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Q100 ruins morning commute
- Thread starter jal41
- Start date
A
andyfrom88
Guest
One of the many benefits of living ITP and working ITP. 
I have to be honest, this is a screw-up, both by Six Flags and Q100.
Since I did radio and TV promotion for ten years, I have some room to comment.....
This area has seen unregulated freebies (and some regulated ones) backfire.
Does anyone remember the Wendy's/Airtran promotion?
What about the 96Rock car giveaway involving Six Flags?
For that matter, the Star94 Live in it and Win car giveaway that would not stop?
With a few changes, this could have been a <MUCH> more organized promotion.
For instance, instead of throwing open the gates, print up a certain number of tickets to get into the park between 6a and 9a that day. Give them away everywhere until they are gone! No ticket, no entrance (or buy one).
Any event like this should be treated as a VIP event, right down to access for the event.
Sorry, but someone should have seen this coming!
Since I did radio and TV promotion for ten years, I have some room to comment.....
This area has seen unregulated freebies (and some regulated ones) backfire.
Does anyone remember the Wendy's/Airtran promotion?
What about the 96Rock car giveaway involving Six Flags?
For that matter, the Star94 Live in it and Win car giveaway that would not stop?
With a few changes, this could have been a <MUCH> more organized promotion.
For instance, instead of throwing open the gates, print up a certain number of tickets to get into the park between 6a and 9a that day. Give them away everywhere until they are gone! No ticket, no entrance (or buy one).
Any event like this should be treated as a VIP event, right down to access for the event.
Sorry, but someone should have seen this coming!
Here is link to AJC report on this:
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2007/04/05/0405metsixflags.html
Also, as reported, they would not let anyone in unless you were in a car and parking in Six Flags' lot. Six Flags was probably trying to get some money from parking since they were not getting from entrance revenue. If you were dropped off, you could not get in.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2007/04/05/0405metsixflags.html
Also, as reported, they would not let anyone in unless you were in a car and parking in Six Flags' lot. Six Flags was probably trying to get some money from parking since they were not getting from entrance revenue. If you were dropped off, you could not get in.
N
nativeatlanta
Guest
What the hell was Bert thinking? I see some lawsuits rising out of this.
R
radioriot7
Guest
nativeatlanta said:
Amazing the stupid things people say here! Lawsuits? For what? A promotion that was SO successful it caused traffic problems - BIG DEAL - we deal with it everyday in Atlanta. It was a great way to kickoff the first day of the Spring Book - and debut a new midday jock. The station is firing on a cylinders and people love to hate that.
Star wishes they could get the city talking about ANYTHING! Even V103 jumped on this promotion and told their listeners to take advantage - and yes that made it even bigger.
The only problem I can see is the TV news folks were onto it tonight, and most referred to 'A local radio station'. Much better if they put the call or tag in the news story. The whole idea of promotions is to draw a crowd. Which they surely did.
T
tcsnrayp
Guest
Excellent promotion. TV news hates radio. But in this case all of the Q listeners--as well as their key demos who don't listen--will know who made the big splash. Success.
C
Clark2
Guest
I didn't realize that ticking off thousands of your own listeners was something to be filed under the "success" column.
T
tcsnrayp
Guest
Clark2 said:
Oh, I guess I didn't realize you didn't know what constitutes a successful radio promotion. Sorry.
C
Clark2
Guest
Lighten up, Francis. You're taking yourself way too seriously.
By the way, apology accepted.
By the way, apology accepted.
The national news picked it up, and mentioned Six Flags by name. The folks commuting between Douglasville and Atlanta may have been inconvenienced (even more than usual) for one day, but at the beginning of their big season, Six Flags has put their name in the minds of people across America. "Any PR is good PR."
"Any PR is good PR."
[/quote]
You mean like the kind of PR Firestone got when their SUV tires kept blowing out?
Or the kind of PR ConAgra is getting from their Peter Pan peanut butter?
Q 100 screwed up. Getting a city furious with you is not the kind of PR you seek out.
[/quote]
You mean like the kind of PR Firestone got when their SUV tires kept blowing out?
Or the kind of PR ConAgra is getting from their Peter Pan peanut butter?
Q 100 screwed up. Getting a city furious with you is not the kind of PR you seek out.
Yep. In the long run, neither Firestone nor Peter Pan will be hurt by those problems. Sure, sales are down for awhile, but big companies can recover from those things. Tylenol is still selling well after the cyanide scare of the '80s.
Besides... the quote was in regards to Six Flags, not tires, peanut butter or pills.
People are tuning into Q-100 to see what's going on. Sure, they aren't making a whole lot of folks happy by jamming up I-20, but people are tuning in. Just for the record, I don't think that's the best way to gain listeners. I'm not condoning that type of stunt, but it worked. The big drawback... will they get a fine? Some stations view fines as the cost of doing business. They don't usually think about the consequences until license renewal time. It will be back to business as usual this week at the Q.
Also, Six Flags has had benefits from this stunt. After hitting the national news, people across America have seen images of folks flocking into one of their parks. The residents of the other cities with Six Flags parks haven't been inconvenienced. It's the beginning of the season, and it's time to get your season pass. I bet sales are up this year. Even one day pass sales count. They also charged a lot of folks for parking that day, as well as selling concessions and souvenirs to a full park.
When I was a teen, I had a Six Flags season pass. I could have cared less that my dad was late for work one day. If I had seen that on TV or heard about it on the radio, I would have been intrigued as to why so many people were interested in going.
Shame on you Q, and shame on you Six Flags. You have played your hand. only time will tell how well it has paid off... But I think it has.
Besides... the quote was in regards to Six Flags, not tires, peanut butter or pills.
People are tuning into Q-100 to see what's going on. Sure, they aren't making a whole lot of folks happy by jamming up I-20, but people are tuning in. Just for the record, I don't think that's the best way to gain listeners. I'm not condoning that type of stunt, but it worked. The big drawback... will they get a fine? Some stations view fines as the cost of doing business. They don't usually think about the consequences until license renewal time. It will be back to business as usual this week at the Q.
Also, Six Flags has had benefits from this stunt. After hitting the national news, people across America have seen images of folks flocking into one of their parks. The residents of the other cities with Six Flags parks haven't been inconvenienced. It's the beginning of the season, and it's time to get your season pass. I bet sales are up this year. Even one day pass sales count. They also charged a lot of folks for parking that day, as well as selling concessions and souvenirs to a full park.
When I was a teen, I had a Six Flags season pass. I could have cared less that my dad was late for work one day. If I had seen that on TV or heard about it on the radio, I would have been intrigued as to why so many people were interested in going.
Shame on you Q, and shame on you Six Flags. You have played your hand. only time will tell how well it has paid off... But I think it has.
There is a big difference between a promotion where people are inconvenienced and, say, a promotion where someone is hurt or killed. If you are in the camp that believes that the Q100/Six Flags promotion was bad for the station you have absolutely no knowledge of the radio business. And it's not even worth trying to explain why. You just don't get it.
O
Old School
Guest
As stated before, it seems to me the "promotion" itself was a success. But now is the time for the station to advance the promotion through a little public relations. Unfortunately for Q100, that chance has probably already passed them by.
I believe there's power in a well-crafted statement about something that has gone awry.
If management had come out and stated something like, "We regret that the success of this promotion simultaneously caused problems for some residents of our area. That was not our intent. However, we believe this truly demonstrates the popularity of one of our city's major attractions. And are these attractions what make Atlanta such a wonderful city in which to work and live..."
Next thing you know, the guy is running for mayor.
OS
I believe there's power in a well-crafted statement about something that has gone awry.
If management had come out and stated something like, "We regret that the success of this promotion simultaneously caused problems for some residents of our area. That was not our intent. However, we believe this truly demonstrates the popularity of one of our city's major attractions. And are these attractions what make Atlanta such a wonderful city in which to work and live..."
Next thing you know, the guy is running for mayor.
OS
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