[pianotech] Chicago Radio Ads

[Duaine Hechler]

Your best bet, these days, would be Facebook and Twitter.

Example:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Men-Of-Harmony/235293099862898

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
--
Home&  Business user of Linux - 11 years