Sponsor (Oct-Dec 1964)

ates commercial messages, bolsters sales, leaves a meaningful wake and might even be brought in at low cost. That's as true on radio and tv as in print, for often a contest can be conducted without added media expense. And combining radio or tv commercials with a contest is, like the game of Polish Bank, a matter of give and take: The commercials create interest in the contest. The contest creates interest in the commercials. True, you can't provide a coupon on the air for the consumer to clip and fill out. But you can tell him where to get the coupon. And you can have him mail it to a coded address that will tell you which advertising medium has elicited his response. So say the experts. And they include radio-tv sponsors who're not only wise to marketplace maneuvers but have actually used radio and tv for contests — and vice versa. One of their number sums up their thinking: "A good contest attracts attention to your advertising; in effect, it advertises your advertising." Contests have been conducted in recent months by, among others: Alberto-Culver (Command), BorgWarner (Norge), General Electric, General Foods, Kimberly-Clark, Kraft (jellies, preserves), 3M Co., Mazola margarine, Procter & Gamble (Prell), Purex (Trend, Dutch cleanser, Sweetheart soap), Sealy mattress, Sinclair Refining, SoconyMobil, Tetley Tea, The Toni Co., Westinghouse. Others have specifically been on the air, including those for Mr. Clean, Chesterfield King and L&M cigarets. Minute Maid's Orange Delight, Humble Oil, Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, Skippy peanut butter, DuPont's Zerex — to name a few. Print media have traditionally been home-base for contests, and the printed rules (usually a maze of minute type) prove to be among the "best read" sections of the publications. But print shows dangerous signs of becoming contest-infested. The May issue of one woman's magazine alone announced four new contests, for instance, and each one was a whopper. Thus (and with greater marketing wisdom), advertisers are learning that you don't have to commit every contest to print. Sometimes it's better — and more inciting to action — to tell about your contest with all the enthusiasm of the human voice. Following such logic. Tidewater Oil has led the way by conducting contests via radio only. "Sweepstakes," says Richard J. Stiefvater, Tidewater's sales promotion coordinator, "really lend themselves to radio because there's so much to talk about." A radio veteran, Tidewater stayed with its standard schedules to promote their "Paris Holiday Sweepstakes" a year ago, bolstered the contest with pertinent point-of-purchase material but not extra media. Their initial objective — to build customer traffic — was easy to attain simply by requiring entrants to deposit entry blanks at Tidewater stations. (Station-owners liked the contest because they didn't have anything extra to buy, as occurs in free glassware and other giveaways.) Results proved "highly successful," a statement Tidewater underlined by sponsoring another contest this year. This time, they're offering two sets of travel prizes — one for the East and one for the West, their two major distribution areas. Again, radio is the medium. Explains Stiefvater, "As a petroleum company, we're not averse to reaching drivers, especially at the wheel." Tidewater's agency is Grey Advertising. Quarry and lure Who enters contests? The average entrant is young (75 percent are between 25 and 45 years old) and a married woman with two children. Roughly twothirds of their families own their own homes, have an automobile Win^25,000cashinthe*250,000 Jell-0 Mold-of-Gold Sweepstakes If you're lucky, you'll win the '25.000 first prize. General Foods' current contest is Jell-O sweepstakes with first prize $25,000 — value of 40-pound gold-filled dessert mold. Station forfeits $350 for advertising lottery A Mississippi radio station has, in effect, been fined $50 by the FCC for broadcasting an advertisement involving a lottery. Technically, a lottery is any lucky drawing in which consideration is required of entrants. In this case, a car dealer allegedly required entrants to purchase an automobile in order to be eligible for a $100 cash jackpot. He advertised on radio with copy that in part said: ". . . Remember, if you buy one of these sale-priced cars this month during the big spring sale you will get a chance at the $100 jackpot drawing . . ." The station involved asserted to the FCC that it was not station policy to advertise lotteries and that such advertising had been refused in the past. Further, it stated that the salesman who took the order was not aware that it involved a lottery and that subsequent staff meetings have been held to prevent a recurrence. Nevertheless, the FCC, sitting en banc, retorted, "We find your explanation insufficient to relieve you of liability." Station involved is WXTN Lexington, owned by Holmes County Broadcasting Co. 32 SPONSOR