Sponsor (Apr-June 1964)

EFFECT OF PRODUCTION DEVICES ON COMMERCIALS Opinion on four devices indicated that the great majority of respond es, "help," "hinder" or ents either expressed no opinion or believed the device had no effect. "have no effect" on the commercial impact of the On four of the remaining five devices, responses stating "help" or Station's advertisers? (Nine listed for evaluation.) "hinder" as an opinion, were in the order of 3 to 1 or greater when comparing one to the other. Opan »Hl Shows Heavy Use of Personal Appearances (by Station Personal I ties) Listener Contests Heavy use of Call Sound Effects I 1 <0 M , r »-■ 35 , Ik 1 * 1 1 1 l5 kk \ « m i DD 36 r » r v ! 1 HELP | HINDER | NO EFFECT [H / ^ <*^^ "Request" Shows 23 IJX | «*» Mt | Music Popularity ' 19 | 9 | 98 "Teen Hops'* " 1 l2 1 » L^, -_' . »■'•. I D.J. Stunts ,5 | 9 1 2k | SI . ib. 1 the results together and charted the over-all picture on a number of topics. For example, he asked the local agency people: "Compared with a year ago, do you feel that people in your market are listening to radio now — more, the same, less?" The response added up as follows: 53 percent said "more," 46 percent said "same" and only one percent gave "less" as an answer. Many agency spokesmen have claimed to be giving great value to the station's programing as well as the numbers available. This prompted Smith to ask: "In your market, do you think that programing is — more, less, about the same — in importance as ratings when buying a station?" The composite figures for the first seven markets studied show that 55 percent thought programing more important and only 4 percent saying that programing was less important than ratings. Even discounting these figures for a tendency to favor program judgments because of current trends in this direction, other areas of the study clearly indicate that many other elements besides ratings are being employed. The outlook for spot radio seems generally very bright. Asked whether they intend to use more, about the same, or less radio in 1964 than they did last year, only 5 percent of the buyers said "less." while 40 percent said "more" and 4<S percent said "about the same." Advertisers and media people alike should lind value in the opinions elicited by these questions: "Do you feel that an\ one radio station in your market, because of its programing and commercial content, has the edge over the others among listeners in 'bclievability'?" Since many advertisers are beginning to place at least some stock in the editorial climate in which their messages are heard, the answers to such questions are likely to be pursued carefully by them. Only residents of a community could answer the next question offthe-top: "Which radio station in your market, if any, do you find has its programs most favorably talked about?" Perhaps every agencyman can answer that question about his own bailiwick but such a study as this supplies a pipeline into the offices of fellow buyers around the country. The individual market opinions on the subject of the effect of production devices on commercial impact are consolidated in the front section of the report by Smith, who brings to this study a rich research background. Since he formed his own organization in 1956 his client list has included Corinthian Broadcasting Corp.; KCMO-AMTV Kansas City; North Dakota Broadcasting Co.; KSD-AM-TV St. Louis; Skyline Network; KSLTV Salt Lake City; Polaris, Inc.; WFAA-AM-TV Dallas, and the Tall Corn Group. During the preceding 22 vears he was employed by BBDO,' CBS. WCCO Minneapolis-St. Paul. WQXR New York and Crossley. He is credited with developing a Listener Diary Technique. Listening Areas Technique and a Listener Panel Study. This week, for the first time, media directors and timebuycrs who participated in the multi market study will learn who footed the bill. They will also learn of the results of the study in cities other than their own. The time they spent in filling out the detailed questionnaire may well prove worth while in terms of the information they can swap with their counterparts in other major markets. Says Jules Fine, vice president, associate media director of Ogilvy. Benson and Mather: "The study indicates the pressing need to be personally informed on the characteristics of radio stations — including their programing formats, acceptance in the community and over-all practices. These factors must be included in the total evaluation, along with numerical strengths, and this survey indicatehow these non-measured areas can influence people who are presumably "on the scene" observers." "This is a valuable addition to the pedestrian numbers that we havi had to deal with up to now. More such studies of this kind should be encouraged," says Dr. Harry Waller Daniels, director of research. MacManus. John & Adams, Inc. From Young & Rubicam, Inc.. comes a comment from Thomas 1 Lynch, associate director media relations and planning: "I think that this new 'Evaluation of Radio Today' bj advertising agency personnel is certain!) a progressive step in the field of research. It was surprising to me the compatabilit) of the answers to the varied questions bj buyers no matter where the) arc located. It proves there is a prettj knowledgeable group of radio hu>ers throughout the agency media groups." 34 SP0NS0S