Sponsor (Jan-Apr 1958)

Record Details:

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"Bowling Stars** offers sus pense, excitement. Here's a tv screen view of Lind) Faragalli, from Paterson, \. .1.. rolling a ball worth $10,000 in prizemonej his last ball in a perfect game Wi\c me three-quarters <>l a million bucks and I'll give you 6.7 and 6.9 network tv ratings for 26 weeks." Many admen would probably turn that proposition down flat as a bad deal. This despite the fact that throughout broadcasting's life span they've talked about "buy the right audience, don't worry about total numbers." Examples of in-practice support of this theory are hard to come by. But among the few existent practitioners is a U. S. business Goliath — American Machine & Foundry, a company that rang up over $260 million in sales and rentals during 1957 for production of everything from atomic reactors to bowling balls. AMF is today spending $750,000 to sponsor 26 weeks of Bowling Stars, a film series of championship bowling carried by about 80 ABC TV stations from 4:00 to 4:30 p.m. every Sunday. And last Sunda\ (19 January) it spent another $100,000 to sponsor a bowling season highlight, the AllStar Bowling Finals, held in Minneapolis under the auspices of the Bowling Proprietors' Association of America. What's AMF. a firm that in 1952 and 1953 put its tv money into Omnibus, doing with bowling shows today — particularly the low-rated Bowling Stars presentation? Audience One of the most intensive diversification programs in the history of American business is responsible. AMF used to be concerned primarily with selling machinery to U. S. industry and defense products to the government. Acquisition of a number of subsidiaries, a move started in 1949, is responsible for altering the picture. These new subsidiaries resulted in two things: (1) increased production of AMF's consumer products, particularly in the bowling products field, and (2) addition of a host of new items to AMF's roster. Result: Today, more than ever before, AMF must woo the consumer direct. The company has chosen to do it by dropping the primarily institutional-type tv advertising used on Omnibus in favor of harder sell of its consumer goods via a show designed to hit its major marketing target — bowlers. Principally, the products are: bowling balls, bags and shoes from AMF*s bowling products group; bicycles, tricycles and a host of other wheeled vehicles for juveniles from the wheel goods division: DeWalt power tools and accessories from its DeWalt division, and a variety of rubber recreation goods, from basketballs to skin( Article continues page 36) Make-up First SPONSOR • 25 JANUARY 1958