Sponsor (July-Dec 1955)

m\ TIMEBUYING BASICS A. 'From Robert Coe) Not to the same extent by any means. There is a skywave factor and as you know periodically and without much explanation station A will be received 1,000 miles away. But this is not taken into consideration in the allocation of stations or in their normal estimated coverage. Q, What effect does receiver sensitivity have on tv signal strength as far as a good picture is concerned? A. Receiver sensitivity obviously is an important factor, and modern receivers by and large represent a considerable improvement over the receivers we originally had. Q. How much difference is there in coverage between vhf and uhf? A. 'From Robert Coe) At the present time and with the equipment available, it is my impression and opinion that quite easily a vhf station utilizing the maximum power can obtain a considerably larger service area than an existing uhf station. On that subject, let me hark back to the preceding one on receivers, too, because uhf admittedly has something of a problem with receivers too. Their sensitivity is such that they require considerably more of a signal on the uhf band than does the receiver on the vhf band. Q. The FCC has authorized three levels of power for the three frequency bands. Would the effect of that be to equalize the physical coverage of the three types of station? A. 'From Robert Coe) That, I am sure, was the intention. That was adopted several years ago. I think something more than that is needed, but one important factor now is that you can't get one million watts on uhf to attempt to equalize the coverage with your vhf competitor. I think there are a few stations that are about ready to break with it, but that will be somewhat experimental. Q. Wouldn't it be true that power alone would not be the answer, because antenna height would have a lot to do with it? A. 'From Robert Coe) Certainly power is not the factor. We can't take anything for granted and go by a set of generalizations; we have to judge each station examining all specific factors involved. Seminar 5. PAGE IS KNOW YOUR MARKETS Speakers: George J. Ab'rams, vice -president. Block Drin Co.; J. A. Ward, President, J. A. Ward, Inc. Moderator was Vera Brennan, head buyer, Scheideler, Beck and Werner, New York, an RTES seminar committee member. HOW MARKET POTENTIAL VARI1 GEORGE J. ABRAMS: A speaker who wanted to get this subject over with quickly would just dismiss it by saying "Markets are people" and sit down. He'd feel on pretty safe ground, too, knowing that others before him had echoed this sentiment and, after all. who can argue with the basic fact that without people you obviously don't have ' market? But knowing your market is a different matter. Now it's juct net a matter of saying this is a market and it contains people, but of digging qualitatively into the market and determining whether it is a good market. For people, alone, don't make a market a good market. It takes other considerations such as race, color, religion, inco.r.e, seasonal factors and psychological factors, mar riages, births and deaths and age. And it depends upon what you're selling. And I think in those last few words are the key to really knowing your market. It depends on what you sell. Let's consider the elements you need to know if you really want to know your market. Ask yourself, first, do we have distribution in the market or markets under consideration. Does this sound fundamental? Actually, if you check you'll find there are many advertisers on networks — or in Life — who haven't gotten national distribution. There are many who have been misled, in effect, in their marketing thinking by becoming a national advertiser overnight, and yet do not actually have the goods in the store when the customer goes in for it as a result of the advertising. But let's assume you do have the distribution. However, your resources are limited. You can't go into every market you'd like. So your problem is to pick and choose those offering the likelihood of a satisfactory pay-out. These, then, are the considerations you must weigh. Buying power. What do the people in this market spend? And more importantly from your standpoint, what do they spend for your type of product? The U. S. Census of Business will give you this data, but let me show you how it varies from market to market for a variety of products. In the city of Norfolk, Va., sales per thousand families for handbags were $6,000 a year as compared to $15,000 a year in Dallas; hard surface floor coverings, $4,000 a year in Washington, D. C, compared with $16,000 in Salt Lake City; lingerie, $18,000 in Spokane compared with $44,000 in Memphis. The gals in Spokane are mighty warm individuals. But. now suppose you were advertising these items? Wouldn't you be smarter to select a market where you knew folks were already buying them on a four to one ratio over other cities? Of course you would! Well, the same thing applies to soda pop and baking soda. There are buying differences market by market, and it's up to you to find out what they are. Next take the question of race, color or religion. Now these are all factors which influence buying, selling, and advertising. And consequently, you must know about them if you want to know your market. As a specific example, we have a dry shampoo called Minipoo. The South offers poor potential for this product because it can only be used on long hair. That rules out most of the Negro population and it means that we are much smarter to spend a buck advertising Minipoo in Rome, N. Y., than in Rome, Ga. Or take the factor of age. You might say, offhand, that age shouldn't be a consideration; that the life insurance tables show a fairly even spread of age groups nationally. But the actual fact is that there are sections of the United States (California, for example) where you have an aboveaverage older population. And, as in our case, if you're promoting the sale of denture products, a knowledge of where they live can te most important. Our tv expenditure for Polident is heaviest this year on the Pacific Coast; so is our mouthwash advertising cost. Both items are used more by persons over 40 years of age than under. Seasonal factors, too, will affect your choice of markets. So know your markets, seasonally. In the drug businers. for inetance, the peak months of the year are usually the winter months and for a simple reason. As it gets colder people generally require medication more than durin:; those fcalmy spring days or during those summer months, or the spring and fall. These are the months when advertising of drug products are heaviest. But it isn't winter everywhere all year 'round, as the Florida and Southern California public relations boys skillfully promoted. And consequently, the cold tablet advertiser looks at these sections differently than he looks at Kenr.e'mnk ;ort. Me. And similarly, the sun tan lotion advertiser doesn't have to wait for June and July everywhere. He can start his