Exhibitors Herald (Dec 1919)

EXHIBITORS HERALD i:;il!UI!llilll;llllll!ll!illlllli!!l! THE ADVANCE OF EXPLOITATION IN 1919 How the Exhibitor-Advertiser Has Become Vital Fa ctor in Motion Picture Industry By WILLIAM R. WEAVER Editor. "How to Advertise," EXHIBITORS HERALD. niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiwiiiiiiiiiiiuiiioiiiii: N 1919 the exhibitor advertiser became a figure to be reckoned with. He had existed before that, but in a half-hearted, desultory sort of way. He was just "one of the boys" in the big organization, ranking with the operator, the tickettaker and the head usher. He was told what the attractions for the month were to be, tossed a bundle of press books, informed of the limitations of the advertising budget and left to his own devices. If business was good the orchestra, the picture and the star were credited. If business slumped the advertising was looked to inquiringly. That all this should be radically changed in one year, to be superseded by a state of affairs such as exists, with the advertising receiving attention equalled only by that accorded the selection of pictures, is due to important developments which merit discussion. * * • "Better pictures" started it all. Improved productions cost producers more money. The exhibitor, in turn, had to pay higher rentals. The public, obviously, had to be persuaded to pay a bigger admission fee. The producer, selling to the exhibitor a necessity, was confronted with no great difficulty. The exhibitor had to buy. He found his task, that of raising admission prices, not so simple. The public wants to buy motion picture entertainment. But it is not, to them, an acknowledged necessity. They can get along without it. The advertiser's job was to convince them that they could not get along without it. He had to go further, had to make them believe that they wanted to see them so badly that they were willing to pay more for that privilege than they had ever paid before. * * » There was just one way to accomplish that end. He could not visit every patron personally. He had to advertise. The resultant improvement in motion picture advertising generally has been little short of phenomenal. This is most easily seen, perhaps, in the newspapers. Theatre advertising, in these days, has leaped from comparative obscurity to spotlight prominence. Newspapers which formerly buried theatre advertisements well back in the pages and amid a galaxy of patent medicine and safety-razor displays, have pulled them "up front," allowing them to "lead off" the advertising on the second or third page. One of the greatest obstacles which motion picture theatre advertising, a comparative infant, has been confronted with is in a large measure overcome by this shifting of position by newspapers. The physical shift is important in itself. The position gain is great. A book might be written upon that subject alone. * » * But more important, because its promise is unlimited, is the shift that took place before the physical change was made. That change transpired in the estimation of the editorial ranks of the nation. From the standing of the fly-bynight repertoire company playing a hazardous week in the city, the motion picture theatre has risen to the standard of the national bank, the post office and the city hall. It is an established fact that a fire in a motion picture theatre today gets more space on the front page of the newspaper ^tni(i»:>iuuin»Kunu»nunuiitnuK»n(aiK;» : n »t(Hci:iiiHniiit:imu»»iiu»»u nuiigillUUU "Keep Step!" 1 <J The year drawing to a i j close, with its undent' | | ably better and more ex j | pensive pictures, has wit | j nessed the rise of adver j | Using from the position j | of on exhibitorial side 1 |« line to an importance | | equaled only by program § | selection. § | q The "daily ad" is no \ | longer an "odd job" in % | the day's work. It is no j | longer scribbled upon the j | back of a letterhead and § | turned over to the discre § | tion of the printer. | <I Producers have im j | proved motion pictures 1 | in 1919. Exhibitors have § | improved motion picture j | advertising in keeping . 1 | Producers will see to the j | continued improvement § | of pictures in 1920. | *J The exhibitor must § | keep step! ^inniiiiiiiMi[iiiiiniHiiiii[uu[iii[iTnii!:iin[it!MintnuiiiiuMtniiBitJUmaiuniiimnHRBiiiiiiiUKnuu:iiiiii^S 89 than a similar accident in any of the institutions named. Why? Because the motion picture has taken precedence over these in the editorial estimation of news importance. The value of that change of standing is incalculable. It means greater publicity. And greater publicity means unlimited progress. The quality of the work has kept pace with its increasing size and improving position. From crudity which once made it the joke of newspaper men and other advertisers it has advanced to a standard which commands the respect of all. The responsibility for that advance must be fixed primarily upon the exhibitor. It is his money that has made it possible and his brains that have brought it about. * * * But the producers and distributors of the industry, those who supply the exhibitor with voluminous and valuable material for use in this connection must also be credited. They have done their work well. They have improved their output in 1919 as in no other year. They promise much for the future. Lobby decoration, toyed with before, but limited seriously during the war and the period immediately following it, has received serious consideration and is now widely and more intelligently practiced. There is still room for much improvement in this direction. But exhibitors are working upon the matter. And it is a demonstrated rule that the exhibitor achieves that toward which he devotes his time, work and money. Presentation, which is merely advertising carried into the theatre and up to the moment of delivering the picture, has made remarkable progress. Some of the outstanding events of the exhibitor-manager's year have been presentation features. * * * Perhaps the most notable thing achieved in this regard was the presentation used by D. W. Griffith during his exhibition of "Broken Blossoms" as a part of his repertoire. Nothing more effective, artistic and interesting from a trade angle has ever been accomplished. It was particularly fortunate that the picture should later be made available to the exhibitors of the nation. It made them go more deeply than ever before into presentation. Its stimulating influence is apparent on every hand. "Tie-ups," by which tradeism cooperative advertising of all varieties have come to be known, have attained great importance through extensive and careful experiment. Big pictures have been chiefly responsible for this progress. "Better Times." "Checkers" and "The Miracle Man" deserve special mention as productions whose influence will long be felt. * • * The efforts of motion picture producers that have resulted in the publication (Continued on Col. 3, next page)