The manufacturers of an English beef-tea preparation called “Oxo” sent an operator to their ranch in the Argentine. He filmed a reel of entertaining stuff which was put out under the title of “Life on the Oxo Cattle Farms.” The firm was also wise in only mentioning the name of their product once.
In this instance movie exhibitors could hire the film free, and the advertisement in the trade papers had not been a day old before two hundred bookings resulted. What made the offer so attractive was to insert free advertising in the local newspapers announcing where the film could be seen. Dealers, too, were put in a good frame of mind, for at the bottom of the ad. appeared the names of those stocking Oxo locally. Exhibitors were also invited to write to the local schools and get the pupils to attend a special matinee as their guests, for an appeal to the children is worth something.
Motion-picture audiences go to see interesting stories, and it stands to reason, therefore, that they would better appreciate your ad. got over in this way than by any other method.
The plot written around the Hecker Mills introduces us to the harvesting of the grain, and in the mills the various processes come in for due attention. Additional interest is imparted to “The Chef’s Redemption”—for that is its alluring title—by showing how useful the Hecker flour is in making various kinds of bread popular in foreign countries. The ideal conditions prevailing in the plant carried conviction.
There now exist several firms who specialize in motion-picture publicity, so the advertiser need have no fear of inexperience holding him back. The old adage, “Do it now,” applies in this case.
XVIII.
SELLING AUTOMOBILES AND ACCESSORIES BY MOTION PICTURES
It is not every day that a new and reliable advertising medium is unearthed, and it was decidedly a good day’s work when the selling powers of motion-picture publicity became known.
You appeal to the public at their leisure and there is no competition to fear, as exhibitors will not show more than one ad. film on a single program. You also enjoy a monopoly of the audience’s attention, for folks can only see one thing at a time in the darkened hall. The photoplay used to attract the poorer classes, but now the theaters have divided up into grades, and the well-to-do and middle classes are quite as enthusiastic patrons.
The manufacturer of automobiles and accessories can take up motion-picture advertising with every confidence that it is going to prove a good business producer. Naturally the latter depends on the efficiency of the campaign, for, like in everything else, system has to be applied.
It saves the trouble and expense of having to give numerous tests in order to prove your claims, and as the film records them once and for all, you are avoided any annoying hitches in demonstrations. The ideal film for advertising is that which carries the vague definition of industrial. The Reo Motor Car Company had such a one taken, and made it serve three useful purposes instead of one. The picture depicted conditions in their plant and how the autos were manufactured. In the office building they possess a private motion-picture theater in which the film is regularly exhibited to the employees, especially the salesmen, to keep them efficient. The result is that they are able to discourse with the completest knowledge of the goods they have to sell and enable them to land a sale easier. The film also comes in handy for sales demonstration purposes, while, with alterations, it is made suitable for showing before the general public to rope in prospective auto enthusiasts.