CPR Promotional Check-Up - Aug 23, 2017

State Fairs

I was noting as I went through Chases Almanac, that seemingly half the states have Fairs iminent. So…

PPM   Cat Thomas at KLUC was talking about a big event in Las Vegas that draws tens of thousands of people and has 30 minute waits in line to get in…so his plan is to set up soundsystems and blast the people with the station in hopes of snagging some pings.

I was at the Chisago County Fair ona  Sunday afternoon, it was sunny, 80 and for the closing day there were a lot of people. One of the ride operators had set up his two 1987 era JBL’s to play KDWB at max volume. One speaker was pointed up the midway and because of a perfect alignment of trailers, it funneled the music crystal clear up to the parking area. The second speaker was pointing towards the animal barns and the sound quality was great throughout most of that quadrant of the fair. There were maybe 5000 people and in a lightly populated but still rated county like Chisago, it’s totally within the realm of possibility that there was a meter walking around and getting pinged for an hour or two.

Think about that when you’re setting up.

The Semblance Of Activity    Nothing, repeat, nothing looks worse than bored looking interns and a prize wheel. Plan “stuff”. Think about having something that will force the promo people to get up out of the folding chairs (which you shouldn’t have anyway) and work the crowd. Taking photos is simple. Have an “As Seen At The State Fair” gallery. Name That Tune. Pitching nets with a radar gun. Standups of celebs. Photoshop stuff like what Larry Jessup at G-105 did for 1D. Mixing. Hula hooping. Sidewalk chalk. Spinart (V-103 in Atlanta). Karaoke. Count the beans in a jar. You want people to stop and have an interaction with the station. That’s your goal.

$$$    When I worked at WLOL in the 80’s, one of the bright minds at the station thought, “Hmmm…people sure do love our wearables. I wonder if they’d pay for them if we sold them at the fair?” Two weeks later I was literally carrying Hefty bags of cash out to my car every night. Since then every radio company in this market has discovered that if they stick a logo on it, people will buy it, and the revenues they generate equal that of some of the former Soviet ‘stan republics.

Meeting A DJ    If you’re broadcasting, don’t hide the DJ. That would be like a politician going to a campaign rally and doing his speech from behind a curtain.

Every big morning show in this market comes out on Saturday and does it live in the midday and it looks like Woodstock.

KDWB    If you want to see a station that NAILS it, look no further than http://www.kdwb.com/pages/statefair2011/ This is the best marketing opp of the year for them and the rest of the stations in the Twin Cities.

Visibility Around The Fair Grounds    Most stations screw up and don’t think beyond their little broadcast area. Go around the first day and bribe carnies to turn the radios in their booths and at their rides to the station. For a guy living in an VW van, a couple of free CD’s go a long way. Get the food booths to put up your banners. Go and do a site check around the competition and make sure that every flat surface in the zone has your logo on it.

VIPee    KUBE in Seattle was the first station to award laminated passes to winners that got them into a private, secured NICE clean porta potty.

Geocaching   Both 93Q in Syracuse and KDWB have hidden medallions around their respective state fairs and did hunts to find them to win Bieber tickets. Really the same as Pokemon Go if you think about it.

‘thons    Truism: any time you stick a DJ or some listeners on a rollercoaster or other ride for charity or a contest, you will get press. KSFM stuck Juan on a ferris wheel for six days for some “cause” and got coverage from Tijuana to Oregon.