BAD NEWS:
You are an account manager at an advertising firm that buys advertising time slots (radio/tv/internet ads) for corporate and retail clients who want to advertise their business through various media outlets. Your job requires you to purchase ad blocks months in advance, in order to gain a price advantage in the local market for your clients, as well as filling the ad space with creative ads to entice prospective customers. One of your major clients is “Total Outdoors”, a local sports warehouse retailer that sells a wide variety of outdoor/recreational/sports equipment. “Total Outdoors” sells youth and team sports equipment, camping and fishing gear, golf and tennis equipment, and popular sports wear fashions.

In late November, you bought advance local ad spots scheduled for a spring campaign on a popular FM radio station. When you purchased the time slots, the radio station told you that the ads would air during a new radio host’s segment. You had heard mixed reviews about the new host, who had been known as being ” extremely controversial” and “politically conservative” in his previous job in another city; however, the client had insisted that the host was “popular” and “entertaining” and would likely generate high ratings from listeners. After thinking carefully about the potential risks, you decided to buy the timeslots anyway. Your plan was to use the time slot to launch a new spring commercial for “Total Outdoors”, touting its new spring line of rock climbing, mountain biking, white water river rafting, and kayaking equipment.

Now it is April, and “Total Outdoors” is anxious to hear about the ratings of the new, controversial radio host. You have just seen the latest ratings and are disappointed to find that in almost every category the audiences for your ads time slot are well below your expectations. The exception is the over-65 demographic, where ratings are significantly higher than you expected. Your ads have not aired yet, but you since you’ve already purchased the ad space, you need to come up with a solution to keep the client happy and not lose your job.

Task:
Write an informative memo to “Total Outdoors” that notifies them of the weaker than expected ratings, and propose a solution that will allow them to make effective use of the already purchased ad spaces, despite the poor ratings. Carefully consider “direct” vs “indirect” delivery and be sure to consult “17.1” in your textbook. Your memo should be 500 words.