Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1957)

ADVERTISERS & AGENCIES continued THAT COTY GIRL'S GOING PLACES • One way may be into network tv — if test results are good • Move could double present $2.1 million in broadcast money Coty Inc., a perfume house that is rapidly undergoing product diversification and which to date has limited its tv activities to heavy spot, is contemplating network sponsorship. It is prepared to double its present broadcast allocations of $2.1 million — 60% of its total budget — but may, at the same time, cut back its use of spot, according to officials of both Coty and its agency, Heineman, Kleinfeld, Shaw & loseph Inc. (formerly Franklin Bruck Adv.), New York. To the secretive and ultra-competitive cosmetics trade, patented mixtures are things not talked about. But 57-year-old Coty, intent on catching up to its network -using rivals like Revlon, Rubinstein, Factor, Curtis and Bishop, is not silent about a formula it feels has done wonders for the firm to date: spot tv. The equation reads as follows: Beautiful girl plus big, black picture hat equals Coty. Last Saturday, Coty began laying the groundwork for network sponsorship (target date: September 1958) by "testing" the power of the Coty girl within the framework of a regular program as opposed to the established Coty spot technique. At an estimated cost of $40,000, Coty has begun sponsorship of CBS Television Film Sales' The Honey mooners on WMCT (TV) Memphis and WBNS-TV Columbus, Ohio, both for at least 26 weeks. Results of this test will determine to some extent how and where Coty will plunge into network tv. Meanwhile, Coty executives have been meeting with CBS-TV and NBC-TV programming officials to discuss possible plans. Coty wants to find a show that will cause considerable talk in trade circles but at the same time won't cater to a clearly-defined audience such as the "western" aficionados. Coty's Seigel declares "We want to be talked about." But he feels that a controversial program would do little toward building a "pleasant corporate image." It cannot afford to alienate the housewife. While Coty is internationally known as a maker of high-priced perfumes, a good share of its domestic business consists primarily of bread-and-butter items. On television as well as radio, Coty's line ranges in price from $1.25 ("24" lipsticks) to L'Aimant parfums ($100.00) with in-between items covering Coty curl-set, spray mists, powders and compact makeup. Its men's line has not yet been advertised on the air. Coty, which now insists that its talent in both broadcast media stress the phonetic "lay-mont" when hawking perfumes, also plans shortly to introduce its new Polysil medicated hand lotion on tv — an item pegged at $2 a bottle. When and if Coty takes the network plunge, chances are that its heavy spot schedules (14-16 tv spots a week in 20-40 markets) and saturation radio (6-8 weeks before Christmas in 40 multiple station markets) will be curtailed sharply. Insofar as competing ad budgets go, Coty's is distinctly small, but its size makes Coty twice as alert to get the most out of its tv dollars. If it cannot match Revlon's $12 million, dollar for dollar (and it doesn't intend to), then it seeks recognition in other ways — chiefly in merchandising and publicity. Chief reason for its penny-consciousness is Coty's financial record. Though business volume for the 1957 fiscal year that ended June 30 rose from$24.1 million to $24.8 million (not counting the many-faceted operations of Coty International), the firm lost $2.1 million. After figuring a $1 million tax credit, actual 1957 net loss came to $1.1 million. But losses are slowly decreasing. While losing $1.6 million during the first nine months of the 1957 fiscal year, losses for the April-June quarter were pared down to $500,000, and sales for those months increased to $7 million. By Dec. 31, however, Coty President Cortney thinks the firm will show a $1.5 million profit. Tv, adds Mr. Cortney, "has become indispensable" to pre-selling cosmetics and Coty is "committed" to more and more television. "Difficult and trying as it is," he said in referring to his strained budget, "the policy must be continued." There are no "if s and buts." Coty, declares its head, is faced with a choice of picking a policy of dynamic development or "that of stagnation, albeit with a moderate level of profits." Thanks to the Coty girl, the brand that has been a couturier's household name since the beginning of the 20th Century has come alive. But until February 1955 when Coty launched its "24" lipstick line, the firm's radio-tv activities were more sporadic than consistent. Total advertising up to that point had been approximately $1.4 million, with broadcast media getting but a thin sliver. By 1955's end, allocations had risen to $1.7 million (all media) and by December 1956, the budget was in excess of $2.8 million. Its current radio spot campaign featuring the sexy, dulcet-toned voice of Tedi ("Miss Monitor") Thurman would shock the sensitivities of a soul such as Francois Coty. M. Coty until one spring day in 1900 had been a very unsuccessful parfum chemistsalesman. On that day, having failed to register a sale with the cosmetics buyer of Paris' Louvre Department Store, M. Cot) , while making his exit, accidentally dropped a bottle of his "La Rose Jacqueminot" by the counter and the lingering scent not only drove scores of women to ask for the perfume but clinched M. Coty's first sale. The scent turned to many sous and made M. Coty a millionaire. SPELL IT C O T Y In one of comedian Ernie Kovacs' summer replacement shows for Sid Caesar on NBC-TV, viewers saw a young blonde named Barbra in an outlandishly-sized black picture hat lift her head in an altogether familiar way and sexily coo, "Hello, I'm the Coty Girl." But that is as far as she got. At that instant, with a resounding squish, an NBC stagehand pushed a custard cream pie into her face. Some advertisers might have taken umbrage but not Coty. Late last month, star Jack Paar and his foil, comedienne Dodie Goodman (also on NBC-TV), satirized a Coty commercial by using false clacking teeth. Notes Coty advertising director Bill Siegel: ". . . Just let them spell the name right." Page 40 • November 4, 1957 Broadcasting