The Market Manager for my client in Omaha has a 120-day goal in terms of planning ahead for Sales promotions. That’s lofty, but is something to shoot for. With my client in Victoria, BC, last week, we were in the 90-day window (which is still good) and planning on “stuff” for Valentine’s.
By that logic, then, New Year’s is almost last-minute by this point.
I’m going out on a limb and predicting that everyone is out the door on December 18th and will drag themselves in on the 2nd?
You’ll need “something” that will give you an excuse to say the word “Christmas” those last few days leading up to the 25th. You could do a contest, but I wouldn’t get hung up on that, especially if you don’t have bodies to pull it off.
What COULD work is a variation on the resources list that people are doing with food services during the shutdown: The Last Chance to Make It on The Nice List for Christmas. “Santa’s been looking at 2025, and you’re on the bubble. Here is your last chance to avoid coal in your stocking…” and basically just pound agencies and organizations and services that still need help this December. It could be everything from heat share, food, toys, clothing, volunteers, whatever.
It would be a good thing to do, and then you can talk about Christmas as opposed to having Christmas 2025 end on December 18. And it could be sponsored.
If you wanted a s-ton of New Year’s ideas, email me at [email protected] and tell me what the massive new client on Q-Sky Radio that the new Sales manager had landed in the movie FM?
And now on with the Dumpage:
Adopt (DJ) This Holiday
In Season One of SNL, the show did a very funny “Adopt Belushi” bit. He didn’t know anyone in New York. He wasn’t going to be able to get home. Was there a viewer who would take him in, feed and bathe him until the show returned from hiatus? I could totally see this being done with a new jock from out of the market. The key, again? The post promotion. The horror stories. The photos of him/her passed out on their couch with beer spilled on them.
Text Marks The Spot
Hide something in the market. Text clues to the database. First person to find said object and text back with a four-letter confirmation code written on the thing wins.
When Drunk DJ’s Call
Soon to be a Lifetime movie with Judith Light and Judd Hirsch.
My first call of today was from an incredibly trashed morning guy in Alabama, where they did a morning show dedicated to the dangers of holiday drinking and driving. They had a rep from police, Alabama Highway Patrol, a DUI attorney, they drunkenly karaoke’d Journey to show how stupid you’ll look at your office party, and then they had a man who killed a family while drunk driving. Great, local radio.
Ice Cycles
A few of the stations have used bikes as their focus when it comes to “drives” in December. Because, honestly, it’s a great gift for an underprivileged kid.
So, jewelers are coming out of the woodwork for the holidays. One of them was pushing hard for a charity tie-in. What if you had a diamond up for grabs for one of the people who donated a bike? You’d need a secondary way to enter to get around lottery rules but it’s a nice hook.
Do Over’s
I have a friend who was on high school dance line, and then a pro sports dance line, and then coached some dance line, and a few years ago I asked her “If a radio station did an event that was a competition between high school dance lines from 1979 to 1989, do you think that you and your friends (she’s still besties with them all) would compete?” Her response was a very, very profane affirmative.
Cory at BOB 95 tips up to “Encore,” a show on Disney+ hosted by Kristin Bell that does just that, with restaging a high school play with all the cast, 25 years later. That would be something that you could do, ditto with a high school choir competition or a marching band competition.
Or, for the Sports stations, there was a Robin Williams/Kurt Russell movie where two teams re-matched an old football rivalry.
If it becomes a reality TV show, then you know that it’s a formula that will work.
Wednesday The 26th
This is a huge club night every year so, in addition to addressing all the travel and last-minute preps for Thanksgiving on social media, you might want to acknowledge it. So…if you have a promo team member who will be in town and plans to be out reuniting with college friends, you should have them do some posts. It will help you sound a little more in-the-moment.
Selfie With an Elfie
One of the stations has ticket stops sold on Black Friday and the non-color-themed following two days. Just sitting at a car dealer and inviting people to try and stop and win tickets is kind of “bleh,” but especially so on a holiday weekend. So…. dress a talent or promo person as an elf, stop in for a second, take your photo with them, and share, and you might get picked for tickets from that “stop”.
Appvent
Hubbard has done a great job with Tap That App and other ways to incentivize streaming.
What if you did an Advent calendar graphic and each day in December, open a window and display a prize that can be won that day by streaming the station?
Freemojis
In the beginning, 92.3 NOW-FM in NY (when they launched, and people listened to them) did a Profile for Pitbull. Change your social media pic to something that involves the station logo that you could snag from the NOW page, and get spotted to win.
And it was good.
I’ve always thought it would be fun to have a station or morning show emoji. Use it when you’re on social media, and you could win free stuff. Bing. Bang. Boom.
Seasonal Contests
There’s been a lot of “We have (blank) to give away in December” emails in the last couple of days. It really is incumbent to try and add some kind of holiday spin to it. Lizzo tickets? Cool. “Lizzo Claus”. Caller picks one of three stockings, and you win what’s inside, which COULD include her tickets.
One of the stations has about $400 a day starting next week, so they’re going to do “Secret Sounds of The Season.”
- The “glurp” of the cranberry sauce coming out of the can.
- The tearing of tape from a tape dispenser.
- The sound of a Santa Pez Despenser opening and closing.
- The sound of sawing a tree.
And there’s also Reindeer Races, which is an “insert any prize” contest. Take nine callers, assign them each to a reindeer, and then run a recorded call to the gate. “The track conditions are snowish slush at KS95 Downs, which may be an advantage to Dancer based on passed races…. they’re at the gate and …Brrrrring…. they’re off….” If your reindeer wins, so do you.
The Great Escape
Something we learned during COVID was that “vacations close to home” are great, and you don’t necessarily have to send someone to see Glass Tiger in Greece.
One of the northern tier stations is going to fill their January Hole with Great Escapes, which will be weekends at a nice local place that has an indoor waterpark. Escape cooking. Escape work. Escape making your bed. Escape a 6 am wakeup call. Escape stress and obligations.
Business Challenges
I’ve spent a lot of time sitting on billboards or scissor lifts or cranes with talent trying to raise donations, and one of the most effective ways to juice the numbers is through challenges. In Sacramento, it was a challenge between fast-food franchises to help get Mark S. Allen off a billboard. “This is the swing shift crew at the McDonalds on Arden and Howe and we’re challenging all of the other Mickey Dee’s in Sacramento to beat our $480 donation!” “!” is assumed.
