U. S. Radio (Jan-Dec 1960)

Commercials than nursery rhymes because the iheme music of advertisers' jingles has become a part of the pattern of daily Kving. "No one would have believed a few years ago that advertising messages would win such great popularity, but their creators have since added a new ingredient to their campaign— entertainment. Not only do they create a mood to hold the listener, but entertain them while a low pressure selling message is aired." Effective Use of Humor Humor was put to effective use by Young R: Rubicam Inc. in Chicago for the Rorden Co.'s Chicago milk division. "The problem we faced," said Karl Vollmer, vice president and Chicago manager, Y & R, "was to attract a larger market for liorden's vegetable salad cottage cheese. Although the product is a good one, there were many similar products available. "We wanted to come up with a different approach for our radio campaign which, natinally, was aimed primarily at women. Tom Rogers of our copy department came up with an off-beat, humorous idea which we developed. Our initial effort consisted of three spots for the vegetable salad cottage cheese. After several weeks, the client informed us that the results were good and that he wanted additional sjjots of this type. Here is a sample of one of the 60-second spots used. SOUND EFFECTS: Bad piano playing. . .doorbell. . . door opening. Piano continues under. WIFE: Yes? MAN: Could I speak to your husband? WIFE: Not now. As you can hear he's busy composing. MAN: He's a songwriter? WIFE: A steamfitter. But since we got the piano he's got this idea to make a million dollars writing radio jingles. This one's about Borden's vegetable salad cottage cheese. Look at him concentrate. Cute? He spent two whole days just analyzing the commodity. Ate thirty-two dollars worth. MAN : Uh ! Huh ! WIFE: He says it's all them fresh crispy little bits of vegetables they put in there that makes Borden's Award Winning Commercials John Blair & Co. has sponsored twice every year for the last three years a poll of leading commercials. The survey is taken by The Pulse Inc. through 1,500 consumer interviews in five major markets — New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Detroit. Only one c]uestion was asked: "Which radio commercial heard during the past week impressed you most favorably?" The winners of the most recent poll were announced mid-way in 1960. Here are the top five, in alphabetical order, and their agencies: 9 Doubleminf Gum (Arthur Meyerhoff Co., Chicago) — light, airy jingle in different rhythms. The word "double" Is mentioned 22 times in one minute. % Clarlc Gasoline (Tatham-Laird Inc., Chicago) — Humorous approach built around Mr. Frisbee character. Over 100 variations. % Kaiser Foil (Young & Rubicam Inc., San Francisco) — Humorous takeoff on soap opera theme, with Stan Freberg as Clark Smathers. 0 L&M Cigarettes (Dancer-Fitigerald-Sample Inc., New York) — Strong pullin theme at beginning, then jingle. A winner in last three surveys. % Nescafe (William Esty Co., New York) — Using many variations, the spot series has a different "43-bean" beginning, the same middle and musical identification at the end. vegetable salad cottage cheese. (RAISES VOICE) Lou, honey... sing it for the man. LOU: (SINGS VERY BADLY) Oh, I could eat a ton if I was able since they put in all that crispy vege-table ! Borden's vegetable salad cheese I WIFE: Cute (PAUSE) Now, what was it you wanted? MAN: That piano. I'm from the finance company. Connnenting on the favorable reaction to the campaign, Mr. Vollmer said "This series seems to indicate that j)erhaps the approach lo messages aimed at women has been more somber than necessary. Apparently, the housewife enjoys a laugh as much as anyone else." Copy Objectives If the copy in a conmiercial is to i)e effective it nnist fit in with the marketing objectives of the advertiser. \n example of the various ingredients that go into preparing a series of radio connnercials could Ijc seen in the one prepared for (Jharnis candy i)y iis agency, Needham )^Grohmaiui Inc. The objective of the commercial announcements was to show thai eating Charms could be fun for the entire family. Taking its cue from the soap ojjcras, the one-minute spots told a story based on the daily activities of family life. "We wanted to create a story thai listcneis would look forward to hearing," said John Keil, vice president and copy director of the agency. "We felt that a family situation which lends itself to carefree humor would enable us to exploit both the adult and juvenile markets, and would project a happy, family-like image of the Charms name." The first two characters to be developed were the father and son, Mr. Kiel explained. "Much thought was given to their names, which had to convey the warmth and closeness of a family relationship. We finally decided on Pop and Boomer. No family is complete without a mother. 110 U. S. RADIO AIRF.AX 1961