Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1947)

\ Sponsor Identification or Every Woman's Hour indicative. 1 itles can further narrow the audience by clearly indicating what special interest the program caters to. There is (a) the appeal to the homemaker in such titles as Homemaker's Correspondent, Homemaker's Center or Homemaker's Q_uiz; (b) the appeal to mothers in particular, in such titles as Mother's Morning Meeting, and (c) the appeal to women primarily interested in cooking, in such titles as Kitchen Klatter, Calling All Kitchens, Kitchen of the Air, Fun With Food or Magic Kitchen. It's a specific age group which is preselected in such titles as Teen O'Clockers, Teen Jamboree, Hi-Time Date, Teen Town, Teen-Age Time, Junior Town, Junior Forum or Young American Club. Quite aside from sex or age, titles may appeal to special interest groups, with these groups composed on the basis of occupations or avocations. For example, such titles as Swap Shop, Air Exchange, Trade Winds or Trading Post suggest editorial content, but in the title. Farmer's Exchange, the sponsor is slanting his program directly to one particular occupational group. The following titles illustrate how editorial content and appeal to a special group may be combined: Farmefs Almanac, Farm Family Circle, Farm Digest, Farm Journal, Farm Facts and Fun, Farm Forum, Farm Question Box, Farmefs Special and RED Review. Such titles as Fisherman's Corner, Garden Guide or Camera Club of the Air illustrate titles which appeal to special nterest groups on the basis of personal lobbies. '3) Sponsor advertisement The sponsor's opportunity for salesnanship isn't entirely limited to comiiercial continuity, as the network adcrtisers well know. Titles with gimmick ahie which contribute to sponsor idenification are of two kinds: (1) titles that suggest the product, and (2) titles that suggest the brand or firm name. To illustrate titles that suggest the product or service: Compounded For You definitely suggests sponsorship by a drug store; Cracker Barrel by a cracker manufacturer; Chapel Echoes a mortuary; Voice of Vision an optometrist, and Musical Milkwagon a dairy. Other titles which apply to specific business fields: (a) Jewelers . . . Gems of Melody, Gems of Romance, Jewels of Entertainment, and Treasure Chest; (b) Women's Wear . . . Spotlight on Fashion, Parade of Fashion, Melodies and Fashions, Fashions in Music, Fashion Window, Fashion Letter, Styles in Tempo; (c) Breweries . . . Tap Time, Light and Melloiv, Mild and Mellow, Tap Room Ballads, Musical AHght Cap, What's Yours?; (d) Automobile dealers or gasolines . . . Romance of the High^ ways. Highway Harmony, License Quiz; (e) Beauty Salons . . . Beauty Becomes You, Beyond the Looking Glass, Makeup Box, School of Charm; (f) Florists . . . Bouquets in the Air, Bouquets of Music, Language of the Flowers and (g) Photographers . . . In Focus, Candid Capers, Portraits in Music. This gimmick value of titles is most effective when the brand or firm name lends itself for use in the title, ie. Startime for the Star Brewing Company, Boston, Mass.; Hearts Delighters for Hearts Delight Flour and Feeds, San Antonio, Tex.; Fairteen Club for The Fair Store, Chicago, 111.; Carr Melody Bakers for Carr-Consolidated Biscuit Company, or the B & M Messenger for the B & M Specialty Store, Peoria, 111. Occasionally a program lends itself to a title which incorporates all three elements, but usually some one element must be sacrificed to achieve the proper emphasis in relation to the program itself, and the sponsor's purpose in the broadcast campaign. UGUST, 1 947 • 271 •