WRDW Cleans Up With Sales Mgr.’s ‘Pledge’

Where do winning ideas come from? What do you do to tap into your muse when you need inspiration? A walk in the woods, or perhaps a drive in the car?

For Mike Oates, general sales manager at Gray Television’s WRDW, the CBS affiliate in Augusta, Ga. (DMA 112), his winning idea, The Daily Pledge, came to him while he was ‘standing the shower’.

“When I got to the station, I went right into the GM’s office to see what he thought of the idea,” Oates says.

The Daily Pledge won top honors at the 2013 National Association of Broadcasters Small Market Television Exchange (SMTE) held recently in Phoenix. The SMTE is the only meeting for small market group executives and station television broadcasters in DMAs 75 and above. The SMTE focuses on innovative ways to attract emerging and non-traditional advertisers, suggestions to enhance a station’s position in the local marketplace and tips on turning good ideas into revenue-generating plans.

“Like most great ideas, the concept is simple,” says Angie Doolittle, the WRDW account executive in charge of the project.

Every morning in WRDW’s 6 a.m. news, usually right around 6:40, the station airs a one-minute commercial. The first 30-seconds feature kindergarten through third grade students from schools in the area reciting the Pledge of Allegiance followed by a 30-second message from the sponsor, Gerald Jones Auto Group.

WDRW Pledge of Allegiance example

“We pitched the idea one time to one client,” Johnston says.

Johnston says they chose the Gerald Jones Auto Group because “they’re the dominant car dealer in the Augusta area by a large margin, they’re family-owned, and the family is very community-minded and patriotic.”

“We went to the station looking for something that could tie the dealerships to the community,” says Steve Johnston, president of Team 1 Advertising and Marketing in North Augusta, the ad agency for Gerald Jones Auto Group, “and this idea hit a lot of the owner’s philosophies.”

Gerald Jones Auto Group Daily Pledge Promo

This is the third year that the auto group has been the exclusive sponsor of The Daily Pledge. “We’re keeping it exclusive to them,” Doolittle says, “but a lot of other clients have expressed interest if it should ever become available.”

Doolittle says that when they first started the project, they contacted the schools right near the station. Now, schools all over the area are contacting the station.

“The schools love it,” Doolittle says, adding that, “parents call the station every day wanting to know where they can see the videos on our website of their kids doing the pledge.” For an example of

WRDW’s The Daily Pledge page, click here.

“The unique thing about The Daily Pledge is that they do a different school every day and that touches a lot of parents’ hearts who want to watch,” Johnston says.

Oates says that since his station won the award in September, he’s “heard from about a dozen other TV stations that want to know about it.”

Oates says there’s no truth to the rumor that he’s thinking of installing a shower in his office.

Market Share by Paul Greeley is all about marketing and promotion at TV stations and appears every Monday. Greeley has more than 20 years of experience in local TV marketing. He’s been a writer, producer, editor, creative services director and VP of marketing for a top-20 broadcast company and has experience in markets large and small. Read other Market Share columns here. If you have some ideas or stories you want to share, please let him know. You can reach Greeley at [email protected] or at 817-578-6324.