Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1963)

King, vice president in charge of sales for Official. The agency is Tracy-Locke Co., Dallas. The stations have not been designated since time has not been cleared in all markets. Mr. King indicated that Official expects to have full clearance within the next few weeks. Official recently completed another regional transaction on Battle Line with Pacific Gas and Electric Co. for full sponsorship in seven California markets. Alexander Film Co. sale is revealed The sale of Alexander Film Co., Colorado Springs commercial producer, to a four-man group headed by Alexander's president, Keith Munroe, was announced last week. Sale price of the 45-year-old firm was reported between $2 million and $3 million. The buyers, in addition to Mr. Munroe, are Cortland S. Dietler, Denver oil man; F. M. Late, San Angelo, Tex., Chevrolet dealer, and J. A. Oleson, Sterling, Colo., oil man and rancher. The sellers were not identified. J. Don Alexander Sr., who co-founded the company, died in 1955. His brother, Don M., and two sons, J. Don Jr. and John H. were affiliated with the firm. Mr. Munroe, who will remain president of the new corporation, also announced the election of three new directors, certain new officers, and the formation of Alexander Film of Canada Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary. Elected directors were Messrs. Dietler, Late and Oleson. Mr. Dietler is chairman of the board and chief executive officer; Mr. Oleson, executive vice president; Mr. Late, vice president, and F. W. Marting, vice president and controller. Mr. Munroe, who joined the firm in 1957, was named president six months later. Alexander employs about 200 at its 26-acre Colorado Springs studio and has sales offices in New York, Chicago. Detroit, St. Louis and San Juan, P. R. Pulse to syndicate QPD based on pilot study The results of a Cleveland pilot study conducted by The Pulse Inc. with a new qualitative, personally placed diary have encouraged the audience measurement firm to syndicate the research method. The "highly gratifying" Cleveland experiment found a return of 86% of the data sheets placed and 75% of all attempted placements. The QPD — an acronym for its description; qualitative, personally placed diary — also was collected personally in the Cleveland test, but The Pulse will in the future discard A helping hand to TV The hand that guides the toy doesn't necessarily buy it. That is why Kiddie City, with 16 toy centers in the Philadelphia area, is using radio and newspaper in addition to TV in a pre-Christmas drive. "Toy advertising on TV helps the child decide what toy he wants; but radio and newspaper will help sell the parent on Kiddie City as the place to buy that toy," President Leonard Wasserman said last week. Accordingly, the $100,000 twomonth campaign includes a schedule of 80 spots a week on wip, wcau and wibg, all Philadelphia, backed by full-page ads in three local newspapers. "Supplementing" this effort, according to Michael Schwartz Associates Advertising, Philadelphia, account agency, is a weekly 15-minute program on wrcv-tv that city. the personal collection as unnecessary. The data sheet is broken down to show, in addition to TV audience quantity, viewer's age, sex, family size, family income, age groups of children and viewer consumer trends. Chicago Dodge dealers join in all-media push Dodge dealers of the greater Chicago area last week announced the formation of new metropolitan advertising committee to place a record local dealer budget of $150,000 for advertising in a special five-week campaign to support the national Dodge factoryplaced advertising. About 40% will go for TV and radio. Two even larger flights are planned later. The Chicago Dodge dealers have never before joined for such a large local promotion. But the venture was precipitated by the recent record breaking sales drive of the Detroit Dodge dealers who also used heavy broadcast schedules. The Chicago dealers additionally cited the current high sales momentum of Dodge, which last year broke all previous totals. Dodge's national agency, BBDO, is representing the Chicago dealers. Agency appointments... ■ Sea Breeze, Pittsburgh manufacturer of multi-purpose antiseptics and toiletries, has named Ketchum, MacLeod & Grove, Pittsburgh. ■ Air France, without an agency since BBDO resigned the account in midAugust, has appointed Fuller & Smith & Ross to handle the American market. Air France's announcement that creative work would be done in Paris rather than in the U. S., reportedy prompted BBDO's resignation. Billings are estimated at $1 million-$1.5 million. ■ Spring Air Mattress Co., Chicago, has named Arnold & Co., Boston, to handle all advertising. Spring Air will use radio and television extensively in a major promotion to begin in early 1964. TvB to introduce film at membership meeting "Heart Beat," the Television Bureau of Advertising's new half-hour color film presentation, will be shown for the first time at the bureau's membership meeting in Chicago Nov. 19-21. The film is a qualitative rather than statistical study of television commercials. Motion, image, time, space and sound are examined in the presentation as aspects which lead to emotional involvement in a viewer's perception of a TV commercial. The film documents production techniques. On Nov. 20, TvB also will hold its third annual sales managers meeting, also in Chicago. Among the speakers scheduled are Dr. Seymour Banks, Leo Burnett vice president, and Dr. Kenneth McFarland, consultant to General Motors. Toro '64 mode! mowers will get TV spot push The Toro Manufacturing Corp. has planned an extensive television spot campaign in the U. S. and Canada to promote its 1964 line of power lawn mowers. The advertising program, through Campbell Mithun, Minneapolis, is scheduled to begin with the first sign of spring grass. A spot campaign is being used to direct the advertising dollar where it will do the most for local dealers. The spots will be shown on more than 115 stations on week nights and weekends, with an eye to capturing the male audience. The spots will demonstrate the various models and features of the Toro line of mowers, and will tie in with display models to be used by local dealers. St. Louis agency merger Two St. Louis advertising agencies — Ridgway, Hirsch & French and Hart & Johnson — have merged retaining the name of the former agency. Jack Hart and Soulard Johnson, H&J president and vice president respectively, have been named vice president of RH&F, and their staff has moved into the Ridgway offices at 8012 Carondelet Avenue. 56 (BROADCAST ADVERTISING) BROADCASTING, November 11, 1963