Sponsor (1956)

by Bob Foreman IN AND AROUND COLUMBUS, GEORGIA Agency ad libs CHANNEL WRBL-TV A CBS -/I.Br preferred .* Viewing ll-COUNTY AREA NOV. '55 402 <>f 404 METROPOLITAN FEB. '56 298°f4l6 * COMPETITIVE QUARTER HOURS WEEKLY TELEPULSE CALL HOLLINGBERY CO. Ben Duffy's a guy you enjoy being with I suppose there are a few people in our business who never heard of Ben DulT\ and how he Mailed at the age of sixteen al BBDO in short pants and minus a high school education. Vs I write ibis. Ben is in the hospital. Of llie legions that do know him, in oui business as well as outside of it. starting with President Kisenhower on down to ball players, orchestra leaders, comics, office boys, horse groom-. 1 can guarantee that a goodb percentage have prayed foi Ben, literally and figuratively. There are a good main reasons for this. I will attempt to list those most pertinent to our business and which, therefore, might be of some help to practitioners of the trade. If I had to come up with the mosl outstanding trait this man possesses. I d sa\ it was Friendliness. This is a rather cornhall concept to be sure. But Friendliness in the hands of Ben is a different thing. The biggest reason is that Ben means his friendliness, lino veneer. He reall) likes people. He enjoys being with them. He's the kind ol guj \ on (I enjo\ being with on a two month trek through I ganda or for an hour at Belmont. Or at a client meeting. Or at a stuffy banquet. Because he enjoys things as well as people he's the greatest in this business. It makes Ben sincerelj grateful that he handles a clientadvertising. This trait, nauseating in the hands of an impostor, puts Ben head and shoulders above his contemporaries. Let me give \ mi an example. Lucky Strike pucks in Ebbetts field Ben and I walked across Ebbetts Field one dav after a game. The place was littered and among the litter were a lot of spent packs of Lucky Strikes. "I always get a boot out of seeing these," said Ben, indicating one with his foot, "kind of makes me feel proud." I think if anyone else had made that statement I might have answered in a waj this staid publication could not have printed. But when Ben said it. \ ou appreciated what he meant. \e\t in the abundance of qualities this man possesses? Well, I'd sa\ it's his detailed knowledge ol advertising. It's I ecu m\ (limited) experience thai Presidents of agencies generall) are a layer or two removed from the business. I he\ know ( hairmen ol Boards and lleadwaiteis and Stock Prices. Bui advertising generall) escapes them. Not so with Ben. The mind of this man i a storehouse of rate cards, circulation figures, Nielsen rating-, and advertising experiences. These he can soil nut a fa-t a an IBM machine and make relevant, fascinating, and conclusive. Peppering these data with anecdotes thai are amusing a well a pertinent make Pen the accounl man president and the client's right bower. lit ii not jump in the conclusion that Ben i a Pollyanna or a •Mud oi a prude. Nothing could he farther from fact, fo some 18 . SPONSOR L5 iii 1 1 mber 1956