Most radio hosts give away whatever comes in over the transom for free. But the best giveaway items for a personality-driven show have three qualities:
- Extremely limited practical value
- Personalized
- Inexplicably fun
Historic Example
During the first years of Late Night With David Letterman (his NBC show), Letterman would give his guests their own, official Late Night With David Letterman Collapsible Drinking Cup.
It was a plastic drinking cup which, when you pressed down on it with the palm of your hand, collapsed into a flat shape.
Every visiting celebrity insisted on leaving with one.
And every viewer would’ve loved to get one.
Radio Example
When Peter Holmes was the Breakfast Host at Breeze AM in Essex, England, his lucky contest winners received…
…personalized bathplugs.
They cost maybe $0.49 each, and every listener wanted one.
While I was making an in-station visit, Peter held a private party only for his “bathpluggers.
150 people showed up at a nightclub on a Tuesday night. (They had to bring their bathplugs with them to gain admittance.)
Peter came up with the terrific idea. I threw in a few suggestions to make it bigger and extend its life.
1. Create limited edition, seasonal imprints (summer, football, Christmas, etc.) to stimulate a collector’s mentality among recipients.
2. For a one-time only promotion, award a plug actually used by Peter in his own bathtub.
3. Send plugs to celebrities, asking them to bathe with them once and then return in a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Have them autograph the plugs first, then auction them off for charity, on-air.
My Test For A Great Morning Show Prize
Something you would never pay for…but which you would stand in line to receive.
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We used to give away “Generic” food. Those cans that were white with blue lettering that just said “Corn” or “Peas” or “Beer”. Everybody wanted that stuff. And the “Beer” wasn’t bad.
I was telling my GM one time about us not having prizes to give away. He said, “All I have are about 200 coupons for a free jar of pickles”. I promoted it on the air as, “Call now to play (fun contest) and your chance to win a Shiny New Pickle”. People went nuts over it and everywhere I went people kept asking me what I meant by “shiny new pickle”. It was silly, the audience knew I knew it was silly, and everyone had a big time playing along. The worst thing you can do is offer a crappy prize and try to convince the audience it’s something spectacular. Let them in on the joke and everyone can have fun. 🙂
One morning show in Calgary gives away branded cereal bowls.
Back in my 1967 British pirate radio days (try doing a radio show three miles out at sea while throwing up in a bucket between your knees) I gave away a record “middle”. In those days, imported 45 rpm disks from the States had a large hole in the middle. We used a special plastic adaptor that clicked into the record and reduced the center hole to the smaller U.K. size. When I ran a contest for a listener to win a plastic “middle” that had actually been used on the station I received more than 1,000 mailed entries. (No phone on the ship) Fun days!