Planning A Stunt? Start By Learning PR

I love perusing radio trades and seeing that an A&O&B client is doing something clever.

Communicating via the trades is very a nice thing to do, sharing your idea withe rest of us in your business (and perhaps it also serves to demoralize your competition when they see your name accomplishing something you know they wish they had thought of first).

Of course, the real folks you want to impact with your stunt - potential new cume and also your current core audience - don't read the radio trades, so it's even more important that your great idea creates word of mouth advertising among your local target.

What TV news, if any, do they watch?  What else do they read?  Which social networks are best at touching them?

Each of those things has a gatekeeper.  Do you know who that is?  More importantly, do they know who you are?

Before you start your stunt planning on the air, create a series of press releases for each stage of it.  Then, reach out to the local people who are most likely to cover things local radio stations do.  Even with these individuals, they are more likely to give you the coverage you want if they feel like they are scooping their competition, so you'll want to decide in advance which people to "leak" your story to and which ones will use it if they simply get the same press release everyone else does.

That's publicity 101, and if your stunt is something that you want maximum exposure for, you may want to hire a pro, a local press agent with a track record of getting things lots of ink and buzz.  If you don't know who that is, you're not ready to distribute your first release yet.

Talk to a ad agency your trust.  Do some homework.  Find out how other radio-oriented stories getting the kind of coverage you covet were delivered and by whom.

Once you know that and have decided whether you need to hire someone or just want to try doing it yourself, you're ready to hit the send button on that initial PR email to your list.

After the release goes out, it's time to really study who picks it up, which angle they use and how well your story did.  That way, when it's time to send out your next press release you will have the tools to kick it up a notch.

Take the people who used your story to lunch.  Sure, this will give you a chance to do some more personal PR and give them an inside view at your show and station, but  it is also time to listen to them and find out what they would do differently next time so that your story gets more prominent coverage in their medium.

Make a list of people who didn't use your story but who do sometimes cover other radio station events and stories.  Take them to lunch next.  Listen more than talk.  How do they perceive you?  What can you do to get them to cover your story next time?

This is an ongoing process, a part of daily show prep.  It's what the radio stations and people whose names you see in print have learned and do better than you do.  Get your competitive juices flowing and just as you do with every break on radio, strive to make the content you create as well as the PR you do to support it the very best.

Stunting For Fun And Profit

Horror of horrors!

• Ellen’s Oscar Selfie Was Part of a $20 Million Samsung Ad Buy With ABC!
• Clear Channel owns the outdoor company putting up those "go away Bobby Bones" posters!
• If you're going to claim you had nothing to do with the write-in campaign that elected you (!), I hope you make us proud and serve your term honorably 
• Pharrell Williams is "Happy" about his ten new tracks in iTunes, the ten million YouTube views of it and the ad Google runs before you get to watch it! (thanks Don Anthony for the links)
• Seems like even the venerable BBC is getting into the stunting for publicity game!

... and, like Captain Renault: I'm shocked, shocked!  Imagine that!  Broadcasters and entertainers making plans to profit from stunting!

Jaye's axiom of stunting:  the more you play with and deceive us, the more often you had better really entertain us too.

Ellen’s Oscar Selfie Was Part of a $20 Million Samsung Ad Buy With ABC

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Avoiding BEING An April Fool

Every radio station has a great April Fool prank story.  (click to hear a great one (mp3) from Chris Reiser)

One of my all time favorites (click for a montage mp3) was performed a few years ago by Nanaimo's 102.3 FM The WAVE and was the result of considerable planning, even involving advance conspiracy by city officials.  And, as with any great radio bit, it also involved a replay and reaction element for the "day after" (click to hear that mp3)

Another tradition:  Broadcast attorney David Oxenford's seemingly annual blog cautioning against hoaxes. 

In 2011, he wrote:  "...have fun, but think through your April Fools gags carefully.  Don't do anything that could make you look like a fool after the April 1 has come and gone.

Last year:  "While a little fun is OK, remember that the FCC does have a rule against on-air hoaxes - and, of any day in the year, April 1 is the day that the broadcaster is most at risk."

I'm sure that another one is coming any day now.  Don't make it be about you.

Before You Try To Take Concert Visibility From A Heaitage Leader

Go big, but good legal advice and insurance is worth the money. The small amount of money you'll spend having attorneys review things beforehand and informing your business insurance agent and/or corporate is money well-spent. You will want to KNOW that you are on solid ground when the competition goes to the promoter, the venue and the police, scrambling to shut you down.

Focus on beating yourself, not the other guys. Brainstorm for your pre-show concert, walk chalk, banners, logo projector, stage signage, mascot, inflatables and everything that might be available to you, but only minutely consider reaction from the other radio stations.

You, first and foremost just want to do the best job for the artists' fans that you can so that they have a great experience and associate your brand with that.

Advertisers notice well-done station marketing. Of you look like a class act, long-time clients of other stations in the market may move ad dollars to you, since they see from the size or your crowd that although Arbitron/Nielsen/BBM may not yet fully reflect it, the country audience is much more active for you than "them."

You may get an immediate financial payoff from doing this "programming" promotion, but NOT if you come off like aggressive, offensive jerks.

...and last but not least...

Big things only happen with teamwork. It will take everyone in your building to pull off a major street event/promotional coup, including personnel from all of your radio stations.

If you're going to attack a well-defended hill, bring lots of troops!

And, besides, it builds morale when everyone feels that they personally contributed to a big win at an important time.

The Immense Power Of Buzz

147, 262 and counting.

Need I say more?

When is the last time you did something to make a statement that 147,000 people noticed and wanted to support your efforts in under 24 hours?

Stand for something meaningful.
Be who you are.
Act on your beliefs.
Do it in a big way.
Show courage.
Take responsibility.
And, unlike Steven, try to keep it legal.

April Fool!

As Tom Taylor reminded us all this morning:

"Successful April 1 stunts leave everybody feeling good. Bad ones leave local cops unhappy and some aggrieved citizen writing the FCC about the “hoax rule.” Radio’s gotten egg on its face many times for half-baked ideas that sounded great in the studio, but which had disastrous consequences out in the real world."

Last year, Dave Pettitt and his Island Radio/Nanaimo team orchestrated what I think may be one of the best executed community deceptions I have ever heard. The key: they had all local officials not only informed at the planning stage, but also got them to help pull it off.

"When listeners called our "City Hotline" they received a message from Kim and myself. People still stop us and tell they were had. It was a pretty successful April Fools Joke."

Day #1: a planted news story, based on fact, but with a silly local angle.
Day #2: (April Fools Day): The story becomes the day's topical talk-about (click to listen)
Day #3: (click to listen) Listeners react to be sure everyone knows it was all in fun.

That's a textbook case of how it's done! What are you planning?

A Cautionary Tale

(click here to read the entire story) A former KVI-AM, Seattle promotions coordinator was charged Tuesday with first-degree theft for allegedly rigging a radio contest to pocket some of the winnings, and 14 others allegedly involved in the scam were charged with second-degree theft.

Yes, it's illegal. Of course, it's illegal. But, worse, do you want to see your name (and probably your face too) on TV, on competing radio stations, in the papers?

There's a word for this: S-T-U-P-I-D. Enough stupid to go around, from the top down.

The Kind Of Web Page No Radio Station Likes To Create

Clear Channel's B93/Grand Rapids is handling the aftermath of last week's flood at their 17th annual birthday bash is as professional and open way as you'd expect from a great radio station.

Meanwhile, their listeners - even ones whose cars may be a total loss - appear to be holding the station harmless, by and large.

Ionia Public Safety Department was to have contacted even more on Saturday evening in hopes of moving more on Sunday, said Tim Feagan, vice president and market manager for Clear Channel West Michigan, the company that owns WBCT-FM (B-93).

"We're ramping it up, and we're going to call more than 200 today," he said. "It's working pretty smoothly."

Feagan, who helped put on the first Birthday Bash, said Clear Channel hadn't yet decided if there will be an 18th Birthday Bash next year. Weather permitting, he estimates they'll be done removing cars Thursday.

Zienert said she and Pace enjoyed this year's show, at least until the rains came down.

"I wouldn't think twice about coming back," she said.

It's all a great reminder: any time you contemplate a stunt or an event, make the first call to your liability insurance agent. Adding a short-term rider to your business insurance policy is a small price to pay, letting you sleep at night in case something horrible like this ever happens to your station.

Why Do Stunts?

1. Last Friday, Z103.5, Halifax announced the lineup for their annual Summer Rush Concert and they decided to give away a pair of tickets to the show by doing something stupid. Morning Show Host Jeff Cogswell was dragged up to the top of Citadel Hill, wrapped in bubble wrap, and then was rolled to the bottom. That's when Halifax Regional Police arrived to arrest Jeff for violating a federal land statute (click to watch it).

2. The majority of college students live on a fixed budget, but the demographic is a highly targeted, desirable audience. Except in Amsterdam, where advertisers have found it difficult marketing to students on Dutch campuses and universities. They created a campaign for CoffeeCompany that infiltrated campuses and rewarded students with free coffee if they did something that might hurt their grades. (Read Amy Corr's Media Post take on the tactic)

3. Sprite is hoping that Europeans who see green will think of their product.

4. Meanwhile, the most successful world-wide stunt of the last week, Susan Boyle acting as a parable demonstrates our hunger for Mighty Metaphors according to Kendall Allen.

I don't know that every stunt has to be an uplifting reinforcement of all the good things that hopes and dreams of everyday people represent, but I do know that a stunt where no one thought to get a permit or chose to defy the law and ends in an arrest sends the wrong message about the product it was supposed to make more memorable.

"Country Sunshine" = Country Radio Four Decades In Front Of A "New" Trend

Forty years ago, country radio grappled with the issue of whether to play overt product plugs in songs (and we did, as long as the song was a hit).

Of course, it's nothing new for an established hit to be used in commercials when marketers found them to be perfect for their 30-second spot.

Next, came grey-area additions, like Fergie’s “Labels Or Love,” a track commissioned specifically for the Sex and the City movie.

Now, there’s Chris Brown’s “Forever,” which isn’t so much a Top 10 hit as it is a commercial for Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. that just happened to sneak its way onto the radio. And only now is Wrigley owning up to it.

"Reality TV should mean informing viewers about who is secretly pitching to them in the TV shows they are watching," said FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein. "The true reality is that news and entertainment alike are practically being turned into undisclosed commercials. Many current practices fly in the face of viewers' legal right to know who is pitching to them."

From that same item: "...some may argue that the current FCC rules that require some disclosure of product placement tactics are weak; decisions are left to the "reasonable, good faith judgment" of the broadcaster."

I don't do legal advice, but it seems to me that attempts to regulate this not-so-new trend are on pretty shaky ground, but just to be safe, music directors, you'd be wise to listen extra closely to lyrics - for what might be between the lines.

Listeners Blame Both The Contestant And The Station

What to do in the wake of the terrible Jennifer Strange/Entercom-Sacramento tragedy?

For the majority of us - the bystanders and witnesses, fortunately the answer is of course to have sympathy for all involved and resolve now to learn from the incident.

* A Sacremento TV station's web poll show that only one in four people feel like the safety of promotions is the contestant's responsibility...
* A "MAC" forum's users wonder why the station didn't have medical attention for all contestants...

Sure, I've done stunts, and I am sure you have too, so there's more than a little bit of "there but for the Grace of God go I" in my mind as I read these accounts and reactions.

Let's add one more resolution to our list for '007: as we all plan and organize stunts it's mandatory to get legal advice in advance, liability insurance riders of course, but even more importantly think through all of the potential risks, understanding that the only good stunt is one which resonates with the values of the target listener. Safety and security is paramount.