Posted by chicagomedia.org on September 17, 2008 at 22:23:09:
AUSTIN -- The swine in question never had it so good, as R&R's Keith Berman assembled a talented team of programming and marketing minds to kick off R&R '08 here Wednesday morning for the AC/Hot AC session. Kurt Johnson of CBS/Dallas, Mary Ellen Kachinske of WTMX/Chicago, Paige Nienaber of C.P.R., Bob Neumann of WRMF/West Palm Beach, Don Kelley of WMJX/Boston and TJ Holland of WRRM/Cincinnati all showed how they creatively tackled promotional lemons and turned them into lemonade for fun and profit.
Naturally, many war stories were shared about previous promotions gone wrong. Johnson recalls one such magical evening many years ago in Madison, where he somehow got roped into "Outrageous Night," where people did dumb stuff like "guys sticking their tongues into table fans," he says. "One guy painted a target on his chest and had people whip apples at him as hard as they could, and yes, he sustained injuries." You guessed it: The local paper and TV stations somehow got the call letters correct -- for once.
Kelley recalls the marketing geniuses at Armour, the hot dog folks, introducing their new kielbasa by inviting listeners to submit "kielbasa poems." Said Kelley, "Nobody wants to hear a kielbasa poem, and, besides, nothing rhymes with 'kielbasa.'"
The panel also discussed the slippery slope of jock endorsements, navigating the eternally uneasy marriage between programming and sales, how to use the Web site for more than a promotional dumping ground, and the dangers of the dreaded "unsolicited DJ chatter."
Bob Neumann mentioned, and they all agreed, it's vital to bring the salespeople in to meet with all department heads and attend the promotions meetings in order to truly see how things work, which will prevent -- or at least cut down on -- bad promotions being brought to the table.
On the subject of jock endorsements, all agreed that moderation was the key to preserving credibility. Kachinske brought up an example of an unnamed female personality in the market who was simultaneously endorsing Nutisystem, Lasix eye surgery and a laser hair-removal place. "All I could think was, 'This poor fat blind, hairy girl ... but I'm sure she's a lovely person.'"
(R&R)