Broadcasting Telecasting (Apr-Jun 1957)

MONDAY MEMO from MARTIN HIMMEL, president, Dunnan & Jeffrey agency COULD YOUR SPOT TV SUE FOR NON-SUPPORT? IF ten commandments were to be written for spot television advertisers, the first seven (since reiteration emphasizes their importance) would be: "You can't sell a product that isn't there". Most successful spot television programs have profited by this simple truth. Entirely too many advertisers expect their television spot campaigns to create such intensive interest that dealers everywhere will beat an immediate path to their doors. In the experience of our agency, we have found that spot television advertising can indeed produce amazing results in building and sustaining consumer sales of any legitimate product. However, we also know that in any successful program tv spots must be regarded as only the final link in a chain of activities that must include intensive sales distribution, sound point of sale merchandising, and thorough education at the retail level. If all of these prior phases of a sound television spot campaign are adequately fulfilled, then an advertiser can legitimately depend upon his tv spots to do the rest. A case in point is the success achieved by Pink Ice and Tint 'N Set with a current advertising volume that ranks the manufacturer 23rd in the nation's 200 top tv advertisers. Pink Ice and Tint 'N Set, while enjoying today an annual combined sale approaching $5 million, are relatively new cosmetics. They came into being just two years ago. At the very outset television spot was the medium through which we hoped to acquaint the American public with Pink Ice and Tint 'N Set. Tv spots were chosen because we felt that every dollar spent must be related to each individual market. The cash register in each individual market became our guide. OUR STRATEGY: TO PLAN, NOT CRAM At no time have we endeavored to force distribution through our chosen tv medium. Instead, our own agency's marketing staff effected complete distribution in each targeted market at least 30 days prior to the campaign kickoff. Thus, the very first customer to ask for Pink Ice or Tint 'N Set in any town where our tv spots were seen was able to acquire the product on his very first try. Obviously, this advance distribution pays off in many ways, not least of which is the fact that it forestalls the injurious word-of-mouth publicity so often heard: "It's advertised— but you can't buy it anywhere". We have stressed the importance of the first (through seventh) commandment in our credo for spot television advertisers, but in our agency commandments eight, nine and ten are almost if not quite as important. The eighth commandment, fundamental in our agency's concept of a sound tv spot advertising program, is "to teach the retail salesman how to sell our client's product". To do this we conduct intensive on-the-spot sales seminars for retail salesmen in each city where our client's products are to be marketed. These sales meetings permit us to demonstrate the actual use of these products; they make it possible to coordinate the sales message on tv with the sales effort of the retail clerk, and they make certain that the retail sales man is thoroughly familiar with the uses and advantages of our client's products. The ninth commandment is to set up a series of sales incentives for salesmen in a store or in a community. These sales incentives facilitate the "pushing" of a product at the retail level and, more often than not, insure for our client a far better display area in retail stores. DO IT YOURSELF AND YOU'LL DO IT RIGHT Finally, we have a standard rule: "To do a merchandising job well, we must do it ourselves". We do not depend on tv stations to do merchandising for us. By doing it ourselves, our clients can always be certain that nothing has been omitted, that nothing has been done in haste and that nothing has been undone through inept public relations with our client's customers. This type of comprehensive, coordinated television spot campaign must produce a successful result. With Pink Ice and Tint 'N Set we have been successful with tv spot in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Houston. Detroit and other metropolitan communities as we have been in the smaller, more easily saturated cities such as Greenville, Spartanburg and Asheville. While preparation of the market through prior distribution, point-of-sale merchandising and sales education is essential, it must be remembered that tv spots gain immeasurably in effectiveness as they are expanded in quantity. A saturation tv spot campaign must characterize the consumer approach. Properly harnessed to a merchandising-advertising team, tv spots can perform miracles. On KPRC-TV Houston, for instance, 50 Pink Ice spots per week caused wholesalers to send frantic wires for more merchandise after only seven days of telecasting. Similar responses held true for WNACTV Boston. WOR-TV New York, WBKB (TV) Chicago and KTLA-TV Los Angeles. It is so easy for a client to blame tv spots for the failure of his advertising campaign. However, a little searching on the client's part, may well place the blame on his very own doorstep for his failure to secure distribution and adequate merchandising to support the television spot effort. Martin Himmel; b. Newark, Nov. 3, 1925; educ. Irvington (N. J.) High School. Joined Vitamin Corp. of America (Rybutol) June 1941. Served in Army. Organized Canadian subsidiary of VCA in 1952, serving there as vice president and general manager. Returned to U. S. in 1954 as VCA vice president in charge of advertising. Eighteen months after sale of VCA to Rexall Drugs, he joined former Rybutol president in pur chase of Pink Ice Cosinetic Co. Resigned to form own agency in October 1955. Broadcasting • Telecasting June 10, 1957 • Page 129