Want To Learn About Advertising On The Radio?

If you're interested in advertising or marketing your (insert your whatever here), then the opportunity of a lifetime is here for you! Okay, it's not an opportunity of a lifetime. You'll have better opportunities in life, like having kids or making kids or getting married or hitting your first Major League home run or watching your kid hit his first Major League home run while you sit next to that person you married so many years ago. So, yes, perspective is important. With that in mind, the opportunity of your professional lifetime looms very near.

"Why, David?" you say, intent on getting an exciting answer.

Here's why, I tell you, here's why. We're (WDHA-FM and WMTR-AM) gonna be hosting a presentation three different days in October, the 19th, 20th and 21st in Parsippany. In this multi-media presentation, we're going to discuss advertising - what works, what doesn't work, and how you can do better.

"What's in it for me?" you ask again, clearly not seeing that you'll learn something and be a better person, possibly changing world history, because of this.

I'll answer your question, but only because you asked. All right, first, you're going to see me. That's worthy of a good night's sleep anytime. Second, you'll be exposed to new ideas. Third, there will be an opportunity to purchase advertising at drastically reduced rates. Drastically. Fourth, you'll be entered to win $10,000 in advertising on DHA or MTR. And fifth, you'll get a gift certificate to a local restaurant.

That's 5 things that are "in it" for you. Isn't that a lot? It's like we're throwing a party for you. Just you. Because we care.

So, interested? If so, call me. We can talk more, exchange emails, start a relationship that lasts for years. Hey, if I'm lucky, maybe you'll invite me to Junior's first big league game.

SONG OF THE WEEK

I was never a huge Alice In Chains fan, but I was always a big fan of "No Excuses." It makes sense today because there are no excuses why you don't come on out in October and learn all about how you can improve your business. Sound swell? Awesome. I'm staring at the phone right now.



Thanks for reading!
Dave

David Philp
Account Executive
WMTR-AM/WDHA-FM
Greater Media Broadcasting
55 Horsehill Rd.
Cedar Knolls, NJ 07927
ofc: 973-538-1250 x1377
e: dphilp@greatermedianj.com
fax: 973-538-3060

The Awesome WDHA February Ski Pass Giveaway!!!!

Want to become THE sponsor for an easy promotion on WDHA that would get you lots of 10-second promos over the next couple of weeks. It's still cold outside and this is built around winter and skiing. You can get almost 200 on-air promos over the next 2 weeks as well as becoming part of the WDHA website. It breaks out like this:

• 10 ten-second promos per day over 14 days; 140 total promos


• 54 ten-second promos next weekend, Friday-Sunday


• 194 total ten-second promos

Your banner and weblink on WDHA FM.com for the next 4 weeks

The value is $7,650 but the total investment is only $3,500.

Does it get better than this? I think not!

Otherwise, we can do a WDHA appearance at your place of business for only $500. That's five-hundred bucks for a van, the coolness of WDHA, and us telling North Jersey that we're a gonna be at your place from noon to 1:05 that day and they should get down there and meet you.

As a reminder, WDHA reaches 350,000 North Jersey listeners each week. The core listening audience is 25-54.

If you're interested, let me know right away. You can call me on my cell at 917-204-1929 or shoot me an email.

Thanks for reading!
Dave

David Philp
Account Executive
WMTR-AM/WDHA-FM
Greater Media Broadcasting
55 Horsehill Rd. Cedar Knolls, NJ 07927
ofc: 973-538-1250 x1377
e: dphilp@greatermedianj.com
fax: 973-538-3060

Going For It

One of my compatriots here at Greater Media, Chris Ales, played a video for me today on YouTube that completely blew me away. It's is a great example of a guy who has a business and wants people to know about it (who doesn't). But here's the thing: You can tell the guy knows exactly who he is. He knows his image within the business and he knows the image his business is going to project because of the advertising he does. You must watch the following video. It is required. You will either laugh the buttocks off of your body (doesn't have to be your buttocks) or you will be completely offended to the core of your soul. Either way, you will remember this ad. Now watch:

My immediate thoughts were these: 1) I have to see that again. 2) Is this real? 3) I have to tell people about this.

So I told people about it. I played the video for Stu Iselin, another Account Executive who works here and who's seen it all. But he hadn't seen this. I told a few others about it and emailed the link to some people.

What does this mean? It means that the guy had a catchy name for his business: Jesus Christ Bail Bonds. C'mon, you gotta admit that's pretty doggone memorable. The delivery, which reminded me of the movie Deliverance, which, if you've seen it, you suddenly understand, stood out... The Hip-Hop look of the man in yellow (with no disrespect to Curious George)... The name of the owner, Bishop Barry, and his orating like a preacher... The repetition of "Bail Out!" bringing us back to the core of the business, bail bonds... Plus the very idea that this guy is advertising bail bonds, which reminds some of us of The Bad News Bears. This spot (in "the biz," we like to call commercials "spots," give it a try when you get a free second) shows this guy, Bishop Barry, wanted to go for it. He wanted people to remember his commercials, and we do.

Your Homework: Are you willing to go for it? Why not swing for the fences? There's a fine line between memorable and foolish. If you can tow it, you just might hit a grand slam (all cliches sponsored by Major League Baseball).

SCREAM OUT

If you have nothing to do New Year's Eve, go to the Somerset Crown Plaza and see Michael Nitro. He's a Jersey guy and his band shall be playing some kick-ass tunes. It's a whole package, with live band, cocktail hour, and full New Year's Eve celebration. Oh yeah, he's advertising on WDHA. And that's why I'm telling you about him right now. You wanna rock on New Year's Eve? Then check out Michael Nitro.

SONG OF THE WEEK

It's Christmas. I like this song, "Gabriel's Message," performed by Sting. It was on the original A Very Special Christmas CD which came out on A&M Records in 1987. There have been about 50 Very Special Christmas releases since then, but this album was the best. And this song is one of the best. Enjoy. And happy holidays from me to yuz (I say "Yuz" 'cause we in Jersey. Yo).

Thanks for reading!
Dave

David Philp
Account Executive
WMTR-AM/WDHA-FM
Greater Media Broadcasting
55 Horsehill Rd. Cedar Knolls, NJ 07927
ofc: 973-538-1250 x1377
e: dphilp@greatermedianj.com
fax: 973-538-3060

Falling Behind And Ripping Us Off

Did you know I used to work in the "record" business? Uh huh. I did. I started working in it in the old days when they thought the cassette single might work (they called them "cassingles"). Then they stopped selling singles altogether, instead moving toward CD singles, which were really 4-5 song EPs that sold for $6.99, a higher price than any old cassingle would sell for even on its best day. Yeah, I worked in it when it was good (or "when we was fab" as George Harrison sang). Aww heck, let's play his song and I'll be right back.

I liked George. He was a good Beatle. Did you see the guests in there? Yeah, Ringo. But who else? Did you see Sir Elton John? Yes! That was him. Oh, the 80s...

Anyway, I didn't work for a record company in the '80s. It was during the '90s and the '00s. I got out just in time, 2006, just before the mass layoffs became commonplace all year round as opposed to something that only happened at Christmas time.

"Why the layoffs, David?" you ask me, wiping your hot cocoa's whipped cream off of your upper lip.

I shall tell you. Gather near me. Sit Indian style - uh, I mean Native American style. Keep quiet now as I tell you the story...

Once upon a time, there was an industry that was called Record. And Record made lots of money selling the same stuff to the same people over and over again, first on LP, then on cassette, then on CD. They loved selling the same songs over and over again too, packaged on the first album, then the Greatest Hits So Far, then the Best Of, then The Ultimate Collection... Oh, Record was smart. He was rich, too.

But something happened.

The evil Napster came in one day and took away all of Record's people. The people realized they could get all of their music for free on something called the Worldwide Web. They didn't need pre-packaged albums and they didn't need pre-packaged singles. They could get one song at a time for free. The people rejoiced. Hurray!

Record was mad. So he sued the people for stealing. That's right. Record sued his customers for leaving him. When that happens in a marriage, like when a wife sues for divorce, it's a pretty good bet the husband ain't ever coming back. That's what happened with the people. They didn't come back.

Meanwhile, in a far off land, a boy named Radio played music all day long. The people of his land loved Radio. They thought he was really keen. Radio paid the songwriters who wrote the songs he played. And all was good. In fact, Record even liked Radio because the songs Radio played sold in Record's stores. Birds chirped. The sun shined. There was peace in the world.

But when Record got mad at the people, he lost his mind. He went cukoo and decided to take it out on Radio. "Hey," Record said, flecks of dandruff hanging off his dirty beard, "you're playing my songs. I want you to pay me too!" You see, when Record made money, he liked Radio playing the recordings he owned. But when he lost his money, he decided he didn't like Radio anymore.

Poor Radio. He just wanted to be loved. He didn't do anything different from what he'd been doing for the past 60 years.

But Record's face got all red with anger. He called up his friend, Congress, and told him to pass a law forcing Radio to give him money. Congress said okay.

But Radio said, "Hold on there, fella. Don't be thinking I'm a gonna pay you money just because you suddenly don't know how to make money on your own."

Record went to Washington DC and told all of his Congress friends that he'd give them money for their campaigns so they could be re-elected and rule the world if only they'd make a law forcing Radio to pay them money.
Radio went to the people, the nice ones who always liked Radio, and said, "Yo, 'sup? Could y'all help us out? Please? Could ya call your Congress person fella and say, 'Yo, man, I think Record is wack! Don't give him what he wants 'cause if you do, I'm gonna tell all my people not to vote for you."

The only problem was, Radio told this to the people using somewhat boring radio commercials. Most of the people didn't get it. Or they just didn't care, probably because they didn't get it.

So Radio had a better idea. Let's use video. "Here," Radio said to the people, "could you please watch this?" And the people did.

The morals of the story are these:
Moral #1: If you're in a business that's doing really well, keep looking forward, because you need to be ready with a Plan B if Plan A starts to go south.
Moral #2: If you make a lousy commercial, people won't care. So do something else, i.e. making a better commercial. Like this:

Do you get it now, kiddies? Did you like the story? Do you understand it better now? I hope you care a wee bit too. Because I care about you. 'Nuff said.

SCREAM OUT

A special scream out this week goes to Maggie Moore's Irish Pub in Lincoln Park, NJ, right on Route 202. I ate their food last week. It was quite good. I crave their meat pie. They are also this week's very special Dining Deal restaurant on WDHA and WMTR (I'll teach you more about Dining Deals in the future). Want to know more about my new buddy Neville Gibson and Maggie Moore's? Then check this out:

Go there. Eat. Be merry and jolly and fat. It's the holidays. It's what we do.

SONG OF THE WEEK

If you're listening to WMTR (1250 on your NJ AM dial), you're hearing some Christmas music every 3rd or 4th song. This year, on WDHA (105.5 on your NJ FM dial), we're going to play 30 hours of non-stop, commercial-free Christmas music from 6pm on Christmas Eve until 11:59 PM on Christmas evening. With that in mind, I bet you just might hear this by George Harrison's old group, The Beatles.

Thanks for reading!
Dave

David Philp
Account Executive
WMTR-AM/WDHA-FM
Greater Media Broadcasting
55 Horsehill Rd. Cedar Knolls, NJ 07927
ofc: 973-538-1250 x1377
e: dphilp@greatermedianj.com
fax: 973-538-3060

30 Years Gone

Think back to 1979. Fire was about to be discovered. The wheel was still 2 years from evolving from its then-current triangular shape into something close to an oval. The only way to let somebody know "what I'm doing" was to tell them or write a letter and mail it from a U.S. Post Office. The primitive music being played was classified as "disco," destroying the ears and lives and cocaine noses of America's youth movement.

But, out of the ashes of this pre-historic time, there arose a radio station. It was a radio station so unique and so powerful that the people fell to their knees and wept. This radio station was, and still is, called WDHA.

30 years later WDHA-FM is 30 years old. While you may say, "Dave, you're being redundant within the same sentence," my reply is, hey, if you guys are okay with Sammy Hagar singing "Only time will tell if we can stand the test of time," you can accept my topic sentence of paragraph #3.

I grew up with this radio station, first catching on with it in the summer of 1980 when they consecutively played every song in the Beatles catalog from A-Z that July or August (they played "She's Leaving Home" off of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and I rode my bike downtown to Scotti's Record Shop in Madison to steal - I mean, buy that album the same day). When you grow up with a radio station, it's like family. It's like WDHA and I shaved together and drove our first car together and went on dates together and partied together. We probably both said "Dude" far too many times for our own good. To be working for it this many years later is like if you went on a date with a girl (or guy) back in high school and ended up getting married to that person 25 years later. Am I right? I think I'm right. (Note: If you want to know who's in the pictures, scroll to the bottom.)

So, with that rant in mind, WDHA - "The Rock of New Jersey," had a big celebration this week at the Welmont Theater in Montclair, Nueva Jersey (pronounced New Yersey). There was a band that played. Some call them Lynyrd Skynyrd. So you had The Rock of New Jersey celebrating its 30th anniversary with a band that's been around for more than 30 years.

"What's this mean to me?" you almost stutter before realizing I'd possibly make fun of you for it.

It means that WDHA, a radio station that's been in the Rock format for 30 years, is consistent (See how many times I've told you we're 30 years old? Yeah, I can't get anything by you, can I?). Listenership is at an all-time high: More than 380,000 men and women and kids and hamsters listen to this radio station every week. Our consistent format is parallel to how you should advertise: a strong message communicated consistently. That's the key to advertising. And it's the key to WDHA's 30 years of success.

Here's a great anecdote. As a kid listening to 105.5, I used to hear ads all the time for Kenvil Power Mower. Kenvil. It's a real town on Route 46. Sounds like it's one or two towns over from Mayberry, where Andy Griffith and Opie lived with Ain't Bea. Anyway, the point to this is Kenvil Power Mower was so consistent with their simple message for so long, I still remember them. If you axed my brother, he'd say the same thing. He remembers. Go ahead. Ask him. I double-dog dare you.

So maybe you should steal from the 1980s Kenvil Power Mower playbook, get on the air and stay there. You'll be glad you did.

SCREAM OUTS

A brand spankin' new feature to this awesome blog is the Scream Out section (rockers don't give "shout outs"). We welcomed a few new advertisers to the fold this week, including Morris Catholic High School in Denville (which rhymes with Kenvil), Fairchilds Market in Roseland (doesn't rhyme with Kenvil or Denville), Advantage Contracting from Wayne and Advanced Cardiology Practice, also from Wayne. Listen for their spots (that's industry parlance for commercials) and patronize them to the fullest extent of the law (meaning don't stalk). We all thank you for it.

SONG OF THE WEEK

Since it was Lynyrd Skynyrd that played WDHA's 30th anniversary concert, let's play a little something from them. One of my favorite tracks is called "Tuesday's Gone." I hope you like it as much as I like you.

Thanks for reading!
Dave

Pictures:

#1, at the top, is the whole WDHA-FM staff at the Welmont Theater. There's a cake in the middle of the picture that looks small to you but was very large to us. If there's any left over, I'll give you some.

#2 is of me (on the right) with Nancy Remy of Shadow Traffic. I know her name like I know Kenvil Power Mower. She thought I was joking when I told her it was a thrill to meet her, put my arm around her and also get this picture taken. But I joke not.

#3 is of me (on the right) with Stu Iselin, another Account Exec here at WDHA & WMTR who doesn't live in Iselin, and Valerie Freda, another Account Exec who doesn't live in Iselin. We all think it's a swell town, however.

#4 is of me (on the left) with Matt DeVoti, our station's general. I mean General Sales Manager. He used to be a DJ for years on WNEW-FM, when it was a cool rock station and not the girlie "Fresh" station it is today. He's at DHA 'cause he rocks. (He also likes WMTR-AM "Classic Oldies" very much.)

David Philp
Account Executive
WMTR-AM/WDHA-FM
Greater Media Broadcasting
55 Horsehill Rd. Cedar Knolls, NJ 07927
ofc: 973-538-1250 x1377
e: dphilp@greatermedianj.com
fax: 973-538-3060