U. S. Radio (Jan-Dec 1960)

Negro Radio: ■5Av^''s^\ ^ss\s-:.a\v^ The following capsules of Negro radio success stories are indicative of hometown advertiser use as reported to U. S. RADIO. Department Store — Regal Departiiienl Sioieh Inc. ol Charleston, S. C, traces a great deal ol its sales increases to WPAL. Here's what George Fell, manager, expressed to the station: "Last year we sold around 300 girls' coats and we hoped to sell more this year. To date, we have sold 417 which is far more than we expected to sell. And that is due to the fine efforts on your station. As you know, we advertise weekly in the local newspapers and only on your station. As the trade in the store is 98 percent Negro, 1 would say that your station is responsible for selling on lay-away plans at least 350 coats. The rest would come Ironi the newspaper. Whereas, in our other store in Charleston Heights, the trade there is 98 percent wiiite and they have sold around 50 coats. Your station woidd have no effect on them. " Real Estate — Last October 1, a real estate firm, Penn-Mooney, atlvertised five properties on WHAT Philadelphia. The station reports that all were sold by October 4, with substantial down payments involved. Bread — I he Fischer Baking Co. of Newark, N. J., came to WNjR Newark in March 1959 with the following problem. The agency, Scheck Advertising, explained that the company had been losing bread sales in Negro areas, even though the Negro popidation was increasing steadily. WNJR set up an initial 13-week campaign of 15 thirty-second live announcements per week. The station arranged for one of its Negro air per sonalities to make periodic in-storc appearances selling Fischer's Buttercup white bread and giving out a Iree autographed phonograph record with every loaf ol Fischer's pinchased. The in-store appearances were announced on the air several days in advance. At the end of the 13-week campaign, Fischer's found the downward sales trend had been checked. In lact, there were signs ol increased orders Irom grocers. Schec k Advertising renewed the sc hedule for another 13 weeks and requested the continuance of the in-store appearances. At the end of that time, the bread was taking hold and last becoming one ol the better sellers, tlie station reports. Today, Fischer is still with WN[R, rimning 15 thirtysecond announcements per week uith periodic in-store sales promotions. Drapes — Himtley Furnitine, an area chain of stores, used a special twoday campaign on WAAA WinstonSalem, N. C, consisting of 25 spots. More than 400 sets ol drapes were sold in the two days in the ^VinstonSalem store. Real Estate — Le Mount Corp., Vallejo, CialiL, reported to KDIA Oakland that in a 90-day period last spring, the station was largely responsible for the sale of 70 homes in the Coiuitry Club Crest development. The homes were principalh' in the .115,000 range. The radio allocation on KDI.A averaged ,S200 a week. Service Station — Last [idv, Texaco spent .ji>750 on K\()K Houston loi the grand opening ol VVindalls, a large modern service station in the heart of the city's Negro neighljorhood. Tlie campaign consisted of 100 spot announcements j)lus foui Iiouis on each of two days ol remcjte broadcasting feaiining personal appearances at Windalls. Prizes were also given away at the o]jening. The station declares that Texaco reported that the volume ol gasoline sold during the two-day period set a new nalional record for graiul o])enings. Cars — McGee .Meicury ran a schedule on VVGEE Indianapolis of 37 one-miniite spots in two days, Friday and Saturday, to close out the 1960 mcxlel. During the weekend, 21 new cars were sold, most of whic h were credited to the two-da\ schedide. Shoes — The .Manchester Shoe Co., a Baltimore shoe store catering to the Negro market, has been piuting its entire advertising budget on the WITH Rocket Ship Show (8 p.m. to midnight) for the past eight years. Recently, the store had a fire sale because of a fire in the adjacent building and piuchased additional annouiuemenls beyond their regular schedide to advertise the event. The traffic was .so heavy that the store had to lock the doors and let a few customers in at a time, resulting in the largest single day's xolinne in its hislorv. Furniture — Kimbrell's Inc., a chain of 25 furniture stores, has been successfully running a Labor Day sale for several years tor its Fayette\ ille, N. C, outlet. This past August, Carl Ivey, manager of the Fianiture Mart, a Kimbrell store in Charlotte, received approval from Kimbrell officials to run a similar Labor Day >ale for his store. The only advertising used to promote the special sale was a lOO-spot saturation schedule over WGIV Charlotte for the three-day weekend, the station states. In spite of the holiday condition, there was a line of people waiting for the Fianiture Mart to open at 10 a.m. Labor Day. During the course of the clav. Manager Ivey stopped counting the number of customers after the 500 mark was attained (on regular days, 50 cn^istomers are considered very good traffic). W. E. Kimbrell, chairman of the board, stopped bv (Cont'd on p. 32) U. S. RADIO November HtfiO {Supplement p. 15) 31