...I worked at a radio station that was cool (and cheap) enough to realize the whole April Fools day phenomenon could be exploited as a means of promotion.
The radio station was WEBN and the means of exploitation was a huge creative undertaking called THE FOOLS DAY PARADE.
It was the aural embodiment of the April Fools joke. Day long, completely strait faced coverage of a completely fake parade.
People were genuinely deceived into thinking there was a parade*, the ones that weren't had a lot of laughs and it was incredible publicity. But it was also something else. It was among the things that created a kind of whimsical brand identity that was unique to WEBN, and not easily co-opted by a competitor.
It's that unique, not easily co-opted brand identity that has made it possible for WEBN to stay on top of this market for decades, in spite of the fact there is almost no evidence of whimsey left on WEBN.
Think about that, then think about how you're going to brand your radio station.
*There was a real baseball opening day parade going on downtown, and some people watching the real parade were confused because they were listening to our coverage.
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