Sponsor (Oct-Dec 1964)

UNBUDGETED Because the gooey residue of trick-or-treat candies hasn't been combed out of the front lawn as yet, I'm reminded that on that one fun night last week 1 witnessed the greatest array of living promotion spots for television programing that a network promotion man and a client ad manager could share in mutual dream-of-merchandising heaven. The seemingly endless parade of masked moppets costumed as the characters who mince, wriggle and bound across our tv screens all week long — every week — was a procession of short, fat, lean, tall (for its age) and squeaky promos with no regard for network allegiance in the way they were paired. Nor did they display any regard for the incongruities of coupling live and animated facsimiles. The further disregard of prime-time network characters fraternizing with out-of-prime-time syndication personalities was flaunted defiantly and frequently at the donors of the Halloween loot. Apart from the facility with which we were able to identify the sponsoring brand names that bring the two dimensional originals to us on a night-by-night schedule, there was a monumental fascination in the image of this momentby-moment tableau going on in the doorways of almost all of the homes, on every street, in all the cities of the nation. What a promotion bundle this could cost any client if he had to pay for it! The character-and-name-licensing by networks is a fat by-product promotion payoff for tv clients. Bill Ruchti takes a close look at this growing industry in the story beginning on page 27. )CUM, sefo^ Curiosity over Cat? What ees eet, senores? The most popular guess here [about the object in KTRK-TV Houston's ad on the cover of Sponsor's Spanish-language issue, Oct. 19] — a not particularly attractive piece of glass sculpture. If not, what, please? And the connection with the skyline, also, please. S. Patterson Cole & Weber. Inc. Seattle, Wash. ED note: This one's drawn lots of queries. A straw vote in the Sponsor offices decided that the tall object looming over Houston's skyline in the KTRK-TV ad is a glass cat. As for the connection with the skyline, maybe the station is trying to tell us that it's "top cat in Texas." Any other ideas? Actuarily Your article on life insurance companies in the Nov. 2 issue was most interesting and helpful. You mentioned in it that Prudential's The Twentieth Century is the longest-running, continuously sponsored network public affairs program on television. If you check further, you'll find that it is the only network show of any type which has been fully sponsored by one advertiser 52 times per year for seven, going on eight, years. Not only that: its ratings keep getting better as years pass by — a tribute to the program's quality and to the tastes of tv viewers. Paul Keller Vice President — Research and Media Reach, McClintan & Co. New York Thorough Plaudit Beyond any doubt, your recently published feature article on Spanish-speaking markets is the finest piece of reporting that any publication has done on this important segment of our buying population. Your insight into the Latin markets from the advertisers' viewpoint was penetrating indeed. The thoroughness employed by Charles Sinclair and the rest of your editorial staff resulted in an authoritative and convincing story. We would like to see more follow-up articles on the Spanish market story in Sponsor magazine. Spanish radio is rapidly approaching adulthood and there are many important ideas and developments which are born that should not have to wait for a once-a-year Spanish feature article. Warren Suuman General Manager Tele-Radio & Tv Sales, Inc. New York ED note: Watch for a feature article on the air media in Puerto Rico in a future issue of Sponsor. We Apologize Sponsor Scope in the Nov. 2 issue of your usually well-informed magazine has succeeded — unintentionally I am sure — in depressing considerably the undersigned. Not only was my job for the past seven years apparently non-existent, but so was my employer, Leo Burnett Co. I refer to the item on page 28, "39 Million in P&G Serial Mill." Among other erroneous statements, the production of Search for Tomorrow was credited to Compton Advertising. Search, the longest running daytime serial (and second highest rated weekday tv program in the latest Nielsen report) has been produced by Leo Burnett Co. since the demise of the Milton Blow Agency several years ago. To itemize the errors in the paragraph referred to: (I) Five "P&Gcontrolled serials" are mentioned, but only four are listed. (The fifth is Another World on NBC-TV with production responsibilities handled by Y&R.) (2) As the World Turns is a half hour in length, not one hour. (3) Ed^e of Night is only a half hour program. (4) (And most important) — Leo Burnett Co. is one of the four producing agencies to P&G productions. Frank W. Dodge Producer, Search for Tomorrow Leo Burnett Co. Chicago ♦ 12 SPONSOR