Advertising by Motion Pictures

Part 1

Advertising by Motion Pictures

BY ERNEST A. DENCH

Author of “Playwriting for the Cinema,” “Making the Monies,” Former Vice-president Photoplay Authors’ League, and Editor of the Late “Photoplay Writer”

CINCINNATI THE STANDARD PUBLISHING COMPANY

Copyright, 1916

The Standard Publishing Company

CONTENTS

PAGE

I Telling Your Advertising Story by Motion Pictures 11

II Movie Advertising from the Viewpoint of a Fan 18

III The Dollars and Cents of Advertising by Motion Pictures 23

IV Some Film Advertising Methods for the Manufacturer 30

V Slide and Film Advertising Contrasted 33

VI Using the Film to Secure Foreign Business 41

VII Approaching the Working Classes with a Motion-picture Play 46

VIII Reaching the Public by Motion Pictures 52

IX Introducing Advertising into Motion-picture Newspapers 59

X Employing Motion Pictures to Appeal to the Children 64

XI Salesmanship Demonstrations by the Film 71

XII Equipping a Private Motion-picture Theater for Business Purposes 74

XIII Introducing Competitions in Ad. Motion Pictures 79

XIV Bringing Out the Individuality of Dry Goods by Motion Pictures 85

XV Boosting Cities and Pleasure Resorts by Motion Pictures 92

XVI Advertising Railroads by the Movies 98

XVII Getting Over the Pureness of Your Food Products by the Film 105

XVIII Selling Automobiles and Accessories by Motion Pictures 113

XIX Clinching Agricultural Machinery Sales by Motion Pictures 120

XX How Publishers Can Capture Business from the Ever-encroaching Film Producer 126

Part 2

XXI Advertising Your Newspaper with a Motion Picture 131

XXII Selling Shoes by Motion Pictures 136

XXIII Film Advertising from the Photoplayer’s Viewpoint 140

XXIV Advertising Film Circulation 146

XXV Covering the Motion-picture Field by Magazines 152

XXVI Future Developments of Advertising by Motion Pictures 156

XXVII Boosting Your Trade with a Popular Player 163

XXVIII Boosting Your Business with an Advertising Motion Picture 169

XXIX Pulling Movie-slide Advertising Out of the Rut 173

XXX Maintaining the Interest in Slide Advertising 178

XXXI Individuality in Slide Advertising 183

XXXII The Personal Element in Slide Advertising 188

XXXIII Are Your Slides Truthful? 191

XXXIV Obtaining the Best Results From Slide Advertising 194

XXXV Selecting the Theater for Your Ad. Slide 199

XXXVI Handling the Anti-ad. Slide Exhibitor 203

XXXVII Having Your Movie Ad. Slides Shown to the Best Advantage 207

XXXVIII The Ideal Slide Follow-up Medium 211

XXXIX Attracting Farmers to Town 215

XL Capitalizing Popular Screen Players in Slide Advertising 217

XLI Attracting Trade with Photoplay Stars 221

XLII Taking Advantage of Errors in Photoplays 226

XLIII How the Book Dealer Can Take Advantage of the Movie Adaptation Mania 230

XLIV Selling Real Estate by the Film 233

XLV Advertising Your Department Store by Motion Pictures 238

XLVI Hitching Motion Pictures to Musical Advertising 243

XLVII Developing “Have a Garden” Movement with Photoplay Theater Help 248

XLVIII Naming Soda-fountain Concoctions After Movies 252

Part 3

INTRODUCTION

I am, in the first place, one of the few journalists to specialize on Motion Pictures. This enables me to concentrate on one subject instead of running the risk of making a regular hash of everything under the sun. I would not, naturally, have chosen to follow this path were not the theme the very versatile one it is. So you can imagine that I am always on the alert for new-idea germs for articles.

While searching for these I ran up against the advertising field. I was well aware that the motion picture had broken into the publicity game with success, but a good deal of investigating convinced me that the reason this new publicity medium had failed to gain a wide following was because there was so little definite information about it obtainable.

No advertiser, I fully knew, would consider a pig in the poke proposition, so it occurred to me that here was my chance to remedy the defect. What information there was to be had on the subject was scattered between the pages of various business publications in occasional articles, which fact set me to work to write a concise handbook, embodying everything worth knowing about Motion Picture Advertising.

It will probably seem rather strange to you that an invention like the cinematograph, which has achieved widespread fame as a form of entertainment, can perform the functions of advertising, but it is none the less a fact. Wonders have not yet ceased in this every-day world, believe me.

It also is not, I am glad to say, a medium confined to any one business or profession. It is, in fact, equally adaptable to the large manufacturer as it is to the smallest dealer in any trade.

Some advertisers may view a new form of publicity in the light that it necessitates a greater outlay without accomplishing more than the old established ad mediums. This, however, is not true of the motion picture, for it possesses business-pulling properties distinctly its own. The extra expense is more than recovered by the increased trade it develops.

It is, furthermore, an advertising medium no modern business man can afford to gloss over, so this little book is entitled to his most careful consideration.

ERNEST A. DENCH.

TELLING YOUR ADVERTISING STORY BY MOTION PICTURES

In spite of the versatility of the intrepid motion picture as an advertising medium, it has its limitations. This, after all, is but natural, for all forms of publicity are supposed to be links in the chain, and not one is strong enough to take the place of the whole.

It is clearly obvious, of course, that when adopting motion-picture advertising, everything has to be visualized by means of animated photographs, so, therefore, the appeal is presented through the eye. As for the printed work, this takes a back seat.

Since everything is intended to be absorbed by the eye, a whole mass of explanatory matter tagged on to the film would rather hinder the ad. instead of adding further enlightenment as intended. And the short time a sentence remains on the screen does not allow lengthy statements to sink in. Subtitles are weak devices to help a photoplay story over stumbling-blocks, and the less and shorter they are, the better the picture will be. There are plenty of other mediums in which to display how well you can weave words, so why drag them into a place where they do not fit?

Besides, it is what the spectator sees, not reads, that leaves the lasting impression, which is the paramount point to be reached in advertising by motion pictures.

And there is another important matter to be weighed and considered. If you overload your film with titles, you will befog a good number of foreigners who have not been long enough in our country to master the English language, so that their probable patronage is lost just because the international language of the film has been abused.

There has already arisen a select few writers who have made a specialty of combining advertising with motion pictures and laying out campaigns for their clients to the best possible advantage.

Motion-picture advertising, as a direct-appeal proposition, is ineffective. You may, for instance, have to get out a catalogue in order to list the goods you make, and you may also plan to get this over on the screen by filming each article as you would if you had a still photograph taken and precede each with an insert, giving prices and other particulars of same. Apart from the fact that the film would be voted deadly dull by audiences, it would also fall flat as a business bringer. You simply can’t do without advertising literature, for the motion picture ends at getting interested, and the old stand-bys must clinch the deal at the right time.

Where the film excels is that your ad. comes on the screen without competing with any others for attention, and although the spectator may not respond easily to press advertising, he feels he has to view the picture because he can not “turn over a page,” or, in other words, there is nothing else interesting for him to turn his attention to. He will, if approached, admit that the motion picture is the most entertaining publicity channel yet. You also reach him at his leisure, and, therefore, approach him in the right mood.

Get it out of your head right now that anything in the nature of an ad. film will produce the results you strive for; believe me, the movie fan (there are twenty million of them in this country) is a most fastidious individual, for which the improvements reached in photoplays may be held responsible. You would not expect a formal business notice to do any good nowadays, would you? Then, the same holds good of film advertising.

You can’t merely state on a film that Bondin, the famous actor, derives great enjoyment out of your preparation--it’s too crude. But you can film an interview with your worthy customer and introduce some home-life scenes, not to forget his testimonial of your goods visualized. This would produce an exquisite blend of entertainment and advertising.

All in all, it is action by which you have to tell your story. You have, as a matter of fact, to regard your proposition from the angle of the man from Missouri. You can take the public behind the scenes of your works and convince them that the goods are produced under the best of conditions. The picture is likewise given an educational touch because an industry is being unfolded at the same time. Then, if you want to bring out the important selling points, you engage a writer to incorporate them into a comedy or dramatic photoplay. And so I could go on giving examples of introducing life into the ad. story. Action is the life and soul of the film industry.

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