Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1942)

merchandising force had not been formulated. We had used spot announcements sporadically, but radio was still pretty mtich a mystery. It was at this period that WFBR submitted a half-hoiu' program to us to be broadcast on Sunday afternoon from the month of October to June. The program was neither elaborate nor costly, but through the simple expedient of giving the public good music, the Arundel Musical Treat built up a large following. George A. Fisher and Lee Crone, owners of our company, began to feel the power and pull of a weekly halfhour radio show with a huge potential in audience. The Arundel Ice Cream Co. was serving the public need for good music and this added service was reflecting itself in public acceptance and appreciation which could be had from no other medium. From this small start, our plan of attack began to unfold for us. The following September, we began laying plans for our half-hour Sunday program again, this time with a view to adding more money and impetus to our show. It turned out to be our first radio program with real merchandising possibilities. Here was the angle. We continued our Musical Treats, and added a feature each Sunday called The Arundel Treasure Tour. Each week, we would select one of our store locations, and in a descriptive two or three-minute travelogue type of presentation we would hint strongly at the location of the store. From these hints, the radio listeners were offered a prize of $5.00 to the first contestant who presented the key word at the store featured on the Treasure Tour. All other contestants who gave the key word at the right location within a half hour after the broadcast were presented with a consolation prize of a pint of ice cream. Treasure Tour entry blanks were available at all Arundel stores, and all entries had to be made on these blanks. Needless to say, we covered all of our locations, and discovered that we had one of the finest methods possible to acquaint people with our locations and product. A constant traffic was created Photo by Willafred By train, not by snowshoes, came John Gilbert Hunter, shown above, from his native bailiwick. Snow Shoe, Pa., to Baltimore, Md., the oyster capital of the United States. Footloose and fancy-free, adman Hunter roamed the country, maintained odd jobs until he zvas 24 years old. His urge to go places and do things satisfied, he then settled down and was associated with D. A. Schulte, Inc., for 13 years. Since then, he has ably dished out the cold facts for the Arundel Ice Cream Co. from entry blanks in each of our locations, and when we opened two more stores, midway in the campaign, we found it to be particularly valuable in familiarizing people with the new locations. Our contests proved that radio had unlimited merchandising possibilities. Military Matinee is further proof! It is a real thrill to see the generous response of the public to join in this movement to aid military morale in this section. Cooperation from Major Richard O'Connell, Morale Officer for this area, has been most gratifying. To sum up, this broadcast has been on the air for some two months now, and requests for tickets, entries in the Home Guard Club, and telephone responses have exceeded our fondest hopes. If I am wrong, I hope some of you other advertisers will stop me, but I feel definitely that no other advertising medium is so flexible as to permit this type of healthy, dignified and effective merchandising effort. A radio broadcast advertiser can make sure that his program not only sells the public, but also serves the public at the same time. RADIO SHOWMANSHIP