Weekly Spots

POSTED: August 29, 2011

(White Plains, NY) August 29, 2011 – According to Arbitron, Richmond, VA is the 55th largest radio market with a population of 957,100.

• Most recently Richmond experienced an earthquake of the magnitude of 5.8 on the Richter scale. The quake was centered in Mineral, Virginia, 37 miles northwest of Richmond. The tremor was felt more than 500 miles away and did considerable damage in the area, but took no lives.

• Richmond is where Civil War leaders Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee and J. E. B. Stuart, “heroes” of the Confederacy called home.

• After the Revolutionary War, Richmond emerged an important industrial center. It also became a crossroads of transportation and commerce, much of this tied to its role as a major hub in the transatlantic slave trade.

• At the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, the strategic location of the Tredegar Iron Works was one of the primary factors in the decision to make Richmond the Capital of the Confederacy.

• Contributing to Richmond's industrial reconstruction was the first successful electrically-powered trolley system in the United States, the Richmond Union Passenger Railway. Designed by electric power pioneer Frank J. Sprague, the trolley system opened its first line in 1888, and electric streetcar lines rapidly spread to other cities. Sprague's system used an overhead wire and trolley pole to collect current, with electric motors on the car's trucks.

• In 1929, Philip Morris, a British company, opened its first factory in Richmond. Textiles and tobacco propelled Richmond into the 20th Century.

• The Diamond, a 12,134 seat ballpark on Boulevard, is home to the Richmond Flying Squirrels of the Class AA Eastern League (an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants).

• For higher learning, Richmond area has many major institutions of higher education, including Virginia Commonwealth University (public), University of Richmond (private), Virginia Union University (private), Union Theological Seminary & Presbyterian School of Christian Education (private), and the Baptist Theological Seminary in Richmond (BTSR—private).

• Famous people from Richmond include: dancer, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson; tennis great, Arthur Ashe; former NFL star Tiki Barber and actors, George C. Scott, Warren Beatty and Sandra Bullock. From Jazz, Charlie Byrd; TV star Katie Couric; NBA star Alonzo Mourning and writer Tom Wolfe all hailed from Richmond.

RICHMOND SPOT TEN

Last week in Richmond the #1 radio advertiser was GEICO with 643 spots. MIDAS was #2, up from #12 with 499 spots, while WEST BROAD HYUNDAI was #3 running 421 ads. SCHWARZSCHILD JEWELERS was #4 airing 421 commercials and the US DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION locked into #5 with 379 announcements. WEST BROAD HONDA held #6 with 375 spots, while FORD LINCOLN MERCURY landed in #7 with 319 spots. WAL-MART came in #8 with 298 spots and the XFINITY BUNDLE jumped from #14 to #9 running 289 spots. AGELESS MALE was #10 with 287 spots.

FOOTWEAR (REGULAR & CASUAL) SPOT TEN

NATIONAL STATISTICS -

On the National Footwear scene, the SHOE CARNIVAL is #1 with 1,195 spots. Comfortably settling into #2 was NEW BALANCE with 527 spots, while IDEAL FEET walked into #3 with 449 commercials. GOOD FEET was right behind in #4 with 422 ads and RED WING SHOES flew from #10 to #5 with 162 spots. ROBERT WAYNE FOOTWEAR took #7 with 121 spots, while GEORIGIA BOOT kicked #8 with 103 spots. SHOES ON A SHOESTRING dangled at #9 with 97 spots and TOP’S SHOWS was #10 with 90 spots nationally.

NATIONAL SPOT TEN

NATIONAL STATISTICS -

GEICO maintains #1 with 41,969 spots. THE HOME DEPOT was #2 running 31,812 spots, while WAL-MART nailed #3 with 30,551 spots. The US DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORATION was #4 with 27,152 spots and MCDONALD’S was #5 airing 25,326 spots.

Posted: August 29, 2011

Bayer Healthcare develops, manufactures and markets innovative products for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases. The company thus plays an important part in improving the health of people and animals. This subgroup comprises four global divisions: Animal Health, Consumer Care, Medical Care and Pharmaceuticals.

The history of this company began on August 1, 1863 in Barmen, Germany. The founders were Friedrich Bayer and Johann Friedrich Weskott. The goal of the company was to produce and distribute man-made “dyestuffs”.

To gain financial stability, Bayer became a joint stock company known as “Farbenfabriken vorm. Friedr. Bayer & Co.” in 1881.

In 1897 Bayer Chemist, Felix Hoffmann chemically synthesized a stable form of ASA powder that relieved his father's rheumatism. The compound later became the active ingredient in aspirin named - "a" from acetyl, "spir" from the spirea plant (which yields salicin) and "in," a common suffix for medications. In 1915, Aspirin became available without a prescription.

Bayer flourished internationally with over 80% of their revenues in 1913 derived from exports.

In 1918, at the end of World War I, the U.S. assets of the German company now called Bayer AG were sold to Sterling for $5.3 million (directed under the Alien Property Custodian Act). The Bayer name stayed with Sterling for 76 years.

In 1925 Bayer relocated its assets to I.G. Farbenindustrie AG and Bayer was removed as a company from the commercial register. The Bayer cross trademark was still on pharmaceutical products sold by I.G. The Great Depression slowed down the company’s workforce during the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Near the end of World War II, American troops made it to the Leverkusen site. The Lower Rhine sites of I.G. were eventually taken over by Great Britain as it was in the area of the British occupation zone.

After World War II, I.G. was gone and a few new companies were created. In 1951 Farbenfabriken Bayer AG became a company. Bayer began expanding its company in foreign markets and within Germany. Bayer helped found Erdölchemie GmbH with help from Deutsche BP in 1957.

The early 1960s brought better sales to Bayer and a growing workforce. In 1971 Bayer Group reorganized its company into a ‘divisional corporate structure’. Bayer bought two United States laboratories during the 1970s, Cutter Laboratories in 1974 and Miles Laboratories in 1978 in order to gain ground in the U.S. pharmaceutical industry.

In 1994, Bayer bought the North American company Sterling Winthrop which let Bayer have the rights to the name “Bayer” in the U.S.

Bayer had 2010 sales of $25.5 billion and a 2010 operating profit of $2.66 billion. They employ 55,700 people worldwide according to their website.

On Cable, Bayer ran 1,516,339 spots in the last 12 months. They have been very consistent with last month, July being the biggest schedule 202,033 spots. As a matter of fact, 76.4% of all their spots on three media landed on Cable.

On Radio, they were strong a year ago, but ended up with 55,345 spots in the last 12 months. Their high point was last September with 17,603 spots.

On TV, they seem to be on the up-swing with a total of 413,897 spots in the last 12 months. The biggest month coming July 2011 with 50,032 spots aired last month.

POSTED: August 29, 2011

Pep Boys and their namesakes: Manny, Moe & Jack go all the way back to the 1920s. Four Navy friends saved up enough money to open up an auto body parts store. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Emanual “Manny” Rosenfeld, Maurice “Moe” Strauss, Moe Radavitz, and Graham “Jack” Jackson began the Pep Auto Supply Company in 1921. The name Pep Boys-Manny, Moe & Jack didn’t happen until 1923. Moe Radavitz had left the company after working there a few years. Manny’s brother, Murray, started in the company a little later and opened up two stores in Los Angeles in 1933 under a separate corporation, The Pep Boys- Manny, Moe & Jack of California. In 1946 the company went public. The Pep Boys California was not included in the public offering. During the 1960s the two separate companies of Pep Boys-Manny, Moe & Jack and Pep Boys-Manny, Moe & Jack of California became one company under the name of Pep Boys-Manny, Moe & Jack.

Manny acted as the first president of the company followed by Moe in 1960 after Manny’s death. In 1982 Moe passed away, and in 1986 Mitch Leibovitz became the corporate president and began developing a Five-Year-Plan. After its implementation, the company’s success grew.

In 1994 PartsUSA was introduced and was later renamed Pep Boys Express in 1997 to tell it apart from the Supercenters.

In 1998 the Pep Express Parts Delivery was born and was a commercial delivery program. In the 21st century, a new warehouse and distribution center was opened in San Bernardino, California.

Pep Boys reported revenues of $1.99 billion with a net income of $36.63 million. They employ 18,279 people.

AutoZone Inc. formerly known as Auto Shack opened their very first store in 1979 in Forrest City, AR. By the end of fiscal 2010, AutoZone had 4,389 stores across the United States and Puerto Rico and 238 stores are located in Mexico. AutoZone headquarters is in Memphis, TN.

In 1984, they were the first auto parts retailer to develop a quality control program for auto parts. The Auto Shack became AutoZone in 1987 and that same year they launched an electronic catalog to locate car parts. The system was called WITT-JR. Two years later they used their ‘Store Management System’ (aka SMS) to make sure they had a stocked inventory of parts for their customers.

AutoZone went public as ticker symbol AZO in 1991. Another accomplishment AutoZone made that year was their ability to register their customer’s warranties into a computer database.

In 1994 AutoZone pioneered a satellite system to link retailer to retailer so that a customer could put a product on hold at another AutoZone store. One year later, AutoZone debuted Duralast and Duralast Gold batteries.

In 2008, AutoZone introduced Z-net®, which is a dynamic database that gives their sales people the ability to research repair guide information, specifications, product pictures and characteristics and troubleshooting. This, they claim, gives their customers an edge because you can see how something is actually installed or repaired.

AutoZone recycles approximately 8 million lead-acid batteries a year and 8.5 million gallons of oil a year to help the environment.

Most recent records show AutoZone revenues at $7.36 billion with a net income of $738.31 million. They have 35,280 employees.

On Local Cable, Pep Boys ran 169,903 ads in the last 12 months, compared to AutoZone that ran 32,832 spots, which was 19.3% of what Pep Boys ran. The biggest month for Pep Boys was April with 18,138 spots, while AutoZone was hottest last August 2010 with 6,427 spots.

As you can see on the Radio, AutoZone is the big winner with 1,052,646 spots against Pep Boys with only 24,726 spots in the last 12 months. AutoZone ran the most last September 2010 with 115,308, but they are running hot again with June 2011 clearing 109,390 ads and last month July at 109,059 spots.

On TV, the two auto parts heavies ran much less. Pep Boys ran only 2,971 spots in the last 12 months, while AutoZone ran only 7,813 ads on TV. AutoZone’s biggest month was August a year ago with 2,054 and Pep Boys’ big month was November 2010 with 1,491 spots.

Posted: August 29, 2011

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