Outdoor Advertising Survey Reports, 1947-1980 (bulk 1947-1960s)

Scope and content:

Most of the surveys, which were conducted mainly from 1947 through the mid 1960s, are grouped alphabetically by city. Forty-two different cities were covered, but four cities regularly hosted surveys: Cincinnati (119 surveys), Houston (104 surveys), Los Angeles (209 surveys), and New Haven, Conn. (101 surveys). Dallas also hosted a large number of surveys (76). The two San Jose surveys (late 1970s) were conducted by Brennan's son, John P. Brennan. In this collection, "survey" usually refers to a particular city and time during which participants were questioned about twenty different ad designs. In the collection, each survey is usually referred to by city, then survey number (i.e. Houston #34, Fresno #3, etc.). Each folder is then devoted to one numbered survey conducted in one city, and includes a title page, a varying number of summary data sheets, a report for each advertisement, and sometimes other information such as data analyzing survey respondents by age or product preferences. Individual advertisement report forms varied over time, but information relating to one ad was usually presented on one or two sheets, including two pasted color photographs of the advertisement, one with the brand name "masked" or marked out.

Surveys were conducted differently over the years, but Remembrance and Correct Identification were the two main types of data acquired. Participants were asked if they remembered seeing the advertisement, and with the brand name covered (masked), they were asked if they could identify the product. In some surveys the same interviewee would supply answers to all questions about a particular advertisement, and at times, some interviewees would answer remembrance questions, and a second set would try to identify brands. See the Methodology Files for more information. Besides data on how well the advertisement itself was remembered or if the brand name was correctly identified, the reports provided other information. The size of the poster showing was often presented as well as posting history. Sometimes product misidentifications were recorded, as was relative visibility of the brand, and other statistics.

Surveys are sometimes referred to as being completed "for" Outdoor Advertising Incorporated (OAI), the industry's organization created (1931) to advance the concept of outdoor advertising. OAI and other outside organizations such as the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA), Foster and Kleiser Advertising Co., and Donnelley Advertising contracted with Brennan for surveys, but many evidently were conducted without such an arrangement.

Advertisements featured in the surveys were created by many different advertising agencies. The agency name was noted on the survey report for each advertisement up until about 1963. Those well-represented in the collection include Barton A. Stebbins Advertising; Batten, Barton, Durstine, & Osborn (BBDO); Benton & Bowles; Calkins & Holden, Carlock, McClinton & Smith; Campbell-Ewald; Cunningham & Walsh; D'Arcy Advertising; Dancer-Fitzgerald-Sample; Foote, Cone, & Belding; Geyer, Newell, & Ganger; Heintz & Co.; Hewitt, Ogilvy, Benson, and Mather; Hixson-Jorgensen; J. Walter Thompson; Johnson & Lewis Advertising; Joseph Katz Co.; Leo Burnett Co.; McCann-Erickson; Midland Advertising; N.W. Ayer & Son; Needham, Louis, & Brorby; Ratcliffe Advertising; Ruthrauff and Ryan; Tracy-Locke; West-Marquis; Wilkinson-Schwietz & Tips; and Young & Rubicam.

Billboards of many different outdoor advertising companies can usually be identified by the imprint seen in the advertisement photographs. Those companies represented frequently in the collection include Central, Pacific, Foster and Kleiser, General Outdoor Advertising, Houston Poster, Lamar Dean, Middleton, Murphy, Naegele, O'Mealia, Packer, and United.

After the alphabetical run of survey reports by city, there is a smaller group arranged by product type (e.g. beer, toiletries). The reports within this latter group appear to be copies of reports from the various city surveys pulled together because of the product featured in the advertisement. They do not contain the same introductory/summary information found in the front of most city survey folders. Following this subseries is a group of loose photographs arranged by product or service type.

Most reports have a small number written or typed beside each photo. These numbers were used to connect photo to report whenever the photo was removed from the paper. This number has been referred to sometimes as the "sheet number" or "design number," and is presumed to be a unique identifier for specific advertisements.

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