Part 6

The medium is practically only in its infancy to-day, for, despite the vast possibilities offered, most concerns have seemed to favor following the same groove. I do not wish to insinuate that this is because the work has been placed in the hands of the several firms specializing in the producing of commercial motion pictures. Such a thing never entered my mind. I do think, however, it is due to the fact that advertisers have been reluctant to deviate from the exploited fields. The path of the pioneer may be speculative, but it need never be, if the alert advertiser studies the other end of the business, where photoplays are made and exhibited for entertainment purposes. It is a reliable thermometer to watch, believe me. That much only stands to reason, for are not the majority of ad. films shown on programs along with the ordinary photoplays?

To achieve permanent results, the spasmodic plan at present prevailing must be abandoned. You would not dream of inserting a solitary one advertisement in the press and then expect it to be business-bringing for all time, would you?

Well, perhaps you have gotten the hunch that the film is a permanent ad. So it is, only, to have it do so, you must keep it on the rounds to folks who have not seen it before. It is the greatest mistake in the world to present the same film before the identical audience day after day. Let us come to an understanding. Would you employ the same copy in the newspapers in more than one issue? Hardly. You would alter it so as to eventually capture the most skeptical customer. You must, then, apply the same methods to film publicity.

And this is why I hold the opinion that a moving-picture expert will be on the staff of every large manufacturing concern. His duty will be to present his employer’s copy to the best possible advantage on the film. At the same time, each large advertiser will lay down a film-producing plant. It is going to incur him a big initial outlay, what with an artificial light studio, accessories, stock company and developing plant, but he will obtain his expense back by the considerable saving effected in not having to have his work done outside. Naturally, this expenditure will not be justified unless the advertiser is prepared to launch his publicity campaign along the same extensive lines as in the press. We shall find him, I fancy, releasing new films with clockwork regularity. By having all the facilities at his command for the producing of these, he will be dependent on nobody, and can impart the necessary individuality into his pictures.

His first big move will be to coax some of the leading movie stars to be featured in an advertising film which is to be produced in an elaborate manner. The fee for his or her services will be very large, but, on the other hand, exhibitors will simply clamor for the free hire of the film, with, say, Earle Williams as a bachelor who has his housekeeping worries lessened by some article on the market. The great saving in the fees paid to exhibitors for showing an ordinary ad. film will be effected. Such a picture would also secure a larger circulation, apart from the fact that movie fans will sit up and take notice when they behold their idol in a role similar to the one mentioned. This will mean the ad. appeal getting over more convincingly.

The next development will be the advertising film serial. As you are probably aware, the dramatic serial has taken the photoplay world by storm. It is the ideal vehicle for the advertiser, inasmuch as it permits the interest to be retained. The story, if sufficiently gripping, will keep audiences in suspense from one week to another. There will be none of those trite stories that form the basis of ad. films to-day. An aim will also be made to avoid permitting the advertising element to obtrude.

One peculiar thing about the motion-picture equivalent of the newspaper is that it does not carry advertisements, but this state of affairs will not exist much longer. For these mediums a special type of ads. will be needed. They will be sandwiched in the news items and be of a topical character, so as to preserve the same atmosphere. For instance, when a battleship is launched, you won’t forget to be told the brand of the bottle of champagne that is smashed upon the vessel.

The feature production does not appeal to me much as a paying proposition for the advertiser. It is too reminiscent of trying to cram as much matter as possible in a single advertisement.

One thing to be said in favor of the film is that it is a perfect paradise for the honest advertiser, for, as yet, fraudulent advertising has not been allowed to mingle with the genuine.

The plant of a food manufacturer, for instance, may be unsanitary and inferior raw materials used. Should this type of business man be unscrupulous enough, he might have his conditions of his plant pictured as ideal, by faking the whole thing in a film studio.

What is sapping the progress of film advertising is that no systematic method of circularizing exists, for, naturally, this end of the process is as important as the picture itself. What I predict is publicity agencies specializing in motion-picture theaters. Then when an advertiser has a high-class proposition, a circuit of high-class theaters in select localities will be chosen, thus eliminating waste circulation.

XXVII.

BOOSTING YOUR TRADE WITH A POPULAR PLAYER

Motion pictures are to-day a force to be reckoned with, and the national advertiser can not do better than to take advantage of the weaknesses of the fans, who are enrolled from all walks of life, and no one, from the boy in short pants to the old man of seventy, is immune. When they get the motion-picture bug badly--and the majority succumb--their interest in a photoplay only really commences when they view it at their pet theater. They next turn to their encyclopedia--the latest issue of their favorite photoplay publication--in which they will probably find the story of the play and some dope on the producing of it. By the time they are through they are sure to know the photoplay from A to Z.

The star player is a greater magnet than the play. The fans literally pester the lives out of their screen idols via Uncle Sam’s mails, and generally implore their pet magazine to publish an interview. Practically anything linked with a motion-picture star is sure to find a ready response. You can not secure a popular photoplayer to appear in a thinly disguised advertising film, so the next best thing you can do is to work along lines which other advertisers have successfully tried out. Here follow some examples.

Pearl White, of “Exploits of Elaine” fame, was shown in an ad. which appeared in the _Motion Picture Magazine_, wearing Vantine’s Panama hat.

Mary Pickford owns a Maxwell Cabriolet, so the manufacturers secured a snapshot of her boarding her car. The photograph was used in a New York _Morning Telegraph_ ad. to back up the following argument: “This car is the easiest car in the world for a woman to drive. That is why Mary Pickford selected it.”

A photograph of Lillian Walker in a smiling pose accompanied an ad. in the _Motion Picture Magazine_ for Carmen Complexion Powder. This was the significant argument: “One that adds every charm to your complexion, as well as Lillian Walker’s, without seeming artificial.”

Marguerite Snow supplied the following testimonial for Sempre Giovine: “I am pleased to attest to the merits of your skin preparation, Sempre Giovine, conscientiously, having found it a necessary adjunct to my toilet table. Its use after a day out in all kinds of weather leaves the skin in a velvety condition.” This supplied the “pep” to a full-page announcement in the _Photoplay Magazine_.

Mary Charleston permitted her name to be used in connection with Dr. Bellin’s Wonderstein for a New York _Morning Telegraph_ ad.

The Richardson Silk played up Mary Fuller prominently in a displayed advertisement which graced the columns of the _Motion Picture Magazine_. “Free: Mary Fuller’s Own Pillow” was the headline. Below the cut of the pillow appeared Miss Fuller’s testimonial: “I prefer this design to any I have seen.”

The Red Cross Shoe manufacturers started off their full-page ad. in the _Photoplay Magazine_ as follows: “Are You Making the Mistake Ruth Stonehouse Did?” “I had always heard so much about the comfort of your shoes that I did not realize how very stylish the different models were,” ran her quoted letter.

Even child players can be turned to advertising account, as witness the following full-page ad. in the _Motion Picture Magazine_: “Your Little Friend, Little Billy Wirth, Whose Mother is Glad to Testify to the Value of Imperial Granum, the Unsweetened Food.”

National advertisers, up to the present time, have paid considerably more attention to the heroines than the heroes. Possibly it is because it is much easier to appeal to the women, but the odds should be more balanced. Tobacco, hosiery and sporting-goods manufacturers are to name just three kinds of advertisers who could employ a prominent male player to advantage.

Why not name the next new branded article you put on the market after a motion-picture star? I happen to have advance information of a cigar manufacturer who has christened a new cigar after King Baggot. I understand, too, that Lillian Walker, Edward Earle, Leah Baird and Eleanor Woodruff are open to receive offers.

How can the photoplayers be approached? In the first place, a player can not secure too much publicity, and if he neglects this important factor he loses much of his popularity.

Great as is a motion-picture player’s need for publicity, he will seldom allow his name to be exploited by an advertiser without adequate remuneration, as he feels that he, too, should reap some of the financial benefit.

XXVIII.

BOOSTING YOUR BUSINESS WITH AN ADVERTISING MOTION PICTURE

Are you a storekeeper who would blazon the path of originality, yet would not object to the increased outlay?

The advertising powers of the motion picture have been fully realized by the large manufacturers of this country, but the average retailer has confined himself to the slide.

With a film, however, you can cause a small-sized sensation in your town, for folks will look upon your effort as a home product. You can not, of course, live upon publicity, and the true test will be the extra amount of business it brings. Once the interest of people is aroused, there can be no doubt concerning the latter.

The most suitable kind of photoplay is the comedy. You may have a commercial motion-picture photographer located near by, in which case you can avail yourself of his services. Failing this, however, there are a number of concerns who do nothing else but produce films for commercial purposes.

If you have the film produced along economical lines, you should get the negative produced and developed for an inclusive charge not exceeding seventy-five cents per foot. A useful length is from two to five hundred feet. Then you will want a positive, which will cost you ten cents per foot.

In regard to the actual producing of the photoplay, I strongly advise you to have some scenes taken amid familiar local landscapes. You might persuade members of the local dramatic society to attend to the acting end. It would improve the play if you could manage to introduce well-known local citizens. This will save you the expense of having to hire regular motion-picture actors, and the folks who see the film will not be critical as to the technical defects. The concern you engage to put on the picture will send along a capable director, who will knock the players into passable shape.

Considerable additional expense is involved in the use of interiors, such as a store, house or office building. These have to be specially erected in the studio and plenty of electric light used for photographic purposes, so keep to outdoor scenes. It can easily be done by exercising a little ingenuity. For instance, instead of arranging certain action to take place inside your store, you can get it over equally effective by arranging for it to occur outside your premises.

For economy’s sake, you need only one copy of the positive in circulation. Now, if you approach local motion-picture exhibitors in the right spirit, they may not demand a fee for showing your advertising motion picture, as they realize too well the value of anything with a local appeal. You should arrange with the leading theater to have first run of the photoplay, say, for a week, after which you can loan it to the next on the waiting-list, until all have been covered.

Plenty of newspaper publicity is yours, too, if you invite the local press to be present at the producing of the film, and also when it is about to be released for public exhibition.

XXIX.

PULLING MOVIE-SLIDE ADVERTISING OUT OF THE RUT

From a study of the motion-picture screens up and down the country, I have come to the conclusion that the average dealer does not take the trouble to get the fullest possible value out of his investment.

The majority of the announcements are merely plain business notices that simply bore the spectator who has the doubtful pleasure of sitting them through. They do, in fact, remind one only too strongly of the early days of newspaper advertising, when every advertiser thought it sufficient to have a formal announcement, unchanged from year in to year out. Few dealers now would think of spending good money in newspaper publicity in such a hackneyed and uninteresting fashion, because they are well aware that their ad. has to compete with many others, and it is only the attractively prepared ones that command a hearing.

The same methods must be applied to movie-screen advertising, if it is to be pulled out of the rut. There was a period when audiences were attracted by anything that resembled a picture. But these days are gone and buried, and the fans are only satisfied with a program of the best photoplays. This being the case, it goes without saying that they expect the same of the efforts to hold their attention during the reels. You can not really expect the ad. appeals to sink in otherwise.

Although you would dismiss the idea of having a short commercial film of your own made on the grounds of expense, much remains to be done in order to make slide advertising interesting to picture patrons rather than tiring them, as it does at present. It is going to cost you a little more money and effort, but your slide will be distinctive and will stand out above the rest. Your reward will be increased results.

Just bear in mind, too, that you haven’t merely got to have them look at your slide, but arouse them to action. This can be done by having prepared a serial story in picture form on similar lines to the comic supplements in the metropolitan Sunday journals. Have a series of slides made of it, showing one each day until the story is told. A few days before putting it on the screen of the local movie show, get the operator to throw on a rough slide to this effect: “Watch out for the story, ‘The Good Smith’s Meat Did for the White Family.’” This applies to a butcher, but a story can be written around every trade. There are firms who specialize in this kind of work. This plan has been attended with excellent results wherever tried out.

If, by ingenuity, you can make the picture on the slide move, so much the better. A London manufacturer boosted his bottled beer by showing the slide of a dog drinking his master’s beer when he was out of the room. Every time the dog lapped up the dinner stout, the audiences could not refrain from laughing heartily.

One way by which to get on good terms with the motion-picture exhibitor is to offer a liberal sample of your special line to the first hundred attending the performance on the morrow. This allows a direct appeal to be presented, and a Brooklyn grocery store has made good in drawing marked attention to their own brand of tea.

Another way to make the fans laugh is to have a witty verse written alongside an appropriate picture. I forget the actual verse of it, but a Brooklyn hand laundry draws the distinction between the ape days, when clean laundry was not necessary, and the vital importance to-day.

Slide advertising puts one over the press in securing the concentration of readers. Surely, then, it is worth while paying more attention to this excellent medium.

XXX.

MAINTAINING THE INTEREST IN SLIDE ADVERTISING

It is hard to keep pace with the progress of the motion picture. But a short time ago the one-reel subject was considered the maximum length; then came the feature, requiring up to twelve reels to tell its lengthy story. This was followed by the photoplay series--a number of stories linked around a set of characters, but each complete in itself. The movie producers, however, were not satisfied, so they tackled the serial proper, making a fifty-reel production and releasing it in two-reel installments.

The bearing these facts have on this article amounts to this: In motion-picture theater publicity, and slide advertising in particular, you have to cut the cloth according to the length, which, to be more explicit, means that you must watch the entertainment closely and follow the general trend.

You, as a slide advertiser, are in much the same position as the photoplay producer, who is not content to rest upon his laurels, thereby not giving the fans an opportunity to complain. All this has a certain physiological effect upon picture-play-goers, who expect slides to advance in a like manner. Now, let us see how you can benefit by running a series of ad. slides.

It will, in the first place, give you greater confidence in entering into a contract with the motion-picture exhibitor, as you owe it to the spectators to complete the series, or serial, you will begin so auspiciously. It is good money thrown away otherwise.

It is hard to maintain interest with single slides, but with a good series, or serial, you can actually make folks look forward to the next slide.

It is essential to secure the exclusive rights for your town. This is already possible, for the slide manufacturers have produced a number of excellent series in slides. This concession, which may be obtained by paying an additional fee, is important, because the slides can be filled in to suit almost any business.

You must, however, be prepared for increasing your advertising revenue, but why begrudge it when you can go one better than other advertisers? The point is this: Probably your exhibitor has a dozen advertisers under contract. Not one business is in competition. It goes without saying that a snappy series or serial will sink in, whereas a plain announcement slide of another dealer will be skimmed.

In a series of slides you can put over an entertaining story, humorous in parts, and educational in that you point out why folks should trade with you. A clever scenario writer-artist and skilled slide manufacturer can do wonders for you in this connection.

Equally important is arranging for the exhibition of your slides. Most theaters change their program daily, and only a proportion of patrons attend regularly. Some days the program does not appeal to them, so they favor the rival show. Therefore, if you were running a slide subject of the “to be continued” kind, you could not expect to have many follow it from beginning to end unless you took a system in charge.

Every now and then a motion-picture producer releases a serial or series. It is booked by the exhibitor, who arranges for its showing at his theater in weekly installments. The majority of his regular patrons are present each week on the evening set aside for the installment. So if your slide series or serial started off with the photoplay it would be seen in its entirety by most folks. When you are planning your slide series or serial, arrange with your chosen exhibitor to run it simultaneously with the film production.

XXXI.

INDIVIDUALITY IN SLIDE ADVERTISING

You have heard that “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” so you do not strive to emulate the other fellow. You prefer to go one better and raise yourself out of the “type” clique, thus establishing your individuality. I am fully aware that I am treading on dangerous ground in quoting slide advertising as an example, for the simple reason that it stands in a class all by itself. How? Well, permit me to explain.

Suppose you prepared a dandy advertisement, and one entirely different from that of your competitors. Would you not commission your most desirable local newspaper to insert it, with the request that they give it as good display as possible. If you didn’t do this, you would be foolish.

Suppose again, when next week came round, you were hard up for a bright, new idea, and time was precious. Rather than go unrepresented in the next issue you would promptly set about to prepare a stereotyped announcement, which would not cost you a cent more for composing.

Yet, if you blazoned the path of originality in slide publicity without knowing the correct way to go about it, the results would be disappointing. Even though you had prepared your copy, you would want a humorous illustration to back it up, and it would doubtless occur to you to hire a local artist. Lastly, you would put your announcement before prospects on a home-made slide. Slide-making, let me tell you, is an art which has only been perfected by years of experience.

If you present your screen ad. in a crude manner, your purpose will be defeated. So the only alternative is to have one of the slide manufacturers make a special slide to your order. It should cost you about $1 additional, for which amount you will obtain an artistic slide.

Possibly it has never occurred to you that you can use the stock slide and still give photoplay goers the impression that you are decidedly distinctive. The motion-picture exhibitor believes in hiring his screen to one advertiser in each trade, consequently, if the slide has been prepared specially for your trade, there is no fear of overlapping. What I mean is this: There are slides on the market which, by filling in the name, address and business, can be made applicable for several trades. Here is one example: “You’ll Treat Your Pocketbook Right if You Do Your Shopping at ----.”

It would be rather embarrassing, for instance, if several other traders employed the self-same slide. The best stock slides are those that can not be adapted by any other trade, and there are plenty of this kind to be had. Now, on the other hand, there may be occasions when a special slide is a necessity. Maybe there are some exclusive features about your business, to boost which slides of a general character would be out of place.

The only chance a person would have of discovering that your stock slide is used by a competitor would be if he happened to be a patron of more than one motion-picture theater. Here, again, you would gain a brilliant victory. The fan, not being in the know, and having seen your announcement first, would proclaim you as the originator. And his respect for you would naturally have a tendency to increase.

So if you notice a fellow-trader using a stock slide which takes your fancy, don’t go and do likewise. Select something different. Thus, you see, you can make your slide advertisements distinctive without incurring any additional expense.

XXXII.

THE PERSONAL ELEMENT IN SLIDE ADVERTISING

The versatility of the stock slide ends just where it is essential to present the intimate appeal which counts for so much.

What is that elusive something, the personal touch? To my mind, it is by introducing yourself to your prospects. Now, stock slides can and do emphasize the reasons why folks should patronize your store, but as I take it for granted that you desire to further convince them, you have got to “shake hands,” in a figurative sense.