My entry for the month is a winner promo for an $18,000 car giveaway we had. As usual, I was faced with the dilemma of less than a minute of absolutely pitiful tape from an incredibly apathetic sounding winner. I chose to poke a bit of fun at the guy. I'd love to hear what others do with blasé' winners!
...As Production Director for an A/C station, I would like to en-courage more Cassette entries from similar "softer" formats. I sure look forward to the magazine and The Cassette every month. Now that I've found you guys, you bet I'm gonna make sure the Program Director has it in his budget every year!
Lori McTighe
WRAL-FM, Raleigh, NC
Dear Lori,
Your promo is superb! It's our pleasure to have it on this month's Cassette. Regarding more entries from other A/C stations, we'll let your letter do the asking.
Enclosed is my submission for the Cassette. WTIC/AM1080 is a full-service A/C station. Our demo is 35-64, yet we're relatively hip for an upper demo station. No, you won't hear much sampler "stuttering," nor a lot of growling and double entendre. What we do is try to use the tried and true "theatre of the mind" to catch the listener's attention.
Research shows that as people grow older, they desire more information when making a decision to purchase something; and they want it presented in a simple, uncluttered, yet entertaining manner. In other words, "Don't B.S. me, just tell me what you want me to know. Tell me a story." This applies not only to how we sell client's products and services through advertising, but how we sell our format's services through promos.
I'd love to hear more examples of production from upper demo A/C stations. With a 15.5 in the summer book in the 40th radio market, WTIC/AM1080 is proving AM radio is not dead and neither is the sense of humor of people over 35. It's just not Mad Magazine or the National Lampoon humor. It's more like "Life in These United States" in Reader's Digest.
Peter Drew
WTIC/AM1080, Hartford, CT
Dear Peter,
Ditto our response to Lori's letter above, and thanks for the food for thought! Keep up the INCREDIBLE numbers at WTIC!
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