(By Paige Nienaber) As much as Radio has always loved to deride the audience as being dumb, they’re more attuned to our nuances than we think. I was at a social thing in about 2005 and when I mentioned a local and very popular air talent, one of my non-industry friends scoffed and said, “(Name)? What a whore.”
Huh? This was one of the nicest, most chill guys I know, and I defended him. My friend replied, “That might be true, but he’ll endorse anything.”
Double huh? So I listened to his show the following Monday and she was right: It was a tsunami of, “My friends at…” endorsements. I’d never noticed.
Tommy Kramer (the talent coach, not the Minnesota Viking) once said, “When you say, ‘My friends at Gutter King’ no one listening actually believes that someone in show business would hang out with a guy who cleans gutters unless they were compensated.” Good point.
Listener Testimonials > Radio Personality Testimonials.
The very, very bright Mark Adams was at a station where Toyota wanted to give each of the talent a car to drive for the summer and then blog about it. Mark’s exact words were “No one, literally no one will care.” So… they found four women from varying circumstances and they each got a car for the summer. They were able to authoritatively reflect on how the cars had helped in their lives, whether it was taking kids to practice, or shopping, or vacationing. The Mommy Bloggers. It was very successful.
And don’t get me started with talent eating on the air. One of the fast food chains wanted to bring a new menu item for the morning show to eat. I politely declined and said that it would be better to feed some people at another workplace and have them talk about how good it was. The Sales Manager asked, “But what if the food is nasty?” I replied, “Then (client) has a real problem.”
On a side note: I was driving to Lansing for the Michigan Broadcasters Association convention in 2020 and listened to a night guy in central Michigan who apparently was fed dinner by a different restaurant every night. With his mouth full, he was gushing about the “fantastic fresh vegetables.” It was disgusting.
Now with that off my chest, it’s time for the Dumpage.
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NSFM (Not Safe For Mornings)
Obviously, as a Mennonite youth pastor, I’m deeply troubled by this.
Selling Your Toy Drive
Orlando with WiLD in Tampa does one of the bigger toy drives in Radio when he goes up and lives on a tower for an excruciating length of time, and yes, they’re working on it and getting expenses mapped out, now. Because you can actually generate revenue from these things.
Like what Audacy does in KLUC in Las Vegas with the Chet Buchanan campaign every December which IS, hands down, the biggest in Radio anywhere. Every year they add some elements. Last year it was clients donating trees that they’d decorated and people could buy them for a couple of hundred dollars.
They’ve also:
- Sold a sponsorship of the bike board.
- As well as the money donation board.
- Daily food sponsors for breakfast and dinner.
- A heating lounge for cold mornings.
- Chet’s tent and other living accessories.
- Sponsoring staff gear.
- Streaming.
- Photobooth with all of the pics downloadable and shareable through an app.
- A photo wall for taking pics with some of the MANY celebs who come by.
- The “first toys on the truck” moment was sponsored.
Best Car Spots EVER
But Paige, how do they create brand awareness and drive traffic? Stop over-thinking it. Ask anyone in Minneapolis who Bob Lurtsema endorsed 45 years ago and they will automatically and without wavering, reply “TCF.” It wasn’t that he endorsed them, it was how. Go read Marshall McLuhan after viewing this compilation.
Second Chance Fall
Theme parks, concerts, and other summer attractions don’t just automatically stop on Labor Day. So you COULD do the Second Chance Fall for all of the people who have stuff that they weren’t able to cram in. My daughter just pointed out that we hadn’t been to a Twins game and I literally freaked out. We’re going next week.
Q98 in Fayetteville did it as Second Chance Summer.
The Uh Game
You take a caller, give them a topic like “ice cream” and they have to talk about it for 20 seconds without repeating themselves or saying “uh.”
Arrive In Style
Newcap in Fredericton delivered kids on the first day of school in a Rolls. KGGI did it in limos. Power 96.1 and the Award Winning (not really) morning show with PK sent a kid back to school in a convertible Lamborghini.
Dog Days Of Summer
Mid-to-late August? That’s what they’re called. One of the stations has some tickets to do in the next couple of weeks with the Free Ticket Dog. He runs to the prize vault, snags a pair, runs back in, talent takes them, dog barks, and talent gives him a treat. Or you could put them in the VIP Club.
Liar Liar
In the beginning, there was “Know The Show.” Each member of the show says something about themselves and you have to ID which one is the lie. Done as “Liar Liar” at Mix in Wilmington.
The Penny Pickup
When Jeff Kapugi was in St. Louis there was some calamity that required money, quickly. So they got a pickup truck, lined the bed with plastic, drove it around, and people dumped in the coins they had sitting in drawers, jars, and ashtrays. They raised a TON.
Amy with the Always Mountain Time stations in Aspen did this with school supplies and a Toyota Tundra at the client’s locations.
Self-Care For Teachers
My wife reentered the workplace after 22 years of mom-ing and became a Para at the local elementary school. By October they were all showing signs of burnout and one classroom was on their THIRD teacher.
The Global 1 Media stations are going to do self-care kits for teachers. Brilliant.
Stress-Free Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving? Why? Because if you wait until October, your odds of getting clients on board are going to be slim.
KJ103 in OKC did The Stress-Free Summer.
What is the most stressful of the Hallmark Holidays? Hands down, Thanksgiving. So a fully prepared meal, a couple of hotel rooms for out-of-town guests, and a cleaning service would be a helluva prize and an opportunity for three clients to partner with the station.
Paige Nienaber insults/consults more than 100 radio stations on Fun ‘N Games (Marketing & Promotions). Find him at CPR Promotions. Read Paige’s Radio Ink archives here.
