Promotions give the talent something to talk about. And we always need to have something to talk about. 102 Jamz in Orlando was a Content Machine for two decades. A listener once described the experience as, “If you don’t listen, you might miss something.” This helped explain their #1 spot for years and years.
And then, they hired a PD who hated promotions. He considered them on-air clutter that got in the way of the music. So he pulled them all off the air. Their voice guy was the first to sound the alarm to the corporate VP of Programming, based solely on what he was getting to read. The VP, a happy, jocular fellow, assured both me and the voice guy that everything was wonderful. Terrific. “They’re doing great!”
I witnessed a market visit, and it was like listening to a car rust. I asked the team, “So, what’s the focus? What’s the next exciting thing we’re talking about?” I was told, “The new news feature on the AM drive show.”
You would have to be versed in 102 Jamz to truly grasp how horrifying and stupid that answer was. Within 18 months, they were rebranding. It’s like taking over a McDonald’s and driving it out of business: it would take thought and effort.
You are literally swimming in content opportunities for the next six weeks. Breast Cancer Month. Halloween. Football. And then we have a hole the first two weeks of November after Halloween and before Thanksgiving kicks in. Maybe there’s something in the Dumpage you could stick there.
So let’s commence, shall we?
For The Morning Shows
If you watch any sitcom that “went the distance” there are a lot of clichés they share. One of the morning shows is going borrow one for a curveball shortly. The morning show at KSFM used the Gilligan’s Island segue music to transition between bits one morning. No reason. Just did. It was fall-on-the-floor hilarious. I’d use the “Whoas!!!” to punctuate commentary some morning. Why? Why not?
Some inspo to get you started.
One Second Cinema
I love the name. From Trent-FM/UK. You play one second of a movie. Call and ID it and win.
The Fine Folks Who Brought Your Thermal Radio
And Christmas-izer 2000, Boom in Toronto, comes:
In our never-ending mission to enhance your Boom 973 listening experience to be the best it can be. Once again, our engineers have outdone themselves with the creation of the “Boom 973 Autumnizer”. Our genius engineering team has adjusted the electronic vibration of Boom 973’s 70s, 80s, 90s music to enhance the subconscious visual variation of brightness and color of images we see while we drive and enjoy the fall colors. Let us know how the “Boom 973 Autumnizer” is working for you: 416-870-0973.
Photo Mosaic
Thank you to Dave Shakes for finding a vendor for this. You can either have one of your people strolling and shooting pics, or you can have the audience share via hashtag to a slowly emerging mosaic. In action.
Movie Mom Panel
About to start somewhere. The moms on the staff will do a Friday morning feature about that weekend’s films and whether they’re appropriate. I once saw a woman take her two little kids into Bad Santa, apparently thinking it was a Disney flick. They left after about ten minutes.
Social Media: It IS Rocket Science
The PD at Jammin’ 107.7 in New London, CT once pointed out to me that his station had a 2500% higher (some Facebook stat) than the significantly larger 102 Jamz in Orlando. What was his secret? A pretty consistent flow of fun, engaging posts that invited a response. And then random funny stuff inserted between all that. Memes and whatever else might be topical that day.
Lee McVey at KOZE noticed that the midday guy had brought his lunch to work, took a photo, and asked the audience what was in the sandwich to win some football and movie tickets and some food. When I looked, he had 108 comments, which, for a station with only 10,000 followers in a small market, is pretty good.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
TSO are GREAT tickets. The kinds of tickets you could actually have fun with. You could do it with a seasonal secret sound. You could do it with two callers and breaking a turkey wishbone to designate the winner. You could do it with a gallery of ugly Christmas sweaters. You could do “Hi/Low TSO” and have people guess what seat and section the tickets are in. So…
Elementary Christmas Pageant Idol
Have parents upload videos of their kids’ past pageants for a shot at tickets. And what parent wouldn’t do that?
What The Flock?
Think of it as a video version of Secret Sound. Take a normal household item and flock it. And then people have to guess what it is based on clues and the visual.
TSO Or TSA?
Name something and the caller has to ID its connection: “Inner calf pat down”? TSA? “Cello”? TSO.
Trans-Nebraska Orchestra
Done by Q-107.5 in Memphis where they found a Kwik Trip somewhere on I-80 in Nebraska and would call and play Name That Tune with the employee. If they knew the song, the caller got TSO tickets.
The Night Before Thanksgiving
This has traditionally been one of the biggest club nights of the year, and one of the stations was looking for a moniker. In the past, they did (brand)giving.
“Hometown Hangout” because the people who are there are usually kids reconnecting with everyone who split for the school year and college.
“Safe Place”. Thanksgiving is a dangerous and scary time. Your aunt who likes to pinch your cheeks. Your nephew who has never not gotten sick at the table. Your cousin who has one drink and then wants to pick a fight over religion. We’re offering you a safe place to escape to for a few hours.
It could also be the Escape Room.
Wired in Philly did “Wishbone Wednesday.”
Wild in SFO did “Flee The Freaks” because at about 5 pm, minivans full of relatives from Indiana start pulling into the driveway with board games and slideshows of their trips to visit Civil War battlefields.
Power in Miami set it up so that you registered your phone number and a time to call. So you’re sitting at the table hearing about Aunt Murine’s new hip and WHOOPS…work called, and there’s a problem and they need me to come back for a few hours.
Lotta Latte
‘Tis the season. One of the stations that has a great track record with workplace food deliveries is about to launch with free Pumpkin Spice Lattes for your entire workplace. And they got it sold, so it’s like Double Bonus Coupon Day at the Piggly Wiggly.
“(State) Mommies”
This is a Dave Ryan promotion from KDWB that has been done in various permutations and has always been large. It taps into Single Mothers, who are one of the ultimate hot buttons.
The Concept
The station acknowledges and recognizes single mothers as being the hardest-working and often most-unappreciated segment of society. “We want to change that. If you know a (State) Mommy who is working hard and overcoming odds to put the food on the table, keep the kids healthy and schooled and is basically kicking serious ass when it comes to being a mom, we want to know. It could be a neighbor. Your kid’s teacher. A coworker. A sibling. Tell us about her and why she deserves to have everyone know how great she is.”
Every Friday morning you call up that week’s recipient of the title and read the email that was submitted about her to her. This invariably ends with her sobbing. You then bequeath client products on her. When they did this the first time in Minny, they focus-grouped “gift cards” on the women at iHeart and the A#1 choice of where they would LOVE to have a $100 gift card? Target.
Potential Clients: any retailer that caters to women and families, spas, malls, grocery stores, and gas.
Football Bingo
I think that Q-102 in Cincinnati was the first station to do Office Bingo. Print out a daily card from the station and while you are sitting in your cubical pounding out TPS reports, mark off boxes when you hear or see stuff around the workplace like “I’m going out for coffee. Anyone want me to bring them something back?”
Hot in Sudbury did it with hockey. You could do this with the MLB playoffs and definitely football.
Feet & Greet
Opportunities to meet artists are things that we kind of take for granted, primarily because we are so out of touch with what it’s like in the Real World. For 5SOS, ‘QEN in Birmingham did Sockies. Take a photo of your socks, hashtag, share, and hope to get picked.
Or, you could lose the sock and appeal to a burgeoning fetish community and have people decorate their feet (feetdazzle?), shoot, hashtag, and share.
(Insert Something) Theater
Movies are the Entertainment Universal. People might disagree on their favorite genre, but most people enjoy films. So there’s your Content Hook.
Wild in SFO had a Bay Bridge toll plaza worker review movies in the time that it took to hand him a five and get back two in change. They later did Munchkin Theater and took helium hits and acted out scenes from movies: ID the flick and win.
Jamz in Birmingham’s possibly BIGGEST contest ever was “Food & A Flick”: you won two tickets to a local cineplex and a $25 gift card to Lowry’s. Phones melted.
Lori & Julia have used Barbie dolls to act out scenes from films.
8 Word Reviews is a bit for Monday mornings where the audience can review whatever film came out that weekend…but in only 8 words.
Chairman of the Board (Games)
One of the stations has a bar that features board games and was requesting ideas.
Board games are heavily steeped in Retro and with Retro, a bracket is always a simple contest. Five random voters would get gift cards to the bar. (And if Chutes & Ladders doesn’t win, it’s RIGGED!)
You could also do “You Can’t Beat (talent)!” and have them out there every week with a different, no-skills-required (like dice rolling) board game. Beat them at Mystery Date and win a gift card.
