Showcase Your Station this Summer: 5 Marketing Lessons from the Vegas Golden Knights

If you were in Las Vegas earlier this past April for the NAB (or for any reason), you might have done a double-take.

Let me clarify.

Las Vegas offers plenty of reasons to take a second look at something, but the above advertising piece for the Vegas Golden Knights NHL team is what I’m talking about.

Obviously this isn’t just an “Exit Now!” billboard. This is a P. T. Barnum-type marketing spectacle.

You’ve probably heard this but it’s worth repeating: “Attention is the new economy.” And a spectacle can be great at grabbing that attention. Spectacles cut through noise, generate interest, and spark conversations.

But back to attention.

While attracting attention is a critical first step in marketing, converting that attention into action is the necessary next step.

To that end, as you prepare to showcase your station this summer, here are five marketing lessons to consider from this Barnumesque effort by the Vegas Golden Knights:

 

#1 – Be Seen In the Right Place at the Right Time

Las Vegas Boulevard is heavily trafficked by residents and visitors alike. It’s also where people who are seeking entertainment will be.  So placement here not only reaches plenty of eyeballs, it’s also reaching the right eyeballs – those belonging to people with a proclivity to spend money on being entertained.

Meanwhile the timing is perfect as the team is readying for the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The marketing effort is in the right place at the right time.

 

Key Take Aways: All appearances are not created equal and the pressure to “be everywhere” can undermine overall efforts. But in a location with a high probability of listeners and potential listeners, match your effort to the potential payoff – from extra prep to extra staff. Go the extra mile to give people a reason to pay attention to you and to talk about. Showcase yourself in a way that fosters fun and friendship and takes advantage of timely events.

 

#2 – Increase Brand Imprint and Impact (location, surprise)

Sure, you’ll be at the fair or the big concerts, but how you’ll be visible and where else you’ll show up are of great import.

Traditional billboards are effective. But the Golden Knights know that on the Las Vegas Strip the competition for attention is intense. There’s a half-scale replica of the Eiffel Tower, a statue of King David that’s a foot larger than the original, a 150 foot Statue of Liberty facsimile, and a pyramid that’s roughly 75% as tall as the Great Pyramid of Giza, all vying for attention.

All of this pretty much necessitates something as outrageous as a six-foot puck “crashing” into a pedestrian bridge if you’re going to make people take notice.

 

Key Take Aways:

Just showing at en event up doesn’t guarantee visibility. In fact, unless you’re competing for attention in a way that puts you on par with what’s going on around you, there’s a risk you’ll be comparatively invisible – or at best, “seen but forgotten.”

Using what you know about the environment you’ll be competing in, build unique, attention-getting and interactive components into station appearances. Include “share this on social media” elements. Conversations – person-to-person and on social media – greatly extend your reach.

 

#3 – Create an Emotional Response

“Wow!” might be the first emotional response to seeing the giant puck cracking concrete, but the structure also conveys action, excitement, surprise, and wonderment. It’s sticky too, in that the encounter stays with you after it’s passed from your line of sight.

 

Key Take Aways: “Wow” is certainly great, but so are emotional responses like friendship, feeling appreciated, having a positive experience, and being put in a good mood. And the ability to deliver these is squarely in radio’s wheelhouse.

A&O&B’s Roadmap has continually shown that, “Makes me feel good when I listen” and “DJs that sound like my friends” are two of the three most important factors in selecting one country station over another. So obviously leaving a positive, personal impression is an important goal of every appearance.

Consider a “refresher” course on in-person appearances that includes 1) preparing for topics people will want talk with you about, 2) being positive, 3) projecting appropriate body language, and 4) how to listen and use what you hear to build a conversation – particularly what you may have in common with a listener.

 

#4 – Prove Your Product’s Value

A puck crashing into a structure suggests exciting action and unpredictability, and most NHL games deliver just that making the price of the ticket and the cost of your time is worth what you paid.

The value has been proven.

 

Key Take Aways: Time spent with radio comes with a cost to the listener. That might be in the form of time spent away from another source of entertainment or information, the fear of missing out on something happening on another medium, or in the not-interesting-to-the-listener portions of the broadcast.

The same is true for spending time with someone in person: there needs to be value. Face-to-face and on the air be authentic, relevant and focused on the listener. Use visual aids to support claims. Create activities that prove your ability to provide“feel good,” “fun,” community, and commitment. Demonstrate via one-on-one communications that you and your station are worthy of the time listeners will spend with it.

 

#5 – Don’t Forget a Call to Action

Sometimes the desired action is overt – as in “Exit Now.” Other times it’s implied as in the movable-puck-meets-stationary-object display. Even so, there’s little ambiguity in the Knight’s message: “Come watch us play. It’s exciting.”

 

Key Take Aways:  Build in “ask for listening” components from secret contests for attendees to positive, personal interactions. Capture contact information with newsletter sign-ups. Record visitors’ voices with the promise of airing some. Reward those who’ve given you their attention.

 

A six foot puck is Barnumesque.

But in a world where attention is a precious commodity, that’s not a negative.

As the Saturday Evening Post observed, Barnum’s marketing strategies,

…depended on “getting people to think, and talk, and become curious and excited over and about the ‘rare spectacle.’” His advertisements had one goal above all others: They were “calculated to extort attention.”

The Vegas Golden Knights have shown us a great example of how it’s done.

Now it’s your turn.

 

Summer marketing success stories or strategies you’d like to share? Leave a comment for all to see.

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Photo credit: Jaye Albright, A&O&B Partner, Las Vegas resident, radio genius, and lover of all things interesting