Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1941)

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JOHNNY ON THE SPOT If you use spot announcements, you'll be interested in the news, reviews, and tips in this column. Sponsors of special events are finding spot announcements a splendid method of arousing quick public interest. In New Orleans, the Pacific Whaleing Company staged a carnival show and purchased a series of spot announcements over WWL to exploit the show. To introduce the series, special eventman Henry Dupre broadcast from the mouth of a whale at the show grounds. In Oklahoma City, the advisory committee of the Oklahoma Independent Retail Grocers Association announce that attendance at this year's Food Show far exceeded that of last year. The show also broke all existing attendance records at the huge Oklahoma City Municipal Auditorium. Spot announcements over KOMA were used this year, as well as broadcasts direct from the show and from the studios of KOMA. The successful use of spot announcements for promoting special events is dependent on the number of announcements bought. Usually, the promotion time is so short that the more spot announcements purchased, the better. The announcements should be unusual, and the same announcement repeated frequently to gain the benefit of repetition. The objective of the entire campaign is to start people talking, so give them something worth talking about. SYNDICATED TRANSCRIBED SPOTS Remember those clever Ford announcements? Their catchy tunes really started people humming. Since then, a few of the progressive transcription companies have produced syndicated musical and dramatic spots for local sponsors. Each spot runs approximately 30 seconds. Following the transcription, the local station announcer ties in 30 seconds of closing commercial copy with the sponsor's individual sales message, name, address, etc., thus completing a one-minute announcement that is different from the average local straight commercial. Each of the series is made for a specific business field and is available to only one r.ponsor in a community. Through syndication, the cost of each series of spots to the individual sponsor is but a fraction of actual production expenses which comprise scripts, talent, direction, original music, and recording. INTRODUCING New business fields to which radio is now extending its services . . . Bird Seed . . . Justrite Co., Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 13week daily participation announcements. Station WHN, New York City. Biscuits . . . Merchant's Biscuit Co., Denver. 5 time signals and 1 announcement daily. Station KOA, Denver. Biscuits . . . Sawyer Biscuit Co., Chicago. One and onehalf minute announcements preceding European News Roundup. Station WBBM, Chicago. Dried Fruit . . . Mission Packing Co., Los Angeles. 13 one minute transcriptions to be used seven times per week. Station KECA, Los Angeles. Express . . . Railway Express Agency, New York City. 36 announcements. Station KOA, Denver. Peanut Oil . . . Planters Nut 8C Chocolate Co., San Francisco, 150 word announcements. Five a week on Art Baker's Notebook. Station KFI, Los Angeles. Resort . . . Strawberry Resort, El Dorado County. California. One minute transcribed announcements Station KPO, San Francisco. Roofing . . . Clarence Hansen 8C Sons, Inc. 52-week contract for station break announcements. Station WHN, New York City. Wedding Dresses . . . Marlene Shop, Pittsburgh, Pa One minute announcements, one per week on Wednesday. Station KDKA, Pittsburgh, Pa. Wine . . . California Wine Co. 4 fifty-word announce ments daily for 13 weeks. Station WIND, Chicago. HINTS TO SPOT BUYERS Big unknown factor in buying spot announcements is just how many to buy. The proper point of diminishing returns (if there is one), can only be determined by experimenting. When you buy — start with a quantity smaller than you had originally planned — then add announcements whether your original purchase showed results or not. This increase may be all that is needed to turn failure into success. If the first increase proves profitable, you may find it wise to continue adding announcements. 36 RADIO SHOWMANSH I ]