Broadcasting Telecasting (Jan-Mar 1956)

THE LATIN TOUCH IN TV COMMERCIALS L 1 mm H 111 Mm ■ HOW BEST to put it there was detailed for the International Advertising Assn. in New York last Thursday by Joseph Novas, president of Latin America Radio & Tv Corp. Mr. Novas' firm headquarters in Caracas, Venezuela, and has branch offices in San Juan, P. R., Mexico City, Havana and New York. It is the parent sales organization of Telefilms, C. A., Caracas, which claims to produce 90% of Venezuelan tv commercials. Mr. Novas formerly was foreign ad manager of Gillette Co. and before that was with the Colgate-Palmolive foreign sales department. IT SEEMS that the most important phase of radio and television advertising is the least glamorous. The newcomer to our field always seems to be more excited about the program his client or employer is going to sponsor than about the commercials that are going to be used in the program. In all tv markets with which I am familiar, there has been far more preoccupation with the makeup of the show than with the selling value of the commercials, and also far more willingness to spend money on the former than on the latter. There's no denying that both the show and the commercial are important, but the client spends his advertising money to sell his product by the intelligent presentation of his commercial and not, except as an aid in doing this, to entertain the audience. If this is true, then the first thing we should plan is our commercial production, to make sure that we will get our money's worth from the very first day of our sponsorship. This situation is improving, as television itself makes progress in each market, but in Latin America we still see too many clients not getting their money's worth in tv advertising for lack of good commercials. For instance, a lot of tv advertising money is being wasted on telops and slides. Television is a terrific advertising medium because it units radio's audio with newspaper advertising's visual impact and it gives the combination movement. There are two ways of giving your television commercial message this all important movement: You may do it with a "live" commercial, or with a filmed commercial. Whether you should use one or the other type might depend on the product, on what you wish to say about it, or even on the show in which you are going to use it. I can't think of a more effective commercial than the playby-play announcer at a ball game, on a hot summer day, giving the pitch for his beer sponsor and gulping a cool glass of the product after every inning. Of course, this could bring problems, and it sometimes does: I've seen one of these fellows carried home after an extra inning ball game. Toward the end of the game, baseball was of secondary interest to the televiewers. Their interest was really in the commercial, because they were making bets on whether the game would outlast the announcer or the announcer would outlast the game. Live commercials require on-the-spot, efficient supervision, and this one didn't have it. In Venezuela there is a kitchen show with the star using the actual products advertised and showing the final results. They may well be the most effective commercials on Venezuelan tv. They are particularly suitable for "one-shot" affairs (where the commercial will be used only once, or where the product requires changing the pitch every time it is televised). Aside from these special situations you are better off using filmed commercials, and here are some reasons why: 1. It is possible that, through some error on the part of the cook, the final pie won't look so good, or that the oven advertised will jam just as the hostess tries to open the door in a beautiful live closeup. In the case of film, you would just reshoot or re-record until you have exactly what you want. 2. Filmed commercials cost you less because you can repeat them in the same program, in other programs, on other stations or even in other countries at no additional cost (and you know how much this means in the international field with low budgets and widely spread media). 3. Filmed commercials solve your supervisory problem (and this too is important in international advertising, where distance is always a problem). Once you film the commercial Holbrook Named President Of Copy Research Council RICHARD G. HOLBROOK, copy research chief. Young & Rubicam, New York, last week was elected president of the Copy Research Council, New York. Also elected: Edward Battey Jr., vice president and research director, Compton Adv., as secretary-treasurer; Wallace H. Wulfeck, executive vice president, William Esty Co., and Mills Shepard, head of the research company bearing his name, as members of the executive committee. The council added the following to its membership: Roger Barton, Alfred Politz Research; William Schneider, art and copy director, Donahue & Coe; Dr. Albert Blankenship, vice president in charge of research, Ted Bates; Paul Gerhold, vice president in charge of media and research, Foote, Cone & Belding; Lawrence J. Hubbard, vice president in charge of research, Doherty, Clifford, Steers & Shenfield, and Alfred A. Whittaker, vice president in charge of research, Benton & Bowles. Elected honorary members: Dr. Lyndon O. Brown, Dancer-Fitzgerald-Sample; Ben Duffy, BBDO; Sherwood Dodge, Foote, Cone & Beld ing; Mansfield House, Morse International; Victor Schwab, Schwab & Beatty; Mark H. Wisemen, private advertising consultant; Henry F. Godfrey, retired and formerly with J. Walter Thompson, and Marion Harper, William Berchtold and Roy C. Kollenborn, all of McCannErickson. Regional Network to Carry Milwaukee Braves' Baseball MILWAUKEE BRAVES 1956 baseball broadcasts will be carried on a regional network of nearly 50 stations under co-sponsorship of Miller Brewing Co. and Clark Oil & Refining Co., it was reported last week. Agency for both accounts is Mathisson & Assoc., Milwaukee. WTMJ and WEMP Milwaukee again will be key network outlets for road and home broadcasts of games starting March 10 (exhibition contests), furnishing facilities and sportscasters. Until this year, Miller sponsored all Braves broadcasts, but last fall served as co-sponsor with Clark of Green Bay Packers pro football and Marquette Warriors basketball games. Sponsors will alternate commercials on Braves games, with Blaine Walsh of WTMJ and Earl Gillespie of WEMP handling commentary. Travel by Air Pushed In 52Week ATA Drive THE Air Transport Assn. last week launched a 52-week radio campaign through Lewis Edwin Ryan Adv., Washington, designed to capture a larger slice of the G. I. and service travel dollar. Fourteen markets from coast to coast were selected as having the greatest potential. Advantages of flying scheduled airlines are told in five-minute early evening segments, Monday through Friday. Each segment includes a 30-second jingle, one of the top tunes of the week, a sports or news flash and a one minute commercial. Webcor Plans Radio-Tv Use In $2 Million Ad Budget WEBSTER-CHICAGO Corp. (Webcor tape recorders, phonographs, and disc changers) will spend over $2 million on advertising in 1956 and may reenter network television this fall, it was reported last week. Account is handled by John W. Shaw Adv. Inc., Chicago. The Chicago firm is relinquishing co-spon Page 26 • January 30, 1956 Broadcasting • Telecasting