Sponsor (Nov 1948-June 1949)

The Picked Panel answers Jlr. Sherman Two questions deserve two answers: in this case. \ es and no. If a radio station serves a rural area in which listeners are not close to retail outlets, and the station can offer its audience opportunities to buy meritorious products not available, for instance, in the country store, then the broadcaster is performing a definite service to liis listeners, and should by all means carry direct-mail advert i s i n g. (in tin ollii-i hand, il \ our station is located in an urban market that is highly competitive, and there are thousands ol retailers in the area selling all kinds of merchandise, then the station might want to protect its local retailers from the direct-mail advertisers, because these verj same retailers might be prospective sponsors on your ow n station. Of course, another factor that determines whether a station will accept direct-mail business is the stations hillings. If a station i* in the "red. .,i close i" it. then the average sales manager will grasp For an\ revenue al all. including direct mail. Bui a station with crowded commercial schedule and a general!) health) hilling 42 Mr. Sponsor asks... "Direct-mail selling — does it or does it not belong in broadcasting?" Charles Sherman Director of Advertising Doubleday & Co., New York situation will not be inveigled into taking this type of account. Here at WNEW, we have made a careful analysis of the problems involved in broadcast mail-order advertising, not only in the light of the history of such advertising, hut also from the viewpoint of our current experience. For the most part, we have found mail-order acounts to be troublesome and highly transient. In view of these facts we recently established a new policy which states that WNEW will not sell time to advertisers whose only means of distribution is by mail. Ira Herbert V.p., Ch'ge of Sales WNEW, New York When the DuMont Television Network embarked on its policy of regular d a y t i m e programing, il had no grandiose notions of commanding mass audiences for the morning programs. What we could and did promise our sponsors was lowcost advertising that would reach a specific audience with high impact. What has resulted for DuMonl since we went on in the daytime has proven to us that direct-mail advertising definitely does belong on the air — at leasl as far as we here at DuMont are concerned. Our mail pull show us ili.it direct-mail advertising is especiall) resultful when products can be viewed and demonstrated. A few instances w ill prove the point : Winn Alice Burrows, who conducts a sewing program called the Needle Shop, offered viewers a free booklet, the client I American Lady Rug Company) received an immediate response of over 500 requests. The following week the sponsor asked that the offer not be repeated, due to his inability to handle the volume of requests. On one of Kathi Norris' Your Television Shopper programs, a small sample of Coty perfume was offered; in less than a week, 10,107 requests had been received. These results, and others, have convinced us that the combination of special interest programs and related products that are seen and demonstrated makes a selling combination that packs the same immediate effectiveness of a sale counter on the main floor of a department store. Tom Gallery Director of Sales DuMont. New York Take a good look at the Sears, Roebuck catalog. Consider the part mail order has played in raising the living standards of rural America. Mail order puts the department store right in the nearest EtFD box. In spite of good i, .ads. automobiles, and increased distribution, there are still mam. man) Families who do not have eas) access to modern retail outlets. Mail order is profitable to the ad\ ertiser, profitable to the medium, and is a desired service to a large segment of the public. SPONSOR 1