Sponsor (July-Dec 1954)

1 <.iil\ 2 1 I ' , ol the dollai i olume ; then fore, i ustomers nol i ea< bed bj any advertising provided onl) one-fifth the dollar volume. 5. During the Hale's Bei ies customers //"/ rea< bed b) radio would mosl likel) have been in the "Other" < atel'mi \ . ;i substantial loss to the Btore in cic>ll.ii volume. (>. I here is an ear-minded market miuI an eye-minded market, and it takes both radio and newspaper to I. ,i li the entire potential market. 7. Saturation of announcements on ki-\ days as used in this series <>l studies proves nine again thai retailers can use radio effectivel) t<> sell merchandise in competition with any medium. Referring to Hale's study, Ward said the \I.KI tests were onl) one part — Inii probabl) the most important part of a three-month radio "trial l>\ Hal—. Ward said that Kevin Sweene) of I'. \P> was instrumental in getting 1 1 ale to ti\ radio. The store decided to invest $7,500 in a three-month test of the medium. The ARBI tests were made to ui\e store management a real measurement ol the use of radio. "The TV link in the Heart of the Nation" KHOL-TV's SIGNAL COVERS 30% of Nebraska's ENTIRE FARM MARKET with UNDUPLICATED TV COVERAGE SRDS Consumer Markets. 1954 333E8 'X ™ Channel 13 ™" X MiiKIR TV, INC. I he loin radio stations carr) ing Hale's advertising paid foi t li< \RBI test. I In department >tore had alloi ated the Btations $7,500 to be used anj wa) the) wanted. I he stations decided to invest the full amount in time and pa) For the \RRI research themselves. BAB, besides helping to get Hale's to u>e radio in the first place, worked w itli the store in impro\ ing it radio cop) . Net result <>f the Hale's test? For the first time the store is going to use radio on a stead) basis and as part of it regular promotion. This has never been done before. Hart Lyon, manager of Hale-, said the decision to use radio on a permanent basis ($2,500 a month beginning in September on k\o\i was directly attributable to the result ol the \RBI sur\e\s. He said the findings were of such \alue that Hale felt it should not turn its hark on the conclusions hut should use radio in addition to newspapers. Leading retail stores in Sacramento, besides Hale's, include Eastern. Joseph Magnin. Bon Marche. Sears. Roebuck, Weinstock Lubin, Montgomery Ward. J. ('.. Penn) Co. and Roos Bros. Hale i part of the Californian department store chain of Broadwa\Hale. Biggest -lores are in Los Angeles i The Broadway i and San Francisco (Hale Bros.). Ward told SPONSOR that the Halestudy was especially useful because it combined several separate surveys involving a variet) of merchandise. "In many stores," said Ward, "we have made only a single survey, or at most two, and very often these sur\<\have not been sufficient to change the opinion of management and more particular!) of the advertising managers in changing their opinion of radio. I believe a series such as Hale's in one store can be quite helpful in indicating where a change might l>e beneficial." W aid also referred to a series of surveys made for Block & Kuhl Stores with headquarters in Peoria. This i a chain ol P) department stores throughout Illinois and Iowa. "We made a series of \RBI surveys for this chain in five stores, Ward said. "Block & Kuhl i a continuing user of radio and has been since the \RBI surveys were made. Vgain, these \RRI surveys were the factor in getting Block S Kuhl to change it opinion about the use of radio as an advertising medium." Vnothei department store which has benefitted from the ARBI studies, said Ward, i The Bon Man he in Seattle, where \RBI 8UTVey8 were made over a long period of time. "Just recent!) The Bon Marche finall) accepted the principle of 'vertical saturation and has been using a tremendous number of radio announcements in short period of time. -u< li as a weekend, with the result that the -tore moved substantia] quantities of merchandise —more so than an\ other combination of media." Ward disclosed. New \RBI surveys are contemplated in Portland. Ore.. Vancouver, B.I Wilmington, Del.. Charlotte, N.C., and Miami. Fla. ARBI also is working on u studies, has done several radio-tvnewspaper surveys. Last fall \RBI experimented with a special i\ vs. newspaper -eric to trv out some techniques to cut the production costs of t\ for retailer-. This series "was highly successful," W ard said, and a new series now is being prepared in Seattle for further testing. W hen \RBI first began making surveys lour years ago the firm's operating expenses were much higher than they are now. VRB1 now charges about $500 pei survey. Where the number of surveys i such that they can be made in one store in sufficient number. ARRI can reduce the price even further. Broadcast Advertising Bureau, which worked with the Sacramento stationin getting the Hale's radio activity lined up and which persuaded Macy's New ^ ork to invest $10,000 in radio this pasl spring for a special promotion (both projects, as indicated before. were successful), now is working with department -tores in 35 market-. \ BAB spokesman said the organization would go into even more markets "wherever there is a major market and B \B member stations." Big markets in which BAB currentl) is working with member stations in lining up department stores for radio include Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit. Washington, Baltimore. Seattle and Portland. BAB is interested not only in the dollar re-ults produced by radio advertising but also in working with the radio stations and retail stores on good radio merchandising. This includes cop) resean h and study, when to schedule both sales and announcements, which items pull best over the radio, proper deliver) and other factor-. 138 SPONSOR