Big Business – Time to Defend Yourself?
I enjoyed this article full of good advice for big business.
Amos Stote, the author, makes the clear case that big business can protect and enhance their reputation and profits through advertising. Letting the public know the good firms do will provide them with the public good will to defend them from attack from politicians, government and interest groups.
He writes “Yet the only way the casual citizen will ever be convinced of this is through being told in plain language just what big business does for him. He does not want to feel his dependence upon big business. No one cares for the position of the “poor relation.” He must be made to feel that big business is his big brother by being taken into its confidence and permitted to see the service which never appears on the surface. ”
Old School Advice
Amos Stote was one of the Founding Fathers of the US advertising industry. He wrote the article in 1924. Then Big Business was under attack from Communists and Socialists (in the USA).
The article and its recommendations are as relevant today as they were when it was first written. Now, as then, most of big business has abadicated their job of informing the public of the good they are doing, and feel the economic and political consequences to this day.
21st Century Take
For a modern take I’d recommend reading Fred Smith’s piece here. Thank you for Fred for flagging the original.
Beware of the Business Muckraker by Amos Stote Beware of the Business Muckraker!