Sponsor (July-Dec 1949)

know just what and how much participating stations contributed promotionwise. The MBS audience promotion department, headed by Carleton McVarish, funnelled all station promotion reports on to the Detroit office of Gillette's agency, Maxon, Inc. The company's annual "Cavalcade of Sports" built Gillette's net income last year to over fifteen million dollars. That gave stockholders a return of $6.80 per share of common stock. This was an increase over the previous year of approximately three and a half million dollars. Common stock value was also up $1.69 over the previous year. Although figures for 1949 have not yet been released, the company reports earnings up substantially the first three quarters of this year over the corresponding period of 1948. Gillette, though one of the earliest, has been far from alone in the business of making sports sponsorship pay off at point of sale. Atlantic Refining Company in the East and Signal Oil in the West, Wrigley, General Mills. P. Lorillard (Old Gold), etc., early backed up their belief that sports can build big business. In no case, however, have sports made a more spectacular contribution to product popularity and sales than they have to Gillette. It has been many years since their shaving equipment was patent-protected. There are dozens of blades and holders from the expensive Rolls to five-and-dime brands to divide up the market. But systematic promotion over the years has so linked Gillette's name with top-notch sports attractions that the Gillette name rides high on the excitement engendered by wave after wave of highly publicized contests from the Kentucky Derby to the gem of the "Cavalcade," the World Series. The merchandise to be featured in this year's series promotion (a SuperSpeed razon and plastic Styrene travel case) was decided on even before merchandising ideas started popping last June. The selection wasn't final until spot radio tests were made in six cities in various parts of the country. Men liked the deal, a $1.75 value for $1.00. The early selection enabled the manufacturing department to arrange its production schedule for heavy shipments to dealers in August and early September. Part of the individual station's job in building up listenership to the baseball classic was to create as much eye and ear recognition of the name Gillette as possible. The company helped out by giving the World Series outlets 40,000 streamers imprinted with each station's call letters, to be placed in store windows. Gillette outlets themselves put up 45,000 additional streamers. Basic promotion material went to each station from Mutual in the form of a kit complete with ideas for air promotion, sample announcements, sample newspapers ads. and mats. Gillette reports that most stations came through with good basic promotion on their own air and with ads on sports and radio pages of local newspapers. These ads usually credited Gillette as sponsor of the broadcast. The work of WIP's promotion de partment I Ralph Minton and Sam Elber) is a good example of what company and agency labeled superior. Working on the theory that a good subject would create a lot of talk, they hired four shapely models to carry portable radios about the heaviest traffic districts of Philadelphia and into establishments with heavy male traffic. The models wore brightly colored sweaters and baseball caps, and carried in addition to their portable radio a pennant reading WIP, WORLD SERIES STATION, ASK ME THE SCORE (hundreds did). The girls toured into theater lobbies, large department stores (lingering in men's wear departments ) , hotel lobbies, and in railroad stations. Thousands of people saw them, and they broke plenty of picture space. A series scoreboard was kept up to date at the WIP street entrance. But not by just any old score-keeper. This one was another attractive model wearing the usual baseball cap. The giant scoreboard in the largest window of the Gimbel store was attended by a former Miss Philadelphia. Station president and general manager Benedict Gimbel, Jr., generated more talk by inviting local sponsors and agency men to watch the game on television in his own office. But they had to buy a Gillette Super-Speed and shave right there. This also broke picture space in three or four national advertising trade publications. Another eye-catching stunt was to place huge baseballs on either side of the WIP mobile unit, whose loud speakers aired I Please turn to page 62 ) Retail dealer is enthusiastic rooter for his team — and Gillette Blades Sponsors join WIP's Ben Gimbel Jr. and Gordon Gray for shaves 21 NOVEMBER 1949 29