Sponsor (Jan-June 1953)

Godfrey in net radio for mass audience appeal. The redesigned Nabisco seal is the firm's answer to the growth of the supermarket and the fact that an increasing share of its immense production is going to self-service outlets. Since impulse buying is the key to such sales, Nabisco has found that short, 20-second TV announcements can do an effective selling job. Nabisco has also found that it is getting a real buy in cost-per-1.000 with some of the choicest nighttime slots. Nabisco will spend S7.5 million on advertising this year, one-third of it on radio and TV. The air budget breaks down as follows: $1.5 million for spot TV, SI million for radio, with the bulk of the radio money going for the Arthur Godfrey morning show on CBS. Practically all of its TV advertising is at night. The TV announcements are currently running in every pre-freeze market in the country, plus Denver and Portland, Ore., and a few other new stations. Except for special cases, every commercial film ends with the camera moving in on Nabisco's new seal, which is a triangular trademark on the upper left hand corner of the package. The audio part of the commercial ends with the jingle: "It's the best you can buy, if it's baked by . . . Nabisco!" McCann-Erickson, Nabisco's agency since 1934, has garnered as choice a collection of time slots for these commercials as you'd want to see. The agency accomplished this coup with a simple, but shrewd, method — a method that almost any advertiser can use. Kedesignetl \'ablseo seal Is firm's answer to growth of supermarkets, aUls letstrong-brands-help-the-wettk strategg Going in heavily for consumer research after World War II. Nabisco found housewife often bought its lesser brands without realizing they were Nabisco products. Seeking better identification of entire line so that its well-advertised brands would help sell its non-advertised products, Nabisco asked Raymond Loewy & Associates to improve its already-famous seal. Loewy s answer was a triangular seal on the upper left-hand corner of all Nabisco packages. The color (red) was made brighter, also. Conversion of all packages to new seal was completed at beginning of this year, a big job made easier by the fact that Nabisco makes its own paperboard, and prints its own package designs. The new look of Nabisco's packages is plugged at end of nearly all TV announcements it sponsors. Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiy Before the spot drive began, the agency sent letters to reps informing them that Nabisco had budgeted $1 million for video commercials. The letter explained that the company was seeking 20-second slots adjacent to highly rated shows in the evening. The larger markets would get four announcements a week, medium-sized markets three, and the remainder, two. The reps were informed that whenever they called with availabilities which met the agency's standards, they would have an okay in five minutes. The result surprised even McCannErickson. The campaign was sched uled to begin 1 September last year and the agency expected that the TV spot money would be committed by March of this year. However, all announcements were placed by the end of November. It turned out that most reps would call McCann-Erickson first whenever an availability turned up because they knew they would get a quick answer. As a result. Nabisco got announcements placed between such shows as: ( 1 ) / Love Lucy and Ozzie and Harriet in Phoenix. (2l Lux Video Theatre and Godfrey's Talent Scouts in {Please turn to page 80) Nabisco's advertising policies are guided by George Oliva, left, while decisions at agency, McCann-Erickson, are coordinated by co-equal group heads, William H. Conine, center, and Farish A. Jenkins. The latter pair work closely, can fill in for each other if necessary. Two account executives under each group head divide omong vhemselves 20-odd products that Nabisco advertises, plus export advertising 20 APRIL 1953 33