POSTER CAMPAIGN

Posters are one of the chief means of publicity used by all great business corporations on whose methods any modern propaganda must be based. They have been used not only to sell a definite product, e.g. Guinness, but to sell ideas, e.g., travel, the Square Deal, etc., and their effectiveness has been proved beyond all question. The absence of Government posters in this war has not only deprived us of the positive good that such posters might do, but has done positive harm, owing to the fact that the majority of important poster sites have been empty since the beginning of the war. This has provoked widespread feeling that the Government should be using these sites not only to further certain definite aims but also to keep up public morale. A definite objective which could be forwarded by posters is Anglo-French unity; a public morale series could include such subjects as The Empire's Strength , We're going to see it through , or This is what we are fighting for .

Attached is a rough estimate of the cost of an effective poster campaign. It is about half that which was originally planned at the start of the war. It will be seen that the main expense is the hiring of sites. This might be considerably reduced, although the bill-posters have made arrangements with the owners of sites which allow them to keep up the cost of hiring. Commercial sites would be supplemented by free sites, but in view of paper shortage it is worth noting that it is difficult to calculate the number of posters which would be needed for free sites, whereas commercial sites can be calculated precisely.

1.5.40.

DETAILS OF BILLPOSTING COSTS FOR DISPLAYING posters in London, Greater London and provincial towns of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for periods as follows:-

N.B. There will be no charge for changing designs.

The majority of Billposting Contractors allow 5% period discount for 26 week and 10% for 52 week contracts.

It will be seen from the varying sheetages given above, that it is recommended that a larger number of bills be exhibited if the contract is for 13 weeks. The reason is that during the run of a contract, the positions of the posters are continually being improved, and adequate coverage is obtained with fewer bills, if a contract is placed for 26 or 52 weeks.