The Truth About Radio Branded Intros
So how do you define a branded intro? From a production guy’s perspective, it’s the station’s imaging integrated into the intro of a song. From a listener’s viewpoint though, in this case – aural point, it could mean several things. Few of the words that can pop from the listener’s mind are cool, awesome, brilliant or NOISE.
If your listeners are perceiving your intros as NOISE, then it’s a big problem. We took a time with the guys at 97.1 The Bounce to tell us their station’s imaging secret. Robbie Gibson is the Imaging Director, and Amit is the morning show producer, and here’s what they got to say.
1. What is the single most important thing that imaging guys should consider when it comes to making a great branded intro?
The production has to flow with the song as if it’s one whole piece or a part of the song. The listener shouldn’t be able to tell where the intro stops and the song starts which means the tempo,the beat,the key and everything else about the intro should match up with the song completely.
2. How do branded intros help your station as far ratings and listenership are concerned?
We believe that the intro should be creative and memorable so that if the listener hears the song somewhere else they automatically think of the intro or the station. When they hear the branded intro, we want them to feel like we own the song, which is especially important if there is competition.
3. What services or products do you use and recommend to imaging producers?
We use “Killerhertz” and “Production Vault” SFX libraries. We find them to be useful for drops,sound design,and other various workparts. Production Vault offers pre produced Branded Intros that we listen to for inspiration. We try not to copy them exactly, but the workparts come in handy for our own unique intros…
4. When it comes to imaging, what is something that 97.1 The Bounce has that no other stations in your market does not have? (Aside from branded intros)
Our morning show uses Parody Intros which we produce. No other station uses this technique to the extent we do. We use three imaging voices (a luxary most stations don’t have.) Each voice has their own distinct qualities, giving us variety. For example we can use our three voices in the same Promo giving us three different sounds where as other stations have their one big voice in their promos or imaging. This can often cause the listener to tune out if they have to listen to the same voice over and over again. We are also the only CHR station in our market at the moment so do we have a distinct sound and not too much competition.
Branded intros definitely are here to stay. Remember to make them blend into the song intro and not distort it. Focus on the tempo, the beat, consider the right key. Thanks again to Amit and Robbie from 97.1 The Bounce.
The Bounce Branded Intros
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