U. S. Radio (Jan-Dec 1960)

soundings Regional Marketing Approach Stressed in Car-Va Concept Five Denver Stations Unite To Form National Spot Croup Paper Work Task Lessened By SRA Contract Forms Which Croup Holds the Key To Open the Door to Sales? Programming Responsibility Pays Off in National Business The eight radio sialions that have (ombinetl lorces to offer coverage o£ Virginia, Norlii Ciarolina and South Carolina in a single radio package are betting their dollars on an idea that has been popping np in recent years. "We created a single, unilying market identification, Car-Va," states Robert Tetcr. vice president-director of radio, Peters, Grilfm, Woodward Inc., representative for the stations, "because the area from Northern Virginia to the Georgia line is leally one, contiguous markettug terriloyy, with a sales potential whicli ranks among the lop markets in the country." Car-Va offers advertisers a single contract and single rate card. A detailed marketing presentation is being circulated to agencies and advertisers. Is this something new in radio? Five Denver stations have been l)r()ught together by the Meeker Co., national representative, for the sale of time to national advertisers in a group buy. The advertiser gets one set of availabilities, one order is involved as well as one l)illing. The idea behind the move is to build national business for stations falling short of the top three in average ratings, and to provide advertisers ^vith a diversified audience. Each station in the group is different: Album, classicaf, country-western, sports and top 40 &: news. While this Denver Metropolitan Network is re]:)resented by Meeker, each station continues to Iiave its own station representative. Station Representatives Association Inc. hails as a "major breakthrough in the never-ending task of eliminating time (onsuming and costly paper work" the adoption by a number of member funis of the new SR.\ contract forms and the contract modification forms. These have been ajjproved foy the American Association of Advertising Agencies. By using the new standard, the need will be eliminated to issue separate confirmation of order forms. The new forms, l:)eginning this month, will confirm the i^urcliase of spot radio and, when properly executed, will become the formal contract. In a revealing presentation called "Four Keys to Leadership," NBC Radio concerns itself with four measures of advertising effectiveness: Audiences, efficiency, selectivity and advertiser acceptance. With the hehi of A. C. Nielsen Co. research, the presentation makes the industrvTvide noini that the "key" consumer group in terms of numbers, bnving power and product usage is between the ages of 35 to 19. This group, states NBC Radio, has more money to spend, $103.6 billion, than the 16 to 34 or 50 plus or working housewife categories. This key group buys 35 percent of the coffee, 3fi percent of the cigarettes and accounts for 34 percent of the mileage ]nit on cars. Analyzing the lelalionship between programming and sales at Quality Radio Group's session in New York last month, Thomas B. Adams, president of Campbell-Ewald Inc., Detroit, said he believes, "There is a resurgence of responsibility thai translates itself into jjrogramming that is increasingly good. Some of you are covering the iieAvs with a thoroughness that wasn't dreamed of a few years ago. . . . You're moving towards better music, more provocative current events discussions. . . . A few years ago when we began a national spot campaign, we thought only in terms of coverage. . . . Now we're beginning to think in terms of what listeners are listening to, how much attention thev're paying to what they hear and, finally, in ^vhat kind of atmosphere will our client find himself." U. S. RADIO • November 1960