Here are five tips for radio program directors who want to help their imaging directors produce the best possible work.
This presumes that at your station, the program director and the imaging director are not the same person.
1. Don’t Write the Promos, Liners, etc.
Yeah, I know you want to write them. That’s because:
A) It’s easier for you to write them than to figure out what you want and then explain it to the person who should write them.
That’s true. You’ve chosen the easy way, not the best way.
If you can’t express your vision to your imaging director, either you don’t have a vision or you’re a poor communicator. Either way, that’s a problem for your station.
B) It’s fun.
Of course it is. You sit around and brainstorm what you think are witty liners.
Maybe they’re witty, maybe not.
Maybe they’re witty but they don’t communicate what the listener needs to hear.
Maybe they’re witty but they’re impossible to perform and produce in the time frame allocated to your imaging messages.
C) You’re a “hands on” program director.
Poor excuse. If you have time to write station liners, you’re neglecting some of the other duties that only the PD should be doing.
2. Give Them a Vision.
Program Director: “We need something for Wham-A-Rama.”
Imaging Director: “What’s the feeling we’re trying to communicate?”
Program Director: “Oh, you’ll come up with something.”
Imaging Director: “What do we need to say?”
Program Director: “Just make sure you get the sponsor names in there.”
Dissolve to…
Program Director: “What the heck is this piece of garbage?? Why didn’t you include artist drops? And there should be listener reactions; it’s a contest, for crying out loud!”
A PD who tells the producer, “I can’t really tell you what I want, but I’ll know it when I hear it” is either incompetent, lazy, or scared.
(Not able to crystalize a vision; too lazy to sit down and figure out what the message should be; afraid to try, for fear they won’t be able to come up with anything.)
“I’ll know it when I hear it” without any type of guidance or inspiration is the hallmark of an amateur.
3. Give Them Time.
If you need a 30-second promo 30 minutes from now, any producer can give you just that: a 30-second promo.
Quality? Listenability? Understandability? Memorability? Audience connection? If any of those is present, it’ll be a fortunate surprise.
4. Figure Out What You Want the Promo to Accomplish, and Then Communicate That to Them.
“We want to build anticipation so that when we finally announce that tickets are available, everyone rushes to their computers or their telephones or the sponsor locations to get them.”
“The advertisers get 30 weekly promos as part of the package. We’re an edgy station, so make them edgy. Just be sure to mention the advertisers.”
“This goes between two songs. We want to make sure people know what station they’re listening to, and we want to do it in a way that reinforces our family image.”
5.
Don’t Copy & Paste What You Hear on Other Radio Stations.
Here’s why….
Wait, never mind. If I need to explain why you shouldn’t your radio station’s imaging shouldn’t be defined by other stations, you won’t listen to me anyway.
