Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1947)

W^olf & Dessauer installed special K.W. power units to generate the movement of the characters. c). Internal signs All around the second floor auditorium where Wolf & Dessauer has a permanent location for toys, there were large strip blow-ups of the main action of the Cloudchaser strip. On the stage where Santa Glaus reigned was a sign poster telling the children of the program and the newspaper comic strip. d). Stunts On Friday, December 13, Wolf &: Dessauer invited the children of Fort Wayne to call the store to talk directly with Santa Glaus. Assembled at the store were a group of store buyers who talked in the course of two hours to almost 1 300 youngsters. On the line answered by William S. Latz, advertising, there were 81 different calls. Out of that number, according to Mr. Latz, there were only two children who did not religiously listen to the program. STATION PROMOTION Promotion arranged by WOWO included two courtesy announcements every day ten days before the program started and a series of five newspaper advertisements which were published on the radio page in alignment with the Wolf & Dessauer advertisements. For a two week period the WOWO studio windows were devoted to the Cloudchaser program, and general releases on a regular schedule were sent to over 100 newspapers. In addition, there was a prominent spot in the Children's Department of the Public Library for a display of colored pictures of characters in the series. Letters were sent to educators, and the series was endorsed by such organizations as the Indiana Federation of Woman's C^iubs as the result of letters sent in explanation of the series. Black and white copies of the figures in the strip were available to nurseries and kindergarten classes for in-school coloring, and patterns of one of the characters was oflcicd ill a VVOVV^O homemaker's bulletin. The promotional activities, in combination with an excellent radio series, made this one of the most effective Ghristmas promotions this department store has used, and, as one little girl wrote on a piece of yellow tablet paper with penciled words, "Please, Wolf & Dessauer, have Cloudchaser come again next year." Other Sponsors Also Report In Rochester, N. Y., Sibley, Lindsay & Gurr is known as "Rochester's Christmas store." Toys galore, Santa Glaus and a special Ghristmas fantasy such as a "Trip to Santa Clans Land," a circuitous walkthrough interspersed with animated scenes, make Sibley's Toyland a world of make-believe come true. In 1946, the theme of its Toyland was The Christmas Adventures of Cloudchaser, Betty and Bob. The radio series was broadcast over WHAM, Monday through Friday, 6:156:30 p.m. To promote the series, there were two animated window displays using the program theme. A newspaper strike in the city prevented the use of the comic strip tie-in with the radio series, but Sibley, Lindsay & Gurr developed all other possible promotional tie-ins, among them a special preview of the radio series and Ghristmas promotion for Sibley employees. Since 1939, the Downtown Business Men's Association, Los Angeles, Galif., has used radio as a means of making the buying public "downtown" conscious, and the first year that radio was used, gift buying exceeded in volume that of any previous Ghristmas season during the preceding ten years. Since then, the association has continued to use radio promotions, and 1946 was no exception. What spread the word for the association was Cloudchaser, Betty and Bob, broadcast over KMPG Monday through Friday at 4:30 p.m. To exploit the series, advertisements were used in all local metropolitan newspapers and display cards were posted in most department stores. For Home's Department Store, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1916 was the second successive year foi its sponsoishij) of the series, with the progiam heard over WGAE. 336 RADIO SHOWM ANSH I P