TVR 070 Class Notes

Unit #12, Promotional Materials.

Promotion is used to enhance the audience and sales of the station/network/service, etc. It can be divided into those two areas, audience and sales promotion.

Audience Promotion:

We want to increase our audience, while holding on to our loyal listeners/viewers. We must therefore use both our own system and other media to mount an effective radio/TV/cable promotion.

Some techniques include:

  • Off Air

    l. Outdoor (billboards, bumper stickers, etc.).

    2. Sister media (radio, TV, cable, the Web, and regional magazines).

    3. Entertainment booking.

    4. Personal appearances. IMPORTANT.

    5. Good PR.

  • On Air

    l. Promotional announcements (promos).

    2. IDs, bumpers and teasers.

    3. Public service.

    Sales Promotion:

    Aimed at potential advertisers. Some is on air, but most is conducted elsewhere, particularly through print ads in trade publications. Not a focus for this course.

    Challenges for Specific Media:

  • Radio.

    1. Need to personalize station and differentiate it from competition.

    2. Use limited television and cable ads to help accomplish this.

    3. Make very effective use of the Web to connect their listeners with their personalities, their advertisers and critical information.

  • Television.

    1. While networks help their affiliates promote the network lineup, TV stations need to personalize their local programming and personalities much as radio stations do.

    2. TV stations often advertise on radio during evening drive to promote evening programming.

    3. TV Guide and its local equivalents are a major part of promoting a television station's programming.

    4. TV stations are beginning to use the Web effectively to give "added value" to their on-air programming.

  • Cable/Satellite.

    1. Cable systems and satellite services are marketing themselves aggressively in today's competitive environment.

    2. Cable emphasizes local stations and local programming services.

    3. Satellite services are beginning to offer local stations, but they tend to emphasize lower cost.

    4. Both cable and satellite services advertise heavily on broadcast TV to gain access to their competitor's audience.

  • The Web.

    1. Web sites associated with traditional mass media systems are heavily promoted on those systems.

    2. Web sites are also promoted through pop-ups and click-throughs on related Web sites.

    3. Since Web sites are frequently found through search engines, Meta Tags and other techniques are used by skilled Web designers to increase search engine hits.

    Writing Promotional Materials:

    1. Radio and television promotional announcements (promos) are essentially commercials for the station or network's own programs and are written following the same style and technique already covered. Motivational appeals are just as important for promos as for any other type of advertisement.

    2. Print ads are written in collaboration with an art director who will handle the layout. Some television stations offer print services to their advertising clients, producing both ads and brochures, so desktop publishing skills are a helpful adjunct to writing skill when seeking a job in the electronic media.

    3. Writing for the Web is usually part of Web design. Modern, graphic-intensive Web sites are almost always created using a programming package like Macromedia's Dreamweaver. The example in the text is rather dated. For examples of contemporary mass media Web sites, check out:

    WMMR-FM
    WZZO-FM
    WCAU-TV 10




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