Part 11: Promotion "Beyond The Basics"

Last month the MPR’s of Programming dealt with the basics of doing radio Promotions, the first "P" on the list of MPR’s. This month we turn to several promotion experts and get their take on doing promotions effectively . . . "Beyond the Basics."

After you’ve marketed your station "off the air", Promotions are what station’s use "on the air" to get listeners who’ve begun sampling a station to stay and listen longer. But the mere act of doing a promotion doesn’t always guarantee positive results.

What Makes A Promotion Work?

What makes for an effective promotion? What kinds of contests, giveaways, or on-site promotions work? Do these promotions keep your listeners tuned in for longer periods of time? I posed these initial questions to my esteemed panel of promotion enthusiasts who all felt that a clearly stated goal is the first order of business.

"An effective promotion supports the goal that it was intended to achieve," claims Bob Jenkins, Director of Internet Operations and Business Development for WRQX and WJZW in Washington, D.C. Jenkins, a former radio promotion whiz for KSJO in San Jose, has made the transition from radio promotion to the Internet with this same basic promotion philosophy.

Jenkins believes "Whether your promotion’s goal is to create massive station awareness to support your programming, or to sell more quarterly advertising and build ratings through self-supporting marketing strategy, you’ve got to start with an achievable goal to be able to judge the effectiveness of any promotion you do."

Jave Patterson, Program Director for Active Rock KDOT in Reno, also supports this "goal-based" promotion concept. "An effective promotion accomplishes the stated goal, whether it’s selling more cars, raising money, clothes, or food, and getting more people to listen longer while simultaneously entertaining, involving, and making a lasting impression on the listener."

Jon Scott, veteran record promotion expert and long time Director of Special Projects for the T.J. Martell Foundation feels that an effective radio promotion begins and ends with pleasing the listener. "A listener’s interest is piqued if they have a chance to win something they can’t get anywhere else or wouldn’t do on their own, and if they feel they have a legitimate chance to win something that has meaning to them and enhances the value of the radio station."

"Star 98.7 in Los Angeles really created an emotional connection", continued Scott, "when Sugar Ray recently played at one lucky listener’s house. I’m sure this is a memory that person and their guests won’t soon forget."

Sales Promotions With True "Listener Benefits"

Besides the creativity involved in making promotions work effectively, one of the biggest challenges a radio station promotion director faces is taking the hundreds of mundane sales promotions and making them effectively work with the "listener benefits" that programming-driven promotions afford.

Today’s revenue demands amidst continuing consolidation have put a premium on doing promotions that add to a radio station’s bottom line. But how do you handle dealing with purely sales-driven promotions and making them a win-win for both the client and listener’s? How can you take a sales-driven promotion and create something with true "listener benefits"?

"The objective is to find a way to utilize the client’s needs and marry them with the most listener-appealing approach," states Jenkins. "The station wants to get their call letters and frequency as top of mind as possible in just about every strategy, while the client wants people to buy their products or services. The key is creating a scenario where both of these goals are met."

Jenkins feels the web is quickly becoming a dynamic way to create sales-driven promotions with listener benefits. "About six years ago, a local car dealer in the San Jose area secured radio promotions with both local rock stations KOME and KSJO. KOME went first and had a decent showing for their weekend with the usual faire of food, sodas, a band, personality appearance and a live remote. About 500 people showed up for both days."

"Leading up to the KSJO weekend, the station promoted the event and urged listeners to go to their web site for more details. On the web only, KSJO told listeners that if they wore something with KSJO on it, they’d receive a prize. 1500 people showed up at the dealership over the weekend wearing the call letters. More cars were sold that weekend as well!"

Patterson deals with all sales-driven promotions asking the question what’s in it for his listeners? "If there are positive answers, then there’s a good chance my audience will respond. Next, I look for fun, creative ways to execute the promotion to make the greatest return on investment for the client."

"I also likes to discuss these promotions with the Account Executive involved, our Promotion Director, and the air talent this will likely effect." Patterson feels "this yields the most creative outcome with the least room for execution error."

One example of how KDOT took a purely sales-driven promotion and created one with true listener benefits was their recent "Broken Hearts Ball". "We turned a regular Valentines bar remote into a huge singles party," stated Patterson. "Our night host actually called it a losers party and did relationship contesting all week prior to the ball. We had a paper shredder at the door which was used for marriage certificates and old love letters and we crowned
a King and Queen of the ball who announced their story of heartache to the crowd. We gave out prizes like single movie passes and dinner for one and decorated the bar with black balloons. The night was a huge success!"

Charity Promotions

While programming and sales-driven promotions are usually the norm at a radio station, I’ve always been a big proponent of creating charitable promotions as well. These are very often the most effective types of station benchmark promotions. But how important is it to create and do charitable promotions that might NOT deliver significant Cume, TSL, or Sales?

"With radio market’s as competitive as they are, another form of product differentiation comes from owning the heart of the audience," says Patterson. "Charitable promotions for a rock station are a must, as the format and delivery tends to be very aggressive, confrontational, and edgy. These promotions show our soft underbelly and help us become more a fabric of the community."

Scott also wholeheartedly supports charity promotions as evidenced by his amazing work with the T.J. Martell Foundation. "Involvement in charitable promotions will earn respect among the station’s listeners, sponsors, and within the community as well as creating a positive brand image. I think listeners appreciate being a part of something that is beneficial to their community and mankind. It’s all about improving the planet we live on."

The promotion work that Scott and the T.J. Martell Foundation have done with radio and the music industry over the years has raised enough money to fund cutting edge research that has already helped save lives. "Any time some one in the music business gets sick with cancer, leukemia or AIDS, the foundation is there to make sure the best doctors are available to help," says Scott.

"KLOS in Los Angeles has been a valuable partner in creating events benefiting the T.J. Martell Foundation, " continues Scott. "We’ve partnered with them on celebrity softball and hockey games, as well as the Mark and Brian Celebrity Golf Tournament. These events not only benefited the charity, but the station generated on-air excitement while garnering extensive TV coverage."

Charitable promotions can benefit any radio station by tying in with an experienced charity locally or globally. These promotions can take any form, from radiothons to all request weekends, or sporting events to celebrity tie-ins in the community. If you’re interested in doing a charitable radio promotion with the T.J. Martell Foundation, contact Jon Scott at (818) 981-9876.

Effective Promotions You Can Steal

Here is a list of effective radio promotion’s suitable for stealing:

KILO’s "Real Bad World" - A great promotion for active and alternative stations. KILO Colorado Springs recently did this take-off of MTV’s popular "Real World" series with a twist. They qualified six KILO listener’s by phone to spend "quality time" in a beat up van, with food and drink provided by sponsors, three bathroom breaks a day, with one contestant eliminated each day by vote of the others. The final surviving listener won a trip for two to see Kid Rock in Jamaica over Spring Break.

"20 Years in 20 Days" - A strong promotion for heritage and classic rock stations. Take the 20 years that most represents your station’s music and feature a different year each weekday for 20 days from earliest to most recent. Play nothing but music and actualities (and old station airchecks if available) from each year during the lunch hour plus listener’s win classic CD’s when they hear the Classic Song of the Day from that day’s featured year. All winners qualify for a grand prize of cash or a classic concert trip.

"The Label Game" - A great interactive sales promotion for a market cluster and their web sites. ABC station’s WRQX, WJZW, and WMAL in Washington D.C. did this promotion with three Canada Dry products which ran adds on all three stations directing listeners to their respective web sites. A Game icon and Canada Dry logo was prominently displayed on all three station’s home pages. Contestants played by clicking on the two-liter bottle cap. If all three parts of either regular or diet Canada Dry matched, the winner would receive station merchandise. If all three parts of a Canada Dry Cranberry bottle matched, the participant won a trip for two to the Bahamas. The sponsor covered the hard costs of the game and the promotion was self-contained in sponsor commercials which directed listeners to the respective web sites.