Sponsor (Jan-June 1956)

IVJARKISTINQ CI-IANOIES TV ORIZATISI) J. Sales forces: The change in scope and nature of field sales forces has been quite marked, especially in the packaged grocery field. Television's dynamic power to pre-sell the consumer and obtain quick acceptance from the retailer has made it possible for the manufacturer to put his product in distribution without having to maintain as large a percentage of highsalaried specialty salesmen as was required before tv. He saves money by replacing them with the lowersalaried service salesmen. Their main function is to make sure that the retail channels — particularly supermarkets and chains — keep an adequate slock of the product on hand and to make sure they get proper shelf display and favorable in-store promotion. Roughly speaking, such food processing organizations as General Foods, National Biscuit Co. and Standard Brands now find it expedient to operate on a ratio of 75 top level account salesmen to 300 service salesmen. Television's impact can also be credited with a further field-selling expense reduction. The manufacturer has been able to turn more and more of his smaller retail outlet provisioning to brokers. In the cosmetic, toiletries and drug product field the situation is somewhat different. If you handle a single line, as happened in the case of Hazel Bishop, the forceful sales aid provided by television, will permit you to reduce the field force to practically nothing. But a firms carrying a full line, like Revlon and Lehn & Fink, have no alternative. The field platoon remains almost exclusively made up of specialty salesmen. Where television exerts its influence is this: a spectacular success in one specialty — like a lipstick— makes it easier for the salesman to induce the dealer to stock more of the firm's other products. 2. Distribution: The ability of television to accelerate sales and the high cost of the medium has impelled the advertiser to revamp his distribution function in several respects. He must allow more time in planning and devising his ad campaign and for getting his new product and merchandising material to the wholesaler and point-of-sale — thereby avoiding the the costly annoyance of letting supply run behnd demand and the loss of the dealer's goodwill. (An insight on how this frequently occurs is graphically illustrated in the series of statements from druggists contained in the spon sor Asks page of the 3 October 1955 issue.) Economics of television advertising has also made it imperative that the product or brand being introduced be stocked in at least 70% of the available retail outlets in the target area before the tv campaign breaks. Prior to tv a quotient of 30-40% retail coverage was considered ample. Breakdowns in the distribution timetable since the full emergence of tv have proved pust as costly and embarrassing for the grocery field and not a few such manufacturers admit that the problem is still one of their major headaches. 3. Market planning: Television has exercised an appreciable change in the staking out of the target area. No longer does the manufacturer decide on the geographical pattern for the introduction of a new product or brand and then assign his agency to tailor tv network facilities accordingly. The accepted procedure is now just the reverse: find out what markets are available in a network lineup and then build the target area around these availabilities. And where the lineup does not provide essential "push" markets fill in the chinks with tv spot or a {Please turn to page LOO) Do you want reprints of this series? Many readers have already expressed interest in reprints of this series and SPONSOR will make them available if sufficient interest is indicated. Address your requests to sponsor at 40 E. 49th St., New York 17, N. Y. Why accounts are shifting today 28 Nov. 2 Marketing: agency tool or cliche? 12 Dec. 3# Psychiatrist and the account executive 26 Dec. 4 Did tv costs force services? this issue 9 JANUARY 1956 29