If I had a Mantra (and I really do need one)(plus an affectation like a monocle or a walking stick) it would be that I hate to see stations miss opportunities.
And an opportunity could be to help a neighboring state during a natural disaster. Or a sports team that is just on a tear. Or the sudden death of an artist. A political gaffe like saying you’d fire Big Bird if elected. Or unseasonably hot weather. Or ANY of the dozens of Hallmark Holidays.
During its death spiral, 102 Jamz in Orlando “missed” Mothers Day. And when I say “missed”, I mean they didn’t acknowledge it. And there are a lot of ways to acknowledge an occasion or opportunity.
- Imaging
- A parody song by the morning show
- A weekend contest
- A web graphic like what Google does
- A morning show or social media topic
And literally a dozen other ways to acknowledge these events. Hubbard in the Twin Cities is outstanding at quickly getting a message on their electronic boards
You’d need to be from Minnesota to full grasp how much they freaking nailed this.
And great radio stations dig and scavenge for opportunities. And for many years KGGI in Riverside would fall under the umbrella of “Great Freaking Stations.”
So, in 1990 they seized upon something that most stations will have happen at least once in their lifespan.
They began running a recorded message from their General Manager, Steve Virrisimo announcing that for tax purposes, this station would be leaving sunny So Cal and moving to Iowa.
You never truly appreciate something until you think you’re going to lose it. We had a Golden Retriever that I truly loved and she almost died after eating something toxic she found in a field. That brush with loss totally reaffirmed my love for her. And for hundreds of thousands of listeners, this was a stunning announcement: their favorite station was leaving.
KGGI expertly pushed their buttons over the next week, airing goodbye messages from artists, airing upset listeners and basically building to a climax during PM drive on Friday as they signed off. And then threw a big goodbye party at a client.
For the next 60 hours all you heard were the ambient sounds picked up by a live microphone they placed on the roof of their building. There were frequent drops from Jerry Clifton saying “KGGI/Riverside has moved to Iowa.” And of course the song “Now & Forever” that faded in and out.
And on Monday they returned to the air from Iowa. Avenue. They’ve moved to their new facilities on Iowa Avenue. Why? What’d you think? That they were moving to the STATE of Iowa? Whoops.
In 2022 this would blow the minds of 90% of broadcasters.
“You have to play music!” No. Not really. Show me where it’s written that we have to play music.
“You have to play spots!” No. You can take a break for a weekend.
The impact from a Marketing standpoint was equal to about a million dollar TV campaign: everyone was talking about it, and it’s almost impossible to beat a station that everyone is talking about.
We have all of these opportunities that present themselves, and how many have you actually seized on and done something with? KGGI did and “moving to Iowa” has the half-life of nuclear waste: 32 years later people in the Inland Empire can recall it unprompted.
THAT is a great promotion.
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