Showmen's trade review (Jul-Sep 1942)

August 8, 1942 SHOWiAIEN'S TRADE REVIEW 37 Think Your Campaign Through; Avoid 'Stunts That Didn^t Click' Showmen Should Heed Query By Fried! on Exploitation Ideas: 'Will It Sell Tickets?' Some years ago John J. Friedl, now head of the Minnesota Amusement Co., made a practice of querying nearly all suggestions for exploitation and publicity activities with the remark: "Will it sell tickets?" He calculated, and rightly, that it made the propounders of ideas think their problems through to a definite goal and measure each step of the necessary procedure carefully, thereby placing a fairly accurate gauge on expected returns as compared to expended effort and monetary cost. If every manager used Friedl's "Will it sell tickets?" yardstick to measure contemplated advertising, the graveyard for "stunts that didn't click" would quickly be transformed into a garden of "sure fire" splendor fenced with multi-colored torn ticket stubs and yielding crop after crop of beautiful black-figured picture profits. There are many managers who feel that constant activity is requisite to their job, spending time and exerting ef?ort on half-baked and rattle-brained notions that take severe toll of the advertising budget and exhaust the energy of themselves and their staffs without giving careful consideration to the probabilities of getting profitable returns at the box-office. These are the fellows that "just do things" to keep busy ; they usually wind up lamenting the lack of patron response and devoting the time that should have been spent in analyzing and planning the activity before execution in figuring ways and means of alibing the expense and consequent red-ink figures. In retrospect, they can see many angles of the stunt that were overlooked or underplayed which, if properly handled and executed, would have resulted in less expense and more ticket sales. It is an excellent rule to plan publicity and exploitation campaigns well in advance with the items of cost and effort weighed carefully against potential revenue. If outside cooperation or influence is needed to get the fullest benefit, or reduce the cost, approach should be made to the necessary sources and all groundwork properly laid to preclude last minute slipups which bring about added expense. Since the newspaper is the principal avenue of publicity dissemination, the discussion of ideas with the editors will invariably result in the trimming of rough edges and smoothing out of the plan to the point where it will be more direct and contain more appeal. Careful analysis of the amount of effort required to execute is very important, and often by planning well in advance the work can be stapraered to enable its accomplishment by the regular house force and avoid the expense of extra labor. In the instance of window displays it is advisable to gauge carefully the value of the location and the type of surrounding merchandise as comoared to the exoense involved in material and art work. If the promise of theatre revenue to compensate is at all in doubt, it is best to seek better facilities or to rearrange the plan for less expensive effort. Contemplated street ballyhoo should be viewed not only from the point of actual cost but as to its possible effect on the character and dignity of the house. After all, one picture is only a part of a manager's problem, and all effort should be avoided that contains the most remote possibility of offending any faction of present or future patronage. The theatre itself is most important, and its prestige must be maintained at all times. Merchant cooperation should also be carefully weighed. Try to select the most responsible and reputable firms for your cooperative effort. Consider the type of attraction and the method of public approach of the activity' before determining on the acceptability of a concern that is to bask in the reflection of the popularity and, in a measure, by tl;e fact of its association with your effort, he recommended to the public by your theatre. The location of posting stands, the neighborhoods where window cards are placed and the number in each community, the neighborhoods where handbills are to be distributed — certain types of copy are offensive to certain classes of people — and the phraseology of newspaper advertising copy should all be given the benefit of careful study and consideration to make sure that all avenues calculated to intrigue public interest and stimulate ticket sales are properly directed along channels most likely to enhance revenue from the respective sources pursued. It is advisable to plan each endeavor to conform to one general plan of campaign that leads to the theatre box-office, with slightly divergent side issues directed to strike response among certain classes whose interest is more likely to be provoked through individualized approach. The campaign planned along these lines will sell tickets ! 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