Sponsor (Jan-June 1951)

Same old story in Rochester . . . WHEC WAY OUT AHEAD! Consistent Hooper Leader since 1943. Leads morning, afternoon and night! .... WHEC ROCHESTER, N.Y. 5,000 WATTS Representatives ... ' EVERETT-McKINNEY, Inc., New York, Chicago LEE F. O'CONNEU CO., Lot Angeles, San Francjtco ask Joe Blair & Co. about the Havens & Martin STATIONS IrV RICHMOND W H II fiAM W 1 0 D-™ First Stations in Virginia The Equitable broadcasts have had more than a little to do with keeping the company number one among nonindustrial insurance companies, number three among all the insurance companies. 6. Hallmark Greeting Cards A national survey of 800 people by National Family Opinion. Inc. (a research organization) put Hallmark way out in front among greeting cards. Among the homemakers quizzed, 31 ' , said the) preferred Hallmark cards: among husbands the preference ran to 1.9%. By way of comparison, the next most popular card was Norcross with 3% among homemakers, 1% among husbands. This leadership goes back six years to when their radio efforts began; increase in Hallmark's business from 1949 to 1950 equalled its entire sales for 1940! The Hallmark Playhouse (CBS. Thursday 9:30-10:00 p.m. I features the genial and impeccable British author, James Hilton. All of its commercials are as dignified and impeccable as the star himself. The first of each program's three commercials is a brief 75-word pitch reminding listeners of occasions for sending cards. It always gets in mention of Hallmark quality — ends with the slogan "you cared enough to send the very best." In the middle commercial, which runs over a minute in length, Foote, Cone & Belding's copywriter Eunice Gibney gets down to hard selling. To start it off, there is a tie-in with the current holiday, or some newsworthv event, or a famous quotation. One example: ". . . Yes, it was Robert Browning who sent a friendly greeting to Elizabeth Barrett on the publication of her book. And you know the rest of the story. . . ." This commercial tells how the two met and fell in love as a result of Browning's greeting. This leads to a suggestion that "gracious, golden thoughts" often slip through our minds unless made tangible — by a Hallmark card, for example. Closing commercial, about 50-seconds, again hits the seasonal or special occasion reasons for sending cards, winds up with the slogan "you cared enough to send the very best." Longest advance build-up goes to Christmas cards, which are plugged from October on. Other holidays: Valentine's Day, Easter, Father and Mother's Days, Thanksgiving Day, St. Patrick's Day, and Halloween. Daily sales of cards run to a million even with such mundane things as get-well cards, new-baby cards, and happy birthdays. At the show's conclusion, James Hilton congratulates the guest actor on the evening's performance. They usually manage to work in a "natural" mention of Hallmark cards — by scanning the actor's biography in advance. If nothing plausible in it shows up, the mention idea is dropped, rather than risk something strained and implausible. Hilton and producer Bill Gay have authority to modify the copy if they believe it will sound more natural that 7. Camel Cigarettes In 1949, Camel usurped the number one spot among cigarettes from Lucky Strikes. The brand has continued to advance since then. One reason has been the aggressive use of radio by R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, manufacturers of Camels. The company spends about 25% of its advertising budget on network radio; they have the Vaughn Monroe Show (CBS, Saturday 7:30-8:00 p.m.), the Bob Hank Show (CBS, Monday 10:30-11:00 p.m.) and Richard Diamond, Private Detective (ABC, Friday 8:00-8:30 p.m.). Along with frequency there has been a succession of highly effective jingles. The present one, in effect for the past three years, goes like this: How mild, how mild, How mild can a cigarette be, Make the Camel 30-day test and you'll see, Yes you 11 see, Hon mild a cigarette can be. Smoke Camels and see. Wendell Adams wrote the music and Hal Bers the copy for this jingle back in September 1947. Both are with the William Esty advertising agency; Adams is one of the few jinglesmiths working directly for an agency. Since it was one of the first smooth jingles among a great number of "punchy" ones, the idea took some selling to get approval. So popular has the Camel jingle become that it's been used extensively on spot; \aughn Monroe himself sings it on his own program; and the client has printed up place cards with the jingle for Rotary Club dinners. Camel salesmen even play the jingle on a phonograph for cigar store proprietors. 72 SPONSOR