Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1957)

ADVERTISERS & AGENCIES continued TWA'S RIEGNER and the airline reasoned that spot could be bought on a contract basis with the message changed to suit current needs. TWA now buys spot in the 10 heaviest income producing cities on the carrier's routes with frequency depending on the type of package, seriousness of competition and ratio of cost to revenue expected (spot use varies from 6-12 weekly to 40-50). GROVE LABS INC. "Radio is doing the job for Grove Labs," was the testimonial of R. W. Testement, advertising manager for Grove. Detailed in Mr. Testement's talk: Radio use by Grove's three distinct, but competitive cold remedies— 4-Way Cold Tablets, Bromo-Quinine and Citroid. Each product has found a formula that uses radio to the best advantage in its marketing objective. For example, Citroid has found the combination of spot radio saturation and newspapers to be very profitable; 4-Way Cold Tablets divides its budgets evenly between network and spot with Negro market stations especially solicited, and Bromo-Quinine, whose budget is 100% in radio, also splits evenly between network and spot. Citroid went into 1 8 radio test markets, using a "'reason why" copy theme, in advance of this year (last year, Citroid's budget was 70% in newspapers and 30% in spot tv). Radio was used with newspapers in the test markets. Result: radio's economy permitted high saturation within the budget's limitations. Now, in all major markets where radio is employed, Citroid buys dominating schedules. Citroid's agency (Dowd, Redfield & Johnstone) uses a predetermined goal of total rating points for each radio market, rather than purchase of a specific number of spots. This buying method calls for 90 spots weekly during the cold season in some markets, while 50-60 spots suffice in others. Citroid in its commercials is enraptured with radio's impact and subsequently uses GROVE'S TESTEMENT Page 32 • October 14, 1957 well-known news commentators to give the product a "newsy feeling and believability." The economic factor figures predominantly in 4-Way's radio pattern of buying frequency at low cost. In important markets, the advertiser averages 50-90 spots weekly. Negro stations in some 30 cities form a key part of the 4-Way buying pattern. In its commercials, 4-Way seeks authenticity through the voices of wellknown actors and singers. Half of the radio budget is devoted to CBS Radio, the other 50% to spot radio. "Radio could be said to have built BromoQuinine's business to what it is today," Mr. Testement said. Some 30 participations weekly are placed on NBC Radio's Monitor, forming about half of the B-Q radio budget. The other 50% is devoted to spot radio, covering approximately 100 markets. The voice of Joe Louis is used in commercials to attract the Negro market. Mr. Testement spoke of still a fourth Grove product — Fitch's shampoo. Basis for radio here is: Unduplicated cumulative audiences can be obtained continuously by scattering spots through different periods of a week. Grove now has revived the old "Fitch Bandwagon" name taken from the former network show, has modernized the format, fitting it to the pattern of today's radio. Thus, 10 fiveminute segments, using the Bandwagon theme song followed by a pop tune, have been placed on NBC Radio's Monitor. BEST FOODS INC. Best Foods is "all het up about one medium" — radio — for doing an "outstanding job of overhauling itself and offering a better line." The speaker, Albert Brown, vice president of advertising and public relations of Best Foods, New York, expressed his firm's use of radio for five products as: "more dollars in radio today than we had in the early days of the medium." "Radio," he extolled, "has brought out a new model at attractive prices and presented it to prospects with canniness and conviction." And, Best Foods "heavy use of radio" started only two months ago for all five products. Hellman's mayonnaise is using local radio in selected markets for extra circulation and frequency. He said he thought Best Foods had achieved an imagery transfer from space to sound in its advertising. For Rit dyes, flexibility of radio was a decisive factor in selecting it as a primary medium — thus, a large quantity of spots augment daytime serials and weekend shows. Bulk of the Rit budget is in radio. Because of seasonal demands and a variety of uses for the product, 15 different spots with variations in song lyrics and copy were transcribed for Rit. Fanning's Bread and Butter Pickles was the toughie product for Best Foods because unlike many food processors, Best Foods packs only a single size of one BEST FOODS' BROWN type of pickle. Radio was used because of the small budget and the scheduling of three sales drives yearly. Thus, the Fanning's spot (single commercial cut) will be broadcast on one network for one week only three times in the year. For Shinola shoe polish — sold in three forms, paste, color liquids and white — radio's flexibility once again showed the way for a solution to the advertising problem. Shinola is using network radio in conjunction with Rit and also on local spot in many markets. Radio is the only medium being bought by Best Foods for this product, and, Mr. Brown said: "I hope in time to be able to say we have broken through the sales barrier because radio is the sole medium." For still another Best Foods' product — Nucoa margarine — the strategy is: radio network serials and weekend spots along with saturation spot in selected markets. UNIVERSAL C.l.T. CREDIT CORP. Local radio use is the advertising impetus for Universal C.l.T. Credit (auto loans via dealers) since there is no product to sell but a service, according to Universal's national advertising manager. Robert H. McKennee. Company's objective has been to identify its name and service with automobile dealers and create goodwill (in the manner of -insurance companies) among the public in territories served. ■ Radio fits in by spotting messages in territories in which dealers and salesmen can hear the commercials, thus care is exercised to select stations covering the total area embraced by the company's branch offices. Mr. McKennee noted that Universal C.l.T. did very little national advertising before 1955— about $20,000 in 1954. But in 1955 the figure was up to $2 million, mostly in print. This year, the radio campaign test covers six markets. C.l.T.'S McKENNEE Broadcasting