Buy Radio As A Group?

With all the radio station ownership consolidation, this might be a good time to look at cutting a deal with the ownership group instead of individual stations.  For example, one ownership group owns several formats in the same market.  In my market, one ownership group has news/talk, classic rock, oldies, hot AC, and alt rock formats.   

If you are a venue this might work to your advantage.  Think about all the events that you will have in a year.  Could one ownership group in a market work?  What if you cut a year long deal with the group?   Of course all the radio ownership groups are saying “right on, this is why we own these formats”.  In response to them, why don’t you act like it then?  Work as a team to put these deals together.

This method of radio buying could be a win win for all.  This does take effort from not just the radio station sales departments.  This should include getting the programming and promotion departments involved too. 

This should be a radio ownership synergy.  It should be a true partnership between the ownership group and the venue.  As a venue, you should be able to receive a better ad buy if all the radio dollars go to one group of stations.  You should have a year round promotional campaign.  When feasible, there should be cross promotional opportunities between the radio formats for the event. There could also be cross promotional efforts between the venue and the radio group.

Outdoor Is All In The Message

Everyday I have a 30 mile commute to work which averages about an hour.  During that time I pass numerous billboards.  Since I have the time, I pay closer attention to them and have some thoughts.

When ad agencies or art departments are designing the artwork for these boards do they really understand what the artwork will look like to drivers?  Do they understand that the reader of the ad may be going anywhere from 30 to 70 miles per hour?  The standard line is that a reader of a billboard has about 3 seconds.  Too much info in the ad and it is not only a blur but you will not get the message out.  The artwork and message should:

1) Stand out and create excitement (I do like cut-outs when done right).

2) Simple and to the point.  Again remember how many seconds it will be read.

3) Make sure the message is stated and understood.

Now that you have the right artwork and message, you need the media buyer to do his/her job correctly.  If you don’t ride the boards with the sales weasel, he/she will always give you the cream of the crap.  When you ride the boards you will see what your potential customer will see.  Outdoor advertising companies are always looking for new spaces to put up boards.  This is getting harder to do with all the restrictions.  Sometimes they put up a board where they can and not where it may be the best location for their customer.  Every new billboard is new inventory.  More inventory means more potential revenue.  They make a good living off of customers who don’t ride the boards and take the “package deal”.  When looking to buy boards you should:

1) Go for right hand reads whenever possible unless a left hand board just knocks you in the face.

2) Check the traffic counts for the billboard in question.

2) Make sure there are no obstructions such as trees.

3) Check the distance of the board from the road.

4) Think what your message is going to look like driving at different speeds.

Remember, that buying outdoor is part of your overall budget.  You need to maximize in getting your message out.  Do it right and it will.

Make The Product Match The Hype

I went to see The Dark Knight last night.  All I can say is “Wow”.  This is the kind of summer popcorn movie you want.  Speaking of popcorn, the theatre I went to had a concession cart wheeled into the theatre before the movie started.  They had popcorn, soda, and candy ready for sale. This is all part of the “experience” I always write about.   I know this is not a new idea but It was good to see a theatre trying to maximize concession sales and creating a “good” experience. 

Warner Bros. gets a hats off for the marketing campaign they put together for this movie.  They didn’t just create hype, they created mega-hype and the movie holds up to the mega-hype.  I love hype.  I don’t like hype when the product can’t back it up.  The hype for The Dark Knight is everywhere.  On our way home we tuned into a late night talk radio show.  The subject had nothing to do with the movie.  But when they went to a commercial break they were playing the theme music from the movie.

More On Employee Experience

Last week I wrote about keeping not only your customers happy in a bad economy but the employees also.  Many times upper management forgets that their actions can have a bad effect on all the employees.  In these uncertain economic times, business relationships can be strained and even heated, but all parties involved need to remember they are affecting the employees, the customers and the overall health of the product.

We Are The Escape

Is it just me or does anyone else notice the recent up-tick in bad customer experience? I see it at restaurants, grocery stores, the mall, even at my place of business.  My theory is that the economy is behind this and that is wrong.  I understand that the economy is affecting all business.  I understand that companies need to look really close at the bottom line.  But affecting the customers experience should not be part of cost cutting.  Making a customer happy is now more important.  People are in a bad mood.  When they come to an event or entertainment venue they are looking for an escape from all the bad experiences they are going through these days.  We need to give them that escape.  Your employees are experiencing the bad economy also.  You don’t want them to take that bad attitude to work.  You need to give them a good work experience too.  This will create a positive job performance and will have a direct effect on the customer.  If the customer receives a bad experience with you now, they will still remember this when the economy turns around.  Short term cuts can have a long term effect and it is not always positive.  Remember that the entertainment business is usually the first to feel a bad economy but it is also the first to come out.  Remember Hollywood and the depression.

Good PR Is All In The Timing

A lot of what makes PR work is the timing.  Every PR person wishes for the “slow news” day.  Of course nobody can know for sure when this is going to happen.  But you can pick opportune times that may help. 

Last week the Boston Bruins had this opportunity and it worked.  They hosted their 2nd annual development camp for rookie and developing future players.  This camp did payoff last year for the Bruins with the biggest stand-out being Milan Lucic.  He had a great first season with the Bruins and is now a fan favorite.  Their timing as PR goes was great.  Of course the Red Sox is the number one sports story this time of year.  All the other major Boston sports teams are quiet at the moment.  So the Bruins development camp was the perfect PR event.  When I first noticed the coverage, I asked myself if the Bruins had a new PR person?  It was a refreshing change for them.  They are moving in the right direction.  Because it was a relatively slow sports PR week (except for the Red Sox), they were getting a lot of media coverage.  They were in both major dailies everyday that week.  They got TV coverage on all the local stations.  They even had radio jocks talking hockey in July.  This development camp event may have been good for the hockey operations department, but it was also a vital part of the marketing development for the 2008/2009 season.

Fireworks Events Are Business Builders

My wife and I went away for the 4th of July weekend to Maine.  So I started thinking about fireworks.  The town we stayed in had fireworks shows in the past but not this year.  Someone said the town couldn’t raise the money.  So we went up the road a bit to Kennebunkport.  They weren’t shooting the pyro but Kennebunk was and their beaches are separated by a harbor.  What I noticed was how full the town was.  Traffic was heavy for a small town and parking was hard to find.  We had to park about a half mile from the downtown and we got there early.  All the restaurants were only taking reservations and they were full.  All these people for a 20 to 25 minute fireworks show.  So I asked myself, why would a town say they cannot afford to produce a fireworks event?  They way I see it, you could get a lot of “bang” for the buck (could not help myself).  I know that putting on an event like this is a lot of time and effort for such a quick show.  But it should bring the town tons of revenue if done right.  You could turn the fireworks event into an all day bigger event.  This not only brings people and money into the town but it keeps them there all day spending money.  If costs are an issue, then get a sponsor. You could even get neighboring towns involved to share the costs and the rewards.  Let’s face it, if they are close enough they are going to share the reward anyway.  That’s what Kennebunkport did.  Remember, the fireworks belonged to the town of Kennebunk.

Out Of The Box Thinking

I knew what I was going to write about today when I saw this morning’s news.  They were reporting about a video of a shark attacking a duck boat going up the Charles River in Boston.  OK, think for a minute.  Do you really think a shark would be chasing a duck boat up a river?  That’s right; this was a viral marketing campaign by the New England Aquarium.  This is the second time in 10 days that I have been impressed that a venue that is considered traditional and its marketing campaigns possibly boring went very non-traditional.  I wrote about a museum doing cool street marketing in my June 21st post. 

The shark video is part of a campaign by the New England Aquarium promoting their sharks & rays exhibit.  The video is on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qGOX9siUK4 and is getting hits.  But more importantly, it is getting PR buzz on the news.  Just the fact the I am writing about it and placed the link is part of the viral spread.  This is what today’s marketing is all about.  If museums and aquariums can think outside the box, then we all should be doing it. 

 “What Else Can We Do”?

Every year you are charged with running a charity event.  It has done consistent business and the formula works.  The first question you need to ask when planning begins is “what else can we do”?  This was brought up tonight at my planning session for the benefit I chair for The Center for Arts in Natick (TCAN).  Guess what, we came up with something new and exciting.  We are working an on-line auction through our website that will coincide with the benefit.  This is a new revenue source, using the new technology, and thinking outside our “event in a box”.