(PRODUCTION) Enhance Features With Added Production Values

9-11-2013

Last week you might have read the post about "best practices" for using music beds to enhance your show. This week we tackle produced stagers for any regular or recurring benchmark, feature, or even guest.

Any regular feature on the show -- whether it's daily, weekly, monthly, or as needed -- will cut through more, be stickier, and have more impact if it has a produced intro to set it up for you...and, at times, a produced close as well.

Stagers get the listener's attention. Even if it's simply a music bed of some kind, it serves as a trigger that a popular feature is imminent. If you're a show that plays little music, a stager can also serve as "pattern disruption" to re-engage the listener's attention when you shift gears and change the subject.

Stagers are particularly helpful in PPM markets for two reasons. They establish the feature quickly by consolidating the description in the produced piece. Also, stagers allow for the host to come right in with the meat of the segment -- a hook headline for the top stupid news story, for example -- without having to give the station, show, and feature name first.

Here are some things to consider when adding production value to regular features:

-- Include the name of the station, show, and feature, along with a brief descriptor of the feature if necessary.

-- Resist the urge to constantly freshen or change the signature to established features. We get tired of production pieces long before the audience does.

-- On the other hand, if you use drops or topical clips in a stager, particularly for features that run regularly, update those regularly or they'll get annoying. Humor, in particular, burns faster than more "generic" material. (You know how a trailer for a comedy stops being funny after you've seen it several times?)

One last thing to consider: Produce a "close" that time-stamps any regular daily or weekly feature for appointment setting (e.g., "That's your Hollywood Buzz, weekday mornings at 6:30, 7:30, and 8:30.")

Angela Perelli is a SVP at the The Randy Lane Company (www.randylane.net). She can be reached at angela@randylane.net  www.facebook.com/TheRandyLaneCompany  www.twitter.com/TheRandyLaneCo

(9/13/2013 3:17:21 AM)
abquUi Wow, great blog post.Much thanks again. Want more.
(9/11/2013 8:04:34 AM)
I love that phrase "pattern disruption." I even shared your words with my pastor, saying "this is what most sermons need, some pattern disruptions to regain the attention of people who have settled in for the long haul and their mind has wandered."
Thanks for the wisdom.

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Envision Introduces New Digital Features

4-16-13

Envision Radio Networks has launched a new service that provides original content for radio stations to use in their online streams. Available on a barter basis, Envision Digital Features provides a solution for stations that need short-form content to fill spot sets or cover breaks on their digital streams. Stations can use these features to cover holes in their stream rather than using PSAs and generic promos.

Envision Digital Features gives online streams a more listener-friendly approach by providing updated content to keep online streams sounding fresh. Each week affiliated stations will receive access to a full week of web-only content from 12 different features including American Biker Minute, AppCheck, Bigg Success in a Minute, Cheap Psych Tricks with Dr. Buff, Paul Shaffer?s Day in Rock, Six Second Reviews, The Final Verdict, Think Green, Where Are They Now with Ahmad Rashad, Your Hollywood 60 and more.

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(TALENT) Are Your Features on Autopilot?

7-9-2012

By Randy Lane and Angela Perelli

If your show has been successful for a while, or if the ratings are stalling, it might be time for a content mapping session. The idea behind content mapping is that all products, services, benchmarks, features, etc. have a life cycle. You must be honest and clear on where every regularly aired feature is in its marketing life cycle.

Make a list of any and all show benchmarks and regular features, including information and service elements. Score each individual element on a 1-3 scale:

1 = Perfect as is
2 = Needs improvement or a fresh twist
3 = Has run its course; time to pull
We know that PPM-winning shows do their "A" material more often. For the features in the 1 group (perfect as is):

-- Does it make sense to run them more often?
-- Can a "Stupid News" segment run twice per show instead of once?
-- Can that great guest you have on once a month come in every two weeks?
-- Are you maximizing your best material by replaying them the next morning in other hours (or dayparts) to expose them to new cume?

Here are some ideas for the 2s:

-- Brainstorm ways to improve or create a fresh angle. For example, "Bad Boyfriend Poker" could become "Psycho Ex-Girlfriend Poker" or "Bad Mother-in-Law Poker" once in a while. "Battle of the Sexes" can become "Battle of the Sexual Orientation" (gay men vs. straight men).
-- Come up with a fresh, catchier name.
-- Add new sound bites or a more attention-getting open and/or close.
-- Consider having a different player anchor the feature, based on their on-air role and character. -- Some games are more dynamic with two players rather than one. Can you alter the mechanics slightly to add more drama?

For the bits in the 3 category:

-- Devise an exit strategy.
-- Dump immediately if there'd be no sales/promotional fallout.
-- Most importantly, brainstorm new elements that are fresh and fun to take their place. It is much more challenging to create, than to eliminate, content.

Email randy@randylane.net
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Angela Perelli is a SVP at the The Randy Lane Company (www.randylane.net). She can be reached at angela@randylane.net  www.facebook.com/TheRandyLaneCompany  www.twitter.com/TheRandyLaneCo

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Liquid Compass To Debut New Features at NAB

4-13-2012

At NAB Liquid Compass and partner AdsWizz will announce the release of several new advertising technologies for the LC Pro 2.0 streaming platform at NAB 2012 in Las Vegas. Among other new features, 2.0 will include custom couponing, custom polling and playover takeovers. Liquid Compass CEO Zac Lewis (pictured) said, ?Our goal is to equip terrestrial and Internet radio broadcasters with the necessary tools to help grow their audience while monetizing new revenue streams.?

Hare are the new LC Pro 2.0 features:
- ?Portable? Now-Playing Widget: Allows listeners to connect with their favorite artists or discover new music directly from the player, or through a portable widget accessible through the station?s website. 
- Custom Couponing: Advertisers can deliver a ?daily deal? or coupon for listeners that can be printed directly from the player.
- Custom Polling: Broadcasters can now survey listeners on any topic directly through the player.
- Player Takeovers: This unique feature enables the media player to be highly customized, on the fly, with sophisticated backgrounds through AdsWizz.
- Updated Player Tools: Using the Client Control Center, broadcasters can change the ?skin? of the media player in seconds to change the look and the feel of the product.

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Mighty Red II: Brand New Radio Features

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Triton Digital Unveils New Features

Triton Digital has announced a number of enhancements to its applications and services portfolio. The new features include user-generated content, enhanced social media integration, mobile marketing and loyalty club registration and QR code registration and contesting. Clear Channel Disgital Sales Manager Patrick Diab is already bragging about the new features. ?Using Triton?s QR code contesting feature allows us to extend our contesting capabilities online and drive promotional awareness without using man hours on the streets. It allows us to dip our toes in the smartphone pool of users who appreciate innovative ways to communicate with their favorite radio stations.?

The new features include:
UGC Contesting ? Triton?s new Digital Ivy contesting platform is centered on user-generated content (UGC) contesting. Digital Ivy will simplify deployment of UGC contests that can simultaneously be published as microsites (enabling stations to build free-standing contests for advertisers), embedded on a station?s site and in its Facebook application. Digital Ivy will initially be released as part of Triton's StickyFish platform and then as a standalone contesting service for any client.

Enhanced Social Media Integration ? New consumer login and integrated social publishing functionality makes it easier for consumers to enroll in the stations loyalty programs using their existing Facebook credentials and easier for FLEX clients to simultaneously publish content to their websites and popular social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and more.  In addition, it is now easier for stations to track how many listeners are engaged with their programs and social media.

Mobile Marketing and Loyalty Club Registration ? There are over four billion mobile phones in use today, making mobile registration key to a successful loyalty campaign. Triton now enables listeners to register for their favorite station?s loyalty club from any web enabled phone, such as iPhone and Droid devices.  Listeners can be recruited to the mobile registration via street team promotions and a powerful new addition to Triton's SMS texting platform (MXM).

Gamification ? Triton?s Social Engagement Engine (SEE) enables stations to drive increased engagement by allowing listeners to ?level-up? by performing client-defined actions that occur anywhere across their digital enterprise (including website and mobile applications).  As listeners level-up and increase their status, they unlock awards that can be published to Facebook and used to access gated content, enter into exclusive contests and much more.   Better yet, listeners are ranked in a leaderboard widget which creates a social competition to achieve the highest status and broadest access and rewards. Triton's SEE has already been enabled for all StickyFish clients and will soon be available to non-StickyFish clients to enable similar functionality on any website as an easy-to-use set of widgets and APIs.

QR Code Registration and Contesting ? With the new ?Scan and Win? module in StickyFish (Triton's points-based loyalty program), broadcasters can use QR codes to create unique and exciting mobile promotions and contests. Whether creating a digital scavenger hunt for points or simply incorporating a promotion with retail signage, radio stations can grow audiences by leveraging QR code technology.

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