In January and February, Munich’s popular hit channel “Radio 95.5 Charivari” attracted huge attention with an imaginative new campaign. During the programme Markus & Co. – Munich’s Morning Show, listeners could see what good luck their own date of birth might bring them. The channel held its birthday bash contest in cooperation with EMIRAT AG (www.emirat.de), a company specialising in risk management which provides coverage for any winnings that are paid out.

Lots of radio programmes increase their audience ratings with contests that provide good entertainment and offer attractive prizes at the same time. That’s why “Radio 95.5 Charivari” chose to use a concept that’s becoming increasingly popular amongst broadcasters: contest coverage. So EMIRAT AG developed the following idea specially for the Munich radio channel: during the Markus & Co. programme each morning, the presenter announced a month of birth that had already been generated by EMIRAT beforehand. All the listeners born in that month could take part in the round of the contest being held that day. A random generator then selected one of the callers-in, who was switched live into the studio. He or she immediately won EUR 250 for being born in the right month: that amount was paid out by “Radio 95.5 Charivari” directly, without being included in the risk coverage package.

That’s where EMIRAT came into it. Listeners born on a given day in the selected month won EUR 2,500. And EUR 25,000 was paid out to any contestant lucky enough to have been born on the right day in the right month and in the right year.

Putting reliable calculations first

Before the campaign was launched, EMIRAT randomly generated twenty winning dates of birth between 1940 and the year 2000 (e.g. 11.05.1966). In the next step, these dates were passed on to the broadcaster in twenty securely sealed envelopes that were consecutively numbered. So after that, there was no way EMIRAT could influence events.

The advantage: If there is a winner, the prize is paid out by EMIRAT, not the broadcaster. “Anyone wanting to cover a campaign that offers big prizes must calculate with a minimum premium amounting to about 4%-6% of the value of the winnings,” explains Ralph Clemens Martin, CEO of EMIRAT AG. “Now in terms of risk, that’s a mere fraction of the total amount that a promotion campaign of this sort might cost.” Holger Lappe, studio and programme manager at “Radio 95.5 Charivari”, sums up: “Our listeners’ response to this campaign was staggering. But we knew right from the start that the budget for it would remain calculable and that we weren’t letting ourselves in for any surprises – without that coverage, it could have cost us quite a lot of money.”

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Popular radio channel is the new winner’s wavelen