T EVIS i - AmericanRadioHistory.Com

SPINTI
REG. U. S. PAT. OFFICE
156
120
STYLES
and
SIZES
THE
ORIGINAL
WRENCH
WITH THE
SCREWDRIVER
ACTION r
Or
ASSEMBLY WORK
REPAIR WORK
RADIO
TELEVISION
INDUSTRIAL
AIRCRAFT
STEVENS WALDEN, Inc.
WORCESTER 4, MASS.
mailing company will charge you
probably fifty cents per hundred to
address and mail five thousand cards
per month.
For only one -hundred-and-fifty dollars
per month a personal message
from you will be put into the hands
of five thousand service prospects
every month. These interest -impelling
messages, written by experts and illustrated
by artists who know how
to capture reader attention, will keep
those five thousand service prospects
familiar with your business. They will
know whom to call when a radio or
television set needs service.
In a recent house -to-house canvass
on home electronic equipment, interviewers
found that 80 out of the 100
TV set owners did not know what
service company they would call when
their TV set needed service. Seventeen
of them said they would call the
dealer from whom they bought the
set -and mentioned the dealer by
name. Only three out of one hundred
mentioned the names of independent
service businesses as the people
they would call for TV service!
The lack of consistent sales promotional
activity on the part of established
independent service businesses
leaves a fertile field for amateur
and fringe service technicians. If
the independent service industry
wants to benefit from the excellent
advertising programs to upgrade set
owner thinking about service now being
conducted by G -E and other manufacturers,
reliable independent service
shops must identify themselves
with these programs. There is no better
way to establish blanket contact
with consumers than through planned,
consistent direct -mail advertising.
Direct Mail Campaigns
With the addressing facilities that
are available in most cities, postcard
sales promotional programs are ideal
for an independent service shop. The
average TV set user owns at least
three AM radios and a record player,
all of which will require service at
some time or another.
A direct -mail campaign permits the
service operator to focus his promotion
on the area that he prefers to
cover. It provides blanket coverage
of that area. As TV sets age and
require more service, a service operator
with an average of twenty customers
per city block in his vicinity
can operate more economically than
one who averages one regular customer
per block throughout the city.
Concentrated promotion in a select
area within economical operating distance
of a service shop can be accomplished
through direct -mail promotion.
G -E Receives FRSAP Award
In January the Federation of Radio
Servicemen's Associations of Pennsylvania
met in Harrisburg, Pa., with
more than 65 delegates representing
twenty technician and service dealer
associations from surrounding states,
to honor the General Electric Corn-
pony at a presentation luncheon.
The annual FRSAP award was bestowed
upon the General Electric
Company "for their initiative in providing
a public relations program on
behalf of the independent television
technician."
The award was accepted by John
T. Thompson, sales manager of the
G -E Replacement Tube Department,
on behalf of the General Electric Com-
pany. In his acceptance speech Mr.
Thompson detailed the results of the
G -E 1952 public relations program for
the independent TV service technician
and presented an outline of the cam-
paign planned for this year. He
pointed out that the 1953 program will
help the entire servicing industry
both in creating a better and healthier
public opinion of radio -television service
and in helping service operators to
merchandise the commodity they have
to sell- service.
Gordon E. Burns, field sales manager
for the G -E Replacement Tube Department,
speaking for J. M. Lang,
general manager of G -E Tube Department,
presented an optimistic outline
of the tremendous future of electronic
servicing stemming from the industry's
rapid expansion with u.h.f. in
the immediate future followed by
color television and the expansion of
the art made possible by transistors.
Mr. Burns pointedly stressed the great
need for continued study on the part
of all TV technicians and stated that
the industry should provide suitable
training programs to help keep technicians
abreast of technological developments.
Bert Bregenzer, head delegate of
the Pittsburgh Radio Servicemen's Association
in FRSAP, made the presentation
of the Federation's award.
Phono Industry Plans
The Record Industry Association of
America and the Phonograph Manufacturers
Association have teamed up
with the RTMA to form a joint committee
to develop a program to revitalize
public interest in recorded music
and playback equipment for home use.
During a frank discussion by members
of the joint industry group at
their first meeting, it was brought
out that the program should encompass
a "mutual assistance pact" by
the various industries represented
with the aim of increasing sales of
records and recording apparatus, inc
l u d in g radio -television-phonograph
combination sets. In this connection,
it was revealed that approximately
twice the number of set manufacturers
will include phonograph combinations
in their lines in 1953 as the
number who offered this type of
equipment in 1952.
At the next meeting, the joint industry
group plans to discuss methods of
cooperation in a proposed test campaign
of RIAA to increase sales of
record players and records in a spe-
cific city this fall. RIAA is tentatively
planning to promote this campaign
in Buffalo, N. Y., during a
three -week period in September.
RADIO & TELEVISION NEWS