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Married, Single, or Gay
August 21, 2012
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. The goal of story arc radio is to drive cume/reach into the morning show.....then additional tune ins across the day.... and back into mornings.
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Last week we took a look at the power of Story Arc Radio.
A story arc being an extended or continuing storyline that fast tracks heritage and demands foreground listening. Most great morning shows deliver 4-6 major story arc campaigns across a 12 month period each running a minimum of 4 weeks (including teasing etc) because any shorter and they don't change listening patterns. You need to allow time for ''recall and talk'' to become a factor.
The goal of story arc radio is to drive cume/reach into the morning show.....then additional tune ins across the day.... and back into mornings.
These campaigns can be driven out of topicality, community and listener needs or perhaps just via a great concept.
They force opinion and they cannot be ignored. We gave a ''Man Made Wedding'' (the groom does the lot) as an example. You can imagine the 'story arc' that would be developed along the way.
Weddings...divorces....break ups and make ups all make great story arc radio.
The most famous of these reality radio campaigns is ''2 Strangers and a Wedding,'' which recently won the Sony Gold in the UK for best Promotion.
Here's what the judges said:
......a life-changing contest idea ..... gripping radio through inspired production, skilled presentation and real attention to detail. It could have sounded shallow and over hyped but was instead sensitive, absorbing and spine tingling......
Here is the proposition:- Find two complete strangers, a guy and a girl.
- Get the girl to propose to the guy on-air.
- Have them meet for the very first time at the altar and marry them.
- Get everything paid for by your clients
And here's how it works:
Week 1: Teasing
Week 2: Pre-Promotion
Week 3: One week nominations for 'Bride'
Week 4: Five possible brides interviewed in breakfast over the five weekday morning shows. Each person gets an individual morningz
Week 5: Monday morning the selected ‘Bride’ is announced and interviewed. Nominations are sought for ‘Groom’
Week 6: Five possible grooms interviewed in breakfast over the five weekday morning shows. Each person gets an individual morning.
Week 7:
- Monday - the ‘Bride’ rings the winning ’Groom’ and proposes on the air -
from 9am listeners have a chance to win tickets to the wedding on air.
- Thursday evening – Bucks/Hens night.
- Friday morning - The Wedding broadcast - live.
Week 8: Honeymoon
And there's more ...
What about ...
- 2 Strangers and a Gay Wedding, or even 3 Strangers and a Wedding.....as heard on KLOS
- A ''Kids Wedding'' ....where mum and Dad get married but all the arrangements are handled by the kids
- Married in 24 Hours or Married by Monday, where the Morning Show team are under pressure to pull all the elements together in a short space of time. Compelling, must listen to radio.
On that final point above, here's an example of how Jacaranda FM in Johannesburg, South Africa responded to an unexpected opportunity to bring together a wedding in just three hours earlier this month ...
.... Monique Joubert and Rui Mocca had been engaged for 10 years and vowed to get married the DAY it snowed in Jo’burg. So on August 7th, when large parts of the province of Gauteng were covered in an icy white blanket, Monique’s sister, Lurika, gave Jacaranda FM News a call - asking if they could help to turn this dream into reality. After the News department relayed the message to Jacaranda's Martin Bester Drive show, the show's resident stuntman, Arod, responded on air:
"An entire wedding ... with all the bells and whistles... organized in just 3 hours? ....................... Challenge accepted!"
The team sprang into action just after the 4pm news - asking listeners who knew ministers, tailors, dressmakers, florists, bakers, photographers and more to help to accomplish the IMPOSSIBLE. In under a minute, phones were ringing off the hook, and within about 15 minutes the foyer was already filling up with people willing to help.
By 6:30pm everything was set up for what is probably the shortest notice wedding EVER.
Don't forget................Common traits for great story arc radio
- A strong premise that evokes emotion
- A great cast including a hero and villain
- Primal themes like anger and lust
- A critical path with various twists and turns
- A false climax
- A compelling conclusion
- A moral to the story
For more info on any of the ideas mentioned here feel free to email me, phildowse@phildowsemedia.com
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