(By Walter Sterling) Radio station lobbies are the point of critical failure, or success, when engaging listeners. Actually engaging listeners: Physically engaging listeners! When visiting your station, a listener may have a profound, positive life event or a
disappointing one.
Imagine the thrill of winning a radio station prize. Taking time off from work to pick it up.
Finding the station (good luck). Parking. Paying for parking. Stepping out of the elevator to find an empty reception room and no one exactly sure who has your prize!
This month, at several stations, I have seen contest winners experience sadness and frustration. They didn’t have proper ID to pick up their tickets. OR the radio exec who held the prize was on vacation. OR they are a day late to gather their winnings. Disappointment must not be part of the prize-winning experience!
BETTER WAY
Your station “owns” a contest winner in the best sense and you can give them a life event, for pennies. it is easy to give the winner a positive story they will share forever.
HERE’S HOW:
• Take the prize to the winner. Don’t make them come to you.
• Take the prize to their place of work, delivered by a male and female model. Look like show business. Dress like show business.
• EVERYBODY AT WORK will ask which station is delivering the prize? Have something, anything, with the station logo to give to everyone at the place of work. Anything.
• Zillions of photos with the prize winner. Those photos will go on that company’s social media, on each employees social media, and yours.
Your station has the power to make a listener a star at work, at school, at home. That’s true power. Let’s use that. It’s free.
Delivering the prize to the contest winner will place your station top-of-mind for all prize winners forever.
Walter Sterling hosts Sterling On Sunday, distributed by Westwood One. [email protected]
As I said to a contest winner when speaking with her on-air, as she was freaking out with an overwhelming glee, “Lady! It’s just a can of paint!”
Meanwhile, by all means, have the Dork Squad show up at a winner’s place of business – another fine example of radio participating in self aggrandizing, public, turd buffing.
This is truly delusional. Not going to happen. AC stations have done everything but wipe the bottoms of listeners to gain an edge in the workplace, bringing some model in seems very 80’s, like the limo rides and oddball jocks dressed in tuxedos, looked like idiots with their 5 dollar haircuts, and lack of style. Not to mention the lack of budget for these kind of things. Also it doesn’t take into account that many listeners of Talk, Sports, etc. are on the road or working at of their house. Nice try Walter.