Radio Direct Response: Direct Response Radio Advertising Agency | Blog Zone

Let’s all give thanks that November is chock-full of special days and anniversaries that could easily be used to promote your brand.

November 8th is Cook Something Bold and Pungent Day (no, really). If your brand is anything that can be used in a recipe that smells bold and pungent, this is your day! Have radio stations ask for the boldest recipes their listeners make when the weather becomes cool enough to stay home cook something hot. Stews and soups and casseroles, oh my! We can even incorporate your retail partners that are willing to show you the most support during the promotional window. Listeners can receive retailer gift cards, appliances to make cooking easier or cash to pay their heating bill this Fall.

For brands that wish to promote their “green” efforts, celebrate America Recycles Day on November 15th. Partner with radio stations to collect the most recyclable products and to promote buying products that are made with recycled material. You’ll look good and listeners who participate will win some “green” of their own – cash to put toward holiday dinners and shopping.

Here’s one for women’s sports apparel manufacturers and retailers. Have radio stations prepare women for Black Friday by awarding them your products or gift cards to purchase your products. Listeners will be encouraged to get in shape for and stay comfortable throughout the “marathon” shopping day.

Conversely, for brands that make clothing that’s great for lounging around the house, promote your products for Cyber Monday instead of Black Friday.

Whatever your brand or goal, there is a seamless way to immerse you into the programming of your consumer’s favorite radio station – on-air and online. Call us with a challenge!

Barbra Tabnick, Senior Account Manager

October is the perfect month to immerse your brand into the minds of consumers as they are settled in to their back-to-school routines and begin to plan for the holidays.

Retail brands that cater to families and the health conscious should capitalize on October being Eat Better, Eat Together Month. Radio stations could supply families with everything they need to make dinner time “family time.” Listeners who submit family pics around the dinner table or great family recipes could win a new kitchen set, cookware or a shopping spree to their favorite retailer (thus earning your brand some good brownie points in-store!).

If you’re a movie studio, TV network or popcorn brand, take advantage of this time of year as people stay in more. Have their favorite radio stations make their at-home experience that much more enjoyable by awarding them new TVs, laptops, movie and TV-series DVD collections to snuggle up to at night. Asking listeners to complete a line of famous dialogue in a movie or TV show or answer a trivia question about a main character is always fun and easy contesting for radio stations.

October 24th is National Make A Difference Day. Partner with radio stations to do some good in local communities or honor local heroes who have made a difference themselves. Rebuild a community center. Help refurbish a park. Donate to a local charity. Use the promotion for both the good of your brand and the lives of many to kick-start the gift-giving season.

Need to generate buzz and sales this October? Call us for more ideas specific to your brand.

Barbra Tabnick, Senior Account Manager

September has many dates and anniversaries around which you can promote your brand, if you spin it the right way.

Back-to-school means filling lunch boxes and searching for healthy, yet quick and convenient options for the whole family. If your brand thinks they can help busy parents ease into the school year, showcase how, using radio promotions on stations targeting your consumer and include your retail partners (we’ll even help you sell it in). Listeners can get or give advice via call-ins and station web sites on subjects such as healthy snacks, beverages and lunch combinations that save time, provide energy or save money. Award listeners with participating retailer gift cards to buy your product all year so they can see, firsthand, the benefits you claim!

Just about any radio station format is a fit for a promotion to celebrate Reunion-Planning Month. Whether it be a family reunion, or one involving friends that used to wreak havoc whenever they got together, radio stations can award listeners who call or write in with a limo and some spending cash or even airline tickets courtesy of your brand.

September 27th is Family Day. It’s all about gathering around the dinner table, at the same time, and enjoying a family meal. Whether you are a brand that can be used in meal preparation or table setting (kitchen gadgets, appliances, plates, eating utensils, etc.) or you market an ingredient in the meal itself, this is a feel-good promotion that stations will love. Have radio stations ask listeners to post pictures of family dinners or call in with their favorite family recipe to win prizes that will enhance “family time,” such as a new 3D TV, gift cards to their favorite supermarket or a new family room full of furniture.

Additional dates that are promotion-friendly:

• September 12 – Video Games Day
• September 24 – Love Note Day
• September 29 – National Women’s Health & Fitness Day

Call us for more ways we can create turnkey radio promotions that generate in-programming exposure and a great ROI!

Barbra Tabnick, Senior Account Manager

You don’t really need a good reason to create a radio promotion that will get the attention of your target consumer. You just need to craft it so stations can easily award their listeners great prizing that they want and need. Here are some ideas for August.

American pride is bigger than ever. No matter what your brand, take advantage of the fact that August is American Adventures Month, celebrating vacations right here on home soil. Have radio stations offer listeners the chance to win trips to national parks or coastal destinations to end summer on a high note.

The first week of August is Single Working Mothers Week. If you are a retailer, a brand that helps moms around the house or anything that will make a woman look or feel fabulous, why not have stations reward their single moms with your product in recognition for their hard work.

For brands targeting men, the 21st is National Men’s Grooming Day. Let radio stations either reward those who take pride in their appearance or help of those men who could use a little schooling in grooming.

Other noteworthy dates to build a promotion around include:

• August 8 – National Resurrect Romance Week
• August 15 – Best Friend’s Day and National Relaxation Day
• August 25 – Kiss-And-Make-Up Day
• August 29 – Michael Jackson’s Birthday

Barbra Tabnick, Senior Account Manager

July is one of my favorite months. Going to the beach. Taking day trips with the kids. Grilling every weekend with friends and family. It’s almost impossible to be in a bad mood.

If your brand caters to families and family activities, is useful outdoors or is considered “fun” in any way, take advantage of July by creating a radio promotion that makes listeners take notice.

July is National Grilling Month. Have radio listeners submit their family grill recipes or pictures of family BBQ’s for the chance win, well, anything cooking, grilling or outdoor entertaining related. Or, send winners on a family vacation to enjoy BBQ in the city of their choice.

July 5th is the anniversary of the Bikini debut in 1946. Rock stations could host bikini contests sponsored by your brand or create an on-air contest where listeners debate about the hottest bikini pictures ever published. Winners could get a trip to the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas for some bikini watching by the pool.

July 12th is the anniversary of the premiere of Family Feud. Have us create fun Family Feud-style questions for radio listeners where winners receive your products and services. Stations will love this turnkey promotion, which means you’ll get the in-programming exposure your brand deserves.

Finally, July 19th is National Get Out of The Doghouse Day. Stations would welcome the opportunity to help their listeners get out of a less-than-desirable situation by giving away cash or prizes from your brand to loved ones they have wronged. I mean, who could stay mad at someone that just gave you a trip, a piece of jewelry or a shopping spree!

If none of the above are of interest to you, call us for a custom-created idea.

Barbra Tabnick, Senior Account Manager

June provides many opportunities and silly anniversaries to promote your brand using cost-effective radio promotions.

For example, June is National Candy Month. Whether you are a brand made mostly of sugar or a pair of shoes that would make any woman’s mouth water, this is your opportunity to get in-programming exposure on your customer’s favorite radio station anytime during the month.

June is also Effective Communications Month. Have radio stations entice coworkers, spouses or family members to solve an issue via proper communication by offering to reward them with your product or service.

Attention all female-skewing brands! June 6th is the anniversary of the “Sex and the City” TV premiere in 1998. Show trivia is still a hot topic and a great reason to give away your brand’s hottest new products to your target consumer.

Now, for the guys. June 12th is the anniversary of baseball’s first perfect game courtesy of Lee Richmond and the Worcester Ruby Legs in 1880. Perfect game baseball trivia on Classic Rock and Sports stations could get your perfectly male-targeted product promoted and in hands of your demographic just before Father’s Day.

Other days to celebrate in June using radio promotions are:

• June 1st - National Say Something Nice Day
• June 7th - The 55th Anniversary of “The $64,000 Question” TV Premiere
• June 14th - Family History Day
• June 17th - Recess At Work Day
• June 28th - Please Take My Children To Work Day

If none of the above are of interest to you, call us for a custom-created idea.

Barbra Tabnick, Senior Account Manager

The month of May offers the obvious choices of Mothers Day and Memorial Day but if you’re looking for something a little different to promote your brand, there is no shortage of opportunities. For instance, the first two legs of the Triple Crown take place in May. The Kentucky Derby kicks it off on May 1st and is followed shortly by the Preakness Stakes on May 15th. Partner with a local radio station and have their listeners predict which horses will win, place and show in each race. The person with the most correct will win a trip to next year’s Kentucky Derby.

May is National Photo Month. Radio stations can drive listeners to their websites to submit photos where they or their family are using your product. This is a great way to combine the on-air message about your brand with a visual component. Listeners can vote to determine the best “ad” on the website. The grand prize could be a top of the line digital camera with the necessary accessories.

Christopher Columbus discovered Jamaica on May 4th, 1494. What better way to mark the occasion than to give away trips to Jamaica? This can be done on-air, online or at retail locations. Listeners are thinking about summer vacations in May, so this would be a welcome for some lucky winners.

Some other dates to keep in mind:

• May 6th - 95th Anniversary of Babe Ruth’s 1st Home Run
• May 12th - National Nightshift Workers Day
• May 31st - 20th Anniversary of the premiere of Seinfeld
• May 31st - Clint Eastwood’s 80th Birthday

Barbra Tabnick, Senior Account Manager

No matter what your brand, there are ways to promote in key markets all year long for 1/3 of the cost of a traditional media buy.

In April, for example, why not tie in with the April 2nd anniversary of the U.S. Mint? If you are a manufacturer of gum, candy, toothpaste or anything “minty,” you have a fun way to associate your brand with giving much-needed cash to radio listeners. Contesting could include trivia questions about who is on various paper bills or coins.

April is National Humor Month. Have radio stations invite listeners to call in with a joke or funny story to win your brand’s product/service. You can’t go wrong aligning your brand with making people laugh.

National Inspirational News Week begins Monday, April 19th. Allow radio stations to reward their listeners who call in with positive ways they are influencing or impacting their community. It might also help ease the post-income tax deadline headache!

More April anniversaries and notable days around which to build a promotion for your brand include:

• April 3rd - Wayne Newton’s Birthday (I smell trips to Vegas!)
• April 10th - The Beatles Break Up Anniversary
• April 12th - 21 Jump Street TV Premiere Anniversary (Johnny Depp movie library giveaways)
• April 15th - National That Sucks Day
• April 16th - National Wear Your Pajamas To Work Day
• April 22nd - Earth Day

Barbra Tabnick, Senior Account Manager

If you like fun and games as ways to chase away the blues,
Expand your brand in March and celebrate with Dr. Seuss.

If you are a family-friend brand, make March the time to rhyme and get noticed. Ask radio stations to help your brand celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday the week of March 2nd by hosting a rhyming contest. Station personalities will set the topic and ask listeners to write or call in with a Seuss-like rhyme to win your product or service. It’s great fun on-air and a spontaneous moment could erupt that can keep your brand front-and-center for the entire morning show!

That’s thing one. Here’s thing two.

March is also Women’s History Month. So why not honor the women of the past by rewarding women of the present who are making significant contributions in their community. Your brand can help fund an initiative or provide a much-needed vacation for the woman who is making it happen.

For additional ways to get your brand noticed in March (if you’re NOT green beer or an NCAA basketball bracket) call us!

Barbra Tabnick, Senior Account Manager

While the month of February is mostly about love and hearts and the like, there are a few other anniversaries and special days with which you can align your brand, should you be looking for something different.

February 3rd is known as The Day The Music Died. Not only did Charles Hardin “Buddy” Holly die in that fateful plane crash, J.P. Richardson (“The Big Bopper”) and young Richie Valens did as well. In honor of their memory, why not give radio stations targeting your customer the gift of music to for their listeners. The new 5G iPod Nano with FM Tuner, trips to see an artist in concert with a meet-and-greet, gift cards to buy music online, etc.

Did you know that February 6th – 12th is Dump Your “Significant Jerk” Week? You may not be foolish enough to have one, but you probably know someone who needs to “take out the garbage.” Be the brand that empowers and rewards people to do what they know is best by giving them a trip to help forget about him or her, cash for a new wardrobe to start fresh, etc.

To celebrate Presidents’ Day (all week long), award radio listeners with “dead Presidents” or family trips to Washington, DC if they can answer trivia about past Presidents. A no-brainer for any brand or radio station.

If your brand is looking to break through the clutter of Valentine’s Day this February, call us for more cost-effective promotional ideas!

Barbra Tabnick, Senior Account Manager