Sponsor (Jan-June 1951)

follow-up visits to see to it that the aid is actually worn and not hidden away in bureau drawers. Only 700,000 of some 10,000,000, who could benefit from hearing aids own instruments. Thus radio is being pressed into service not only for the immediate objective of uncovering leads but also as an educational force. Hearing-aid strategists are betting that radio, with its highly personal impact, can change outmoded prejudices against wearing the instruments. These advertisers have a strong selling story. Technical advances have resulted in smaller instruments, which can be sold on the basis of their inconspicuousness. Millions are still not fully aware of this advantage. Beltone's decision to use radio for education and selling came as a result of good response to announcement campaigns in various parts of the country, plus research done by the Olian agency. The problem was finding the right program. Sincerity had to be the keynote of the show. The program had to have a great appeal among the older age groups. Beltone wanted to reach the hard of hearing, who listen to radio as well as their FOR QUICK, EASY REFERENCE TO YOUR COPIES OF SPONSOR get the beautiful SPONSOR binder BINDER ORDER FORM at only 54 SPONSOR 510 Madison Ave. New York 22 Please send me Binder holding 13 issues and bill me later. NAME FIRM ADDRESS city" □ $4 one ZONE binder □ $7 two STATE binders IMPORTANT: Binders come in two sizes (1) to fit your 1950 issues of SPONSOR & (2) the somewhat larger 1951 issues. Please write numbers 1 or 2 in boxes to indicate size of binder desired. friends and relatives. But the show to choose was a poser. One day Maurie Bronner, Beltone account executive at the Olian agency, was lunching with a friend connected with one of Gabriel Heatter's sponsors. "Heatter has an amazing following among the oldsters," the friend remarked casually. That was enough for Bronner. Further investigation showed the potentialities of the veteran news commentator for the Beltone market. The idea was submitted to the client, who immediately saw the possibilities of such large-scale use of radio. Beltone added the Heatter show to the biggest ad budget in their history, $1,250,000, with minor trimming of spot radio activity. Beltone knew exactly how many leads the broadcast had to uncover to pay out. The number: 1,500 a broadcast. The results: 46,000 bona fide leads in 13 weeks or an average of 3,500 a broadcast. A Chicago distributor reports that 23% of sales one month came as a direct result of the Heatter leads. Assessing all the returns, Beltone found "more leads of better quality than from any other medium." The sponsor became so enthused over the program that, beginning with the 3 January broadcast, the MBS coverage was expanded from 125 to 300 stations. This has meant lifting the radio share of the budget from 5% to about 45%. The present ad budget is about $1,500,000. To keep up with the flood of leads, Beltone found that its sales staff had to be expanded. In December, Heatter was pressed into service to help recruit experienced sales help in addition to advertising the product. Radio was equally successful here. One insurance agent in St. Petersburg, Fla.. who at one time had represented a competitor of Gabe's old sponsor Mutual Benefit of Omaha, decided there was truth to the old adage, "If you can't lick 'em, join 'em." Once he had decided to sell in the hearing-aid field, he asked to be on Gabe's side. At first, Beltone was getting leads from people who expected a panacea for their hearing problems. The copy was changed somewhat to give more description to the instrument itself. One distributor remarks, "The quality improved while there was not much of a drop in the total number of leads." Probably some of the feeling that this was no ordinary hearing aid was brought home by Heatter's approach. HISTORY is in the making and is factually reported by CLETE ROBERTS ACE NEWS COMMENTATOR AND FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT In his years on KFWB top-ranking news analyst Clete Roberts has built a vast audience of faithful listeners. This audience is now available to you! Represented Nationally by William G. Rambeau Company KFWB IN HOUYWOOD 980 on the dial to sell Jacksonville, Fla's TREMENDOUS Negro-Hillbilly market buy the station they ALL listen to WOBSi ask For joe j 12 FEBRUARY 1951 67