as if kids didn't get enough advertising aimed at it

[Guest guest]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/03/AR2006060300150.\

html

 

maybe next we can places ads in their dreams...

 

The Next Niche: School Bus Ads

Mass. Firm's Radio Program Promises Sales With Safer Ride

 

By Caroline E. Mayer

Washington Post Staff Writer

Sunday, June 4, 2006; Page F01

 

Soon, schoolchildren may be singing new lyrics to the classic " Wheels on the

Bus. "

 

" The ads on the bus go on and on, on and on . . . "

 

BusRadio, a start-up company in Massachusetts, wants to pipe into school buses

around the country a private radio network that plays music, public-service

announcements, contests and, of course, ads, aimed at kids as they travel to and

from school.

 

As BusRadio's Web site ( http://www.busradio.net/ ) explains: " Every morning and

every afternoon on their way to and from school, kids across the country will be

listening to the dynamic programming of BusRadio providing advertiser's [sic]

with a unique and effective way to reach the highly sought after teen and tween

market. "

 

BusRadio, the Web site adds, " will take targeted student marketing to the next

level. " Marketers can advertise and sponsor contests or provide a celebrity

deejay (perhaps to promote that next CD or movie). They can also use BusRadio's

Web site to conduct surveys and test songs, CD covers, packaging and ads.

 

According to its Web site, BusRadio plans to operate in Massachusetts this fall,

broadcasting to more than 102,000 students. By September 2007 it plans to take

its programs national, reaching a million students. On the Web site, BusRadio

listed Hagerstown, Md., as one of the areas it plans to serve. However, Chris

Carter, director of public school transportation for Washington County (which

includes Hagerstown), said he had never heard of BusRadio.

 

The company is the brainchild of Michael Yanoff and Steven Shulman, the same two

executives who created Cover Concepts, a company that has provided schools with

millions of free book covers -- full of bold, colorful ads for Kellogg's,

McDonald's, Calvin Klein, Nike and other major national advertisers. Now owned

by comic-book king Marvel Enterprises, Cover Concepts says it reaches 30 million

school-age children in 43,000 U.S. public schools, which receive no funding for

distributing the products.

 

Shulman declined to discuss BusRadio's plans, saying in an e-mail that it is " a

relatively new company in a start-up mode. " He said the " planned launch is in

September, and until that time we have [a] policy in place not to comment on our

business plan. "

 

According to the company's Web site, school buses will be equipped -- free --

with custom-designed equipment that will carry the company's proprietary

programs. It is unclear whether the school systems will also be paid for

broadcasting BusRadio. In an hour's broadcast, 44 minutes will be devoted to

music and news, six minutes to public-safety announcements, two to contests and

eight to advertising. On most commercial radio stations, there is usually 10 to

12 minutes, sometimes more, of advertising.

 

BusRadio says pilot tests have shown that students behave better when its

programs are on. Noise is reduced, and students are more likely to remain in

their seats and more willing to follow school rules, according to the Web site.

" Drivers used BusRadio as a behavioral tool. . . . If kids misbehaved, they lost

the privilege of listening to the show, " the Web site said.

 

BusRadio said that in test runs, its commercials were effective in attracting

kids' attention. The WB network, for example, wanted to promote its television

shows to kids. Print ads could reach the right audience but perhaps not on the

day that the shows were to be broadcast. Commercial radio could do that, but it

was considered inefficient for the youngest of viewers because kids " tend to

turn the station when the ads begin. "

 

WB tried BusRadio, running the promotions on the days the shows were scheduled

to air and broadcasting more ads during the students' ride home " so they could

reinforce the message to watch that night. "

 

 

 

I don't wanna be no war hero

Don't want a movie made about me

I don't wanna be no war hero

Just get away from the madness I see