Chris Brown Really Defined a Brand on Her Face.
Often it’s not the sound of the station that effects the listener… it’s the programming. It’s not how your make things sound, it’s what you’re told to make to define the programme that works (or not).
You can have the most amazing imaging in the world, but if your jock’s are bad, your ad breaks are badly placed and your music sucks – then you’re in for trouble…
And when it comes to whips and chains – they might excite Rihanna, but they leave some pretty brutal marks… just ask her about Chris Brown…
Ratings, regardless of how they are collected and their accuracy are the best thing we’ve got to determine how well a station is doing. The more listeners, the more money (in a nutshell). You don’t want your station’s sound to determine how people feel about you right? Right. But, station sound isn’t just about the sound… it’s about the programming concepts behind it.
Think of it this way… Station Sound is 50% the voices, the effects, the music and so on… the other 50% is the programming concept behind it all. It’s thoughts and questions like these: where will we place the imaging? Where will the ad’s play? How will we image around the ads? Where are we going to put promos? What voices do we want to use? Do we want cold/dry or produced production? Jingles? You get the picture.
Without asking these questions of yourself (or your Programmer) – you can’t begin to craft a imaging that is going to be effective. No amount of killer effects, great voices and cool music is going to rescue something that has bad programming decisions behind it.
In a recent batch of work we did, we put it this way to the Programmer:
“Before getting too far down the road of creating a new imaging package, it’s important to get a solid brand definition (stationality), and set of rules with which to create a package that really connects with the listener. Any station can say the words explaining what they are, but if the station isn’t oozing the stationality from it’s every pore, then the listener connections aren’t going to be made.
Anyone can get a new voice and put some fancy sound effects around it to make a station sound cool. The real trick is to identify and create exclusive content that really connects with the listener, once we’ve defined the rules.”
And that’s exactly it. You can’t image your station out of bad ratings without first getting the programming concepts right.
And the Award for Most Awards Goes Too…
It’s always good to take a leaf out of 80′s Hip Hop lyrics…
Biggin’ yourself up, and taking all the cred for those mad skills. Of course, it’s also worth making sure that hat is on sideways and those pants are baggy.
You get the idea right? Basically, take some time to make sure everyone else knows you’re awesome…
Because if you’re not your own biggest fan, then who else will be?
Check out all the awards we’ve ever been nominated for… you’ll notice we’ve won a lot of ‘em too!
2011
Winner – Best Large Market Promo – Radio And Production Awards
SILVER – Best promotional/advertising campaign, UK Sony Radio Awards (with Capital FM)
Finalist – Best Imaging, UK Sony Radio Awards (with Capital FM)
Finialist – Best Imaging, UK Radio Arqiva’s (with Jack FM)
2010
GOLD – Best Imaging, UK Sony Radio Awards (with Jack FM)
Winner – Best Imaging, UK Radio Arqiva’s (with Jack FM)
Winner – Best Station Imaging, NZ Radio Awards (with ZM)
Finalist – Station Sound, New York Festivals (with Jack FM)
Finalist – Radio And Production Awards (with Jack FM)
2009
Winner – Best Station Imaging, NZ Awards
Winner – Best Promo, NZ Radio Awards
2008
Winner – Best Promo, NZ Radio Awards
Finalist – Station Imaging, NZ Radio Awards
1st & 2nd Runners Up – Radio And Production Awards
2007
Winner – Best Promo, NZ Radio Awards
Winner – Best Medium Market Promo, Radio And Production Awards
Finalist – Station Imaging, NZ Radio Awards
2006
Winner – Best Station Imaging, NZ Radio Awards
Winner – Best Technical Production, NZ Radio Awards
Winner – Best Promo, NZ Radio Awards
2005
Finalist – New York Festivals
Finalist – Best Station Imaging, NZ Radio Awards
Finalist – Best Technical Production, NZ Radio Awards
Finalist – Best Promo, NZ Radio Awards
2004
Finalist – Best Station Imaging, NZ Radio Awards
Radio Imaging Fitness
You’re told to cut the fat from your life.
Why not cut the fat from your scripts too?
Tae Bo can do wonders for both, so we hear…
Seriously though, it’s something worth spending time on – to get right.
The scripts, not your abs.
Everyone loves good imaging. And many people think the key to good imaging is good production. WRONG. Good imaging is about good writing, and if you get that wrong, then no amount of awesome effects like the online wizzFX Subscription Service is gonna fix it.
And good scripting isn’t exactly hard once you’ve identified what you’re trying to achieve with your imaging. Yes, that’s right – you need to identify what you want to achieve. If you’re going to make imaging, then you need to figure out what you want to say to your listeners. Are you a Hit Music Station like 95.8 Capital FM in the UK? Are you a creative station like ZM in New Zealand? Are you wanting to be cool, or funny, or both? Once you’ve got all your angles figured – only then can you begin to write.
But don’t just throw words at a page to make sweepers. Actually think about what you want to say. At Capital, our scripts DON’T look like this:
Hit Music – Capital
Capital – Hit Music
Hit Capital Music
Hit Music, Hit Capital
Capital Music, Capital Hits.
We try to target things a little more, and actually communicate the message in different ways with different lines:
Hit Music – Capital
All the Hits – Capital
Playing all the Hits – Capital
Your Hit Music Station, 95.8 Capital FM
You get the picture. It’s not about changing the order of words to make more sweepers, it’s about saying the same thing in different ways – and thusly, more targeted. If you’re concerned about not having enough sweepers – then you’re missing the point. It’s not about quantity, it’s about quality – kinda like chicks (although having said that, you could just build a couple of versions of each sweeper if you really wanted too).
Once you’ve got your head around that, your imaging becomes more EFFECTIVE. And that’s what this is all about, reaching out to your listeners.
What about Promos? This is the other FAIL point of so many. Over writing promo’s destroys a stations brand – think about it, in an hour or programming you have more minutes of promos than you do sweepers (if you don’t then you might need to consider how long your sweepers are). It makes sense that you try to make the promo’s as cool and as slick as your imaging right?
Right. But again, people get it wrong and cram as much as they can into a promo. KISS. Keep it simple stupid – it’s so true. Pick one thing to promote in a promo and write it. If you need to promote 2 things in one promo, don’t – split it out and make two promos each concerning one of the things. It’s a really simple thing to do – and it doesn’t matter if you’ve got super creative promos, or really straight ones – word economy is the key.
Here’s how it works. Instead of:
And for your chance to win, just keep listening to Greg Burns at drive time from 4 this afternoon.
Try writing it like:
For your chance to win, listen to Greg Burns from 4.
Another example? OK. How about from this:
Get online to CapitalFM.com, click ‘win stuff,’ enter your details and get in the draw to win.
To this:
Check out CapitalFM.com for your chance to win.
See? Word economy. Stripping out the words (and not your clothes), is what will help you keep your promo’s shorter, more effect, and clever. There’s also an added benefit to word ecomony. Eventually, you’ll find you’re stripping out so much, that you might have extra time to be a little bit creative, and write in a little element which will really blindside and capture your listeners attention. If you’ve ever though promo’s were dull and boring – think again, adding a little bit of creativity can really help boost recall, and grab the ears of your listeners (we’ll cover this another time).
Remember, a promo is still part of branding the station. So you’ve got to use the opportunity to do it right; and word economy is a great way to get started on the right track. After that, it’s all about the creativity that you can bring to the table.
So, writing station branding isn’t as easy as people think. It’s not about word order, it’s not about cramming in as much information as you can to generate interest; it’s about considering your target and writing directly to them in a clear concise manner. It’s about word economy. The more that you consider these points, the better you’ll get – and the better your listeners will react to your station. You’ll love that, as will your PD’s and PC’s as the ratings go up.
Of course, once you’ve got the writing right, you’ve gotta make it sound cool! So why not try buying access to wizzFX Online in the wizzFX Shop! From as little as US$30 a month, get access to hundreds of weird, twisted, warped, and wicked Radio Imaging FX sound design to make your work stand out. What’s more, new sounds get added every month, so you’ll never get bored of having to use the same sounds day in and day out.
It’s worth checking out!
wizzFX Commissions London Philharmonic Orchestra for Radio Jingles
How else did we record our Orchestral Hits?
Piano rolls, samples, synths, drums, guitars, orchestral hits, beep’s. At wizzFX, we’ve been furiously creating news packages for some of our clients.
Anyway, here’s your chance to get in on the action…
So we’ve created two new package’s for two different stations, and now it’s your chance to get some wizzFX composition action for your station (look at our rhyming eh?). Read on, check out the audio below and get in touch with us to see what we can do for you!
ZM Newsbeat
ZM recently approached wizzFX to redesign their Newsbeat Package. The brief? To create an update of the previous package (which had occupied the airwaves for 5 years), whilst modernising and building a new station defining sound. Five cuts were provided.
News Intro and News Bed (both segued together here for illustrative purpose):
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Sport Bed:
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Traffic Bed:
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Weather Bed:
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Operations Manager for ZM, Christian Boston, was happy with the results:
“Since day one Chris Nicoll has proven himself to be one of the most driven producers I have ever worked with. His drive to learn, succeed and create has far surpassed anything expected of him. He has mastered the art of radio production, yet still he pushes himself to learn more. This dedication has seen ZM win numerous awards at the New Zealand Radio Awards (including main station imaging numerous times), and also overseas awards such as the New York Festivals. He has been New Zealand’s best imaging talent. His technical skill and musical abilities are outstanding!”
– Christian Boston, Operations Manager ZM.
Upbeat, modern, fresh, wizzFX’s Newsbeat package for ZM in New Zealand is now on air.
Flava News
After the success of composing and creating the new ZM Newsbeat Package, wizzFX was approached to redesign the news for Hip Hop and R’n'B station Flava. The brief? To create a new bed to follow out of an 80′s Soul/Funk retro song (used for a comedy vibe), in a new modern way – but still retaining some of the “flavour” from the initial 80′s piece. And to create a Traffic bed to match the piece stylistically, while being a separate piece in it’s own right.
The News bed starts with that 80′s piece as an intro which has a small remix towards the end, giving way to a full urban piece, designed to move from the comedy of the initial piece, into a more serious news style. The Traffic Bed has a similar palette of sounds, whilst introducing some alternative elements, and various car SFX.
News Intro and Bed:
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Traffic Bed:
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Want In?
So if you want a cool news package, you’ve got two options.
Option 1, check out the wizzFX Shop and purchase the recently completed ElectroNews package for US$50. You can use it for life, where-ever you end up – for free… here’s how it sounds:
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Option 2, get in touch below about getting your own custom piece composed, mixed and mastered. We don’t charge the Earth, and where possible we embrace the use of PRS and APRA.
Plus, we should mention we don’t just do news packages, we’ll look at any sort of music request for you. So if you’re not after news, and after something else – we can still do it, just ask below:
[contact-form-7 404 "Not Found"]Rockstars and Rocket Science
It’s not all rockstars and rocket science.
Or is it? Keith Richards has probably snorted the equivalent of the NASA space budget…
Sometimes branding can be acheived by NOT branding. Just don’t try to claim you’re shunning the branding spotlight. Because you are. You have a clear brand, and that is, to not ram it like most others.
Think of it as product placement in movies and TV shows. It’s still advertising, even though it’s a bit more subtle and you’re likely not to recognise it as an advertisement. If you try to brand your station without ramming it down your listeners throat – then you’re product placing. Less station name checks, less station branding lines.
In today’s environment, it’s arguably better to try to product place than to ram.
BUT. There is still a place for the traditional piece of imaging. There’s a fine line to walk in order to have a station that rates well, and creates well. In an hour, you don’t want to have too much creative stuff not mentioning much about the station, else wise you’ll lose the TSL you’re trying to build. It’s about balancing the creative with the core branding messages. Like 50/50.
Perhaps it’s a creative ID or sweeper followed by a simple branding message based liner between songs. Or maybe even simple clear branding between the music, and around the top of the hour and the ad breaks – something more creative. Mixing product placement and advertising works for Coke, why won’t it work for your radio station?
You’ve just got to be clever.
Sometimes the tools you use can help too… So why not try buying access to wizzFX Online in the wizzFX Shop! From as little as US$30 a month, get access to hundreds of weird, twisted, warped, and wicked Radio Imaging FX sound design to make your work stand out. What’s more, new sounds get added every month, so you’ll never get bored of having to use the same sounds day in and day out.
It’ll make your work sound all rock and roll, which in turn makes you a rockstar. And it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that wizzFX is cheap, effective, and will make you sexy.*
Don’t claim you don’t brand. You do brand, you’re just being a bit more clever than some others – and your listeners will probably be thanking you for it – and that’ll show in the ratings and TSL.
*by sexy we in no way are referring to your looks and how you will appear to the opposite sex… the same sex however…
