CPR Promotional Check-Up - Mar 16, 2011

Japan

I think that now there's been a few days behind us, there are a lot of Radio People who have looked at the footage and done a Martin Lawrence-like "DAMN!". (When I think of natural disasters, I think of Martin Lawrence)

1. Congrats to the stations like Magic in Colorado Springs and Fly in Albany that have jumped all over this and done actual, compelling, tangible stuff.
2. Just in case, look at the music log. If you have, say, "Atomic Dog" scheduled, maybe you want to pull it. KQRS in Minneapolis played it at noon on 9/11. Genius.
3. Everyone is talking about this so, in theory, it's in play. It's something you could/should address. If "text a code to the Red Cross" is the decided-upon response, that tells me that "We feel like we should do something but we don't want to put any actual effort into it." Fine. But why would you want to do what everyone else in town will inevitably be doing?
4. Be alert for any local responses beyond the Red Cross. Jump on those. Also be watching news for local people who have friends and family over there. One of my best friends has a daughter in the air force on Okinawa. To say that Kelly is a freaking mess this morning would be an understatement. The best Haiti campaigns were based on the local angles.
5. Also be trolling for local rescue response teams (dog teams) who are going over. Find a way to support their families while they're deployed or use it as an excuse to raise money for the Humane Society.
6. If you DO find a local agency or church or Japanese Cultural Society or anyone else that is doing "stuff", great. How do you raise money?
7. Think like a TV cameraman. This is going to be THE news at least through early next week. They can't/won't film a banner on your site telling people to text a code to the Red Cross.
8. They WILL film a DJ who is staying on the air for 24 hours and selling requests. I think Newcap in Edmonton raised over $200,000 for Katrina doing that.
9. Jeff Kapugi came up with the easiest, simplest and best excuse to be out on the streets campaign in recent memory. It's The Penny Pick Up. You call Bob the Car Dealer. Bob loans you a big azz pickup. You line the bed. And with a station vehicle to accompany it you drive around town, set up and people come by and dump their change in it. Hot in DC did it for Haiti. KZIA in Cedar Rapids did it for a tornado (photo attached) and KDWB in Minneapolis did it for a tornado. Or just have street teamers working the intersections. Great visibility with a premise. The miniscully rated 106.1 Kiss FM in Dallas is on with it. http://www.1061kissfm.com/pages/hiddenarticles.html?feed=352386&article=8284532
10. Or ignore it and focus on whatever Kim Kardashian wore to Hyde last night because that's way more relevant.