Hi all,
We have a local McDonald's group owner who is not sold on local radio as an advertising medium...would like to bring to the owner ideas that have worked for other McD's using local radio.....we also have a strong web presence. Thanks in advance!
Do a morning breakfast trivia giveaway. Tie in a high school team or player of the week. Something very community minded.
Show the owner some work you did with other stores in the area and the benefits derived from using local radio for advertising.
Try this. Get on the air yourself and make a big to buy a Big Mac for $100 with proceedes going to the
Ronald McDonald house. Then play this up, and start a bidding war , you may be surprised on who all jumps
in on this silly idea. I've done it before with other non believers. The over all winner could also get $100 in landscaping,
vehicle details from a local auto dealership, tie everything in locally.
Kent Lankford
WAKO 103.1 FM & AM 910
Lawrenceville, Illinois - Vincennes, Indiana
Get them to sponsor your station vehicle for a weekly fee, put a logo on the vehicle and give away some of their vouchers at crosses from the vehicle and include some spots/live reads in the package, these could highlight that they are the sponsor of the station vehicle. You could also sell them a OB for a McDonalds community event such as a McHappy Day.
The best thing about local radio is that local consumer listeners tune in every day...(Benefits of this is a direct target market for that McDonalds business) Another benefits is that local radio listeners will support local business that have an identity advertising on THEIR ocal radio.... Find out from group manager what times of day he would like to increase foot traffic- eg Breakfast.. and build a promotion around that time of day ( Running late for work and didnt get to eat breakfast- drive thru McDonalds : BREAKFAST DRIVE is brought to you by local McDonalds).
If your station puts on a popular event, or is largely involved with a local popular event in your area, consider having a "Receipt Relay" or "McSkip-a-Line" ....It's simple: Run a 30 day blitz campaign on your station, prior to the event, that if an individual at your local event brings a receipt of purchase from the local McDonald's, they automatically are entitled to go to the front of any line ( ticket line, concessions, etc.,etc. )....just make sure a receipt is dated within the time-window of the radio promotion to be considered valid.
This is an excellent way for the local McDonald's to "test" your station (...and if you're viable in the market-place, their foot-traffic during the promotion should mirror that)...Remember! Burger King, Wendy's, SubWay, etc. should all be (and WILL be) indirectly aware this is going on at McDonald's...It won't be long until they come calling...When you catch one big fish, it "baits" the rest of the fish, and makes them much easier to catch 
