Sunday, June 14, 2009

Keep 'em Talking About You

Recently on our talk show, a guest brought coffee cups with his organization's logo and presented these to us on the air. Appropriately, his cause is The Kindness Revolution, and the coffee cups had an infectious Smiley Face. In fact, the cups were so cute, so visual, we kept them on our set and referred to them and the organization the rest of the morning. This guest was on for 12 minutes, but he got many more mentions and free publicity the rest of the day.

This past week, Blue Bell Creameries visited and brought plenty of samples of new flavors. The reps had several bowls on the set for my co-host and me... but they also set up in the nearby break room and served station employees for half an hour--until very generous supplies ran out. The reps left coupons and lots of good will. The next day, we talked about how nice that was and how great the ice cream tasted... so again, more mentions and more free publicity.

What can you do to leave people talking? Here are some pointers:

1. Make it relevant. People do bring gifts that don't get mentioned. It's not the gift--it's the fit.
2. Go above and beyond. We expect people to be nice to us--we're on the air. I'm impressed when you're nice to the folks behind the scenes.
3. If you're selling food or other products, bring lots of samples and coupons.

At least one person asked me, "You mean people lined up for ice cream before 9 in the morning?" Yes, they did, and as one who had at least two scoops -- hey, it was part of my hosting responsibilities--it makes a delicious breakfast.

No comments: