Advertising by Radio
A 1929 Ronald Press book by the radio editor of The New York Times, with a foreword by NBC president Merlin H. Aylesworth, written when sponsored radio was a few years old. Across 13 chapters Dunlap argues that radio is a goodwill medium, not a selling one: entertain the listener, name the sponsor two or three times a half-hour, never quote prices, and let print, window displays and dealers close the sale.
What it is
A 1929 Ronald Press book by the radio editor of The New York Times, with a foreword by NBC president Merlin H. Aylesworth, written when sponsored radio was a few years old. Across 13 chapters Dunlap argues that radio is a goodwill medium, not a selling one: entertain the listener, name the sponsor two or three times a half-hour, never quote prices, and let print, window displays and dealers close the sale. He builds the case from listener letters and named programs: Roxy's 4,000,000 letters, the Happiness Boys, the Palmolive Schoolgirls, the $67,000 Dodge Victory Six coast-to-coast hookup, the Stetson shoe band and Henry Field selling seeds on his Iowa station. He cites a Daniel Starch survey of 17,099 families on which nights people listen. Appendices list network rates, station rosters and sponsors by product.
Why read it now
The book is a snapshot of an industry deciding what an ad on a new medium may say, which is the same argument brands have today about creators and podcasts. What holds: regularity (same slot, same host) builds a listening habit; a sponsor's name worn by the show itself is remembered; broadcast should be tied to the shelf through window displays and dealer kits; and repeated name exposure builds familiarity, which fits the modern evidence on mental availability. The sponsor who admits "we are afraid to stop" states the attribution problem that still exists. What has dated: the ban on prices and direct offers was abandoned within a few years, and direct-response audio with codes and offers now works; the "three mentions per half-hour" rule is taste, not a test; audience numbers come from letters and one survey, before routine ratings. Use: when sponsoring a Gulf podcast or YouTube series, put the brand in the segment's name, keep the same slot for a season, give stores matching display material, and add a trackable code so you are not guessing.
Passages worth keeping
Radio is sales energy that reaches an unknown and unseen clientele.
الراديو قوة بيع تصل إلى جمهور لا يراه المعلن ولا يعرفه، ولذلك يصعب قياس أثره.
Radio makes new friends and holds old ones. To stop broadcasting is to stop saying hello to your old friends and adding new ones to your list.
التوقف عن الإعلان يعني أن تتوقف عن تحية عملائك القدامى وعن كسب عملاء جدد، فالحضور المستمر هو ما يحفظ العلاقة.
Well to be honest we don't know, but we have been at it now for five years, and the truth is we are afraid to stop.
راعٍ ينفق 300 ألف دولار في السنة يعترف بأنه لا يعرف ما يجنيه، لكنه يخشى التوقف، وهذه مشكلة قياس الأثر في أوضح صورها.
Direct sales promotion on the air puts thorns on radio's rose of goodwill, which broadcasters can cultivate.
يرى المؤلف أن البيع المباشر عبر الأثير يجرح الود الذي يبنيه البرنامج، فيخسر المعلن أصدقاء أكثر مما يكسب من صفقات.
If a name, trade-name, or slogan is mentioned three times during a half-hour it should be sufficient and will not be resented by listeners.
ذكر اسم العلامة ثلاث مرات في نصف الساعة يكفي في رأيه، والإكثار منه يثير ضيق المستمع بدل أن يرسخ الاسم.
What it teaches best
Read the original worldradiohistory.com
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