Hey, everybody! It's resident blogger and human resources extraordinaire Jacque Jo. :)So, I'm always on the lookout for good ideas.
Saturday night in my hometown (well, kinda hometown) I saw one.
See that thing to the right?
That's a Moondog bobblehead doll.
Moondog's a bit of a Wheeling, W.Va., legend. Moondog, whose legal name is Charles Waldrum, is just one of those city characters. An urban legend in his own right. Moondog cruises the streets of Wheeling on his bike (completely adorned with more than 20 flags flying in the back) and his miner's helmet. For as long as I can remember, he always rode his bike at the end of every parade in Wheeling.
On Saturday night, the Wheeling Nailers, an East Coast Hockey League team, had "Moondog Bobblehead Night."
Here's the deal ... The first 2,500 fans got their own doll.
We have one at our house now.
Here's why it's noteworthy:
The Nailers, while being an average team, barely draw 2,000 fans a game. The attendance at home games has been on the decline since the early 1990s when the team first came to town. Despite being an affiliate of a successful NHL franchise -- the nearby Pittsburgh Penguins -- nobody fills WesBanco arena when the home team plays.
I'm a huge minor league sports fan, so I go every chance I get. On Saturday night as we got to Wheeling, I let my sister and B-Dub off in front of the Wheeling Civic Center where the line stretched a half-mile down the street more than two hours before faceoff.
I literally couldn't believe what I was seeing. Not since the glory days of Wheeling hockey -- and trust me, those are long ago -- have I seen a crowd like this. As we took our seats close to the ice, I told B-Dub that I honestly couldn't remember seeing a crowd like this in 10 years. I also said, "Holy hell, their marketing department has a freakin' slam dunk with this promotion."
In total, 5,131 people showed up Saturday night for the game and the chance to get a Moondog bobblehead. Only half of us went home with one, but the real winner is the Nailers who drew in more people in one night than they had in years.
What are you doing to market your show?
Not even just your show ... but TalkRadioX?
Imagine if you could come up with ONE thing that totally launched you into a realm you hadn't ever seen before. Maybe it something sitting right in front of you ... something that's always been there. In the Wheeling Nailers' case, it was a guy who's been there longer than the team.
Maybe thinking outside the box would do us all good, so let's use each other to brainstorm. I know I could always do a better job as a show host marketing our show and I love thinking of new ways to expand TalkRadioX's audience.
So, I'm curious ... let's hear it!
5 comments:
As far as we go, our time working is most spent on marketing and promotions. Frank does alot of the show planning and setting up, but at all times I am looking for advertising opportunities. Because you never know when you will hit the right note with someone. We've been fortunate enough to have some great people grace our program and with that comes marketing benefits. As we've recently mentioned on the show, the JM Show is in an ad in Star Trek & Sci-Fi Magazine. This was only possible because of the strong connections we've made. And we always keep the station in each promotion. Its easy to think about only focusing on the good of the show. But it will be a long road to no where if we all did that. My rule is: Anywhere the show name is, the station name is also.
Well we're just like everyone else in that we have the typical myspace page and we're listed on every podcast directory known to man. I guess the things we've done outside the box would be the live show in Mardi Gras this year, where we threw out about 1000 sets of beads (and our arms in the process), gave away t-shirts and teddy bears, etc. I know the numbers I have access to on the podcast side sure grew after that. And I've always believed that no pub is bad pub, so I've taken interview opportunities in small regional publications, such as the Pardon Punk Zine in Australia, and believe it or not that has led to many listeners from the land down under (where woman glow and men plunder....you know you love that song). Anyhoo, we're always looking for new opportunities to spread the TRX and Dr. Rock love, so maybe a Terry Two Balls bobblehead should be in the works. :)
Dr. Rock ... I will SO give you a site where you can build Terry Two Balls bobbleheads!
Oh, and you seemed to have forgotten my beads, sir!
James -- great idea. I've been looking at some random places I can put the station name out there. The magazine idea is FANTASTIC.
I'm much more apt to promote the station as a whole rather than just my show. It only helps all of us in the long run, you're right! :)
I'll do just about anything I can. Con people into doing a blog, creating a semi-offensive podcast, whatever it takes.
I've read some interesting ideas on cheap marketing. One thing I read that I've yet to do is head to some colleges with flyers. One book said that laundromats near a college campus is the place to go.
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