Greetings from a hotel room. I’m waiting to see if the government shutdown is going to interfere with a complicated series of flights taking me to speak at the Alaska Broadcasters Association. One of the things I’m going to touch on in Anchorage is “seminal moments.”
Every great station had a seminal moment when they planted their flag on the Radio Landscape and just never looked back. And rarely are these moments contests because no one this time next month is going to be able to recall what your contest was. Unless it is one of the 1% of contests like the cruise promotion that WFLZ just wrapped up with Secret Sound, or The Secret that Pattison is doing in Victoria right now.
Usually, these moments are when the station reacted to “something” that was happening. A great example would be Hubbard in Seattle, when, early in COVID, they facilitated the giveaway of 400,000 pounds of potatoes through the Washington State Potato Growers Association. A big, massive drive-thru event.
KLUC in Las Vegas? The Chet Buchanan toy drive. 97.9 The Boxx in Houston? The LA earthquake when the airstaff rode along with eighteen semis packed with bottled water to Southern California. 102 Jamz in Greensboro? Hurricane Andrew in Miami. Wild in San Francisco? The time they flew two 737s of supplies to LA after the earthquake. (Total cost to the station? ZIP.)
So, have you had your moment, and if not, what is happening right now that you could build it around?
And now, on with the Dumpage:
Clubs are about as close to being economy-proof as you can get. Direct billing and a really classy group of clients make these great accounts for a station. Every station and market has a different style of club gig. NOW in LA? Their audience goes to drink, dance, and be seen. They’re just a little too cool for the usual “wacky” contests that other stations would perpetrate, and the clients don’t want that stuff either. Ditto with Z-90.3 in San Diego…except for the club gigs they do in Tijuana, where the gimmicky stuff goes over huge. The Thong Contest is the hallmark of the station’s TJ bits.
And if none of these fit your vibe, and I can understand why it wouldn’t, fine. We’ll come up with something that does work. I think the advice from Power in Miami, where they KNOW clubs, about the offensive contests burning out quickly is true.
First, the Common Themes, i.e., submitted by multiple stations –
- “Ugly Sweater Night”
- “Stop Light Parties” (Done as Traffic Jam with colored glow sticks at Kiss in Boise)
- “Little Black Dress”
- “Purse Parties”
Second, from Paige:
- “White Trash Tuesday” – This is actually from Lene Moretti, where she suggests doing a different theme or clothing item for free admittance. Flip flops and a Monster Energy Drink tee get you in the door this Tuesday at Club O.
- “Dating Game” – The downside to this was that it stopped the music. A modeling agency ponied up one guy and one girl model a week for the promotion. Done just like the TV show. Three people of the opposite sex sat on the other side of a partition and the model asked them questions and then chose who they’d go out with. Limo. Dinner. The whole thing. Pretty fun. Great audience participation.
- “I’ll Drink to That” – A Dave Ryan post-club bit. Someone from the show would go out to the clubs and get drunk people saying stupid shit on tape. They’d then get them to blow on a breathalyzer. The contest the next morning was simple: they played the drunk rambling, and whoever called and guessed the person’s alcohol level won.
- “Drunken Pick-Up Lines” – Same idea, but without the breathalyzer. They rolled tape of guys using drunken pickup lines on Dave’s intern, and the next morning played these on the air. Women then called and rated them on whether they’d be effective, and/or just how drunk they’d have to be themselves for the line to work. (Best line, as judged by KDWB’s audience? “Can I buy you a drink.”)
An older batch from WiLD in Tampa:
- Dollar Bill Station Identification – First person to produce a 5,10-, or 20-dollar bill to the DJ with the station numbers in order in the serial number win a prize. (Example: AL 713941454 J)
- Monday Night Madness – good when football season was here, lots of theme possibilities with that one.
- Tittilizing Tuesdayz – all female adult entertainers got in free, with proof. But the night could be used to mean anything sexy.
- Wet N’ Wild Wednesdays – Did a promo on this night, we tied in another client (a Tattoo parlor) that had Wild logo temporary tattoos, listeners would stop by there, let the dudes put on a temporary Wild tat on them, and they showed that at the door when they got to the club, and they either got in free, or drank free all night.
- Thirsty Thursdayz – This night seems to be reserved as the college night in most cities.
- Free Drink Fridays – Sink or Swim, Drink or Drown, blah blah blah
From Power 96 in Miami
In the 90’s it was Spring-Break-type promotions; there was nothing like a good bikini contest or wet t-shirt contest to pack a club. The secret was to always bring in a few ringers from a strip club. Those eventually deteriorated into a club full of guys, and the only chicks were the three ringers in the contest there to collect their money. So, the clubs went the other direction and started ladies’ night with a Male Chippendales Show and free drinks to get the club packed early with a bunch of girls (the guys were not allowed in till after the male strip show was over). Then, guys anxious to get into a club full of horny, drunk women would pay a hefty cover charge.
The secret to any good club night is to get more girls in the club than guys. A good guideline is “Girls get in free and drink free, guys must be 25 years or older and pay $25 cover.”
In the early ‘10s, they tried bringing back the bikini contest by glamorizing it under the disguise of a Hawaiian Tropics Model search. But by the third week, the same old thing would happen, the club would be full of guys and the three Hawaiian Tropic finalists. Around the same time, clubs that were desperate for anyone to walk in started having booty contests. These contests would generate a lot of talk and get business to pick up for a few weeks. But crude and offensive entertainment is always a dead end, and the club resorting to this would always die out.
The biggest club nights are one-shot concert nights that the radio station hooks up with up-and-comers right before they blow up too big to be in a club.
The worst club nights are the ones that the sales department sets up with an agency that thinks people will go to a club to watch the American Music Awards on TV. Fair warning, people don’t go to a club to watch TV.
The second-worst club nights are the ones that the sales department sets up with a car dealer to register to win a car. People don’t go to a club to register to win something; they go to try and [redacted].
From Hot in Knoxville
- “Graffiti Nite” People are given a blank white t-shirt and a marker when they enter the club. Throughout the night, people drink and write on each other.
- “Why Am I The Designated Driver?” Specials on water, food, etc. for the person who has the unfortunate job of drivin’ their friends around. BIG PRIZES for the designated drivers might be cool to start around a holiday.
From Scott MacKenzie at Summit/Honolulu:
- Hottest Heinie Dance Off. Lasted two years. Got weekly presents from the club and an extra two hundred a week from Heineken
- The Mad Hatter’s Ball. Latest success. Did it on a slow Monday night place was packed, most people brought their own hats, but we also sold them at the door for extra ntr
- On NYE, the coolest promoters in town take over not just the club but the entire W hotel. The VIP rooms are in a couple of suites. Very huge.
- Names around town are sensual Saturdays. Hush. Peach. Sizzlin sundaze. Tantric Tuesdays, wild Wednesdays. And the other no-brainer is the Bob Marley fest done around his death. Does close to six thousand peeps every year
Latty from Q-107.5 in Memphis:
He loves the Superhero theme and also the Meet Market they did when he was in Nashville. Drew thousands.
Keith from Cox in Orlando:
We have done a Greek theme and invited all the fraternity and sorority folks out. They get in free when they where their colors/gear. We tied in artists and athletes, and we gave away advance movie tickets to premieres.
From Scott Colebrook at Q-102 in Cincinnati:
Q102 VIP Listener Lunch with bands coming through town, we do it at the local Bar Louie at lunchtime when they are not busy, they provide food. 50 people (passes won not open to the public) get to hear a couple of songs, get pictures, and get autographs. Finger 11, John Legend, Ingrid Michaelson, Marie Digby, Colbie Caillat, David Craig, etc.
We did a Rehab party with Bang, a local nightclub club at a downtown hotel rooftop pool in the summer on Sunday afternoons. Bang got mentions, and their staff worked the Bar along with hotel staff.
From Heather Skipper at Kiss 95.1 in Charlotte:
College nights- bus runs to & from schools
Sexy Mrs. Claus – Girls dress up like Mrs. Claus
Boots N Bikinis- Southern style bikini contest
Balloon drops with money- usually hundreds of balloons full of money & other prizes dropped from the club ceiling.
Power in Atlanta:
I love random celebrity look-alike contests on stage. Ie, I’ve got a pair of tix for X concert. Who should win… The Amish Lil Wayne. Or the guy who looks like David Hasselhoff eating a hamburger off the hotel floor. Vote by crowd applause
Marc Michaels at Wired 96.3 in Saskatoon:
“Rock, Paper, Scissors” was played against the bartenders for drink specials
From Y-94 in Fargo:
- “Snow Bunny Night” Women came dressed in sexy ski wear
- We’ve done Heaven and Hell parties… everybody dresses as an angel or a devil,
- Black or White parties with blacklights all over the club,
Jammin 107.7 in New London:
“90’s Throwback Party” The promos sounded like this:
PEBBLES IS THROWIN A “WICKED AWESOME, I MISS BOY BANDS, PLEASE BRING BACK PLAYSTATION ONE, NOBODY IS SEXIER THAN RICKY MARTIN, WHY DON’T THEY MAKE SHOWS LIKE PARTY OF FIVE ANYMORE?” 1990’S STYLE THROWBACK PARTY AT MOHEGAN ON FRIDAY NITE APRIL 25TH!
COME HANG OUT AND HELP US TURN THE PEARL INTO MTV’S THE GRIND… THE MUSIC… THE FASHION… THE RUNNING-MAN… THE BEEPERS!!
WE’LL ALL BE DRESSED AS OUR FAVORITE 1990’S ICONS!! SO, BREAK OUT YOUR REEBOK PUMPS, START WORKING ON YOUR VANILLA ICE-STYLE EYEBROWS, AND ASK YOUR STYLIST IF SHE REMEMBERS THE “RACHEL” HAIRCUT!!
From Joe Winner at B-103.9 in Ft. Myers:
- Dance your ass off – free fitness club memberships
- Free “FLU” shots (Free Liquor Unlimited) Come before midnight and get a free flu shot. Waitresses are in nurse costumes with test tube shots. Variations: TB, Malaria?
- The Bar Wheel
- Kamikaze Karaoke
- Advanced Cast Iron Stomach
- The Barbie Girl Olympics
- DJ guest list
- Edward 40 Hands
- Free chasers
- Speaking of hammered – construction worker night
- VIP areas are important to people.
- All-nighter. Specials on Bud Energy and Jager bombs
- Lunch lady night. Dress the waitresses up in dirty smocks. Specials on green Jello shots and “Mystery drinks”
At club nights, we do a promotion to see who can get the most phone numbers at the end of the night. There are a few twists we’ve put on it. First of all, we make them get the numbers with a Sharpie on a station t-shirt. We do all kinds of match-ups, guys vs. guys, girls vs. girls, a guy vs. a girl, and another thing we’ve started doing is using the actual promo staff (one guy and one girl) to go out and get the numbers. At the end of the night, we call one of the numbers to come up to the stage at the bar and pick up their prizes, and we also switch out the t-shirts so now a guy has a t-shirt full of girls’ signatures & phone numbers and a girl has a t-shirt full of guys’ signatures & phone numbers. People really get into it, and it makes for an interesting contest.”
From Radio One in Richmond:
- “Jamaica Me Crazy” with reggae and trips, obviously, to Jamaica.
- They’ve also done the Black & White parties.
- “Pack & Party” Come ready to go away on vacation
- “Swagger Night”
- “Freakum Dress Party”
Thus, endeth the list. It’s a great starting point and I also highly suggest that I you have stuff to share, do, and I’ll blast it out later this week.
