Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct - Dec 1952)

■RADIO has proved its value to Kingan & Co., of Indianapolis, sponsors ■of "King Arthur Godfrey and His Roundtable" on CBS Radio (Sun., 5■5:30 p.m. EST). Local radio is highlighted in their use of WIRE Indian■apolis where their budget expanded from $59 in '48 to $40,000 in '51. The King-Size Local Client. . . LOCAL radio in the heart of Hoosierland, where TV has challenged its authority for the past three years, is responsible for the growth of a midget account into a giant soonsor a short fiveyear span. That sponsor, Kingan & Co., Indianapolis, packers of quality meat products in the state since 1862, bought a series of spots on WIRE Indianapolis in 1948 for $59. Now it spends more than $40,000 annually on the same station. The "KING -size" client, for whom the station is doing the same kind of a selling and promotion job, has gained the maximum benefits from local radio because of careful, long-range program and commercial planning tailored to its specific needs. This is the philosophy of Kingan officials and of Daniel C. Park, general manager of the station, who has worked step-by-step with the meat packing concern in its development of local radio as a selling, promotion and merchandising tool. Kingan's current around the clock schedule includes three daily strips and seasonal sponsorship of top local sports events. It sponsored nine top games of Indiana U. and Purdue XL this season. * .* * AS a promotional tie-in for their sponsorship of the 1952 collegiate football broadcasts, WIRE and Kingan officials instituted a weekly "Beat Carnegie" football contest, in which listeners pitted their "picking" skill against that of sportscaster Tom Carnegie. Two persons each week, one male, the other female, having the closest total point difference of the four games in each of the ten weekly contests received an Admiral table model radio. The grocer of the winners also received a radio. In all, 40 radios valued at more than $1,200 were given away. In addition, a grand prize of an Admiral Dual Temp refrigerator valued at more than $500 was awarded to the person who had the closest point difference for the entire ten-week contest. During the contest, almost 12,000 entries were received. Entry blanks were obtainable in more than 1,500 food stores in the Indianapolis area. In addition to the 40 radios and the refrigerator, Kingan also gave away more than 2,000 pounds of Page 26 • December 22, 1952 bacon to the contestants who "Beat Carnegie." However, sportscaster Carnegie was able to maintain a solid 80.5% in beating the total number of entries received. Kingan also annually sponsors the "finals" of the Indiana High School Assn. basketball tournament, an event dear to every Hoosier. The company, traditionally a buyer in national magazines, local newspapers and billboards, decided to test radio for the first time in March 1948. A series of spots on WIRE totalling $59 led four months later to sponsorship of Dinner Winner, purchased to promote a new product, Seafoam shortening. The show was planned "as a strong merchandising-advertising tool" to build volume and distribution. During the first eight weeks of marketing and promoting the new Seafoam shortening, Dinner Winner contributed heavily to a 300% hike in distribution and to a like increase in sales volume. Seafoam was listed second among the top eight brands of non vegetable shortening in the 1949 edition of MARK'S MARKET HITS MARK Radio Draws 'Largest' Crowd to Anniversary Ett m ft if k's( • ttf fl ft K f T Thanks to radio, even the streets and parking lots were jammed when Mark's Market celebrated its sixth anniversary. SANDUSKY, Ohio's Mark's Market is hitting the mark with radio. Mark Kellerman, owner of Mark's Market, used radio for the first time when WLEC Sandusky went on the air five years ago. Now it is not a question as to whether Mr. Kellerman will use radio but, rather, to what extent. His first program was a 15minute recorded Guy Lombardo show five days a week in the noon hour. He still uses the same show at the same time. Mr. Kellerman had been in business a year prior to the opening of WLECC So he was sort of testing radio when he bought the Lombardo show. Proof that he was more than satisfied is the fact that two years later he bought another show, 15 minutes of local news. In addition, he buys spots for special events. With the help of radio, Mark's Market has tripled its floor space in the six years it has been in operation. It now boasts 18,600 square feet of floor space. In October, Mark's Market celebrated its sixth anniversary. Augmenting his regular programs with only six spots plugging the anniversary, Mr. Kellerman saw more than 10,000 persons crowd into Mark's Market. Considering that Sandusky's population is only about 30,000, this was quite a response. Police say that it was the largest crowd ever to assemble in Sandusky for any single event. Since the anniversary party, Mark's Market has increased business volume 10%. WLEC operates on 1450 kc with 250 w. It is licensed to the Lake Erie Broadcasting Co. Albert E. Heiser is president and general manager. the Consumer Analysis for the Indianapolis metropolitan market. The following year, Kingan officials decided to make their broadcast usage more flexible in order to use the medium to full advantage in local sales campaigns and dealer and consumer promotions. Tom Carnegie, station sportscaster and m.c. on Dinner Winner, began a series of personal appearance broadcasts from retail groceries, church and civic gatherings and at dealer meetings, combining the functions of a salesman and a public relations agent for the sponsor as well as the station. In the fall of 1950, more than 5,000 persons were enrolled as members of the "Dinner Winner Club," with a membership card as the only inducement. The program, during its three years on the air, gained the highest rating of any locally-produced show, according to station officials. The dinner giveaway in those same three years featured telephone calls to 5,500 listeners, of which 1,032 Dinner Winners received $16,000 worth of free meals. # * # MEMBERSHIP in the club provided Kingan with a quality mailing list of loyal listeners which was used in various coupon distributions. Each couponing, of course, raised the volume for the grocer immediately, and the products showed a lasting increase, as sales figures report. In the spring of 1951, Kingan appropriated an additional $3,500 to WIRE when it signed for the first time for the ever-popular Indiana High School Athletic Assn. basketball championship tourney. As a tie-in promotion during the first season of sponsorship (Kingan also bought the games in 1952), the meat packing concern used radio commercials and in store merchandising for Reliable Wieners. Broadcast spots were supplemented with store materials and retailers' black-and-white ads. Dinner Winner was dropped more than a year ago, when Kingan and station officials believed the feature had reached a saturation point in its audience. To attract an audience broader in composition, the company bought three five-a-week shows in the following year. A wide appeal to men, women ( Continued on page 31 ) BROADCASTING • Telecasting