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Radio Imaging- Is there a book?

J

joshzz

I spend endless hours listening to other stations to hear their imaging in order to secure ideas for our stations.

Is there a book that lists hundreds of images to use?

Creative images.. I cna't tell you home times we've used "The Best Mix Always", "The Greatest Hits" "More Variety" etc...

your help is appreciated. josh
 
If there's a book, I've never seen one. Radio is supposed to be a creative medium define the objective and paint the picture with words. You can also take the easy way out and steal from another station! ;D

At one station I worked for things got pretty loose. They'd had the same image liners for a long time. So I took the liberty of writing up some new ones for my shift. I just did a simple rewrite and stayed with what the old liners basically said. I accidentally left them in the voice track studio. To my surprise everyone else started using them!

I don't really like imaging liners unless they are funny. I don't think listeners are that gullible. The "Best Mix", according to who? The stations that usually say "More Variety" are the ones with some of the tightest playlists I've ever heard.

I have never understood why stations have to do imaging liners. I'm here, you've got me, you don't have to sell me on listening. Use the time to tell me something useful to ME. I will learn all I need to learn about your station by listening to it and I'll form my own opinion. Doesn't that make sense?
 
In the Arbiton world of Personal People Meter image lines and positioning statements mean zero- zilch. If people like what they hear- the music, information, whatever, they will listen and stay tuned. What we are now finding out with PPM is something that we always knew , but would never admit, people who like music (whatever your format) tune out when they hear the spoken word. So , you had better have a creative and short message, and in the future, stop set clusters will contain no more than two short units of commercial per break. Period ! And it better be a great message, without phone numbers, and other inane nonsense such as "in business for 50 years', "or family owned and operated", or "plenty of free parking", and the list goes on. Some of the best "postitioning statements" of the past have been nothing more than call letters. There are many examples, but WIBG "Wibbage", WMGK -Where the "Magic" is the music, WAMS "Whams", WEAZ "Easy". Other quick imaging lines, Music Radio WABC, WINS 1010 News Radio" have also worked. The frequency of your station has always been important, but even more so in the PPM world. But that could also change as more people go on line to listen. You will need a great web address, something that is part of the lexicon. Google comes to mind, but there are many others. Do good, be well and happy.
 
I doubt all the best imaging ideas would take up a whole book. There have been ones that "worked" back in the day that we remember but apparently don't work so well any more and have been relegated to the memory books.

But like Mike Sheridan said, it's not that important, you're just preaching to the choir, in a sense.
If you just want a list of positioner statements, check out station websites and radio consultant websites.

If you want to do it, find your hook and tweak it. Find some imaging voice/consultant to help you carry it off. Personalize it for the listener. If you're just repeating what they already know in general "you're listening to us because we're great" that kind of thing], then you're wasting time now and in your format clock.
Just don't use "Kiss" and a bunch of other copyrighted stuff. :)
 
Amen to all. Music radio formats tend to be narcissistic.
We play the Best Variety of ____. We're #1 at_____. Huge female turn off.
Most of this crap is written by men.

In an average hour you'll hear, we're great, we're wonderful, we're #1, springled in with listeners telling us we're great, we're wonderful, we're #1.
 
Couldn't agree more with 12 in a row. This would be interestring project. Of the radio stations who target women 18+, how many of these stations have a woman at the helm as the person in charge of the content ? I would venture to say that the percentage is less than 25 %. Aren't broadcasters brilliant. Do good, be well and happy.
 
GOOD POINT! They could save the market research and just hire a woman to decide which songs make it and which are break it.
 
vsa said:
You want some inspired image liners???

All you need is this YouTube video and you're off to being #1.

I guaranteeeeeeee it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VveZdp8OLh0
Click to expand...


This was a hoot!
Doncha love the genuine Milwaukee flavor?

I have always been against using any kind of imaging on my part 15, but I am increasingly tempted to use

"We're Greasy, Greasy 1620...The music that makes you forget to wash."

OR


"That train, like, it be wreckin'...... We're Trainwreck 1620. Don't stand close to the tracks."

OR

W-Nuthin-nuthin-nuthin.... Delinquent 1620. The music that makes you want to goof off and drop out."

Mom(yelling upstairs): What are you DOING?

Kid : Nothin'

Mom: How long are you gonna DO THAT?

Kid (muttering under his breath) At least until you kick me out.

Voice: We're delinquent 1620, music for your inner juvenile delinquent!

Hope nobody has trademarked these.
 
The book is a notepad that you compile ideas on while you're driving around doing sales calls and listening to the station and interacting with listeners.
 
Unfortunately, running a radio station is far more complicated. Hopefully, the person making sales calls isn't the person doing imaging. :)
 
I guess I was thinking of a small-time station, not The Big Time what's got all them thar separated different Big Time job duties and stuff. :)

If it's going to mean something to the listeners [and advertisers], the sales people and promotions people and whatever other people-contact job duties ya got might wanna help some.
Otherwise Mercenary Imaging Guy Who Wrote A Book That Gives Him Authority goes to his Big Voice Guy Universal Bag of Tricks and pulls out something he did for a station in Timbuktu. [To the listener who's heard different stations, it sounds formulaic after a while.]

Shoot, for that matter, get the people making sales calls to record imaging statements from the listeners and advertisers. You don't have to use them all. Listeners already listen, advertisers like hearing themselves on the air. And hopefully they are listening and advertising because they already know what your unique selling points are, they already bought. :)
 
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