Trust advertising through the years

Over the years I have notice a tendency on the part of men of enterprise to believe that very little happened in their line of business until about the time they entered it.  Sharing as I did this illusion, I found it revealing to leaf through the pages of the first volume of Trust Companies, as Trusts and Estates was originally called.

So begins Merrill Anderson's review of trust advertising, published in the March 1954 issue of Trusts and Estates.  Merrill called the reader's attention to a number of historic trust advertisements, and the article is punctuated by several contemporary ads by bank and trust companies as well.

Merrill would not recognize today's financial services market, but many of his observations still resonate.  In particular, he stressed the presentation of trust benefits, without jargon, and with the use of news pegs when possible and appropriate.

According to Merrill, trust advertising first appeared on the radio in 1922, and on television in 1950. He was an advocate for "the periodical as a means of trust advertising—featuring news of tax, trust and estate matters—education replacing to a large extent the need for it in salesmanship."  Also, in 1954, Merrill identified "the growing importance of women as prospects for trust advertising."

I was struck by the following:

You may sigh, at this point, for the good old days.  As an advertising man, I give them to you.

Yes, those are the words of the deeply optimistic man who founded an ad agency specializing in banks during the Great Depression.

If you would like a PDF of the article, drop me a note at jgust@merrillanderson.com.