Motion Picture News (Jul-Aug 1916)

July 22, 1916 MOTION PICTURE NEWS 393 his curiosity, or his personal vanity. They carry the personal appeal, either because they are by or about some picture personahty he is interested in, or because they open the way for him to find out somthing he wants to know. And this stinging of his curiosity will certainly not keep him away from the picture theatre. On the contrary, it will give him an additional reason for visiting it. The instant you introduce the personal equation in advertising you have got hold of a highly sensitized magnet, whose pulling power is tremendous, if used aright. But, again, this is not all. The house organ may contain all these various departments, and still fail to be effective. It must carry the personal appeal one step further by making the patron feel that the pictures shown by the exhibitor are his kind of pictures. The exhibitor must search for something new in the advertising of his wares — each one of them. And certainly he cannot do this unless, as we have said over and over again, he makes every picture a special case, to be advertised individually, and for what it is worth in itself. The reason for this is perfectly evident : people no longer go to see pictures just because they are pictures. They are rapidly ceasing to go to see certain stars, real or near, unless they know something about the story in which the star appears. The house organ which confines itself to the description of each star as " wonderful." and each picture as a world-beater, misses fire. Exaggeration is a boomerang every time, and the exhibitor who understands that he must establish his theatre, or keep it established as a house of quality, avoids such boomerangic statements. The evolution of the house organ is slowly but certainl} away from circus methods. It is one of the most hopeful signs in the industry. A few exhibitors have blazed a trail apart from the " movie " idea, which has long been the curse of this business. Others are following, and if we take up a consideration of the trend in the house organ field we see at once these signs of improvement. There are but two classes of house organs — " movie " and photoplay. The first may be dismissed as belonging to the old order, which will have to go— is going fast. The other class is issued by exhibitors of photoplays. Their house organs are organs of the photoplay, whether they are two page circulars or sixteen page magazines. Size is no criterion of merit, any more than length is a guarantee of worth on the screen. The essential thing is henest, intelligent advertising, presented in as attractive a way as possible, but still honest and still intelligent. Each Exhibitor Must Work Out His Problems The individual exhibitor has his own problems to work out. Only he knows precisely what sort of advertising is most effective in his town. But no town is too small to permit the introduction of the photoplay idea, in the house organ, as well as in the conduct of the theatre itself. And in the larger cities there is still less excuse for cheap advertising methods. The most interesting development in house organ style during the last few months is the adoption of the newspaper form by an increasing number of exhibitor publications. Not only is this form more elastic than the old program — modeled after the legitimate theatre handbill or circular — but it permits the use of a far greater amount of type and at the same time secures proper display, both of type and of cuts. More important even, it enables the exhibitor to present his publicity in news form, with headlines that capture attention, and in a dress at once arresting and readable. The adoption of this form also opens the way for the exhibitor to make his house organ self sustaining, because the form permits him to run local commercial advertisements, without marring the appearance or effectiveness of the whole. I """ """"""" ' ' " ' " ' " ' ' "' ' " ' i I Fifteen Newspaper House Organs | There are probably fifteen newspaper house organs in existence now; there will be more from time to time, as the exhibitor comes to recognize that in the advertising of pictures through the printed word, news and advertising merge. They are really the same thing in this case. How successfully the newspaper idea can be exploited in the house organ can be seen from a glance at Stage and Screen, published by the Connellan Amusement Company, Bath, Maine. The Swanson Circuit News, Salt Lake City. The Empress News, Owensboro, Ky. These three, in typography, general lay-out and newsiness are thoroughly representative of what may be called the new idea in house organ publication. No review of the house organ field would be complete without reference to the magazine style, which unquestionably will always have its place because it is most effective in certain communities. At the head of the list we have no hesitation in placing The Majestic Monthly, of Columbus, Ohio, to which we have devoted considerable space the past year. It is a magazine which combines refinement and " punch " to an unusual degree, and typographically, stands above any house organ we have seen. There are other excellent exhibitor magazines, all of which hold to the feature style in presenting their matter: Movieland, issued by the Hulsey string of theatres in Texas; the Strand, Milwaukee; and the various uniform organs issued by the Rowland and Clark theatres, Pittsburgh. These are only a few of a long Hst, but we name them because they seem to us to be the best representatives of their class. How to Gain Patronage with Newspaper Advertising By William Walker Hines ; ' Advertising Division, Paramount Pictures Corporation ALL exhibitor newspaper advertising may be divided into two classes: First — Advertising aimed solely to increase the box office receipts of the photoplay or photoplays advertised to be shown at Blank's theatre. Second— Advertising aimed to not only increase the box office receipts of the photoplay or photoplays advertised, but at once to serve this purpose and to impress the reader with the consistent quality of the offerings at Smith's, and of the fact that Smith's theatre is the best place in town to spend an evening. SMUiuuiMiiiiuiiiiimtiiiHiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiimuiiiuiiiiiiiiiijtiiuiiiitniiniiiuii.iii iiiiNiiiiiiNiHiiiimiiiiHtuiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiimiiiainiitiiL: I People Interested if You Tell What You Have I The aim of the exhibitor is to build up a steadily profitable business. Therefore, the second method of advertising is the direct m.ethod, and the first the indirect. The desired result, steadily profitable business, may be achieved by either method; but the second, or direct method, is the least expensive in time and hence in money. The average exhibitor will say, " People are interested in the photoplays I show them and they are interested in the actors and actresses who appear in those photoplays, but they are not interested in my theatre." And that is just where the average exhibitor makes his big mistake. People will be interested in your theatre as a theatre, and in your management of the theatre if you tell them about that theatre and that management. Some of the best and most progressive managers of the whole country make it a rule that in every one of their advertisements a mention is made of some good point of the theatre as a theatre or of the management as a management. Courtesy, projection, music, ventilation, afford inexhaustible topics for talks addressed to prospective patrons, and the shrewd exhibitor makes his talks convey the impression that there is nothing too good for the public and that he was the first man to find this out. So with the advertisement of the brand of pictures that you play. Hundreds of thousands have been spent by producing and distributing companies in advertising brands of motion pictures, and the shrewd advertisers among the exhibitors have been quick