Hi All - New to radio, and new to my station. We're in a smaller market, but we have a very high income per household and a number of the big box places within 10 miles. Since I'm the new guy, I've got nothing but cold calling ahead. I'm just curious if any of you out there have ideas if these big box guys have money for local radio spots? We also do a bunch of high school sports, any sponsorship opportunities I can uncover would be awesome!
Matt, I'm afraid I can't help you with the first question, but as far as the high school sports sponsorships, here are three discussion threads you might like to check out:
High School Sports - Specialty Sponsorship Ideas
High School Sports - Annual Sponsorships
Hello Matt and welcome to radio! Your question is a good one and the answer (at least from my experience) is an involved one. You can certainly start by simply asking a store manager if there is a promotional or advertising budget for local radio buys and if you are super lucky... will get a yes or no answer or a yes answer with a certain set of parameters. Typcially, the answer is "you'll have to contact our corporate office because they handle all of the marketing" and then may need to deal with an ad agency. My background is in NTR (non-traditional revenue) so when I approach big boxes for radio, it's usually starts with an NTR needs analysis meeting with a regional or district manager of the store you want to work with (the higher, the better). This type of sale is way more involved than a spot buy... the turn around time is longer it usually comes with a promotion or contest or both but revenue is bigger and the exposure for the station is bigger and often I circumvent the ad agencies. If it were easy, everyone would be going after this type of money. I don't know what area of the country your from but in Ohio, I've had some success with Kroger, Meijer, Wal-Mart, IGA - the trend here...they carry food. I have found it is easier to find discretionary dollars for promoting food products than other hard goods. Usually you will need to get in contact with a DSD (Direct Store Delivery) manager who provides the soft drinks, chips, various snacks, etc. or you might talk with one or more of the food brokers the store uses that carry everything from Totinos pizza rolls to fresh fruit. Anyhow... I may have "over" answered your question but since there is LOTS more to NTR, it would probably be best to talk on the phone or via email. I'd be happy to help a new guy become specialized with NTR in their sales arsenal!
Jane - I'm in West Michigan, so Meijer is big over here. I'd love to learn more, drop me an email at [email protected] when you have a chance!
Matt .. I've been in broadcasting for over 50 years and still learning about radio daily. To try and answer your question .. most of the big box money is spent in what they call "network" sales and there is little local money. In smaller communities such as you have discribed .. go and meet the local manager .. make sure you are talking to the General Manager and not the "manager on duty". There is normally some local money the GM can spend in his/her community .. I'd focus on anything that is community oriented and especially local high school sports. There is an old saying in the sales game that basically says .. "ask and you get .. don't and you want" .. if you don't go and see the client and at some point ask them to advertise you can assure yourself they will not. Don't expect this money to be big .. normally it is $300 - $500 .. think it will depend on the value you bring to the table.
Feel free to contact me in the future.
Tom Collins
Hi Matt,
As for your "Big Box" question, the replies by Jane Kilmer and Tom Collins are highly-accurate. It's usually an involved process of national advertising: Corporate>Ad Agency>Arbitron Outlook>Purchasing Dept.., etc.,etc....However, Tom Collins is accurate in his reply of local Big Box GM's having a small local marketing budget to "play" with.
As for High School sports, this can be a real cash cow!
You mentioned being in a small market. Often, this implies being in a relitavely small town...and in small towns, High School sports are a BIG DEAL!...A REAL HOT-TICKET ITEM!!!
You asked about "sponsorship opportunities:" If you do happen to be in a small market where sports are a big event, almost any business should want to be involved because of the high frequency of "cume" listenership during the sporting events---their ads would reach masses of people who are tuned-in for hot games, etc.,etc....
Otherwise, as far as sports-oriented sponsors, please consider the following:
1.Sports gear/Clothing shops (those who carry UnderArmour,Callaway,Nike,sporting equipment,etc.,etc.)
2. ScreenPrinting businesses (these outlets often get, and WANT, contracts to design and logo the uniforms for local/regional sporting teams)
3. KEEP IT LOCAL! (look for businesses who pride themselves on being community-oriented, or businesses looking to increase their community presence.)
...Hope this helps...Good luck, and WELCOME TO RADIO!!! be BLESSED in it!
