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A DIGEST OF THE BEST EXPLOITATION IDEAS OF THE WEEK
Heralds Are Important!
I heard something the other day on a suburban train out of New York City that started me thinking. Perhaps this conversation will start you thinking too. Perhaps something of careful and resultant advertising analysis has been lost in the mad chaos of past months . . . perhaps we have forgotten that there is always a large potential army of ticket buyers who must be reached by other than straight newspaper methods.
Following is the conversation. See what you think about it. The speakers were two girls.
"Isn't it too bad. We always find out about the good ones after they play."
"The theatre used to send around ads but they don't do it any more and if you want to find out what's playing you have to walk up to the theatre and see."
I happened to know the town they were talking about. The-e is a local newspaper but there are many transients in this suburb the same as in other big city suburbs ... or people who haven't lived there long enough to get interested in the small, local paper. If you fall to reach these people by herald or program you are losing an unusual amount of business in addition to losing the buildup power that periodical delivery of theatre advertising to homes provides.
Of course some people do call the theatre on the telephone to find out what's going on if they are not otherwise advised. But that usually happens only when these people have a night off and at the last minute decided to go to the show if there's a picture on they want to see.
The safest way to insure maximum attendance and build new theatre interest is to revive those showmanship ideas that have always been fruitful . . . liberal use of he-alds on good pictures. Here's one bet on which you can't go wrong. A. J. SHARICK
Panel of stills and catch-lines around “invisible man” dummy made an eyecatching display at the Avon, Utica, N. Y.
BALLYHOOS FEATURE LASSMANS CAMPAIGN
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Rodney Collier’s front on “ COUNSELLOR AT LAW7” at the Rialto Theatre, W'ashington, D. C. shows good use can be made of posters in designing attractive displays.
Garry Lassman, manager of the Avon Theatre, executed a comprehensive campaign in selling the "INVISIBLE MAN" to Utica. Advance lobby displays, a special trailer stunt and four street ballyhoos, all created considerable talk about the picture.
An "invisible man" dummy, with blinker light eyes; two shadow box poster displays; "invisible” fish; bouncing camphor balls; and a 40 x 60 panel of reviews from the country's leading critics, were used as advance stunts.
Before the trailer was shown, the theatre was darkened, as a man dashed from the right wing of the stage he was picked up by green spots from the booth. From the opposite wing of the stage, a dummy, the head of which was covered with luminous paint, was thrown at him. As the dummy hit the stage, the man screamed, fired a qun and dashed off the stage. The trailer followed this bit of action.
A week before the opening, a car with sign reading, "This car driven by 'THE INVISIBLE MAN' at the Avon Theatre" was used as a ballyhoo. Additional ballyhoos included an appropriately bannered "invisible man" riding in an open car, a man swathed in black, distributing heralds, and a truck with poster cut-outs.