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were giving 300-permanent days, and awhile later that became just about average. In fact, on our record day, we run well over 500! If it worked well with one program on one station, and better with two programs on that same station, why not use two programs on two stations ? There was only one answer we could think of, so we did just that. Four programs a day! Yes, it cost money. We spent an average of nearly $15,000 a year during our eleven years of continuous broadcasting. But we're convinced no money has ever been better spent by any business.
What about the programs? We deliberately make them simple. We deliberately make each one like the next one. Different tunes, yes, but the same structure, the same plan. We figure that when our familiar theme song, "I Love You Truly" comes on the air, the feminine listener knows that she can depend upon hearing the kind of music she likes during that fifteen minutes, anyway. We tried variations. Once we tried hillbilly music, but a storm of protests quickly forced us back to the popular selections we had been using.
We had found our audience. That's the important message for any radio advertiser: Find a program that fits the tastes of the particular part of the general audience which constitutes a logical group of customers for your services. Find it, and stick A to it! You may have to experiment to find it, but once you have it, stick. Give it a chance to pay out.
Our commercials are dependable too. That's an
odd way of putting it, perhaps; but what I mean is that we consistently hammer away, trying to put across a few essential points. 1. Our price — linked with quality. We explain that though our price was low, we are giving a permanent wave of quality far above that price level. That's consistent with the old advertising axiom: "Always explain a bar
Graphic is the contrast between the past and the present of the beauty shop that radio built. A laundry marks the spot where the story started, in an out-of-the-way building, 11 years ago. Below is the present Mar-Selm Beauty Shop, housing 80 employees, 1000 dryers, turning out an average of 500 permanent waves per day, using a ton of hairpins annually and broadcasting its message, 15 minutes' worth, four times daily.
gain." 2. Our location. Every commercial contains at WJk least two references to the ■-*$ fact that the Mar-Selm is located at 49 South Eighth Street. To give that address additional meaning, we always mention the fact that this was "just across the street" from a leading Minneapolis department store, the location of which is wellknown. Locating ourselves has become increasingly important in view of the fact that by this time we have considerable competition in our low-priced field, and because over 10% of our business comes from out of town.
It it's worth saying once, it's worth saying often! That's our important discovery about the medium of radio. You might say, "Well, things were different when you started. Radio was more of a novelty." To which we can answer: Maybe, but lue've stayed on the air. We still have daily programs on station WTCN. We're still telling them about MarSelm, just as we did eleven years ago. We're (Continued on page 117)
NOVEMBER, 1940
97
AL BROADCASTING COMPANY, INC.
GENERAL LIBRARY