This week’s Programming To Win column finds our imaging expert Rich Van Slyke chatting with WGRD/Grand Rapids Brand Manager John Walker. Rich and John discuss the success of WGRD in connecting with their listeners, as well as the ins and outs of imaging, including the ways it has evolved over the years.
Rich Van Slyke
By Rich Van Slyke
For a very unique perspective on imaging an extremely successful #1 rock station, we check in with John Walker, Brand Manager at WGRD in Grand Rapids, Michigan. John is an extremely talented and thoughtful guy who has many skills: Afternoon Drive Host, Brand Manager, guitar player, music producer, video producer.
He’s also a guy who lives and breathes every aspect of his radio station, from music to mornings to promotions to imaging.
RVS: What’s up at WGRD?
JW: The home of Free Beer and Hot Wings in the morning and Grand Rapids’ rock all day, WGRD is a station with great history and reputation both in Grand Rapids, and in the country. The growth of the station this year has been fantastic for us, as we took the #1 spot in the Spring ‘14 book with Adults 25-54. We’ve had amazing growth in all dayparts over the last 8 months, and have had an incredibly active year with concerts, events, contesting, and street presence. Highlights over the last few months have been the Motley Crue tour kicking off here in town, fun meet & greet events taking bands and listeners paintballing, go kart racing, and more! Improving our listener experience has been our main goal this year.
RVS: How did you come to program WGRD?
JW: I grew up in El Paso, TX, started my radio career in public radio, hosting jazz, classical, blues, and news programming. I built a jazz station while working in Kansas, and then began my transition into commercial radio at KLAQ, back in El Paso. I’d worked closely with several PDs and OMs over the years, programmed a talk station, then sports, imaged several stations of varying formats, even re-imaging KPOI in Hawaii while still in Texas at one point! Working with Courtney Nelson and Kevin Vargas on KLAQ led to a great opportunity to come north to work with another fantastic rock station, WGRD!
RVS: What is the number one goal of your radio imaging?
JW: Reinforce the brand without distraction, and without stopping the most important part of the station – the music – for too long. Keeping it simple, and easy to retain, without too much interruption.
RVS: When you lose sight of this goal, where do you go wrong?
JW: Too much overthinking. If I have to think too hard about something, I start tearing it apart and simplifying.
RVS: How many different imaging pieces does WGRD have?
JW: Sometimes, surprisingly few. Keeping it simple, without too much extraneous elements, they don’t burn very fast, and things like the legal ID can live with only one running. Other sweepers will have several, since there are more call ups every hour for them.
RVS: How do you categorize them?
JW: I have a few different categories, mostly distinguishing new rock imaging from morning show, online branding, etc. I also have separate specialty imaging categories for specific show imaging, etc.
RVS: If another Brand Manager called you up and said, “we are starting a station just like WGRD and we are working on imaging” – what would you tell him?
JW: Keep it simple, and out of the way of the music. People listen for the music and the content, not for how cool your imaging is. As a long-time production guy, that’s a little depressing, but once I accept that, I can step back and just try to do the best imaging I can.
RVS: What old school imaging “guilty pleasure” do you secretly kind of miss?
JW: Lasers. Everything was easier with lasers. A lot of the old imaging ideas sometimes seemed more “just fun related” and goofy. The pacing could be slower and less intense than a lot of today’s imaging.
RVS: Do listeners care about imaging at all?
JW: It’s not that listeners don’t care about imaging, but it’s not something they really pay attention to. If it can grab them and make them laugh, or they remember a jingle, that’s cool; but if the imaging is distracting and detracts from their experience, they will definitely not care for it.
RVS: What is the worst kind of imaging?
JW: Something that’s not thought out, and just has a bunch of comedy drops, or zings and zaps for no reason. Everything in the imaging should serve a purpose. If there’s a bunch of non-sequitur drops in there, it’s just wasting everyone’s time.
RVS: What qualities do you look for in an image voice?
JW: Something with some bite, and edge, that sounds good in a lot of different styles. It can be big voice when needed, be good filtery-voice, lighter when needed. Something versatile, that can sound good doing different style reads.
RVS: What is the most important thing to keep in mind when you are writing a promo?
JW: We’re in a great time technologically, where we don’t have to put every single detail into our imaging anymore, and can rely on our digital presence to fill in the detail holes for promos. We can focus the promos on the listener benefit to really connect with them emotionally, and draw them to our website properties for all the more mundane specifics. As long as we remember that if people want information on something, they can get to it in a variety of ways technically now, so if we can touch them and engage their interest, they’ll come to us for more. It’s so liberating from having to get so deep with information and client copy like we used to back in the day. We can get back to working on the important goal of connecting with them emotionally.
RVS: Do you lay awake at night thinking about radio imaging?
JW: I will. If there’s something I’m trying to get the tone or feel right for, or I’m stuck on something, it can drive me nuts. Sometimes, you just have to power through a writing session, sometimes you have to walk away for a bit to clear your mind.
RVS: Are funny imagers effective?
JW: Funny imaging can be great for short periods of time. They tend to burn out really quickly, so you really have to be objective with them as to when they’re done, so you can get rid of them before they become distracting and annoying. The last thing you want to hear from a listener is how tired they are of that stupid joke imaging.
RVS: What kind of production do you think is best?
JW: Different pieces can be great for different reasons. Sweepers can be great simply by staying out of the way of the music or content, which is what they’re coming to listen to. Promos can be great when they really connect with the listener on some emotional level that helps them unconsciously relate to what we’re saying, or engages them with something they’re passionate about.
Rich Van Slyke does VO for KUFX San Francisco, WBIG Washington, WIOD Miami, WXYZ-TV Detroit, WWSK Long Island, KSEG Sacramento, KXTG Portland, KZDC San Antonio, KCFX Kansas City, WRIT Milwaukee, Production Vault Classic Rock, WONE Akron, WXMX Memphis, KBRU Oklahoma City, WGRD Grand Rapids, KKFM Colorado Springs, KDFO Bakersfield, KARS Albuquerque, WZEW Mobile, WKQZ Saginaw, KIGL Fayetteville, WKZQ Myrtle Beach, WTMM Albany, KZOZ San Luis Obispo, KOZZ Reno, KTUX Shreveport, WXKE Fort Wayne, WIXO Peoria, WRMR Wilmington, KKPL Fort Collins, XFM Nairobi, The Minnesota Timberwolves Radio Network, and more. www.richvanslyke.com 770.962.4788 richvs@bellsouth.net
