Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1957)

TRADE ASSNS. continued LIVELY TALKS MARK BPA MEETING • Audience promotion, merchandising emerge as main concerns • 315 attend organization's second get-together in Chicago Audience promotion problems and station-agency-client merchandising relationships emerged as the liveliest topics at the Broadcasters' Promotion Assn.'s second annual convention-seminar in Chicago. All facets of broadcasting, including film syndicators, came in for their share of knuckle-rapping during the Nov. 1-2 sessions at the Hotel Sheraton. Registration reached 315, including delegates from the sales representative, film distributor-produc tion, agency-client and public relations fields. Elliott W. Henry Jr., ABC Central Div. director of advertising, promotion and publicity, was elected president, succeeding David E. Partridge, advertising and sales promotion director of Westinghouse Broadcasting Co. (story, page 50). BPA delegates voted to hold their 1958 convention-seminar in St. Louis probably in November. A friendly controversy over station promotion cooperation with agencies, clients and film distributors was sparked in the final Nov. 2 session by John F. Hurlbut, WFBM-AM-TV Indianapolis, and Alton Farber, assistant manager of public relations, J. Walter Thompson Co., Chicago, along with his assistant, Bill Bennett. Mr. Hurlbut pointed out broadcasters and the agency sponsor are mutually interested in greater audiences, commercial exposure and sales results. "Remembering that the advertiser has bought our facilities to reach people, it is only natural that he is interested in reaching just as many people as possible," he asserted. "We broadcasters, too, are interested in high program ratings. This, then is a common objective — shouldn't both of us be interested in doing something about attaining those maximum ratings? Is it right for our advertising partner to demand that only we broadcasters exert all the effort to woo the public? Cannot more effective results be achieved if we work together in promoting the maximum audience for the program in question?" Mr. Hurlbut cited Sindlinger studies as proof that radio-tv are basic media and dominate public attention, and questioned whether "the advertiser simply should be satisfied with his agency asking us for courtesy announcements at the start of a program campaign, or should he do something about making those announcements more effective?" While many agencies, clients and film syndicators "believe in cooperative promotion effort with broadcasters," Mr. Hurlbut acknowledged, there's room for improvement. When a campaign starts, the sponsor and agency should prepare complete kits, including film trailers, for station use and should follow through with a "flow of usable material," he felt. Mr. Hurlbut charged that the area of "talent exploitation" is "almost 100% overlooked" in the industry and felt it could learn "valuable lessons" from motion pic tures. "Stations could do a great deal of local exploitation of radio and television stars, if such stars were available for such local exploitations," in personal appearances or for spot announcements, particularly in key markets, he said. Messrs. Farber and Bennett explained JWT's Chicago broadcast exploitation service and stressed that the promotion manager is the key to the success of any agency. The agency must aid the client and help promotion, they emphasized, supplying promotion kits as a basic function. Networks have neither the time nor money to produce a wide range of material for clients, it was pointed out. They also reported on a Chicago survey by JWT tending to disprove the theory that station promotion managers promote local shows more than network properties. Mr. Farber noted that JWT in Chicago has pioneered in broad NEWLY-ELECTED BPA President Elliott W. Henry Jr. (I) accepts congratulations from David E. Partridge, outgoing president. cast exploitation for such clients as SevenUp Co. (Zorro, Soldiers of Fortune), Dr. West and other clients and has set up a stations relations department (with Geri Litvak as director). Its activity on station promotion contests has been "low-pressure," he emphasized. A question-and-answer period brought out complaints that tv stations in some instances failed to receive promised advance promotion material on feature films, and that distributors in others have been slow to furnish promotion material on syndicated properties. Syndication representatives present protested these inferences, claiming material is available on request. James Hanlon, public relations manager of WGN-AM-TV Chicago, an independent station, suggested in a floor comment that "the time to prepare such material is in advance, not when 26 films are in the can." A previous merchandising panel Saturday included Paul Woodland, WGAL-TV Lancaster, Pa., as moderator, and Haywood Meeks, WMAL-TV Washington, D. C; Robert R. Kenney, WMT-TV Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Bert Downing, KYW Cleveland; H. Keith Wilson, WTTV (TV) Bloomington, Ind., and William P. Davey, KSTP-TV Page 48 November 11, 1957 Minneapolis-St. Paul. They debated merchandising as a "red ink invader or a bugaboo," demands for equal support among clients, staffing requirements and such aids as window streamers, displays, letters, post cards and personal contact. Some trains of thought: Mr. Meeks — Personal contact is important. . . . Stations should not be expected to merchandise for all timebuyers. . . . Jumbo cards are preferred aids. Mr. Kenney — Not all merchandising benefits the buyer. . . . The station can hit the payoff by adding another permanent account. . . . There's a yardstick, "the more he buys — the more we'll do for him." Mr. Downing — Effective merchandising moves the product, aids the station, builds prospective clients and betters the situation for additional advertising with the station. Mr. Wilson — Because a station may not use merchandising aids does not mean it should be shunned by prospective clients and agencies. The client spending the most dollars has more of an opportunity for merchandising on any given station. But for prospective clients exceptions are made to open bigger revenues. . . . Plans for merchandising should be done with the national sales manager, local sales manager, or both. . . . Mr. Davey — If used by the stations properly, merchandising aids can be useful in promoting the station as well as the sponsor. . . . Some accounts buy the merchandising and not the station's time. The convention-seminar opened Nov. 1 with a welcoming address and report by Mr. Partridge and election of a nominating committee for 1958 officers and directors. He reported BPA now has 207 members (173 voting; 21 associate from allied fields, and 13 affiliate, or those from organizations already represented in the voting category). BPA participation in promotion bulletin efforts and its opposition to promotion managers contests were reviewed, along with its objectives of furthering recognition and extension of broadcast promotion, increasing the effectiveness of its personnel, and assisting broadcasters to acquire competent promotion personnel. James Kiss, WPEN Philadelphia, at the opening trade paper advertising session, suggested basic management conferences with program, sales and promotion personnel and utilization of "showmanship" in copy and art work. Trade paper advertising doesn't sell itself, he cautioned, but establishes the station's identity and paves the way for sales. The opinion that too many trade ads look alike and that messages should be made forcefully, creatively and simply was put forth by Jeffrey A. Abel, radio director, Henry J. Kaufman & Assoc., Washington, D. C. He felt there is little relationship between station call letters and brand impulse and there is "little or no impulse buying." Ads should create a favorable impression on timebuyers so they'll remember them when the time to buy arrives, he said. Frank Brady, Cohen & Aleshire Inc., N. Y., called for original and uncomplicated ads, claiming too many have little recall or identification. A study by his agency showed that marketing, programming and ratings rank in that order of data preference among account executives, while programming, ratings and station personalities top timebuyers' lists. Merchandising data ranked fifth among account people and last for buyers, while personality endorsements were far down both lists. Jack Dorr, WBNS-TV Columbus, reviewed his station's use of general publications (New Yorker and Fortune) and sug Broadcasting