B105, Cincinnati, Who’s Brad?
Here’s a clever way for a show to give out Brad Paisley tickets. The Big Dave Show, B105, Cincinnati is very strategic. Wanting to tap into the market’s biggest country concert that weekend, they gave them out by playing a fun game called “Who’s Brad?” Here are all the wins in this break posted below: they re-lyriced Michael Jackson’s “Who’s Bad” for a production value (this signals to the audience the fun that is about to happen). Then, they note to the audience not only the Brad Paisley concert, but that Chelsie on the show has a husband named Brad, too. The listener has to determine if the short statement applies to Brad Paisley or Chelsie’s husband, so we get character development out of this, as well. The production value is silly, the clues are short, and the game is efficient so people can play along in the car. Here’s both the set-up solicitation and the actual execution. An all-around A+ idea.
One more Mother’s Day post? Pointing very successfully to it’s what you do with the topic that matters, The Josie Dye Show, Indie 88, Toronto, did something special for Mother’s Day. They actually did two things, as demonstrated in these breaks. Josie’s mom (completely unversed in radio) hosted the show in place of her daughter. Josie was still there, guiding mom through anchoring the show (this was on purpose so we still had her). It was unrehearsed and more fun because of that. Then, in two other breaks on the show, co-hosts Matt and Carlin were required to call their moms on-the-air and apologize for something that happened when they were a kid. These stories, and this dynamic, created memorable and fun radio – proving again that if you do something unique with the topic, it gets remembered.
There are so many angles for a holiday like Mother’s Day for the average show. At Spencer’s Neighborhood, 106.5, The Arch, St. Louis, the team found out that Brando bought his mother concert tickets for the evening and his sister was upset because she wanted to take mom to dinner with the family. Spencer sees fun conflict here. The show did two breaks where they got the sister on to help Brando tell the story (another chance to stir the pot), followed by another break with Brando, his sister, and their mother, to ask her which of the two she wanted to do. The team made her choose between Brando and his sister’s gifts! There are a few things to learn in the execution of these breaks. First, listen to how quickly at the beginning of the break they set (and reset) the storyline. They waste no time in enrolling the audience in what’s going on, especially those who didn’t know about it. Then, they quickly got to the relatives to help tell the story, thus putting another element in each break to get emotion, perspective, and entertainment. Finally, the team gives you a reason to stay tuned or come back to the show at the end of each break, teasing the audience forward for another occasion.