THE PRICE OF GAS Chris Byrnes – ByrnesMedia With a barrel of oil set to surpass $150 and predictions of Canadians paying $2.00 per litre at the pumps within the next few months, consumers are getting serious about finding ways to make the gas go further. Sales of the big gas-guzzlers are down as much as 15% and more people are looking at downsizing their vehicle or taking public transport. These days, I suspect we all look at the price on the sign as we approach a gas station and decide if we’ll stop and top up or risk driving a little further. With all this top of mind for the average listener, what is your radio station doing to make their lives easier? Here are some practical suggestions:
Infomercials: Create a series of info-commercials, sponsored by a client, offering practical ideas on how to save gas or make the average vehicle more fuel-efficient. Be cautious, as there are lots of websites offering bogus information. Here are a couple of sites to check out: http://www.wikihow.com/Save-Money-on-Gas and www.howtoadvice.com/savinggas
Sell Campaigns To Non-Traditional Clients: What a great way to get non-traditional advertisers on radio. Research indicates that people will not be flying as much or driving as far to go on vacation this summer, so talk to all your local accommodation and tourist attractions and help them sell their inventory via well-targeted local radio campaigns. American tourism is down 68% in the past 5 years, so local tourism operators now need to rely more and more on Canadians for survival.
Sell Campaigns To The Obvious Clients: Go to the car dealers and help them promote their fuel efficient or hybrid vehicles via solid flights of 30 second radio spots. The same applies to the after car market, so go after the tune-up shops and the parts departments offering after market goodies or additives that save fuel. Talk to all the businesses which offer free home delivery and help them grow their business. I suspect the first supermarket to offer on-line purchasing and free home delivery will also enjoy increased revenues.
News: Seek out and air appropriate stories that focus on conserving fuel or new technologies. For example, BMW has offered hydrogen powered cars for many years in Europe and hydrogen fuelling stations are becoming more common. BMW now sells the 7 series car with the hydrogen engine in the U.S. The Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, promoted this at the 2008 LA Auto Show, four years after the first hydrogen fuelling station appeared at LAX. Today there are 40 such stations across California. Another story we hear very little about are all the alternative powered vehicles and fuelling systems that are becoming more common in England and South America.
Use Your Website More Effectively: Aside from the obvious of posting practical gas saving tips on your website, sell space on your site to gas stations and allow them to update their gas prices on your website. Consider creating a car-pooling page on your site so listeners who commute some distance to work can share the costs.
Go Green: Take a look at your station promotional vehicles. Are they big gas guzzlers? If so, consider trading them in for a fleet of Smart cars or put some hybrids on the road. Owning the “green” position in your market, both on and off the air, sends a positive message and will help you grow audience and save some money over the long term.
Give Away Gas: This is a no-brainer, but giving away items that are highly sought after will always attract attention and increased tuning. So sell a promotion to a local gas station chain and run one of the many radio-friendly gas giveaway promotions. “Free Fuel Fridays” works well and drives lots of tuning to an important day of the week. Be the first radio station in your market to become famous for giving away gas and do it until this is no longer a hot item.
Improve The Product: Last but not least look at all your programming elements, given that people are less likely to be driving for their entertainment in the future. Nights may become an important day-part once again and create an opportunity to attract listeners back to the radio.
Conclusion: Here is an opportunity to act quickly and be a little creative both on and off the air to generate awareness and interest in your radio station, while at the same time offering tangible benefits for your listeners and advertisers. By the way, this article was written on an Airbus A319 which consumes approx 4,128 pounds of fuel per hour, but at least I’m sharing the ride and am not the sole occupant! |