Broadcasting Telecasting (Jul-Sep 1963)

sion of American Home Products, formerly signed as an alternate sponsor, has moved over to partial sponsorship of the Red Skelton Show, which also appears Tuesday night on CBS-TV. P&G agency: Compton Adv., New York. Glenbrook Laboratories Division of Sterling Drug Inc. has purchased participation in the Patty Duke Show (ABC-TV, Wednesday, 8-8:30 p.m. EDT) for its product, Bayer aspirin. Edward Gottlieb & Associates is the agency. Frito-Lay Inc., Dallas, has started a campaign on TV in New York and Philadelphia to introduce its Lay's Potato Chips there. The commercial, featuring comic Bert Lahr, was produced by MPO Videotronics, New York. Agency: Young & Rubicam. REVIVING A MARKET Spot TV campaign for Teflon' does the trick A million-dollar spot television campaign that not only "revived a dying market" but substantially increased the sponsor's share of it was reported last week in the Journal of Advertising Research. The Journal is published monthly by the Advertising Research Foundation. The "dying market" was the market for cookware coated with a finish that won't let foods stick to the cooking surface. The market had flourished and then, according to the Journal article, sagged when imported articles proved unsatisfactory. The advertiser who revived the market was du Pont, on behalf of its own no-stick finish, "Teflon." The campaign was conducted in 13 markets in the fall and winter of 196263. During the fall, four of the markets received 10 daytime commercial minutes a week, five received five daytime minutes, and four received no advertis ing. For the winter campaign the adertising weight was redistributed among the markets. The tests showed a strong relationship between a "high" advertising level and sales. They also indicated that "little" advertising produces about the same sales results as no advertising. The article, by James C. Becknell Jr. and Robert W. Mclsaac of du Pont's advertising research section, reported that the campaign expanded the total cookware market by about 21% and more than doubled purchases of cookware coated with "Teflon." "In markets with no du Pont television advertising for Teflon," the article reported, "cookware coated with 'Teflon' accounted for about 11% of the market. In markets with only one season of advertising [fall or winter], the market share reached about 16%, and where advertising was run for two seasons [fall and winter] Teflon' market share reached 27%." The article also noted that "purchases were significantly higher in markets ex posed to a high level of advertising in both fall and winter than they were in markets exposed to a high level of advertising in either the fall or winter tests alone." The du Pont researchers also said that "the national introduction of the product in the fall will require at least 10 daytime TV spots a week during the fall season and seven or more spots during the winter or the equivalent season, if a profitable level of sales is to be achieved." In another article in the September Journal, Lawrence G. Corey and Richard M. Doub of Needham, Louis & Brorby report on tests of the recognition method of measuring awareness of radio commercials by telephone. They concluded the method wasn't too satisfactory, thought a better one would combine the "recognition" and the "recall" techniques. Such a system has been developed for print advertising, and the authors said they were working on adapting it for use in studying radio commercials. in m lc r } How do agencies figure their commissions? 'PACKAGE PRICES' COMPLICATE THE SITUATION When television time and talent costs are commissionable at different rates, how do you figure agency commission on a package price? This question was cited last week as an example of why advertisers and their agencies should draw up and occasionally update detailed agreements covering their relationship. Out of 109 agency-client agreements submitted to the Association of National Advertisers as part of a study, however, not one specified the answer. Frank Harvey, manager of advertising controls for General Foods and chairman of ANA's advertising administrative control committee, reported on the ANA study last Thursday at a two day ANA administration and cost-control workshop at Princeton, N. J. Mr. Harvey said: "The circumstances affecting the provisions of an agency agreement do not stand still. Agency services change in response to changing conditions and advertisers' demands, which, in turn, require policy revisions and amendments. "For example, when buying network TV shows, the practice is becoming more prevalent for the networks and stations to have one price that covers both time and talent. Since many advertisers pay their agencies different amounts of commission on time and talent — 17.65% on net time cost and only 15% on net talent cost — the one U m i jjfo i ioi ■ufi .ie: lis ; f Study shows rise in pretested campaigns A small but increasing number of companies are coming to recognize the importance of pretesting advertising campaigns and are beginning to demand more complex advance analysis from their advertising agencies. A study released last week by the National Industrial Conference Board titled "Pretesting Advertising," reveals this new emphasis of advertisers and gives detailed analysis of various pretest techniques. The 214-page book is based on research done over a two-year period in the U. S. and Canada on agencies, advertisers and research firms and is directed at pretest research methodology. The NICB report is the second of a four-part examination of methods used in determining advertising effectiveness. The study was co-authored by Dr. Harry Deane Wolfe, University of Wisconsin, and G. Clark Thompson, Stephen H. Greenberg and James K. Brown, division of business practices, NICB. According to the report, many ads go untested although bigger agencies generally pretest according to standard methods on major accounts. The majority of advertisers, says the report, consider pretesting to be exclusively the responsibility of the agency, but that in small agencies pretesting is the exception rather than the rule. Specific applications of pretest methods are analyzed in 105 "case study" briefs, each one explaining information sought, research method, pretesting procedure and appraisal of the procedure. "Pretesting Advertising" is available at NICB, 845 3d Avenue, New York at $5 a copy to NICB associates and $25 to nonassociates. 50 (BROADCAST ADVERTISING) BROADCASTING, September 30, 1963