Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1947)

three audience potentials is most important at any given time. In other words, coordination of effort and purpose is a vital factor. In this connection, a statement made by \Veldon Nelson, merchandise manager of the ready-to-wear department for Nelson's Department Store, Jamestown, New York, with reference to the store's sponsorship of the High School Post Exchange over W'JTN each Saturday morning at 10:30, is significant. "The success of this promotion," said Mr. Nelson, "is largely due to the thorough and careful planning of our radio director and the whole-hearted cooperation of our newspaper advertising manager, plus the sales appeal of our student sponsor, and the fact that our ready-to-wear buyers supplied the merchandise Miss High Schooler wanted, when she wanted it." Select programs for audience appeal "What's the answer for the successful use of radio by department stores?" asks Harry Foster, of the Harry E. Foster Advertising Agencies, in connection W'ith What's the Answer, a Saturday morning program slanted to the teen-ager, and sponsored by the Robert Simpson Co. of Toronto. "Programs, of course. Programs for a specific audience have what it takes to make sales." This Saturday morning program of quiz, music and merriment was broadcast over CFRB before a visible audience of more than fifteen hundred who came to the store's restaurant and auditorium to participate in the broadcasts, and, according to a store official, nothing that has ever been tried could compare with the series as a method of bringing home to the younger generation the fact that Simpson's is a place they would thoroughly enjoy visiting, and shopping in, as well. There is no question that programininsf is the life-blood of radio, and while it is true that the public has liked almost every type of program on the air, specific programs remain over a period of time because the public wants them there. It is the job of the store to create a program that is wanted. In all probability, any one of several types of programs will serve equally well, so that the advertiser • 236 • >^^ must (1) select the program that fits the advertising needs of the moment, and (2 be sure it interests the greatest numbei of the particular listening audience h( wants to reach. A successful progiam from the stand point of the advertiser should be in keep ing with the store's policies and objec tives. If it can also be tied in with the store's claims, approaches and phrase; used in other media, that is all to the good, since the coordination of effort aid? consumer memory. Lastly, the progi^ann should be within the budgetary limits ol the sponsor. In this respect, it is well to remember that a popular progiam— that is, one with a large audience— is not necessarily one that sells. There are countless small pro grams with comparatively small listener ratings that do a teriffic selling job be cause their audiences, while small, are extremely loyal. For example, Brown's Dress Shop in San Antonio sponsored Fashions in the News over KMAC. In a mid-summer dress sale, a set of commercials used twice, with changes in comment, sold ninety seven dresses. No other advertising for the sale was used. How a style progiam can be slanted to the teen-age girl is illustrated by Higbee's Department Store, Cedar Rapids, in connection with its sponsorship over AVMT of Higbee's Girl of the Moment. The series was built with strong fashion appeal, in combination with music, and on a morning when fashion trends fori girls were discussed, the fashion reporter's tie-in with girls merchandise at Higbee's proved excellent. The program was de signed to accomplish immediate results every day, and, as part of it, to increase sales-effectiveness, Higbee's used a Girl of the Mojuent window, featuring merchandise described on the broadcasts. In Greenville, Miss., Nelms & Blum, a store for women with a Tot to Teen department, combined fashion-appeal with a service angle, in a six-times-a-week broadcast over \VJPR. Five limes a week listeners heard Style Trends, a five-minute program broadcast at 8:80 a.m., and, as an indication of the effectiveness of the series, one announcement that a national representative of a leading furrier RADIO SHOWMANSHIP