Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1947)

lation to adjacent and competing programs. A program can capture an audience if it has merit, but it helps if the preceding and following programs are ones which appeal to the same audience. For example, when the Robert Simpson Co., Ltd., Toronto, Ont., sponsored Sonny & Susie for the preschool child over CJBC, the fact that the program was preceded by Junior' Jamboree and followed by High School Highlights was an important factor in reaching the audience to which the store was directing its appeal. By the same token, a consideration of programs aired on other stations at the same time is also valuable. The chances for success, for example, are greater if the program in question differs in editorial content from its competition. Selecting the right station Selecting the right station is largely a matter of determining the audience the advertiser wants to reach. Where the object is to expand the trading area, naturally the way to achieve that end is through a station that reaches out beyond the immediate environs. However, most advertisers buy time in relation to current sales distribution, and, in these cases, the station whose coverage most closely matches that sales distribution generally represents the most logical buy. Both coverage and time costs must be considered. There is also the question of the type of audience the station attracts. Each station tends to appeal to various segments of the population, and the station's character in relation to the group the advertiser wants to reach is also something to consider. As William F. Gekle, Jr. of Luckey Platt Sc Co., Poughkeepsie, N. Y., expressed it, in connection with the store's sponsorship of To the Teen's Taste, "All you need is coverage for your trading area. If a 250-wattcr covers your area, it covers all you are likely to benefit from." In the case of this particular program, the Saturday morning broadcast written and produced by teen-agers did such a good selling job and was such an excellent instiiiaional vehicle that it was expanded from a 15-niinute program to a '^0-minute show three weeks after it went on the air. • 238 • With regard to station selection, C. E. Chappell & Sons, Syracuse, N. Y., was of the same opinion. For the fall session of 1941, Chappell's wanted something special to get its annual Back-to-School campaign off to a good start. Due to space limitations, Chappell's teen-age clothing department was somewhat smaller than those of competing department stores in Syracuse and building traffic for it was something of a problem. It was felt that no amount of conventional newspaper advertising could do the desired job and that radio might be the answer. A half-hour a day, Monday through Friday, was purchased on AVOLF, with popular high school girls featured on the broadcasts which originated from the Talk o' the Teens Shop. The major purpose was to bring girls to the store, and this it did extremely well; immediate and repeat sales zoomed to new levels. In the final analysis, what the retailer wants to achieve is the largest number of broadcasts per week during the time periods when he can reach the audience to whom he wants to direct his message on the station that best covers the area in which he does business, provided time costs are within the budget. Frequency of broadcasts For the most part, what determines the frequency of broadcasts is: (1) the impact the retailer wants to make on his audience; (2) the specific purpose behind the series; and (3) the nature of the program itself. In some advertising campaigns, the primary objective is to reach a certain number of listeners every day. In other campaigns, the emphasis is upon reaching as many families as possible, even though few of the families are reached more than a small number of times. Illustrative of this approach is the Hi-Teen Board which Rice's Fashion Center, Norfolk, Va., sponsored over WTAR. High school youngsters gave their reactions to controversial topics, and school news, fashion hints and music were also included on the Saturday morning quarter-hour broadcasts. The purpose of the scries was to focus teen-age attention on Rice's as a fashion center at the right price, and the commercials were slanted RADIO SHO WM A NSH IP