Publix Opinion (Feb 7, 1930)

—— —=-— te ee ee ee ee ee eee ee —~_. TT OHIO CAMPAIGN INTENSIVE FOR ‘LOVE PARADE? The residents of Youngstown, Ohio, and outlying districts were “Love Parade’’ conscious for more than one week prior to the opening date on January 11, because of the intensive exploitation campaign employed by Manager S. S. Solomon and his Paramount Theatre staff. A figurative downpour of heralds, 24 sheets, rotogravure circulars, banners, flags, lobby cutouts, easels, co-operative ads, and window displays, was only overshadowed by the climactic stunt of the campaign—the reception of a Chevalier proxy by leading town officials and a contest in conjunction with the reception, in which various prizes were awarded for the best 500 word letters on an itinerary to be selected for the proxy. Listed below is the exploitation campaign employed by Manager Ss. 5. Solomon, who concentrated his plans on “playing up’”’ the magnitude of the production and the exceptional talent in the cast. Trailer Starts Campaign A sound trailer was shown ten days prior to opening date. Display copy was placed in the newspapers seven days. before the opening, followed by special .publi — city stories four days later. A co; operative ad, 7 columns by 18 inches, was paid for by lo Extra pub Ss. S. Solomon cal Phileo dealers. licity was obtained in the daily papers, which included write-ups, and three free cuts. Space was taken in four foreign newspapers for Friday and Saturday before opening. The art work, handled by the house staff, included: A replica of Broadway hits, placed in lobby, emphasized importance of ‘The Love Parade.” Large cut-outs above exit doors in lobby. Fanfare above box-office. Metallic cut-outs. Many flashy easels about lobby. For the opening, the entire marquee was decorated with American and French flags and streamers. Swinging signs were placed underneath marquee. Twelve art easels were placed at advantageous spots in city. Widespread -Billing The billing was as follows: Fifty stills in special frames were placed in store counters and in merchants’ windows. Complete window displays were fitted up in the Clark restaurant and Kress and McCrory, department stores. Standing frames, with stills, were displayed in music stores. All radio dealers had tie-in copy in windows and stores. Twenty 24-sheets were posted in Youngstown and ten 24-sheets in suburban towns, as an effective local Philco-Paramount-Love Parade tie-up. Five thousand rotogravure circulars were distributed in theatre, one week prior to opening. ‘‘Cheyalier’s’’ attendants also distributed the heralds. Special admission ticket, seen in layout, was designed to carry out the New York idea of “The Love Parade’’ opening. Proxy Is Smash Hit Chevalier’s proxy, built by house sign artist and clothed by a costumer, was the ‘big noise’ of the campaign. Two pretty French girls, who also spoke English, were hired to act as ‘‘Chevalier’s”’ escorts. The day before opening, Solomon and his staff took the proxy to a nearby town. Solomon returned to Youngstown, and with a photographer, reporter, theatre staff, a base and roll drum corps, formed a nucleus which soon over-crowded the railroad station, when the proxy and escorts detrained at Youngstown a _ short while later. PUBLIX OPINION, WEEK OF FEBRUARY 7tx, 1930 _ 9 MANUAL STUNT IS SUCCESS! ae IN ‘NIGHT-OWL’ Realizing the practicability of exploitation material suggested in the Publix picture manuals, Manager S.S, Solomon of the Paramount, Youngstown, Ohio, followed the plans outlined in “The Love Parade” . manual for using a Chevalier proxy in conjunction with an “Itinerary Contest.” success Solomon achieved. The story in the adjoining column gives a full account of Solomon’s campaign to put over with a bang, this highly entertaining and original operetia. Get out your magnifying glass. boom of drums, the entourage, in autos supplied by the local WillysKnight dealer, paraded through the town and to the city hall, where the Mayor greeted them. From here, the party followed the route of the winning itinerary. In addition to receiving three, five minute radio _ broadcasts gratis, the theatre used the fifteen minutes on Saturday prior to the regular Paramount-Publix radio hour, to thank Youngstown for the wonderful reception accorded “Chevalier” and his party. Postal Telegraph Tie-Up Effective For ‘‘Lady Lies” A tie-up with the Postal Telegraph enabled Manager M. D. Cohen of the Rialto Theatre, Denver, Colo., to garner lots of publicity for ‘‘The Lady Lies.’’ A new typing telegraph instrument was placed in the lobby of the theatre and another was operated from the telegraph office. The girls exchanged messages about the picture many of them coming apparently from members of the cast, newspaper writers from other cities, and Liberty and Photoplay Magazines. These /messages were distributed to patrons. College Tie-up With ‘“Dyamite’”’ Stickers Taking advantage of the automobile stickers used by the students of Texas Christian University, Manager Marsline K. Moore had a number printed that not only carried the message of the university but also contained a plug for the picture ‘‘Dynamite’”’ playing at the Worth Theatre, Fort Worth, Texas. BEG PARDON! Lent officially starts on Wednesday, March 5th, and not on the day named in this publication several weeks ago. We apologize for our error and hope this warning reaches you sufficiently in advance and with sufficient force to help you overcome what would otherwise be a slump period. Bs Be-<D-090-D-0G0-B-0He-B-0O -B-0 Oe-G1B+-G °O+-S O-O 6: D Oe O-2O>OOo -O-2Oo-B-Oe-O-+O*S02 S-+O*OG" SOP ACCOMPANICd DY 2.9. 5 .¢.-0:0:-0-0:-€10:-0+0--0-+0--0+0+-010:-010:-0--8--0-0:-0 Dakota Manager Say Die” from Behind The Make Capitalizes on Picture Title A. E. Albeson, district manager in South Dakota, sends in a campaign by Manager Fred Beecher of the Egyptian Theatre, Sioux Falls, illustrative of the value of capitalizing on picture-titles which are natural plugs for advertised products. Beecher’s picture was ‘‘The Viking,’ and he sold the local Viking dealer a block of tickets, of which a pair were sent to every automobile owner in the city. The motor firm sponsored a newspaper contest, buying space and donating prizes, and furnished a car and four men costumed as Vikings as a street ballyhoo. Two of the “Vikings’’ acted as footmen during the run of the picture. Scandinavian papers got up cooperative pages of advertising, and were profligate with space for stories. Schools were canvassed on the educational value of the picture. In spite of weather 16 to 25 degrees below zero, resultant business was tremendous. Colored Woman Wins Suit Against Theatre Look out for this one. It is unlikely to occur in a Publix theatre, but it is indicative of the pitfalls in the path of every theatre manager. Gertrude Gates, a colored woman, entered a theatre in Grand Island, Nebraska, and took a seat on the main floor. She was asked to move to the balcony, and resented it to the extent of filing suit against the company operating the theatre. Carried to the Nebraska Supreme Court, the suit resulted in a verdict for $200 against the operating company. M. C. IN PIT So enthusiastic were theatre executives with the work of Lou Breese, master of ceremonies at the Saenger Theatre in New Orleans, that he will take the place of Rubinoff as conductor in the pit when Rubinoff leaves. The layout below shows the BROADCASTS Have you tied your theatre in with the Publix Radio-Vues which are broadcast each Tuesday at 11:30 P. M. from the Brooklyn Paramount Theatre, over the Columbia Broadcasting System? These radio programs, properly exploited locally, can reflect as much credit and benefit on your theatre as the Saturday night Paramount-Publix broadcasts. Further than this, stimulation of local interest in such broadcasts may result in breaking down any local barriers which prevent you from staging similar programs in conjunction with your station. Following is a list of the stations of the Columbia Broadcasting System which participate in these broadcasts: WABC—New York City W2XH—New York City WCAU—Philadelphia, Pa. WCAO—Baltimore, Md. WMAL—Washington, D. C. WHP—Harrisburg, Pa. WLBW—Oil City, Pa. WEBL—Syracuse, N. Y. WKBW—Bufiaio, N. Y. WADC—Akron, Ohio WKRC—Cincinnati, Ohio wow 0O—Fort Wayne, Ind. WEBM—Indianapolis, Ind. KOIL—Omaha-Council Blufis KMBC—Kansas City, Mo. WISN—Milwaukee, Wisc. WCCO—Minneapolis, Minn. WIBW—Topeka, Kas, WBCM—Bay City, Mich. KEH—wWichita, Kas. WSPD—Toledo, Ohio WMT—Waterloo, lowa WWwWNC—Asheville, N. C. WDBJ—Roanoke, Va. WBRC—Birmingham, Ala. WKEIW—Hopkinsville, Ky. WDOD—Chattanooga, Tenn, WREC—Memphis, Tenn. KLRA—Little Rock, Ark. KLZ—Denver, Colo. KDYL—Salt Lake City, Utah KEPY—Spokane, Wash. Brunswick has recorded ‘‘Never up, sung by June Pursell on record No. 4635. IT’S A CINCH! W. J. Murphy, advertising manager of the Utah-Idaho district, worked up a campaign on “Hollywood Revue” which resulted in a hold-over for the picture at the Paramount, Salt Lake City. Murphy utilized a radio tie-up which netted the full-page ad reproduced below and six music store windows, and a perfume tie-up with a local chain of drug stores which furnished displays and perfume to be sprayed in the ventilators during the “Orange Blossom” number. The front of the theatre was given special treatment, one sheets and heralds were promoted, and the songs from the picture plugged by the Publix Sound Train and over the local radio station. Note the predominance of theatre’s copy in reproduction below. Two Outstanding Contributions For Your Entertainment OL WUE SEE! We AT THE PARAMOUNT THEATRE S AN The New ¥ Cc. A. vl Radio | is: MEAR! ‘Hollywood Revue’ Song Hits ! RADIO Dinwoodey Furn. Co. Or at the exhibit during the extended run of Metro-Gold wyn-Mayer’s Greatest Musical Picture Triumph— “HOLLYWOOD "GOTTA FEELIN' FOR YOU" : oe S 1 99 “LOW DOWN RHYTHig" i rt ita | "YOUR MOTHER AND INE™ i : : ae ‘ea i Talking nm! $ 30 i Avil! | oe ALL scx The Radio with the Hu Dancing Voice, Hairline Super SelecCParamoun; tivity—A Triumph of Rezlism Starting Tomorrow on a C. A. Ear “SINGIN IN THE Rai” “ORANGE BLOSSOM “NOBODY BUT youl and Outstanding Performance Before you buy any set --hear this Triumph of Realism -which in, six months made an“unknown’’ radio a best seller these Stars of “HOLLYWOOD REVUE” Are All Enthusiastic gRADIO FANS with CENTRO-MATIG. TONE FINDER ESTABLISHED 1857 }DINWOODEY'S “GOOD FURNITURE ” ore eS Before ‘you buy any Radio, let Dinwoodey Furniture Co, demonstrate the new C. A, Earl in your home. Liberal terms, 5 BUILD INTEREST mh | if | THE SALT LAKE TELEGRAM, THURSDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 14. 1929 + Seat oleae 22 : ae eee anette Sea aE Sessa? Seats eines panes AS Wie tee ne Pree