CPR Promotional Check-Up - Nov 1, 2011

Stuff The Bus

Zzzz...oh...sorry. Old bits tend to knock me out like 50 mgs of Seconol. This is one of those Thanksgiving/Christmas bits that inevitably get hauled out and dusted off every year in every market. I'm not down on it per se, it's just that you might want to find new elements to add. One thing is to not get locked into one location. Davey and Chris did this with the Winnebago World Tour at KSFM in Sacramento. Same bit as the bus, but in an RV and they moved constantly, never staying in one location for more then four hours, except in the overnights. And remember, set and stick to your goal. Time frames (as in we're out here all weekend) suck. You do it until the thing is full. Period.

Holiday Parades

Many markets have them. Some of have multiple parades in various surrounding communities. (Usually in the South) We get pretty desensitized to stuff that the average listener would think is the coolest thing in the world. Like riding in limos. Going backstage. And even...riding on a float in a parade. If you have a unit, uh, float, give away the opportunity to some listeners to ride along and be part of the fun. I was at Citamus in Knoxville a couple December's ago. The station had a float and some girls who bartend at a client dressed themselves up as presents and rode along. This was the highlight of the year for them. We just take this stuff for granted.

Smoke Breaks

This is one of those things that you'd THINK would go without saying. But just a reminder: if you stick the morning show on the roof or on a crane or on a billboard to raise toys or food or something, they HAVE to stay there for the full time. A couple years ago at a Clifton client we concocted a stunt that would have the night guy banished to the roof where he'd have to stay until he raised a dial position thousand pounds of food for the needy. He was into it...for the first seven hours. And then he started climbing down the ladder to go do a club gig in a market 75 miles away. Huh? "Well, I didn't know that I'd have to stay up there" was his response. Why do you stay up there? Because in Houston at The Box, Scorpio and I once put the afternoon guy on a crane to raise $97,900 for flood relief. At two in the morning the guy came down to go inside and sleep in Scorpio's office. The interns didn't know any better. So when the TV crew shows up at 4 am to cover the stunt, the crane was down, he was gone and the two interns were sitting in the van smoking cigarettes.