The Earshot podcast is packed with great radio promotion ideas, shared by the people who make them. Playing games This time, two of planet Earth’s leading commercial radio practitioners explore the world’s greatest contest and competition mechanics and what makes them so effective for audiences and sponsors alike. Play or download this podcast Jonathan Lumley and John Simons Duration 47’45”, 192kb/s stereo mp3, file size 71.2 MB. Loudness -16 LUFS. Subscribe to the whole series with your favourite podcast app, Google Podcasts or iTunes. If you enjoy the show please rate it so its utter brilliance can be in no doubt to anybody. Thanks to you, Earshot recently hit number 377 in the Apple podcast chart for Marketing and Management in the UK. Yes, 377. In this world one takes what one can get. Show notes From the Cash Call to the Bong Game® to the Real Radio Renegade, Jonathan Lumley from East Coast Radio and Jacaranda FM in South Africa and international radio consultant John Simons from the UK reveal their favourite competition ideas, both as set-piece promotional moments and everyday benchmarks. In conversation with Earshot’s Steve Martin, they explain how their favourite competition mechanics work, the critical dos and don’ts for any promotion and how data from engaged listeners can help you demonstrate to advertisers the quality of audience you attract. You’ll also discover the 1% rule and why John’s cousin hasn’t been for dinner recently. If you run competitions, games or sponsored promotions on your station this is a rare opportunity to learn from two of the best, from both sides of the globe. Trademarked competition names If you want to check whether a proposed competition has been trademarked in the UK, this is the central UK Trade Mark registry. Jonathan Lumley (left, enscarfed) and John Simons (jacketed and labelled). Next time: Ben Stones and Liam Hadley from the BBC, including the inside story on the imaging for the Radio 1 Breakfast Show with Greg James, produced with ReelWorld. Credits Earshot theme by the Tiger Club Band. Voiceover is Elly Fairman at Hobsons. Views are personal. The contributors acknowledge all rights held by the owners, creators and performers of the recorded works which are included solely for the purposes of education and review. From Earshot where views are personal and original writing is licensed under Creative Commons. Follow @earshotcreative and send story ideas and examples of great creative work to the editor @smartin