Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1947)

ijpot /lnniiunf'(;nii;nlN Logiial lUiliii (luili;! lor Miirluiirj Radio schedule for Utter-McKinley Mortuaries, Los Angeles, follows service pattern, with daytime announcements most effective by P. O. NARVESON, Associdted Adverticing Agency, Los Angeles MOST FUNERAL DIRECTORS in advertising on the air turn to hymn music, doleful classics or other types of programs that, at the best, remind listeners of sorrow and death. Utter-McKinley Mortuaries, which each year serves over 3,500 families through 12 funeral homes, has taken almost the opposite stand. Radio programs which it has used have always inclined in the other direction. It is its belief that there is enough sorrow and grief when death comes without emphasizing this side of bereavement. Utter'McKinley, Los Angeles, Cali^ fornia, also believes that any advertising done should be directed at the living, not the dying. In its belief it is backed by While ad-man Narveson ckjes not am' sider radio the Number 1 advertising^ medium for the average funeral direcUn, the campaign for this client indicates its supplementary value in the over-all advertising schedule. His agency has used all media for over 25 years, has found each successful for the specific needs of specific accounts. Where radio is concerned, he feels that too much emphasis on the entertainment value of the medium detracts from its effectiveness as an advertising medium for certain types of businesses. rather cf;n vincing statistics. These statistics show that well over 80 per cent of all funerals are paid for by survivors. This fact is obvious if we just look around us. Most of us realize how few there actually are that take very much with them to the grave. Insurance people also would give you stacks upon stacks of evidence to support this viewpoint. It is the belief of Maytor 1 1. McKinley, president of Utter-McKinley Mortuaries, and Earl T. Dittmar, advertising manager, that spot announcements are the funeral director's most logical outlet in radio. Such announcements they think should be short, to the point, and not merely reminders of death. Since the average funeral involves an expenditure of from $100 up to $1000 or more, the announcements should contain simple facts important to every family. They should stress what a memorial service includes and, if possible, the range of prices. Actually it's a real service to the average person to give him these simple, vital facts. This is true because the average American is uninformed on matters of funerals and funeral costs. This is under^ standable. In the first place, the average citizen doesn't like to think of dying. He always figures it may happen to the other fellow, but never to himself. Then, too, the experience of making arrangements actually occurs only every 15 years in the average family. Is it any wonder, there^ DECEMBER, 1947 413