Radio Gets An Early Christmas Gift…

Monday, November, 2, 2009 by Mel Phillips.

Christmas is still 53 days away, Hanukah even less at 39, yet radio will be the recipients of early seasons greetings from Kohl’s Department stores. Throughout November and December, Kohl’s will be promoting their holiday inventory with a multiplatform marketing campaign using radio, TV and online. Last year, Kohl’s spent $337 million on advertising according to The Nielsen Company and radio will gladly accept a piece of the Kohl’s holiday pie. I guess Kohl’s really believes in their seasonal slogan, ‘Make Every Gift Count’ and radio will be happy to accommodate Kohl’s wishes…

Several 30-second national radio spots will be rolled out over Thanksgiving week in addition to TV commercials and “homepage takeovers” of nine sites including Yahoo!, MSN and AOL. Kohl’s will also integrate into more than 30 newspaper Web sites and use its Facebook page to promote the holiday savings. This Kohl’s campaign mirrors a recent TVNewsCheck article titled ‘Ad Market Isn’t As Scary As You May Think’ which suggests that there is advertising hope on the horizon…

Although that ‘Scary’ piece by Mary Collins was written primarily about TV, it did mention that media ad buys are coming in from used car dealers, local banks and credit unions, health care providers and promotional and warehouse furniture stores. Another sign that bodes well for an improved revenue forecast is the early Super Bowl ad spending. Although the game won’t be played until February, CBS already has 80 percent of the game’s inventory sold…   

10 Timeline Memories:

1. 1947] Taking Off: Howard Hughes pilots his huge wooden airplane, the Spruce Goose, on its only flight, which lasts about a minute over Long Beach Harbor (CA)…
2. 1948] Chicago Tribune street cred is questioned: The front page of the Chicago Tribune screamed ‘DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN’. Too bad it was the other way. Truman defeated Dewey…
3. 1959] The birth of payola: “Twenty-One” contestant Charles Van Doren tells a House Subcommittee on Legislative Oversight that he was given questions and answers in advance of his appearances. The committee starts radio investigations as part of their probe. Uh-oh…
4. 1964] SOLD: CBS Inc. purchases 80% of the New York Yankees for $11 million. They buy the remaining shares eventually. CBS actually loses money when they sell the team to the George Steinbrenner-led Cleveland group 9 years later…
5. 1976] From peanuts to president: Former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter defeats Republican incumbent Gerald R. Ford to become the first president from the deep south since the Civil War. Texas is in the southwest so LBJ doesn’t qualify…
6. 1983] On the dotted line: President Ronald Reagan signs a bill establishing a federal holiday on the third Monday of January in honor of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr…
7. 1984] Capital punishment: Velma Barfield becomes the first woman executed in the U.S. since 1962…
8. 1988] Wormy: The Morris worm, the first Internet-distributed computer worm to gain significant mainstream media attention attacks MIT and then spreads globally…
9. 2004] Re-upped: President George W. Bush is elected to a second term as Republicans strengthen their hold on Congress…
10. 2006] Hanky spanky: The Rev. Ted Haggard resigns as president of the National Association of Evangelicals after a man says they had had sexual trysts together…

Music Memories:

• 1968] Number One on this date: “For Once In My Life” - Stevie Wonder…1971] “Gypsy’s, Tramps & Thieves” - Cher…1981] “Private Eyes” - Hall & Oates…
• 1963] Released on this date: “Be True To Your School” - Beach Boys…

Commentary:

The IBS-Fall Palooza 2009 will kick off this Friday, November 6th at 4pm EST. You’ll want to join College Radio stations throughout the U.S. with the simulcast broadcast. Time is running out — the final day to get scheduled for the show is 4pm EST, Thursday, November 5th. For additional information contact George Capalbo at palooza@backbone.com or by phone: 617-848-1176 x6… 

“Happy Birthday…happy birthday“: David Schwimmer (43), k.d. lang (48), Maxine Nightingale (57), Stephanie Powers (67), Pat Buchanan (71), David Blatt a.k.a. Jay Black (71) and Earl“Speedo” Carroll (72)…

Timeline Countdown: 24 days until Thanksgiving, 39 days until Hanukah, 50 days until winter and 53 days until Christmas…

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