A great way to give back to the advertisers that keep radio rolling: Clear Channel Radio today is supporting Small Business Saturday (SBS), a national initiative to drive folks to shop at local, independently-owned merchants, on 11/26. So to do so, on 10/24, CC began participating in a number of Small Business Saturday activities, including a public interest campaign, social media content, on-air advocacy by on-air talent and community events.
The participation includes 850 stations and reaches 237 million monthly listeners.
The activities revolve around educating listeners on the importance of independently-owned businesses and driving value for merchants:
* Stations will develop and air market-specific spots that showcase local business success stories which show first-hand how these businesses fuel the economy and support our communities. The spots will include stories that celebrate individual community merchants.
* A “public interest campaign” includes a series of messages from select public officials as well as recent survey data affirming the important impact small businesses have on the economy.
* On-air talent will champion SBS on-air and online, encouraging listeners to pledge to shop small on Facebook and buy local.
* Clear Channel’s digital sites, including iHeartRadio, station websites and Facebook pages will feature Small Business Saturday digital content, including banners, pre-roll video and homepage takeovers. Local stations are also using Twitter and Facebook to drive attendance to events in their communities.
Stations will activate their “Local Advisory Boards,” (civic leaders, elected officials and activists) to encourage members to spread the word about SBS and engage local government to do more to support small businesses.
RBR-TVBR observation: Let’s face it, this holiday season is not exactly looking to be the best on the books, so participating in this effort (which leads into Black Friday) is a great idea—not only for CC Radio, but any station or group. It also helps the AEs on the street and creates goodwill. Let’s hope this effort moves the needle for both stations and their clients. Also, stations should always have diverse local advisory boards, and rely on them year-round – it’s something that used to be more common than it is today.
