BAH HUMBUG Chris Byrnes Ho Ho Ho… it’s almost that time of year, when we find out who’s been naughty and who’s been nice. Those Christmas sales packages need to be on the street today. So just in time, here are some ideas to help you generate December revenue. We have also included some fun programming ideas.
The Talking Mailbox: This will cost under $200 to put together. It works great at remotes for kids to drop off their Christmas lists for Santa. You take an ordinary mailbox; have it painted with your logo on the side. The box is rigged with a hidden microphone and speaker. Your engineer could built it, or adapt a $50 wireless intercom. Whoever is working the mailbox is stationed close by, so they can see the mail box, but the kids cannot see them. You will be amazed how the kids are drawn to a mailbox that can talk back to them. You can sell this, and it makes appearances more entertaining.
The Store To Yourself: Take a leaf out of the U.S. chain Nordstroms. As long as you call in advance, their policy is to always allow the customer access to the store. They’ll provide a personal escort, and if you tell them in advance what you might be looking for, they will have several possibilities to view, all with a no purchase requirement. Sell it to a big chain store, and turn your frustrated Christmas shoppers loose in the store on December 22nd.
Stuff the Bus: Get a bus and have it sign written. Tie in with a local community group. Promote the concept and the location of the bus each day as it picks up food and toys for Christmas. Sell it to sponsors and broadcast live.
The 12 Days of Christmas: It's a song of the day contest with prizes awarded incrementally until Christmas. Here's an example of how it works [change prizing for your market] On day one the winner will get a four pack of movie tickets with popcorn and soda... on day two the winner gets a gift certificate to a local clothing store and the movie passes. So, as each day advances, winners get that day's prize plus all the previous days prizes. By Day 12, the winner gets 11 prizes and the grand prize. Great revenue generating opportunity and it helps the station sound larger than life.
Your Name In Lights: Wouldn't it be great to see your call letters in Christmas Lights? Drive around the market in your Christmas Cruiser, looking for your call letters and giving away money and goodies. One grand prize winner gets a shopping spree, at a sponsor’s location. Also offer to pay the electricity bill for the person either with the most lights on their house, or the largest display of your call-letters. They mail, fax or e-mail their locations. Leave a note in their mail box, so they know you’ve been by.
Caroling Around the World: Sell this to a phone company or a phone shop and invite listeners to write in with contact details of a close friend who lives overseas. Each morning pick one winner, get them on the phone and conference them in with their overseas friend. They foreign friend has to sing a few lines of a Christmas Carol in their native language, and tell you about Christmas traditions in their country. At the end, the two get 10-minutes to talk off air to each other, and the station picks up the tab. You may have to make some calls at weird times of the day and record them… but it’s worth it, I promise you.
The Human Christmas Tree: Send your stunt boy to a busy intersection, wearing bright red "long-john" underwear, a green sweatshirt and a green toboggan stocking cap. Then invite listeners to come by, and hang ornaments on your human Christmas tree. You may end up on TV and get a photo in the paper if you plan this right. Be careful, not to disrupt commuter traffic.
Real Kids On the Radio: Take a mini disc or tape recorder to your local kindergarten School and ask the little ones what they want for Christmas. This is such a simple idea, but people will talk about it for ages.
"Dig Me" Jingles: It's a little self serving, but invite listeners to call in to sing their best Christmas song with something about your station or morning show in it. Give away cash or hard to find Christmas gifts. This can build into an annual event and is huge for some stations.
Celebrity Readings: Get your local MPP, Mayor, or the most famous person you know to come into the control room and read a traditional Christmas story to a couple of classrooms of kids from a local school. This is a guaranteed warm fuzzy.
Christmas Wishes: Go to the post office and get letters that kids wrote to Santa and answer their wishes. Some of the letters will be gut-wrenching. We had one kid ask for a bed because they have to sleep on the floor. Great opportunity to make the station and your clients look good with this.
Christmas Messages: If you do any kind of office giveaway where you go out after your show and deliver food or prizes to offices, take a recorder with you and record your listeners wishing their friends and family Merry Christmas. Produce with a little Christmas music and the station voice, and run at random during your show. Your winners will listen until the end of time, and they'll tell their friends and family to listen too.
Christmas Wrapping: Check with local printers to set up trade for custom wrapping paper with your logo on recycled paper. Use this to wrap up prizes for winners, decorate your vehicle and building, and give it away on-air and at remotes.
Killin 'Em With Kindness: Have listeners call you [off air] with the addresses of people they know who don't listen to your show. Get a box of overly friendly cards and send them out. Imagine the looks on their faces when they open their mailboxes. Think of all the talk it will create around their workplace.
The Battle of the Christmas Classics: Each morning two Christmas songs go head to head, listeners vote, and the winner carries over to the next day. Publish a list of winners on your web site.
The Morning Show Christmas Card: Invite listeners to fax/e-mail their address so you can send them a Christmas card from the show. Sell it to a print shop or other sponsor and include a hook to generate store traffic for them. Listeners love to receive a card from their favourite morning show. Plus it gets your image, and perhaps photo of the morning show, on their mantle at Christmas. (Stations that already use our Loyalty Listener system are mailing a Christmas card to a targeted list.)
We have executed most of these promotions over the years, so call if you need more information - (905) 332-1331. |