1969 Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1969 August Voice RS | Page 28

V people badgering them for advertising. One trainer said that in less than a week he had been called on by representatives of a national annual, two Middle Tennessee newspapers, two horse magazines of a gen­ eral nature, and the VOICE. This, in addition to get­ ting some reprints of a previous ad and some pencils, was too much. "My customers have just about spent out,” he said. "I just don’t think they are going to participate much longer.” We can sympathize! Since August of 1963, when we officially took over the VOICE magazine, we have employed the "soft sell.” We try to be the easiest people in the world to say "no” to when it comes to advertising. The reason is that we have found that a good friend who doesn’t advertise is better than a reluctant advertiser who has been pressured into buying something he really didn’t want in the first place. We may not have gotten rich, but we do enjoy the horse business and the people in it. Now. . .let’s discuss the hard-core elements of pro­ motion in the horse business. A frequent question is, "Why advertise a show horse, anyway?” As I see it, there are several factors involved. Pride of ownership is a basic reason to promote a show horse. Another good reason is to enhance the prospects of victory by extolling the ability, bloodlines and record of a horse. Another good reason is to enhance the value of a particular horse. All of these are good reasons for advertising a show horse. I might add also that it really works! What about breeding horses? This is where real mar­ keting comes into practice, as there is a product to be sold. There are literally thousands of mare owners who carefully plan the breeding of each mare. Adver­ tising is the very best method of selling the value of a particular stallion in an effort to get these mare owners to bring them to YOUR court and to breed to YOUR stallion. This also works! The rest is elementary! You advertise a horse for sale in an effort to reach prospective buyers. You ad­ vertise a horse show in an effort to get both horses | and horse enthusiasts to come to the show. You pro­ mote an auction in an effort to get both horses to sell I and buyers to buy. The big question now is . . . "Where should you spend your advertising dollar?” When it comes to Tennessee Walking Horses we DON’T WANT TO BUY NO PENCILS would like to think that you would study the available DO YOU? mediums and evaluate each one from the standpoint , of you who are active in „ the sales . . field nrob- t Vi O {7^1 1 \ 7 r A. 1. • , _ _ __ of "value for dollar spent.” At present the VOICE has more than 6,500 paid subscribers, which is consider­ ably more than any other publication reaching this market. Our advertising rates are less than any of the other trade journals and only a few dollars more than the newspapers, and yet we deliver a great deal more national readership than any of them. We realize that some magazines have more coverage in some areas of the country than we do, but in every case we have found that virtually everyone in those areas who is active in the Walking Horse business sub­ scribes to the VOICE. It is THE breed publication. Our achievement in the past few years is no testi­ mony to the VOICE staff, but rather a rousing vote of confidence from YOU, the horsemen who make this business what it is. We appreciate your support and your friendship, and will continue to make every ef­ fort to provide you with a fine publication that is a credit to the breed and the people in it. "You don’t want to buy no advertising, do you?” 28 Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse