Variety (Jan 1940)

122 ThUtyfourth—VARIETY—Annivormry W ednesday, Jan uary 3, 1940 SALES PROMOTION AMMUNITION FOR THE LOCAL BROADCASTER (Bureau of Radio Advertising) By Samuel J. Henry, Jr. Washington, Jan. 1. When the NAB gathcied in cx- traordinaiy session in Washington in February, 1938, the convention theme paraphrased Shakespeare. . to.-wit: 'Now is the winter of our discontent —and why doesn't somebody do something?' Under Neville Miller's guidance, the reorganized NAB decided radio was tired o£ fighting endless rear- guard actions in defense ot radio; how about a little good; clean aggres- sfon 0)1 the broadcaster's behalf? The thought being, of course, that a strong offense is often the best de- fense. Broadcast Music, Inc., was one re- sult of this thinking, the NAB Code another, and the Bureau of Radio Advertising is still a third. Unlike the Goddess of Wisdom, the Bureau of Radio Advertising did not spring full-blown from anybody's brow. The Sales Managers' Division had long recognized the need for some central clearing house of in- formation and sales ammunition, to be made available to all member stations for local sales and promo- tion use. The Bureau was duly au- thorized by the NAB Board, and established at NAB headquarters early in 1939. The Bureau is designed to promote radio as an advertising medium; to conduct research and studies in all ■commercial, industrial and niarkctinu I ficUls reciuiring the use of advorlis- i in;;; to collect from the iniluslry ■basic information, in usablo form, for ; the industry; to place in the hands of I commercial radio men ciTcctivo presentations, .snles stories and data ■ especially adapted for use in audi- tions, divisional denier and salesmen meetings; to develop closer relation- ships Willi advertisers, ndvcrtisin.^ agencies, trade bodies and the trade I press. l|i soiling time, the Biu'cau be- lieves, nothing succeeds like success stories. A keystone in its promotion ctTorts. thercCoi-c. is the series of in- dustry trade studies tin reality indi- vidual case histories and : success stories) published imder the lillc, 'Results from Radio.' The experience of stations who have used the trade studies .socms to bear out the Bureau's original belief. Their reaction is worth noting. OITi- cially announced in May, 1939, the full-time operation of the Bureau was delayed by other and more pressing industry problems until Sept. 1. In four months over 3001 Not Promising ' Salt r.ake City. .Ian. t. KSL' has a new Rus.-;ell Slew- art program entitled: 'You Name It, We'll Play It, If We Have It.' ND ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN IS COMPLETE WITHOUT WSM IF YOU'D LIKE TO BREAK A FEW SALES QUOTAS THIS FALL, CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING: Domestic Commerce (published by the U. S. Department of Commerce) features these figures tor the East South Central States. Change from June, 1938, to June, 1939. >Vholesalers' Sales Up 9.7% Accounts Receivable Up 5.1% Inventories Down 6,1% Add to these the following: Industrial Employment (8 months) Up 7.7% New.Car Sales Up 40% Electrical Power Consumption Up 11% Telephone Up 7% Bank Deposits Up 7% Retail Sales Up. 8% With sales INCREASING, employment up and inventories DECREASING the East South Central SUtes, WSM's front yard, are ready to do a rushing business. WSM, the domi- nant 30,000 Watt Station in this favorable region, can carry your sales message to the people who buy, with a maxi- mum of effectiveness and a minimum of cost. May we show you facts and figures? WSM NASHVILLE, TENNESSEF I National Representatives, EDWARD PETRY & CO., INC. HOLIDAY GREETINGS FROM HAROLD BEITS (RADIO'S ROMANTIC BACHELOR) 8lli Renewal—My Record as "DOGGY DAN" for JOHN MORRELL & CO. WMAQ—NBC CHICAGO fear the exhibitors will feel they are boiiig put on the .M'ol to buy adver- tising which is more properly paid for by the home olTico. Already sta- i tions have noted a lessoning in tinio- i chiseling attempts, and from sources which have been most prolilic in the past. For example, Ed CargiU of I WMAZ, states; I 'I frankly believe that the amount of this material received is detlnitely and gradually de- creasing. It is my firm belief that I the great majority of broadcast- ers are taking the same attitude we are in turning dowii this type of promotion that should be de- livorcd on paid time.' Encouraeing, yes, but education is slow and painful process and the stations have ordered and are using i Bureau continues to receive reports a total of 2.G00 copies of the 'Results \ ' from Radio' studies. (Three have been released to date, on department stores. laundries, and an uiiusual combination of jewcler-optician-fur- iture-clothing). In addition. the.-Je same stations have utilized l.G'iO copies of the basic sales presenta- tion, 'Radio Reaches People.' In planning and producing thu 'Re- sults from Radio' .series, the Bureau as found that once full information is collected, and documented by cx- lact sales results from an authorita- ive source, the studies almo.st write themselves. It 'is only necessary to be simple, clear, direct and honest. The case history itself is the thing, and much of the Bureau's time is dc- otcd to searching, collecting and or- fanizing it into useful form. No frills, no window dressing, no irrele- ant neadlincs to obscure the main selling point, which is simply that: 'Here, Mr. Local Advertiser, is proof that radio advertisiiig, proper/y applied, uiill" loork /or you.' National manufacturers are always concerned with the demands aild opinions of their dealers. Several outstanding surveys, expressing the media preference of dealers in many fields, have already been made by networks and individual stations. The general radio results of these surveys will be made available to NAB members for use in convincing local dealers in other fields. It is hoped these reports will filter back to the home office but, just to make doubly sure, the Bureau itself carries the message of dealer preference for radio, to the trade groups and indi- vidual companies who have not yet accepted the medium. of new time-chiseling allcmnb: ,i most daily. Many .stem Informed newcomer.., innocent?^ seeking a little free radio publicity ' without malice aforethought a letter from NAB Headquarters politely warning that such thinei simply are not done, usuallv sufficM to make them subside. Others arc nothing more than high-powered rackets, often pro viding excellent program material in script or traiiscribed form, at con sidcrnblc expense. The letter to the station runs something like this; Rccoeniriiig llie serious pro- Ornm problem faced by iiiaiiy stations, flic Blank rompaiMj is iiotu able fo offer you this oti(- standtng scries of programs which you .v\ay broadcast abso- lutely free of charge (or even sell to local sponsors) in' return for which alt ivc ask is just a 'teeny-weeny' credit line. In some cases, no credit line is re- quested, which simply means that the advertising is bmied in the script itself under the guise of pub- lic interest material. Only the Time Chiseler Himself Is Fooled As the original announcement of the Bureau stated, 'one of its im- portant functions will be to examine proposals from publicity-seeking groups to uncover any hidden com- mercial interest, and to divert as many as possible into commercial users of radio; to stop the free-radio- ride abuse.' It is not hard to detect a tinie- chiseler. Only the chiseler himself is usually fooled, ."^et stations, and advertisers, need to be made fully aware of the serious threat to radio's economic position, and to its prestige as an advertising medium, which lies in unrestricted acceptance of so- called 'free offers.' This the Bureau has tried to do in three ways: 1. GiveAvide publicity to the time- chiselers—thus shaming them into ceasing their efforts and. making all stations aware of same. 2. Bring home to stations the simple, obvious fact that nine out of 10 free olleis represent companies who have money to spend, that do spend it in newspapers and other media, and will spend it in radio when they are made to realize that is the only way they can take ad- vantage of radio's mass circulation: 3. Make advertisers realize they are better oft in the long run if they pay for time. The Bureau encourages individual stations to bring tliis last fact home to local dealers and distributors, en- deavoring to get them to sponsor the 'free-offer.' At the same time, the parent company is also solicited for sponsorship on a national basis, or asked to encourage their local out- lets to buy time. Experience has shown this works In two ways. Over GO stations sold their local film exhibitors a 15- minule transcription plugging the RKO picture, 'Swiss Family Robin- son.' The film producers have .slowed down on subsequent giveaways, in VIPER *V) aOVEgSSlS^^ ^""Calte borne of a ^X\\ionV--^;^,„^,,..lo coyer X^l ^^,cU ^Utton l^^^V-ned'.. • • a elation — oo\y one complete •W'y- NATIONAL AKK.WCKK K.\l>l(> • • co.Mru.sKK MOTION l-K'Tl'KKS c«m»i:(;t(>k- Til K.\Tlt KEN SISSON Direction: JACK LAVIN, The Park Central, New York GREETINGS FROM DICK HARDING 'llie man y/hh a 1,000 flying finoor»^ NEIL HOUSE, COLUMBUS MBS. Coast-to-(:oJ'*k