Broadcasting (Apr - June 1960)

around the nation and the hordes of cars on the used-car lots. Answers to these problems must be found or the introduction of 1961 models may be more difficult than anticipated. Here are opportunities for broadcaster to help local dealers cut the newcar inventory by at least two-thirds by mid-September and to ease the glut in the used-car market. Around Detroit it’s hoped that the sales of imported cars are reaching a plateau. The operating economy and small size of U.S. compacts are believed to have halted the import climb, but it’s felt that snob appeal, sports models, simplicity, low cost and other special traits of foreign cars will always give them a steady U.S: market. Dealer Structure ■ An extremely important phase of car selling and advertising centers around local and regional dealer organizations. Dodge, Ford, Chevrolet and others have closely knit and active dealer groups. Some buy independently; others place through agencies handling the manufacturer’s national account. Dealer co-op has been abandoned by Detroit though in some cases financial help is given dealer groups. As a rule the groups, like individual dealers, have complete autonomy in their advertising purchases, where the national budget may run from 10% to 50% radio-tv, regional and local dealers are more broadcast-minded and influenced by alert station selling. GM provides one of the industry’s notable radio success stories with its promotion of Guardian Maintenance, an institutional campaign promoting use of GM dealer service by GM car Tv demon sells The Fedders Corp., Maspeth, N.Y., and its agency, Hicks & Greist, New York, confidently look for the air conditioner business to go to the devil this summer. The demon they have in mind stars in a commercial being offered distributors for local scheduling (50seconds of Fedders copy and a 10second local tag.) Condensed storyboards have gone out to the trade around the country and the client is geared for 800 film orders. Fedders’ devil performs in black limbo, pantomiming the pitch with voice-over copy, transitions accomplished entirely by fire, smoke and other hellish effects. Involved in the commercial’s production: Richard R. Rendely, executive producer; Art Mayer, copy chief, and Len Glasser, collaborating writer, all of the agency; actor Jack Gilford (of the owners. The promotion is divided about 50-50 between radio and print. In tv, GM stirred Detroit a few days ago with its several-million-dollar purchase of half the telecasts of World Series baseball plus Blue-Gray and Rose Bowl football games. These telecasts will be shared with Gillette. The calendar year 1960 is a dandy, motor magnates are happy to say though sometimes that’s about all they’ll say in an interview. They’re decidedly bullish about 1961 models and the next calendar year. “The more cars we sell, the more we spend for advertising,” one executive said. The industry will buy any medium that will sell its cars but there’s still need to convince some executives that both radio and tv can move cars effectively even without print-media support. It’s decision time in Detroit. Following are the early-summer advertising pictures at Detroit’s major automotive plants: General Motors Corp. — Oldsmobile — AC Spark Plug ■ The higher-medium bracket Oldsmobile is having a good sales year, with D.P. Brother & Co. continuing to place advertising. The agency also has the General Motors institutional and AC Spark Plug Div. accounts. One of the automotive industry’s impressive success stories centers around GM’s radio-only promotion of Guardian Maintenance, a campaign designed to bring GM car and truck owners to GM dealers for servicing. Special transcriptions with openings for local, regional and national identification are used and D.P. Brother also buys national spots air-conditioners Fedders’ Devil Blows an ill wind Broadway play, “The Tenth Man,” another production which deals with devils), and voice, Joe Silver. Fedders distributors also are buying radio this summer, using commercials produced by Hicks & Greist. using the names of all GM divisions in the commercials. A new Guardian Maintenance series of one-minute spots, using the Bob & Ray team, started over the June 18 weekend in 150 markets. Edgar Bergen-Charley McCarthy spots have been on NBC Monitor and CBS Radio. Olds used spot heavily in introducing 1960 models. It is promoting Guardian Maintenance on a CBS Radio Sunday evening sequence — Suspense, Have Gun Will Travel and Gunsmoke. For Olds, the Brother agency buys Lowell Thomas news on CBS Radio, 6:45-7 p.m. across the country. Tv is off for the summer. Last season Olds sponsored Dennis O’Keefe for 39 weeks on CBS-TV and three Bing Crosby specials on ABC-TV. Next autumn the Crosby package will be renewed— two specials and the annual Crosby golf tournament. Alternating Michael Shayne episodes will be used (Fri., 10-11 p.m. on NBC-TV in the old Gillette fights time). Part of the Miss America finals in Atlantic City will be sponsored by Olds plus participations in Hawaiian Eye (Wed., 9-10 p.m. on ABC-TV). Lowell Thomas CBS Radio news will be continued and there are plans for spot radio to promote new models. Spot tv was used for the new 1960 models and may be repeated next autumn in selected markets. AC Spark Plug shared a series of eight Art Carney specials with GM’s United Motor Service (Delco battery). NBC-TV landed this contract because of its experience with color. AC will participate in ABC-TV’s Cheyenne (Mon., 7:30-8:30 p.m.) and Naked City (Wed., 10-11 p.m.). Oil filters and spark plugs will be promoted. GM institutional (General Motors Service Corp.) will continue in its advertising pattern of the last broadcast season. The radio-tv budget, as with AC and Olds, will be about the same. Spot radio has been heaviest in the autumn and spring, with less emphasis in mid-winter. Locally Olds dealers are active in radio and tv but exercise autonomy, buying as their needs and preferences indicate. One of the year’s biggest buys was the GM corporate purchase of cosponsorship with Gillette in the World Series, plus Blue-Gray and Rose Bowl football games. McCann-Erickson placed this business. Chevrolet ■ Any look at the automotive industry is likely to find Chevy heading the statistics. General Motor’s No. 1 line — and the industry’s too — is in its fifth decade, and the 1960 model year as well as calendar year will show Chevy well ahead of runner-up FordFalcon (150,000 passenger-cars lead BROADCASTING, June 20, 1960