It took only one radio station – KBZT-FM – to get the results the Gaglione Brothers needed to see their business increase substantially at their two San Diego sandwich shops. The effective use of Radio won the Gaglione Brothers and the station a 2009 EAR Award.

KBZT partnered with Lincoln Financial Media to create the spots that originally ran from September through December, and that soon began driving people into the stores. Using four different commercials that covered topics such as the pronunciation of the family name and the authenticity of their cheese steak sandwiches, the Gaglione Brothers themselves served as the talent and delivered the messages hungry people were obviously ready to hear. Read More…

Posted under Creative, EAR Award Winners

La Cocina De Mexico, Inc. was serious about reaching families, business people and future brides in the National City area when it launched its first ever radio campaign promoting Casa Del Taco. The spot was created by account executive Guillermo “Billy “Meza, and ran on XLTN Radio Latina from February to June 2008, winning a 2009 EAR Award for both the restaurant and the radio station. Read More…

Posted under Creative, EAR Award Winners

After finding tremendous success in its hair care products for animals, DC Labs listened to clients’ wishes, reformulated their product for human hair, and began creating Ovation Cell Therapy hair care products for people. The company knew it had to effectively get the word out to consumers, so they counted on radio to do the job. The incredible success of the campaign earned DC Labs and their advertising agency a 2009 EAR Award. Read More…

Posted under Creative, EAR Award Winners

From Adweek
By Mark Dolliver
June 22, 2009

NEW YORK It often seems to be a point of pride among consumers to insist they aren’t swayed by ads when deciding what to buy. As such, the findings of an AdweekMedia/Harris Poll fielded this month aren’t as dismissive of advertising as they might be. Read More…

Posted under Creative, Research

Andrea Patana, AE, KBZT; Rebecca Cantu, AE, Finest City Broadcasting; Tina Joy Pitt, Ed.D., VP of Academic Affairs, Grossmont College; Rick Griffin, Office of College & Community Relations, Grossmont College; Nina Hicks, AE, KHTS; Gina Raroque, AE, KIOZ

“Grossmont Is My College” was the title of the radio campaign that Grossmont College ran for three weeks in August 2008, and the target audience – 18 to 24 year olds – definitely got the message. The school set a new record for enrollment with 18,206 students signing up for the fall 2008 semester – at that time, the highest number in the community college’s 48-year-history. The success earned the college a 2009 EAR Award.

Jeff Anderson Consulting worked with the production team at Clear Channel Communications to produce the winning spot and guided the client in focusing nearly all of a $150-thousand budget on radio. Rick Griffin, who wrote the spot and heads the marketing team at the college, said, “We opted to spend nearly the entire amount available on radio because of its effectiveness in reaching the correct demographic audience with frequency and a targeted message.”

 

The commercial featured “students” repeating the line “Grossmont is my college” and citing the financial benefits of attending, as well as the ability to get needed classes and the option of transferring to a four-year school. By using the phrase “my college,” Grossmont took advantage of one of the key benefits of Radio advertising…the personal aspect of its communication. Most listeners expect that the ads on the station they listen to will be relevenat and directed towards them personally; the college built an additional bridge with potential students with its well writtten copy.The campaign ran on five stations geared to the college-aged crowd, and was augmented with only a few print ads and news releases in community newspapers. Grossmont was hoping to maintain its previous enrollment numbers and never expected the fantastic results.

 

Those who run Grossmont College learned a lesson with the experience.  They continued radio advertising in the first quarter of 2009.  That campaign resulted in an all-time record of 19,316 students for the spring 2009 semester – a most remarkable achievement considering the record was set with fewer classes because of state budget cuts.

The purpose of the annual SDRBA EAR (Effective Advertising on Radio) Awards is to recognize and celebrate the effective use of Radio as an advertising medium. Entries are evaluated primarily on their effectiveness and measurable results.

 

 

 

Posted under Creative, EAR Award Winners

 

Valley View Casino cashed in when it utilized on-air endorsements in its 2008 Radio campaign to successfully bring a substantial increase in clientele looking for the finer things in life. Business increased as a result and the casino won a 2009 EAR Award from the San Diego Radio Broadcasters Association due to the campaign’s success.

 

The spots, designed to differentiate Valley View from escalating competition throughout the county, painted a picture of the casino as thoroughly upscale, with world-class dining, big-name entertainment and superior service. By incorporating ad-libs into its campaign, the casino was able to utilize the next best thing to word-of-mouth advertising, as listeners have a personal one-on-one relationship with their favorite Radio personalities and trust their recommendations.

 

The casino targeted affluent new patrons in the 35+ category who expect and appreciate red-carpet treatment. In live endorsements on his morning show, KGB-FM talent Dave Rickards extolled the virtues of “The Buffet at Valley View Casino” which includes lobster and other fresh seafood every night – a menu far superior to the competition’s fare. The flexibility of the live ad-lib allowed Dave to talk about a variety of aspects of the casino as well as make easy copy changes to promote special events happening at Valley View.

 

According to Clear Channel account executive Katy Bennett, Valley View’s radio strategy netted “great results” for the casino, with the casino achieving consistent month over month database growth. What’s more, says Bennett, after a tremendous amount of growth in 2008, Scarborough Research, an independent data firm, indicates the casino is now ranked #1 in north county total visitors, after ranking 4^th the previous year. 

 

The casino has used Radio as part of its strategy since opening and has experienced tremendous growth year after year despite incredible competition, and more recently, a challenging economy. “Radio has been an integral part of our media buy. Promotions like this are only truly successful when you have amazing partners like Dave Rickards and the entire KGB Radio team,” added Ric Militi, VP of Marketing at Valley View Casino.

 

 The purpose of the annual SDRBA EAR (Effective Advertising on Radio) Awards is to recognize and celebrate the effective use of Radio as an advertising medium. Entries are evaluated primarily on their effectiveness and measureable results.

 

Posted under Creative, EAR Award Winners

The San Diego radio industry is celebrating excellence in the medium with the announcement of winners of the 2009 EAR (Effective Advertising on Radio) Awards. Eight local businesses along with their advertising agencies are recipients of this year’s awards – an honor bestowed on businesses that have effectively used the radio medium to convey their advertising message to listeners. The announcement comes from San Diego Radio Broadcasters Association’s Executive Director, Sharon Massey. “We were very impressed this year with the success stories related to the dozens of radio ads that were submitted for consideration,” says Massey. “The eight we chose – including three Spanish language ads – represent advertisers who have a great understanding of the radio medium and how to use it to generate results.” Read More…

Posted under Creative, EAR Award Winners, Radio

Warren Berger, award winning journalist on advertising and design, talked about the value of Radio advertising on NPR this week.

Berger is the author of the highly acclaimed book, Advertising Today, and has published more than 100 features and cover stories for leading magazines.

LISTEN to this two-minute story from All Things Considered about how Radio advertising can increase business! http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103582527

Posted under Creative, Radio

When Subaru of Santa Monica opened for business in 2008, radio advertising helped catapult sales from zero to hero quickly to become one of Southern California’s top new Subaru sales leaders.

“When Santa Monica Ford, Lincoln-Mercury dealership owner Ron Davis asked Try J Advertising to help his team launch their new Subaru store, radio advertising offered a great way to reach a lot of people with creative as fun as Subaru vehicles are to drive,” said Dale Weston, communications director for the advertising agency.

Visit the SBCA for the rest of the story

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From the Radio Business Report/Television Business Report – Voice of the Broadcasting Industry
March 6, 2009

“This is what works. I know because I have already found out what doesn’t work.”-Joe Vincent

In this new economy just hawking spot schedules is out. Selling big creative ideas is in. Unfortunately while most broadcast sellers have the skills to get a client on the air they still haven’t a clue about how to make commercials that sell. They leave the commercial content up to a copywriter or to the client himself. Their lives are a rollercoaster of sales made and then quickly cancelled.

Smart broadcast managers and sales people are still making lots of money…even in this wretched economy…because they have the knowledge and skill sets necessary to make sure their client’s message sells. These broadcasters have learned (most of us the hard way) that nothing causes “Cancel my schedule” calls more than ads that don’t make the client’s register ring. The client is not qualified to do his own marketing and advertising. That’s your job. You have got to learn how to do the client’s creative thinking for him. Read More…

Posted under Creative, Radio, Research