858
I N D U S T R I A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G CHEMISTRY
lack of interest at time of appearance of ad, and breakdown i n intracompany system of journal circulation. Often potential user interest will be reached with a repeat a d which was not touched by t h e firet a d because of ne\v problems the customer ha. encountered in the meantime. Experience has shown th:Lt 2111 identical readvertisement of thc oripinal ad after a waiting periml of approximately 3 months is very ncarly as effective as an entit,clJnew layout and new ropy. .4lso the uqe of the original plates offers an economic advantage to the aclvt,rtiser. S e w media may be employed to solicit a different type readership if return< f r o m the original a d have indicate~lan interest 01'application \\-hic.li :IS overlooked or unknown \$-hen the original readership vl:~\q \ v : L ~ selected. Advertising Results
The number of inquiries to be espected from an!- given at1vl.i.tisement on a new product will vary according to the protliic-t being advertised and the breadth of interest in the product. However, 150 to 200 replies t o a single ad are considerrtl a good return. The response usually reaches a peak during the second or third week after the appearance of the advertisement and thcti tapers off until the end of the tenth week. \\-ithin a lO-\vec~k period after the appearance of the advertisement. ordinarii?-, nvclr 90% of the returns have been received. There will aliwys I)(, n few inquiries which dribble in over a period of months, and foreign inquiries ill show up as much as 6 months or a year after the appearance of the ad. Again, the numbfir of inquiries received as t h e result of the ad is not in itself a nieasurc of the value of thn ad. Each inquiry should be carefully considered and a tabulation made of its quality. Dun SS Bradstreet or Thomas' Register are
Vol. 43, No. 4
often used as guides to determine t h e quality of inquiries. This does not mean that inquiriei from companies not listed in thrse reference books are not valuahlr. [[owever, the chancw of (lc>veloping a m i r k e t arc: usually greater with the larger i n i l u i t r i a l firm$ ivho havc. the facilities to d o thc necessary esp1or:itoi-y re.;i%arc.hwork to iixicovcr new applications. Severthelvss. if the intercst of 1:iIge companies onl>- is t o t)c solicited thtx.w co:il(i Iw .ought out p(xrson:dly and the need for advertising n.oulti l w ll,ss Iwrtincnt. Time at'ter time interest in neiv products will tli I i'om uiii~spwtcvlFourws and particularly in ne\v cliemic.als out kiio\vn applications. Small coiiipanies have oftcn tirt-n the lop ne\v usrs for a nwv product; they are a l ~ l cto move a nwv product siniply hecause one-man orgariizntions can vircumvent rei1 t a p . One cannot afford t o ovei~iookthese po4hiIiti(~>. It is also cspedient t o solicit the intclwit or' univisrsities antl cooprrate with them in supplying matrrials. Their: groups riiay never be Iargr consumers h i t at'e oftm the w ~ i ~ofr ( ~ development of fundamental p r o d x t iiifoi,inrtion whic,ti may r r new f i c ~ l ~ofl ~:+pplivatioiI. eventwilly o ~ ) i ~UJ) Acknowledgment
I lit, author irishe5 to r ~ p r e +his appreciation f o r t,he coninit~iits
r .
antl criti(4siiiY of thr. folloiving piwple who revie\vcd this pnlier in its initial stages of preparation: Floyd .indrews, G. 11.Itlr. FI. ,I. Kinnc. c'. 0. .\loost)ruggclr, -1. JV. Sohl, .I. S . Sutherlan 1. , S. S;vackhamc~r.ant1 C. \V, K a l t n ~ ~ . Literature Cited (1) H r r g c r , L. D . . .Jr.. Isi), F:s(;. C'HEM.. RE:ct.IvEr> ;\uguJt
43, 849 (1951).
2 1 . 1BRO.
JOHN C. VAALER, Putman Publishing Co., Chicago, I / / .
The basic data needed by editors to prepare a story on a new chemical product include information on how material is selected, basic rules to follow in the preparation
of data, and how much information is needed. Typieal examples of good and bad material are discussed to demonstrate the need for proper preparation.
NEW CHElWICAL PRODUCTS DATA FOR PUBLICA TlON H E past 15 years have shown tremendous strides iu the development of new chemical materials. The publications serving the chemical processing field have passed on informa-
T
In wlecting information for publication, editors try to use material t h a t v d l have the greatest interest for the largest number of readers. I n t h a t way, the pages of their publications are not filled with fringe-interest material b u t wit,h editorial content t h a t tion t o their readers on these n e v developments as they have been announced. This has been possible because chemical manusatisfies t h a t maximum interest. There are exceptions t o every rule, and from time to time the above rule is broken because a facturers have given these publications information on new dr,specific product might have some unusual interest in one phase of velopxnents. In this way, editors have been able to make thvir chemical processing. Most editors have open minds and will publications more interesting t o readers Rho want t o keep ahrenit publish qualified material on the basis of reader-interest. Thcy of things t h a t will help them do a better job. do not have to be sold, cajoled, or bamboozled into using maThe Putman Publishing Co. has a "house rule" that 110 editor terial. If a story is n e m x o r t h y , it will be published. is allowed t o edit. This rule is based on thc fact t h a t it is nut If a company has developed a new chemical, not heretofore the editor or the publisher b u t the reader who decides what is available, the product is news, and its story should be made availgood material. If editors are on their toes, they know the able to editors. If a company develops a product which is availreaders' interests and select material t o satisfy it. In Chemical able from other sources the industry will be interested t o know Processzng a means is provided whereby readers can inquire for t h a t more than one source exists for the product. If the initial more information, and this provides a check on reader-intvtcst. After requests for additional information have been complr~tr~ly announcement of a new chemical states t h a t it is available i n pilot plant quant,ities. a second announcement is in order whtm tabulated, those t h a t received a better than average rcsponse plant facilities are extended to commercial production. become evident. Thus, by continuously checking, the editors The announcement, of a new product should be planned and know the kind of material that holds a sustained interest over a timed so that it has promotional vnlue for the manufacturer :is long period of time.
April 1951
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
n.c.11 as being useful to the publication and to its readers. Manufacturers should determine what fields of activity will have interest in their new product announcenientP and study the publicat,ions scheduled t o receive the inforniation. Individual stories should IF slanted to the rcquirenicnts of each publication and t o its readership; a “cover-all” story does not yield the best results. Some publications like to have “fiwts” on new product data, but basically, material of this kind should be sent to all publications serving the industry the manufacturer desires to reach. Although most pub1ic:ttions are not primarily interested in exclusives, neither are they intt3restcd in having old material. T h e folloning points provide a guide n-hich can he used in sending information to editors. 5Iany a good story has gone into the wastebasket because hasic facts were lacking. In other inetances, it is often necessary for editors t o make special requests for additional d a t a :
1.
The information given should be as complete as possible.
If a study of publications shows that certain editors like short stories and others prefer longer reports, each type should be prepared. It is always better t o offer all the information rat’her than have it incomplete. Material for publieation should be typed, double-spaced, on S1/? X 11 inch sheets of paper. If two versions of the story arc p r e p a r e d - n n e short and another longer-an editor can use the short announcement form or, if reader-interest justifies it, he can \?rite the story from the longer version. Company name and address and the name of a company official should alwal-s be included with material for publication; these necess i r ? facts are often omitted. 2. T h e da,ta furnished should include all uses for the product t h a t have been determined, plus a n y possible or suggested uses. If the product is so new t h a t no commercial applications have been determined, then any potential uses should be mentioned. 3. Unusual properties or features not heretofore available phould be outlined for announcement. 4, A good description of the chemical should be given and, if possible, all of its chemical and physical propertiep. 5 . If a technical data sheet is available, i t should be included Kith the report,. Frequently, this is excellent source material for editors when a more detailed announcement is planned. 6 . Reports should be factual and free of ,‘wild claims.” Readers tend to discount these. Superlatives take extra space a n d glowing statements will not he published because editors will either delete them from the report or toss the entire story into the wastebasket,. Frequently phrases are used such as, ‘(it is claimed,” “it is said,” or “it is reported.” If i t has not been established t h a t the chemical nil1 do all t h a t is claimed for it, then the addition of these statements adds n o authority t o the story. 7 . Sometimes i t is difficult to obtain information from technical or research groups. This difficulty might stem from the fact t h a t a technical article has been requested. The elected author may aasume t h a t he has ti major task a t hand whereas a summary of available d a t a for publication usually can be prepared promptly. Experience indicates that it is wise t o ask for a memorandum including the product data. This simplifies
a59
the job for the technieil or research group, and the final story can be obt,ained from this information. The follorving examples represent. good and bad new product data for publication which have been received by the author. T h e first is a generalized esample of poor material: Attached is a news item which we are desirous t o have you run in your publication, in the first issue it can catch. We will :tppreeiate your advising us in which issue of your publicat,ion it will appear. X chemical Corporation has announced 4 new products which !\-ill be of interest as interniediates t o the industrial and scientific tivlde. These materials will supplement the first group of 1 which were announced recently. These products are: --, _ _, , and -, ; i technical bulletin and samples :ire :ivnilable t,o interested orgmizations. This release was received in Deceniber. It was necessary to write for the technical bulletin which 1m.3 not attached t o t h e release. .isecond request \\-as sent in March and finally t h e bulletin was received in .ipril, The bulletin contained sufficient d a t a for a good story, but how niuc-h simplcr it would have Iieen, had the technical informatiou twtm included with the original release. Contrasted t o the above, is the follorring good example: Encloxd you will find a general trade press release covering our new polyamide resin suspensoids. Since I believe you may possibly be interested in slightly more complete coverage, I a m also including a data sheet on the new product and a picturc. If you wish t o do a story on the polyamide resin suspensoids and I can he of any further help, please let me know.. The sender of this inform:ttion had the forwight t o itic~ludra short release a$ well as :I most comprehensive treatment. T h e roiisistd of two t > p x r i t t c n page's, general trade press vc~lpe\vritten pages, doul~lespaced. In this instance, the st,ory was suhmitted for the approval of the manufacturer prior t o publication. rilthough it is uot practical to submit all stories for approval, particularly ~ v l i c ~:trticles n :irr prepared almost entirely from basic data, editors are glad to do it when possible. If a manufacturer believes the data on a new product are too complicated for the usual trade anxiouncement, the facts should be sent. to the editor for his consideration with a request t h a t the article be returned for approval of the manufacturer before publication. 5Ianufacturers should remrmher t h a t editors are always rvady to publish “good nen-s,” assuming t h a t it is factual and will he helpful t o the readrr!: of thr,ir I)ul,lir.stion. R E C E I V E DSciitember 11. 1030
END OF SYMPOSIUM Reprints of this symposium may b e purchased for 50 cents from the Reprint Department, American Chemical Society,
11 5 5 Sixteenth Street, N.W., Washington 6, D. C.
