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.