Vol. IV, No. 13 March 28, 1949
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BALLANTINE & SONS (NY) Adds To Its List Of Snort Telecasts.
Ballantine Ale & Beer will share sponsorship of the telecasting of the home baseball games of the Philadelphia Athletics and the Philadelphia Phillies. Starting in April, the games will be telecast alternately over 3 Philadelphia TV stations. ... This supplements Ballantine's growing list of sports telecasts. Ballantine also sponsors the home baseball games of the NY Yankees, the Tournament of Champions weekly boxing matches and plans to sponsor certain championship boxing bouts that may take place during the summer months.
LIBBEI GLASS CO. (Division of Owens-Illinois) (NY) Presents New Monogr«Tnm__ Hostess Set. A page advertisement in March ffouse Beautiful is timed to meet (l) those "wish I had something new for my home" spring blues, and (2) to solve the problem of "what shall I get for Mother's Day, Janie's shower, the Brown's housewarming, etc." ... The glasses are dramatically personalized by a modern script initial, satin-etched and wreathed in 22K goldj the rims are gold-banded and both are fired on for permanency. The glasses also have heavy bases, guaranteed Safedge rims. Prepackaged, 8 to a gift box, the set retails for $3« (Libbey offers retailers a new display unit for promotion of this set.) Research note: You'll notice the advertisement shows only 18 letters of the alphabet. Libbey found that these 18 cover the initials of 96% of all persons registered in the Government's Social Security files.
CHURCH & DWIGHT CO., INC. (NY) First Advertising Unrl̂ r JWT B^ner Appears In April. When Church & Dwight appointed JWT late last Jan., it was announced that publicity would begin Feb. 1 and newspaper advertising on Apr. 1. Right on schedule Church 8c Dwight begins advertising early in April for Arm and Hammer Balcing Soda, Cow Brand Baking Soda and Arm and Hammer Washing Soda. Nancy Sasser's "Buy-Lines" and Jessie DeBoth's "Jessie's Notebook" will each carry from 2 to 4 inches of Church & Dwight copy every week for the next year. Sasser's editorial advertising column appears on Sundays and DeBoth's similar type of advertising column appears Wednesdays in a large number of leading newspapers all over the country, giving a combined circulation of approximately 32 million weekly.
The first C&D copy will feature both brands of baking soda and will offer a recipe leaflet free explaining "The New Baking Soda Way" which "shows you how to bake your favorite soda recipe without sour milk or butter milk. You use vinegar and sweet milk instead." Copy will feature the products for baking purposes and will include recipes; at other times it will feature the cleaning uses of baking soda such as — 1. For keeping your refrigerator sweet and fresh and sparkling clean. 2. For keeping your glassware and crystalware jewel bright. 3» For keeping pots and pans clean.
In addition, there will be Medical, Home Economics and Grocery Trade paper campaigns. Additional advertising in other media is being considered for the fall.
J. WALTER THOMPSON CO. (NY) Shows Relationship Between Employment And Distribution. "The number of jobs in our production system is determined, in the last analysis, not
by management...not by unions...but by how much goods can be sold." This is the theme of JWT's own advertising which appears in Apr. and May issues of Fortune. Both advertisements discuss the all-important role distribution plays in our competitive economy and offer copies of the speech that Don Francisco made last month before the Nat'l Marketing Conference of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In his talk he discussed distribution costs and analyzed this timely problem. Copies of "Distribution — A Look Back, And A Look Ahead," may be obtained
J from John Kuneau (NY).
ATLANTIS SALES CORP. -2-
(NY) Advertising Also Honored — Any More? Not to be outdone by Western Union, Owens-Illinois, U.S. Playing Cards and Pan American, this client also has had two of its magazine advertisements for French's Mustard selected to be among the 153 which will appear in the new book, "Best National Advertising of the Year." Both advertisements, reproduced here, were in four-color. In addition to this recognition, each secured high readership and brought in a tremendous number of requests for recipe booklets. Both advertisements were intensively merchandised to the trade and used in point-of-sale work.
LEVER BROS. (Chi.) Rayve Wins Prize For Packaging. At the 13th Annual Variety Store Packaging Contest in NYC recently packages of over 250 leading manufacturers were judged according to their sales appeal on open display counters, their minimum bulk and their ability to withstand heavy shopper handling. First award went to Pepsodent Division of Lever Bros, for its Rayve Home Permanent Kit and Rayve Cream Shampoo Tube.
DEPARTMENTS
TELEVISION JWT Correction Of Printers' Ink's Addition. March 18th PI ran a large table showing gross expenditures for television time during the week of Feb. 6-12 by 20 top TV advertisers. Among these were RCA—$10,895, Kraft Foods Co.—$4,050 and P. Ballantine—$3,200. Based on this it listed the top TV agencies and placed JWT in 6th place with $12,065 gross TV time billings.
According to the way we add (according to the best elementary school procedure) the JWT total for the three aforementioned advertisers alone is $18,145, which puts JWT in 2nd place. Biow is first with $38,135. In addition to this, JWT's Radio Time-Buying Dept. advises that there are other billings which should be taken into consideration.
RADIO Kraft's Summer Show Has Been Definitely Set. Nelson Eddy and Dorothy Kirsten will again be featured on the Kraft Show with Robert Arm-bruster and his Orchestra. The summer series will begin on June 2.
RESEARCH Advertising Age Surveys Reasons Advertisers Change Agencies.
Over 400 advertisers who changed agencies during 1948 were queried by Advertising Age in a confidential survey as to why they had decided an agency change should be made. Reproduced at right are the principal reasons given by the 117 accounts who responded.
OTHER OFFICES British Advertising Restrictions Modified.
It's not quite "Budget Unlimited" but beginning Mar. 1st, advertisers in Great Britain were partially freed from the restrictions imposed in 1948. Although financial limitation on advertising expenditures is withdrawn, there still won't be any pill for that old wartime headache — lack of newspaper space. British papers will continue to run only stricted to 2 columns. Price control has paper and other advertising.
Why Accounts Change Their Agencies Here are the principal reasons given by 117 accounts of all sizes
and characteristics who made an agency change during 1948: 26 were dissatisfied with the agency's service or quality of pro
duction. 8 said the agency was "too far away." 8 said the account executives changed agencies. 6 wanted "specialists" or agencies more familiar with their
fields. 5 said they wanted fresh ideas, fresh approaches. 5 said they added new products or bought additional businesses. 4 said the agency was "too large." 4 said the agency went bankrupt or closed. 3 said the agency wasn't keeping pace with the firm's expanding
business, or merchandising changes. 3 said they added agencies for new product lines or divisions. 3 said they wanted better sales and marketing plans. 2 said their own company managements changed. 2 said they wanted greater direct mail experience. 2 said the agencies tried to handle competing accounts. 2 said they disapproved of the handling of production costs. 2 said they wanted to limit the account to single or fewer agen
cies.
4 to 8 pages and advertisements are usually re-also been lifted in Australia on radio, news-
CURaRENT ART EXHIBITS IN NEW YORK OFFICE Art Gallery Display Boards on the 10th floor this week show an exhibit of stroboscopic photographs by John Morrin consisting mainly of "shots" of the Russian Ballet.
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HOW MUCH IS A NEWSPAPER "MISSED"? Progress SIOTJS When Communications Falter.
Reprinted below is an editorial which appeared recently in the Oregon Daily Journal. Portland, Oregon. It marked resumption of publication after a 25-day pressmen's strike. The picture it presents of a city without a newspaper for 25 days brings home strikingly the many services a newspaper performs. It tells what happens to business and employment when there is no advertising.
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We Publish Again
The Journal returns to its readers today after 25 days of suspended publication due to the pressmen's strike
It has been a unique experience to pass in and out of a picketed and darkened Journal newspaper plant in the performance of necessary duty. It has been disturbing. One grew to realize that the "power of the press" rests upon a physical factor.
The presses must roll.
Without pressmen the presses stop. The free flow of information is curtailed. Something is gone from the daily life that nothing else replaces.
A responsibility is unmet.
The- first amendment to the American Constitution (the Bill of Rights) establishes a guaranty of freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
The guaranty carries an obligation — continuity in the dissemination of information. When a newspaper cannot publish under strike conditions, the freedom of the press is restricted, not by government but by suspension of operation. The effect is invasion of freedom of the press.
There are down-to-earth aspects. Men approximately 100 pressmen walked out, some 2000 other full-time employes lost their work, their wages and their livelihood. Carriers had no papers to deliver. At a downtown corner a voice that usually calls the headlines was heard: "No beefsteak for the newsboy tonight."
Businesses that depend upon advertising were compelled because of reduction in sales to reduce their clerks and salesmen. Concerts, lectures, motion pictures and entertainment generally which could not make usual announcements through the newspapers began to count their losses. Campaigns for good causes were hamstrung.
One of the most pathetic circumstances was that deaths could not be adequately reported. Friends and acquaintances who died during the news blackout were buried often without the knowledge of those who would have attended the services, sent flowers and shared the grief of the bereaved.
The effect upon the community was that of a major disaster.
Tte have seen distress and loss spread like a wave affecting persons and enterprises of an almost limitless category. From countless homes we have heard the complaint, "I miss the paper. 7*hen will the strike be over?"
We have said it of other strikes. It has been true of the pressmen's strike. Everybody loses, nobody gains.
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-A-FORTUNE SURVEYS THE RELATIVE APPEAL OF LEISURE-TIME ACTIVITIES
What do people think of current radio programs, movies, books, and magazine stories? ... What are their favorite "spare time" activities? Fortune magazine recently reported the results of a survey made last November, which gave some answers.
Summarizing the survey, Fortune says that evidentally the American people still find time to read stories or see them in the movies. Yet despite this "the story producing industries are not exactly flourishing. Hollywood is pretty much out of step." Part of the reason, of course, is that books, movies, and magazines are luxuries and as such are sensitive to the cost-of-living squeeze. Current radio programs rank well with the American people — the movies "elicit the loudest Bronx cheer for a job not well done" and books and magazines fall in between these two extremes.
Favorite spare-time activity of men and women alike is "listening to the radio." From there on men and women's tastes are similar in some respects and dissimilar in others. "Going to the movies" and "playing cards" both rank about on a par with both sexes. "Listening to records'' draws the vote of about 10% of both groups. Women, however, have a definite edge as "readers" whereas .sports," either to be watched or played, are "almost exclusively on the male side of the fence."
About 53% said they would rather listen to the RADIO than anything else in their spare time. In contrast with the movies, the current trend is toward more radio listening rather than less, as compared with two or three years ago. The only exceptions are those who had both radio and television sets. These people said they were listening "less."
As far as radio programs go, people said that they preferred to avoid the "mystery, detective and horror programs" and the "soap operas." The great unpopularity of the former is largely due to womens' dislikes, but even the men put these thrillers in third place on the "tune out" list. There is little evident dislike for "comedy or variety shows" or "quiz programs and give-away programs." With radio programs, as with movies, people are appealed to principally by the "humorous," "cleverly done," "Full of action" and "true-to-life" appeals.
About 20% of the people said that they would rather go to the MOVIES than anything else in their spare time. Although this could not possibly compare with the 53% who prefer radio, it is about on a par with those who would rather play cards and outranks considerably the number who say they would like to participate in or witness a sports event.
About 4 out of every 10 said that they were going to the movies less today than they did 2 or 3 years ago. Reason — they had become too expensive. A large number said that they do not like the "horror films" and that their dislike for such thrillers is rivaled only by their lack of taste for "westerns." They prefer films that are "full of action," "cleverly done" "humorous," and "true to life."
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A recent NBC research bulletin reports that a comparison of the leisure-time activities of the American people in 1948 with 1947 reveals dips in attendance at movies, night clubs, and the stage. Radio listening was the only major recreational activity to register a substantial gain in 1948 over 1947. Average daily listening time per family, as derived from Nielsen data, increased by almost seven minutes last year. This gain, coupled with an estimated increase of over a million radio families during 1948, netted a 6.4 growth in the total listening time of all families.
QUOTES
"Today, in all the world outside the United States, there are only three television stations in operation: one in England, one in France, and one, we believe, in Russia.
"But in the United States, right now, there are already 55 television stations on the air, in 31 major markets. I think most people will agree that this is a genuine triumph for American initiative and enterprise." — J. L. Van Volkenburg, Vice President of CBS.
-5-JWT CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK
RCA VICTOR "45 RPM"
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March 31 is "X" Day'. ... Thursday the wraps will be officially offI RCA Victor's mysterious "Madame X" steps into the full light of day after weeks of secrecy, rumor and speculation...after 10 years of development and research in Camden, and nearly one year of JWT collaboration.
Purpose of the "Madame X" project was to set a completely new standard for recorded music:
1. To break with the past and create the FIRST record designed specifically for automatic changing — the FIRST for each other.
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2. To utilize vinyl plastic fully by creating a small uniform-size "capsule" record, easier to store, non-breakable, with no surface noise...at less cost.
3. To improve recording quality by creating the FIRST 100% distortion-free record with all music grooves in the "quality zone" away from the center of the disc.
The new 45 rpm system is the total achievement of all these aims: A RECORD (just 7" in size, with a 1^" center hole) that fits your bookcase shelf, nearly 150 to the foot. A silent, trigger-action CHANGER (the world's fastest) that works from inside the center spindle, that can play up to 10 records for over 50 minutes of music with one touch of one button. A new brilliance and clarity of TONE astonishing even to the trained ear — first true "live-talent" quality. And new low PRICES for both records and instruments — far greater musical enjoyment for far less money.
Last Thursday, full-page newspaper advertisements (above left) in approximately 100 leading cities told "preview" story on the new system with a summary of its history, and a question-and-answer column. Object was to help clear up confusion...to counter some unfavorable comparisons with Columbia's "LP" System which have been appearing in the press... to point out that the new system is RCA Victor's sincere bid for a new standard across the board, with blueprints and specifications already available to the entire reco _"d and phonograph industries at no charge.
This Thursday, "45 rpm" goes on sale — with full-pages (above right) carrying the official announcement in major cities ("Now you can see itI Now you can hear itI"). A weekly schedule of 1200-line newspaper advertisements continues the story. On May 30 Life takes over with a color spread and color pages thereafter.
Fifty different co-op mats of varying sizes are on hand for dealer tie-in. The RCA Victor Sunday show on NBC and the RCA Victor "Showcase" on WQXR will give radio support plus co-op spot announcements. JWT Motion Picture Dept. has prepared two 45-second television commercials with sell and demonstration by Ben Grauer, plus six 20-second spots featuring statements and signatures by top-flight RCA Victor artists. Campaigns in the trade press will tee-off in April with a 4-color, 4-page insertion.
$24.95 The Plug-In Player
TEN JWT ADVERTISEMENTS SELECTED FOR EXHIBIT
Out of 7,200 entries submitted to the 28th Annual Exhibition of Advertising and Editorial Art of the New York Art Directors Club, some 242 were selected for exhibition. Of these, 10 bore the "JWT'' label. Ford, Shell, Textron (NY) and Weco Products (Chi.) each had two pieces of art work in the exhibitj Ballantine and U.S. Playing Card Co. (NY) each had one.
-6-HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW YOUR JWT'ERS?
Thumb-Nail Sketch KEMPER FERREE
(Chicago)
Kemper Ferree would probably tell you that his career began in 192fTwhen he joined the Art Dept. at JWT-Chicago. But there are those who contend that the Ferree success story really started the day he grew his mustache'.
•J******6 Large and lush, his hirsute adornment is one of the handsomest features of a handsome little guy. Kern admits he donned it originally to make himself look older, but today a twenty-three year company veteran, he finds it difficult to convince newcomers he's been working that long. Peren
nially youthful, in appearance and personality, Kem carries over his exuberance into everything he does...a characteristic which blooms in his work and is gratefully recognized by everyone with whom he comes in contact.
After training at the Chicago Art Institute, Kem came to JWT in '25 and started to work on type mechanicals. Soon he graduated to the art "bull pen," making layouts, and for several years he worked as assistant to Walter Stockland, then Chicago Art Director, where he gained valuable experience in all phases of art and advertising. In 1937, after years of contribution to almost every account in the shop, Kem was made an Art Director in his own right, and has been primarily responsible for the art direction on Bowman, Elgin, parts of Swift and Libby and other accounts ever since.
Contrary to the storybook beliefs about artists, Kem Ferree is remarkably untemperamental, which makes him a joy to work with. He's a workhorse, being capable of turning out great volume without losing his spark, and is always willing to have a stab at other people's suggestions.(Though by no means willing to admit they're rightI) He's gregarious enough to enjoy collaboration, and has often planned his best campaigns while talking it over with a copywriter or group head.
Kem's hobbies, besides working around his South Side home with Mrs. F. and son Johnny, include golf and bowling, at both of which he's pretty fair. But his two main loves are fishing and photography. He tries to make an annual trout trek to Michigan, and usually returns with some swell pictures and typically unbelievable stories.
PEOPLE
EZRA McINTOSH (NY) to Chi. tomorrow for RCA, returning Apr. 1. BOWMAN. KREER's (Chi.) book on "Advertising Copywriting" will be published very shortly by Prentice-Hall. .The book is expected to become a standard text in universities and business schools. JOHN SANDBERG. Adv. Mgr. of Kraft, has been appointed Chairman of the Awards Committee of the annual Chicago Federated Advertising Club competition. GEORGE REEVES (Chi.) is one of the judges for the final awards & JWT-Chi. is writing and producing all of the promotional material, programs, etc., which goes into this well-known advertising club activity. THAYER JACCACI. JOE LYNCH & FENTON POWERS (NY) to Rochester, Wed. for Eastman Kodak. HARRISON T. McCLUNG (SF) has been re-elected to the Board of Governors of the North California Chapter of the 4A's. Next Fri. he will address the annual meeting of the California Grape & Tree. Fruit League on "Fruit Marketing Problems of 1949." Current issue of Time (Mar. 28) magazine devotes its cover and 7 editorial pages to Pan Am's President JUAN TRIPPE. his company and his new Clipper "America." This ship will take off for Honolulu next week from San Francisco on its first commercial flight. LINNEA NELSON (NY) will speak on "FM From The Agency Point Of View" next Fri. before the i_JI Association's Sales Clinic- in NYC FRED BOULTON (Chi.) received the first award for "Best Landscape" at the recent North Shore artists' exhibition in Evanston, 111. FRED FIDLER (SF) will be the principal speaker this Wed. before the Advertising Club of Portland, Oregon, and will discuss current strategy and past accomplishments of the Wine Advisory Board's national advertising. Representatives of the wine industry will be special guests at the meeting. MAX SCHMITT (NY) left last Fri. for Hawaii for Pan Am, returning Apr. 1. HENRY FLOWER & O'NEILL RYAN (NY) out of the office all next week — first to Detroit on Ford (Apr. 4 & 5) and then midweek to White Sulphur Springs for 1949 Annual Meeting of the 4A's (Apr. 6-8). HENRY STEVENS __ EDWARD WILSON (NY) will also attend the 4A's meeting.
SEND AN ITEM FOR THE JWT NEWS TO JEAN C HURLEY. EDITOR. BEFORE MARCH"30. 1949