Publix Opinion (Nov 29, 1929)

3 | ; BAIS SpE TE OR RN I SS ae i a eal ra ee ee SS = — a TIENEN BIE ED austin RTA ater cates coe oe ——— = 4 STUDENT oak calimclh lin baxter BARRY SPEAKS TO CLASS ON ADVERTISING “Selling is the guts of showmanship,” declared Jack Barry, director of personnel, in a talk before the men of the Manager’s Training School that opened the advertising course, “and advertising is selling!”’ : ; Starting in the sixth week of the course, the work on exploitation and advertising will run for five weeks, a sufficient indication of the importance which, it is felt by Elmer Levine, head of the school, the subject deserves. “The manager of a 1,000 seat house,” Mr. Barry explained, “ean make 1,825,000 sales every year. He must sell to persons of all ages, and of various intellectual powers, he must sell his product for 365 days in the year an not just during any periodic selling season. His selling time on any one product is limited and once his program has changed he has lost for ever the opportunity to sell more of that commodity. The nature of his business is such that he cannot afford to decrease is efficiency for even the shortest while, because the resulting losses can never be made good.” Sales Resistance Among other things, Mr. Barry considered the various factors that make up. sales resistance and stressed certain basic principles of advertising. These principles appear elsewhere on this page. After Mr. Barry’s talk, the question of lobbies was taken up. It was agreed that the function of a lobby is to make immediate ticket sales, sell the institution, and provide a means for supplementing other advertising. Type of patronage, the policy of the house, and architectural background must be considered in the preparation of all displays. From time to time the effectiveness of the lobby should be checked by actually taking account of the people that pass in an hour, those who notice displays but do not read them, those who read but do not buy tickets, how many read and go into the show, what comments are made. Later in the day, type and type faces were explained by Mr. McCambridge, a representative of the Hanff-Metzger advertising agency. Examples of various faces were shown through a stereopticon, and the considerations governing the use of each were discussed. Engraving Talk On Tuesday, a lecture on photoengraving was given by Mr. Grossbeck of the Walker Engraving Company. The differences between line-cuts, half-tones, etchings, lithographs, etc., were explained and the steps taken in their manufacture were given in detail. In the afternoon, the plant of the Walker Company was visited and the men had an opportunity to see the processes they had heard about. The following day the students visiteé the Supreme Ad Service, an in the and here the mechanical aspects of typography A visit to the National Electrotype Company in the afternoon made clear the purpose and the manufacture of electro organization specializing setting of type, were observed. types. The remainder of the week was copy. There was a brief talk on methods of properly computing the spacing devoted to layouts and of copy within a definite type area how to indicate, to read proof. In the afternoon Mr. L. S. Reese in charge of laydiscussed out at Hanff-Metzger’s, the ways of securing various ef fects through different designs of type and illustrations. Some Dimmer Evils rated capacity as the load you are going to control. higher than the load, the light will not be dimmed out entirely and changes in prightnéss will be by means of a layout, what is wanted, and how PUBLIX OPINION, WEEK OF NOVEMBER 297n, 1929 MANAGERS TAKE UP ESTIMATING SIZE OF SIGN LETTERS MAKE YOUR ADS SELL! The following principles were listed by Mr. Barry in a talk on advertising before the manager’s school. 14. Get the attention of your prospect. 2. Interest and convince the prospect. 3. Be sure that your ad moves to sales. : 4. Always consider the feminine angle. Women are responsible for the greatest proportion of movie patronage. 5. Always consider the mental age of your readers. Be simple in your expressions and elemental in your appeals. 6. Establish a reputation for reliable advertising. This does not mean that you must rate the picture for your patrons, but avoid any statement which, your readers will find to be untrue. 7. Now that sound has been fully accepted, sell the voices of your stars just as faces and figures were sold in the past, 8. There is a difference between announcing and, selling. Don’t just announce. Sell! Interior signs are part of the service and courtesy that have | been developed between the theatre and the patron. Have such signs wherever they can be useful in guiding patrons or in facilitating inside traffic. There is a definite formula for the size of letters in signs. Whether your signs are self made or purchased make sure that they conform to the following. The greatest viewing distance in feet divided by thirty-six will give the height of a. letter in inches. For a viewing distance of 72 feet, for instance, a minimum || height of two inches per letter |would be necessary. The width of a letter should be 60 per cent of the height while the space between letters should be 40 per cent of the height. The color of the letters should contrast with the switch off the current. Current which has been cut out by the dimmer but has not been cut out of the ,circuit registers on the meter. and Their Remedies Choose a dimmer of the same should be placed at right angles to the traffic. , Accumulation of Dirt capacity s ‘. ich Means Loss of Light On: the average there is a 20% loss in the efficiency of light equipment in a month because of the accumulation of dust and dirt | on lamps and reflector surfaces. Wash and clean all lamps once every three months. Have them wiped with a damp ————————————— cloth once every month. Dry wiping is not very effective and costs almost as much as damp cloth wiping. Do not resort to it. Every consumer pays for quan tity of light. Keeping lamps clean is a greater economy than When dimmer sudden instead of eradual. If the dimmer is of lower capacity than the load it is compelled to carry, the cut out will occur too rapidly and the dimmer will be burned out in time. After dimming out lights, ceive. Publix Entertainment Specials are making a great stir in the West. Wherever they appear, vast crowds collect and they are told about the unrivalled excellence of Paramount pictures and Publix Theatres. The lower photograph shows the sound train at the Scottish Rite Hospital For Crippled Children, Dallas, Texas. In the upper photograph, the train is shown visiting the Old Folks Home in Omaha. The Mayor of Omaha and the Governor of Nebraska both welcomed the Publix Special and each had a long ride through the streets of Omaha. Specimens of newspaper publicity in’ Dallas and Omaha are shown above the photographs. |THOUSANDS WITNESSE D PARADE OF THE PUBLIX | ENTERTAINMENT SPECIAL, ie pity ve ah Miniature Transcontinental SPECIAL and Lafayett Flyer Rounding the c c # Btreet at tho Start of the Trip. ne Avenue aluculated to focus 2 ' atte) on the Publix ‘Theaters Corp shy] “iy, officials. aftern vicinity, | ra ‘ys continental £1 a trans(un, id loud the uental flyer, perfected even: to] progr pilisithiges ey eens e with smoke emitting, So Pend Will be given. y stay here smokestack and bell ringing | towne.) *"¢ SUrtounding eee stop" «the, ich 3s wht A LANs, Jocomar re it pare cr sy “yatey. waddy jocal. —— aa RY dest romodl® “May £ jal, 3% aday PY, ealerss aioment, SPtnenected vd aay will SEE a de he Palaces Melba i = a leaving the Normal school at 11.30 | S°e? Lafayette eaeet He Te wi sa ie Seceral and lent thea~ ated in.the parade, Pub. rode on the ib special models form. ‘These train’s Faeroe, plate Official: by Mayor Geor; ly Welcomed ev. B RY CONDITIO: NDITION G Fees eis can ’ 4 surroundings while the sign itself | paying for light you do not re ane SQUND TRAIN INVADES THE WEST! SELLING wn ; PRT CN l = a | THE ELECT | = By Ed McNamee Es Es Here is brief dissertation for OUR speculation On certain crusaders today; Astronomical ravers and printingpress pavers Who've built up a new Milky Way. Now a movie star’s rising needs most advertising, Except—well, perhaps now and hen; But the genii of starlet is really the varlet Who lives in an old fountain pen. So cast no aspersions upon the | diversions ‘ Of the publicity bunch. With happy capacity and perspicacity They deliver the punch. Some stars that are haughty, conceited and naughty, And worth a Gargantuan sneeze Were sure enough “shooshed” until somebody pushed Them up on a typewriter’s keys. There have been productions that raised obstructions— A salesrnan de luxe eouldn’t sell. That were saved from derision and legal collision, By ads that outdistanced the smell, So producers don’t eschew ‘em, directors ne’er boo ‘em. “God bless ’ems” their constant refrain. The female stars love ‘em, there’s no : one above ’em. This proud protoplasm of brain. SCHMIDT TAKES _ POST AT DETROIT Art Schmidt, who for thret years has been principal aid t Oscar Doob as director of Advet: tising and Publicity for the Pub lix-Kunsky operations in Detroit, was given charge of the entire department when Mr. Doob ré signed a few weeks ago. Mr. Schmidt, beside being 3 noted newspaper writer, has had wide experience as a sales exect: tive, in addition to intimate know! edge of the theatre. Lou Smith, formerly with United Artists, it Brooklyn, has been added to th Detroit department. Statue Illumination Requires Much Care Be careful in illuminatinf statuary that lights from at leas two directions strike the objec Lights should be of different if tensity so that certain shadow will predominate but will not bi sharp. Different eolored light can be used effectively, for & ample blue and green, amber all violet, red and blue. 4 In all decorative work, conce the light source. Never perm the light to be annoying or to il \terfere with the proper darknes for picture projection. Exit lights should be made Ii harmonize with the house decor tions in so far as local ordinant permit. Coves and _ niches decoratt with gold leaf reflect all cold properly. Blue and green have! muddy appearance. Yellow, re and orange can be used with gol results. High Wattage Lamps Should Not be Dipp¢ It is impracticable to dip | and higher wattage lamps becatl such lamps are generally & filled and the dip would burn rapidly. Using clear-glass and daylig lamps in an outdoor sign W cause the sign to appear black: the day time. Gas filled lamps have a te dency to break when hit by ra drops and hence, should not \ used in outdoor displays with the protective devices. ‘ In displays depending on \ optical illusion of motion, incerg' ing the light will slow down apparent motion while decreas the light will seem to quicken action.