Sponsor (Jan-June 1953)

Radio ■.;.:.:.;.:. ™? » message liom oui sponsoi ...and now a message ^^^ by Bob Foreman M his show isn't for us!" Ever heard that comment? Or "We'd never sponsor this kind of program. I know it's popular and people enjoy it. but it isn't our type." This point of view reflects a very important and actually very wise attitude that is common in main husiness organizations today. An attitude that can be exasperating to the outsider. An attitude that often seems to mirror stuffiness and lack of imagination and a desire on the part of the second echelon to reflect what top management has in mind. Yet the well-run business, well managed and firmly entrenched in its sphere, does have a corporate personality. Reflection of this is only possible among those who know the business well. This takes time. And yet it is essential to be able to interpret this personality, to anticipate deviations from it, to understand in advance what en Nylast announcement makes effective use of stocking demonstration (?ee review, p. 58) hances and what detracts from it. Many an advertising man has watched a client pore over advertisements in layout stage or commercial storyboards for television or some other copy in the rough, and then found it hard to stomach the comment, "This doesn't sound like us." Criticism of this kind is hard to adjust to, and it is equally difficult to base revisions upon it. And yet, it is as valid as the kind that says, "You've missed the point of what we're trying to do with our product." Corporations, large or small, do have distinct personalities whether they sell ingots or toothpaste, services or soap. This personality may be the reflection of a single man, perhaps the president. Such is quite often the case in a familyowned business where the president is a direct descendant of the founders. In the larger, more widely owned and diversified companies, this personality can be made up of equal parts of tradition and evolution. It is usually difficult to describe. On the other hand, it is easy to tell when a commercial does not reflect the corporate personality. Easy for the people whose job il i> to watch over the deviations. To reflect them correctly to the public is the job of the advertising agency — in all media. And this takes as intimate association with and understanding of "the client" as a husband must have when he goes Christmas shopping for his wife. He knows darn well she won't wear green. Or that tear-drop earrings elongate her face and she onlv wears those lillle fellows that cling to the ear lobe itself, with no "dangles." What does this personality do, if anything, for the company? For one thing, it breeds the helpful kind of familiarity that makes friends of customers. People like to deal with friends. It provides ready recognition, something of vital importance as new competitors rush into the field. As new campaigns of competitors break in profusion, they serve to dissipate the impression your company has built up in the minds of the public. This sure-fire identification is the windward anchor in the mind of the prospect, a mind bombarded daily by newspaper and magazine copy, deluged with commercials on radio and TV, shouted at through billboards and car cards, surrounded by messagebearing match books and table tents. How can this steadfast impression be captured? By defining the point of view, by setting the format, by fixing impressions, and then adhering to them. Thus it develops. Thus it evolves. As the varying points of view throughout the years crystalize and centralize, it becomes clearer and clearer. Every medium of advertising serves it. Each changes it a bit, yet imprints it more indelibly. The only copy which works against it is the one that is written by folks who are unaware that such a frame of reference exists. Such writers will not be able to create copy in the right light. Such TV and radio personnel cannot buy the right shows or supervise the right jingles. Those who guard the personalities, however, are keepers of an invaluable treasure. (Reviews on page 58) Do you always agree with Hob Foreman when he lauds or lambasts a commercial? Boh and the editors of SPONSOR would he happy lo receive and print comments from readers in rebuttal; in ire; in qualified agreement* Address Bob Foreman c/o SPONSOR, 510 Madison Ave. 56 SPONSOR