Broadcasting Telecasting (Apr-Jun 1958)

the key station in MICHIGAN'S* MIGHTY MIDDLE MARKET with a 24 hour schedule and 5000 LIVELY WATTS has over twice the number of listeners than all other stations combined in (March-April, 1957 — C. E. Hooper, Inc.) LANSING r contact Venard, Rintoul & McConnell, Inc. • 17 Central Michigan counties with $1,696,356,000 spendable income. OUR RESPECTS to Perry LeRoy Shupert CALLING on Perry Shupert at Miles Labs is strongly reminiscent of dropping in at the corner apothecary in Hometown, U. S. A. An office visitor in Elkhart, Ind., is confronted with a six-shelf display of leading proprietary and toiletry packages (Miles and others) which speaks eloquently of his deep-rooted interest in pharmacy. As vice president in charge of sales and advertising at Miles, Mr. Shupert is responsible for administering these and related (merchandising, planning, distribution, marketing) activities of one of radio-tv's best customers. Claiming worldwide sales of over $50 million. Miles today spends a cool $12 million in broadcast media. Last year in tv, it allocated $5 million for spot (ranking ninth among national advertisers) and $6 million-plus for network; the remainder went into national and regional radio network. All told, radio-tv accounts for about "the biggest slice" of Miles' current advertising melon (estimated to be somewhat under $20 million). The corner drug store was more than a passing fancy in Mr. Shupert's youth. Born Perry LeRoy Shupert in Goshen, Ind. (Aug. 3, 1908), he spent his boyhood in Chicago. With several family moves, young Perry attended 13 different grade schools before graduation and worked as a delivery boy for the Walgreen drug chain. After his family moved to Michigan City, he bought himself a window-trimming business and serviced stores in South Bend (where he was graduated from South Bend High), Elkhart, Niles and other communities. He gave it up in 1926 and two years later was hired by Walgreen in Chicago to work in its merchandising and decorating department, helping open new stores throughout the midwest. (He also attended Lake View High School in Chicago and South Bend Business College.) Mr. Shupert started with Miles in 1931, installing Nervine window displays and putting up road signs in Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. When a Miles Chicago salesman broke an ankle, Mr. Shupert capably sold Alka-Seltzer and later was assigned to open Miles' first branch office there as division manager in 1935. While there he took night classes in retail advertising, psychology and other courses at Northwestern U.'s downtown Commerce School from 1938-40. On Oct. 1, 1942, he was transferred to Miles' Elkhart headquarters as assistant sales manager. He was promoted to sales manager on Jan. 1, 1944; to vice president-U. S. sales on Jan. 1, 1950, and to vice president, sales and advertising, on Jan. 1, 1952. UNDER Mr. Shupert's guiding hand, Miles' sales and advertising activities have shown rapid growth. He opened branch offices in major cities and increased the sales staff from 42 to 101 salesmen. Miles' well-known policy of sticking with broadcast properties through complete cycles; its careful appraisal of broadcast buys for diversified audience appeal; its heavier reliance on tv to tell the story of AlkaSeltzer, One-A-Day vitamins and Bactine — all these bear witness to the Shupert administration. He also is credited with naming "Speedy Alka-Seltzer." At one time heavy on top-rated radio shows (National Barn Dance, Quiz Kids, Curt Massey and Martha Tilton, Uncle Ezra, Morgan Beatty and the News and One Man's Family), Miles swung the air pendulum to tv a few years ago, placing over 90% of its broadcasting monies in that medium. Miles' lineup this season includes co-sponsorship of Broken Arrow and Wednesday Night Fights, both on ABC-TV (it also has co-sponsored championship fight broadcasts on CBS Radio, viz., the last Robinson-Basilio match), plus participations on the Mickey Mouse Club (just renewed along with the televised fights on ABC-TV) and an NBC-TV block of The Price Is Right, Queen for a Day, Comedy Time, Truth or Consequences and It Could Be You. Miles also sponsors newscasts on the Don Lee network. Mr. Shupert summarizes Miles' broadcast advertising philosophy as one seeking "frequent impact, with emphasis on cost-perrthousand, and programs with varied audience appeal, among children, housewives and men." He adds, "Miles also has long maintained a policy of staying with its properties, never less than 52 weeks." With the bulk of money in television, Mr. Shupert raises a common client concern over "increased cost" of spot as a "problem." In his position, Mr. Shupert works closely with Miles' agency (Geoffrey Wade Adv.). The preliminary budget is based on sales and marketing research department recommendations and submitted to an executive committee comprising Charles S. Beardsley, board chairman; Walter R. Beardsley, president; Edward H. Beardsley, executive vice president; Franklin B. Miles, treasurer and director, and others. Mr. Shupert is board chairman of the Sales & Executives Club of St. Joseph's Valley and member of the Advertising Federation of America's legislative committee. Gifted with a flair for showmanship, he's in demand as a speaker at functions of the National Wholesale Druggists Assn., Federal Wholesale Druggists' Assn. and state pharmaceutical groups. Mr. Shupert married his wife, Florence, in 1933; they have a son, Thomas, 22. WILS news sv°^s Page 26 • April 14, 1958 Broadcasting