Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1947)

ion blank from one of tlic 300 electrical ind radio appliance stores in Los Angeles md vicinity, and fill it in with his name, Lge, address and telephone luunber. In iddition, each participant must complete n 50 words or less the statement: "I vould like to own (insert name of radio r electrical appliance desired) because " Entries are turned in to any )ne of our member stores. Each week, contest judges select the ive best entries, and the winners are :alled on the telephone during the broad:ast. Only one attempt is made to reach ^ach entry, but by using a new entry blank, here is no limit to the number of times I participant may enter the contest. In he case of a tie, both entries are called, ivith duplicate prizes awarded. Announcer Dick Haynes handles the elephone stint, and each of the five perons telephoned are asked the name of he program. To be eligible for the prize, the contestant must give this exact anwer: The Magic of Electricity. If there is no answer, or if the answer s not the correct one, the prize or prizes are carried over and offered on the next :all. Prizes awarded may or may not be the 3ne mentioned in the contestant's entry blank. There are different judges each week, and all entries received by the last mail Thursday are eligible for entry the following Sunday evening. Dealer tie-ins Every one of our members can participate in the contest in-so-far as the free-tothem registration blanks are concerned, but they can go further than that if they wish, by being one of the five who contribute the Sunday evening, 8:30-9:00 p.m. awards. Those who give the prizes are mentioned by name at least twice, and sometimes three times during the program. On each broadcast we give aw^ay four of what might be called "minor" prizes, ".e., table model radios, broilers, electric irons, etc., with one "capital" prize such as a washing machine, or a radio-phonograph combination. The "capital" prize is given a special plug on the Sunday evening preceding the actual give-away, JUNE, 1947 and on the Sunday it is awarded, it receives not less than three mentions. Audience builder, too Naturally, as a new program, ours started slowly, but it has rapidly gained in popularity, and it has not only created a great deal of interest in our association, but it has also built up a great many new listeners for KMPC because, as stated on the registration blank, the person who writes the letter must (1) be listening, (2) answer the telephone and (3) identify the program. From the standpoint of our members, the program definitely creates store traffic. As noted earlier, the registration blank is obtainable only at the stores of our members, and the main point of the blank is to create additional customer traffic in these stores. These registration blanks also build good prospect lists, in that each contestant has to specify some kind of radio or electrical appliance he w^ants, and in 50 words or less, tell why he wants it. When these blanks are returned to the store as contest entries, the aggressive merchandiser jots down name, address and desired item before the blank is sent on to our headquarters. When the dealer gets in that particular merchandise, he can follow-up the potential customer lead. In addition, the dealers who contribute the prizes aw-arded on each broadcast receive direct advertising benefits for their active participation. We, as an association, are very happy wath the set-up, and it seems to be mutually beneficial to our members and to KMPC. KMPC executives who collaborated with managing director Qiiinn in working out details of the series ivere: Robert O. Reynolds, vice president and general manager; Herb Wixson, assistant to Mr. Reynolds and sales manager; C. G. Renier, program director; Betty Ann Hudson, promotion and publicity director, and Dick Haynes, announcer. • 187 •