CPR Promotional Check-Up - Jun 15, 2012

Ripped From The Simpsons

GREAT stations can adjust on the fly. Can call audibles and change the entire day because something bigger came along. There are so many "We can't just (whatever) because (myriad of excuses)". Star in Pittsburgh? The entire morning show went sideways one morning following a story about the most famous pizza place in town getting padlocked by the cops. Biggest most topical story in town: tear up the game plan, go with the new buzz.

The best promotions in history came together in ten minutes.

WKLH in Milwaukee? Last month they threw together a Fish Fry Summit. Why? Because a (large) local man in a ripped-from-the-Simpsons moment, got banned from all all you can eat fish fry joint. He made Jimmy Kimmel.

So, the station put together an event that paid off his bill at the restaurant and fed Bill his fish. Two TV stations covered. The whole thing came together in six or seven hours.

Yes: Promotions IS Rocket Science. Pics at http://wklh.com/Fish-Fry-Guy/13171772

Tweet Your Meat

See? If you weren't so cheap, you would have been on the cutting edge of all the Weiner stuff. But no...

Meat And Greet

One of the clients had the Meat Hookup for Memorial Day Weekend. So they did the "30 Minutes Or Less" promotion that stations like NOW in NYC have done with tickets.

You win, and the station will greet you with meat for your barbecue within a set amount of time.

Granted, a Free Music Box Office Winning Weekend with the birthday wheel and tookie tookie bord to welcome the start of Summer kills, this is another possibility if you have a grocer who wants to play.

And, obviously, you want a call-in from every party hit. Because it's not happening if you don't get the call-ins.

Street School: For The Hospitality Industry

For the past 19 years I've had three hotels here at the Minny airport that have been my defacto layover or first-leg places to sleep. The one I'm at tonight? In all these years I have not had anything closely resembling a bad experience. It all comes from the people.

You see that with hotels. And stations too. Certain stations just have amazing promo staffs. The Directors Of First And (Usually) Only Impressions. You meet them and walk away with a positive image of the station.

Taking the shuttle over from the airport there was a young woman who immediately struck up a conversation with me. Perky? Ridiculously so. I commented that she didn't have any bags. She replied that she was a new employee of the hotel and they sent her over to the airport for six hours of talking to people. Learning the layout so she could more effectively answer questions when she would get their calls, and more or less, to learn the mindset of the Traveling Public. To understand and empathize with these people when they showed up in crappy moods.

How cool and smart is that? They actually, shudder, put some thought into training their employees.

If you have an intern meeting, give them manuals to read and send them out to represent the station? Good luck.