Boxoffice (Oct-Dec 1963)

Showmen's Common Market' Wins Boxoffice Successes Great Plains UTO Launches Its Third Campaign Of 'Massive Selling in Depth/ By Using the Profit Making Ideas of Area's Best Showmen The Great Plains Boxoffice Builders program, which was launched last March at United Theatre Owners of the Heart of America's Show-A-Rama VI convention, is going into its third concerted-effort campaign with a record of encouraging progress. “Rampage” (Warner Bros.) , release date October 9, is the attraction selected for power-packed promotion as detailed step by step in the Boxoffice Builders kit prepared by collaboration of the top advertising and exploitation men in the Great Plains area. The title has been amplified to “Jungle Rampage.” Previous campaign programs, each complete with ad mats, radio and television copy, and step-by-step procedure — on “Dr. No,” United Artists, and “Beach Party,” American International — were distributed by the BB office in Kansas City to more than 200 theatres in the Great Plains area from Indiana to Colorado, from the Dakotas and Minnesota, south to Louisiana, Texas and New Mexico. A GROWING TEAM Advertising-promotion directors of major theatre companies, all among the leaders in their field, form the neucleus of a growing team which supplies professional know-how and boxoffice-tested ideas for the Business Builders campaigns. Among these are Richard Orear and M. B. Smith, Commonwealth Theatres, which operates approximately 120 theatres in Missouri, Kansas and surrounding states; Harry Greene, Welworth Theatres, Minneapolis; Eddie Forester, Frontier Theatres, Texas and New Mexico; Gordon McKinnon, Pioneer circuit, Iowa; Tom Smiley, Wolf berg Theatres, Denver; Larry Starzmore, Westland Theatres, Colorado Springs; Everett Seibel, Minnesota Amusement Co., Minnesota and surrounding states; Fred Souttar, Fox Midwest, and others. MAJOR CIRCUITS USE KITS And more than 12 circuits are using Business Builders in selected groups of theatres where booking schedules permit. They include, of course, the circuits named above plus Paramount Gulf, Louisiana; Dickinson Theatres, Kansas City; Fox West Coast, in situations in New Mexico; Fox Intermountain, Colorado, Wyoming and Dakotas; United Theatres, Little Rock, Ark.; Durwood Theatres, Missouri and Kansas; Y&W Management Corp., in Gary, Ind.; MidAmerica Theatres, St. Louis area. Independent exhibitors also are using the cooperative promotion program. The purpose of Business Builders, like the Marcus and the COMPO plans, is, as its name implies, to help exhibitors, particularly those operating the average, smaller size theatres, do a more intensive job of selling tickets, individually and collectively, by giving them expert tools and supervisory suggestions. The main difference is in the emphasis. The COMPO plan emphasizes distributor cooperation; while Business Builders, while in no way minimizing or passing up distributor pressbooks and other aids, concentrates on area teamwork and sharing of profitmaking ideas. The end is the same — each showman getting on the ball, working with the help of the best talent and material available, and increasing his grosses on selected bookings. A COORDINATOR NOW “UTO’s Boxoffice Business Builders is a showmen’s Common Market,” declares Darrel Presnell, former advertising-publicity director for Fox Midwest Theatres, who has joined the UTO office at Kansas City as ad-publicity coordinator for the showmanship project. “Mass presentation to the public allows each participating theatre to take advantage of the total advertising budget. This is marketing at its highest level, for it is massive and it has much needed depth. The public response has proved the technique is sound. “Many of the most active exhibitor circuits are participants and these are joined by a great number of enthusiastic independent owners. The combined showmanship is prodigious. Boxoffice Builders, as much as possible, makes use of this advertising-publicity talent for each campaign through advertising seminars. Top showmen combine their talents to produce that material which is most effective for the Great Plains area. “Each campaign is constructed point by point to arrive at a showmanlike conclusion. Full care is given to each facet of the presentation. Copy for the newspaper ads are written on the spot. Art and illustration details are concluded at the same time. Decisions about the use of radio and television are made and the selling theme is set. PRODUCT OF SEVERAL MINDS “Exploitation and publicity come in for their share of attention, then all the ingredients are composed into a logical progression and set down on a fact sheet that goes out to each participating member along with the finished advertising aids. Everything is hand weighed and in some cases, it is necessary to develop the whole concept from a completely new selling point of view.” Generally, each phase of the campaign is assigned to a different advertising man. He completes his assignment and sends it in to the UTO office where Presnell assembles and prepares the total campaign for delivery. As nearly as possible the advertising kit is put in the hands of exhibitor at least four weeks in advance of Ev Seibel Eddie Forester Harry Greene M. B. Smith Here are four leading showmen of the Great Plains area who have joined Boxoffice Business Builders. Ev Seibel is advertising-publicity director for Minnesota Amusement Corp., Minneapolis; Eddie Forester, Frontier Theatres, headquartered at Dallas; Harry Greene, Welworth Theatres, Minneapolis, and M. B. Smith, Commonwealth Theatres, Kansas City. Other top circuit and independent showmen contribute their ideas to the Business Builders specially tailored campaign kits. his playdate. This is to allow plenty of time for vital penetration of the campaign. “The Boxoffice Builders project has fulfilled another important function,” Presnell reports. “Through periodic bulletins from the Kansas City office UTO members and participants are kept informed about a great number of specific things that affect their business. New or supplementary ad campaigns are made available, information about special bookings, combination programs, exploitation and publicity ideas are shared. SHARE THEIR IDEAS “Much benefit comes from a sharing of ideas. Members contribute those activities that have been successful for themselves and thus share in the ideas of others.” Business Builders is available at no cost other than the expense of mats, printed material, etc., in the kits to UTO members. Nonmembers may share in this nonprofit service by subscribing as associate UTO members at a fee of $15. Each campaign kit is provided at production cost, generally $5 each. At the present time, eight or ten campaigns are planned. How successful is this new industry experiment initiated by the UTO Show-ARama, which has become one of the largest gatherings of industry people in the nation, at this early stage after only two “test runs?” Doug Lightner, general manager of the (Continued on following page) of ead .dO 3P :aps -re 2 — 158 — BOXOFFICE Showmandiser Oct. 7, 1963