Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1941)

Liver Oil Tablets. Offering as a premium a toy balloon, sponsor received, according to station figures, 163,953 letters in two and one-half weeks. 2) Radio Girl Perfume. New on the market, in five months of 15minute daily participation, product received a mail response of 1,302 carton tops per week. 3) Acidine (stomach powder). 1,742 mail pieces in one day as result of their campaign on the program. Service Life Insurance Co. (Omaha, Neb.), who has also taken time on this participating show, received, at the end of the week of May 6, 1940, 584 requests to have their salesmen call. Total mail pull for WJJD Suppertime Frolic: In one year, 265,714 pieces of mail. Average number of letters per week: 5,110. AIR FAX: Old American folk tunes sung by the hillbilly Cumberland Ridge Runners highlights the twohour show. Other features: guest performers, novelty acts (harmonica, jug blowing, square dance calling, etc.) Broadcast Schedule: Daily, 8:30-10:30 P.M. Preceded By: News. Competition: What's My Name? (NBC); Grand Central Station (CBS). Sponsor: Consolidated Drug Trade Products (manufacturers, sales agents for cosmetic, medicinal products). Others: Olson Rug Co., Service Life Insurance Co., Vick Chemical Co., Kass Clothes, etc. Station: WJJD, Chicago, 111. Power: 20,000 watts. Population: 3,384,556 (1940). COMMENT: Opinion differs whether expostmaster Jim Farley or radio premiums should be given credit for the greatly increased consumption of postage stamps in the past decade. Of all radio listeners, none is a more prolific and constant letter writer than the hillbilly fan. Groceries (wholesale) HOXIE FRUIT REPORTER Year 'round WHO (Des Moines) program is Hoxie Fruit Reporter, not only the apple of every local grocer's eye, but "appetizing" to the listening audience as well. Since its initial broadcast back in August, 1938, for sponsor Hoxie Fruit Co., the program has had a series of notable mail responses. Three announcements of a banana booklet offer open for only one week netted over 3,500 requests; six announcements for the same premium, 5,000 requests; a similar offer with a one-week limit on a cranberry booklet, 2,915 calls. AIR FAX: After the theme song, Yes, We Have No Bananas, dapper, mustached, smooth-voiced Ernie Sanders gives listeners fruit facts, recipes, romance in the development of various fruit products; glides casually into the history and superior qualities of the sponsor's own brands. First Broadcast: August 1, 1938. Broadcast Schedule: Monday thru Saturday, 7:007:15 A.M. Preceded By: Captain Hernc, News Commentator (NBC). Followed By: News. Sponsor: Hoxie Fruit Co. (Wholesale fruit and vegetable distributor). Station: WHO, Des Moines, la. Power: 50,000 watts. Population: 142,559. SAMPE SCRIPT AVAILABLE COMMENT: Nothing must move faster off the grocer's shelves than perishables. Time is an important factor. For that reason, the Hoxie Fruit Reporter, although primarily aimed at the homemakers, offers a valuable aid to the grocer. It tells what to push when! Home Furnishings THE ROMANCE OF MERCHANDISING Faced with the problem of attracting business from a trade territory that spent most of its dollars in a large town nearby, Elk City (Okla.) furniture dealer Grubitz & Son tried radio. Since they handled nothing but nationally advertised products, merchandise available anywhere, the success they achieved has been largely attributed to their radio program. Mail response to a question-answer contest has been exceptionally high. Unprecedented sales increases have been obtained not only from the immediate vicinity but from this large trade area usually serviced by the neighboring town. Starting with a once-weekly program, Grubitz soon tripled their radio appropriation, broadcast thrice weekly direct from the store. For 1941, they have allotted an even larger appropriation for special radio promotions. AIR FAX: Emphasizing the fact that they carry nothing but nationally advertised products (each with a history as old as the country itself!), GRUBITZ plans their shows to link each product's past history with its present utility. Method: The emcee discusses a product informally with three or four customers, via rehearsed question form. Example: To build up GENERAL ELECTRIC appliances, they chat about the life of Edison. After the history, the following question is put to the interviewees and radio listeners: "What do you think of your GENERAL ELECTRIC refrigerator?" To the best answer submitted by mail goes a store prize. To the customers on the program, souvenirs are awarded. Broadcast Schedule: M-W-F. Sponsor: Grubitz 8C Son. Station: KASA, Elk City, Okla. Power: 250 watts. Population: 5,666. COMMENT: Radio affords a merchant the opportunity to romanticize the products he sells. No other medium can do this job as well. 34 RADIO SHOWMANSH IP