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 Contents vii
Message processing responses 156
The role of memory 174
Summary 177

9 Message development 181

Positioning 181
Communication objectives 184
Creative brief 186
Creative idea 189
Pre-testing 191
Summary 198

10 Creative execution 200

Gaining attention 200
Facilitating learning 202
Consistency in IMC executions 205
Specific creative tactics for brand awareness
and brand attitude 207
Eliciting the correct emotional response 220
Summary 223

PART IV
The IMC plan 227

11 Planning considerations 229

Reviewing the marketing plan 229
The role of direct marketing in IMC 231
Market characteristics that influence
IMC effectiveness 235
Relative advertising versus promotion strengths 239
Advantages of using advertising and promotion
together 243
Summary 247

12 The IMC planning process 250

Selecting a target audience 250
Determining how decisions are made 252
Establishing brand positioning 257
Setting communication objectives 259
Matching media options 262
Summary 265
viii Contents
13 Finalizing and implementing the IMC plan 268
Finalizing the plan 268
Implementing the plan 278
Tracking IMC campaigns 285
Summary 288

Glossary 290
Index 299
Figures

2.1 Hypothetical hierarchical partitioning of the soft drink market 29

2.2 Hypothetical alternative hierarchical partitioning of the soft
drink market 30
2.3 Product and brand portfolio grid 37
2.4 Partial AB InBev product and brand portfolio grid 41
3.1 Corporate brand as a function of corporate meaning 56
3.2 The new corporate communications wheel 60
4.1 Brand awareness strategy 85
4.2 Brand attitude strategy: The Rossiter–Percy Grid 89
8.1 Processing responses 157
8.2 Basic consumer decision models 166
8.3 (a) Original Wine Enthusiast shelf-talker. (b) Revised Wine
Enthusiast shelf-talker using new logo 167
8.4 An example of how changing the masthead enabled wine ratings
from the Wine Enthusiast magazine to make more of an
impact at retail 168
8.5 Brain areas believed to be involved in the perception of emotion
from facial expression 173
8.6 Happy versus threatening schematic faces 174
9.1 A general model of positioning 182
10.1 Emotional response sequence 221
11.1 Relative strengths of advertising and promotion 240
11.2 Effect of promotion alone without advertising 245
11.3 Moran’s ratchet effect: advertising with promotion 245
12.1 Generic BSM 253
12.2 Decision stages involved in a lamp purchase 254
12.3 BSM for cruise holiday 258
13.1 Decision roles for a hypothesized BSM for an IT system 270
13.2 IMC planning worksheet 274
13.3 Overview of prescription lens decision process 275
13.4 Patient IMC planning worksheet 276
13.5 Doctor and eye-care professional IMC planning worksheet 277
13.6 Media allocation worksheet for implementing patient IMC plan 284
Tables

1.1 Barriers to effective IMC 16

1.2 Market complexity 17
1.3 The five-step IMC strategic planning process 20
3.1 Corporate versus organizational identity and imagery 46
3.2 Multiple corporate identities 50
3.3 Corporate image versus corporate identity 51
3.4 Keys to corporate meaning 55
3.5 Keys to an effective corporate story 61
4.1 Four basic types of advertising 75
4.2 Motivations driving purchase behaviour 88
5.1 Seven basic consumer incentive promotions 97
5.2 Favourable situations for trial promotions 109
5.3 Favourable situations for repeat-purchase promotions 110
5.4 Basic trade incentive promotions 111
7.1 Information in database that helps identify opportunities
for direct marketing 143
7.2 Advantages and disadvantages of personal selling 145
7.3 Advantages and disadvantages of PR 147
9.1 The four basic communication effects 185
9.2 Creative brief example for disposable contact lenses 189
9.3 Basic questions asked in a Management Judgement Test 192
9.4 Order of measures for pre-testing 193
10.1 Creative tactics for gaining attention 201
10.2 Creative tactics for facilitating learning 203
10.3 Brand awareness creative tactics 207
10.4 Brand attitude creative tactics 211
11.1 Marketing background questions 230
11.2 Basic characteristics of direct marketing 231
11.3 Differences between direct marketing and traditional advertising 232
11.4 Questions to answer when considering direct marketing 234
11.5 Strengths of basic direct marketing 235
11.6 Market characteristic impact on advertising versus
promotion emphasis in IMC 239
 Tables xi
12.1 Key questions in target audience selection 251
12.2 Decision roles 255
12.3 Appropriate media for brand attitude strategies 264
13.1 Decision stage-communication effect relationship 273
13.2 Media for basic consumer incentive promotions 281
Adverts

2.1 BrandAlley 31
2.2 Ariel 35
2.3 Sony Xperia 39
3.1 Shell 63
4.1 Billington’s 76
5.1 Fairy/Timmy Time 106
5.2 Douwe Egberts 108
6.1 English Heritage Buildings 127
8.1 Greek Style Yoghurt 164
8.2 Farrow & Ball 170
8.3 Conde Nast’s Johansens hotels – Domaine des
Etangs / Johansens 172
9.1 Oxfam 183
10.1 Fentimans 209
10.2 Deep Heat/Deep Freeze 212
10.3 Jack Daniel’s 214
10.4 Savoir Beds 217
10.5 Hyundai 219
10.6 L’Occitane 222
Preface

Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) as it is generally understood today

has been around now for some 35 years. It was back then that academics and
marketers began to take the various ideas associated with effective marketing
communication and put them together in a consistent and systematic way. Of
course, many of these principles had been around for a long time, but it was the
idea of integrating all aspects of communication that took hold.
Yet, as we have been pointing out since the first edition of this book, IMC is
honoured more on paper than in reality. Even though managers continue to
agree that IMC is important to their marketing communication efforts, and
many will say they do indeed practice it, the sad truth is that it is rarely the case.
There are many reasons for this, and we will be dealing with some of them in
the first chapter.
Nevertheless, IMC does provide the best possible approach to building an
effective communication program for a brand or company. Why? It is because
at its heart IMC is all about planning and consistency of message and execution.
A disciplined strategic planning process will help ensure that the right message
reaches the correct target audience at the right time in order to maximize the
likelihood of effectively processing the message, leading to the desired com-
munication effect. It is also what ensures that each execution no matter how it is
delivered, has the same message and a consistent look and feel. This means for
messages in everything from traditional media to digital media, business cards,
trade shows, packaging, the sides of delivery trucks, sales kits; anything at all where
a potential consumer may be exposed to the brand or company. It is this con-
sistency across media, and within campaign as well, that optimizes the likelihood
of a brand’s message getting through, even in a world full of distractions.
This planning process and how to execute it is what this book is all about.
Throughout, we are paying attention to what is all too often a contentious
relationship between academic theory and practical application. It is essential to
understand the theory underlying effective communication, but that theory must
be applied. In the book we present the essential theory, and we show how it is
used to plan and execute an effective IMC campaign.
The book begins with an overview of IMC to provide context, looking at its
origins as a marketing discipline and its importance to brands and companies.
xiv Preface
With this as a foundation we examine the building blocks of IMC, beginning
with a look at its major components, with a special emphasis on digital media, and
then looking more deeply at what is required to develop and execute an effective
message. In the last section of the book all of this comes together in a detailed
consideration of the strategic planning process, what goes into it, the process
itself, and how it is implemented. Along the way numerous cases and examples
are provided, plus a number of ‘desktop’ tools and worksheets that help sum-
marize what goes into effective IMC planning and implementation.
New to this edition is a much expanded look at media and media planning
concepts such as reach and effective frequency. Throughout, more attention is
given to digital media, including an expanded section in the media chapter. A
general model of positioning is now included that underscores the important
relationship between positioning and brand awareness and brand attitude strat-
egy. Also new is a look at the role the preconscious plays in message processing,
and a section has been added on content marketing.
Many people have been involved in bringing this new edition to publication,
and I want to thank them all. I would especially like to thank Laura Hussey at
Routledge who has helped with the many details needed. And as with everything
I write, my grateful thanks to Kristie Hutto. She continues to manage typing it all
from my not always easy to read hand-written pages. Beyond those directly
involved with the book, I want to again acknowledge and thank my long-time
colleague and friend John Rossiter, who continues to provide intellectual
stimulation and challenges, making all of my work better. There is no one better
in our field. And as always, thanks to my wife Mary Walton for her continuing
support and encouragement.
Larry Percy
2017
PART I

Introduction to IMC

In the first part of the book we introduce the notion of integrated marketing
communication (IMC), and look at its overall role in building strong brands
and strengthening companies. IMC as a marketing discipline emerged in the
1980s. This is not to say that marketers did not do many of the things implied
by IMC before this time, only that it was not until then that the idea was for-
malized as it is understood today. There were many definitions of IMC in those
early days, and even today the term is used in a variety of ways when discussing
marketing communication activities. IMC is planning in a systematic way in
order to determine the most effective and consistent message for the appropriate
target audience.
Despite most marketers believing IMC is important and should be practised,
the reality is that it is rarely successfully implemented. There are several reasons for
this, largely concerned with the way companies are organized, their culture, and
how those likely to be involved in a truly integrated marketing communication
effort are compensated. If managers’ salaries, promotions, and bonuses are linked
to the size of their budgets, their primary concern will likely be to optimize their
share of the IMC pie rather than consider what might be best for the brand overall.
To be effective, IMC must follow a thorough strategic planning process; one
will be briefly introduced in Chapter 1. It will outline what is involved in pro-
viding a firm foundation for gaining an understanding of the various aspects and
elements of IMC that will be discussed in subsequent chapters, leading up to the
final part of the book, which deals with IMC strategic planning in depth. With
this foundation in place, Chapter 2 will consider the role of IMC in building
brands and Chapter 3 how IMC strengthens companies. The two are interrelated,
as we will see.
The key to building effective brands is first finding the correct positioning, and
then successfully creating a strong, positive brand attitude. IMC is critical to
ensuring that all aspects of a brand’s marketing communication are delivering a
consistent message towards that end. It also plays an important role in managing
the communication strategies associated with a company’s branding strategy
within its overall product and brand portfolio.
All the marketing communication efforts for a company’s brands will also
contribute to its overall corporate identity, image and reputation. Although
2 Introduction to IMC
marketing communication is not the only communication affecting corporate
identity, image and reputation, it plays a significant role. IMC programmes must
therefore also be consistent with, and be a part of the management and delivery of
all other aspects of a company’s communication. Corporate meaning, which is
comprised of all those elements, will inform a corporate brand, and this corporate
brand must be compatible with all the brands the company markets.
1 Overview of IMC

In the world of marketing and communication, much changes. There is no

question that over the past several years we have seen a surge in e-marketing and
a seemingly endless stream of digital media introductions, especially with social
media. This has led many to suggest that the role of advertising and other mar-
keting communication options, and how they work, is also changing. It is not.
The mind still processes information in the same way, and the role of advertising
and other marketing communication continues to be what it has always been: to
move more of a branded product or service, or to obtain a higher price-point than
would have been possible without it. Rossiter and Percy (2013) have provided a
number of examples of how both practitioners and academics are encouraging
this false notion with the use of what they call ‘masking jargon’. In effect, using
new terms for old concepts; providing an illusion of change.
Why do we bring this up at the beginning of a book on integrated marketing
communication? When the idea of IMC emerged in the mid- to late 1980s it was
something new, not just a new name for the practice of including various types of
marketing communication options in a campaign; that is, it was new if correctly
understood and implemented. Unfortunately, few companies seem able to truly
implement effective IMC. We will touch on several of the key reasons for this
later in this chapter. First, however, we need to understand just what is meant by
integrated marketing communication (IMC).

What is IMC?
We might briefly define IMC as the planning and execution of all types of
advertising-like and promotion-like messages selected for a brand, service or
company, in order to meet a common set of communication objectives or, more
particularly, to support a single ‘positioning’. We believe strongly that the key to
IMC is planning, and the aim is to deliver a consistent message.

Original definitions of IMC

In 1989, the American Association of Advertising Agencies (known as the
4As) formed a task force on integration that was to define IMC from the
4 Introduction to IMC
viewpoint of the 4As agencies. The task force came up with this definition
of IMC:

A concept of marketing communications planning that recognizes the added

value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of
communication disciplines (e.g. general advertising, direct response, sales
promotion, and public relations) and combines these disciplines to provide
clarity, consistency, and maximum communication impact.

In the same year, the investment firm Shearson Lehman Hutton (1989) issued a
detailed report on consumer advertising, with special emphasis on diversification
into areas that would lead to integration. They concluded that a number of
changes happening in the marketplace would force traditional packaged goods
marketers to take a much more integrated approach to marketing. They noted
that high-involvement, non-service products (for example, cars or cruise holi-
days), where the selling task is more complicated, were at that time more apt to
use integrated strategies. The report concluded that the dynamics were in place
for a surge in demand for integrated communication from all kinds of advertisers.
In their 1993 book Integrated Marketing Communication (perhaps the first book
to really deal with the subject), Don Schultz and his colleagues talked about
IMC as a new way of looking at the whole, where once we only saw parts such
as advertising, public relations, sales promotions, purchasing, employee com-
munication and so on (Schultz et al., 1993). They saw IMC as realigning
communication to look at the way the consumer sees it, as a flow of information
from indistinguishable sources. They observed that professional communicators
have always been condescendingly amused that consumers call everything
advertising or public relations. Now they recognize with concern, if not chagrin,
that that is exactly the point. It is all one ‘thing’ to the consumer who sees or hears
it. They go on to say that IMC means talking to people who buy or don’t buy
based on what they see, hear, feel and so on; it is not just about a product or service.
It also means delivering a return on investment, not just spending a budget. This
definition ‘looks back’ at the goals of IMC. We will be looking largely from a
strategic perspective for planning and implementing IMC.
At Northwestern University’s Medill School in the USA (where Schultz was
teaching) the curriculum was changed to focus on this new idea of IMC rather
than the more traditional programmes in advertising. At the time, they offered
their own working definition (Schultz, 1993):

Integrated marketing communications is the process of developing and

implementing various forms of persuasive communication programs with
customers and prospects over time. The goal of IMC is to influence or
directly affect the behaviour of the selected communications audience. IMC
considers all sources of brand or company contacts that a customer or
prospect has with the product or service as potential delivery channels for
future messages. Further, IMC makes use of all forms of communication
 Overview of IMC 5
which are relevant to the customers and prospects, and to which they might
be receptive. In sum the IMC process starts with the customer or prospect
and then works back to determine and define the forms and methods through
which persuasive communications programs should be developed.

This definition, while more elaborate than ours, is still addressing the basic need
for overall communication planning. It is critical to consider IMC as a process, not
a ‘thing’.

More recent definitions of IMC

The emphasis in those early days was certainly on planning, and to our mind this
must remain at the heart of any definition of IMC. But today IMC is more likely to
be talked about in terms of ‘customer relationships’. In fact, Kotler (2003) has put it
in just those terms. He defined IMC as ‘a way of looking at the whole marketing
process from the viewpoint of the customer’. Only a few years earlier (Kotler et al.,
1999), he was defining IMC as ‘the concept under which a company carefully
integrates and coordinates its many communications channels to deliver a clear,
consistent and compelling message about the organization and its products’.
Others have taken this idea of IMC from a customer relationship view a great
deal further. Tom Duncan, at the University of Colorado, who like Don Schultz
and his colleagues at Northwestern, was one of the early academics to restructure
their advertising programmes in terms of IMC, saw it as simply put (our emphasis)
a ‘process for managing customer relationships that drive brand value’ (Duncan,
2002). Nothing ‘simple’ at all we would argue. He goes on to say that what this
means is that IMC is a ‘cross-functional process for creating and nourishing
profitable relationships with customers and other stakeholders by strategically
controlling or influencing all messages sent to these groups and encouraging data-
driven, purposeful dialogue with them’.
There is a lot here in this definition. Of course, marketing is (or should be)
about satisfying consumer demand. But we would suggest that the real key here,
in terms of IMC, is ‘strategically controlling or influencing all messages sent’, and
to do that requires strategic planning. Duncan goes on to ‘define’ the major
elements within his definition. The idea of a cross-functional process refers to a
need for all parts of a company and vendors working on a particular brand to work
together to ‘plan and merge all messages a company sends to its target audiences’.
We totally agree, but, as we will see, getting everyone involved in a brand’s
marketing communication to cooperate is very difficult. Creating and nourishing
stakeholder relationships and profitable customer relationships refers to IMC
identifying those target audiences most likely to contribute to long-term profit,
including both consumers and others with links to a brand (for example, Gov-
ernment regulatory agencies and investors). Strategically controlling or influ-
encing all messages means that every contact with the market must be consistent,
and encouraging purposeful dialogue implies that people want the ability to
interact with a company.
6 Introduction to IMC
As we said, there is a lot here in this definition but, in the end, IMC is really all
about planning in order to deliver a consistent message. Effective IMC should
certainly encourage strong customer relationships, but it does that through
effective planning in order to develop an integrated communication programme
that will optimize specific communication objectives that lead to a desired
behaviour on the part of a target audience. After Duncan explains his detailed
definition of IMC, he reminds us that communication is the foundation of brand
relationships and the basic principle of IMC. Many of the original concepts
associated with IMC have changed or evolved over the years (Kitchen and
Schultz, 2009). Some would agree that today it is still difficult to agree on a
definition of IMC. Moriarty and Schultz (2012) have suggested that there are
now four broad underlying concepts that form the basis for how IMC works
today. Within each of these, they see a number of sub-theories, all of which are
interrelated. Perhaps, but we would argue that the key to IMC remains under-
standing it strategically, as a planning function.
Strategies for building strong profitable relationships with customers and other
stakeholders are part of the marketing plan, and effective marketing communi-
cation should support that plan. We will leave it to others to discuss IMC in this
broader, marketing-oriented way. A strategic understanding of IMC must be
based on a rigorous planning process that will identify appropriate target audi-
ences, set specific communication objectives for these target audiences, develop
marketing communication that will accomplish those objectives in a consistent
way and find the best ways of delivering the message. That is what IMC, and this
book, is all about.

Managing IMC
In the early years of IMC thinking, despite the feelings of many marketing
managers that advertising agencies may not have been the best planning catalyst
for IMC, they did play a major role in providing and managing these initial
attempts at integrating marketing communication. A number of very large
advertising agencies and agency groups were quite active in this new area of
IMC. They were all selling themselves as being able to provide all the services
and disciplines a marketer could want for marketing communication. But even
at the time, what they were offering as IMC was not what their clients either
wanted or what they were willing to pay for. Although 85 per cent of advertisers
said they wanted IMC services, only a fraction felt their advertising agency would
provide it. Major agencies tried to deal with this issue in different ways. Many
agencies set up programmes to educate their executives in IMC. Major advertising
agencies may have had a slow or even wrong start, but there is no doubt that
they seemed committed to delivering IMC for their clients. In today’s world,
however, very little, if any, of this early zeal remains.
Even though the marketing communication industry has always been com-
prised of a variety of speciality groups, almost by default traditional advertising
agencies took the lead in the IMC planning for their clients’ brands. The reason
 Overview of IMC 7
was simple: the vast majority of a company’s communication budget was usually
with an advertising agency. But today, there has been a virtual explosion in the
number of new agencies devoted to specific aspects of marketing communi-
cation, fuelled in a large part by an (unfortunate) trend toward an ever-increasing
emphasis on promotion, as well as alternative ways of delivering messages in
‘digital media’. There are now ‘digital’ agencies, for example, that deal only in
advertising for digital media. Unfortunately, this only complicates the ability to
develop and manage sound strategies for IMC. Let us consider for a moment just
some of the many groups that could play a role in the creation and delivery of
marketing communication.
To begin with, there are all the traditional sources of marketing communi-
cation messages such as advertising agencies (everything from full-service
agencies to boutiques), sales promotion or collateral agencies, public relations
firms and specialty agencies (for example, those dealing with trade shows or event
marketing). Add to them corporate identity groups, packaging specialists,
branding companies, the increasing number of direct response agencies and
telemarketers. Then there are internet agencies, digital and social media agencies
and media buying groups (who themselves are playing a greater role in overall
communication strategy).
Distribution channels can also have an impact, and not only with trade com-
munications. Retailers certainly play an influencing role through co-op pro-
grammes or channels marketing. All franchise organizations have participation
from franchises in their marketing communication. Soft drink and beer com-
panies have bottlers and distributor networks that frequently have a strong voice
in the direction of their brand’s marketing communication.
Then there is the company’s organization itself, which could include any
number of departments with some responsibility for marketing communication,
and unfortunately, in most cases these departments have their own managers and
operate independently of each other. Too many companies still practise vertical
rather than horizontal management, which means departments are often unlikely
to even talk to each other, let alone work together. Even in large companies
where a single group has been created to oversee all marketing communication,
and to coordinate the efforts of all outside agencies and suppliers (something
essential for effective IMC, we would argue), it is often difficult to wrest control
from brand management. There is also a long history of tension between the sales
force and marketing teams.
Now, multiply all of this by the number of countries where a company markets its
brands. While it is not unusual for many marketing communication suppliers to
have global networks, it is still a management nightmare. Global IMC must take into
account local differences, while still maintaining a consistent overall positioning for
the brand. One way international marketers try to deal with this is by consolidating
all their global marketing communication efforts in one agency with the capacity of
handling most of its marketing communication needs, either within the agency itself
or through its network of sister organizations. An example of this, Reebok’s pro-
blems with managing its social media globally, is discussed in the box below.
8 Introduction to IMC
All of this potential input into a company’s marketing communication must be
controlled and managed in order to ensure a consistent strategy and message. This
is not easy, and even with the best of intentions it is difficult to implement
effectively. But, if there is to be effective IMC, this problem must be solved.
There must be a central source that has real responsibility, not only for coordi-
nating the efforts of all those involved in the process, but also the authority to
make decisions. Perhaps the most important decision they must have the auth-
ority to make is how the marketing communication budget is to be allocated.

The role of advertising and promotion in IMC

We mentioned earlier that one of the main reasons traditional advertising
agencies originally took the lead in managing IMC was because that was where
most of the money for marketing communication was to be found. But all of
this has changed. With the increasing short-term focus on the bottom line,
promotion-oriented marketing communication is playing an ever-larger role,
and, along with the increasing growth in digital media, many companies are
questioning the role of advertising today. They shouldn’t. The role of
advertising in IMC is now, as it has always been, to sell more of a branded
product or service, or to achieve a higher price that consumers are willing to pay
than they would otherwise be willing to in the absence of advertising (Rossiter
and Percy, 2013).

Too much social media?

Can you have too much social media? For many multinational companies,
the answer is ‘yes’. Reebok was one such company. Marketing managers
around the world were establishing several media campaigns with Face-
book and Twitter, and showed content on numerous YouTube channels.
Management knew this was a problem and an audit was initiated to identify
company-created and fan-created accounts using Reebok trademarks. The
results uncovered 232 Facebook pages, 30 Twitter accounts, and some 100
YouTube channels. Based on this, individual markets were asked to
eliminate local accounts in favour of global Reebok accounts. For some
markets, for example Hong Kong, this made a lot of sense. For others, such
as India, where their Facebook page had nearly 1.8 million fans, it did not
make sense. After their audit, Reebok’s overall social media presence was
cut roughly in half, and management reported that the effect paid off.

Source: Advertising Age, 10 December 2012.

Where exactly does advertising fit in IMC? As we have tried to make clear, IMC
is a planning concept, so the easy answer is that advertising ‘fits’ when and where
 Overview of IMC 9
it makes sense in most effectively communicating with the target audience. But
this easy answer will not be satisfactory to many managers.
As Schultz (1995a) once put it, ‘An integrated approach to communication
planning and implementation does not necessarily reduce the role or value of
traditional mass-media advertising’. We agree. In today’s world, where does
advertising end and promotion begin? Television commercials include direct
response 0800 numbers or ask consumers to look for a coupon in the newspaper –
and actually show the coupon. Is this advertising or is it promotion? In the past,
advertising has been traditionally delivered through measured media: television,
radio, newspaper, magazines, outdoor. But advertising messages are also deliv-
ered through direct marketing and channels marketing (for example, trade-
oriented marketing such as co-op programmes), areas where in the past one only
found promotional messages. As we shall see later, promotion is really when the
communication objective requires immediate action.
The consumer certainly does not know (or, we suspect, care) what constitutes
‘advertising’, as we mentioned earlier. In an interesting study conducted in the
USA by the Leo Burnett Company, 1,000 consumers were called at random and
asked what they would call a wide variety of marketing communication forms
(Schultz, 1995b). They found that consumers answered ‘advertising’ to more
than 100 different forms of marketing communication. Many of the answers
indeed would fit most advertising executives’ definition of advertising. But what
about such things as sweepstakes/contests/games, product catalogues, infor-
mation brochures, window displays in stores, coupons, bill inserts, and such?
They sound more like traditional promotion, but well over 90 per cent of the
consumers interviewed called them ‘advertising’. In fact, 92 per cent said product
packaging is advertising! Perhaps not surprisingly, consumers seem to see almost
every form of marketing communication as advertising.
Rossiter and Bellman (2005) make two interesting points about the role of
traditional advertising compared with promotion in today’s marketing com-
munication. Addressing the swing to promotion in marketing communication
budgets, they point out that in spite of this swing: (a) there had been an increase,
not a decrease in the use of general advertising media, and (b) most of the growth
in promotion, apart from all-but-required trade promotions, had been additional –
and most of this in advertising-like promotions.
Nevertheless, in traditional terms the rate of advertising growth has followed
the pace of media inflation, while other areas of non-traditional advertising, as
well as promotion, have experienced real growth. This second point about
advertising-like promotions is very important. It is not traditional forms of
incentive promotion that are growing, but promotion-oriented messages that are
very advertising-like. For example, as Rossiter and Percy (1997) point out, direct
mail and telemarketing are thought of as promotion rather than advertising.
When properly used, they are as much advertising, in the sense of building brand
awareness and brand equity, as they are promotion in the sense of meeting some
short-term sales objective. The same may be said of free-standing inserts (FSIs), by
far the most widely-used way of delivering coupons. In the strictest sense these are
10 Introduction to IMC
promotion-oriented media, and we treat them as such in this book, but they are
also very advertising-like in their ability to help build awareness and equity for a
brand.
This blurring of the old distinctions between advertising and promotion is yet
another reason for the importance of IMC, because what one might think of as
traditional advertising skills now have such a critical role in every form of mar-
keting communication. As we will see, planning an effective IMC programme
requires the manager to address strategic creative and media questions that have
always been addressed in traditional advertising. These principles are simply being
applied to a wider range of options. In IMC, one is setting communication
objectives and selecting media to maximize their ability to effectively reach the
target market. But rather than only considering certain ways of using advertising,
or independently considering some form of promotion, the planning and
execution of all marketing communication should be integrated. The point is that
in the end one may consider any marketing communication that deals with
brand-building as delivering an advertising message, and any marketing com-
munication that is looking for short-term action on the part of the target audience
as delivering a promotion message. Promotions should include advertising
messages.
As we shall see in later chapters, it does not matter what form a marketing
communication message takes or how it is delivered, the strategic foundation for
the development and execution of the message remains the same.
The brain will process the words and images the same way regardless, of how
they are delivered. Sound is sound, words are words and pictures are pictures to
the brain, regardless of where the sense organs find them. As Bavelier and Green
(2011) put it, technological changes do not change the way the brain works, and
the principles of brain organization have not changed since the advent of language
thousands of years ago.

The role of advertising agencies in IMC

Within traditional advertising agencies, and with media planning and placement
agencies that work with them, the growth of digital media has presented many
challenges. Many have staff dedicated to simply keeping up with the changes.
There are agencies that specialize only in digital media advertising. Social media
offers online tutorials for advertising and media planning agencies to help fam-
iliarize them with what they offer. For example, in 2014 Twitter introduced a
series of what they called ‘bite-sized’ tutorials on their products and new features.
Facebook, Google and others have similar programs for agencies.
While all of this helps with dealing with advertising in digital media, in the end
it is advertising agencies that have the skill and experience in dealing with
advertising. Promotion-oriented agencies and specialist media services will simply
not have it.
For this reason, a strong argument could be made for an advertising agency,
with broad resources, to play the primary role in coordinating IMC, always under
Another random document with
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 CHAPTER IX
MORE BAD NEWS

It was the easy Rattlesnake Pass that finally led out from the farther
edge of the great Laramie Plains, and down to the North Platte River.
“There’s the last of the main streams which flow eastward, men,”
remarked General Dodge, as from the top of the pass they emerged
into view of the valley below. “Once across that, and over the next
plateau, and we’ll be into the unknown country.”
“Can we see the Overland stage road, general?”
“It keeps to the base of those south hills, on the headwaters of the
side streams, for fording.”
“I should think that the railroad would follow the stage road, by the
trail already made,” spoke Mr. Corwith.
The general smiled.
“No. The grades are too sharp and there are too many ravines and
gulches, too many streams, too many detours. A railroad always
seeks the path of least resistance; and we’re limited by the
Government to the grade of 116 feet to the mile, at the maximum.
The Union Pacific will keep to the open country, and do away with
curves as much as possible. Sharp tangents cut down speed. Lack
of water doesn’t bother a railroad, if wells for tanks can be drilled, at
intervals. In fact, the fewer streams to cross, the better.”
A month had gone by since from Sherman Summit they had
descended a thousand feet into the Laramie Plains. It had been a
continuous hunting and camping trip with the Indians at safe
distance. The general had traveled by easy stints, to favor the health
of General Rawlins, and let Geologist Van Lennep make his
investigation for coal and ballast. A courier from Sanders had
brought a dispatch saying that Mr. Evans’ wife was ill, in the East,
and he had turned back.
The Laramie Plains had proved to be a great basin or park, watered
by trout streams, tinted with red soil and rocks, and green brush and
trees, broken by strange buttes and spires, and surrounded by snow-
capped mountains. It stretched fifty miles wide, and 100 miles long,
in northwesterly direction. The railroad line was to follow it and take
advantage of such an open way.
Several times they had signs of other parties—the Browne surveying
crews, General Dodge pronounced them. Now and again an
abandoned surveyor’s flag fluttered from bush or pole.
“Who’d ’a thought when Jim Bridger and I trapped our beaver and
fought for our meat in here, that the iron hoss’d be rampaging
through before ever we lost our scalps,” Sol Judy mused. “That is, if
we don’t lose those same scalps in the meantime.”
They followed down a stream which emptied into the Platte, and
camped this night on the banks of the North Platte itself, which
flowing north from Colorado turned for the east and joined the South
Platte 300 miles away, at North Platte Station on the railroad, in
Nebraska.
“And next year at this time the railroad will be here, I guess,” Terry
ventured. “Wonder if the river knows.”
“It doesn’t seem possible,” Mr. Corwith mused.
“And in another year the rails will be climbing those mountains that
look like cloud banks,” added young Mr. Duff.
“Your eye-sight’s improving, young man,” Sol joked. “You’re spying
the main Rockies; and if ’twarn’t for those clouds I reckon you could
look another hundred and fifty miles, into Utah.”
Sol had been scouting around, and had found traces of a deserted
camp down stream a short distance. The general was quite certain
that this had been a camp of the Percy Browne surveyors and
escort.
“Camp’s about three weeks old, I judge,” Sol reported.
“Hoo-ee-ee!” sounded the high call, through the dusk.
“White man, that,” Sol uttered. “Yep, and there they are.”
Across the Platte there were two or three horsemen, who had united
in the “Hoo-ee-ee.” Now here they came, fording and swimming.
General Dodge beckoned them in, and met them as they rode
forward, dripping.
He and Colonel Seymour, the consulting engineer, held a short
confab with them. They all turned for the camp.
“That’s Frank Appleton, Percy Browne’s assistant,” Superintendent
Reed exclaimed. “Wonder if anything’s gone wrong again.”
“Well, men don’t swim cold rivers for nothing,” drawled Sol, who was
standing and warming the tails of his army overcoat.
The General Dodge squad arrived at the big camp fire. The general’s
face was grave; so was Colonel Seymour’s. Everybody at the fire
waited intent—General Rawlins, lying under a blanket to rest, half
sat up.
The new-comers were two surveyors and a cavalry trooper. They
and their horses appeared worn to the bones. The two surveyors
dismounted stiffly, to advance to the fire, with a haggard smile and a
brave “Good evening.” The trooper led the horses aside, for
unsaddling and picketing out.
“Gentlemen, permit me to introduce Mr. Francis Appleton, and Mr.
Bane, of the Percy Browne party,” spoke the general. “Mr. Appleton
was the assistant engineer; now he is in charge of the party. He
brings word of the loss of his chief. Percy Browne, a young engineer
already at the top of his profession and one of my right-hand men,
has been killed by the Sioux.”
“What! Another—and this time Browne!” gasped Mr. Blickensderfer.
“I sorter felt it,” remarked Sol.
“Where did that happen, and how?” queried General Rawlins.
“Can you tell them about it, Frank?” suggested General Dodge.
Engineer Appleton—he was young, too—sat down and stretched his
legs and hands to the blaze.
“It happened about two weeks ago. We were running a line on the
main divide, near Separation, about fifty miles west of here, or at
survey station 6,801, when Mr. Browne left us, to reconnoiter in the
basin country farther west. He’d found the maps of the region were
wrong—they did not cover all that territory, especially a new basin
that we call the Red Desert. The Salt Lake stage road skirts the edge
of it, on the way to the Bitter Creek desert.
“Mr. Browne took eight of the cavalry escort and some pack animals.
We were to work on a line at the east edge. It seems that he had
almost crossed the Red Desert, when a band of 300 Sioux, who
were making south to attack the stage stations, surrounded him and
his escort. The men succeeded in fighting their way to a little hill, and
there they forted, and held the Sioux off from noon until after dark.
Just at dusk a ball had struck Mr. Browne in the stomach, and put
him out of action. He knew he was done for, so he ordered the
soldiers to leave him and break for safety; but they wouldn’t do it.”
“What! Soldiers leave their officer? Never!” rapped Colonel Mizner.
“Not the Second Cavalry men—nor any other men, either.”
“And they didn’t,” asserted Mr. Appleton. “They refused to obey
Browne’s orders. They let the Sioux stampede the horses and
mules, which seemed to satisfy the red-skins, who drew off. So this
same night those eight soldiers made a litter of a blanket slung on
carbines, and afoot they carried poor Percy fifteen miles through the
sage-brush and the sand to LaClede stage station on the Overland.
They didn’t save his life, though, for he died soon after they got in
with him.”
“A gallant deed,” said General Rawlins. “I’ll see to it that it’s brought
personally before General Grant himself. We must have those
soldiers’ names.”
“The news was telegraphed from the stage station to Sanders,”
continued Mr. Appleton, “but of course General Dodge had passed
through, before that. The soldiers found us, where we were waiting
for Mr. Browne to return. I went ahead running a line according to the
instructions, until my party became pretty well exhausted through
lack of water and provisions. I was coming in to Fort Sanders, for
more supplies and for further instructions, and sighted your fires,
here. I guess that’s about all. The rest of the party are about forty
miles west. They’re short of water, and animals, and unable to move
forward—but they hate to quit. With a little help we’ll push right
along, as Mr. Browne had intended, and finish out the survey
according to his plans.”
“By Jiminy! That’s the stuff!” applauded young Mr. Duff.
“Yes, sir. The survey shall be carried out. We’ll enter the Browne
basin,” declared the general. “We’ll give Mr. Appleton and Mr. Bane a
day’s rest here, while I check over with them. Unfortunately all of Mr.
Browne’s notes were lost when the Indians attacked him. But we’ll
march on, to the Appleton party ahead, fix them up, and proceed to
find the Bates party, too. Nothing has been seen of them, Mr.
Appleton says.”
The North Platte flowed through a wide and shallow valley of sage-
brush and reddish gravel, blotched by bright green cottonwoods and
willows, with a scattering of small pines and cedars on the slopes.
The river had to be forded; but the wagons were tugged through, and
they all toiled up the west slope to the top of a broad plateau.
“The beginning of the Bitter Creek plains,” General Dodge uttered.
“Any streams in here, Frank?”
“We discovered none, sir,” Mr. Appleton answered. “That is, none
now flowing. There are numerous dry courses.”
The high plateau stretched onward into the west. It was of reddish
gravel, plentifully cloaked with sage, like the rolling swells of a mighty
grayish sea, and now and again blotched with the white of alkali, like
the patchy froth of a sea. Sharp buttes, like islands, rose in the
distances around, breaking the surface. Altogether, it was a lonely
sight.
“How far are your party, Frank?”
“We’ll reach them tomorrow, sir. There’s a plain trail—my own trail,
and the lines we ran.”
The party were all right, and waiting patiently for water and horses.
The general decided to send them back to the North Platte, to rest
and refit from Fort Sanders; but he took Mr. Appleton, as a guide to
the great basin which Mr. Percy Browne had entered.
He and General Rawlins and Mr. Appleton led, with Terry and Sol
Judy close behind; the rest of the party followed; the wagon train
labored in the rear, while the cavalry bobbed up and down on either
flank, riding dusty and sunburned, but watchful for Indians.
Indeed, dusty and sunburned were all: the once smooth faces of
Major Dunn and Mr. Duff had sprouted beards, Terry’s face was
parched and roughened, and everybody had the appearance of old
campaigners.
It was hard on General Rawlins. The water in the casks had been
divided with the survey party; that in the canteens was warm; and
General Dodge had ordered that the casks and the canteens be
tapped just as seldom as possible.
“I’d give my commission for a drink of good water,” suddenly spoke
General Rawlins. “But I don’t suppose there is such a thing.”
“You shall have it, general,” answered General Dodge. “If you’re
able, we’ll ride ahead of the main party and see what we can find.
Mr. Appleton and Sol can bring them on.” He turned in his saddle
and swept the group with keen eye. “Who’s with us? You’ll want your
aide, of course. All right, Major Dunn. Then I’ll take my own aide.
Come along, Terry. Gentlemen, we’ll have fresh water waiting for
you, when you catch us.”
Weaving among the outcrops of red and gray rock, and the clumps
of silent sage, while the gravel crunched under hoof and the sun
beat hotly above, they four rode for an hour, leaving the cavalry and
wagon train farther and farther behind. Every draw was dry. General
Rawlins began to droop in his seat. He was not strong—had
consumption; but he was plucky, for he was a soldier.
“I think we’ll do better to spread out,” General Dodge finally directed.
“Four abreast. But each of us must halt on the top of every ridge and
swell, until the others are in sight. We can’t exercise too much care,
in this kind of a country.”
They rode for still an hour, into the west. The Browne survey had
been through here—Terry himself saw the trails, here and there, and
the flags and stakes; but pretty soon he lost them. His course, on the
right of the searching line, took him where the only traces of life were
the jack-rabbits.
Then, dipping down into another of the gravelly draws, he noticed a
narrow trail swinging through the middle of it. His tired horse pricked
its ears, and quickened its pace. A coyote trail, this—yes, marked by
antelope hoofs, too; evidently going somewhere. An antelope trail
usually led to water, if followed far enough. If the water happened to
be near—then, hurrah! It would be great luck for a boy to find water
when General Dodge, the explorer, and General Rawlins, chief-of-
staff of the United States Army, both were looking for it. So Terry
hopefully pressed forward, in the narrow antelope trail.
The draw turned a rocky shoulder; a couple of coyotes lifted their
sharp noses, and were away like tawny shadows; Terry’s horse
eagerly nickered; and here, near before, there was a spot of green in
the desert dun.
A spring, sure enough!
Terry hauled his horse about—“General Rawlins first, old fellow. But
you’ll get some”—and forced him up the side of the draw, to spread
the good word.
One after another the men saw him, and in they came, answering his
signals. General Dodge was nearest.
“What is it? Water?”
“Yes, sir. We found a spring.”
“Good! Where?”
“Straight down in this draw, sir.”
“Sweet water? Did you taste it?”
“No, sir; I didn’t taste it, but it looks sweet. The coyotes and antelope
have been drinking it.”
“Rawlins!” shouted the general. “Come along. Here’s water.”
General Rawlins came. So did Major Dunn. Following Terry, in they
went.
“General Rawlins is entitled to the first drink, I believe,” said General
Dodge, huskily, as they reined their horses around the little spring.
“You fellows are as thirsty as I am. Who found it? This boy? Then the
finder is entitled to the first drink.”
“He’s declined. Drink, man, or it’s liable to disappear.”
They gravely watched General Rawlins throw himself down and
quaff.
“Whew!” he gasped, pausing. “It’s a miracle—cold and sweet.”
They all drank—General Dodge, Major Dunn, and Terry last; they let
the horses drink.
“I told you that a boy would be handy to have in camp and on the
march, general,” slyly reminded General Dodge.
“I feel as though he had saved my life,” and General Rawlins smiled.
“This water is the most gracious thing of the whole march, to date.
There’s nothing that takes the place of sweet water, when a man is
thirsty. If my name is ever placed upon a map, I hope that it will be
applied to a spring.”
“Your wish is granted at once, general,” laughed General Dodge.
“Here is the spot, and I name it Rawlins Springs. The line of the
railroad will run very close to it, I think—we’re about the right
distance for a townsite. Within a year there’ll be a Rawlins Springs
town here.”
“Well, if the town’s anything like Julesburg, they’ll be drinking other
fluids than water, I’m afraid,” General Rawlins smiled.
The cavalry and wagon train were signaled in, and camp was made
at Rawlins Springs, near where today is situated the city of Rawlins,
Wyoming, on the first of the railroads across continent.
“Now, if you’re only lucky enough to find the Bates party, and your
friend George Stanton——!” young Mr. Duff proposed, this evening,
to Terry.
That was so. Sol Judy and Mr. Appleton declared that the country on
ahead was much worse. George was somewhere in it—and Terry
began to worry a little.
 CHAPTER X
A MEETING IN THE DESERT

“The roof of the continent, gentlemen.”

It was the second day after leaving Rawlins Springs. Mr.
Blickensderfer, the government representative; Mr. Carter, the
director; Colonel Seymour, the railroad expert, General Casement
and Superintendent Reed had turned back yesterday, for the Black
Hills again. They had taken an escort and a couple of wagons. So
now the party were formed of only General Dodge, General Rawlins,
Geologist Van Lennep, Mr. Corwith, young Mr. Duff, Engineer
Appleton, Sol Judy and Terry, accompanied by Colonel Mizner,
Lieutenant Wheelan, Surgeon Terry and the cavalry and teamsters.
From Rawlins Springs on across the high plateau there had been a
gradual steady climb, according to the general; until here, this late
afternoon, he made the startling announcement:
“The roof of the continent, gentlemen.”
“You mean this is the ridge dividing the waters that flow east from the
waters that flow west?”
“Yes, sir. The Continental Divide, formed by the Rocky Mountains.”
“Well, it doesn’t look it,” complained young Mr. Duff. “It’s too flat. I
expected to see more of a ridge. This is nothing but a long hump.
Are we higher than Sherman Summit of the Black Hills?”
“No. Sherman Summit, at 8,250 feet, is the highest point on the
proposed line. The main divide, here, is scarcely more than 7,000.
That is one beauty of the survey as run by Mr. Browne before his
death. We cross the Continental Divide at its lowest point, by an
easy grade. South in Colorado we would have to cross at 12,000
feet; and north we would have to cross at 9,000 feet.”
“Speaking of ridge-poles, young man,” Sol put in, “you cast yore eye
’round and you’ll see where the ridge-poles were used. But once in a
while the builders of this roof had to make a spot to sit down on.”
And truly, the view from this immense “hump” was superb. Far in
north and south and west uplifted the jagged snowy ranges—the real
mountains of Colorado, Wyoming and Utah, with this great bare
plateau stretching between like a broad trough. Behind, or east, they
could look back upon the Laramie Plains, shimmering below.
“Mr. Appleton says that tomorrow morning we’ll sight the Percy
Browne basin of the Red Desert,” Mr. Corwith remarked, after
supper, in camp.
“How far ahead?”
“As soon as we cross this divide. Then we drop right into it.”
General Dodge had been correct. Within a few miles from camp, in
the morning, they were going down hill. The Laramie Plains were cut
off, so was much of the plateau itself, but the mountains before, and
hazy in the distance, rose more and more, with a flat desert
gradually creeping out from their base. After all, the “hump” was a
rounded ridge—a sort of welt.
It fell away, with a long slant—and suddenly the party halted short,
craning forward, almost speechless, to the pointing arm of General
Dodge.
“The unknown land,” he uttered. “The Browne basin, and the Red
Desert.”
“Where poor Percy gave up his life,” added Engineer Appleton.
“Yes, and where many another good man has ended his trail,” added
Sol Judy.
From the foot of the slant, onward below there extended, now fully
revealed, so vast a basin that it might have been the floor of a dry
ocean. They were gazing down into it, as if from the side of an
amphitheater. Lofty mountains, some of them a hundred miles away,
surrounded it with a fringe of cloudlike crests. The clear air rested
upon it and gave it a setting of crystal.
There were abrupt little cone-like peaks, patches of white, patches of
red, patches of dark brush; and over all a wondrous blue sky without
a break, through which the hot sun rode high.
The basin looked enchanted and mysterious.
“The unknown land,” repeated General Dodge, thoughtfully. “The
Overland Stage road crosses, for the Bitter Creek country, beyond.
But there are no other trails. There may be no streams, either. Those
white patches are soda and alkali, of course. The red is granite and
sandstone—good ballast stuff for a roadbed. Lacking any streams
flowing west, we’ll have to travel by compass, and save our water as
much as we can. But we’ll go in; see what Percy found, and maybe
find Bates.”
“So that’s where your friend is, is it?” inquired Mr. Duff, of Terry.
“Yes, sir, he’s liable to be. But I hope he isn’t.”
“So do I,” agreed Mr. Duff. “That country certainly spells Desolation
with a capital ‘D.’”
“I told you before that a jack-rabbit always makes his will and kisses
his family good-by, when he starts in from the edge of that country,”
reminded Sol.
“Do you expect to build a railroad right through, general?” queried
General Rawlins. “No easier route?”
“None that’s short and of the proper grades. The mountains block us
off, north and south. This is the natural highway for the rails, I think.
The Central Pacific will have just as bad a desert, in western
Nevada, until we meet them. If we can bring up our water from
behind, while we’re building, we’ll put the rails across, and sink wells
to supply the engines and stations. I’ll be glad to find that the Percy
Browne surveys are the best for the railroad. The iron track through,
by the trail that he discovered, will be an eternal monument to his
memory.”
Down they all went, into the basin. It was rougher and even larger
than it had seemed from above. There were many bare red-rock
ridges, cutting the surface—many smaller basins between, white
with alkali and nasty scum; many strange pedestals and figures
carved by wind and sand; but no water except in poisonous stagnant
pools.
It was no place for George Stanton, or any other human being.
This first evening they made dry camp. The rocks and gravel were
growing redder; and where after storms the water had soaked into
the soil it left red washes of caked mud. A weird, glowing landscape
this was, as if blasted by a wizard’s spell.
In the morning the general, Engineer Appleton and Sol rode to the
top of a rock rise, to survey around. The general peered long through
his glasses—handed them to Mr. Appleton, and Mr. Appleton
peered. Sol squinted.
They turned their horses and came in at a gallop.
“Injun sign out yonder,” cried Sol.
“Colonel! Oh, Colonel Mizner!” summoned the general. “We’ve
sighted what may likely be a party of Indians, on before. Whether
they’ve seen our camp smoke, I can’t tell. We’ll go ahead, of course;
and if you’ll kindly make arrangements accordingly, we may wipe out
a few scores. I’m sure we’ve got a good fight in us.”
“I only hope they’ll give us a chance to show it,” answered the
colonel. And—“My compliments to Lieutenant Wheelan, and tell him
I’d like to speak with him,” he said, to his orderly.
Away ran the orderly. Lieutenant Wheelan was delighted— “It’s been
a long trip without a scrimmage. The men are famished for a brush
or two,” he cheered.
With wagon train closed up, guarded well, and with cavalry riding the
flanks in compact lines, the march proceeded. Sol, the colonel, and
General Dodge and General Rawlins held the advance.
“How far are those beggars, I wonder,” said young Mr. Duff. “Bet
they’ll run away.”
“Only ten miles, but the glasses could scarcely pick them out, among
the rocks,” replied Mr. Appleton.
“The general sees ’em again!”
The advance had halted, to scan with the glasses. Sol galloped
back.
“They aren’t Injuns. They’re white men, and act like they’re in
trouble. They’re afoot an’ leading hosses. Fetch on yore water, for
we’ll probably need it.”
“There’s the Bates party, I’ll wager,” rapped Mr. Corwith; and all
dashed forward.
General Dodge and Major Dunn had forged ahead, but Terry, wild
with fears, pelted close after. The horses’ hoofs rang on the rocks,
and thudded in the reddish sand and gravel.
The slowly toiling figures were down, flat, as if exhausted; one
struggled to get up, staggered blindly, and fell again. The general
arrived first, was off his horse in a jiffy, to kneel and raise the figure
against him. He quickly unsnapped his canteen, and poured from it
and dabbled with his handkerchief.
“To the next, major,” he ordered. “I’ll take care of this one.”
But with a cry Terry stopped short, and tumbled off. The figure
against the general’s knees was George Stanton!
Yes, George Stanton—and his own mother scarcely would have
recognized him. However, Terry knew George; a fellow learns not to
be mistaken in his brother or his chum.
“That’s George Stanton, general!” he gasped. “That’s my pardner—
the boy I’ve talked about. Is he dead? George! Hello, George!”
“No, not dead; but pretty near gone, from thirst. This must be the
Bates party, then. You tend to him—keep his face and mouth wet,
but don’t give him too much water, at once. He’ll be all right, soon. I’ll
pass along to the others.”
Terry took charge—holding George tenderly, shoulders up, off the
hard rock and hot sand, and sopping his face and dribbling into his
half open mouth.
Once, George had been a wiry, snappy, black-eyed package of
nerve; now he was wasted to a framework of bones, his skin was
drawn tight and parched, his lips were shrunken apart and his
tongue, black and stiff, almost filled the space between.
“George!” Terry repeated. “You’re all right. We’ve found you. I’m
Terry—I’m your old pard Terry. Swallow this water. There’s plenty
more.”
The rest of the advance party had passed along, to administer first
aid. The surgeon and some of the cavalry arrived.
Doctor Terry, the army surgeon, paused an instant, beside “Doctor”
Terry the amateur, for a swift survey.
“Keep up the work, boy. He’ll be all right—he’s coming ’round.” He
laid finger on George’s withered wrist, for the pulse. “Good! Pulse
regular. Wet his wrists, occasionally. Who is he? Know him?”
“Yes, sir. He’s George Stanton—the other boy I was looking for.”
“Great Scott! That’s luck, sure.” And on passed the doctor.
George’s eyeballs rolled, his lids fluttered, and he groaned. He
clutched for the canteen.
“Not yet, old fellow. I’m tending to you. Too much at once might make
you sick.”
George stared up, vacantly; then he actually grinned, as his head
swayed.
“Where you come from?” he asked, thickly.
“Oh, just riding through, looking for you. You’re found.”
“Water. More. Darn it, lemme drink,” complained George. That was
exactly like him—peppery and obstinate.
Beyond, the General Dodge squad and the soldiers were working
over other members of the survey party, who had been scattered in a
straggled line across the desert. George wriggled and groaned more
and more, and suddenly sat up, of himself.
“Why don’t you let me drink?” he scolded.
“You have been drinking, George.”
“It never got down. It soaked in part way.”
“I’ll ask the doctor.”
Surgeon Terry was coming back, on a tour of inspection.
“Aha! How’s the boy now?”
“He wants to drink.”
“Ten swallows. And in five minutes another ten swallows. Will that
suit?”
George nodded and eagerly reached for the canteen.
“I’ll count, and at ten you quit,” Terry instructed.
He grabbed the canteen from George’s lips at the eleventh swallow,
and George grudgingly yielded.
“Where’s Mr. Bates? Did you find Mr. Bates?” he asked, still a bit
thickly. “And my dad?”
“Yes. They’re coming ’round. They’ve asked after you, too. You’re all
going to be all right. Tongue more limber, eh? What happened to you
fellows? Get lost?”
“I guess so,” George confessed. “Trying to run a line across—for
railroad—no water—no water ’t all—three days—awful dry——” and
his voice fell off. “Don’t I get ’nother drink?” he wailed.
“Let him have it,” bade the doctor, and turned back.
It was the grandest thing in the world to watch George drink, and
drink, and swell with the moisture, and grow stronger.
“Whew!” he sighed, rubbing his eyes. “I was like an old buffalo
carcass lying out for a year or two. Nothing but hide and bones. Now
I’m loosening up. Golly, but I’m glad to see you. We all thought we
were goners, except Mr. Bates. He said we’d get through, but he was
worse off than any of us. I was sorry for dad. Wish I could see ’em.
How far’s the railroad in?”
“It’s past Julesburg.”
“Old Julesburg?”
“Yes, but we made another Julesburg, north of the river. It’s a
‘roaring town,’ too. You ought to see it. Toughest town yet.”
“Thought you were hauling rails.”
“So I was. But I came on with General Dodge, exploring and to fight
Injuns—and to find you fellows. He invited me because—well, just
because. He says he’ll open the way. We’ve got two companies of
cavalry and Sol Judy.”
“Sol? Say, I want to see Sol. Had any fights?”
“One big one, when we were laying rails between North Platte and
Julesburg. They didn’t get us, though. And we had another at Plum
Creek, only it wasn’t a fight; it was plain massacre.”
“What were you doing down there?”
“I’d gone for a ride on the road, in a special train. Got as far as
Kearney, and who do you think I found? Harry! He’s lightning-shooter
there. So I stopped off. Then I started back on a handcar with some
linemen. And this side of Plum Creek the Cheyennes wrecked us in
the dark. They just slung us every which-way, and killed three of the
men and scalped Bill Thompson (he was head lineman), and
corralled him and Shep and me—and then one of ’em killed Shep in
a hand-to-hand fight when Shep was protecting us.”
“Oh, the dickens!” George mourned. “I’m awful sorry about Shep. Did
you get the Injun?” That also was just like the spunky George!
“Naw. How could I? They’d wrecked a train, too—a freight. We had
to lie and watch ’em do it. Then the soldiers from McPherson came
down and the Injuns skipped. But Sol Judy and a soldier and I buried
old Shep. We saved his scalp, anyway; and his motto is: ‘Killed in
action.’”
“You surely have a lot to tell me,” George asserted. “Seems as
though you’ve been having most of the fun and hard work both.
How’s your father?”
“He’s fine. He’s running 119, and I’m running Jenny, when I’m there.”
“How many miles of track have you laid? A hundred?”
“I left the job at Julesburg, to come on this trip. We’d laid only about
ninety miles, account of storms and Injuns. Reckon by now they’ve
laid a hundred more. The rails’ll be on top the Black Hills pass, by fall
—maybe down to Fort Sanders, before winter, the general says.”
“That’s certainly hustling,” George praised. “I’d like to be there and
help, for a spell. All I’ve done is to drive stakes and carry chain.
You’ve had the big end.” This sounded queer, when he’d been out
here in the desert and had nearly died. “We’ll beat the Central
Pacific, won’t we? If only we get across this desert——”
“Aw, we will,” Terry asserted. “Nothing can stop us. And over the
mountains and into Salt Lake, and keep going. The Irish’ll beat the
Chinks.”
“Guess so! But we’ve the long way. We’ll have to lay two miles of
track to their one.”
“Shucks! The U. P. track and grading gangs work like soldiers,” Terry
scoffed. “They’re on their toes, and they’ve got system. We’ll finish
up, this year, 500 miles from Omaha; then we’ll have only about 500
more to Salt Lake. We’ll get there by 1870, sure. Five hundred miles
in two years is nothing, to the U. P. gangs. Did you fellows have any
Injun trouble?”
“Not much. Mainly water trouble. The last water we found was
poison—made us awful sick; and Mr. Bates has been trying to run by
compass straight east, out of here, before we all died on him. We’ve
lost a pile of horses and mules; but we’ve got one wagon, still,
somewhere behind. If any Injuns had come, they’d have had an easy
time.”
“That’s so,” Terry admitted. “The Sioux wiped out Percy Browne. Did
you hear?”
“No! Aw, thunder!”
“Yes. Three hundred of ’em corralled him and eight soldiers, in this
same basin. They shot him, and the soldiers carried him clear to
LaClede stage station, but he died. Mr. Appleton, his assistant, is
with us now. We met him back at the North Platte.”
“Well, I reckon we’re lucky,” sighed George. “We did hate to quit the
survey, though. Come on. I want to see dad and Mr. Bates and Sol
Judy.”
The General Dodge squad and the soldiers were collecting the Bates
men into a central spot, for noon camp. The few horses and mules
had been given bucketfuls of water, and had perked up. Terry lent
George an arm, and they went in, themselves.
George’s father was sitting up, wan and weak but getting O. K.
“Hello, dad. I’m ’round before you are,” George challenged, gaily.
“So I see,” Mr. Stanton retorted. “But you’re smaller. It doesn’t take
so much water to fill you. How are you, Terry? Think you’d like a
survey job, eh?”
“I dunno,” Terry confessed. “’Tisn’t all a picnic, I guess.”
“I told you about the jack-rabbit and his canteen, didn’t I?” reminded
Sol Judy, as he shook hands heartily with George.
Mr. Bates—Thomas F. Bates, called “Tom” by those who knew him—
was not only the chief of the party but also head engineer of the
whole Pacific Division of the company. He had recovered enough to
talk.
“By what you’ve seen of the Bates party, and by what you’ve heard
and seen of the Browne party, you all will appreciate the stuff that
our engineer corps is composed of, gentlemen,” General Dodge was
proudly saying. “Yes, and some of the difficulties connected with
these advance surveys. Winter and summer the men are out, and
they never know from day to day what is before them. But I’ve yet to
learn of a coward among them, from the chief down to the greenest
stake-driver. What are your plans now, Tom?”
“I mean to check up, sir, and revise my notes; and then if you’ll lend
us a little water we’ll run our lines.”
“Your year’s work is done, if you say so,” offered the general. “You
ought to take a rest. You’d better go on into Fort Sanders, to check
your notes.”
“No, sir.” And Engineer Bates smiled out of a haggard face. “It’s early
in the season. I’ll have to travel light, but I want to run our lines. I’ll
have plenty more checking over to do, this winter.”
The general’s eyes flashed, but he pondered.
“All right. Just as you say, Tom. I’ll give you a wagon or two, and a
small escort—eh, colonel?”
“By all means, sir,” nodded Colonel Mizner.
“But you’d better cut down your force, Tom.”
“How much, general?”
“This boy George is too young for another spell of desert work. He
ought to go out, for a rest, and then on to the railroad. I’ll send some
dispatches back, for General Casement.”
“Aw——!” George blurted. “Please let me stay. I’m all right. I——”
and with a burst of tears he collapsed in Terry’s arms, as they sat.
“Humph! Fainted,” murmured Doctor Terry, the army surgeon,
sprinting for him. “It’s nothing serious,” he reported, feeling George’s
pulse, and then working over him. “Weakness. I like his spunk.”
“So do I,” General Dodge declared. “But you all can see that he
ought to go. Can you spare him, Tom?”
“He’s as good as any man in my outfit, general. And he’s no quitter.
He won’t go unless he’s ordered. What do you say, Stanton? You’re
his father.”
Mr. Stanton shook his head.
“That makes no difference, sir. He’s a member of the party. I ask no
favors for him. You’re his chief. He’s stuck it out so far and acted like
a man. But I don’t deny that I’d feel easier, myself, if he was at work
somewhere else, for a change.”