There were five separate multi-station American radio remote links last year from SuperClubs’ Breezes Runaway Bay resort, to an estimated 45 million listeners to more than 40 major stations across the United States, one link so far this year on 10 other stations and four more planned for the remainder of 2001.
That’s the result of the SuperClubs’ resort chain’s pioneering mass-marketing/public relations blitz to boot Jamaica’s tourism across the country which gives us up to 75 per cent of our visitors.
And the resort group is hailing the thrust as a “whopping, super success!”
The statistics are impressive, says SuperClubs’ vice-president marketing and environmental affairs, Zein Nakash.
For example, in United States dollar value, the fix ‘radio remotes’, as they are called, have generated an estimated US$2.7 million in overseas advertising revenue for the island, Mrs. Nakash reported.
The lowest estimated value of US$120,000 was realized last April and the highest estimated value of US$546,000 was recorded in July.
“But by far the largest of the six outings, in American dollar term, is the just-completed netlink – between January 8 and January 12 of this year, at Breezes Runaway Bay – which brought in a estimated US$742,225 in air time revenue,” Mrs. Nakash said.
In the remote linkups, sometimes as many as 10 radio station broadcast their regular programmes live from the beachfront restaurant at Breezes Runaway Bay, back to their home bases in areas such as New Orleans, New York State, California, Massachusetts, Minneapolis, New Jersey, North Carolina and Texas.
The stations are invited for a week of daily broadcasting and the guidelines are strict. For example, each station must be in a proven geographic area that produces business and should rank within the top five in its area.
SuperClubs also works with ABC syndicated stations – anywhere between 165 and 400 affiliate stations per network – and this bring in a conservative estimate of a further US$100,000 in promotional value.
Regular on-air promotions leading up to the date of departure for Jamaica begin with winners of quizzes and their spouses getting a free SuperClubs vacation.
Sometimes as many as 50 people (radio staff of announcers and technicians, and winners and their partners) fly down for the incentive. They are feted at special social functions, and taken on tours across the island.
Picture caption: Joseph Issa (right), executive vice-president of SuperClubs being interviewed by the WBSM radio team out of Fairhaven, Mass., USA.
Source: The Gleaner
