U. S. Radio (Jan-Dec 1959)

Ki|)liiit;( r's answer was in ihc iu<^ali\c' and a station carrying auloiiiohilc a(l\ cri isint^ niinlil also Iiavc had a similar answer . . . lor Kiplint^ei. In order lo niiniini/e lliis kind ol ditficnlly, the aj^ency liies to .i\()id lelerrin;^ lo snch c onlrovei sial .11 1 i( les in its s( ripis. I he aineiuy tapes loin dilleiein ( : hiniij^i no 'rimes |)ro;^ranrs each week, nsing two annonnccrs, Ed Mart and Don Halchvin. Mr. Mart .iKo does the ]]'(isliiri!>;t())i Letter show. Two men are tised, according to Mr. Day, because their varying styles (an be suited both to the individual script iinolved and also, at times, to what seems to be most popnlai in certain markets. Mr. Baldwin Icatiues a rapid-fire, factual deliveiy, while Mr. Hart is "more the philosophical type." Both programs are aimed at attracting men and women, Mr. Day says, and are scheduled when both sexes tend to be at home. Although one might normally expect men to be more interested in saving money and in business affairs, Kiphnger has found that women are a big help in "getting their husbands interested in the publications." Early Radio Use When Kiplinger first went into radio years ago, Mr. Hites explains, "we started trying to sell two-dollar trial subscriptions with spot announcements. It was a complicated offer — one of those 'Tell us no or we'll bill you for two dollars' deals.' "It fell flat on its face. I think we spent more money answering complaint correspondence than we took in. "Then a new agency, Alliert Frank-Guenther Law with Bob Day as accoimt executive, decided to go for inquiries because we felt the magazine was good enough to sell itself if we could get it into the customer's hands," Mr. Hites declares. "And it w'orked out pretty well. We bought one-mi luite spots and station breaks, pulled in hundreds of thousands of incjuiries and managed to book a very respectable percentage of them as long-term sul)scribers. "We didn't hit the real jackpot, though, until five years ago. We worked up our 15-minute Changing Times editorial program, then went back to selling a two dollar trial sub Robert Day, Account Executive Albert Frank-Cuenther Law Inc. Ed Hart Announcer for 'Letter' shows and one of two announcers for 'Changing Times' programs scription, and we've been happy with the action from that fornuda ever since." Mr. Hites also points out that it is much more profitable to concentrate on selling those who clearly understand that they are going to pay Kiplinger two dollars, rather than mailing three or four efl:orts to lots of people who are just curious. The cost-per-order to Kiplinger, Mr. Hites says, is "almost identical" when radio is compared to direct mail — which still gets the bulk of the publisher's advertising dollars. The Kiplinger organization — nowworld famous and employing several hundred persons — started in 1923 "with a serviceable pair of legs, a typewriter, a mimeograph machine and postage stamp money." It was the brainchild of a 32-yearold journalist from Ohio, W. M. Kiplinger, who had already become a crack reporter for the Associated Press in Washington, and later a compiler ol business reports for a New York bank. Deciding that he would like to extend this type of reporting service to all businessmen, not just the customers of his bank, Mr. Kijjiinger stayed late at his office one night, tvped out a page of items and labeled it the Kiplinger Washington Letter. Years later, the several hundred men on his mailing list had grown to many thousands and the Kiplinger firm had expanded with the pul)lication of Changing Times, the Agricultural Letter, the Tax Letter and the Florida Letter (dealing with money-making opportunities in that state) . "Radio," according to Mr. Day, "is helping Kiplinger to go right on broadening its circvUation base — which is precisely why ^ve are spending three times as much in radio today as \\ e w ere five years ago." • • • U. S. RADIO • Xoveiiiber 1959 29