Broadcasting (Oct 1931-Dec 1932)

How Broadcasters Can Promote Stations By JOHN F. PATT Vice-President and Manager, WGAR, Cleveland Chairman, NAB Station Promotion Committee Tie-ins With Theatres, Hotels and Press Held Beneficial; Value of Trade Papers and Public Service Cited THIS IS the conclusion of the highly instructive report of the NAB station promotion committee filed but not read at the St. Louis convention. The first part was carried in the December 1 issue of Broadcasting. In this review Mr. Patt discusses at some length the publicity activities of various stations and suggests that broadcasters might take a tip from theatrical producers in the employment of wide-awake publicity men. Trade publications, he points out, are especially useful in reaching national advertisers and agencies. This article, too, should be made a part of every station executive's clipping library. LITTLE can be said about the use of paid advertising in magazines, since this committee has found only occasional use made of this type of advertising. There has been a limited use of space in artistic magazines devoted to such subjects as films, music, etc., but no extensive use of space of national-story magazines by individual stations or networks. The World Broadcasting System ran a series of 6 full-page advertisements in Fortune devoted to the use of spot broadcasting and to its Western Electric recording process, which can be considered a fine contribution to the development of profitable business for the individual radio station. I approach the use of billboards with some trepidation because of the extensive use made by WGAR in Cleveland last year of a large number of painted billboards. At the time these were run, our station had a tremendous job in making the public of Cleveland immediately conscious of the existence of a new station, and to acquaint the listeners fully with the call letters, features presented, and the station's position on the dial. WGAR's Arrangement A SEMI-TRADE arrangement was made for 30 billboards which were painted in attractive and compelling colors, prominently displaying the call letters of our station, together with such network and local program features as Amos 'n' Andy, Sherlock Holmes, Paul Whiteman, Charles W. Hamp, Little Orphan Annie and others. Four programs were listed on each board and many features such as Amos 'n' Andy, Paul Whiteman, etc., we felt were worthy of duplication on several of the boards. While the use of billboards on a full-paid basis would have been prohibitive in cost, the plan which was worked out between the Central Outdoor Advertising Company and WGAR made it possible, with the beneficial results which accrued. Of course, we cannot point to direct I returns in the way of new business, but the institutional value was pronounced. A recent extensive popularity survey made by the Ohio Bell Telephone Company at the end of the billboard campaign showed WGAR strongly entrenched in second place among the Cleveland stations. This has not been due entirely to the billboard campaign, but also to other extensive advertising done in club, hotel, theatre, symphony and society publications of Greater Cleveland as well. I am a strong believer in the value of all advertising publicity and promotion, either printed or verbal. WBEN, Buffalo, whose problem was identical with ours in the building of a new station within the past two years, has made excellent use of both street car cards and billboards, as well as its own newspaper for publicity purposes. WCAH, Columbus, used a fullrun of the Columbus street car system, using one-half of the card to advertise the station institutionally, with good use of color display, and the other half of the card to call attention to various local advertising programs. KMBC's Experience THE EXPERIENCE of KMBC, Kansas City, on a reciprocal arrangement with the Kansas City Poster Advertising Co., by which that company furnishes the station from 40 to 100 boards of 24-sheet size, is also exceptional. These are offered by the station to clients for the purpose of publicizing the clients' programs on KMBC. The only charge made to the clients is the cost of the paper. The boards are always full, and among the clients who have used this service are White King Soap Flakes for "Chandu," the Kansas City Power and Light Company for "Phenomenon," Kruschen Salts for the program "Between the Book Ends," Kresge for "Friday Varieties," and Wrigley's for the "Lone Wolf Club." Other boards are used to call attention to KMBC's place on the dial, with the slogan "Best Programs On the Air from Dawn to Midnight." The management reports that clients are now awaiting their turn for this service. In the popular KYW "State Street Tomorrow" program campaign, billboards, street car cards and Harold-Examiner space were all tied in together to advertise this nightly merchants feature on the air, which was popular enough to compete with Amos 'n' Andy for the attention of Chicago listeners. Several other stations have done notably fine jobs in this type of display promotion, and it is regretable that more stations have not advised this committee of their activities along promotional lines. It is to be hoped that the newlyinstituted NBC and CBS Exchange Promotional Services among a number of stations of the networks will do much to effect an interchange of ideas among the 600 odd broadcasting stations of the country. A good deal of so-called specialty advertising has been done by radio stations for promotional purposes. It is significant that most of the activity in this direction has been done by the smaller stations isolated from the larger marketing areas. Specialties used are too numerous to itemize fully, but they have included almost everything in the novelty line from balloons to blotters, and from toy microphones to memorandum pads. Publicity Activities THIS IS a fairly inexpensive way of reminding potential advertisers of the existence and desirability of the station, but generally they fail to impress the recipient of these favors with the serious intent of the broadcasting industry. This report does not intend to discourage the use of this media of promotion, but it is the sense of this committee that any expenditures for such advertising should supplement a more concentrated and specialized use of the more serious media. Publicity activities of the broadcasting station are essential elements of a well-rounded promotional campaign, and the station which does not employ someone or some department, part time or full time, to create and prepare publicity "breaks" is allowing his competitor needlessly to assume the limelight. Supplementing the publicity released by the two networks to radio editors throughout the country, there is much which can be done by stations t o publicize their own programs in the radio columns of newspapers. The Local Problem EACH STATION perhaps has a different local problem to deal with in this regard. Some stations find it difficult or impossible to interest local newspapers with program publicity, due to an iron-clad policy by the newspaper against printing news about radio. Where this is the case, there is a definite selling job to be done by the radio station because there are countless arguments in favor of the newspaper's use of radio news for reader-interest purposes. An important example of the change of policy on the part of newspapers along this line has been the recent decision of the Chicago Tribune to print news and programs of all Chicago broadcasters, on the conclusion that radio is primary news to a majority of newspaper subscribers. Many newspapers abolished all reference to radio broadcasting following the A. N. P. A. convention of 1931, but a survey of the field reveals that most of the newspapers after establishing a policy of barring all radio programs and publicity have reversed that decision and are now featuring broadcasting stories prominently. Tips From Theaters RADIO STATION managers can here take a tip from the fine publicity job which has been done in the theatrical industry and employ a first-class, full-time publicity man wherever possible to work up ideas and sell those ideas in the form of stories and art work to the local newspapers. News of programs and artists assumes importance second only to the first page, or at least on a par with sports and movie pages. There have been many notable examples of tie-ins between theaters, hotels, newspapers and radio stations, together occasionally with commercial advertisers, in the promotion of a publicity campaign which has been beneficial to all. The Detroit Times Publix Theaters-WJR joint campaigns for community funds, benefit drives, political rallies, and other promotional features have been an outstanding example of the results accruing to all three interests and for the eventual benefit of the public. Oddly enough, most of these outstanding successful "tie-ups" have been at the instigation of the news(Continued on page 26) December 15, 1932 • BROADCASTING Page 11