Sponsor (Jan-June 1953)

suggestions based on SPONSOR'S 8-month all-media evaluation study FOR THE AGENCY , Don't ridicule advertiser who asks, "Does ad rtising sell?" or, "Am I spending twice as much ill1, / should or only half as much." He has right itii know. What part advertising plays in selling basic question experts have tried to answer. FOR THE MEDIUM especially the h'O'draster J. Stop testing media an superficial basis to prove only that you are superior to others. It's not true, and no researcher will (inept \our data. FOR THE MEDIUM 6. On the other hand, don't hesitate to test air media vs. newspapers for retail sides using ARM technique. ARBl's 200-plus tests to date have shown that advertisers can't reach 1:) of their customers /t using newspapers or radio alone. mi r llilliiiillliiiiiii iiinimniinnmiui imiiiiii mini I in I II in i il I I in i mini 11 i n i 11 iiiniin mum inn i iimiimiimmnmmmmmmmiimmimi mil I mill .1 iinmii . Some advertisers feel they could do better b than their agencies given the agency 15%. gencies can change this by realistically reapaising their advertising knowhow, use of media. 2. Instead test to discover truths about your medium that will help advertisers sell more at lower cost, use medium to the best advantage. 7. Support sound media research. Avoid strictly promotional ballyhoo. Ij you land a sponsor with phony figures and his campaign flops, all media lose financially and advertising suffers a blow. 'iiiiiiiiii immmmimimiiii maimiiimnmiiimiim mum 1 1 11 mini miiim 1 111111111 imniii immimmii 1 mmniinniirlilinmini 1 imiim 1 iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinimiiiiiiiiiii 11111 11 1 imm mm mmmmmimi 1 1 1 1 mmiiiiini iiiiiiminiiiii , . Be careful of your copy. Average advertiser m 11 accept most of what you put into it. You nl n do more than advertiser or medium to inease advertising believability. 3. Sell your medium to advertisers by stressing its unique qualities. Don't weaken it by stressing cost and circulation data, which other media can use just as well. it. Insist that radio and TV industry start matching ANPA's Bureau of Advertising and M All's /'IB in collection of valuable data of use to all advertisers in selection and evaluation of media. mill imimmiiimimiii mmmimiimimiiiiimmiiimiiiiimmiimimiiimiiiiiimi mini 1 mi mnniimnimnniiminmniniiiinni mnnininiminimniiminininiimnmniiminmnni mnmmniiinnmiiiii mum innimm iiniininiiiiiininiiimnmnnmimininimnininnimiiiiinni mi mm 1 in 1 Agencymen seem convinced copy is more 'important than media. That is why it's tested /. times more often, sponsor is not convinced. (ijwe you ever tested importance of both? Me %m influences copy, as well as vice versa. •t. To broadcasters: Stop trying to take business away from each other and go after 99% of 4 million businesses that don't use air media. "" '). Don't allow your advertiser to get in frame "| mind where he knocks down medium with '"' estionable statistics. In end advertising suffers. 5. Apropos #4, media combinations general!) seem to sell better than single medium. So don't ignore virtually unexplored field of testing what combination of media sells best for advertiser. ft. Don't ignore these 3 methods by which you can help advertisers appreciate media and increase sales: 111 improving programs: (2) improving copy; I3l increasing believability by curbing misleading or offensive commercials. 10. Respect other media, for they have made it possible for you to exist, just as in depression days radio enabled hundreds of firms to survive. established a (correlation said they found direct mail worked best for them. One. a $700,000 advertiser, is primarily industrial but also sells farm feeds, canned linseed oil, and flour to consumers. The second, a Midwestern electric utility spending $330,000 a year on advertising, mostly newspapers, ran a pilot test with direct mail and salesmen before embarking on a full-scale campaign. It uses no air. Agencies are uncertain: The agencies are much more cagey. They divide into three general groups, from the standpoint of evaluating media: 1. The Negatives. These have tried to establish a correlation, have failed, don't think now that intermedia studies PART 2 NEXT ISSUEMEDIA BASICS: what advertisers should know about each of the advertising media have any value. They cite several reasons to prove this: Of the x number of factors that move a person to buv. advertising is only one. And the advertising factor in turn can be broken down into as many as 150 sub-factors, ranging from copy and amount spent to medium used. It is therefore virtually impossible to prove that this radio campaign sold that amount of goods, especially on a national scale. The negative attitude is. perhaps surprisingly, entertained by some of the biggest agencies — the $50 to $100 million class. 2. The Mixed Attitudes. Can't say yes or no. They've tested, occasionally proved that one medium outpulls another, then discovered a variable they hadn't matched and decided they hadn't learned anything. This group, generally the medium-sized agencies, seems more willing to experiment, possibly because they are hungrier and want more business; they are quick t.> jump at an opportunity to show that medium x or medium y can sell \011r goods, and usually it does. They some 20 APRIL 1953 times come up with startling information, which the bigger agencies may not accept as gospel. Interestinglv enough, this applies to the network researchers as well: The biggest have decided media testing is almost an insoluble problem: the smaller ones are experimenting. 3. The Positive Attitudes. Not infrequently, moderate-size agencies, some of them perhaps with Napoleonic complexes, have worked out a test, put the results to work, shot their products to the top. and are thumbing their noses at the Goliaths of advertising. SPONSOR has uncovered one of these and will detail its operations in a full-length article as part of this series. One such agency president told sponsor: "I don't care about media evaluation, theory, or ratings. I test several media with coupons, find which pulls best per dollar spent, then bet my whole wad on it to push my product out ahead of the field. When sales drop, I switch media or change copy. \ weekly check keeps me current. It's the only way. 45