Business screen magazine (1946)

P I he bill of sale! I ikcwisc, a cnuntcr-top lilni dlsl.i\ can be a powerful drawing card )! shoppers once they're in the reiil outlet — even attracting people /ho had no idea they'd be interested 1 your priidiicl. In a similar way, companies will e able to equip their salesmen lor lore effective customer calls with ^e super 8 film system. Just as in ne retail setting, the motion picture an "grab" the attention of the inustrial prospect, showing your iroduct in the most favorable light, omplete with color sound, and lovement — as well its with unflaging enthusiasm. This economical super 8 film can Iso be used to provide constant upating for your company sales staff o they arc thoroughly familiar with ew products and improvements in he line — whether their sales terri3ry is in the next county or 3.000 liles from the home office. onthly updates used Currently, I am meeting with repesentatives of a well-known com)any who want to send out monthly uper 8 film updates to their world ide sales forces. They reached their lecision after discovering that the egular printed "bulletin" they nailed to their people went largely inread. One salesman even admitted hat he had spilled coffee all over his atest "bulletin" and was unaware, or several days, of the significant lesign change that could have given lim a competitive edge with key :lients. In contrast, a cartridged super 8 ilm-display system not only stands jut in the salesman's incoming mail, 3ut also provides permanent protec ion for the film message inside. And lid you realize that you can mail Wi minutes of super 8 film (that's 3,600 color pictures! ) for 1 8 cents? The potential for super 8 film is dso emerging in another area: efcective field reporting. One example [hat comes immediately to mind is che continuing search by the major DJl companies to find and option land for service stations in key locations— for future development 5, 10, ven 20 years from now. With disturbing frequency, however, man igement has discovered that a field reporter's glowing description of 'gently rolling countryside" is, in MARCH, 1971 actuality, a parcel of wildly rugged terrain, unsuitable for the company's use. Now, the field men are being equipped with simple, easy-to-use super 8 movie cameras. They photograph a pnispective site from every angle and then mail this objective, pictorial report hack to the iionie office. Food company values The same approach is proving valuable for food companies, and others, who find they can best assess the impact of the retail display of the competitor's new packaging through the panorama of super 8 film, shot on-location. (In contrast to the field rep's three-page, hastily written memo, plus one sample, slightly crushed, of a torn-off label.) Similarly, a store manager's ingenious use of a company's own promotion materials, captured on super 8 film, can be reproduced and sent out to all the non-competing territories for the firm's salesmen to view and then to show to their own local retailers. Clearly, the super 8 film production-and-display system holds tremendous promise in meeting business communications needs, whether a company has its own in-plant motion-picture capability or hires a professional outside production service. A businessman can get started today in film with a silent super 8 camera that costs under $30 and shoot good, color, motion pictures. He can put together a basic production and sound recording system in super 8 for under $700, especially if only one or two prints of the finished film are required. (Basic equipment might include Kodak's Instamatic Sound 8 projector and one of a long list of cameras.) For multiple release prints, a super 8 camera film can be enlarged to 16mm with fine results — and the 16mm prints run off in unlimited quantities. By the same token, a motion picture shot on 16mm can be reduced to super 8 if a company wants one or two prints to mail out to regional offices at minimum cost. And it's compatible The point is that while 16nnn will remain the universal standard for film in the foreseeable future, the building blocks for super 8 lilm production are compatible witii those of 16mm. In fact, you may be pleasantly surprised at the many things that film can do for you . . . like the travel company that consulted with us and is now planning to equip more than 1,100 local agencies with projectors and a growing super 8 film library. The objective: to .\liow prospective travelers a mini-film of a safari in Africa, or a gondola trip through Venice, or surfing in Miami Beach — you name it. As we have said before: Film ;.v the nearest thing to being there and can many times be iiuich more exciting. Closed circuit use Another novel approach will begin soon with several major hotel chains that have their own closedcircuit TV system in each room. Instead of the usual dog-eared brochure on the bureau, they will offer guests a visual preview of attractions in the city and in the hotel itself by means of a continuous-running super 8 film on a designated TV channel. On the drawing boards, too, are film-display systems that allow the viewer to record his question or request, right on the film sound track, which is engineered so that there's no chance of erasing the company's prepared narration. There's also the existence of "the little black box" that attaches to the home TV set and enables the owner to drop in cartridged super 8 films and see them on his TV screen. In fact, a prototype model has already been introduced in Europe. That same cartridge of film, incidentally, clui also be projected onto a large wall screen, offering the viewer almost unlimited display possibilities. And there's even talk of "disposable" super 8 film, mailed as a direct sales promotion to the householders in an area to introduce a new product or service— much as product samples arrive in the mailbox today at your home and business. Potential unlimited Exciting, isn't it? And I've given you just a glimpse of what lies ahead when we speak of the potential of super 8 film in every aspect of business operations. You have a new and powerful tool at your command — and what your company does with film in the future is limited only by your imagination and enthusia.sm. 19