II)IJISIANA, MISSI$

SIPPI, YIRGIMA, TENNESSEE, N. CALIF0RNTA AND OREGON: contao Drvirl Cu0cr, 45fl) Campus Dr., suite 480, f.Iewport Bcach, Ca. 92ffi. C-all (714) 5498393.

FROM THE MIDWEST: contact Cbd.s L. Lcmpcrly, 1230 Brassie Avc., Flosmoor, ll. ffi22. Call (3 12) 7992166.

FROM SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: contact Crrl Vrnn. 205 Oceano Dr., los Angeles, Ca. 9(D49. C-all (21 3) 472-3 1 l 3 or (714) 549-E393.

ST.JBSCTIPTIONS

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BI.JILDING PRODUCTS DIGEST is ot independantly-owned publbation for the rctail, wholesole and distibution levels of the lumber and building supply markets in I3 buthen gates.

A steely resolve

THE TIMES are tough for many and likely to I get worse before they get better. Yet, as we go further into this cold winter, we are struck by the determination that so many exhibit in the face of daunting economic prospects.

These are men and women who have been through many tough business times before. Yet now, in those worst hurt by the relentless pressure of an economy writhing and wrenching back from the brink of catastrophe, a new resiliency is being seen.

It is a spirit of which the industry and the country can be proud. It is the never-say-die courage that is embodied in the nation's heart and soul. Our people are not about to give up. They haven't in the past and they won't start now. Some way, somehow, the steely resolve to last until the sunshine of tomorrow's economic morning is increasing.

Determination alone won't bring everyone through. The cold, unbreakable facts of a profit and loss statement will win over will power everytime. But the components of that P&L can and are being affected by the intelligence, adaptability and perseverence of those who just won't give up.

New targets are eyed, ideas from off the shelf (and sometimes off the wall) are thrown into the breach to keep the body corporate alive.

Some will fail. The tragedy of bankruptcy will befall some before there is an escape from the present valley. For those firms that somehow survived as long as they did, we extend our admiration and understanding. We know they did all they could; that they fought on till the end was inevitable.

Most will make it. Bolstered by the American spirit of perseverence and a new understanding painfully wrung out of severe economic times, the survivors will be far better companies than they have ever been before. For them, the better economic times that will surely come will truly be a golden era.

Louisiana Dealers to Meet

Louisiana Building Material Dealers Association members will meet at the Royal Sonesta Hotel, New Orleans, La., Jan. 27-30.

Congressman William Tausin and Dave Dixon are among those who will address the convention. The Pence Brothers will conduct an educational session "Why Didn't I Think of That."

A board of directors meeting, numerous industry sessions, a president's reception and banquet are included on the agenda.

Morrow Heads SFPA

William I. Morrow. International Paper Co., Dallas, Tx., is the new president of the Southern Forest Products Association.

Harry N. Williams, Williams Forest Products, Cleveland, Tx., retiring president, is now chairman of the board.

Others elected at the Oct. l0-12 annual meeting in Houston, Tx., are James Bibler, Bibler Lumber Co., Russellville, Ar., v..p.; Henry H. Holubec Jr., Temple-Eastex, Diboll, Tx., v.p.-treas.

Executive committee members include J. Greeley McGowin II, Union Camp Corp.; George H. Seago, Westvaco Lumber; J.M. Tolleson Jr., Tolleson Lumber Co.; J.T. McShan Jr., McShan Lumber Co.: Ben C. Stimpson, Gulf Lumber Co.; Richard Molpus, Molpus Lumber Co.; John Shealy, Willamette Industries; John E. Anthony, Bearden Lumber Co.; J.C. Dellinger, Pinecrest Lumber Co.; Elliott Dean, Dean Lumber Co.; Ronald Paul, Louisiana-Pacific Corp. ; R.A. Carson. Crown Zellerbach: Robert Kreitler, Champion International Corp.; J.E. Stevens, Kirby Forest Industries: R.V. Warner. Potlatch Corp.; W.E. Windham, T.M.A. Forest Products; John Wishart, Georgia-Pacific Corp.; Clayton A. Barns, Willamette Industries; Loren H. Lamb. G.M. Stewart Lumber Co., Inc.

for 1982 by the Lumbermen's Club of Memphis.

The J.S.P. Wilson trophy, named for a prominent hardwood lumberman and originated by his son, Charles F. Wilson, president of Wilson Lumber Co., was presented at the annual Loggers' Breakfast at Mud Island, a kickoff for the 20th annual observation of Memphis Wood Products Week sponsored by the club. Henry W. Jones, board chairman of Cathey-Williford-Jones Co., l98l lumberman of theyearand chairman of the 1982 selection committee, made the presentation.

Cockroft is a past president of the Southern Hardwood Lumber Manufacturers Association, the Memphis Hoo-Hoo Club. the Tennessee Forestry Association and the South Central Hardwood Club. A trustee of the C.M. Gooch foundation. he also has served as director of the National Hardwood Lumber Association and v.p. and director of the Lumbermen's Club of Memphis.

Cockroft Named'Lumberman' Robert S. Cockroft, president of Southern Star Lumber Co., McKenzie, Tn., has been selected as Outstanding Lumberman of the Year

Next Issue: Complete coverage National Lumber & Building Material Dealers Association convention.