CRS In Action: Imaging Is Everything

'Imaging From Both Sides Of The Mic"

Imaging specialists LLOYD SHERR, STEW HERRERA and JEFFREY HEADQUIST provided an entertaining and information packed session during TODAY’s (2/27) “Imaging From Both Sides of The Mic” panel at CRS.

Much of the time was spent on writing copy, which HERRERA, who images Rock KLOS/LOS ANGELES, says takes him twice or three times as long to produce an imaging piece. HERRERA says his process involves re-writes an edits and he urged people to avoid “Outlaw words” such as “purchase,” receive” and “available,” replacing them with ‘buy,” “get” and “now.”

To that point, HEADQUIST says he’s accumulated more than 350 cliches he stays away from – all of which he’ll send anyone of them willing to e-mail him at jeffrey@headquist.com. Examples included “Licensed drivers only,” “Going on now” and “sale ends SATURDAY.”

“Don’t command,” he suggested. “If you give them a reason to do something first, then you can give them a way to act on it.” HEADQUIST also said infusing self-effacing humor, while telling a story that engages fans is also effective.

The relationship between imaging copywriter and station voice was discussed; SHERR and HEADQUIST do a lot of V/O work, with SHERR talking about knowing when to suggest copy changes -- and when not to. HERRERA said even with a V/O artist who is familiar with the station and the copy writer, it’s sometimes necessary to have a live session with them to get the correct nuances of a particular piece of copy.

All three played audio examples of their work in combination with live, on-the-fly examples that entertained the room for the entire 50-minute session.

« see more Net News