It is typically American to shirk telling openly anything that displeases, so that offended patron says nothing and is never seen inside the theater again. This rebounds on you, for these offended folks become your mortal enemy and lay the blame on the ads. themselves.
Even at those halls that follow the commendable methods outlined, spectators often see the entire performance through without witnessing all the slides. The mistake made by the exhibitor in this case is to project one of his own slides first to tell what the next photoplay will be. This serves to reveal to patrons that they have seen the reels over once, so they rise and leave the show right then. Instead, why not tell your exhibitor to hold back this condemning slide until the last, in order to have the audience sit out the others? Besides, the one advantage of this form of advertising is that there is no competition in commanding attention simultaneously. Each slide is projected separately, and it is advisable, if only for the reason stated, to run only a few at a time instead of the whole bunch.
As the provider of this extra revenue for the movie showman, it is up to you to see adequate treatment for your investment.
XXXVIII.
THE IDEAL SLIDE FOLLOW-UP MEDIUM
To obtain the greatest possible results from slide advertising, there must be an effective follow-up scheme. You may have gotten the hunch that as you change your slide frequently it is quite sufficient.
As a matter of fact, only half of the battle is won, for the slide is not sufficiently elastic to perform everything demanded of it. At the motion-picture theater your slide is probably one of a dozen, and it is well-nigh impossible for a spectator to retain a vivid recollection of them all. You have got to remind him, and, incidentally, present the direct appeal. That means your advertisement being presented in a permanent form. It may occur to you at first to use the columns of the best local newspaper, and, while this has its good points, it falls short of the type of follow-up medium needed for slide publicity.
A newspaper, as a rule, covers the town like a blanket, but the neighborhood photoplay theater draws the majority of its patrons from the surrounding blocks. So, if you wish to obtain 100 per cent. value from your investment, it is up to you to employ the house organ gotten out by the exhibitor. This publication gets into the hands of all patrons of the theater regularly every week, and the fans study it from cover to cover when they reach home.
The grave mistake some dealers make at this stage is to forsake the slide for the house organ. It may be an economical plan on the surface, but, believe me, it is penny wise and pound foolish in the long run.
The slide serves to get acquainted with your prospects, who can not possibly ignore it in the darkened hall, so you secure their attention, while the printed page might escape their notice.
I have frequently remarked upon the attractiveness of the stock slide, and this time I am going to contrast it with the stereotyped business card.