Motion Picture Herald (Nov-Dec 1946)

CIRCUITS TAKE INITIATIVE TO PUSH GIFT BOOK SALES Within a week or two, Christmas gift books and Thrift books will make their appearance. Each year an increasing number of theatre circuits have been concentrating special effort on the promotion of these gift books, which are appropriate and convenient as gifts and assure the theatres of proportionate attendance by recipients. Among the pioneers in promoting the sale of thrift books are the Famous Players Canadian theatres. The gift books were first offered to the public in 1937. Response was immediate and overwhelming, and each succeeding year since then has seen a healthy increase in sales. Circuit managers receive a specially prepared manual which outlines an overall selling plan. All circuit employees receive a commission on every ticket they sell. A further incentive is offered in cash prizes which are awarded to employees selling the largest amount of books in their respective areas. Managers do not participate in direct sales commissions, but are awarded full credit for their theatres' collective sales through a sharing plan based on receipts and profits over the year. Bonus Is the Incentive The direct sales commissions and prizes which are offered to theatre employees have had the miraculous effect of being directly responsible for the circuit's great increase in cumulative sales since their introduction/ The employees, in their spare time, use many novel sales plans which they themselves devise. One doorman uses a direct mail list by which he increases his individual commissions each year. The employees do a tremendous job of This clever Gift Book sales counter directly opposite the entrance door of the Strand theatre. Vancouver, B. C, caught the eye ot every patron as they entered the theatre. The display was well illuminated and various members of the staff took turns in selling and answering the various questions with reference to Famous Players' Gift Books. selling books in wholesale quantities through tieups with stores and business concerns. Many merchants have found it advantageous to offer gift books as prizes to employees who attain specific sales goals during the Christmas buying season. Many concerns suggest that employees purchase tickets as appropriate gifts. Newspapers have used the gift books for prizes to newsboys who bring in a certain number of new subscriptions. Insurance companies and other organizations with a large personnel are found to be good prospects. Hospitals are an excellent source of disposing of many books. Doctors find them handy and invaluable as gifts to nurses and internes. Coal companies in past years have presented gift books to customers who submit orders during specified periods. RKO Managers Promote Sales Theatre managers have found that personal contact has resulted in large quantity sales. Trailers, newspaper advertisements, lobby displays and many special promotions are engaged in to enhance sales among regular theatre patrons. The RKO circuit, mainly concentrated in HERE'S HOW TO DO IT Here are some pointers on selling tickets suggested by the Famous Players Canadian circuit in its manual on Christmas Gift Books: 1. The theatre whose manager holds a staff organization meeting and lines up his selling teams early is the theatre that tops the list in sales. 2. Group sales, though harder to make, are worth the extra effort in commissions. Records show an increasing number of employees have been able to sell business firms as many as a hundred books at a time. 3. The biggest sales are made by personal effort — not to patrons who request books at the theatre box offices. 4. Direct mail promotion in the form of circular letters to the theatres' mailing lists have proven most effective in most situations. 5. Radio spot announcements during Christmas week have done much to stimulate the sale of tickets to last-minute buyers. 6. Mobile box offices were responsible for many theatre sales last year. BUT, ABOVE ALL — Personal contacts made by employees of the theatres were the most important factor in making sales. At a charity baxaar in the Civic Auditorium, Winnipeg, hundreds of books of Famous Players' tickets were bought as lucky number prizes. The tieup was made by assistant manager Menzies of the Capitol in Winnipeg. He's seen behind the counter selling chances on the tickets. the .New York metropolitan area with scattered operations throughout the country, is another organization which pushes its sale of Christmas gift ticket books. Each year a manual is prepared at the circuit's home office by the advertising and publicity department which is aimed at helping the theatre manager increase the sale of tickets. The manual includes such implements as layouts for special displays, copy for trailers, special heralds and circulars which include an order blank for the convenience of patrons. Employees have been enlisted in past years to assist in the sale of tickets, with prizes offered to the employee having the greatest individual sales in each theatre. RKO managers have been successful in having the mayor and other important officials photographed as the first purchasers of tickets. These have likewise been successfully planted in local newspapers. Other theatre men have made speeches from the stage, explaining how handy the books are as gifts. Savings Is Stressed The subject of savings in the family entertainment budget is also stressed in these talks. In many of the theatres a special box-office is set up for the sale of tickets during peak hours. All advance lobby panels carry a special note plugging the gift books. Many RKO managers have kept files listing names and addresses of patrons who have purchased tickets during previous years, and follow-up letters are sent to these people. At special kiddie shows, children have been informed that the books make ideal Christmas presents for parents. All mail leaving the theatre is rubber-stamped with copy suggesting the Christmas books as gifts. Special ad slugs are included with the theatre's regular newspaper copy. In past years, Fox West Coast theatres have conducted intensive campaigns over a (Continued on page 70) MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE, NOVEMBER 23, 1946 67