Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.ads,americast.usa-today.ads From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: ads Tue, Sep 22 1992 Date: Tue, 22 Sep 92 04:55:02 EDT Message-ID: 09-22 0000 DECISIONLINE: Advertising USA TODAY Update Sept. 22, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network ADS SELL THE PHONICS SYSTEM: Feel-good messages of dignity and success have been central to the ubiquitous radio and TV commercials for Hooked on Phonics. The system tells listeners they can read after using the phonics method of learning letter sounds to decode words. John Shanahan, the founder, says commercial testimonials from folks who've found phonics, make him feel good. It's also made people place orders. (For more, see special Phonics package below.) EXECUTONE SIGNS JOYNER-KERSEE: Executone Information Systems Inc. said Monday it has signed a contract with two-time Gold Medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Joyner-Kersee will participate in the "Breakfast of Champions" seminar series around the country which will also promote the company's telecommunications products. TRAVELAGE NETS MORE ADS: TravelAge's Silver Anniversary Issues, the magazine's special supplement, drew 58 pages of additional advertising. Despite a general turndown in magazine advertisement, the supplement attracted increased advertising, mostly from travel-related companies. The magazine has monitored the leisure and business travel industry for travel agents and professions for 25 years. DELTA UNLEASHES INSERTS: Delta Air Lines blitzed Dallas with seven-page newspaper inserts on Monday. The message: Delta is here to stay despite American Airlines' invitation - as Delta put it - to "get out of town." "They're going right for American's jugular," says John Holland, editor of The Business flier. American has 59% of the market at Dallas:Fort Worth International, it's largest hub. Delta has 30%. NYT WILL HANDLE ADVERTISING: NYT Custom Publishing, a division of The New York Times Company said Monday it has entered into an agreement with the Four Seasons Hotels to create, produce and sell advertising in the international Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts Magazine. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts Magazine is placed in every guest room throughout the chain. SEAGRAMS EXPANDS MARKETING: Seagram Europe & Africa, a division of The Seagram Spirits And Wine Group, said Monday it will start marketing, sales and distribution operations in Hungary and Czechoslovakia. A comprehensive program of consumer and trade promotions will introduce Seagram brands to consumers and enable the trade to maximize brand opportunities. TALK SHOW PREMIERES TUESDAY: A new, live talk show, Pozner:Donahue - featuring Phil Donahue and Russian journalist Vladimir Pozner - premieres Tuesday night on CNBC (10 ET, 7 PT). The show will concentrate on the week's most important events. Donahue and Pozner - who've worked together on TV several times - have 22 minutes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. NEW NETWORKS TAKE OFF: Cartoons and science fiction are the big news in cable TV this fall. The big fall liftoff: Thursday the long-awaited Sci-Fi Channel is launched in 10 million homes. And Oct. 1, the Cartoon network arrives in 10 million homes. The bulk of Sci-Fi's programs will be reruns from network TV, but Sci-Fi will start several original series on Sunday. CABLE PREMIERES NEW SHOWS: While network TV stages its new shows in the fall, cable programming strikes up year round. Nevertheless, there are quite a few new programs debuting on cable this fall. Among them: "Diamonds on the Silver Screen" on AMC - baseball and the movies, Oct. 16; "Sports Overtime" on BET - collegiate sports, Saturday; "Almost Live" on Comedy Central - sketch comedy series, Sunday. ROCK THE VOTE AIRS WEDNESDAY: Pop stars U2 and Madonna will be featured in "rock the Vote," a one-hour special airing at 9 p.m. ET:PT Wednesday on Fox. The Disposable Heroes of Hip-hoprisy, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Queen Latifah also will perform on the show. The show is designed to inspire young viewers to exercise their right to vote. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON PHONICS: ADS BLANKET PROGRAMMING: Ads for the Hooked on Phonics reading system blanket radio and TV programming. In one a woman praises Hooked on Phonics for turning her 10-year-old daughter from a non-reader to a reader at third- or fourth-grade level. She claims she and her daughter would have been lost were it not for the commercial she saw. The woman says that commercial introduced her to "a godsend." SOME DISPUTE THE SYSTEM: But it's not a message that everyone buys. Hooked on Phonics, a program aimed at illiterate adults and at parents who want their children to be better readers, has been the subject of a pitched battle the last year or more. On one side are reading experts, who have question the ad claims and the quality of the program. Founder John Shanahan says the experts are protecting their own turf. BIG BUDGET HAS WORKED: What's not in doubt is that Hooked on Phonics has been a sales hit, backed by a huge advertising budget. Starting at $100,000 in sales in 1987, the company last year did $85 million in business. There are thousands of private reading products marketed to education professionals. Hooked on Phonics is marketed directly to consumers. About 1 million kits have been sold, says Shanahan. (End of package.) Advertising Editor: Martin Baucom. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM