So – how do you fancy coming to join our team at the BBC?

A rare opening has come up in the BBC Radio Cross Trails team – part of BBC Creative Marketing – and working on radio promotions across the BBC’s TV Channels and genres.

Please feel free to share with anyone you know who may be interested and suitably qualified.

Here are the details (from the BBC Job Ad).

Part time (3 days per week) – Part of a job share

We’re looking to appoint a Senior Producer to manage highly creative and effective radio cross promotional campaigns across the BBC’s national, regional and local stations. BBC Radio Cross Trails is the team that leads and produces radio campaigns for the BBC’s high profile marketing messages. The team is part of Creative Marketing and aims to have the highest standards in creativity and production.
Role

You’ll lead the creative process for promotional campaigns that will be heard on the BBC’s national analogue and digital radio networks and on local radio. You’ll lead the creative development of key genres and channels (primarily Drama and Entertainment and BBC1 campaigns) in respect of radio cross trails, working with the marketing client and advertising agencies to make sure the genre delivers its potential across the radio portfolio.

You’ll use digital editing systems to construct highly produced promotions in a self-operated environment, using studios to direct & produce talent and act as a consultant on sound production and how campaigns should sound on BBC’s networks. You’ll lead the cross trails relationship with key marketing teams along with BBC advertising agency teams, dealing with the BBC’s high profile talent and key stakeholders. You’ll also manage the budget allocated for the work portfolio at both a project and overall level.
Requirements

With significant experience in the field of presentation/radio promotions, you should be able to demonstrate a good working knowledge of the individual promotional styles of the different BBC national radio networks. You’ll have an excellent grasp of radio production techniques and be able to demonstrate a passion for radio. You’ll also have proven experience of sensitive stakeholder management and ‘creative resilience’ (i.e. not compromising creative ideas).

To apply, please complete the ‘Main Details’ and ‘Equal Opportunities’ sections and upload a CV to the ‘Additional Information Upload’ section. In addition, in the ‘Application Questions’ section please outline your interest in the role and feel free to elaborate further on how your experience fits the role requirments.

Please Note

A 3 minute mp3 demo should be e-mailed to Gordon Fudge (gordon.fudge@bbc.co.uk) on or before the closing date for the job. An accompanying text document should clearly show credits for each track and the extent of your involvement in each campaign.

Your demo should cover your experience in the field of presentation/radio promotions; a good working knowledge of the individual promotional styles of the different BBC national radio networks; and your grasp of radio production techniques and demonstrable passion for radio.

You can find out more and apply here

Dan Mumford, Radio 1′s Station Sound head worked with the team at Pure Jingles in the Netherlands to create a new sonic identity to the station. And what’s interesting is the way the team at Pure Jingles work.

Dan tells me they initially worked on a ton of music beds in loads of different styles. These then get passed to another producer in another studio who decimates the tracks, creating short burst of musical energy – often unlike the original track. These music elements then get thrown to the next studio where the audio mangling happens to the Voiceovers – giving them a final set of idents.

I love this idea of collaborative production – it seems very different from the production process I came across when working with companies such as Wise Buddah and Groove Addicts years back. They have a completely different (and equally valid) way of working. But for Radio 1′s sound, this new way is certainly a fresh approach.

The new imaging sound also includes 2 new station voices. Both have been discovered by the station rather than through traditional ways of going through agencies etc. The Female voice was discovered whilst auditioning for a TV show, and the new male voice was found through the annual search for the voice of the awards session at the the Student Radio Association annual conference.

Even if Radio 1 isn’t your bag – you can check out a montage that Dan created of the station sound here.

And there’s another montage of some more of the imaging on the Pure Jingles website.

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Image from Bradford City of Film

The Student Radio Association is hosting it’s 2012 conference in Bradford. I think I came to a student radio here when I was at Uni – indeed it may have been the one when I won my student radio award – back in 1992. Then again, it could have be en Hull – we went there too. Wherever it was, it wasn’t as big as this conference.

In fact, there’s very little I remember from that conference, apart from a talk from a record plugging company, a panel with Liz Kershaw (who presented the awards) and a load of drinking. And I think we borrowed a few traffic cones. But that could have been the conference at Hatfield Uni. Again – its blurry. And I’m sure they borrowed them back when the conference came to Canterbury..

The conference in Bradford is a whole world away from that one:
There’s a search for the voice of the awards (previous entrants have ended up being used as Radio 1 station voices). There’s Demo Factor – where students face a judging panel to give them real honest feedback. Plus panels from loads of industry professionals ranging from news to show production to engineering and of course marketing and promotions (10am on the Tuesday btw..)

What’s exciting from events like these is that people are still excited by a career in radio. Sure, some want to be on air but many want to get involved in producing radio too. And it’s great to see a whole host of former student radio people who now work in radio giving up time to contribute to panels and discussions. There’s a full list here

The most important thing you’ll learn at events like this is the power of networking. Talk to people. Listen to people. And remember that those people will sometimes know the people that you really want to get to know. Build relationships online with these people – you never know when they could be a doorway to the one introduction that gets you into the job that you really want.

And don’t steal the traffic cones.

Selected Audio (Copyright remains with original companies – audio provided for educational and demonstration purposes only)

Absolute Radio Complaints Promo

Absolute Radio Idents Montage

Capital FM – Who’s Doing Who Promo

Jack FM Idents Montage 1

Jack FM Idents Montage 2

BBC Radio 1 Ibiza Trail

BBC Radio 1 2012 Station Sound Montage

Rock FM – We Wouldn’t Play Em ID

Twitter Names

James Stodd @jamesstodd

Dan Mumford @danmumf

Lee Price @leeprice

Paul Jones @pjvoiceovers

Imaging and Production Blogs

James Stodd Radio etc

Earshot Creative blog

Benztown Branding blog

Radio Promo Tips

Imaging Producers and Companies worth a listen to

Jeff Thomas – Killerhertz
Jeff Thomas – Interview

Benztown Branding Soundcloud

Pure Jingles (NRJ)

Pure tonic Media (Reelworld)

I’m working on a project that encompasses almost every part of the organisation I work for. It will involve programming on radio, on Tv and an equally large body of content that will live online. The creative brief was challenging – but the solution has been surprising – putting a contemporary filter over very traditional content. It’s taken bold decision-making to make it happen. And the challenge for me has been to try to make the radio part feel relevant – rather than overly traditional – but also accessible to a wide range of audiences – and to sound relevant to the station sound on a range of radio networks. The project delivers at the end of the week – and I’ll share he tv and radio creative (along with the story behind it) once its on air.

The problem with breaking creative boundaries is that you have to be brave and take risks.

I’ve been lucky enough over the years to work with Programme Directors who have been very creative – and loved to try new things. And I’ve worked with a couple who have not. Some ideas led to ratings success and were celebrated. Others led to audience indifference and were swiftly dropped. But whatever the outcome, they always needed someone with the balls to say yes.

It’s easy to push back on highly creative ideas. They may cost too much. They may be too risky. They may be challenging to your peers or the people you are trying to impress as you line yourself up for your next job. But sometimes, you need to go with a gut feeling.

If you aspire to work somewhere truly creative – you need to take creative risks once in a while. Are you brave enough to do that..?

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Yesterday, I had the pleasure of visiting the Media department of De Montfort University in Leicester. I was there as a guest of Rob Watson, who runs the Media Technology Degree.

Every year, they invite a load of industry practitioners from various areas – from business, to engineering to creative – to talk to the students about their real world experiences. We were on a panel called “It’s all going interactive”. You can read more about it here.

My fellow panelists were  Andrew Dudfield – who manages navigation for BBC Online and Chris Skinner who is a freelance producer for shows like Dave Gorman on Absolute Radio and The Bugle Podcast. We all shared some of our experiences in getting into radio, and I also shared some audio tips on creating and developing audio brands.

What was good to see was the enthusiasm from so many of the students. What also really amazed me was the opportunity they have available to learn new skills.

Rob showed us around the facilities of the department – and there’s a jaw dropping amount of learning spaces. From fully specced Pro Tools HD suites to acoustic engineering workshops; a green screen studio; AVID suites and even a mixing studio with a huge analogue NEVE desk.

And then there were the facilities on offer to the students who work on the student/ community radio station – Demon FM. All of the students on the course have the opportunity to get involved – planning, producing and presenting shows. They have 4 production booths for pre recording and prepping shows. Plus an office/ talks studio too. And they’re equipped with access to all the IRN feeds and news management tools to be found in any big newsroom. To be blunt – a wealth of opportunity they are unlikely to have to hand in many real world stations.

The temptation for many is to emulate what already exists. Some want to produce station sound that emulates Capital or Radio 1. Some want to be just like Chris Moyles or Greg James. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

However, this will probably be the one station that they get to work in where they can pretty much do what they like. Test out some new formats,
devise new ways of doing things, write some experimental drama, broadcast some sound art, or try out some comedy. It’s precisely the place where you can try and fail.

I really hope that they realise that this is their chance to experiment and create something fresh and exciting, learn some new skills and think differently. And then hopefully reap the rewards that should follow when they create something extraordinary.

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First, they announced “an unprecedented long term partnership” with News International – creating a range of partnerships. The UK Press Gazette reports

Capital Breakfast will partner with The Sun
Classic FM’s More Music Breakfast will be presented in partnership with The Times and The Sunday Times
Heart’s Club Classics on Friday evenings with The Sun and Fabulous Magazine
LBC 97.3 will run special features, news round-ups and advertorials with The Times and The Sunday Times
The Big Top 40, the chart show syndicated across various stations UK-wide on Sunday afternoons, will feature Sun advertorial features.

They also announced a “new media opportunity” with Clear Channel Media in the US to create the Official World Premiere across Global Radio and Clearchannel airtime and advertising assets across the UK, Europe and the USA.

According to Radio Today

Ashley Tabor, Founder & Executive President of Global Radio said: “This is an unprecedented partnership between Clear Channel and Global Radio. The combined worldwide reach of over 150 million people, as well as the innovation of combining radio & digital outdoor, together with the geographical spread of this initiative, is truly eye watering. We’re delighted to be partnering with Madonna and Universal music for the very first ‘Official World Premiere’ today.”

This is pretty clever strategically for Global on both counts.

With the NI deal, there’s a tie up with a huge publisher, giving a tie in with the editorial power of a huge newspaper group. I’m guessing the showbiz-loving Sun will happily be featuring the sort of content that Global breakfast shows will be talking about, and featuring stories about Global’s huge events. I’m sure there’s no compulsion to do this – but an alignment like this certainly won’t harm either if them. One wonders how impartial reporting of Rajar day stories will be – but I’m sure the benefits will outweigh the challenges.

With the Clear Channel deal – the benefits are far more rooted in music partnerships. The recent Official World Premiere of the new Madonna track tied up the Capital Fm Network, Clear Channel’s Radio stations and billboard sites. The event trended worldwide on Twitter – driving traffic back to Capital and helping build the Madonna Brand. I’m guessing this will be sold to various labels to promote their content – 150 Million potential consumers is not to be sniffed at. And I’m guessing that if Global wanted to use it to promote any of their acts – they’d get a good deal..

I’m wondering though if the CC deal will go further. Both Global and Clear Channel operate music events for their stations. Capital has the Jingle Bell Ball whilst New York’s Z100 has the Jingle Ball. In the future, will huge headliners be tied into the type of partnership deal – whereby Rihanna or Jay-Z or similar artists headline both events over one weekend in two continents? An extreme idea – but with lots of possibilities.

The challenge for radio is to constantly come up with new ideas. Global are doing this with new strategic commercial partnerships – that could ultimately create exciting and unique new content partnerships. This must ultimately be good news for all radio brands.

BBC Radio 1 have been championing all their specialist music presenters this week by showcasing them all in the daytime hours. So Zane Lowe (who usually is on at 7pm) has been presenting the breakfast show, along with Annie Mac, Huw Stephens and a load of other DJs.

And to support this, the new marketing campaign for Radio 1 has just launched including a new TV trail featuring Fearne Cotton and Zane Lowe. Great to see the new music output being given some big promotion too..

Of course – not everyone likes it….

Here’s the Fearne Cotton one:

Should you love the track ,the song is Antidote – Swedish House Mafia vs Knife Party. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcdk3ghymzQ

And here’s the Zane Lowe version:

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Here’s a brilliant chance for a free day of training for professionals in independent production companies, freelancers, commercial and community radio – hosted by the BBC. And I’ll be running a session on the day too.

It’s on February 7th – tickets are available from January 10th on the BBC Academy website.

Tim Davie, director Audio & Music, said:

“This is a great opportunity for programme makers across the radio sector to learn and get inspired by the creativity of others.”

Hosted by the BBC Academy in partnership with Skillset, Radio Fast Train will be produced in association with the Radio Academy, Radio Independents Group, RadioCentre and the Community Media Association.

 I’ll be running a session entitled “Promotions and Branding – an Essential Guide”. It’ll be all about creating great promotional campaigns. So, if you have worked on a radio campaign that you think could do with showcasing, please let me know, as I’d love to feature some non-BBC work too. And if you want to come along, apply for tickets as detailed above.

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Earlier in the day, someone shared a link to the updated TV advert for the rest of the Capital FM network. And as before, there are regional variations for the different markets.

What I like about both of these is the consistency. They are updated versions of the advert they used last year to promote the launch of the Capital FM network. I wrote about that last January. They have taken a seemingly simple idea and they have stuck with it – adapting it and freshening it up – but not tempted to change it or go for something new.

It’s pretty rare in marketing for brands to have the bottle to keep things consistent – there are always tweaks, whether to a logo or a creative idea. Strong, simple ideas always work well. Just look at the ad campaigns for Go Compare or We Buy Any Car Dot Com. Whilst they may be annoying, they are annoyingly catchy.

Dave Berry and Lisa Snowdon - hosts of 95.8 Capital FM Breakfast

What the team at Global have done is take an idea that imprints the names of the artists at the centre of everything they do. They use them to endorse the station. They use them to promote their big events. And they now have used them to promote their biggest show. And judging by what I heard this morning, this show aims to be a big hitter. The mix of music, humour and energy was pretty much perfect this morning. News was punchy, travel was quick and on target. And they had the fastest “Pay Your Bills” execution I’ve ever heard anywhere.

Boom! – the breakfast wars are back on..!

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