Part 3

“The factory in which Shredded Wheat is made represents the last word in cleanliness, and is sanitary in every respect.” She didn’t say these words, but they were to this effect.

“How do you know, dearie?” we asked, dubiously.

“Well, at one of our Sunday-school entertainments a film came on, showing the Shredded Wheat plant at Niagara Falls, and I remember all the details of the picture.”

What better proof can you have than that? A child absorbs everything eagerly, and there is no likelihood of its attention being diverted elsewhere in the darkened hall. He can also understand things better from pictures than from words, because the eye is the magnet and attracts everything that appears on the magic white screen.

Nor is this the only example which has come to my notice lately. I used to conduct the young folks’ department in the _Motion Picture Magazine_, and in this capacity I recently had the opportunity of judging the numerous entries received in the “What I Have Learned from Motion Pictures” competition. One of the competitors--a girl of fourteen--stated that she has seen how the Ford automobile is put together, the number turned out in a day, and the roads it can be made to go over. Take good note of this fact, too--the film demonstration was produced in Detroit, Michigan, and she saw the picture in Coronado, California.

An effort submitted by a boy of thirteen contained a statement that he knows how many things are manufactured, although he neglected to specify whose ad. films he had witnessed at the theater.

At the present time the schools in various parts of the country are, more or less, adopting the motion picture as part and parcel of their educational course. They are, for the most part, only too glad to receive the free hire of a film depicting how your goods are made, inasmuch as it costs them at least $5 for the day’s rental for a single-reel, anti-ad. industrial picture. Films along these lines blend well, in that they possess educational qualities for school use and general theater consumption besides containing advertising for your goods.

In some cases the mothers are invited to these demonstrations, and, even when they are not, you may rest assured that their offspring will not overlook enthusiastically reciting all they have seen.

The largest publishing organization in England, to boost their morning paper, the London _Daily Mail_, had a motion picture produced covering all the stages in paper manufacture, from the time the tree was felled until the finished product lay on the breakfast table of the reader.

The direct advertising incidents presented were those of the making of the paper in their own mills in Newfoundland, its arrival at their London wharf, and the spectator was then transferred to the printing-plant, where the complete editions are turned out rapidly by the latest machines. The publishing to catch early trains to all parts of England was, unfortunately, omitted. This is done outside in the wee hours, when it is too dark for filming purposes, so it had, instead, to be done at their Manchester branch, where they print a big northern edition at daylight.

Prizes of $15, $10 and $5, respectively, were offered for essays on the picture written by schoolchildren under sixteen. There was also a similar competition for adults. All this was announced in their daily, and schoolteachers in and around London were circularized, advising them when and where the picture would be shown in their vicinity. They were asked to kindly bring it before the notice of their pupils, which they did.

Motion-picture exhibitors availed themselves of the opportunity to run the film for three days and Saturday matinee free, owing to the advance advertising accorded the picture and its attractive qualities. At the Saturday matinees the children attended in full force.

I understand, on very good authority, that the fifteen hundred feet (one and a half reels) cost $750 to produce, while the six positive copies used for circulation purposes were furnished for the inclusive sum of $600. The campaign was such an advertisement and circulation stimulant that its evening companion, the _News_, followed it up by inaugurating a series of weekly children’s matinees, admission being in return for a coupon cut from the paper. Theaters were bought out for each separate occasion, the amount varying according to capacity and location. The program comprised six reels of educational and comedy films, a house in a different locality being bought out each week, and a new variety of pictures shown. The publication in question did not employ a film of its own, but relied upon the advertising received in connection with the shows as being sufficient.

With a little adjustment, to suit the particular line of business, there is nothing to prevent the London _Evening News’_ plan from proving equally as effective on this side of the Atlantic.

XI.

SALESMANSHIP DEMONSTRATIONS BY THE FILM

Motion-picture publicity is so pliable that arranging with movie theaters to put on a film of your product in the making and equipping salesmen with a reel and apparatus to demonstrate before prospective customers does not exhaust its uses.

I have unearthed a New York manufacturing concern in a large way of business who have fathomed the all-important matter of deriving the fullest value from their movie-advertising investment. They utilize their film to teach salesmanship to the employees. A large room has been rigged up as a miniature picture theater, and every week half-hourly pictorial demonstrations are given to the staff. The film depicts most thoroughly the manufacture of goods sold by the firm.

It requires no great stretch of the imagination to realize that to attempt this knowledge in the ordinary way is oftentimes a too lengthy and intricate task, but the motion picture is so competent in simplifying the essential details that, after seeing the movie several times, even the veriest novice can talk intelligently to the likely buyer on every little point in connection with the making of the goods. Such clinching arguments make it easier to effect sales, and should the prospect imagine that the salesman is attempting to convince him with a lot of hot-air talk, there remains the actual film to back up his arguments.

An engineering firm I have come across in my travels make use of their private theater to take their out-of-town customers through the manufacturing processes of their wares. They being middlemen, the information thus obtained is passed on to the dubious consumer, with invariably satisfactory results.

Practically every manufacturing firm that has adopted--or intends so doing--the film as a branch of their advertising campaign may profit by applying the plans herewith outlined to their own special circumstances.

XII.

EQUIPPING A PRIVATE MOTION-PICTURE THEATER FOR BUSINESS PURPOSES

The manufacturer who intends adopting the motion picture as his advertising offspring for all time will find it necessary to install a private theater in his office building or manufacturing plant, according to what he may decide suits him best. This miniature theater can be made to serve three useful purposes. One is to try out each new advertising film before putting it into circulation and to be on guard for defects calling for improvement. The second is to give regular demonstrations before the employees, so as to keep them up to efficiency pitch. Thirdly, it is always available for giving shows for the edification of prospective customers.

The authorities throughout the country are getting exceedingly strict anent the showing and storing of films, so the room selected for the purpose should be made as fireproof as possible, for films are mighty inflammable.

Although no actual case has come before my notice, it might be interesting to compare the example presented by the wealthy homes in Cincinnati. There are private motion-picture theaters there owned by the well-to-do. Both architects and fire insurance men view the innovation in the light that no ordinary fire insurance policy holds good under such circumstances. Were there a fire to result, the fire insurance company having a claim on the same would fight the case out in the courts to be immune from compensation.

The danger from fire, however, is considerably lessened if the proper precautions are taken. But, after you have equipped your private theater, it is best to call in your fire insurance agent to investigate and discover what his company’s action will be in the matter.

A miniature projecting machine will suit you just as well as one of the standard machines, which cost three times as much and consume more current. The only difference is that the standard machines are larger and have a longer throw on a bigger screen. But your theater will necessarily be a miniature one, and this makes it ideal for a small projector focused on a medium-sized screen at a close distance. The cost of the average miniature projector--there are several makes on the market--is $100. Apart from lessening the danger from fire, such a machine can be easily connected with the electric-light current at present available.

There is a dandy film booth listed in the catalog of a large motion-picture accessory concern for $50. It is portable and made of steel, the size being four feet wide, five feet long and seven feet high. Only twenty minutes is occupied in erecting it or pulling down. This, of course, need only be done when the floor space is required for some other purpose when the theater is not required. Inside the booth the operator can manipulate the machine with perfect safety, for if the film was to catch fire, the blaze would be confined to the booth and the operator could quench the flames quickly with a fire-extinguisher.

The screen that gives the best results and is used in the majority of motion-picture theaters is that known as the “Mirroroide.” There are several grades, but the best is a medium silver white. These screens are guaranteed for five years against deterioration, peeling or cracking.

The size of your screen will depend upon how your room is situated. I should not advise a too small one, for it is desirable to display all the selling points in as advantageous a way as you can. I therefore advocate a screen of not less than four feet by three feet. The material for same costs $3.25 per square yard.

You will, of course, have to make provision for seating accommodation, and it is optional whether you purchase some special theater chairs or use those you have already in use.

A competent operator will expect from $20 to $25 per week salary, but as you will only need the services of one for part time, I suggest that you have one of your mechanical staff act in that capacity when his services are needed.

The steel vault or safe is the best storing-place for films when not in use.

XIII.

INTRODUCING COMPETITIONS IN AD. MOTION PICTURES

The one element in motion-picture advertising films I have found lacking is enterprise. I do not mean to say that this is the case of the pictures themselves, but in the principle of the whole proposition. Compare the printed matter gotten out by the big advertisers. What do you discover? Why, numerous devices to attract readers. A photographic firm offers several hundred dollars in prizes for the best photographs taken with their camera. A food manufacturer wants to know of new receipts for his standard line, so he pays liberally for such suggestions. Another food concern will give an attractive present for a certain number of labels taken from the packages of their goods. These are but a few examples of what, in my mind, constitute enterprise.

All this attracts the interest of the public and acts as a direct booster for the goods thus brought into prominence, but just because you can obtain the attention of motion-picture audiences with little effort, that is no reason why you should let ENTERPRISE go by the board. Your constant aim should be to go one better than your competitors and, at the same time, arouse the most sluggard to action. There is a certain glamor about an article being offered free and money to be had for a little effort, and the opportunity to strike out along new lines at the movie theater is awaiting your prompt attention. No advertiser has attempted what I am going to propose. Neither would you attempt what you have done before through the press and dealers for the simple fact that this new publicity medium possesses a technique of its own. This, you can see, necessitates a different proposition altogether.

One way of gauging the precise lines you should pursue is by keeping track of what the ordinary motion-picture producing concerns are doing. This is why I advise frequent visits to the theaters, in which you can combine pleasure with business. If these producers have experienced the fact that enterprise pays, after long and diligent study of what the fickle public wants, it only goes to bear out my assertion that users of motion-picture advertising should emulate their example.

It also carries much weight in establishing friendly relations with the exhibitor, for the average one is no great lover of advertising films unless offered a fee, and even then his enthusiasm is of the watery kind. But, however, if offered a photoplay of the nature which forms the basis of this article, gratis, he knows that the joint boosting of him and the advertiser is a sure tonic for a full house. He, therefore, may be relied upon not to let the chance go begging and have it snapped up by his rival a few blocks away.

The $10,000 offered for the solving of “The Million Dollar Mystery” film serial caused a furore throughout the country. Briefly, the plan was this: Through the installments, each getting more complicated than its predecessor, a million dollars disappears, and the thief and his hiding-place can not be located, although spectators are led to suspect certain characters and places. The mystery is only known to those higher up, the correct solution capturing the big money prize. The extra installment, which was put out after the judging was finished, informed competitors whether they were successful or not. Now, can not you detect the possibilities of the idea? Supposing somebody hides something in your advertised goods and you have all the action revolve around that situation.

The Universal Company recently experienced great difficulty in selecting an appropriate name for a certain feature film drama, so they released it devoid of a title and launched an advertising campaign announcing their intention of paying $50 for the one accepted.

A no small amount of enthusiasm was created by the Cines Company in their plan to remunerate the best scenario with a thousand dollars, with several smaller prizes for the ones next best in merit. Almost everybody is writing photoplays nowadays, and it would be a dandy idea if you were to launch an extensive advertising campaign linking press, dealer, film and exhibitor. You could then offer a substantial cash prize for the best photoplays written around your products. The interest can be sustained when the films are put out, by inviting criticisms with the bait of additional prizes. The latter was done with excellent results in the Cines contest.

XIV.

BRINGING OUT THE INDIVIDUALITY OF DRY GOODS BY MOTION PICTURES

The motion picture is the ideal channel for enterprising dry-goods manufacturers who want to bring out the individuality of their goods.

Printed matter, no matter how attractively gotten up, leaves a lot to be satisfied, both in appeal and the results. First of all, you have got to get your stuff read by discriminating buyers, and that is no easy matter in these days, when the mails are swamped with it. You have got to humor those skeptical folks who want to be shown that your statements are correct. They have been deceived so many times by unscrupulous advertisers that even the honest ones come under suspicion. To sum it up briefly, motion-picture advertising is a vehicle for pictorial treatment. Your reader sees the thing in actual reality, instead of pen paintings or still photographs.

Movie audiences have come to regard films as next to life itself, and no fraudulent advertising has crept in on the screen to shatter their illusion.

You interest your readers with little effort. At home he or she can toss your costly literature in the waste-basket without even giving it the once over. Or, come to that, if it is a magazine or newspaper ad., there is a whole mass of matter claiming attention at the same time. Your ad., therefore, stands precious small chance of gaining attention. But at the motion-picture theater the situation is entirely different, for your audience is already waiting to be tackled. Their attention is literally glued to the screen. No matter what species of film you adopt to get over your arguments, then the spectators will give it the self-same attention. They can not do otherwise, since only one thing appears on the screen at the same time, and the hall is too dark for them to do anything else. It is hardly likely that they will vacate their seats if they have not seen the whole program. So the results depend mainly on how your appeal is presented.

Becker, Mayor & Company, of Chicago, preferred to do theirs with the aid of a film carrying the interesting title of “The Sheep Industry.” It opened with scenes of sheep grazing on Montana plains, and then dealt with the whole operation of making clothes--in their way, of course--from the time the sheep were sheared until the clothes were on the back of the customer. It was a rather intricate subject, but it was put over in a clear and entertaining manner. The selling talk that came to the surface out of the mass of material was this: The sanitary conditions under which the “Graduate” coats were turned out, and the several hand operations which ensure perfect-hanging sleeves, smooth shoulders and the coat keeping its shape; hanging the clothes in the stockroom as a precaution against wrinkles. Then followed a typical retail store stocking the well-known “Graduate” and “Woolly Boy” brands. Their arguments that their clothes were made of all wool and hand-made assumed a deeper meaning, adding the desired convincing touches.

Perhaps you would prefer to have your statements woven into a comedy or dramatic photoplay, and so avoid the direct advertising element. Well, the Printzess concern had one produced in three reels, taking about an hour to show, but incorporated industrial stuff like that mentioned.

Personally speaking, I should advise the advertiser to get out a short film at regular intervals, about a reel in length. You can then take each thing separately and release a film at intervals, and so maintain the interest. You wouldn’t think of having one big splash at press advertising and then do no more, would you? The same principle holds good in filmland. There is nothing that gets the goat of a picture-goer quicker than having to see the same film more than once, and it should have the run the ordinary films are given--one day.

Harken back to the Printzess campaign, their story possessed a very weak plot, and it was the many interesting incidents that made the picture entertaining. Reduced to the bare outlines, here is the story: A society leader accepts an invitation to attend an informal ladies’ costume pageant. She promptly gets her dressmaker busy on new gowns, for her wardrobe did not fulfill her exacting demands. When they are completed, however, they turn out misfits, and there is no time for alterations. In her dilemma, she conceives the idea, suggested by a magazine ad., of buying a ready-made gown at the nearest department store. To her delight, she obtains a stunning dress that fits perfectly, and creates a sensation at the pageant. She is declared the best gowned woman, a gold mesh-bag being the prize, and gains the title of “Her Royal Highness Miss Printzess.”

When the Printzess people heard of the honor paid them, they invited her to inspect their plant in Cleveland, Ohio. She has a sister in the town, which gives her a good motive for making the trip. After being shown over the works, she is full of admiration for the workmanship of Printzess dresses. Back at home, she muses over fashions, which are visualized by beautiful living models, attired in gowns shortly to be introduced.

Like with publications, one must, of course, discriminate between the good and the bad. What Becker, Mayor & Company did was to arrange matters with their string of retailers and loan each the film. They naturally knew the best theater suited for their purpose, and got the exhibitor to show the film for a small fee at the evening show. When each was through with it, the film was despatched to the retailer in the next town, until the whole territory was covered.

If you want to do this everywhere at the same time, it means a little more expense in having copies of the film struck off. Pictures of ladies’ underclothing can hardly be shown in the ordinary way. The Gossart corset concern surmounted this difficulty by showing it only at matinees, to which ladies only were admitted. The film showed the corsets being fitted on living models.

XV.

BOOSTING CITIES AND PLEASURE RESORTS BY MOTION PICTURES

The first aim of the city boosters and Chambers of Commerce is to get the public to visit their communities. How, then, can this be accomplished? The usual way is by distributing attractive literature setting forth everything calculated to “lure” the visitor, but, in the majority of cases, the efforts of the publicity man fail to have the desired effect. “It is all very well of you to inform me of the advantages of your city or pleasure resort,” the man in the street might say, “but how on earth am I to know whether it was not written by somebody with a tendency to exaggerate? Again, I have to picture things before my eyes from cold print. Why not, therefore, have this done for me?”

It is for this precise purpose that the motion picture has made itself conspicuous as an advertising medium--one differing from all others.

An exemplification of what can be done came to the limelight when the Western Michigan Development Bureau had a series of films, comprising three reels altogether, taken to boost western and northern Michigan. The principal features of the pictures were the scenes of such prosperous towns as Grand Rapids, Muskegon, Petoskey, Cadillac, Manistee, Frankfort and Charlevoix. These show the industrial buildings, shipping industry by lake and rail, public parks, commercial and residential portions and recreation resorts. Additionally, the rapid development of western and northern Michigan was covered, as also were the excellent roads, fertile agricultural lands recommended to prospective homesteaders, fruit orchards, and the various industries.

Among other towns to employ motion pictures in a similar way may be mentioned Pittsburgh and Santa Barbara. The latter distinguished itself at the San Francisco Exposition by arranging a forty-minute show at intervals during the day. A lecturer heightened the interest in the films. The exhibit covered a floor space of four thousand feet.