Radio showmanship (Sept 1940-May 1941)

Rotund, deliberate, well-barber ed Urban John Meuer read his own prospectus on a coal yard he was to sell on behalf of a client, found the offer so attractive, he bought it himself. Starting on shoestring in '27, Meuer is now biggest coke dealer in state of Wisconsin, is passionately fond of his own Sunday night program, hasn't missed a broadcast since its inception. Throwback to his college days' majoring in pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin is the fancy glass case in his front office, in which he displays samples of the various types of coal (carefully placed on white doilies) his company sells. To do this article, U. J. spent three hours on files of letters, contracts, expenditure sheets. His conclusion: "Writing's tougher than selling coal." in the bin ; and when our own dustless coal was poured in, it went in clean and didn't raise the dust from previous fillings. We bought a set of convertible driveways. When the coal bin entrance was impossible to reach by truck without spoiling the lawn, we didn't have to charge an extra dollar per ton (which is the usual charge) for carrying the coal. Instead, the drivers merely laid the convertible driveways on the lawn, backed their trucks right up to the chute and poured it in. We equipped each truck with a canvas to be carefully spread in front of the chute entrance. Thus our delivery men left no messy walks behind them. Those were the elements of our business that I wanted to point out to the public. There wasn't much about our coal that was different from anv other coal; hut, and this is our constant message in the announcements that Lro out over the air daily, there is something in Mm ik f i ii. Company that u different Radio put that message serosa for us. Last July, we derided to conduit a slogan contest with our announcements. We ottered a first prize of $50, I Second of $25, a third 10. and 15 One dollar prizes. (It was just an additional test of our announcement power, winch had been proved, oi course, b] the i onstantly in< ' ri \ < i \ i Kop CI ks ( ii k \< \\V limited out i oiu mercial copy to that one product almost constantly.) The contest was on the air for eight weeks. Into our office poured 2,500 slogan entries! (Keep in mind that Madison has a population of 62,000 and that includes 9,000 students at the University of Wisconsin.) Two years ago, I sat listening to the radio one Sunday evening. On the air (station WIBA) was a program called Smoke Rings. As I listened to the soft strains of music, the cheerful bits of philosophy and poetry that the commentator was intermingling with the restful music, I thought to myself, "Seven days a week we go on the air with commercial copy — straight commercial messages. We really don't give the listener anything. We merely insist he hear our message — give him nothing in return in the way of amusement or relaxation." So the next day I called W. E. Walker, WIBA's manager, and asked if the Smoke Rings program was open for sponsorship. It was, and we bought it. We included slips of paper announcing the program with every delivery slip, every piece of out-going mail, in the envelopes with every bill wTe paid. The program soon became famous throughout the vicinity. The Smoke Rings program was on only during the winter months, and when it went off the air, we received hundreds of post cards, telephone calls, and letters asking when it would be resumed. This year, it's on the air again. To analyze our success with radio, I believe we should take into consideration the station. WIBA is in a University town, and it also attracts its listeners from throughout the countryside because Madison is the capital city. The station, therefore, has a good and loyal audience. Secondly, I believe the entire Strength "f the promotion lies in its consistency and the repetitive value of the commercials we've used. We change them seldom and say them often. Smoke Rings, 1 want to add. was on the air over WIBA tor five wars on a sustaining basis before we purchased it. It had a good audience already built up. (Sometimes its advisable, when looking for a program, to check the value of the sustaining shows your local stations have on the air currently.) Our first vear on the air. we spent $3 Now, we average well over $5,000 — and all hut 10 percent in radio. 1 feel that anv coal dealer who isn't using radio is doing himself an injustice. It's a great medium for selling, tlemen, and these arc the coal facts! 128 RADIO SHOWMANSHIP