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THE GREATEST RADIO SALES PROMOTION EVER!
DDG(F) AIR
Radio is the most exciting, involving and powerful promotional medium. Radio’s ability to tease, to create dynamic promotional concepts, to build anticipation and generate excitement, to magnetize the audience … the exhilaration radio delivers for both audience and advertisers is unparalleled.
I
want to make the distinction here between a station promotion
spearheaded by the program department to build Arbitrary numbers or to act as a
station marketing campaigner, versus either a station promotion where the
commercial department could sell advertiser involvement, or a promotional
concept which has been solely developed by the commercial department for the
purpose of revenue generation.
The
best ever radio commercial promotion … let’s see …what was it?
The
“Car jeeto”
where the station gave away cash, prizes and a brand new Maruti
car. Incredibly involving, this promotion can build
great numbers in the book, could extend
Radio ratings and generate thousands upon thousands of participants.
“Car jeeto plus more” where the
station gave away cash, prizes and a brand new Maruti
car. Incredibly involving, this promotion can build
great numbers in the book, extended radio ratings and generate thousands upon
thousands of participants or we could have….
Programs like“The Great
We can even have cash based programs where the
audience narrows down
to guess the amount and win the cash. Cold hard cash is still king and a huge draw
card in countries where casino is allowed.
I
could go on with give-aways, promotions fills,
off-site trade shows, concert promotions, catalogs, coupons, service/trade
directories, but it’s all somewhat of a mute point.
What makes a great commercial promotion and what’s the criteria by which we evaluate “The Greatest Radio
Commercial Promotion Ever!” Is it the
amount of revenue generated by the promotion?
Could it be the number of advertiser participants? The number of consumers
who’ve participated in the promotion?
The number of customers through the advertiser’s door? Is it the commercial volume produced for the
client/advertiser? Or maybe it’s a
combination of all the above.
There
are certainly a number of other considerations and complexities to factor into
the decision. Give away cars and you
hand the winners a number of headaches and costs the winner may not be able to
afford i.e. taxes, insurance, license, operating expenses etc
Something
as simple as a dinner for two at a classy restaurant comes with its own set of
problems. For example, if it’s won by a
family with a young children, they have the expense
and headache of finding cost for the children or paying a babysitter.
Those
stations targeting the 15-35 age group are now
spotlighting the gift of time and lifestyle as the latest “buzz” in radio
promotions. The problem is, how do you make that sound exciting on the radio …
“Congratulations! You have been declared
winner on FM Rainbow. Does it excite you.
Management
and commercial management also needs to weigh up the cost of the promotion
versus revenue the promotion brings through the door. If the cost efficiency isn’t there, does the
promotion bring other inherent benefits to the table i.e. new listeners, new
advertisers, marketing opportunities.
Other
considerations include the question of Chinese dollars? In other words, without the promotion would
you have generated the same level of revenue from any or all the participating
advertisers anyway? Chances are, in many
cases, probably. In which case why not
just sell good ole fashioned radio advertising to begin with, without the
frills of a fancy (and costly) commercial promotion. That just doesn’t make sense.
Here’s
the thing … the real answer to all of these questions is the reason behind all
commercial promotions. And it all boils
down to lack of confidence in our product, our lack of faith in radio
advertising. A commercial promotion
largely is nothing more than a crutch, an excuse and reason to give the
advertiser a little more confidence in our own product and therefore generate a
sale for our radio station. It’s
immaterial whether that lack of confidence emanates from we
as radio commercialpeople or the client/advertiser,
the radio commercial promotion is still really a radio commercial crutch.
Our
clients continually ask for and expect something more. They demand lower rates, more spots, a bonus
schedule … and yes, a FREE promotion attached to the paid schedule. And guess what … we cave in and opt for the
course of least resistance just to get the sale. The sad part is, we compromise our integrity,
sacrifice our programming standards, reduce the belief in our product,
reinforce the advertiser’s belief that radio doesn’t work, diminish our ability
to up sell the advertiser and make it more difficult for those radio commercialpeople who follow us. Our continual propensity to shoot ourselves
and our industry colleagues in the foot does nothing more than perpetuate our
position to maintain our meager 6% to 8% annual share of advertising revenue in
Friends,
don’t do it! Resist the temptation to
throw in a promotion. In fact, a
promotion, in almost every case, actually works against the goal of the
campaign. Inevitably, we run the
schedule with the focus on one objective for the client; we then devise a
promotion with a completely different objective and run an enormous risk of
confusing the audience, an audience who gets bombarded with thousands of
commercial messages every day! And now,
we’re confusing that audience even more with mixed messages from the one
advertiser for whom we’re trying to get results; because the schedule says one
thing and the promotion says something completely different. Then, in our post campaign analysis, we
wonder why the schedule didn’t work.
The
correct alternative to running a promotion which coincides with a paid schedule
is to make the message in the promotion the same message as that delivered by
the schedule. Then, there’s a unified
focus on the one message and you eliminate any potential for confusion among
consumers. Therefore, you’ll have a far
greater chance of spearheading a successful campaign for the client. But … consider this … doesn’t that then
become a case of bonusing. Shouldn’t it be the case that promotion,
under those circumstances, be then viewed as just a free component and an
extension of the paid schedule? In which
case don’t we have the obligation to charge the client for the entire
campaign? Instead, why not just sell the
client on achieving the objective with a schedule of sufficient weight to begin
with, because in this case, the promotion is the primary message of campaign in
addition to the paid schedule, so the objective is one in the same.
Clients
only think they want bonus spots. They
only think they want lower rates. They only
think they want a promotion thrown in as part of the deal. The reason they want all the extras, is
because they want to be more assured in their own minds that they are
maximizing their chances for their campaign to work. It’s as simple as that! But over the years, in the radio industry people have
convinced them otherwise. Our clients
simply want to be assured and have demonstrated to them that radio works! They want their investment with you to
generate a return on investment.
Advertisers don’t want bonus spots.
Advertisers don’t want lower rates, they don’t want promotions. They want a return to justify their
investment. And if you can deliver that
end result, that’s all they’ll care about.
If you can achieve that end result for them, not only will you wind up
being their hero, but they’ll keep spending with you!
o The right
target audience
o The right
message delivered with credibility, power and persuansion
o The right
schedule with sufficient weight to drive reach and frequency
o The right
conditions or consumer solution
If
you can deliver all of these ingredients, you should have a successful campaign
for your client and not need a promotional crutch on which to lean. Sell with conviction! Believe in your product! Radio is an incredibly powerful advertising
medium … make it work! And that largely
depends on you as an Commercial Managers along with
your knowledge, your willingness and commitment to generate the results for
your client and revenue for your station and All India Radio.