Publix Opinion (Jul 25, 1930)

: Ce FO HOE eS. R-Fr) OO. PUBLIX OPINION, WEEK OF JULY 25rx, 1930 11 HOW TO GAUGE ADVERTISING EXPENSES (Continued from Page One) Salt Lake City about two months ago. We advertised four and five days in advance, separate ads, just as you did. We checked the business done, and found we too were spending too much to get business. Then we got smart. We advertised the midnight show on the screen four or five days in advance; we used a one column five inch separate ad on Friday and Saturday; we got out special midnight show heralds and put them in parked automobiles Saturday night; got the radio announcers to make announcements Saturday evening; dance hall orchestra leaders made announcements. Direct Appeal “Dance halls close at 12; we held the feature until 12.15 to give dancers time to get to the theatre. Results were amazing. Our appeal was more direct, and it was more timely. We proved to our own satisfaction that folk who go to midnight shows don’t decide to go until Saturday evening, or perhaps Saturday morning. ; “T know you have a different operation than we have in Salt Lake City. The idea of starting ads far in advance, I am sure, was calculated to get the out-of-town folk to planning to come into town Saturday night. “But don’t you agree with me that it would have been better to underline your current ads one inch or even two inches, several days in advance? Then on Friday night and Saturday morning and afternoon, use the special ad on the midnight show, heralds in autos, announcements, ete. The advertising cost would be in proportion to the possible receipts, say $10 to get $100. Free Dancing “T suppose you noticed in the minutes of a meeting two weeks ago that the Salt Lake managers agreed to have free dancing in the lobby from 11 to 12 o’clock of midnight previews. They’re going to borrow Victrolas and an armful of dance records, Lopez, Whiteman and such. They’ll be able to give them better dance music than SCAN THESE! Two effective tie-ups arranged by Ben M. Cohen, publicity director of the New Haven Paramount. Renters of cushtons at ball games receive numbered tickets, as reproduced here. Paramount has a 6 ft. sign at the entrance of the park. Local Joe Humphries ballyhoos the refrigerated Paramount and current attraction, then pulls the lucky number out of a box. Winchester tie-up is a moneymaker for the theatre. Plant has 4,000 employees in seven departments; employee in each department with best record for the week: receives a guest ticket from his department head. All employees have cards extending matinee prices, similar to one reproduced. Paramount has a current attraction poster at each time clock. SAVE THIS COUPON! RENT-A-CUSHION and win a guest ticket to the refrigerated Paramount Theatre. You'll always find it cool and comfortable in the Paramount and you'll al 2599 — ways find « great sbow where every seat ism cool retreat. LIVELY LIVE LOBBY Three different lobby activities took place at the Michigan theatre during the showing of “Light of the Western Stars.” The Burlington and Southern Pacific Railroads provided an interesting exhibit of Western cowboy and Indian relics as well as the salary for El Goman-. cho, famous Western pioneer who explained the origin of the display material to patrons. Comancho also broadcasted his famous stories of western life and visited luncheon clubs and lodge meetings telling about his experiences under the light of Western stars. If doing a similar stunt take care that display material is nod stolen and obtain a release from the owner. . During the same week, Brancel and Pals entertained the children on the mezzanine landing, while Tracy and Duncan, lobby singers en tertained with songs at the music The gag is, buy your ticket at the box office; come in and dance in the lobby until the show starts. “They’re going to put an usher on the marquee and burn red fuses, the five minute kind the rail the dance halls—free, too. roads use. You can buy them cheaply from the railroad supply house. They light up the whole end of the town, a la Hollywood premiere. “Some of this, I know, is elementary, but think it over and I’m sure you will agree with me on the main idea. Keep down costs on midnight previews to insure profits.” N. C. CHANGES Due to acquisition of additional theatres, the following organizational changes have been made in Publix Saenger theatres of North Carolina:. The Palace and Lyric theatres, Rocky Mount, will be managed by J. Noble Arnold, city manager, transferred from Wilson Theatre, Wilson. Cecil B. Rosson, graduate of the Managers’ School, eighth session, will manage the Wilson. T. Y. Walker was transferred trom Paris, Durham, to the State, Greenville. Wm. Cooper, formerly assistant manager of the Carolina-Durham, succeeds Walker at the Paris. | Pat McSwain has been transferred from assistant manager of the Carolina-Chapel Hill to . the same position of the Carolina-Durham. THEATRES CLOSED Recent closings include the Century, Jackson, Miss.; Alamo, Vicksburg, Miss.; Orpheum, Hast St. Louis, Ill.; Park, St. Paul, Minn., and Orpheum, Lincoln, Neb. Sherman Theatre, St. Cloud, Minn., closed on July 15th, to reopen about August ist. Rialto, Tucson, Arizona, closed July 20th for repairs, to be re-opened shortly. Empire, Mercedes, Tex., closed July 20th for repairs, and will reopen about the first of September. Lyric, Yuma, Ariz., closed on July 21st for a week, and will operate Saturdays and Sundays only thereafter. Lease on the Palace, Little Rock, Ark., was cancelled on June 30th. Rialto, Beatrice, Nebr., and Swan, Columbus, have been closed. booth. 1100 KIDS PAY TO ATTEND MATINEE Bleven hundred children paid regular prices to attend a Saturday matinee at the Paramount, Joplin, Mo., which was sponsored by a local bakery. In this case, ‘sponsored’? meant that Manager J. Stone Hadden induced the bakery to provide gifts for the children, and advertise the fact. Bag of peanuts and sailor hat was given each child, kite to each boy, parachute to each girl, 15 scooters and 15 airplane erector sets to holders of lucky numbers, and birthday cakes to those having birthdays during the week. Bakery ran a 40 inch ad in two newspapers, bought and distributed 1000 heralds, and plugged the event three weeks in advance on its radio time. Tip Members of Bar About ‘For the Defense’ Directory of the Boston Bar— 2500 attorneys living and practicing in Boston—was circularized by Publicity Director Floyd L. Bell and his assistant, Matt O’Brien, on “Wor the Defense.’’ Postal cards called attention to Powell’s dilemna as a criminal defense lawyer, in the picture, and suggested that a question of professional ethics was involved which would prove unusually interesting to members of the legal profession. The response was excellent. In many cases lawyers wrote thanking the theatre for the invitation, and expressing pleasure at witessing on the screen a correctly filmed court scene. Twenty-four Governors Like Theatres Gesture Twenty-four Governors attending the Governors’ Conference held in Salt Lake City recently, were recipients of letters inviting them to drop in at the Paramount, Capitol or Victory whenever a leisure hour presented itself, stressing the fact that they could attend without the usual fanfare of a theatre party. Passes were enclosed. Governor of Utah and President of the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce were tied in on the stunt, which was engineered by District Publicity Director Fred E. Hamlin in the absence of Division Manager Harry David. Many Editorials|\CRASHES TOUGH Obtained on Byrd Film Managers everywhere acted on the tip in Publix Opinion to plant editorials on ‘‘With Byrd at the Sern Pole,” with inspiring results. Perhaps outstanding among these editorial endorsements of the picture were those appearing in the Streator, Ill., Times Press, as a result of activity on the part of W. W. Heasman, and in the Montgomery, Ala., Advertiser, where Bolivar Hyde is City Manager. Idea netted a column in each paper, with the Montgomery sheet, leading paper in the state, particularly outspoken in its endorsement of the picture. In Birmingham, Ala., the AgeHerald, the editor’s running column of comment on the first page devoted two paragraphs to the Byrd picture. “It’s like the ‘Covered Wagon’ with the pioneers themselves in the part,’’ the paper said. “It’s like ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ with the soldiers themselves in the cast.” Stage Weddings Offset Illinois Hot Weather In the face of terrific heat, stage weddings at the Genesee, Waukegan, Ill., and the Crocker, Elgin, brought in grosses for a single night at each house which were sufficient to make the entire week’s figures better than any in months. Manager J. Mitchell in Waukegan, Ill., and the Crocker, Elgin, advertised successfully for local couples, and secured cooperation of local department stores and clothiers, as well as florists, caterers, hotels, realtors, furniture stores, ete. At both theatres il was necessary to go through the motions of the ceremony at the second show, to accommodate the holdouts. Autographed Baseball . Brings Child Patrons Manager Isaac F. Fine of the St. George Theatre, Framingham, Mass., took a step in the right direction toward bolstering child attendance and beating the outdoor lure by giving away a baseball autographed by Babe Ruth. The ball was on display all week in a local sporting goods store. During the first show on Saturday the ball was given to the child holding the lucky number. Child response was tremendous. Stunt is worth repeating with local celebrity. Beauty Contests To Be State-Wide in Carolina Combination fashion show and bathing beauty contest engineered by Manager Eugene W. Street of the Carolina, Greensboro, N. C., was so successful that it is being repeated in ‘other Publix Theatres throughout the state. A _ state finals to select ‘“‘Miss North Carolina’’ will be held at the Carolina in Greensboro when other local contests are completed. Newspapers and merchants were tied-in, and the theatre netted some 700 inches of cooperative advertisements. Co-op Page Contest Wins Extra Space Contest based on Paramount star pictures, incorrectly placed in ads which quoted them, netted Manager Arthur Swanke of the Arcadia, Ranger, Tex., 2 full page co-op ad on his New Season Inaugural Shows and current feature. Paper appreciated the extra business to such an extent that it printed a front page box calling attention to the page and contest, and also a generous news story on forthcoming product. PAPER WITH CIVIC AID Recent publicity accomplishments of Harry Greenberg, manager of the Wisconsin Theatre in Bau Claire, are found most noteworthy by Cliff Gill, Central Minnesota District Publicity Director. Greenberg, according to Gill, is in a situation where the newspaper is definitely committed againstany sort of theatre publicity, and it is necessary to resort to every legitimate and ingenious method to break down this barrier. His success is evidenced by clippings of publicity secured on a recent food benefit, held with cooperation of the Elks Club and Red Cross, to procure supplies for tornado victims in Wisconsin, and a potato matinee for the same purpose, backed by the Elks and Salvation Army. Knowing that civic and charitable organizations can surmount the highest obstacles in the way of newspaper apathy, Greenberg has gone ahead in his activities by always enlisting some such organization as co-sponsor. He has secured so much publicity for the Elks alone that he has been presented with membership in the lodge. On the food benefit, Greenberg secured four stories and pictures, in four successive issues of the paper, tatalling 48 inches of space. Picture taken after the benefit was cleverly staged, with the 40 bushel baskets of food collected stacked before the theatre, and the local committee in prideful attendance. Art on Greenberg’s current attraction, above the box office, -was plainly visible, even commanding, in the newspaper reproduction. CLARK MANAGER Frank Clark is now brayeh manager of Paramount’s Portland, Oregon, Exchange. William Winship becomes special representative of the San Francisco exchange, in charge of exhibition of foreign language pictures. BIDS FOR KIDS! This box, two columns in its original size, is one of those topping combination ads of PublixB. & K. Chicago theatres in a campaign for children’s attendance during vacation days. In addition, trailers urge patrons to send children to Publix Theatres, to let them enjoy the good shows amid cool, invigorating atmosphere. “Chicago is an ideal summer resort,” says all copy. “Publix-B. & K.. Theatres are a feature of this resort.” School’s Out— Let Publix-Balaban and Katz Theaters Be Your Children’s Summer Resorts! ion know from past experience that PublixBalaban and Katz Theaters are ideal for children during the warm summer months; that PY when it is hot outdoors, our theaters are always delightfully refreshing. Fresh, invigorating air, purified by our magical machines, awaits If your boy or girl is home from college there's no better place for him or her than these thesters. Bring of send the children to our theaters, Ie will Se our privilege and pleasure to give them every careful attention, They will have @ healthy, enjoyable time, AND SO WILL YOU— Chicago Oriental McVickers Rowsevelt Paradise Norshore Riviera Marbro And Publix Grester Talkie Thesters j a 1 Wane STHEATERS ube BALABANGKAI