NAB reports (Jan-Dec 1937)

tion. Through personal force, he organized and supervised sec¬ tional meetings and personally staged and conducted the First Annual Convention of the Sales Managers Division. He accom¬ plished tasks that would have seemed impossible to a hundred other men. With the Sales Managers Division a reality, Mr. Lottridge proceeded to appoint an Executive Committee consist¬ ing of: John New, WTAR, Norfolk, Virginia J. Leslie Fox, KMBC, Kansas City, Missouri Hale Bondurant, WHO, Des Moines, Iowa Hugh Feltis, KOMO-KJR, Seattle, Washington Edward Allen, WLVA, Lynchburg, Virginia Lew Avery, WGR, Buffalo, New York He then appointed an Advisory Committee constiting of: Clark Luther, WOC, Davenport, Iowa C. T. Hagman, WTCN, Minneapolis, Minnesota Walter J. Rothschild, WTAD, Quincy, Illinois Mort C. Watters, WCHS-WPAR, Charleston, W. Va. Jack O. Gross, KWKH, Shreveport, La Humboldt J. Greig, KFBK, Sacramento, Cal. E. Y. Flanigan, WSPD, Toledo, Ohio Wm. R. Cline, WLS, Chicago, Illinois Mr. Lottridge finally appointed the following Section Chair¬ men to organize and promote sectional meetings: Mallory Chamberlin, WMC-WNBR, Memphis, Tenn. Craig Lawrence, KSO, Des Moines, Iowa D. H. Vincent, KSL, Salt Lake City, Utah E. Y. Flanigan, WSPD, Toledo, Ohio Jack O. Gross, KWKH, Shreveport, La. Hugh M. Feltis, KOMO-KJR, Seattle, Washington Soon after these appointments had been made and the summer vacation period past, a meeting of the two committees and the section chairmen was held here at Hotel Sherman on October 15, 1936. In a business-packed one-day session, the organization of the sectional meetings was perfected and the outline of the First Annual Convention drawn up. There was real enthusiasm for the new fields ahead on the part of all who attended. During the course of that meeting we reviewed and crystallized the objectives of the Sales Managers Division. Here are those objectives: first, to promote the letter and spirit of the Communications Act of 1934. To assist in the commercial development of broadcast advertising to the end that it will serve public interest, conven¬ ience and necessity. This may sound like a paradox. It isn’t. A broadcasting station is better known by the commercial adver¬ tising it carries than by the number of times its license has been renewed. Second, to serve the best interests of the management of the station by whom the sales manager is employed. To de¬ velop the commercial side of broadcasting on a constructive basis. To build confidence in broadcast advertising through clean sales¬ manship. To keep selling costs at a reasonable figure. Third, to serve clients and advertising agencies to the end that there shall be increasing confidence in broadcast advertising and in the per¬ sonnel who sell, prepare, produce and present advertising mes¬ sages in this most effective of media. This triple responsibility has been the guide to the inclusion or exclusion of material at the various sectional meetings, and at the First National Convention. It has been the measuring stick for numerous discussions at those meetings. From the first, Mr. Lottridge felt that a full, free and frank discussion of our mutual problems would best be served by closed meetings. The rest of us readily fell in line with this suggestion. With a single, unfortunate exception, this policy has been rigidly adhered to. The purpose is obvious: What person would confess his sins on a “Man-in-the-street” broadcast? Another point that became a fixed policy in all meetings was that every sales manager present must say something about one or another of the topics un¬ der discussion. That frequent quotation from Gray’s Elegy: “Full many a gem of purest ray serene the dark unfathom’d caves of ocean bear” could never be said of a sales manager who attended one of these meetings. These two policies worked admirably within the Sales Managers Division. From the outset we called a spade a spade, and when necessary used one to dig with. From the earliest committee meetings, it became apparent that much misinformation and some misunderstandings existed in the minds of individual sales managers. How, then, could we accom¬ plish any of the objectives we had set out so nobly to attain? That was the real problem. It has been by no means met and conquered. We do feel that much has been accomplished. Let me review the sectional meetings and the First Annual Convention. Let me add the points on which a high degree of unanimity of opinion exists, and I’ll leave it to you to weigh the results. Energetic Jack Gross of KWKH, Shreveport, Louisiana, almost beat the gun with a fast-moving South Central Section meeting at the Oklahoma Biltmore Hotel in Oklahoma City on Monday, November 9, 1936. The meeting got under way a few minutes after nine o’clock and was still going strong after 6:00 o’clock. That’s the way these sales managers work. In this brief review of the various sectional meetings, I shall omit reference to topics that were more fully and completely discussed at the First Annual Convention. The South Central Section meeting opened with a discussion of merchandising. The manager of a very successful station empha¬ sized the importance of merchandising in the maintenance of a single rate, pointing out that his merchandising costs ran only 2 1/2% to 3% compared to the usual rate differential of 15% to 30%. After an extended discussion of merchandising, pre-announcements and publicity, it appeared to be the consensus of opinion that stations should do a certain amount of merchandising, but should be paid for anything which actually costs the station money. Sentiment was unanimous for standardized frequency or quantity discounts. Mr. James Andrews, Advertising Manager of McEwen-Halliburton Company, one of Oklahoma City’s largest department stores, dis¬ cussed the use of broadcast advertising by retail accounts from the standpoint of a large buyer of radio time. This subject will be mentioned more fully later. At this meeting the single rate idea found many adherents and warm support. Twenty-four sales managers participated in these discussions. Mr. Craig Lawrence of the Iowa Broadcasting System presided at the meeting of the North Central Section here in Hotel Sherman on Tuesday, November 10, 1936. Considerable time was devoted to a discussion of the control and compensation of salesmen. Var¬ ious speakers brought out thought-provoking points in connection with these problems. Here it was generally agreed that the com¬ mission form of compensation provides the greatest business stimulation and the most economical sales operation. A show of hands disclosed that commissions ranging from 12j^% to 25% were paid local salesmen, with the vast majority paying from 15% to 25%. Opinion on dual versus single rate was about evenly divided. So, too, was opinion on merchandising. This meeting went on record as unanimously favoring an effort to standardize frequency or quantity discounts. The Northeastern Sectional meeting was also held on Tuesday, November 10, 1936. This meeting took place at the Park Central Hotel in New York City, and was presided over by E. Y. Flanigan of WSPD, Toledo, Ohio. The meeting opened with a discussion of national non-network sales problems. A brief discussion brought out the fact that a station should equip its national representatives with even more facts, figures and fancies than it does the local salesmen. An exposition of smart merchandising by one station served to emphasize the wide variation in thinking on this phase of our business that exists on the part of sales managers generally. An exceedingly interesting analysis of successful local retail selling was presented by Harry Trenner of WNBF, Binghamton, New York. A heated discussion of compensation for local salesmen disclosed the fact that an overwhelming majority of the stations represented at this meeting paid 15% or more commission, while only a minor¬ ity paid less than 15% commission or compensated their salesmen on a salary basis. The last half of the afternoon session at this meet¬ ing was devoted to an exchange of successful commercial program ideas. This feature proved exceedingly valuable, and many smart plans were freely passed along. I know of three or four sales mana¬ gers who returned home and promptly sold an idea they carried away from this meeting. Approximately fifty enthusiastic sales managers spent the entire day from 9:30 until after 6:00 o’clock. The Pacific Section meeting was held at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco on Friday, November 20, 1936. Hugh M. Feltis of KOMO and KJR, Seattle, Washington, presided. On the sub¬ ject of granting frequency or quantity discounts from the begin¬ ning of the contract or retroactively as earned, opinion was so divided that it was felt to be a matter for individual station decision. It was the consensus, however, that an advertiser was entitled to whatever frequency or quantity discount was earned through the combination of service for several products, even though those products were advertising through different adver¬ tising agencies. Here, too, the subject of dual versus single rate was felt to be a local problem to be settled by the management of each station. It was generally felt that radio stations should guard against getting too deeply into merchandising, and should not reach the point where merchandising service is top-heavy. Agency recognition was thoroughly discussed at this meeting. Mr. L. W. McDowell, Secretary of the Southern California Asso 2459