An idea that saved a business by Leonard Dreyfuss
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"An idea that saved a business by Leonard Dreyfuss" is a short business pamphlet and advertising case study from the early 20th century. It centers on the power of outdoor advertising—especially posters and painted signs—to reach all kinds of people and stimulate rapid retail growth. The narrative follows a worried department-store general manager who studies his failing numbers, then seeks advice from a circus executive famed for getting “the greatest amount of
money in the shortest possible time.” He learns that the circus wins by blanketing the outdoors with large, colorful, simple messages placed wherever people pass. Adopting this approach, he launches a dominant citywide poster campaign with monthly changes in copy and color, while simultaneously improving store service and atmosphere. Over several years the store’s business surges, and the now-president credits outdoor publicity—used alongside heavy newspaper advertising—as the catalyst for momentum and prestige. The piece closes by asserting the story’s truth and segueing into a brief pitch for the sponsoring advertising firm’s services. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Dreyfuss, Leonard, 1886-1969 |
|---|---|
| Title | An idea that saved a business |
| Original Publication | Newark: The United Advertising Corporation, 1918. |
| Credits | Charlene Taylor, chenzw and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | HF: Social sciences: Commerce |
| Subject | Advertising, Outdoor -- United States |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 77052 |
| ISBN (HTML) | 979-8-238-77052-9 |
| Release Date | Oct 14, 2025 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 337 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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