U. S. Radio (Jan-Dec 1961)

ARTHUR H. McCOY Executive Vice President. John Blah it Co. Winner of the May Silver Mike Award H8K; An McCoy has been selling na ^F7~n tional spot radio for 21 years, 1 not Decause he didn't have a gaping opportunity to shoot at _M%m£» S l^ie tv stars> but because he be^B* I lieves that "radio today offers the greatest challenge in creaI tive selling. Anyone with real ' V EH^* talent should sta) ■ifO He is convinced, too thai ■r&^'fl national spot radio someday ^P^Py soon will be shooting at the stars. BBHi ■ J I 1 m% ™ "It's an exciting medium. We believe strongly that radio was never more effective than it is today. If you examine the role of a station over the past three decades, you can see quickly that radio never before meant as much to its listeners and its community as it does today. Radio is closer to the people it serves and listeners know this." Mr. McCoy is quick to challenge the gloom mongers on the showing of spot radio during the first quarter. "Radio is no different from any other business. All business activity has been off somewhat. I just saw a study that showed that newspapers and magazines were off about 10 per cent for the first two months of the year." In the quest for increasing expenditures, Mr. McCoy believes strongly that spot radio could stand some change. "The selling of national spot today calls for new techniques and methods. Based on the results of our Blair Group Plan, I sincerely wish that other representatives would do something similar. If there were three or four other organizations selling this way, it would hasten the day when radio's rocket would rise into orbit. "We know the Blair Group Plan is our future. We have split our sales staff in New York, assigning three salesmen to the full-time selling of plans (leaving eight salesmen for regular spot radio selling). "This means there are three men devoting all their efforts to creating new dollars for radio. They are not just presentation men; they do not appear lor the sake of making lectures and talks. They are there to present and ultimately close sales of group plans. These men are also backed by a seven-person department covering the other aspects of the BGP. What are these group plans? Mr. McCoy states that the "BGP was designed for million-dollar usage of the medium by logical advertisers, most of whom either have not used radio in the p;ist or who have not been active Eoi sonic time. "We go after a wide range of accounts and tailormake each proposal to show how specific use of radio can allow an advertiser to zero in on potential customers. We also encourage radio buys that are longer than the present trend to flights. An indication of the diversity of accounts already using BGP's is this partial list: Mennen, Accent, Purolator, Beech-Nut Coffee and Continental Casualty. Through the plan, Blair offers a one-stop, group buy of radio through its own station list. It also has a list of stations in non-Blair markets that it recommends to suit an advertiser's needs. This second list is compiled through a special three-man timebuyer committee that Blair meets with regularly. But the heart of the BGP involves a range of services— suggestions for copy platform, media planning and budget estimating, and marketing and promotion follow-through. Most of all, the BGP tries to excite interest in radio through its power to move merchandise off the shelf. Mr. McCoy was born in Roseville, Ohio, and was graduated from Northwestern University in 1940 with a degree in commerce. He joined Free &: Peters, pioneer representative, in Chicago doing general office work. ("I wanted to get into radio so badly I was anxious to do anything.") In 1944, Mr. McCoy moved to the firm's New York office (by this time he was a professional salesman). A year later he helped found Avery-Knodel, serving as treasurer and sales manager. He joined Blair in May 1955 as a salesman and about two years later was elected vice president and sales manager. Mr. McCoy became executive vice president in the fall of 1957. U. S. RADIO/April-May 1961 19