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gram over station WHK on October 16th with the intent of building a good Christmas show. By November 26th it had been judged the most popular children's radio program by the Cleveland Plain Dealer's great poll of
145 cities in several states. A blare of publicity in the newspaper was only the signal for the big Higbee drive to make an amazingly successful program even more so.
The day following the announcement of the award, the Higbee Company offered a free Pinocchio mask to all members of the Pinocchio Club, which already had over 20,000 members. To get the masks, the boys and girls had to come to one of three departments, children's clothing, boys' clothing, and toys. The day the mask was offered the membership in the club jumped by 3,000! Hundreds of children surged into the departments where the masks were given. And up went sales — so much so that 14 extra salespeople had to be added to these departments. Again sales and showmanship went hand in hand. To make membership in the club mean something, the Higbee Company staged a continual round of Pinocchio Club plays and parties.
A Christmas promotion? It could have been just that — and a successful one, too. But the Higbee Company kept the program on the air long past Christmas. By Easter the membership of the Pinocchio Club had soared to over 45,000!
MINNEAPOLIS
In Minneapolis, George Hanson had just
started out in the milk business. His Dairy Fresh Milk Company was going to sell the local housewives on buying milk in a paper carton! Searching around for a suitable radio vehicle, Mr. Hanson bumped into Pinocchio, put him on the air over station WTCN. Four weeks (four broadcasts, that is; Dairy Fresh was using the show on a once-a-week schedule) after the program started, the Dairy Fresh Milk Man, who acted as master of ceremonies on the program, offered membership in the club (button and official card) for five carton tabs. The offer didn't pull fast enough. So Hanson and his advertising agency put their heads together, came out with an idea.
They lined up all the neighborhood theatres on a Saturday matinee ticket deal. For 10 tabs and a dime, the boys and girls were given four theatre tickets, good for four consecutive Saturday matinees at their neighborhood theatre. That did it. In the first 13 wTeeks, the Dairy Fresh Milk Man gave away over 8,000 theatre tickets. And that meant milk sales went up proportionately.
But that was only half the idea. Behind it was a constant stream of letters to grocers and dealers, an occasional newspaper ad, Pinocchio's picture on every milk carton, signs on all Dairy Fresh trucks, Pinocchio buttons for the drivers and clerks at grocery stores.
When the boys and girls sent in their carton tabs, they were asked to include, along with their name and address, and neighborhood theatre, the name of their neighborhood grocer.
SUMMARY
In all cases the program was the same. In many cases and in many cities it did a bigger and better job than in others. The added measure of success in all instances was due to an extra measure of showmanship.
SEPTEMBER, 1940
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