Building theatre patronage : management and merchandising (1927)

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22 Building Theatre Patronage prevalent. Co-ooperative advertising with national manufacturers is arranged on a national basis, so that local retailers have available from their own manufacturers dealer helps that will make the tie-up with the local theatre more effective. Distributors supply advertising materials for theatres in a variety and with a degree of excellence that was hitherto never dreamed of. Newspaper advertising for motion picture theatres is closer to the standards generally recognized by other businesses. Proof of the striking improvement is evident from a comparison between the amusement page of five years ago and that of today. The national advertising of producers in the national magazines is of such a high grade, that theatres are benefited considerably by their association with it. Fan magazines have reached a tremendous circulation, and their issues are merchandising motion picture entertainment with a wholesale appeal. Theatre lobbies look less like circus side-shows and more like the show windows of permanent institutions. Amusement page stories are losing the tone of bombast and exaggeration. Reliability in advertising is becoming more and more prevalent. The Institution. But the most striking change that is now under way is the emphasis placed on advertising the theatre as an institution. Formerly the emphasis was given almost entirely to the program. The attempt was made to attract as many patrons as possible for a particular program with little thought to permanent patronage. It is now generally realized that if patronage is built on the program only, when the program changes, little remains as the result of the advertising expenditure. Besides, there is often very little to choose between two competitive programs, so it is apparent that the emphasis of the advertising should be placed on something else, namely, the theatre as an institution of entertainment. Exceptional photoplays cannot be expected regularly. There must be known values to attract patronage when the program is inferior. The habit of regular attendance at a theatre, irrespective of the feature photoplay on the program, is the aim of advertising now.