If you think about it (and I do, late at night, in the dark, playing with my guns, updating my Enemies List) promotionally, great things come in round sizes.
Let’s discuss, shall we?
We’re in Show Business. If the lottery just had a fish bowl with some random numbers in it, it wouldn’t have as many people hovering in front of their TV at 9:59 with hands full of soon-to-be-worthless tickets they bought at the Kwik Trip with their kids bake sale money.
Think about it: before there was a prize wheel, there was roulette. As opposed to having a short line of bored people trying to spin and win a key chain from Exxon at their remotes, KSFM used to have a roulette wheel. They’d have 38 listeners over the course of 15 or 20 minutes put their names on squares and they’d spin for something decent like concert tickets.
Want a fundraiser with a little bounce to it? Sell hundreds of golf balls and then drop them out of a helicopter. Shave off some of the money for a prize and then write a big check for the charity.
Let’s say you have a REALLY amazing prize like, I don’t know, dancing on stage with Britney Spears? Me? I’m a little crazy. I’d put it in the VIP Club or have people like me on Facebook. Dave Ryan at KDWB took a different approach and hurled 101 golf balls down the interior stairwell at the Clear Channel building in the Twin Cities. You had to listen to have a chance to win, and there was a great visual payoff.
Halfcourt shots for insured prize amounts? Win Win. Client involved and a charity partner who gets a donation whether they hit it or not. I’ve done every kind of variation of this and it’s just fucking fun.
Nothing says Japanese Game Show like listeners in giant gerbil balls running/rolling down a football field for Stones tickets, as done by I-100 in Ithaca.
Or at The Wolf in Seattle where they did The Running Of The Balls for front row seats in the parking lot of a Kenny Chesney show. A dial position number of beach balls, some interns with leaf blowers and the first ball across a finish line won for its designated listener.
In terms of stealth technology, I’ve always been a fan of logoed punch balls. Sneak a dozen un-inflated into a concert, send your people up to various corners of the venue and at timed moments, blow up and toss out into the masses. Or, if the morning show has to leave before they can introduce the headliner, take one up and have the receptionist bang it out into the crowd.
Yes. I have a fascination with balls. And you should too.
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