Sponsor (July-Dec 1951)

ing of sales figures which result. Confining? Yes. hut more than one omnibus test has wound up with its sponsor;unable to put their finger on what factor caused the sales curve to dip or rise. \\ ilh this restriction in mind, tests tend to be as narrow and straightforward as possible. Many phases of the ad strategy which might be market tested, if there were enough time and money, are decided on without test. For example, copy themes are often hied out on an ad agency s consumer panel to see which appeal sells best. This cop) appeal is then used in eliminating a possible variable. This kind of preliminary decision making happens most often when complete^ new products are tested. The manufacturer of a new product wants to know first of all whether his item is acceptable to consumers — does it fill a need? Secondly, lies interested in dis< (Airing the best way to merchandise it so as to build up sales quickly and broaden distribution. These are mansized objectives, leave no room for tinkering with the question of appeal, or media too. But in the case of long-established products which seem to suffer from the mal-de-mer of a sliding sales curve, copy appeal is frequently re-tested. Several years ago Colgate-PalmolivePeet raised a worried eyebrow at the disturbing trend of its Palmolive soap. Clearly the old brand of soap had lost some of its appeal. A succession of different copy themes were duly tested while sales edged downward. The cornpan v found the "T4-dav Palmolive Plan" appeal successful on a test basis, steadied its national advertising on that theme, and reversed the sales trend as a result. Block Drug's Amm-i-dent Tooth Paste is another case in point. It's also an interesting case history on the use of spot radio as a test medium. According to George Abrams, Block Drug advertising manager, the firm wanted to try out a hunch when it launched a recent test. Block Drug, one of the biggest buyers of radio in the country, had been using the air heavily for Amm-i-dent all along — in contrast with its rivals, who leaned toward magazine ads. Most of the smart magazine users harped on one theme: "Clean your breath while you clean your teeth, or -(in ething close to it. Why not, thought Abrams. convert the "bad breath"' theme to radio? It seemed to be working well for competing brands. The firm continued its transcribed dramatization plugging the value of Amm-i-dent as an ammoniated paste that reduced fermentation in the mouth, and therefore cavities in the teeth. At the same time they launched a nine-month test of the bad breath theme in July 1950. Block Drug and agency Cecil & Presbrey chose five cities in which to try out the new appeal: Fort Wayne. Ind. (pop. 120,000); Grand Rapids. Mich, (pop. 165,0001; Madison, Wis. (pop. 70.000) ; Portland, Me. (pop. 75,000) ; Roanoke. Va. I pop. 70.000 I . These cities covered a range of types common throughout the country — medium and small industrial, cural farming center. They also sampled Midwest. Northeast, and Southern markets. Radio carried the entire advertising load, since this medium had been used consistently for Amm-i-dent and had shown its value. The "clean your breath" theme was incorporated in 14 the 8% Buy in Knoxville! Not the biggest station, but the BIG BUY in cost per thousand homes reached in Knoxville's "golden circle""1 . . . the industrial metropolitan area of 335,000 people. Cover this compact market with WBIR AM and FM, both for the price of one. The Boiling Company one-minute announcement versions transcribed for broadcast. Again following previous experience, about 80 % of the test announcements were slotted in the early morning, between 7:00 and 9.00 a.m. Average frequency was about 10 announcements per week on each station. After the first 26 weeks of testing, results were so convincing that Block Drug switched all its advertising approach to the new appeal. They now spend $1,000,000 on radio promotion for Amm-i-dent, another $1,000,000 on TV. The ABC network radio show A^o School Today accounts for part of the radio budget, while spot radio announcements take up the rest. On television, there's Danger over CBS-TV net; spot TV announcements planned. 2. Selecting a test market. This is one of the first and trickiest jobs tackled by a market researcher. It must be a self-contained market so that outside business conditions and advertising activities don't spill over into the test market, thereby muddying results. This rules out the suburbs of large metropolitan cities like New York. Chicago. San Francisco, Los Angeles. Another prime requirement for a test city is the researcher's ability to get accurate sales figures. This inevitably means visiting a goodly sample of retail stores, checking inventories and invoices. Many testers rely on outside research outfits like A. C. Nielsen, Burgoyne Grocery & Drug Index. Stewart Dougall Surveys, choose cities where these services are available. Nielsen, for example, provides sales figures for food and drug items in 29 areas every 60 days. (The firm will also set up special store panels on specific items for a limited period of time. I Here's a close-up of how one large food manufacturer and his agency fixed on four test cities for a recentlyintroduced breakfast food. They looked first of all for cities with the*e three qualifications: 1. A market where jobbing and wholesale areas were clearly defined, so as to keep accurate track of product sales. 2. \ market where the same media were available as would be used in a national campaign. 'i. \ city with enough diversified businesses so that a single strike or failure would not throw the whole market completely offstride and ruin results. 82 SPONSOR