Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library 
 Gift of Seymour B. Durst Old York Library 
 
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 ADVERTISING 
 
 Office & Apartment 
 Buildings 
 
 A paper 
 prepared for the 
 National Association of 
 Building Owners and 
 Managers presented 
 at its National 
 Convention, 
 Del Monte, 
 Cal. 
 
 By 
 
 CHARLES CRIST DELMONICO 
 
 Vice-President 
 
 Birch-Field & Company, inc. 
 110 West 40th Street 
 New York 
 
 INTELLIGENT ADVERTISING 
 
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«w General Motors Build. n K irttl bt the 
 t office buildin" In the district. IVWttlng 
 <r Cotumbui Circle. 25 Korici high. 
 
 A> I bt home of the General Motor* Com- 
 ,nv in Nm York, it immediatels bfl 
 
 nl landmark of national prominence, 
 of centre* for automotive and uidrlv 
 'ihcd iniereH*. 
 
 : of New York's principal transpor- 
 lon kes point*, it i* moM accessible. — close to 
 • IntcriKHOUgh .»nd Broadss JV lubwayi, 9th 
 '. Bro.^dwas ,7lht6th and 9th A* 
 and *9th '■trcct surface lines, and Fifth A» 
 butr*. There will bt a 
 
 Ing 10 ihs- new (»ih As 
 
 The buikftnfl covir* an entire Mock ssith 
 frontage on four streets, Broadtws, Sih Auv, 
 57th .ird 58th Street*, exceptional light and a.r 
 is permanently ftMUTcd. It «illbe replete ssith 
 e*er\ advantage in tersice and appointment*. 
 
 Cff.ce* range from 450 Sq. Ft. up to enure 
 floor, of 20.CC0 Sq. Ft. 
 
 Reads, for o.cupancv. April, 1927. Now 
 leasing from plans. 
 
 ft * pie*. »r.4 pjHmhm «fp's io 
 
 CUSHMAr£& 
 WAKEFIELD.1NC 
 
 «,.„..« * «...,,., 4,*., 
 50 E.ist 42 nd Strccl 
 
 Vandcrbill J200 
 
 GENERAL MOTORS 
 
 BUILDING 
 
 A^A ///^ N EW YO R K ~ >7// t gJ8//> Street- 
 
 A SEVEN COLUMN NEWSPAPER ADVERTISEMENT THAT COM- 
 PELS ATTENTION AND CREATES A VIVID MENTAL IMPRESSION 
 OF THIS BUILDING'S SIZE AND IMPORTANCE. 
 
Advertising Office and Apartment 
 
 Buildings 
 
 DVERTISING for real estate is just as valuable as 
 it is for soap, flour, bread, clothing or motor cars. 
 
 A new building has not only its entire space to 
 sell but it has a standing to create and maintain. It 
 needs public good will. Its space is just as much 
 merchandise as the kind of articles which are sold over the 
 counter. The same principles of merchandising may be applied 
 to the sale of space, as with counter sale articles. 
 
 I grant that buildings can and do exist without advertising. 
 So do many different business concerns. But the tooth paste, 
 the motor car, the building that is advertised, usually enjoy a 
 wider, better reputation, and advertising any new product or new 
 building most assuredly is a short cut to its successful and profit- 
 able merchandising. 
 
 The problem that confronts us in advertising real estate is 
 merely one of applying to it the established and basic principles 
 of advertising and merchandising that have proved successful in 
 other lines. 
 
 I am going to try to show you how this is done, how success- 
 ful real estate advertising plans are conceived and carried out. 
 I am going to try to confine myself to facts rather than theories 
 and opinions, facts that are based upon thirteen years of experi- 
 ence specializing in this particular field. 
 
 What Is the Value of Advertising for a New Office 
 
 Building ? 
 
 When a new building is planned and erected the important 
 object is to rent it rapidly and profitably and to maintain it on a 
 basis of productive returns. 
 
 The first and most important function of advertising for a 
 new building is to create public acceptance, good will, a definite 
 standing, character, personality, if you like, for that building. 
 
 You might ask why advertising is needed to do this, 
 in view of the fact, in many localities, particularly where a 
 
 Page one 
 
building is in a prominent location, its very construction is 
 an advertisement. Those who pass it, see it, know about it. 
 But that isn't enough. The important point is what kind of 
 an impression is that building making upon the renting pub- 
 lic, or, in fact, the public as a whole. 
 
 Through advertising you can definitely create a distinct 
 character for that building — you can give it good will by 
 featuring its advantages in public print. Thus you form an 
 impression of the building in the public's mind and mould 
 public opinion. 
 
 One feature will impress one man, another will appeal to 
 the next man, with the result that instead of the building 
 being thought of simply as "that new building on blank 
 street" it is accepted as a new building with this feature or 
 that. When the building is thought of and discussed it has 
 a definite reputation. 
 
 Advertising can do this for a building while it is under 
 construction and before it is in a position to create much of 
 an impression for itself. 
 
 Without analysis it might seem that newspaper adver- 
 tising for a building is wasteful. If you have an analytical 
 turn of mind you might try and figure just what proportion of 
 newspaper circulation reaches the executives who are goin£ to 
 sign your leases. The proportion of business executives who 
 will be in the market for office space in any newspaper circula- 
 tion is comparatively small, but the balance of circulation is not 
 waste circulation by any manner of means. 
 
 Every man on the street, from messenger boy to book- 
 keeper ; every woman, from file clerk to the executive's wife ; 
 every person who knows about the building on whom your 
 advertising has made an impression is an advertisement for 
 the building and very often a real factor in the renting. 
 
 We have found that many, many executives ask for and 
 value the opinion of their office force, their family and friends 
 in matters pertaining to their business. Hence the good 
 opinion of the public is of decided value. Business men like 
 to have their offices in a building that everybody knows, and 
 advertising is the quickest means of making a new building 
 favorably known. 
 
 The building that once creates a favorable and wide- 
 spread reputation through advertising will not only be more 
 readily and rapidly rented in the first instance but will have 
 its leases more easily renewed in the future and will be more 
 easy to maintain on the 90% or better rented basis, which is the 
 goal which stands for profitable investment. 
 
 1 know this to be true. I have in mind two buildings in 
 New York. Both favorably located ; both were built about 
 the same time. One advertised and the other did not adver- 
 
 Page two 
 
tise at all. The advertised building was, of course, more 
 rapidly filled. The real test of advertising value came in 
 later years, however. The advertised building has had no 
 difficulty in keeping well rented, whereas its contemporary 
 has had a constant struggle to keep on the profit side of the 
 ledger. 
 
 There is another important side to advertising in its 
 relation to an office building, and that is the matter of rent- 
 als. It is an easy matter to rent almost any new building 
 if you will take the buyer's price. Strict adherence to a rental 
 schedule that insures a fair return and the amount of space 
 that is leased on that schedule, at least above the maintenance 
 cost of the space, is the true barometer of a building success. 
 
 I do not mean to imply that advertising will enable you 
 to obtain excessive rentals but usually the building which 
 has not been advertised is the one in which rentals are below 
 standard. It is logical that buildings that have built a reputa- 
 tion will have less difficulty in obtaining a fair price for their 
 space than one that is less favorably known. Advertising is 
 a short cut in reputation building. 
 
 The above results of an advertising campaign, while they 
 seem, to a degree, intangible, are very potent factors in rent- 
 ing. The value of advertising, as a reputation builder, while 
 very obvious in the net results is very difficult to directly 
 trace or check. This is equally true in advertising almost 
 anything. 
 
 There is a certain type of advertising, a component part 
 of any well rounded out advertising campaign, which brings 
 few direct traceable returns, yet it is valuable. 
 
 The larger the tenant, the bigger the business man, the 
 less apt he is to credit his interest to the advertisement. The 
 advertisement makes an impression in his mind, however, 
 and helps him to arrive at a decision. So the net results are 
 direct enough although they are not so easily traced. 
 
 The smaller business man, the man who wants small 
 office space, is the one whose direct inquiries you can trace. 
 I have known as many as eighteen inquiries in one day from 
 one display advertisement in one newspaper for units of 600 
 feet to 2,000 feet, whereas there might not be a traceable 
 inquiry throughout an entire month for a space of 10.000 
 square feet and up, although these larger units were con- 
 stantly being rented. The sum total of the value of news- 
 paper advertising for an office building must be measured 
 both by tangible and intangible results. 
 
 How Can an Old Building Be Advertised? 
 
 There are office buildings today five or ten years old 
 that have never advertised — perhaps never needed to adver- 
 tise in order to keep profitably rented. Owing to competi- 
 
 Page three 
 
tion from newer, more modern buildings they are faced with 
 either decreasing rentals or more unrented space to carry. 
 Buildings such as these can be advertised profitably and 
 should be advertised consistently. 
 
 The mere offering of space to rent is not sufficient in the 
 face of competition. Such buildings need what is known as 
 institutional advertising. This is merely good will copy that 
 helps to maintain in the public eye the position that building 
 has held in the past. 
 
 A very excellent example of this and the kind of adver- 
 tising and its results is shown by a prominent building on 
 23rd Street. This building is a consistent advertiser along 
 these lines in preferred position in the newspapers with the 
 result that it has maintained, for years, a unique standing 
 among office buildings. 
 
 Taking it for granted, then, that advertising for an office 
 building has value, the next question that comes to mind in 
 any new building is "How much should we spend for adver- 
 tising?" I say spend advisedly since, unfortunately, this is 
 the way too many property owners look upon advertising — 
 as an expense. Actually its an investment in good will — the 
 best insurance any building can have. 
 
 In planning the erection of an office building, everything 
 that goes into that building and its future operation is esti- 
 mated in advance. In doing this most owners figure in every- 
 thing except advertising. As a matter of fact, while adver- 
 tising is a small factor from a standpoint of investment as 
 against the cost of land, construction, etc., nevertheless, it is 
 just as important to the success of a building as the masonry, 
 steel work and operation. 
 
 Thus when it comes to determining what amount should 
 be spent on advertising it is literally like "pulling teeth" to 
 obtain any kind of an adequate appropriation. The owner 
 looks upon an advertising appropriation of any kind as just 
 another unlooked for and undesirable expense. 
 
 I had an example of this not very long ago when sub- 
 mitting an advertising campaign, at the request of the renting 
 agent. The owner at first seemed of the opinion that the 
 renting agent was laying down on the job in requesting an 
 appropriation. We had to convince him that an advertising 
 campaign was not only a good investment for his building 
 but it was a short cut to its ultimate goal. 
 
 The renting agent would probably have rented the build- 
 ing without the stimulus of advertising, but it was equally 
 probable that it would have taken him twice as long, and 
 delays in renting a new building are costly. A one armed 
 man can do a job in a given length of time, but give him two 
 arms he can do it much faster and better. 
 
 Page four 
 
The investment in an office building project is great 
 enough to warrant the same kind of protection as any other 
 merchandising product receives — the cost of an advertising 
 appropriation in proportion to the value of the merchandise 
 to be sold is very much less than most other advertised prod- 
 ucts. The power of advertising as a rental aid, is the right 
 hand assistant to the rental man and should not be over- 
 looked. 
 
 How Can an Appropriation Be Estimated in Advance? 
 
 Determining the size of the advertising appropriation, 
 the amount that will be necessary to obtain a given result, 
 should not be done haphazardly. There is no need to guess 
 at the sum that should be spent or to appropriate a few 
 thousand dollars and then if it be found too little, to appro- 
 priate more. The necessary advertising appropriation for any 
 given building may be determined in advance with consider- 
 able accuracy. 
 
 In our office accurate records have been kept of many 
 complete advertising campaigns together with notations as 
 to conditions surrounding the building and other points of 
 vital interest. These are kept in such a way that they can 
 be used for reference in estimating a campaign for any new 
 building. It is merely necessary then to analyze the compo- 
 nent factors surrounding the new building to be able to 
 approximate in advance the necessary advertising investment. 
 
 It is impossible, unfortunately, for me to give you a for- 
 mula to go by. There are too many factors which must be 
 taken into consideration, balanced and analyzed before a con- 
 clusion may be drawn. Each case is individual. We must 
 analyze competition, sales resistance, market conditions, de- 
 sirable and undesirable features. 
 
 An office building that is not favorably located, for exam- 
 ple, or one that has active competition, by one or more other 
 new buildings in the immediate vicinity, would require pro- 
 portionately a larger advertising appropriation than one 
 which is in a prominent location or one that has not the 
 keen competition. 
 
 We handled the advertising for one building in New 
 York that contained about 275,000 sq. ft. It was not in an 
 accepted office locality. It required about $60,000 in adver- 
 tising at various seasons over a period of two and one-half 
 years. Under ordinary conditions without the handicap of 
 location or a fairly high scale of rental, this building would 
 not have required more than $30,000 and would have rented 
 in a much shorter time. A successful advertising appropri- 
 ation of $40,000 over a period of eight months, was sufficient 
 for a 450,000 sq. ft. building in the Grand Central zone. A 
 
 Page jive 
 
65,000 sq. ft. building in the same locality was rented in about the 
 same period of time with an appropriation of $6,500. 
 
 Nevertheless, in each case, by referring to other build- 
 ings whose advertising we have conducted completely and 
 whose situation has been parallel, and by allowing for the 
 proportionate rentable area of each building, it is not a diffi- 
 cult matter for us to arrive at a sum which will be very close 
 to the amount which will be required. 
 
 It is always well in determining an advertising appropri- 
 ation to allow enough. It is far better to cut the advertising 
 down should the success of the building warrant your doing 
 so rather than to find it necessary to expand the appropriation 
 to cover unforseen contingencies and conditions. For one 
 building, we estimated the appropriation at $35,000. The 
 owner allowed us $15,000. Instead of planning the adver- 
 tising on an adequate basis we had to stretch out the small 
 appropriation to a point where it was not fully efficient. The 
 result was that the end of the first renting season found con- 
 siderable vacant space remaining which required a total of 
 about $25,000 more in advertising over the following year 
 before it was marketed. If the original $35,000 had been 
 appropriated it probably w T ould not have been necessary to 
 spend over $30,000, whereas, by short-sighted economy, it 
 cost the owner $40,000 in advertising aside from the loss of 
 revenue from space w T hich otherwise would have been rented 
 much sooner. 
 
 Advertising appropriations should be based upon the total 
 net rentable area or on a percentage of the estimated rent roll. 
 
 In either case the amount will be proportionately small 
 and in both cases the total amount of net rentable area, or 
 the total amount of estimated rent roll, should be considered 
 irrespective of that portion of the building which may be 
 rented in advance of the advertising or from plans early in 
 the building's conception. 
 
 Many new office structures are 50% rented from plans almost 
 before the building is erected. This does not lessen the advertis- 
 ing or rental problem, however, for, as you well know, it is the 
 renting of the last half of a new building in which the greatest 
 amount of work is necessary and the greatest difficulty is 
 found. 
 
 Roughly speaking, in New York an advertising appropri- 
 ation will average about 10c per sq. ft. based on the total 
 net rentable area. On the other hand, we have handled cam- 
 paigns for new buildings that have cost as little as 5c per 
 sq. ft. as well as others which, because of conditions, have 
 required a considerably greater percentage. This is figured 
 on a basis of New York newspaper rates. Newspaper rates 
 in most other cities are from 10 to 50 per cent less than in 
 New York which would enable you to reduce somewhat the 
 
 Page six 
 
square foot advertising charge and still obtain a campaign of the 
 same size and scope. These figures, too, are based upon office 
 buildings with rentable area of 100,000 sq. ft. up. Smaller 
 buildings some times rent very easily but other times require pro- 
 portionately a very much larger appropriation. 
 
 Atter'the necessary appropriation is obtained the next 
 step is : 
 
 Preparing the Advertising Campaign 
 
 Before a campaign can be instituted, of course, a sound 
 building policy should be developed, a sound scale of rentals 
 determined, service and other features of the building gener- 
 ally settled on by the owner and renting agent. Any cam- 
 paign must have a sound basis to be built upon. 
 
 A weil-rounded advertising campaign should be planned 
 out in detail in advance exactly as a military campaign would 
 be. You have artillery, hand grenades and machine guns, of 
 advertising to utilize and there is the proper time for heavy 
 shelling and barrage. The campaign should be divided into 
 four distinct attacks. 
 
 1st — Advance institutional advertising. 
 
 2nd — Active selling advertising. 
 
 3rd — Merchandising advertising. 
 
 4th — Post season advertising. 
 
 The entire campaign is planned to lead up to the active 
 renting season for which the new building is being made 
 ready for occupancy. 
 
 The first guns of the advance advertising should start 
 early, just as quickly as the plans are available. In many 
 cases an entire year before completion is not too soon. This 
 advertising is primarily of the character forming type of 
 which I previously spoke. It is intended to create a general 
 advance impression of desirability and to interest the large 
 space user, who needs must determine his office location well 
 in advance. 
 
 This advance institutional advertising mav be handled in 
 two ways. Either start with a big gun, a large space, impres- 
 sive announcement advertisement at the outset and follow 
 with light artillery fire of consistent small space advertising 
 leading up to the second division of your campaign, or reverse 
 it and start with your small space campaign and lead up to a 
 big announcement just prior to the merchandising division of 
 the campaign. Both of these methods I have used success- 
 fully. 
 
 The appeal of this advertising is general. Each advan- 
 tage of the building is featured separately, creating a com- 
 posite though complete understanding of the finished build- 
 ing in the minds of the renting public. 
 
 Advance advertising of this kind is highly valuable. It 
 makes for the most economical campaign in the long run. 
 
 Page seven 
 
Every dollar spent in advertising early is worth two dollars 
 spent when the renting season has past. This is the most diffi- 
 cult thing to make the average owner appreciate. It is human 
 nature to hope for the best, and often an owner cherishes an 
 optimistic opinion that his building will be completely rented 
 before completion without the extra stimulus of advertising. 
 Then, faced with considerable vacancy, two or three months 
 before the renting season he turns to advertising to do the 
 impossible. Advertising at the last minute will help to fill up 
 smaller units, I grant, but it cannot influence the tenants who 
 have signed up elsewhere, whereas, it could have done so 
 earlier before renewals had been signed and the rental market 
 had become active. 
 
 Another point in the favor of early advertising is in con- 
 vincing the renting public that the new building will be ready 
 in time for occupancy when it is wanted. To the layman 
 building construction is a mystery. The average man seeing 
 a building under construction is skeptical enough, anyway, 
 as to its completion date. He doesn't want to take a chance 
 on renting an office that will not be ready when he is ready 
 to move. If you advertise the completion date in connection 
 with the other points of interest it helps to dispel this ques- 
 tion from his mind. 
 
 The second division of the newspaper campaign — active 
 selling advertising — should be instituted five or six months 
 prior to the renting season. This is a combination of both 
 heavy artillery and machine gun barrages. It consists of both 
 institutional features with actual merchandising of space. By 
 this last I mean the illustrating of tentative divisions of floor 
 plans. The definite descriptions of various arrangements of 
 offices. The definite appeal to certain types of business con- 
 cerns for certain types of office space which are particularly 
 suitable. 
 
 Emphasis should be laid upon reasonable rentals in com- 
 parison with value obtained. Prices may be quoted in this 
 copy but it is usually not advisable to quote on a square foot 
 basis. Advertising square foot rates in high class office build- 
 ings is not good practice in most cities since it puts all space 
 more or less on a price basis without regard to its value or 
 to the character of the building. Showing a diagram of an 
 office that gives an approximate idea of the space in an adver- 
 tisement together with a flat price for this space, without 
 stating the exact area, is permissible and most effective par- 
 ticularly for small and medium sized units, since there are 
 certain types of business and professional men who think of 
 an office in terms of rentals more than of area. 
 
 The third campaign division, designated as merchandis- 
 ing advertising, is similar to the active selling type, but is 
 
 Page eight 
 
even more specific. It is the "mop up" hand grenade division 
 of the campaign. In this the various odd units left unrented 
 on divided floors are specifically featured, priced and empha- 
 sized. Floor plans may be effectively used showing the space 
 on a specific floor already rented and the unit or two that is 
 left available. The showing of a plan this way creates in the 
 mind of the reader the idea that this is a bargain space and 
 that there is not much left, without being compelled to 
 announce it. 
 
 This advertising appeals mainly to the man starting a 
 new business or to the small space user who has left the 
 renting of his office go until the last minute. It is from this 
 section of the campaign as well as from the previous merchan- 
 dising copy that the most direct traceable returns will be 
 obtained. 
 
 The fourth division of the campaign — the post season 
 advertising — is a follow-up advertising. Space that is un- 
 rented at the end of the active renting season will have to be 
 advertised at a later date. The time in which to do it and the 
 form of the advertising depends upon conditions. If a build- 
 ing is not completed on time it is sometimes necessary to 
 carry on a small space institutional advertising campaign on 
 and off through the year leading up to a limited merchandising 
 campaign prior to the following renting season. 
 
 Post season advertising may be made a most effective 
 selling factor. In the Canadian Pacific Building in New York 
 it proved so. After the regular selling campaign had been 
 completed about May 1st, which is the principal office renting 
 season in New York — it was determined not to stop adver- 
 tising. There was still some space to be rented, not enough 
 to cause worry, but there was no object in carrying it for a 
 year if any activity could rent it. The form of the advertising 
 was changed. We stopped talking space and talked "service." 
 We featured "office service on a hotel plane." 
 
 Incidentally, the service in the building was brought up 
 to an exceptionally high standard of courtesy and efficiency. 
 The campaign was successful from the start — orifices were 
 rented when the market was otherwise dormant — and the 
 service reputation thus created made such a strong appeal 
 that now, four or five years after the advertising was discon- 
 tinued, the Canadian Pacific Building is still known as the 
 office building with hotel service and it has been kept con- 
 stantly close to 100% rented. 
 
 The next step in preparing a campaign is : 
 
 Copy Appeal and Style 
 
 A new building must be carefully analyzed and studied 
 from all angles to determine its most potent selling features 
 and to appreciate its drawbacks, if any. The chief factors for 
 
 Page nine 
 
EACH BUILDING SHOULD HAVE A DISTINCTIVE APPEAL 
 
 Page ten 
 
copy appeal are light, location, service and prestige. If any 
 of these points are exceptionally good they should be specially 
 emphasized. And sometimes it is necessary to lay special 
 emphasis on some point that is not necessarily accepted a> 
 desirable. Location, for example. 
 
 When the Heckscher Building at 57th Street and Fifth 
 Avenue was being completed the value of the location was 
 not universally accepted. Today 57th Street is well recog- 
 nized — it has a tremendous future, but it was not so widely 
 appreciated some few years back when the Heckscher Build- 
 ing was ready for occupancy. This fact loomed large when 
 the campaign was being planned. It was just as essential to 
 "sell" 57th Street as a location as it was to "sell'' the building. 
 
 If public acceptance was once obtained for 57th Street the 
 Heckscher Building could readily be rented, as it dominated 
 the section. We did just that. A good part of the advertising 
 was devoted exclusively to explaining the advantage and 
 future of 57th Street. While the advertising campaign re- 
 quired a larger investment and appeared over a longer period 
 of time than it would have were the Heckscher Building on 
 42nd Street, nevertheless, the building rented successfully and 
 no small part of its success can be credited to the educational 
 factor in its advertising. 
 
 The daylight advantages in a building may be featured 
 graphically, also the economical layout that good daylight 
 assures. 
 
 The service feature is subject to various treatments in 
 publicity depending greatly upon how high a service standard 
 is to be maintained. It is a good talking point and stressing 
 good service in advertising often helps to keep the service 
 standard on a higher plane by way of keeping up to the repu- 
 tation the copy creates. 
 
 Prestige is something intangible which all of your adver- 
 tising helps to promote. The tenants of a building give it 
 prestige, too. and good tenants are a good advertising feature. 
 An example of creating and maintaining prestige for a build- 
 ing is demonstrated with a large, new office building recently 
 completed in Newark, Xew lersev. 
 
 It is a magnificent structure from an office viewpoint. It 
 has 350.000 square feet rentable area and is the largest office 
 building in the state. The only obstacle from a selling stand- 
 point is that its location is in a new business section which is, 
 undoubtedly, the business center of the future but which has 
 not yet obtained full public acceptance. In this campaign 
 while the advantages of the location are featured the greatest 
 emphasis is laid upon the prestige of the building and the 
 really exceptional offices and advantages it offers. As a 
 result, in the face of very heavy competition, both in Newark 
 and in nearby New York, this office building opened except- 
 
 Page eleven 
 
ionally well rented and the renting since has been kept a pace 
 ahead of competition. 
 
 At the outset of a campaign, an analysis should be made 
 of the type of business or professional men for which the 
 
 SOME EXAMPLES OF EFFECTIVE CAMPAIGNS 
 
 building or location is especially suitable and part of the cam- 
 paign should be specially directed to them. 
 
 Page twelve 
 
Under no circumstances should all the features of a build- 
 ing- be detailed in every advertisement. With the possible 
 exception of the opening announcement, in each advertise- 
 ment one particular advantage should be emphasized. In this 
 way each point can be given force and can be readily assim- 
 ilated by the reader, who, by the way, in these days has nei- 
 ther the time or inclination to wade through a great deal of 
 descriptive matter. Different copy and different features 
 appeal to different types of people. So in splitting- up the 
 advantages of a building into separate selling advertisements 
 you are reaching all types during the course of the campaign. 
 
 The style and appearance of the advertising is a most 
 important factor. A distinct and individual style for each 
 building should be created and maintained. It must be strik- 
 ing and, like the method of handling the copy, must be expres- 
 sive of the character and personality of the building. 
 
 Good composition, good art work, good layouts, are 
 essential to the success of the campaign for each advertisement 
 must stand out strongly against the competition of every other 
 advertisement on the newspaper page. 
 
 Selecting the Right Media 
 
 The advance planning of a campaign requires an analysis 
 of the available newspapers or trade periodicals to determine 
 those with the most circulation among possible tenant pros- 
 pects. Some papers may be more valuable than others which, 
 nevertheless, have sufficient value so that they should not be 
 overlooked. The basic and steady campaign should be sched- 
 uled for those papers which obviously are the most valuable. 
 The opening announcement and occasional copy should be 
 scheduled in the second string papers. 
 
 The question of position is another matter to be consid- 
 ered. Preferred position and run of paper position is dis- 
 tinctly valuable in a building campaign. This should be used 
 in between seasons and in advance of the active renting sea- 
 son exclusively. In the active season it is often advisable to 
 run part of the campaign in special positions and the bulk in 
 the real estate section. 
 
 The reason for this is that in the forepart of the news- 
 paper the advertising reaches the majority of readers whether 
 they happen to be in the market for space at the time or not. 
 Here it will impress them whether it be consciously or uncon- 
 sciously. It also reaches the larger business man who may 
 never refer to the newspapers in seeking an office. The classi- 
 fied columns receive more attention during the active renting 
 season and the user of small space is pretty apt to follow them 
 closely. By using a combination of display classified space 
 and preferred position you reach all types of possible tenants. 
 
 Page thirteen 
 
RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY ADVERTISING MAY BE 
 
 MOST ARTISTIC 
 
 Page fourteen 
 
Direct by Mail Advertising and Features 
 
 Booklets, circulars and circular letters have a decided 
 place in any well-rounded office building campaign. An illus- 
 trated booklet will give the prospective tenant a better picture 
 of the finished building while it is under construction than 
 any other thing. Of course, working floor plans are an abso- 
 lute necessity, but the booklet will play an important part as 
 a renting aid. 
 
 If a good mailing list is prepared, brief circular letters 
 sent at regular intervals, each emphasizing some specific 
 advantage, or describing space of particular interest to the 
 class of men you are addressing, will prove effective. Some 
 buildings have published monthly booklets that serve as house 
 organs and replace other forms of direct-by-mail literature. 
 These should be published monthly for six or eight months 
 prior to the building's completion and afford opportunity to 
 talk of new leases, the utilization of space as well as the prog- 
 ress of the building. When properly prepared and printed the 
 house organ is an excellent selling factor. 
 
 Direct-by-mail advertising should dovetail in with the 
 newspaper advertising and helps to bring the points you are 
 emphasizing to the prospect in public print, direct to his 
 attention in his office and in greater detail. 
 
 Apartment House Advertising Is Basically the Same as 
 Business Building Advertising 
 
 Exactly the same principles I have described for office 
 building advertising are applicable to apartment house adver- 
 tising. The same procedure in laying out the campaign, in 
 determining the appropriation should be followed. The most 
 vital difference between the two is in the copy appeal and the 
 method of presentation. 
 
 Apartment house advertising is directed more to women 
 than to men. An analysis of the feature, all of the advantages 
 in housekeeping, entertaining, the comfort, niceties of apart- 
 ment life and modern convenience should be summarized. 
 These points must be written about in a way that will attract 
 the feminine eye and appeal to the feminine mind. The adver- 
 tisements should be dainty in appearance, artistic and at- 
 tractive. 
 
 Argumentative copy is not so valuable as that which 
 paints an ideal picture of apartment life and appeals to pride 
 of home, in prestige and nice surroundings. I am speaking 
 now generally of high class, exclusive apartment houses. 
 
 Before copy can be prepared the market must be analyzed 
 and the type of copy must depend upon the probable type of 
 consumer. If it be a medium or low priced apartment, of 
 course, economy and low rent must be given prominence. 
 
 Page fifteen 
 
This shows the 
 new, exclusive 
 business center 
 of Newark— the 
 location of 
 
 71*. 
 
 INDUSTRIAL 
 Of FIC E 
 BUILDING 
 
 JOIN the leaders of 
 
 Newark Business! 
 
 building n i hu.io«, himx-Thr «J JT^ i m f ho °'"><i 
 ScMUre% i\l ftw U II l . *""' «* > 'k>™c factor! jf,J Jltl 
 
 IBTXT IB «Wl It °" ►"«»" NOW 
 
 ^r ic eBui«i«« I Open an d Ready for Occupancy 
 
 NDUSTRI4 
 
 "TIT" 
 
 FFICE BUII 
 
 A business address 
 that's a business 
 asset- 
 
 tria.1 ,w''P f fln» M , 
 
 &>e of Americas Great OfTiceBuiTd. 
 
 You Too will find 
 a Beautiful Office Here- 
 
 — and at a Moderate Prict 
 
 Your Office Should Ref 
 Your Business! But Doet 
 
 DOES y*ur o&ice measure up w *m»r h« 
 •uftdud»~ -out id«* oi what your oRice | 
 br? Doc* U iKjpw« you* cbttfw favorably? II y<* 
 )K ,*rt "yes" to thww qu«mon* you *bould s 
 bwnKiJul office* you can obtain at raotkwfe irfi 
 the Indtntrial Office BuiMmfc Tb *? *« 1,11 * 
 oflicesj^ht and airy. They arekejrt spiv and span-T 
 rfficVm CTtiptoyrr* *erve you cofi«**ntly. Evi*rf 
 l*«iur* and convenience » yours, a'»d you hi- 
 presttfc* oJ being amorvj the most importam bji 
 and pTof«T*KmaJ bWdBWd gathered uouVr oB 
 in Newark I** us shew you an olKee that is * 
 «tting * 0WI P***in*f» while "there is wtiS 
 available. 
 
 . V*^ >w f «. H 
 
 INDUSTRIAL 
 OFFICE BUILDIN< 
 
 Here, in this Splendid 
 an office is still available t'c 
 
 Never before in Newark ha* fttub a . 
 important industrial ami protraacinat i 
 been gstheted under one root 
 
 You will bkc the dknitird i 
 thu building, its Kifeh nUne. of etbcw 
 teou* service. 
 
 "You, *» a djAoimtnaung rrusiiv** n 
 bi thfe environtmot. Hnr you will I 
 oSke you tired wttb incoi»panil>l«' fctttuf 
 advantage*. Yel it costs you no raw* 'rt 
 nrdiocr* ItKaiton. 
 
 [ x«.-. t u* in tH>:- budding th»t n> i hv 
 btmnew prti|(ri:?w in Newark. S«e tht 
 now. See how »»-**onabiy you can rt-rii 
 
 kV Ir«Un« (iwiww ;t nd r*of**K>n.,l 
 are nmunt (ho ri R ht kind oi «pxg ^ j otti.v , " , 
 
 IU1R ««»'nmMolpro«rc»«\ehuMn«* 1 nN,w. 1 .rk. 
 
 will you when y»u inv^M^M! 
 hf« jrc no rnarty unex(x-cu^ nioniM o( «ervk>and 
 
 ^ J H S2i ^whow »Ik KuMing. 
 
 ro-t^ K ,,]u r«i!ul.ired bat keep* ihe clinwrc of 
 ?**, *! rv ' tfn Hmi|WTarur<- ib«- yrar rouixl Air 
 will JP ^1 ,o >out Vo,, u-ui W4r.i (0 I*. 
 *J*n fou *v .1,, ^ w«j Wrn how r^ n .;bl T 
 
 10W B*\«J S«fc*< 
 aw*«fi 
 
 INDUSTRIAI 
 OFFICE BUILD! 
 
 1060 Btnad Sttc« 
 
 of T{rwark 
 
 INDUSTRIAL 
 OFFICE BU ILDINfi 
 
 ( One of Amrju'i Gnat Office Buildup 
 
 —A Product <f, 
 
 A Product of Newark Ente 
 
 EXAMPLES OF INSTITUTIONAL, MERCHANDISING AND 
 ACTIVE SELLING COPY IN ONE CAMPAIGN 
 
 Page sixteen 
 
But even then the idealizing- of the home life is a selling 
 factor. 
 
 Co-operative apartment advertising differs somewhat 
 from the above, in that it must appeal to both men and women 
 alike. So it must vary in tone. Facts and figures in the econ- 
 omy of buying make up the appeal to men, while the women 
 are still influenced by the same factors which govern their 
 judgment in renting. Some advertisements should be written 
 especially to men, some to women and some to both to make 
 the campaign most effective. 
 
 A good descriptive booklet is of more value even in an 
 * apartment house campaign than it is in an office building 
 campaign. Women are impressionable and they are strongly 
 influenced by the printed word and attractive pictures. For 
 this reason the artistic value of an apartment house booklet 
 is important. 
 
 In estimating an appropriation for an apartment house, 
 usually in the neighborhood of 5% of the total of the leases 
 to be made is sufficient. That is if your leases average three 
 years, figure the gross yearly rentals on a 90% rented basis, 
 multiply by 3, and take 5%. 
 
 Beside the newspaper and direct-by-mail advertising 
 there are other methods of arousing interest that may well be 
 included in a well-conceived campaign, modified to suit spe- 
 cific conditions. We term them : 
 
 "Promotional Plans" 
 
 They are applicable variously to both office buildings and 
 apartments and have proved most successful. 
 
 I refer to the use of model offices and apartments for 
 demonstration purposes. An apartment or suite of offices 
 may be completed in advance and furnished complete by local 
 stores. Furnishings for this purpose are, of course, loaned. 
 In some instances space in loft or office buildings has been 
 leased for this purpose, in advance of the completion of the 
 new apartment or office building to be sold. An exact dupli- 
 cate of some of the units are built in this leased space and 
 furnished so that prospects may obtain a complete visualiza- 
 tion of the space before it is practical or possible to show 
 them through the new building itself. 
 
 At the opening of an apartment building a reception may 
 be held — if possible, under the auspices of some prominent 
 woman, and engraved invitations sent to a selected list. Sim- 
 ilarly a luncheon or buffet supper held at the opening of an 
 office building is effective, inviting local business men, news- 
 paper editors, prospective tenants, and so forth. These func- 
 tions enable you to show available space, introduce all the 
 features and advantages to prospects under most auspicious 
 circumstances. They create valuable good will. 
 
 Page seventeen 
 
SEVERAL PHASES OF A WELL ROUNDED 
 OFFICE BUILDING CAMPAIGN 
 
 Page eighteen 
 
Free Newspaper Publicity 
 
 I have not discussed newspaper publicity since it has 
 been my experience that most real estate men appreciate the 
 value of this phase of a campaign and utilize it effectively. It 
 is important, and will bear study and attention. Properly 
 written news articles will be readily used. A new building 
 can keep itself constantly in the news columns if judgment is 
 applied to the preparation of news articles. To do this you 
 must be able to distinguish news interest from points that are 
 purely advertising. 
 
 Newspaper editors are swamped with poorly conceived, 
 unnewsy publicity articles so that they welcome those that 
 are properly prepared, have news value and do not require too 
 much rewriting or editing. Do not pad news articles too 
 much. Remember the news columns are intended for news 
 and the editors have a limited space to fill. Use free publicity 
 with judgment and use it consistently. 
 
 Why Do Not More Real Estate Agents Advertise 
 
 Themselves.? 
 
 With the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent in adver- 
 tising by various building owners, over various real estate 
 agents' names, it is surprising that few of them take advan- 
 tage of the value of this publicity with institutional campaigns 
 of their own. A real estate agent who is renting and manag- 
 ing agent for a number of buildings is far more important 
 than any one of his buildings. He has something to sell the 
 public, he has a definite service to offer, both to the renting 
 and buying public and the property owner. Institutional 
 advertising for him can create valuable public good will. 
 Direct-by-mail and newspaper management advertising di- 
 rected to property owners will pay. The public, when in the 
 market for space, may know the agent in his capacity as man- 
 ager of this or that building, but it does not appreciate the 
 scope of an agent's service. It should — and the agent who 
 utilizes publicity to this end finds that it is well worth its cost. 
 
 General advertising directed to the renting public im- 
 presses the owner, too. And direct advertising to owners is 
 a helpful and profitable adjunct to direct solicitation. I know 
 of one such campaign that I was instrumental in producing, 
 which at the small cost of about $1,500 not only was partly 
 responsible for obtaining one of the largest office buildings in 
 the city, but resulted in obtaining several smaller buildings. 
 This particular campaign took the form of fifteen short inter- 
 esting letters and a handsome book describing management 
 methods in full. 
 
 Page nineteen 
 
The Principles of Real Estate Advertising Are the Same 
 
 Anywhere 
 
 I have found that fundamentally the advertising of an 
 office building or apartment building in any city is very much 
 the same problem and subject to similar treatment. Proved 
 principles of New York campaigns work equally well else- 
 where with modifications. 
 
 So true is this that I have handled campaigns in cities 
 many miles from New York for buildings that I have never 
 seen. It is simply necessary to obtain certain facts and infor- 
 mation pertaining to local conditions, and then apply the 
 same formula of merchandising and selling, to the preparation 
 of the campaign referring to records of buildings in New York 
 or other cities which were subject to similar conditions. 
 
 All of this, as I have outlined it here, sounds compara- 
 tively easy. But it is not. A few pretty advertisements do 
 not make a campaign. You must know the most effective 
 arguments and type of advertising to use for the purpose and 
 when to use them. It takes a peculiar combination of knowl- 
 edge. To know real estate is not enough. To know advertis- 
 ing is not enough. You must know both. 
 
 While, as I said at the outset, real estate advertising is 
 a matter of applying the sound principles of merchandising 
 and selling that 'have proved successful in other lines of busi- 
 ness, you must know real estate to do it. That takes study 
 and more study. It is a specialized job, as I found out thir- 
 teen years ago. The primary reason that real estate advertis- 
 ing has not advanced more rapidly is that there are too few 
 men who possess the proper equipment to produce it. 
 
 As a result of more than thirteen years specializing in 
 this work I unhesitatingly affirm that, given the co-operation 
 of a competent renting and managing agent the properly con- 
 ducted advertising campaign will so shorten the period 
 required for renting a building and it will more than pay for 
 the investment. 
 
 Page twenty 
 
HIS organization is acting as advertising 
 counsel for leading Realty Interests in 
 various cities. 
 
 It offers you a wide experience in adver- 
 tising all branches of real estate. 
 
 BIRCH -FIELD & COMPANY, INC. 
 
 110 WEST 40th STREET NEW YORK 
 
 INTELLIGENT ADVERTISING 
 In Neuspapers Periodicals Billboards 
 
 Car Cards Booklets Circulars 
 
» 
 
AVERY