Bis Christmas Plywood Promotion

Horv about those Christmas club savings funds and all that loose change in buyers' pockets this holiday season ? That's the kind of money rvhich usually flows right by a building materials store rvithout a second look.

But it cloesn't have to be that way.

\\rith this in mind, \\rest Coast fir plyrvood manufacturers have come out u,ith a bang-up Christmas promotion and merchandising campaign u'hich means dealers for the first time can count on getting a big chunk of those Christmas dollars into their cash registers.

Everything You Need

The campaign has everything you need to make your place of business the town's headcluarters for "do-it-yourself" Cl.rristmas ideas, projects and materials. There's a series of nine new plans fresh out of the designer's stocking for plyrvood gift items, Christmas displays and sl-rop projects; a nerv counter stand for plans, windo'lv banners, ceiling streamers, ad mats, radio commercials; and, behind it all, a big national advertising campaign in top home and craft magazines. The r,l'hole thing is geared to develoll netv over-the-counter plyu'ood business for lumber dealers of the kind that has usually passed thern up this time of year.

I-ike other recent plyrvood promotions, this one is geared to the plans. Douglas Fir Plyr,vood Association says this time, thev are rvrapped up in one big folder that shou's nine projects including something for every member of the family.

' Space Theme Hot

Inspired by the backyard playground set's burning interest in outer space, there's a space raider set r''l'itl-r a lO-foot rocket club house that ought to fire the imagination of the u.hole block. For younger kids, there's a miniature arsenal of space \yeapons including a rocket rifle, sound gun and space pistol. Even the little tots can get into tl-re act t'ith a flying saucer rocker car.

For plavrooms and nurseries, there's a plan for a good looking, practical painting and drawing desk scaled to fit the grade-school group and a modern doll house.

For those families rvho display their Christmas spirit on the front larvn-and make no mistake, there are plenty of them-the series in'cludes two patterns. One is for a jumbo Santa Claus display and the other for a group of life-size plyu'ood choir boys and angels.

New Type Ads

To u'het your customer's appetite for these and other plans, the plyrvood manufacturers will use national magazines fclr an imaginative form of "shorv-horv" advertising brand neu' to the building materials field. In this form of advertising, the ads carry the actual plans.

The idea is not untried. Food manufacturers, the hottest merchanclisers in the country, have long used "show-how" recipes to sell snch unromantic staples as beans and flour. In this deal, the ads use a series of glamorous "how-to-doit" projects to sell your fir plywood inventory.

In Better lfomes and Gardens, for example, plan details rvill be sholvn in trvo back-to-back color pages. In Popular I\Iechanics and Popular Science, they rvill be carried in similar double pages in color..

The manufacturers rvill offer dealers everything they need to follorv through in their local market on this big national start.. This includes one big plan sheet that folds dolvn into a shirt-pocketfolder you can display in a practical. handy plan dispenser on your u,all or counter. The plan shcet yon carrv shou,s all the projects in greater detail than the ads.

How To Use Material

Streamers and banners that hang from the ceiling or brighten a windou' will help build impulse sales of plyrvood for these projects. To add home-town impact to the campaign, there u'ill be tightly u,ritten, hard-selling ad mats and radio commercials vorl can tailor to your own local ad policies.

Here is a check list suggested by the plyu'ood association of things you can do to capitalize on the promotion:

1. Nfake and sell pre-cut blanks for the larvn displays and knock-dou'n kits for the toys, gift items ancl furniture. If vou like this one, be sure to u'rite the association about your plans. They u'ill help vou rvith special ad mats and publicity. The knock-dol'n kit idea should be a natural. The most frequently asked question at plyu'ood exhibits at the big "do-it-vourself" shorvs in Neu, York and Los Angeles this year n'as "u'here can I get the parts for this project pre-cut ?"

2. Builcl and paint one of each project for display. You can hang the smaller items from your show-room ceilings or in the u'indo'u'.

3. Use the special u'indou, streamers and posters all aroun<l \'our store to make customers conscious of 1'ou as tl.re ex1>ert on Christmas gift and project ideas for the homes.

4. If it's practical from your standpoint. make up a lot of one small item. such as the ray pistol, and offer it as a premium *'ith materials for one of the bigger projects.

5. Use local newspaper and radio advertising to let people, knorv you have Christmas plans. In using ad mats, don't be afraid to cut them up so you can have a special ad tailored to your ou'n set-up. The main thing is to let people knorv the plans are available in your yard.

6. Make special mailings about the plans to your own 'customers. A contractor u'ith a family of youngsters will be just as interested in the possibilities of a lawn display or space-raider set as he rn,as last spring in a "deal" on materials for the homes he was building.

7. Put these plans in the hands of wood-working instructors in your local schools and tack notices on the bulletin boards there about the plans, providing the school says "yes." But rvatch it on this one-some rvill be perfectly agreeable, but others may feel it's too commercial.

So much for the promotion. Now for the plans. They're designed to sell standard and stock small sized panels of fir plyu'ood. The plans are easy to follow and the projects are simple to build. Here's a run-down on each one:

Doll House

This is a dandy for the girls, they'll fall in love with it. And so will Nf om and- Dad. The house is a modern, onestory design rvith carport and five rooms. You build it on a 2x4-foot city lot rvith hinged roof so the youngster can get at the rooms. The project is simple to make and you'll sell trvo regnlar 2x4-loot 1/a" handy panels to every father u'ho rvants one.

Angel and Choir Boy Display

These items are strictly for the front larvn. Each angel or choir boy comes from a 2x4-Ioot exterior fir plywood handy panel. The parts and patterns are simple and every family that likes tl-rese front yard Christmas displays is a prime prospect. One of each makes a charming display but you'll find plenty of people who'd rather have more.

Santa Claus DisPlay

This is another Christmas lawn display piece that will stand alone or fit with other elements. It's a symbolic figure of Old Nick that cuts out of a full-sized 4xS-foot panel. The pattern tells you just how to paint it.

Rocket Club-House

Sell a custonler on this one, and he'll walk out with four standard panels of %" exterior fir plywood. Designed as a gathering place for the youthful space gangs in most neighborhoods, it should appeal to every kid who likes a get-together spot for his friends. ft's a four-sided plywood pyramid simply framed rvith 2x2's mounted on four colorful fins at the corners.. The plan shows an imaginative painting scheme that implies non-stop tours to the moon.

Space Raider Set

This includes a rocket rifle, sound gun and space pistol. Every kid who sees it says "I want one." The patterns are simple but imaginative, and Dad can make a set of three in an afternoon. It's an air-cooled collection of 1990 playthings that your customers can make from /4" and f" handy panels.

Flying Saucer Rocker Car

This little baby cuts out of a standard size fi" panel and it's a dandy for kids from two to five years old. The project consists of a rocker seat for one or turo youngsters centered in a plywood disk that suggests a flying saucer. It's one of the easiest items to make in the series.

T.V. Snack Set

This one is for Mother. And it ought to be a cinch for any teen-ager to build as his own inexpensive gift to Mom and Dad. It's a simple demountable table with only three parts that can be cut from one 2x4-foot panel oI '/+" or 34" fir plywood. The family will use it while watching TV for refreshments or odds and ends. When the program is over, you can put it away with the card table.

Child's Painting and Drawing Desk

This orie capitalizes on every kid's heartfelt desire for his own furniture. And Mom will go for it because it will keep tablets, coloring books and paints off the floor and out of corners when not in use. The desk stands two feet high and has a folding top that conceals a storage space for

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