FOUR KEYS TO ENTERTAINING RADIO CONTESTS

By Dan O'Day

Many radio station promotion directors think the only thing you need for a

successful radio contest or promotion is a clever idea. Good ideas are

wonderful. But you need to know how to translate those ideas into

ratings, revenue...or both.

Today we're going to focus on "on-air" contests; contests or promotions

that become part of your programming.

Here are the four factors that make an on-air contest listenable:

• Prize

• Game

• Execution

• Air Talent's X-Factor

Let's take a look at each of these components in a little more detail...

PRIZE

For "everyday" contests, there are four types of "good" prizes:

1. Valuable

2. Affinity

3. Exclusive

4. Stupid-But-Cool.

VALUABLE PRIZES: One hundred dollars cash. GPS devices. Tickets to a

hot concert.

(Note that I did NOT say, "Tickets to the Boat Show, Auto Show, etc.")

AFFINITY PRIZES: Station t-shirts, jackets, thumb flash drives with your

station logo, etc. Something very cool-looking that enables your listeners

to acknowledge their relationship to your brand.

Take, for example, Harley-Davidson motorcycles. If you want to get rich

selling to people who buy Harley-Davidson motorcycles, do NOT go into

the motorcycle business. Sell them OTHER stuff imprinted with the

Harley-Davidson logo. Harley owners are the absolute best kind of

consumer: proud fanatics.

What can you buy with the Harley-Davidson logo on it? Shirts, caps, shot

glasses, pool tables, coasters, coffee mugs, ash trays, piggy banks, boots,

jackets, sunglasses, clocks, bean-bag animals, wire sculptures, knives,

lighters, chaps, shorts, jackets, vests, halter tops, plates....The list is

endless.

Why? Harley owners have a strong affinity to the Harley brand. It's not

just a mode of transportation...or even a motorcycle. It's a way of life.

Harley owners have a strong relationship with the Harley brand.

And that's the key word with "affinity" prizes: Relationship. If you don't

care about your listeners and they don't care about you, "affinity" prizes

probably aren't your best choice.

The stronger your relationship with your core audience, the more they will

respond to "affinity" prizes.

EXCLUSIVE PRIZES: Backstage concert pass....Private concert....Private

screening....One-of-a-kind memorabilia....Lunch with a celebrity.

STUPID-BUT-COOL PRIZES: This is most effective when it's also an Affinity

Prize. The ideal Stupid-But-Cool prize is one that you would never pay

for...but which you would stand in line to receive for free.

Sometimes in my seminars I give the example of Peter Holmes at

England's BREEZE AM who gave away...personalized bath plugs. A

wonderfully stupid prize that loyal listeners go crazy for.

GAME

Does simply describing the contest make your audience want to listen?

(Most on-air contests fail this test.)

EXECUTION

Does the jock present the contest itself in a way that maximizes its

effectiveness?

AIR TALENT'S X-FACTOR

You've got a prize no one wants to win, delivered by a contest that isn't

worth listening to.

The only thing that can save your radio station is the individual jock's

ability to make something out of nothing. Or, more accurately, to blend

his/her personality with that of the caller to create a human encounter

that is worth listening to.

Yes, a great jock often can save a lame contest.

But that's like expecting the record producer to "fix it in the mix," or

giving bad commercial copy to the voice actor and saying, "Make it

funny."

If you routinely depend upon your air talent to save the station's on- air

contests, you've got serious promotion problems.