We found in the Tournament of Roses all of the community relations elements. It was also a vehicle to do an outstanding promotion job for our client. Participation in the Tournament of Roses is a signal honor, for it is by invitation. Only 10 commercially sponsored floats are allowed in the parade. It can be expensive-Minute
Benton &o Bowles, he was publicity writer and publicity director. During World War II he served with the War Savings Staff of the Treasury Department, and as a public relations officer, U.S. Marine Corps. After the war he joined Rexall Drug Company as public relations director. Burns W. Lee-Patrick O'Rourke was formed in 1949. A past national director of PRSA, he has been regional vice president and chairman of two major committees.
Maid's participation in the parade costs the company between $15,000 and $25,000 annually, an expenditure which must be justified in increased sales, as well as good will. Exploitation of the event must be carefully handled. It must be in good taste. It must be planned so that publicity is received whether or not the float is a winner in that year's parade.
The first year our client entered a float in the Rose Parade, we made a common mistake-that of too-obvious commercialism. The first Minute Maid float carried a depiction of a large pitcher of orange juice. Although the float won second prize in the commercial division, we had learned a lesson. Our next float would reflect no crass commercialism, but would be the best and most beautiful float possible. It has been our observation, as well as experience, that sponsors who merely donate a float without trying to do a good job for the Rose Parade itself, fail to achieve their purpose in participation in such community events.
This viewpoint was substantiated during the next three years, for Minute Maid floats won two Grand Prizes and a Theme Prize. Promotion and merchandising of the event was also planned with low-key commercial emphasis.
The Rose Parade is built around a general theme each year. The floats depict, by scene and title, a variation of that theme. In 1955 they were to portray "Familiar Sayings in Flowers," and Minute Maid chose "I Love You" as its entry.
Specifics of the 1955 promotion program were these:
- A nation-wide contest to select the "I Love You" Girl to ride on Minute Maid's float, conducted through retailers, and ultimately on a national network radio and television program.
- An extensive point-of-sale program to promote the contest, and Minute Maid's participation in the Tournament of Roses.
- Newspaper, magazine, and trade-journal publicity.
- Radio-television publicity,
Then Minute Maid-Snow Crop salesmen were brought into the act. Their role is a key one-that of bringing the individual grocers and retailers all over the country into the campaign, thus promoting the product as well as the event. The salesmen advised the retailers of the planned wide-scale publicity program, furnished them with point-of-sale material, and obtained their cooperation.
Retailers then made the contest their own. They used it in their advertising, in newspaper stories furnished them which were tailored for name drop-ins, and in point-of-sale material which included entry blanks for the contest.
The salesmen also had to sell them on the "Rose Parade of Values," which tied in the company's products with Minute Maid's Rose-Parade participation, and indirectly included the individual grocer in that participation. Point-of-sale material consisted of 50,000 pieces of store cards, overhead hanger banners, window cards, and a "TV Viewer's Guide" to the parade, which grocers distributed free to their customers.
In addition, retailers featured the "Rose Parade of Values" in their advertising, their sales, and their newspaper publicity. Fantastic publicity results were gained through the "I Love You" Girl contest and "Rose Parade of Values" promotion, with many newspapers featuring them on their front pages.
We supplemented these localized stories with general releases, mats, pictures, and mimeographed stories. News sources in radio and television also were supplied.
The "I Love You" Girl contest was tied in with the radio-television network Queen for a Day program. As a result, the program and the network gave the contest wide publicity. We also supplied television stations with a three-minute film, which could be used in newsrcels. Using the Minute Maid float as an example, the film showed how Rose Parade floats were built. The film was widely used.
We arranged for appearances and interviews on radio and television programs for persons connected with the Rose Parade, the float, and the contest. Program directors were most cooperative in using feature material which enhanced their programs, yet was not obviously a commercial for Minute Maid.
As the Tournament of Roses approached, the tempo was speeded up. From more than 10,000 entries, obtained through grocery stores and markets, five girls were chosen as finalists for the "I Love You Girl". This selection, and the arrival of the girls in Hollywood, was widely publicized. (Each of the girls received a week's expense-free vacation in Hollywood.)
On December 28, the "I Love You Girl" was chosen on the Queen for a Day network broadcast and telecast. During the next several days, appearances were arranged for her and for the other finalists on various radio and television programs, as well as for RCA recording artist Tony Travis, who also was to ride on Minute Maid's float. Pictures and stories of the "I Love You Girl" and the float were run in hundreds of newspapers.
When the results of all this coordinated merchandising and publicity were added together, the Minute Maid float had actually paid for itself before the parade began. Individual grocers and retailers too had profited in greater store traffic and sales.
And, most public relations projects seek more or less public notice in publicity or some other form. At least, they wouldn't mind.
The examples that follow seemed to the compiler to be well "imagineered" for sales-promoting publicity. Either that, or they coincidentally were graced with considerable hormones and vitamins of that type.
