Broadcasting Telecasting (Jan-Mar 1958)

Local Retailers Short in Tv, Says Local Trademarks Exec The medium-size and small retailers are turning to local radio in increasing numbers but they are taking only feeble strides in the use of television, according to John C. Cryder, vice president of Local Trademarks Inc., New York. The firm has been functioning as a syndicated advertising service to local-level retailers since 1911, incorporating tv into its activities in 1953 and radio last year. Its roster includes 5,300 clients, of which more than 80% use newspapers exclusively. Newspapers formed the solid core of Local Trademarks' business until five years ago. Local Trademarks is not an agency in the sense that it collects a commission for placing a campaign in a medium. In fact, according to Mr. Cryder, it performs every function but buying the time and space. The organization provides a packaged advertising campaign for any medium a client may select but leaves it to the advertiser to place the campaign. Fees are computed on the amount of service rendered, the population of the community in which the client conducts his business and the nature of the business. In tv, for instance, the minimum annual rate is $200 for a black and white print of a one-minute filmed commercial, a print of a 20-second film and the client's logo produced and integrated into both prints plus suggested scripts for use on the local sta tion. In radio, the annual cost of the package ranges from $78 to $364 and consists of two discs containing 20 commercials of varying time-lengths, plus suggested scripts. Many clients also subscribe to Local Trademarks' merchandising service to obtain suggestions on exploiting their advertising in radio, tv and newspapers. The company has set up 22 basic client campaigns with an identifying trademark. As an example, the campaign for plumbers bears the overall insignia of "Little Plumber"; for lumber dealers, "Bill Ding"; for bakeries, "Jimmy Jingle"; for dairies, "Dairy Tales — I Scream Kids." A lumber dealer in Lima, Ohio, for instance, will receive the "Bill Ding" advertising materials for his market exclusively, with suggestions on how to use the copy to build local identification with the trademark. Mr. Cryder is pleased with the progress of the company's radio service in its first year of operation. He said about 110 clients are using radio, but in contrast, only 25 are utilizing tv. Local Trademarks feels that more and more clients will turn to radio advertising in their communities as they learn how effective and inexpensive this medium can be. As for television, Mr. Cryder sees no easy solution for the smaller retailer. His organization has consulted with the Television Bureau of Advertising and TvB has cooperated with member tv stations in areas serviced by Local Trademarks clients. Some retailers feel the medium is too costly; others contend the local stations tend to cater more diligently to the needs of the regional and national advertiser, rather than the local client. Local Trademarks clients spend approximately $15 million in advertising annually, according to Mr. Cryder. But he believes that with effective salesmanship, local-level retailers can be persuaded to increase their budgets for radio, tv and other media. Hepler Says Ad Liaison Helped To Kill Planned St. Louis Tax Scuttling of the proposed advertising tax in St. Louis [Advertisers & Agencies, Feb. 17], was probably attributable to better mutual understanding of city problems and liaison between advertising and the local legislative body involved, Frank Hepler, vice president of Gardner Adv. Co., told the Madison (Wis.) Advertising Club. Mr. Hepler, a member of the St. Louis Advertising Club's board of governors, stressed it's not only a civic duty but advertising's concern to maintain better liaison with local legislators. He said: "We had been lax, both as individuals and as a club, in our concern with the problems of the city. Fortunately, we were able to get our story across . . . and at the same time assure them [board of aldermen] that we understood their problem of raising additional revenues and would support them in any measure that provided for a reasonable distribution of the tax load rather than putting the burden on individual groups." WALB-TV COMPLETELY DOMINATES IN SOUTHWEST GEORGIA 22 COUNTY AREA PULSE* HIGHEST NIGHTTIME RATING HIGHEST DAYTIME RATING WALB — 44.8 STATION B— I 1.5 WALB— 18 STATION B— 6.1 OVERALL SHARE OF AUDIENCE b ■ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm rf WALB— 57.6% STATION B— 13.6% ALBANY METROPOLITAN PULSE* MAXIMUM SHARE OF AUDIENCE 99% MINIMUM SHARE OF AUDIENCE 88% HIGHEST NIGHTTIME RATING 75.0 HIGHEST DAYTIME RATING 46.0 BUY EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE OF THIS MARKET WITH NBC \\ / \ D \/ * Area Telepulse— Dec. 1957 ABC VV / % J ™" V Albany Metro. Pulse— Dec. 1957 ALBANY, GEORGIA Raymond E. Carow, General Manager REPRESENTED BY VENARD, RINTOUL & McCONNELL, INC., N. Y„ SAN FRAN., CHIC, L. A Broadcasting March 3, 1958 • Page 57