I’ve been involved in many radio promotions over the years, and some of them were so formable they made the TV News.
Great ones such as The Millionaire, Break The Bank, The Impossible Contest, The Great Race, The Great Rip Off, The Magic Ticket, The People’s Choice, What Would You Do For A New Car, I Love KVIL and KVIL Loves You bumper stickers.
Then there was the time when Ron Chapman of KVIL asked his Dallas listeners to send him a spare twenty-dollar bill, and he’d figure out what to do with the money later.
Within three days, a quarter of a million dollars showed up at the KVIL studios.
Some other good ones were The Checks In The Mail, Fantasy Park, The Cave Of The 7 Treasures, KZBS Devours KLNK, The WNAP Raft Race, The Prize Catalog, and, of course, my brother Reg’s Rewards Program, which was the first to market to a radio stations Data Base.
However, one of the biggest had to have been Jack McCoy’s “Last Contest.” (Jack & Me shown above)
(Click on the link below and enjoy.)
Radio Geo’s Media Blog is a politically incorrect inside look at Radio, TV, Music, Movies, Books, Social Media, Politics, and Religion, but mostly about Life, primarily written with men in mind.
For a peek at upcoming Blogs or to see some you may have missed, go to GeorgeJohns.com. On Twitter @GeoOfTheRadio. Sharing and commenting is appreciated.
If you’d like to subscribe, email your address to radiogeo@gmail.com.
Doing the Last Contest in Toronto was the best fun. I still remember that the winner won flying lessons and a Cessna! How cool is that. So much fun. I got to talk to all these excited people when we gave away prizes. Best job ever!
And, with my marketing experience, I now realize, The Last Contest was so brilliant because it asked listeners to share their deepest aspirations, then laid them out as possible with the prize packages. It’s Maslov’s Hierarchy in practise. Brilliant and great fun to boot. No doubt, today the Prize Packages would include Botox and Implants. In the early days of the promo people were so much more creative!
Well thank goodness you didn’t need any of that Sharon. I actually blew The Last Contest in Toronto because when McCoy ran it in San Diego it only lasted 13 days and brought the city to it’s knees. It was so great I couldn’t get my head around why you would only do it for 13 days. What I didn’t know was that was the secret of the last contest, it all went by so quickly the people just assumed you gave away all the prizes. Our version ran much too long.
Sharon, if you remember another McCoy product, the Incredible Prize Catalog, in many markets (including some of George’s), one of the prize choices was cosmetic surgery. And people chose it. Across the country, a number of boob jobs, nose jobs, face lifts, tummy and butt tucks were given away.
Doug you may remember I ran the first Prize Catalog at KOGO in San Diego which was the best one because sales hadn’t figured out how to sell it yet so the jox thought up all the prizes so they felt involved. many markets later sales finally figured it out and soon there were things like coupons and discounts in it. It had a much longer run in it with sales than it did with programming. I remember when we ran it for the 6th time at WRMF in Florida the sales folks complaining that the jox didn’t sound as excited about it as they used to. In San Diego I added a twist to it when it was over telling the folks to write down their name and phone number somewhere on the Catalog and choose the prize they wanted and drop it off at a certain hotel on Hotel Circle just off Highway 8 ( we owed them a promotion) we would have the staff take it from you as you drove by for one last shot at it the next day. We closed Highway 8 down. First time I ever saw an AM station jump up 4 full share points in one book. Oh having Jack voice the promos and prize packages didn’t hurt either(:
We may have to clone Jack for future generations to appreciate his creative contributions to marketing. Radio just doesn’t do this anymore which explains why listeners cume but don’t stick around very long no reason to listen with any thing Jack did if you tuned out you missed it. 2nd favorite cave of the 7 treasures.
OK Lou here is the inside scoop on The Cave Of The 7 Treasures which I forgot all about. Jack was running a company called Ram Research and was in Indy to pitch Hilliard and I to buy his rating service but me being one of the few people in America that knew he was the voice of the last contest said we’ll buy it but you have to do some promos for me. I told him I had created this contest called The Cave Of The 7 Treasures and when I wrote all the promos I heard his voice saying them. I handed him all the scripts and he kept saying how wonderful they were as he went through our record library and pulled out several albums. He then asked me how the contest worked and said I’m ready please play track 3 from this album and so it went. He never looked at my scripts once and filled up two 15 inch reels with contest stuff he totally ad libbed. Genius!
Hi George,
Somewhere around here I have the CFTR Last Contest promos Jack McCoy cut for us as well 4 reels of music beds he sent along. I can never hear Rod Serling without thinking Last Contest.
Considering there was only one Mono production studio (no multi track) to handle the station’s regular traffic & all those prize packs(each prize pack aired only once)…it was really something. Plus if you recall that studio had hot water heating & often sometimes in the middle of a take the pipes would Clank & we’d have to start all over again.
Bruce
Bruce, So nice to hear from you and no I don’t wash my hands all the time but I should. I’ve gotta hear those McCoy ‘TR promos man. Those were hectic times Bruce but you came through. I screwed up by running the contest too long.
Good one, sounds like a lot of fun and a lot of work made easier by professionals. I don’t think most people know the difficulties involved with the various jobs in radio. It’s good to get a glimpse of it through your eyes, George, and the eyes of the various people you worked with and for.
The great ones always make it look easy Bruce. The reason I took up guitar was because I saw Chet Atkins on TV and he made the playing of guitar look so easy that I thought … Hell I gotta do that!
George.. thanks for sharing this! I was at KSLQ in St. Louis in early 70’s and KCBQ was our sister station. So great to hear Jack McCoy do his magic again. And I recall that Jack did some of the promos for the first Prize Catalog we did here in Kansas City, but over the years lost that tape. Anyway…. wasn’t radio great when imagination was used?
We should have shared the restaurant trade with the all the accountants Steve, they run radio now and as they say … Payback is a bitch!
Mike McVay: The Last Contest is also probably the most imitated by air talent, at parties, trying to imitate Jack’s voice and a Rod Sterling-style of reading. My favorite that you did was The Prize Catalog. Spectacular!
Well done, Mister’s Johns & McCoy. (The Last Contest.)
Geo: Thank you, Mike. The prize catalog was the first big promotion I did after leaving Fairbanks to begin my consulting career.
Earlier at Fairbanks, I’d done a very successful mailer called the “Magic Ticket,” which not only did our sales manager syndicate, but it also bought me my first Mercedes.
Looking back, I should have concentrated on creating promotions that sales loved rather than chasing those elusive ratings my whole life.
Anyway, in my mind, The Prize Catalog merged the Last Contest with the Magic Ticket. Boy did it have legs though, we did it for years, and my brother Reg figured out how to get it up on the internet as his Rewards Program.
Unfortunately, Mike, I don’t think you’ll ever hear those mind-blowing promotions ever again.
Ken Barnett: When I was at my first station, KFRO Longview Texas, I heard an aircheck of KCBQ and The Last Contest. I remember thinking how much I would like to work for a station like that! Thanks for the memories, George. (The Last Contest)
Geo: And you did, Ken, we just spelled it differently. K-V-I-L.
Bill Gardner: I had the extreme good fortune to be Jack McCoy’s morning man at KCBQ and later with him at WMYQ Miami. Talk about a pure genius, Jack and I talked about the Ferrari Prize Package one time. He told me he had to get Enzo Ferrari’s personal approval by phone to air it, and then showed me how he created the sound of an accelerating Ferrari so purely. Only Jack McCoy could do this…. He took an old sound effects album in our production studio. Cued up a DUMP TRUCK sound effect, but played it at 78 RPM instead of 33 1/3! Then when dubbing to permanent on a tape cartridge, he’d pinch the tape while it was playing to make the sound of shifting gears! AND, Enzo Ferrari approved it! Tell me that’s not genius! Happened long ago, but I’ll never forget the moment, or the amazing Jack McCoy. The Last Contest.
Geo: Well said, Bill, and the even weirder part was, the Ferrari promo along with all the other mind-boggling creations, only ran once. Whew!
George: I read where the very wonderful voice legend and actor James Earl Jones has given Lucasfilms (Disney) perpetual rights to use Artificial Intelligence to synthesize Darth Vader’s voice in perpetuity. I suggest that somebody get the rights to A.I. Jack McCoy’s voice (Maybe the Candis, Cami & Nathaniel Johns Creative Services Corporation, worldwide rights reserved.)! – Jed Duvall