CPR Promotional Check-Up - Nov 29, 2018

A Sign That The New Owners Might Be Great

Stingray closed on Newcap last month and at all of the stations, staff was treated to a champagne breakfast.

Getting TV For Your 'Drive

No one, repeat NO ONE, does a bigger toy drive than Chet Buchanan at KLUC in Las Vegas. Here is some wisdom on getting covered:

I'm not sure how anyone else on our end sees it...but if I wanted to skip ahead past the first few years of Toy Drive to get the same attention we get now, I would get in bed with a solid (TV) media part right away. It seems counter-intuitive, but here's why it works.

What's the most number of hits you'll get from anyone who's just "covering." One...maybe two. Beginning and end. Some, like the newspaper here, avoided it for years because they "don't cover radio stunts." No matter how much we tried to show them that it wasn't a "stunt" per se, but a legitimate charity fundraiser. Our deal with the local Fox affiliate allows them to put Toy Drive under their "Take Five to Care" charity umbrella that covers 8-10 events per year, essentially allowing them to have a piece of ownership and the ability to use Toy Drive to attract bigger sponsors. In return, I get on EVERY live show they have for 12 days. Because I've done some fill-in work for them and we trust each other...they just send a camera and I get to tell stories for anywhere from 90 seconds to four minutes.

But what about the other stations? They will either try to do their own toy drive with Toys For Tots or someone like that, and fail...as the ABC affiliate will learn this year, and the CBS affiliate learned before them. The other stations will see that the station that's giving you all the airtime OWNS it...and it will make them crazy. So now we still get airtime from most of the stations...and now all the print media. The only restriction is I can't go on camera with anyone but our partner.

Another Key To A Great 'Drive?

It evokes emotions. From the always at the top of the class Steve Jones:

Emotions rule. The best way to evoke emotions? You tell stories.

What do all powerful stories have in common?

Simple... everyone can get it. Like American Airlines flying grieving military families on a Christmas escape. Simple.
Unexpected... despite being familiar, they somehow surprise you. Seeing this happen in Charlotte no doubt surprises.
Credible... some aspect of the story diminishes my doubt. Could be a statistic, or a spokesperson, or a kid who lost a dad in Iraq.
Concrete... it is real, tangible. They are getting on the plane at Gate A24, not "at the airport". Concrete.
Emotional... every great story touches at least one... humor is only one emotion. Anger, lust, greed, sadness, envy. All good. Stories... there only a few original plots, like David vs. Goliath... you don't have to make up a new plot line to tell a story.

SUCCES is the acronym, thanks to Chip & Dan Heath's book "Made to Stick". Probably one of the top 5 best business books ever written. Ranks up there with Ries and Trout or "Art of War" as must-reads.

"But The Promoter Said...."

This is topical because Power in Honolulu had three sold out Bruno shows, and combined with kind of an awkward location for Aloha Stadium, there is also a civic ordinance about signs and advertising...plus the edict from the promoter. Because the promoters will always give you a list of everything that you're not allowed to do on-site. Perhaps the best example of taking the rules and reading between the lines like a lawyer going for billable hours(tm) was done by Carlos and his team at NOW in San Francisco with the JT/JayZ tour four years go:

The JT / JZ show in SF had lots of restrictions set by Live Nation, but they were in reality just within the venue (Candlestick). So we keep our promise within the on-site constraints and what we committed to on paper as part of that.

Keeping that in mind, we found a way & I read in between the lines & interpreted their words to "find a way".

Here's what we did to make that happen.................the only cost involved was labor hours & printing of fliers.................

1) Set up 2 additional locations that were not within the venue - full set ups (tent, tables, staff, etc)
a. In a surrounding parking lot - distributing TWIX & mixing it up
b. In a neighborhood parking establishment - mixing it up "on the way to the show"
2) We hit up & had presence at all the transportation options being offered
a. Bus shuttles
b. Limos
c. Public Buses
d. 3rd Street Muni
e. BART
f. Cal-Train
g. We had staff "welcoming & thanking them for coming to the show" at key hot spots
3) We flyered the hell out of any possible, physical options in the area
a. Promoting the JT in RIO Double Play - that aired on Saturday @ 4:15P (artwork attached)
b. Parked Cars, hand to hand, public transportation, EVERTYTHING - 15K Fliers
4) We had vendors (hot dogs, pretzels, churros) wearing shirts, placards on the "stand" & helping us distribute our flyer with each sale
5) Put stickers & placards on traffic cones - some of our own acquired ones too J
6) We had 3 photographers in & around the venue snapping photos - with a goal of 1K total photos - posting the best 100 - 150 of them

7) Any bottle neck opportunity - we targeted - highway exits for cars, bus stops for mass transpo, walking to the venue

8) On the night prior - we parked our vehicles on a couple of highway overpasses on the 101 - 2 of them in all - clearly visible to all traffic. On the route there were only 3 options. We owned 3 of them.

9) Banners on the highway exits & parking lots - staff waving & present before & after the show

10) We had nearby homes place banners in their windows & campaign style / stake signage in their yards - for free