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IVlerchandising Hooks Ma
New Christmas character gioes ar) original twist to Christmas low budget promotions in large and small markets
W;
HILE THERE ARE a
number of excellent transcribed Christmas programs available for retailers willing to invest a large share of the holiday promotional budget in one of these platter packages, what about the low-budget merchandiser who wants to concentrate the Yuletide promotional budget on radio, but who, at the same time, seeks to avoid the Santa-in-every store theme? Mrs. Santa Claus is one solution.
While a Mrs. Santa Clans series achieves the same results for the sponsor as a Santa Clans series does (pulls mail, offers merchandising tie-ins, builds store traffic and creates good will), it achieves the objective in an original way that is at the same time on a low-cost basis. All that is required is a woman's voice, records and standard sound effects.
Merchandise buying guide
Such a series has been aired on KYSM, Mankato, Minn., since 1941. Its sponsor last year was the Sears Roebuck store. Mrs. Santa Claus was on the air as a fivetime-a-week, six-week strip, 5:00-5: 15 p.m. So persuasive was the combination of children's stories, descriptions of Santa's activities at the North Pole, and the reading of letters from youthful listeners that ihe scries (1) pulled a total of 6250 letters, and (2) drew an estimated crowd of 15,000 youngsters to Sears' Toyland on a single occasion.
Quite aside from the value of the scries in building a mailing list and creating store traffic, the program also served a useful purpose in the selection of store mcrchanch'se. An analysis of the letters
received in the 1946 Christmas promotion was made as a buying guide for 1947 Toyland merchandise. This study of mail returns gave store officials a very definite picture of what youthful Southern Minnesota wants in toys and it helped Sears' buyers avoid stocking up on slow-moving merchandise and other unnecessary purchases.
While Sears selected this promotion (most of its 1946 Christmas promotion budget was concentrated on it) to avoid the Santa-in-every-store theme, Sears didn't completely over-look Santa Claus. For two weeks previous to the final broadcast, Mrs. Santa reminded her youthful listeners that Santa would appear in person at the Sears store on the final day, and that this last broadcast would originate from the store instead of from the North Pole.
The result? An estimated crowd of 15,000 youngsters jammed Sears' second floor, and only a small part of the crowd could be admitted into Toyland at one time.
Commercials for the most part were indirect, ie, when Santa and his workers sent a new shipment of sleds— or dolls— or games to Sears, Mrs. Santa Claus described the toys and invited the boys and girls to see them at the store. As a supplementary boost for continuous store traffic, at the close of each broadcast the announcer encoiuagcd the children to ask their parents to accompany them to Sears* loyland. It drew children from an 18county area.
Special precautions taken in connection with this station-built Christmas program include:
1) Using longer chilchen's stories at the outset, with the story-telling grad
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RADIO SHOWMANSHIP