Sponsor (May-Aug 1957)

SPECIALISTS SERVICES (5 1 [1 ^K^ C ^L m THESE 2 FACTORS MAKE TV COSTLY, SAY AGENCIES Whether in commissions oi fees, agencies have to gel paid the Bame amount i<> cover their costs, saj top exei • utives of major agencies. The) attribute ri-m^ cosl "t operation principally t" need fur high-priced talent in r.nlio-t\ departments I ik« I. Walter Thompson's (left) headed bj Dan Seyi < (center); also t<> client de mand foi more top-level research, marketing and mer chandising '-\ tives like those shown in • ompton conference * ri^lii i with agenc] presidenl Barl ' ummings. Trend awaj from network programing control and t" ward greater agency participation in actual production .mil supervision "t shows maj take pressure "if packagi show commission, admen feel. < Lienta should not pit ■ in' medium againsl othei i" avoid prejudii ing igem ies. ward more independent packages in the pasl year, and in this area the nc) b contribution is \ ital and more apparent. In the future we're like!) t" Bee a predominance <>f such co-produced >lmw> and probahl) also more Dcy-produced shows. This trend will help take the pressure ofT u package short commissions." Radio-h v.p.'s surveyed 1>\ SPONSOR stress thai the work an agency puts into selecting a package show tends to be underestimated 1 > * > t li in terms of time and money investment. Several large agencies actual!) maintain separate departments within radio-t\ devoted to year-'round scouting and screening i>f new programing and ideas. Once it gets to the poinl of picking a show f«>r a client, the agency generally gets into marketing research to determine the needs of the advertiser. I">\ the time the radio-t\ department gets involved, weeks of research and top-level management conferences have already taken place. The radio. tv department then screens shows (by the dozens), sends top executives to the \\ est ("oast to look into show possibilities before choices are narrowed down. Eventually, top mannent looks at the final possibilities and weighs them againsl marketing data and strategy . " I hese are just the sketch) preliminary steps," says i\I! radio-t\ supervisor Rod Erickson. "But they require literall) month ol high-priced man-hours, ^nu can't pit a road house comedian against a Jackie Glea son. Well, a g I agency can't afford to pit a kid out ol law school againsl a top talent agenc) batter) ol lawyers. Ml these things ^'\>\ to the agency's overhead. < race a show is benight, even if it's an independent!) produced film show, the agency's job is far from finished. "1 mi ve gol I" i ide herd on the producer with agenc) talent of sufficient!) high calil er t" influence him," says the radio-h v.p. "I one of the top Id agencies, who has just hind t w ■ ■ high-salaried men to work exclusivel) "ii one new package show the agenc) bought for a client. "1 mi ha\ e ti> do this as much for the sake of keeping the packager from going broke as you do to keep quality control. Our men are on set for all the shooting, they have script approval ami control over casting. I be) really live with the packager righl from the start." I In pressure is a< tuall) on agencies in hire more and more high-pi i< ed t\ talent right on staff in order t" handle this "co-producing funi tion. Many igenc) head feel that the) ma) eventuall) have i" amortize this additional and growing talent investment l>\ returning nunc and more hca\ il\ into show production. \ Norman I!. Norman, president of \i \k put it: "Last yeai there wen no more than two or three real agencyproduced shows. We feel that 1>\ next year 1" to IV. of all network shows w ill be agenc) produi ed and I wouldn t I c surprised if the percentage went up to 50 within three m l<>in \ ears. For the moment, the majorit) <>f top agency executives -a\ they're not tid of further inroads into the com ssion system as a result of the forthcoming stud) b) Prof. I ie\. On the contrary, the) feel that this searching \\ \ stud) is likely to reveal that agem ies are operating on marginal profit as it i and in the handling t\ accounts particular!) . ^ SPONSOR 31 iucusT 1951 33