Sponsor (1956)

est as it is in yours to achieve high ratings both to insure renewals and to maintain his reputation for his other products in case of the packager and |di the sake of protecting the value of the time slot in the case of the network. \ verj important bil of show-insurance that numerous top agencj radiot\ directors are taking out right now i shopping new shows further in advance than during anj previous year. They're worrying now about the summer 1957 and fall L957 seasons. As FC&B's Roger Pryor pointed out, "You can anticipate 4(1 to ■"><>'< casualties for the year. They'll have to be replaced." Must radio-tv directors agree that now's the time to start thinking of these replacements. And the trend ;inong top agencies now is to work with independent producers and packs from the very germination of a new show idea, occasionally helping to finance the package from its inception. 2. Shared sponsorship disagreements: Though all top agencies and most tv sponsors today have had some experience in cosponsoring shows or alternating with other sponsors, it's still difficult to anticipate all the problems that can crop up by the time the season is well under way. One wa\ of forestalling unnecessary headaches is to work against this checklist of points where cosponsors and their agencies should work out agreements prior to the time the show goes on the air. lal Size of the network and what markets the show should be extended to when time opens up. If two advertisers* distribution patterns don't coincide from the start, there's obvious!} DO point in attempting to cospon-oi a show. But what happens once the show's on the air and there's a chance to get it into five additional markets? The wise move, agency men agree, is a check list of potential markets and a pre-debul agreement between the clients involved on market priorities. (b) Program policj is. of course, initially agreed upon contractually between both clients concerned and the producer. But have the clients and their agencies reached some sort of understanding about wavs to improve the show if it should flounder in midseason? ici Plan ahead for preemptions in this election year. Everything's fine if political candidates preempt one of your shows and one show belonging to your alternate-week sponsor. But the situation is unlikely to be that simple and clean ut. Manv alternate-week ad\ ei I isers liav e alreadv woi ked out mutual agreements to split commercial time on the show following a preempted program, so that neither client is affected more seriously than the other. I d I Merchandising and publicity agreements are important, particularly if one or both advertisers expect to use the stars of the shows in displav pieces or personal apearance tours. Schedules and plans have to be mutually acceptable for a good working relationship. (e) Discuss plans for commercials, not only in terms of time allotted to each client, but the contents of the commercials as well. If you're cosponsoring a live show, it's very important to agree ahead of time on the number of sets and the amount of space each sponsor's commercial will require. \\ ith live commercials it's unlikely that you can work more than four or five days in advance of airtime. But at that time, and as soon as a client has approved commercials, the agency producer should get together with the show producer and with his own counterpart at the other agency to discuss the amount of space his commercial will require, the background and the amount of fax and no-fax rehearsal time. 3. Salesmen's enthusiasm slump: Virtually every effort on the part of the client and agency both, to stimulate salesmen's enthusiasm for their tv show is concentrated during the period before the show goes on the air. This is a very vital time when the program needs the salesmen's support and the interest they can drum up in the trade. However, a few weeks after the show's been on the air, there generallv follows an almost inevitable letdown in their enthusiasm, and this letdown may coincide with the client mosl important pre-Christnnis ordertaking period. Clients and agencies can Forestall this enthusiasm slump by 111 allowing an adequate budget for periodic mailings to the salesmen: (2) planning now a campaign directed at the salesmen and keyed to the important seasons of the client. It may be enough to send them simple mailings about the show's progress, popularity. But pi ioi to the licav v season, a number ol i lients send out additional, complete -how kits with pi< lines of the stars, some behind-the-scenes stories on the show production, ad\ am e notice about the shows to come. -,.v Bart \l. Hugh. JWT tv-radio v.p.: "Ever) client know he's got to make a big push to enthuse his -alelone for a -how before it goes on the air. But it' easy to forget thai the job once done just isn't enough. Maybe November i a client' big ordei taking season. Well, the promotion to his salesmen that he made in August isn't going to keep up their spiiit through November on sheer momentum. \\ e trv to give the sale-men some star contact, -end wires or souvenirs signed by the stars to the salesmen's wives. There's no question but that you have to anticipate a mid-season slump by planning such a campaign i ight mm . 4. The commercials don't sell: No reputable advertiser today will put money into a commercial theme without pretesting its effectiveness. But no such pre-air test gives a guarantee of actual sales the commercials may produce once they're on the air. And, What's New With "DAMETIME" Television? vm gBgg ^ ASK YOUR COLONEL The Colonel has just written a ™ book on the subject of daytime ~ viewing. Not a very long book, but one that should be very interesting to the advertisers of soaps and soups and such . . . that are sold to women. k PGTVTKI.KMSION SALES SPONSOR 20 august 1956 111