Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1947)

was also given to the purchase of War Bonds and Stamps on this wartime feature. Thought behind Public Service Company of Colorado connnercials on its KOA series: "Electricity may be like the genie from Aladdin's lamp, and yet it takes men, material, and experience to bring it to you. So in these war times, nse what you need, but do not waste it." In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Duquesne Light Company carried the wartime angle even further. It launched a campaign to salvage broken, old electric appliances which it bought with \Var Stamps. The appliances were then repaired and directed to the homes of war workers. However, sales may also be combined with the institutional approach. In Peoria, Illinois, Central Illinois Light used its radio series primarily for its good will value, but, on occasion, commercials pushed seasonal appliances, products, and services, as well as "Better Light, Better Sight" campaigns. On its "Blue Flame" series over W^EBC the City of Duluth (Minnesota) Water & Light' Department kept listeners to this homemakers' series posted on new products and conveniences utilizing gas, with tips on how to get optimum results from appliances. The nature of a program to a large extent determines the actual form of the commercial and what is said is far more important than how much time is consumed in the saying of it. If the advertiser consistently drives home his main sales points, long-winded sales messages aren't necessary. PROGRAM PROMOTION Efforts made to acquaint customers with the existence of a radio program, its characteristics, time, and station, fall into the category of promotion, and advertising an advertising effort is often as important as the advertising effort itself. What an advertiser really buys is the possibility of developing a radio audience, and promotion for a radio series has much to recommend it. A program will be broadcast over the same station at the same time over a period of weeks or years. This gives the spon sor a chance to prescnl his advci lising to a group of listeners lime and time again. This factor, alone, justifies efioris to add new listeners. On the theory that what was worth buying was worth promoting, Union Electric went all out for its series, "The Land We Live In." Promotion included 500 dash cards on streetcars; 1,000 counter cards; newspaper advertisements; spot announcements on KMOX; 25,000 engraved invitations to listen to the first broadcast; Union Electric window displays; 75 24-sheet posters and dealer letters. All that, if you please, for a simonpure institutional offering which included only one commercial at the end of the broadcast, and even that commercial is dropped if the content is of a religious nature. This one campaign illustrates the fact that direct mail, newspapers and magazines, and point-of-sale displays may all play a part in promotion for a radio series. MERCHANDISING ACTIVITIES Program promotion is promotion designed primarily to increase the tune-in for a specific radio campaign. Merchandising is also an important part of successful broadcast activities. AVhile the two sometimes overlap, merchandising may be said to be directed mainly toward the product, sponsor, or service offered. Some programs are designed with their merchandising values uppermost in mind, and, in such cases, the merchandising effort is continuous. On the other hand, merchandising may also be spasmodic and quite incidental to the broadcast effort. In such cases, merchandising effort is usually used to stimulate regular listeners and to attract new ones to an already established radio offering. As an example of merchandising which is an integral part of the program format, the W^ashington Water Power Company may be cited in connection with its sponsorship of the "Reddy Kilowatt Kitchen Quiz" on KFPY, Spokane, AVashington. This half-hour weekly program features quiz contests between groups of women and prizes were awarded both to contestants and to listeners who contribiued FEBRUARY, 1947 O 69 •