[pianotech] Chicago Radio Ads

[Duaine Hechler]

Slightly OT:

My Barbershop Chapter, which I've been in 35 years, has tried the same thing many, many times.

We advertise our shows and performances and they end up with the same results, very limited advertising.

We have to use the newspaper and flyers.

Duaine

On 10/30/2011 11:15 PM, tnrwim at aol.com wrote:
> **Bruce and the members of both the North Shore and Chicago Chapters.
> I did some radio advertising on the classical radio station in St. Louis when I was there. What I learned was that 
> radio advertising is effective only if the same ad runs over and over.  A slight variation is good, but too many 
> different formats is ineffective. Advertising people have told me that someone has to hear an ad 7 times before they 
> will remember it. When they hear an ad once, they won't remember it. But if it's repeated over and over it will be 
> remembered more easily. Every time you change the ad in any way, it will be like starting over again.
> The other problem is coverage. Even if the radio station says it has a listening audience of 5%, (which is huge), that 
> means at some time during the day, 5% of the population listens to that radio station. However, the actual amount 
> of time that that 5% listens to the radio is only 30 - 60 minutes in a day. So on any given day, the chances of 
> someone listening to your ad is about .05%. That is why repetition is key to a successful radio ad campaign.
> Good luck. Let us know the results after Christmas
> Wim
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bruce Dornfeld <bdornfeld at earthlink.net>
> To: pianotech <pianotech at ptg.org>
> Sent: Sun, Oct 30, 2011 5:39 pm
> Subject: [pianotech] Chicago Radio Ads
>
> Chicago Radio Ads
> There has been a little chatter online lately about what we’ve been doing in the Chicago radio market.  Our radio ad 
> campaign started in September and will run until the end of the year.  Because of these facts, we would like to let 
> you know more about it, but we are far from being able to analyze any success yet.  You can listen to these radio ads 
> yourself too.
> For many years now, PTG has been working in a number of different ways to promote PTG and the RPT.  Promoting the RPT 
> has been a priority for decades now, but more is being done in recent years.  Those of you who have been in Council 
> for a number of years, and those who read the Journal and other publications for our members are familiar with many of 
> them.  A couple of years ago, PTG began offering grants for chapters to help promote the RPT.  The Chicago and North 
> Shore Chapters thought that this could be a good opportunity for us.  We submitted a proposal to the PTG Board and it 
> was accepted.
> Our local classical radio station is WFMT; it is a commercial station, not public radio.  They have some dedicated 
> piano programs regularly scheduled which seemed to us to be a very good place to advertize piano service, PTG, and the 
> RPT.  Some interested members of the Chicago and North Shore Chapters formed a committee to, at first, explore the 
> possibilities.  We found the advertising rates, talked with the radio station about when ads might run, how often, and 
> other details.  We decided that the period of time from September through Christmas would give us the best results.  
> Then we started writing 30 second and 60 second spots.  We had a lot of fun coming up with ideas for a bunch of them.  
> While we got creative with some of the writing, the parts about the PTG and RPT are very similar to what you see on 
> the PTG web site or on pamphlets from PTG.
> We submitted our plan to the PTG Board, asking for $3,000.  Our chapters were also committing $3,000 of our own funds 
> for these ads, apportioned by percentage of RPTs in each chapter. The ad campaign will cost $6,000.  The North Shore 
> Chapter discussed the campaign in our newsletter and in chapter meetings before making a commitment.  Associate 
> members also voted in support; some of them are more motivated to become RPTs.  The Chicago Chapter runs meeting 
> differently, but all of them are open to all members.  Since I am a member of the North Shore Chapter, I cannot say 
> much more about Chicago’s process.  We also set up a web site for the radio listeners to go to.  This will help us 
> track the effectiveness of the campaign.  All members of both chapters were sent questionnaires to track new client 
> information that may be impacted by the ads.
> Concerns were voiced on Pianotech and PTG-L about Associate members paying for these ads, but not benefitting by 
> them.  At a North Shore Chapter meeting, when this issue was raised, it was pointed out that the RPT is what we have 
> to market.  The RPT has passed the exams and the Guild stands behind the process and the RPTs.  Any Associate member 
> of our chapter has easy access to take the exams; we have a CTE and a TEC ready to go.  This year, because of this 
> issue, we are also devoting more of our monthly technical sessions to help the Associates learn what they need to 
> become RPTs.  Next month, we also will begin monthly PACE programs as well.  The Chicago Chapter has an excellent 
> program to help Associates too.  They have the first Tuesday of each month committed to Associates, almost always 
> located at the excellent rebuilding shop of Jeff Cappelli.  It is lead by Jeff and other RPTs and offers a wide 
> variety of ways for the Associate, and the occasional RPT, to learn more.  The Chicago Chapter also has the examiners 
> and facilities ready for those who want to take any of the tests.
> You can listen to WFMT anytime on your computer at www.wfmt.com <http://www.wfmt.com/>.  We also have some of the 
> radio ads as heard on the radio; they are on the web site set up for this project.  You can find it at 
> www.tunechicago.org <http://www.tunechicago.org/>.  We also got permission from the PTG Home Office to use wording 
> from PTG.org.  When the year ends, we will get a chance to analyze the data we have and see how successful this 
> campaign is.  There have been hundreds of hits already, mostly from around Chicago, but as far away as India!  We 
> would love to do it again here if we have good results.  It could be copied or modified to work in other locations as 
> well.
> Members of the Chicago Radio Ad Campaign are:
> John Blessing, Chicago Chapter, President
> Bruce Dornfeld, North Shore Chapter
> Joe Francavilla, Webmaster, North Shore Chapter
> Ben Gac, Chicago Chapter, Vice President
> Robert Guenther, North Shore Chapter
> Carl Radford, North Shore Chapter, President
> Terry Younce, North Shore Chapter, Treasurer
> Bruce Dornfeld, RPT
> bdornfeld at earthlink.net <mailto:bdornfeld at earthlink.net>
> 847-498-0379


-- 
Duaine Hechler
Piano, Player Piano, Pump Organ
Tuning, Servicing&  Rebuilding
Reed Organ Society Member
Florissant, MO 63034
(314) 838-5587
dahechler at att.net
www.hechlerpianoandorgan.com
--
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