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 possiblyignore 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.
This is a snappy slide recently used by a Brooklyn dyer and cleaner: “Don’t Get ‘Held Up’ for Inferior Cleaning and Pressing. Try Us for Expert Work at Fair Prices.” In the left-hand corner was a sketch of a New York tough pointing his revolver at a terrified meek man.
The follow-up advertisement in the theater house organ was as follows: “Suits Pressed, 25c. Sponged and Pressed, 35c. Cleaned and Sponged, 50c. Dry Cleaned, $1.00. Pants Sponged and Pressed, 10c. Also Ladies’ Work.”
It was as easy as kiss your hand to be entertaining in the first instance, because the slide was one of the stock kind.This fact, however, does not excuse the advertiser from putting some real thought behind his announcements, for, otherwise, the interest of the reader fizzles like a damp firework.