Hello all
Hooters is on my list....the restaurant that is. I met the buyer for H a year or so ago when I was selling cars (no she didn't buy from me at the time)...but I remembered her and when I started at the radio station, I mentioned that I knew her. H hasn't bought our radio station in quite some time. H was on a different desk than mine and that AE said that Hooters never has any money. I finally convinced my GSM that I could make inroads and they gave me the account.
I had a meeting with my contact at H last week as I sensed during a phone conversation with her that something was amiss. As it turned out something was amiss. She told me that she had some complaints with our station and its effectiveness. When she said that I also sensed it was more that she didn't get along with the AE....that turned out to be accurate as well.
I knew that they were buying another station with the same format in our market....this station is currently #14 while we are #3. She says this station works hard during remote broadcasts (which is all they do by the way, no schedule, just remote broadcasts every Friday from Jan 1 til now).
They play games, they interact with he crowd etc. And than she said she also likes them because the price is right...hmmmm.
I went to the remote broadcast last night.....they were late, they set up their table in a very haphazard way and didn't provide any games etc. I spoke w/ the DJ under the guise that I was a fan....this station is not a live station btw...they voice track all day parts except afternoon drive time. The DJ on site was not a DJ at all...he was the promotions director. They DON'T do live breaks during the remote either...those are also voice tracked.
All that being said....I think they are giving the remotes away for free...which we do not do. Or they are charging a small monthly amount and including 4 remotes in that cost.
I think I just uncovered the truth. They are buying that station because they don't have to buy anything at all! The station gives it away so they can be in a high profile business once per week to help build their brand.
The remote was unsuccessful in my opinion and now I have an uphill road. This leads to my question.
How do I go about reestablishing under these circumstances?
I don't think she is getting any measurable benefit from this relationship with this station, I don't think she will agree with me.
I plan to put together a very creative proposal which will include a schedule and fewer remote broadcasts but remote broadcasts with a purpose. She told me during our meeting, after I asked, that her slowest nights that she needs help with are Tues/Thurs. This other station is out there on Fridays because there is a built in crowd and they won't look bad from the outside looking in. Our station draws a crowd regardless of the night of the week, especially because our remotes are with a purpose...not just to be out and about.
How can I show her that our station will actually add to her revenue and bottom line, but she will have to pay for that without making her look badly about her previous decision?
I don't know for sure about our past with her....nobody does at the station. I'm guessing that the AE that had her before didn't try hard enough and since she was paying for our remotes it didn't seem worth it. I'm a little different...I'm in contact non stop w/ my current clients and dig for information on current campaigns to make sure we are getting results and adjust as necessary.
Wow that was a lot of typing! I'm looking forward to getting feedback on this.
Thanks in advance....
Many times Hooters (or other restaurants/bars) merely host the station event. The beer distributors are the ones telling the stations where to have the promotion because in order to get the beer money, the station promised 'X' of events. The beer distributors use the station events as negotiating points to leverage specials, #'s of taps, etc... from the bars/restaurants.
You may want to check with Hooters to see if that's the case with them and also check with your beer clients.
If the client is indeed getting the remotes for FREE that's difficult to beat, particularly since the client feels they're effective.
One option, is to find out what the daily gross revenue has been at Hooters on the days of the last 4 remotes. Then, through down the guantlet - challenge her to do the next few remotes on your station. If daily gross from your first remote doesn't exceed the daily gross from the first remote from your competitor she pays nothing. If the daily gross is exceeded, she pays your normal rate. Repeat for the next three weeks. By then, she should know which station is the best value.
It's a gamble, but you're reaping $0 from this client now so your risk is not great. Then, you can either move forward with this client or move on.
