Motion Picture News (Jul-Oct 1914)

When You See It In ^'The 'News'''' It's NEWS The MOTION PICTURE NEWS The Fastest == Growing Picture Journal Tel. 7650 Bryant No. 220 West Forty-Second Street New Tork City ''The Exhibitor's Ivledium of Communication with His Fellow Showman ' \'olume X September 12, 1914 Number 10 Sy4:tem in Ad*VeriUing iHE "Paramount two-page spread Pictures'' advertisement, a in the last issue of The ^loTiox Picture Xews, is a most interesting piece of publicity. It brings to the writer's mind a discussion that arose nearly a year ago, when this publication made the editorial prophecy that in 1914 several big advertising campaigns would be launched introducing trademarked pictures directly to the public. **TT7HAT, then, will your publication do?" was the ^ ^ question asked by several. "In reaching the public, mediums of wide and popular circulation will be used. Won't this eliminate the picture trade journal, then, as an advertising medium?" * * * O X the contrary,'' was the reply. "Advertising to the pubUc will increase the usefulness of the trade paper; for the latter will be employed to tell the exhibitor hozu the public is being reached through general mediums and why he should book those pictures for which a public demand is being created. "np HE closer such a journal is to the exhibitor, and J the wider its exhibitor circulation the more necessar} and valuable will be its function in such a comprehensive campaign. "It will be one of the cogs in a complete chain of advertising machinery, systematically designed to market pictures to the public and through the exhibitor." * * * THE "Paramount Picture" advertisement is just such an advertising cog. It is a necessary part of a well-planned, completely arranged selling system — one that cannot help be successful. It gives to a trade paper an opportunity to use its fullest power. npHE advertisement in itself is well v.-orthy of close study. It illustrates, first, the opening gun of the compaign, — an imposing spread in the "Saturday Evening Post." Even this reproduction can be read. The two other illustrations are equally important. One is the "'Paramount Pictures" trademark, the S3"mbol which this advertising will make familiar to the public eye, so that people v.'ill know what it means when they see it at the theatre front. The other is the Paramount poster to appear on the billboards in five hundred cities. T T will be noted that these two important illustrations A also appear in the "Post" advertisement. Again, it will be noted that the six portraits which head the "Post" spread also head the big poster. In this way the whole campaign is "tied up," connected, made doubly strong in effect. FIRST, you will read the whole story of Paramount Pictures in the "Post," at your leisure, your interest being particularly excited by the human note introduced through the personalities who produced the pictures. Then, later, you will see, as you travel, the Paramount posters, recognizing the same personalities, and remembering also that you saw an illustration of this very same poster in the advertisement. That will bring back to your mind the story of "Paramount Pictures," just as though the advertisement were repeated. ^, ^ TX this campaign, the "Post" reaches several millions of people and the posters more millions. The tradejournal only reaches several thousand readers. ^ ^ ^ BUT where the millions spend dimes and quarters each in admissions, the trade-journal readers spend very heavily in proportion for bookings. They buy in gross lots for the public's piecemeal purchases. So the advertising rate in the trade-journal is much higher than that of the popular mediums — because of its greater purchasing power per reader. :^ ^ THE moral of which for the motion picture advertiser is : when you buy trade-journal circulation, be sure you are getting all and only trade circulation— not an inconsequential fraction of the millions who onlv spend dimes and quarters and can only be economically reached through general mediums. William A. Johnston.