Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1949)

18 SHOWMEN S TRADE REVIEW, November 12, 1949 Theatre Manaffement Guide to Modem Methods in the AdministratiTe and Executive Phases of Theatre Operation Contest Benefits Merchants, Theatre With so many of the current overall circuit — to say nothing of the many similar independent — advertising campaigns giving evidence of the same amount of brain exercise used in the "shake, rattle and roll" routine of a sidewalk crap game, what follows should prove of prime interest. I've checked over several of the array of Jingle Contests and merchant tieups of recent months and found practically every one to be in the costly brackets, from a money and time expenditure, while rating fair to penurious in box-office results. The principal fault seems to have been that the coiners of the slogan fests failed to consider the mental capacity of the folks to whom the campaign was directed. Seemingly, they contented themselves with making a grab into the soap-wrapper and box-top practice heap and depending on dollars instead of brains to make their catch-as-catch-can plan go over with a group of potential ticket buyers resentful of being asked to indulge in housemaid and kindergarten practices. Result; high expense and low returns with annoyance rather than amusement visited upon patrons. Cooperators and customers alike were repelled rather than attracted. By contrast, the following scheme — suited for metropolitan biggies and country mites alike — illustrates how a genuine box-office magnet can be made of an interesting game (not a game of chance, but of skill) where cooperator and participant receive the ultimate in satisfaction and reward. Here's how it works : Minimum of Paraphernalia and Accessories Required A minimum of paraphernalia and accessories are required for conducting "Merchant's Quiz Nite." These consist of a P. A. system, participation blanks, 1-sheet in lobby carrying names of cooperating merchants (no screen trailer) and a large facsimile of the participation blank for use on stage. This last can be either black board, window shade, oil cloth or blank paper. Just make certain it's large enough to carry figures of sufficient size to be visible throughout the theatre. Blanks are of low grade paper stock with contest title and theatre name at the top and a line of 10 perforated boxes or' triangles (depending on the stock of your printer) down either side. The center lists "Question No. 1" and so on to 10, without any reference to the content of the question to be asked. The opposite side carries the names of the cooperating merchants. Above one column of perforations appears the word "Yes" and over the, other "No." Ten questions are asked each night of the contest (preferably one for each of ten cooperating merchants, but subject to graduation to conform to the number of cooperators or the number of questions they wish propounded about their business). All participating merchants are required to contract for the entire duration of the Quiz Nite program. (Six, eight or ten weeks, whichever the theatre manager considers best for his situation.) The cost of participation to merchants is on a per-tenth-per-week basis, according to the number of questions propounded. A merchant requesting two questions pays double, etc. The dollar charge per week to each merchant is determined by totaling the amount set aside as a weekly award to successful contenders, the cost of presentation, accessories, etc. As an example: cost of blanks $5, cost of M.C $15, weekly cash award $50, or a total weekly expense of $70 would place the participation cost at $7 per week per question. If newspaper ads, radio, window cards street ballyhoo, etc., are used, the cost should be added. If the manager performs the M.C. jdb, the sum should be placed in the cash award pool. The awards will, of necessity, vary, according to communities and theatres. The number of merchants participating will also be a deciding factor. However, it is advised that the former be kept as high as possible and the latter limited to 10 for most satisfactory results. All questions propounded MUST be subject to "Yes" or "No" answers and concern some unit of merchandise appearing on the counters, in the news ads, or in the windows of the cooperating merchants. For instance : Is the red and white dress shown in Smith's window priced at $12.95? Has the center pair of balby shoes in the window of Jones' Top Shop pink bows? Did White's Hardware advertise wire fencing at 10c per lineal foot in today's paper? * This series copyrighted and must not be reproduced in part or whole without written permission from Showmfii's Trade Review. Inc. These questions are gathered by the M. C. on the afternoon of the contest. He visits each cooperator and requests information about three items the merchant would like to advertise. Without telling the merchant his selection he coins a "Yes" or "No" question about one of the three items and proceeds to the next contact. In this way the only person knowing the questions and answers is the M. C, thereby eliminating all chance of cheat or fraud. Cooperating merchants are requested to hold the items of merchandise selected for inclusion in the contest at the same price and in the same position on their counters or in their windows for 24 hours after stage completion to permit participants to check the correctness of their answers. On the night of the contest, blanks (numbered in duplicate and stapled together) are given to all adult patrons. To Avoid Resistance It should be pointed out here, however, that to avoid possible resistance from law enforcement authorities, the cashier should be permitted to give blanks to any adult who requests them, whether he buys a ticket or not, and sidewalk participation should be permitted via a lobby loudspeaker, When the contest hour arrives, the AI.C. takes the stage and instructs the audience: That only adults are permitted to participate. That each participant must tear the perforated portion of both the original and duplicate blanks, according to his judgment about the answer being "yes" or "no." That no awards will be given unless one of the blanks is on stage before the answers are revealed. That the perforations of the blanks on stage must match those of the blank held by the participant when claiming reward. That all ten questions must be answered and that partially answered entry blanks will be eliminated from the contest. That, in order to win a prize, the contestant must comply with all rules. He goes on to explain that all questions are subject to check by visiting the merchants listed on the back of the participation blank but that such check must be made within 24 hours. A reward is offered to the first person discovering an error and reporting same to the theatre hox-office with proof of claim. Propounds the Questions He then unfurls the large facsimile of the ])articipation blank and proceeds to propound the questions in numerical order. After all ten questions have been put to the audience he again asks that all blanks be examined to make sure that originals and duplicates are marked alike and cautions about conformance with other contest rules. Members of the service staff are then requested to gather one of the two blanks held by each adult. While the collection is being made the M. C. tells how the contest is run, how the questions are gathered from the establishment of each merchant, and the precautions against anybody having advance information. There are liberal plugs for the cooperating merchants. When the blanks are brought to the stage he asks not once but two or three times if all who intend participating have sent up their en