Sponsor (May-Aug 1957)

biggesl reasons is thai when an advertise] buys spot radio no* ties buying saturation with maybe 200 announcements a week. \'\ is just .i demanding and in tei ms "I monej .1 lol more so. ,t ou goof on .1 t\ l>u\ and you've had ii with 1 1 1 « client! Vnd papei w < 1 1 k involved is horrendous This premise, in representatives opinions, means a more urgent need than evei before f« >r 1 a 1 bettei l>u\ ei and 1 1. 1 better buj a. \ el these same basic [acts of broadcasting help t<» explain w 1 1 \ buyers themselves are boxed in and wh) there's no quick solution to mosl ni 1 he problems. Here's what the reps think these problems include. Inexperienced help: Ever} -~h< >j » in the countx) has superior timebuycr luit each agenc) also has "inept, immature and indecisi> les. Reps don't like the common practice of moving "a young kill from the mailroom i>r a secretary's desk right into a bu) ing slot." Some Buch "young kid-.'' the) realize, have a basic instinct and aptitude for buying and the great demands the buying procedure make. But too mam of them are thrown into the media pol because "the) don't cost much and the) are <>iil\ there to follow orders." Even the brightest, once he or she lias been slotted as a buyer, "isn't given a chance to prove himself," says another rep. "Onl) five of the top agencies have an) kind of a planned training program for buyers. The rest of the agencies have what's formal!) called on-the-job training and what real!) i a hit-or-miss system." Lo* salaries: The care and training oi a timebuyer i* part of what one rep calls "a vicious circle. The buying technique is too often inferior or inadequate because the Inner is inexperienced and isn't paid \er\ well. lie isn t paid well because lie doesn'l have stature in the shop, and because he has little pie-tine his opinion i-n'l considered anywa) so that's wh) (he\ often hire people with no opinion-." There s Mo disputing that buyers don t make enough money. Some, of course, hit the $25,000 level and are highl) respected professionals on a par with account men and media directors. Too man) of them, however, are at the less than $100 a week level and the hulk appear to he making somewhere between (6,500 and $9,300. One Inner is known to he earn ing 190 .1 wick ami lie 1 On) 1 "I .mil directs ver) ■ ompetentl) .1 broadi .1-1 budget "i $3 million a yeai "Buyei an basii all) vei \ smart people, one rep sa) ». " ITie) have i" he in survive in a \ci\ competitive business where am secretar) 01 mail lio\ with ambition aspires to buying." ^ 'i once the) ai 1 ive, it seems the pa) scale 1 graded onl) slightl) above iheii pn\ ious eai nings. Ii take them years to hit the high-watei mark of I' 1 $10, \nd. in the meantime, the) re 1 ompel ing v. ith the est i mators, statistii ians and full-fledged Inn 11 1 ompetition both from u ithin an outside the agency. I In woi -t angle to this undei pa) • mciii. sa) the reps: most buyers make far less than the -ale-men who call on them. One large and prosperous ~ia Inothei rep > omments on 1 In imbalani e bel ween bu) ei and sellei 1 1 a nl thing « hen t he salesman know -o mm h more than the bu ami vei \ often tin 1 1 1 in . It shouldn't be, "i ' "in -1 I In bu) ei should I" Bmartei than the seller, and hi should the monej m Im h he therefori eai n and M Im h he d< ■-• I Ninety-nine out oi 100 buyers, anothei rep comments, aren't paid as mui h as the) Bhould I" in even thi highest pa) ing -Imp-. "Theii salai j i nevei in line with thai ol th< cr< 1 live people 01 the a ml people. ^ el ii" mailer how hi 1II1, ml the < op\ "i how ' levei the art, if the 1 ommei • cial i-n 1 put ini" a time pei iod h hich was bought intelligent!) it'll nevei make the "\ ei ihe-i oimiei Bales the advet tisei want •■! an eet. I he ve Some favored agencies among N.Y.C. reps Young & Rubicam scored the most unanimous vote as an outstanding l in trrms oj its buyers, buying practices. Ifs "smart. Ogilvy, Benson & Mather, which has raft oj radio accounts, wis cited as aust "it i'U\\ irr\ well, gets mi unusually high caliber of buyer" Crey Advertising, all-media shop like Y&R, was commended fot encouraging buyers to knov over-all advertising problems and act "like account people" Cunningham & ^^alsh got the nod for having "extremely intelligent buyers" who l nun clients' marketing problems very well "and match Inns to them" ^^illiam Esty ""N described us "a stable agency with n lou rm. turnover, 11 well organized media staff supervised by competent manai Ted Bates & Co., "despite its \>ur< has, ,,t sfmi b formula," has a smart, sliiirj, buying group "which makes sound judgments on qualii\ as welT' Bozell & Jacobs, "'' example of a smaller agency, was rated as "unusually strong" in buyers' understanding of markets ami stations, of fles timi representative firm estimates the average timebuyer its men call on "make one tilth what our man doe-. This makes lor a had balance. "When a buyer make less mone) than the seller, he gets on the defensive. \ml he also applies for a j"l> as a -ale-man! We get dozens of buyers applying for jobs because the) think v e all drive around in Jags and Caddies ami spend the weekend sailing on Long Island Sound. \ a matter of fact, a lot of us do! But we don't talk about things like that in front of a urn who i onh making $85 a week!" hide i 111-1 as important as the 1 onlent vet agenc) mai I doesn'l see it this wa) all too Frequently." Bottom-rung Btatnre: Vgenc) management itself, the reps agre< the biggest bugal in the system. Vgencies tend t" look on their buyers as "clerks" "i "slide-rule manipulators rather than as "polic) molders." Th»-\ are inclined t<> downgrade the buying function rather than upgrade it. I'he\ indirect!) encourage the buyer t" bu) b) rote rather than h\ inventiveness. Hut the reps say, this 1 1'lt'iisr turn to page 1 1 SPONSOR 24 AUGUST 195' 29