CPR Promotional Check-Up - Jan 5, 2023

Ruby Carr: Ballet Enthusiast

The best part is the little girls talking about how she’s mean.

A couple of times a year you will have a play or a musical or Renaissance Fest that “needs something”. Cool. Have one of the talent try out poorly for a gig.

SFX Theater

Jenni at Hot 89.9 in Ottawa dubbed a Star Wars trailer and it was stupidly funny. Laura Daniels took a shot at something similar with SFX Theater.

Promotional Positions

On game days the Minneapolis newspaper will put up a little chart that breaks down that day’s matchup with the Vikings. They show the two teams and then “Offense”, “Defense”, “Special Teams”, “Coaching”, “Passing” and “Running” and the sports writer will put a little check mark next to each game element to designate who “owns that position”. It gives you a pretty clear idea of the bloodbath that is about to ensue.

In 2000 a company came into the Twin Cities and announced the day they were launching and the format. Seriously? Who does that? It gave Dan Seeman and the people at KDWB time to look at the promotional landscape and see what they owned, what they needed to sandbag and what they needed to jump on. The other station basically never got beyond being “tied” with clubs. KD so narrowed the playing field that they really never had any kind of superiority and were out of the brand in a year.

I do this exercise when we launch a station and when we know we’re being launched on. What can I steal on the first day and move over to my column. Or what could they take away from us if they were smart?

Generally speaking, if the music is right and the signal is good, the station with the most checkmarks will win.

End-of-year is a good time to objectively look at your efforts and see what you need to work on. We just started this exercise with 94/9 in San Diego. They own a lot of these but in terms of “Streets”, they own it ugly.

So get some people, sit around and again, objectively think about this. If the position is open for taking, circle the term. And then post the finished sheet where it can be a reminder.

Some of these positions may not be applicable to your station or even the market.

Cash: It doesn’t mean who does the most, it means who does it the best. I think Z in Vancouver would be an example. Include Group contests. Stations like WiLD in Tampa have had actual darn fun with, and pulled actual darn numbers with, national promotions.

Trips: These are usually money-can’t-buy prizes so, do you have fun with them or stick them in a loyl listener club. Kiss in Boise consistently does fun stuff with these.

Cars: This is a position that doesn’t seem to be too applicable in many markets, though, Channel 95.5 in Detroit has done some cool stuff.

Movies: This is a forgotten position because we tend to be so distanced from reality that we forget what it’s like to be a listener. A pair of free movie tickets? Hell yeah. Kiss in Dallas does a great job with these and never miss a big flick.

Morning Shows: Not ‘who has the best’ but who does the best with using them as the force that drives so much of what the station does. KS95 in Minneapolis does with both their morning and afternoon shows. 94.9 in Cincinnati. ‘ROR in Boston, KLUC in Las Vegas. KSON in San Diego. Hot in Ottawa. Y in Fargo. The Wolf in Greensboro. All are good examples.

Clubs: Q in Memphis owns this. Hands down. They’re great direct-bill clients, they’re great for the vibe of the brand and they can be outstanding marketing for the stations. Jammin’ in New London has Mohegan Sun and continually is coming up with new and fun stuff to feed a very hungry and very wealthy advertiser.

Charity: Not, “who raises the most’ but who is exceptional with what they do to raise it and also, tapping in to charities that get over-looked. KSON in San Diego, Q in Cincy with breast cancer, and 107.1 in Minny with their Down & Dirty events are good examples.

High Schools: These are the easiest people to market to. Hot in DC is exceptional at it. Ditto with Hot in Greenville.

Colleges: In some markets, these are big players that you absolutely do not want to ignore. BSU in Boise is an example and the TSM stations are great at being very very involved with what’s happening in that part of their community.

Concerts: This is really a two-parter: who puts on great shows. The “Just Show Up” shows at Q in Birmingham are a good example. When we launched Wild in SFO, it would have been nuts for us to try and compete with KMEL and the Summer Jams. They had that so locked down. It’s hard to explain how big those things were except that the market literally paused for the annual announcement of the lineups.

But then, also, who makes the most of a concert stop in their market. Who owns it before, during and after. Hot in Norfolk, Cumulus in Albuqurque, Q in Memphis, Kiss in Dallas, Hot in Mankato and Hot in DC. I would never want to go head-to-head with them on-site.

Streets: Who is out, strategically, canvassing the market looking for meters and diaries. 94/9 in San Diego cannot be beat with that. Ever.

Stickers: It’s a lost position in some markets but I’d look at Hot in Santa Rosa as a station that does more than just stick a brick of stickers on the counter at 7-11 and run some liners to tell people to go and get them,

Remotes: If we’re going to do them, let’s at least put some effort into them so they’re effective.

Website: This is subjective. Updated. Looks good. Actually gets people to visit it.

Social Media: You can pretty much look at stats and know whether you win or not.

Traditional Marketing: Outdoor, TV, transit.

Weekend Contesting: These used to be the two days of the week where you can have the MOST fun. You could take a pair of “Star Trek” tickets and have a ball with them. Kiss in Dallas still does.

So, take a look at it and if you have any questions, most definitely ask.