Part 8

If in view of what has gone before, you are still skeptical that an amusement can not be mixed with publicity, I have only to cite the method adopted by a trader in Los Angeles. He gave over his window display to photographs of famous film players and arranged them in an artistic manner. His window happened to face the sidewalk, and the pictures created so much attention that the sidewalk was congested. Two policemen, to cope with the situation, had to have the crowd line up and only allow each spectator three minutes in which to view the photographs. All day long the line extended over a block, the windows arousing the same amount of interest during the subsequent days of the exhibition.

It might hardly be a sound business policy to display only photographs in your store window to the total exclusion of your ordinary wares, for the underlying idea to get passers-by to view the goods set out in the window and act as a sort of temptation to buy. I would therefore propose that the photographs be mounted on boards at the back of your window, so as to allow the window to be dressed in the ordinary way. This should achieve the desired object satisfactorily.

You will find, on approaching the motion-picture producing companies, that they will only be too willing to give or loan you photographs of their stock players. The local exhibitor will supply their addresses.

Another dandy plan, if you are in the custom of offering premiums, is to present each person making a purchase of a certain small amount with a post-card of a popular screen player. You can purchase these for $3 per thousand and have the selection you prefer, for you will naturally require more of Mary Pickford and Charles Chaplin than players of lesser renown.

I am not acquainted with any instances where retailers have adopted the preceding plan, but if same can bring full houses on dull nights to motion-picture theaters that distribute such pictures to spectators, then it is a positive thing that it will help along your slack days.

Popularity contests are all in the fashion to-day, and it is possible for every town to arouse the patriotism of the fans by permitting them to vote for their favorite player, presenting, perhaps, the one heading the poll with a suitable souvenir on behalf of the town. This stunt, of course, must be worked in co-operation with the near-by motion-picture theater.

It can be arranged that each patron on entering receives a voting blank, which he is to fill up and return to the girl in the pay-box. The exhibitor should announce on a slide that the standing of the contestants will be announced each day in the window of your store.

You will secure, for practically no expense at all, plenty of publicity, resulting in increased business.

XLII.

TAKING ADVANTAGE OF ERRORS IN PHOTOPLAYS

Every now and then a motion-picture producer comes a cropper. With the speeded-up production methods at present prevailing, he can seldom give adequate attention to the little things that count. It matters little whether the play is historical or modern--it is almost certain to contain at least one error of some kind. Now, photoplay fans pride themselves upon their smartness in detecting these silly slips, and therefore an added stimulant would please them greatly.

In addition to your ordinary slide at the local movie theater, why not have same preceded with one worded somewhat as follows:

“If You Find a Mistake Pertaining to the Dry-goods Business in a Photoplay Screened at This Theater, We Will Present You with 25 Cents’ Worth of Goods Free”?

The first thing is to determine as to what constitutes an error. In one photoplay a daughter ran away from home and returned to the family fold five years later with the same dress on her back.

Almost as bad was another picture in which the chief character, an old gardener, began his day’s work with an old overall. At the end of the day he blossomed forth in a new garment.

Mistakes are quite as prevalent in Western dramas. Imagine, then, as I did, seeing an Indian girl wearing silk hosiery.

There are much worse mistakes in historical films. You will remember that “Jane Eyre,” Charlotte Bronte’s famous novel, was set in the early part of the nineteenth century, but the heroine in the photoplay version was up to the minute in fashions.

It is quite likely that more than one spectator will detect the same error, in which case it will prove too costly a stunt, so it is advisable to limit same to the first four persons who report the error. As the average motion-picture theater changes its program daily, it will be hard to verify the mistakes, which may not prove to be such. To guard yourself against the unscrupulous, it is well for you or somebody you can trust to see each program. Failing this, stipulate that spectators report the error to the exhibitor immediately after seeing the picture.

This stunt, besides drawing additional attention to your regular slide, should result in permanent customers. Moreover, those folk who delve beneath the surface will realize that were not your goods satisfactory you would, instead, offer a quarter in cash. Do not neglect to have the names and addresses of the winners, together with particulars of their errors, screened, for it will assuredly prove an incentive to the unlucky ones.

XLIII.

HOW THE BOOK DEALER CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE MOVIE ADAPTATION MANIA

The saloon-keeper may attribute decreased business to the versatile motion picture, but to the average book dealer the industry can be most beneficial.

It is what might be called the adaptation mania from which both publishers and book dealers have profited. To prove this, you have only to take into account “Les Miserables,” which, when released at the picture theaters, created an enormous sale of cheap reprints of the popular book.

This has been followed up by many other adaptations from novels and stage plays, and in every case it has meant extra trade for the book dealer who has been keen enough to make good use of the opportunities thus presented. Many movie fans, after seeing the photoplay version of a popular book, and finding it to their liking, have a desire for reading the story. Instead of borrowing the book from the local library, they prefer to spend up to a quarter on a cheap edition--and this is precisely where the book trade comes in.

Hardly a week goes by without some popular book or play has been produced in motion-picture form.

There are apparently few book dealers who have given this new field of business activity the close attention it demands. Some have been content to wait until the demand came--a most short-sighted policy that meant customers going elsewhere--whilst others have sat down and let the exhibitor reap the harvest.

I think it worth while for every book dealer to make a friend of the local motion-picture showman. The benefit would be mutual. The exhibitor could inform the book dealer well in advance whether he had any adaptations booked, so that the book dealer could lay in a stock to meet the demand. He could also announce outside his store that the picture was being shown at the theater in question, whilst all could obtain the book of the film from him.

The exhibitor would reciprocate the publicity thus given by announcing that the book was obtainable of the book dealer, or by allowing the latter to distribute circulars to the audience.

These are but suggestions. Other possible schemes may be devised by the wide-awake book dealer. It is, however, well to know that here is a source of revenue to be tapped.

XLIV.

SELLING REAL ESTATE BY THE FILM

The real-estate agent operating from a distance in selling vacant lots and houses is placed at a considerable disadvantage.

When a prospective purchaser comes along the chances are in nine cases out of ten that he has been so misled by some other members of the fraternity that all the arguments in the world will not convince him that a certain piece of property on your books is just the very thing he is seeking.

When you invite him to pay an inspection, he will probably say: “I’m not going on a wild-goose chase, so I want some tangible evidence that it is likely to suit me.”

The unfortunate thing about it is that the innocent have to pay for the sins of the guilty, and the only effective way you can convince such an individual is by a motion picture.

Then, on the other hand, there is the client whose time is limited and may not be able to make the trip on chance.

The motion picture is next to the actual thing, for it shows everything as in real life without any tendency to exaggerate or allow false claims to enter. It can not be thought, however, that the deal can be clinched without the personal visit. The film serves to pave the way for this.

This is not mere theory conjured up from the vision of an armchair. The credit for putting the plan into actual operation is due to Western enterprise. I refer to the Newell Murdoch Company, who own the San Francisco suburb of Forest Hill.

Bearing the title of “A Drive Through Forest Hill,” the film opened by showing the grand stairway at the main entrance, with the tract office in the offing. Then came a number of panoramic views, introducing the spectator to the serpentine turnpikes, streets and avenues. Finished houses were revealed, as well as those in a partial stage of construction. A tract salesman is also shown meeting automobile parties of prospective purchasers. This film was presented for public exhibition in the ordinary way at twenty of the downtown theaters, where it created much interest and ultimately produced some more buyers.

It might also be well to show the interiors, for the inside of a house is even more important than its exterior aspects. This was formerly impossible, owing to the adverse photographic conditions and the difficulty and expense in installing adequate artificial lighting equipment. Lately, however, an invention has rendered it both possible and practicable.

Additional interest would be lent to the motion picture by introducing residents in typical poses, recreations, and so forth. This would enable the prospective resident to gain some idea of what his neighbors would be like. Another convincing touch would be added if the transportation facilities could be introduced.

Romance figures in practically every photoplay. Of all the themes, domestic troubles form the most prolific one for the scenario writer. It stands to reason, therefore, that motion-picture audiences would better appreciate a comedy. There is abundant material for introducing the advertising element, such as a newly married couple who finds paradise on your estate, or a family who experiences a great difficulty in securing the right house, and yours measures up highly to their exacting wants. These are but suggestions to indicate just what lines you should pursue. A story can be easily woven around your estate, introducing characteristic scenes in a perfectly natural manner.

The local theaters will be more than glad to have your film, if it conforms to the usual run of photoplay stories, and you may get them to show it for nothing instead of for a fee.

Maybe you would not care to go to the expense and trouble of fitting up a room in your office as a private theater and installing special motion-picture apparatus, so would suggest that you make arrangements beforehand with the nearest movie exhibitor for the hire of his hall and operator when not engaged. You can then show your dubious prospect at any time convenient to him.

XLV.

ADVERTISING YOUR DEPARTMENT STORE BY MOTION PICTURES

Department stores, whether large or small, in search of new ways and means of attracting the public in face of competition, will find in the versatile motion picture a publicity medium which fully comes up to their requirements. Having the novelty element, it is bound to create unusual attention, resulting ultimately in increased business.

The idea, however, is not new to England, for the well-known London department store of Selfridge’s, owned by the American of that name, had a one-reel film produced some time ago. This showed how customers and staff are treated by the firm, dealing with accidents and illness, and keeping the employees fit by physical-culture drills on the roof garden.

The picture, besides capturing the fancy of the public at a cinematograph exposition held in London, was also put on at the principal theaters throughout London and suburbs.

To acquaint the public with how their welfare is studied and that of the employees is just the very thing to form the basis of a successful film. It is, on the other hand, hardly practicable to extend the advertising to specific bargain offers, such as you often set forth in newspaper announcements. The boiled-down stories of every-day life, which are so frequently seen on the movie screen and are so popular with the majority of picture-play-goers, offer their counterpart in the advertising field, so department stores would be wise to follow the fashion.

Such a photoplay would stir more interest than an ordinary industrial, and it is safe to say that your points would get home better. Audiences would be delighted in recognizing it as a home product, set amid familiar scenes in the neighborhood. It might also be advisable to introduce well-known local players in the cast.

There is abundant scope for a trained scenario writer to block out an interesting story. You can have, for instance, Mrs. Brown, all tired out and discontented after a tour of all the shops except yours. She happens to meet Mrs. Smith, her friend, on her way home. Mrs. Smith is the picture of content, through trading at your store, and, after sympathizing with Mrs. Brown, invites her to try your store. She takes the tip and is too pleased for words.

This is just a rough outline so as to give you an idea of what can be done.

You could also have the story written up in fiction form and insert it in the columns of the newspaper you favor, announcing at the bottom where and when the film version is being presented. The exhibitors of the theaters in question will be more inclined to entertain your proposition and accept a smaller fee if they know they are going to obtain some additional advertising.

As much discretion in selecting motion-picture theaters must be used as if you were selecting reliable press mediums. You will find that the downtown theaters attract the workers of both sexes in the lunch hours, and in the afternoons the audiences, for the most part, comprise ladies seeking relaxation after shopping tours.

But out in the suburbs and residential districts business men and their wives go to the shows in the evening after supper to drive away the worries and irritations of the day.

If yours is a high-class store, it naturally will not do to have your film shown at a nickeldrome attracting the poorest of the working classes. I would especially advise you, before putting your motion picture into circulation, to make a tour of the photoplay theaters in your territory. It is not enough to judge by the outside appearance--mingle with the audience--and size each one up from the point of view of your proposition.

XLVI.

HITCHING MOTION PICTURES TO MUSICAL ADVERTISING

The versatility of the motion picture is not confined to the varied entertainment offered. Both the films and theaters can be linked together and be converted into business producers for the musical trade.

Should I be accused of presenting mere theories, then I would respectfully call your attention to the fact that what I am about to suggest is based upon actual successful cases of the movies being employed as an advertising medium.

Some time back the Edison Company started to issue musical selections for motion-picture orchestras, so that their photoplays could be played to as appropriately as possible. When one realizes that the majority of the shows change their program every day, it can be seen that there does not exist much time beforehand to prepare suitable musical pieces. It may scarcely be needed to add that the exhibitors appreciate this co-operation on the part of the film producer.

This example has since been followed by the Universal Film Company. They devote almost a whole page in their house organ to the correct music to accompany their motion pictures with.

The field is a good one for plucking, for there are twenty thousand motion-picture theaters from Maine to California, and the average show puts on six fresh reels every day. The average number of selections for each reel is three, brought about by the quick-changing situations presented.

The method of one song publisher by which to popularize his wares to the folks in front is to arrange with a number of neighborhood theaters to take on a singing act between the reels. The singer has the assistance of the band, and the audience is encouraged to join in the swinging chorus by a slide thrown upon the screen containing the words. At the top of this is a notice stating that the So and So Company publishes no bad songs.

To hark back, on the musical page of one of the house organs is a notice to the effect that if the orchestra leaders do not happen to possess the music, they can obtain it from certain concerns in New York, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia.

I am quite in the dark as to the actual inside arrangements which have been come to, but I presume that this is a sort of co-operative plan, whereby, in return for reviewing the company’s productions from the musical point of view, this publicity is provided in return.

Inasmuch as only two of the thirty or more motion-picture producers are helping the exhibitor in this manner, it would seem that there exists a particularly good opportunity to endeavor to coax the others to follow suit.

Movie fans are mostly home-loving folks, and are at all times on the warpath for new songs to play at home. This is proved by the fact that it is nothing unusual for an exhibitor to receive an inquiry from a patron asking for particulars of a certain piece of music that has taken his or her fancy.

Some songs lend themselves particularly well to motion-picture production, and such popular ones as “It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary” and “Home, Sweet Home,” have already been filmed, thus further helping to popularize them. The ideal song as a photoplay is one which offers abundant scope for action and is also true to life. Most film versions thus far have been prepared after the song has achieved considerable fame. If, however, the publisher is to reap the full benefit, the movie picturization should be released simultaneously with the publication of the song.

XLVII.

DEVELOPING “HAVE A GARDEN” MOVEMENT WITH PHOTOPLAY THEATER HELP

The spring and summer are the busy seasons for the nurseryman and florist, for the thoughts of the city folk fly in the direction of the open air. The garden being the first haven of refuge, the garden “outfitter,” if I may be permitted to coin a term, benefits financially.

The neighborhood theater is best suited to your purpose, as the majority of the patrons are located in residential sections. You approach them in the right mood, for one of the charms of the motion picture, as you are doubtless aware, is the natural backgrounds. Although a fair sprinkling of the stories are set in the city, there are a goodly number located in rural communities, consequently spectators see lovely gardens, farms, ranches, to say nothing of the handiwork of nature represented by the prairies and forests. All this makes the city dweller feel as though he would like to get away from his artificial surroundings, so he unconsciously thinks about converting his back and front lots into gardens and have his window-sills filled with plants.

He may have just gotten to that wavering point where it needs an incentive to stir him to action, for he is apt to forget his cherished hopes when plunged in business on the following day.

It is customary, at some motion-picture theaters, to present premiums on a certain night each week. Each patron on entering is given a numbered ticket, and at an appointed hour about four numbers are drawn, the lucky ones being presented with a useful article. The exhibitor, in most instances, has neglected to enlist local co-operation and has purchased his premiums at wholesale price from headquarters. It may be because it is hardly profitable to local traders, since only four out of a possible thousand would feel kindly disposed toward them.

A friend of mine who recently returned from a tour down South informs me that he discovered a plan in his travels which has overcome this apparent difficulty. It appears that each lady paying for admission to the Columbus Theater at Mount Allen on a certain Wednesday night was presented with a ticket good for either a fifty-cent rosebush or else a plum or peach tree at the local nurseryman’s.

Each woman duly presented herself at the nursery and was permitted to select her own plant. This afforded the florist an opportunity to introduce many others of his line, and there were very few who did not spend from $1 to $10 with him.

The only criticism I have to offer is that the proposition might have been extended to the men, as there were undoubtedly married men in the audience, unaccompanied by their wives, as well as single ones who would care to take up gardening as a hobby.

The nurseryman in this case charged the exhibitor the absolute rock-bottom price for each plant, relying upon the extra permanent business secured to compensate for the sacrifice made.

XLVIII.

NAMING SODA-FOUNTAIN CONCOCTIONS AFTER MOVIES

Druggists should not be backward in availing themselves of one of the strongest forces of modern times--the motion picture. It is a poor town that does not contain a photoplay theater, and in most towns they are as plentiful as druggists--one on every few blocks.

The proportion of motion-picture goers in this country is one to every five inhabitants, and, however it may work out in your town, it is practically certain that the majority of men, women and children spend their evenings at the motion-picture show. After they have seen the performance through, they are in the right mood to pay a visit to a soda fountain. Do you make any inducements to attract their patronage? Maybe you don’t, so let me suggest how you can accomplish this.

Why not introduce a Lillian Walker sundae, an Edward Earle frappe and a Charlie Chaplin soda? The name goes a long way, but if you can make the concoction distinctive it is an added advantage. Lillian Walker, for instance, is famed far and wide for her dimples, which are not without their publicity possibilities.

Do not adhere to any one particular player for too long a period, for each fan has his or her favorite, and if you make, say, a daily change, you eventually cover them all.

Obviously, the most effective advertising medium is the motion-picture theater. If the exhibitor rents out his screen to retailers, you should arrange to have a slide shown. Failing this, an advertisement in the house organ or program should produce the desired results.

In regard to the well-known brands of photoplays, I know of a pharmacist in Beatrice, Nebraska, who invented the Triangle sundae. This comprised a mixture of vanilla and dark chocolate ice-cream, over which was placed a confection triangle, the work of a local baker. On the top of this were three cherries and three green candied plums. This stunt was pulled off in co-operation with a local photoplay exhibitor, who was as satisfied with the extra business secured as was the druggist.

Triangle is only one brand of popular photoplays with advertising possibilities. Others are Paramount, Red Feather, Blue Bird, Metro, World, Mutual, Universal, Gold Rooster, Beauty, Biograph, Kalem, Vitagraph, Edison, Essanay, Selig, Lubin and Thanhouser.