Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1946)

dominant radio stations strategically located throughout the 12 central states area in which we have distribution, and all radio operations are based on 52week, continuous schedules. In many of the markets, stations carrying Pkrfi.x schedules have had several renewals. While Perfex uses spot announcement schedules on many stations, we prefer to participate in well established homemaker type programs, and we buy this service when it is available on stations which will best serve our needs. In some areas, we have found that male quartets of the semi-religious type are an effective vehicle, and we have gone into program sponsorship of this nature on 15-minute schedules, five or six times per week in markets such as Little Rock, Ark., Shenandoah, la., Dallas-Fort Worth, and Wichita Falls, Tex. Various devices, such as premiums, 10-cent redemption coupons and other stimulators are used in connection with our advertising schedules. For example, listeners to a number of midwest radio stations participated in a finish thesentence contest. Beginning with "I like Perfex because," contestants completed the sentence in 50 words or less and enclosed a Perfex box top. Free Nylons were awarded each day to the writers of the best letters addressed to each station carrying the contest. We find that such devices persuade customers to buy that first package. That's our number one job, because experience has shown that the repeat factor is very high. In their contacts with jobbers, distributors, chain buying groups and retailers, our salesmen stress the point that Perfex i adio schedules are always placed on a continuing, year-round basis. Frequent home office renunders such as special bulletins and sales promotion letters also call this point to the attention of the trade, both wholesale and retail. In this way, the home office and its salesmen keep in close touch with the jobbers and distributors, and Perfex salesmen also make an average of 100 weekly calls on retail grocers. While these calls naturally produce orders, they also permit the salesmen to give the dealers a selling talk on the effectiveness of the advertising which is moving Perfex off his shelves. They also enable the Perfex salesman to arrange merchandise displays with some of the many point-of-purchase sales helps and displays which the company provides. Cooperative advertising is also stressed, the dealer being urged to take advantage of the advertising allowance plan of 25c per case. The Perfex salesman provides advertising copy, mats and other helps for the grocer, and the company rebates to the extent of 25c per case on all Perfex copy which he includes in his own newspaper ads or hand-bills. On the basis of its experience with the development of territories over a period of five years, Peiifex is convinced that complete, detailed sales coverage in every city, town and hamlet pays dividends. Without the use of ample manpower in the field, the company insists that it is wasting a definite portion of its advertising expenditures. On the other hand, it has also found by test, that without adequate advertising it is wasting valuable sales effort and definitely increasing the luiit cost of goods sold. No johnny-come-lately to radio is KENNETH C. TITUS, advertising manager for the Perfex Company. It was 20 years ago that he cut his radio advertising eye-teeth with WCCO, Minneapolis, Minn., and he's been playing the advertisingradio game ever since. From simon-pure radio, he branched out into more diversified advertising, first with Knox Reeves Advertising Agency, then with McCann-Erickson, Inc., both of Minneapolis. Since May, 1945, he has been playing the game for Perfex with excellent results. \jix NOVEMBER, 1946 • 371 •