Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1957)

BROADCASTING THE BUSINESSWEEKLY OF TELEVISION AND RADIO Vol. 53, No. 27 DECEMBER 30, 1957 '57 AGENCY MOVES TOP $130 MILLION • Heading list of advertiser switches: $23 million Buick account • Spate of client shifts during year involve millions in all media The multi-million dollar swing in the advertising business which annually shifts accounts from one agency to another reached dizzying heights in 1957. Skimming only the cream of the crop of such shifts — and confining the list to advertisers which buy the broadcast media — a conservative estimate of the billing shift during the year comes up to a staggering level of some $130 million, including tv, radio and all other media. Agencies, traditionally noted for sensitivity in their relationship with clients, were rocked by a series of explosive changes. Among the most spectacular: • The still unsettled $23 million account of General Motors' Buick Div. Its departure from Kudner Agency, New York, marked a high point in the loss of a single account by an agency. The severance also served to point up again that long-term association of client and agency is not sacred. Kudner had served Buick for 22 years [Advertisers & Agencies, Dec. 23]. • A pull-out from Grey Adv. by Whitehall Pharmacal Co. — taking away a $300,000 billing for Kolynos toothpaste — after a tv interview in which Grey's President Arthur C. Fatt said he had used a competitive toothpaste that morning [Lead Story, Dec. 16]. • A sudden switch a couple of months earlier by Revlon Inc., the cosmetics advertiser that has enjoyed much success in tv. Revlon had been splitting its total $16 million budget among five agencies, BBDO getting the lion's share of $8 million. In September, Revlon announced termination of BBDO's service and parceled the billing among the four others. • The third largest U. S. food chain — Kroger Co. — last summer named two agencies to handle an estimated $10 million advertising budget, of which approximately 20% is divided about equally between radio and tv. The two were Campbell-Ewald, Detroit, and Campbell-Mithun, Minneapolis. (The bulk of Kroger advertising had been with Ralph H. Jones Co., Cincinnati, but Campbell-Mithun had handled the St. Louis division since late 1956.) Other top shifts also involved: Pabst Brewing Co.'s $7-8 million, Prudential Insurance Co. of America's $6 million, General Motors' institutional tv account (Wide Wide World) of $6 million, StudebakerPackard's $5 million, Andrew Jergens Co.'s $4 million, Helene Curtis Industries' $4.5 Broadcasting million, Harold F. Ritchie Co.'s $5 million, Toni Div. of Gillette's $4-6 million, Tidewater Oil Co.'s $4-5 million, and a number of others ranging in billing from just under $1 million to $4 million. In addition to the Buick account, there are at least two other national accounts currently footloose. They are Bon Ami Co. (about $1.7 million, approximately 85% of it in broadcast media), and ColgatePalmolive's Halo with a budget of about $1.7 million. Combined with Buick's $23 million, the total billing currently not assigned to any agency runs to an estimated $26-million-plus. At the week's end, there was little new to report from Flint, Mich., Buick's headquarters. A spokesman said Buick still is in the process of interviewing agencies and the company is "not near any decision." The Buick billing represents about a third of Kudner's overall business. A little less than 10% of this in the past year went into broadcasting, but at present the automaker is spending close to 15% of the total billing in radio-tv. The Bon Ami account shift was announced only last week. The advertiser bills about $1.7 million and in early 1958 is appointing a new advertising agency to re place Erwin Wasey, Ruthrauff & Ryan, New York. Bon Ami had been with Ruthrauff & Ryan since the summer of 1956 and remained with the agency during the merger with Erwin, Wasey, several months ago. Prior to that Bon Ami had been with Norman, Craig & Kummel and before that was with the Biow Co., now defunct. Bon Ami spends a considerable amount of its budget in radio and television spots. It was speculated that the unexpected resignation of former Ruthrauff & Ryan President F. Kenneth Beirn may have been partly responsible for Bon Ami moving, since Mr. Beirn had been associated with the move of Bon Ami from Norman, Craig & Kummel to R&R. Also possibly affecting the decision was Bon Ami's recent desire to make use of barter in tv. Mr. Beirn was senior vice president at EWR&R after the merger and since has left the agency. At the close of business in 1957, Erwin Wasey, Ruthrauff & Ryan was winding up the year with sudden account losses and a trouble spot. In addition to Bon Ami, the agency that at the time of the merger was handling a combined billing in excess of $78 million, recently has lost Sun Oil TEXT CONTINUES TO PAGE 30 December 30, 1957 • Page 27 BIGGEST ONE TO HIT THE ROAD Buick's shift out of the Kudner Agency was the most spectacular loss of the year, but traffic in general was heavy. The year saw long-time associations ended, a trend of sorts to consolidation of company products at one, rather than several, agencies, and the traffic flow in general toward the "big-name" agencies. For an overall picture of agency switches, see pages 28-29.