With the holidays upon us, it’s always a good idea to have some seasonal liners in the mix on your station. For the final Programming To Win column of 2013, Rich Van Slyke has put together a to-do list to easily create your holiday liners in just 15 minutes.
Rich Van Slyke
By Rich Van Slyke
Ahhh, the holidays! And you really want to put some holiday liners on the air. But there’s a million things going on this time of year, and you want to get the job done fast. Here are a few suggestions to help you write your holiday liners in 15 minutes or less.
Writing good liners becomes much simpler and faster when you consider the elements of good branding. Branding is the number goal. You are a brand manager, but do you really understand your brand? Take 30 seconds to write it down. What is the image of your station? What do people think you are? More importantly, how do they feel about your station? Some answers to these questions might be: “The station that plays music from the 80s and 90s that I love.” “When you listen to them, I feel good.” So, to keep your branding consistent, your liners would evoke this overall message: “We don’t make you smarter, wealthier or healthier, but we do these two things really well: We play music you love and we make you feel good!” That’s not the copy; that is your brand. Every liner should communicate this thought, or more importantly, NOT communicate something else.
Why is this essential to remember? Because when you write liners, you should talk about your brand in many different ways. For variety. Simply repeating the same statement over and over is not branding. Also, everything you do on air and off air should re-enforce you brand. And when you are going for variety and doing creative writing, it’s very easy to stray from your essential brand.
Now, writing down your brand should have taken you about 2 minutes.
Next think about the holiday messages you want to send. If I’m the brand manager of a News Talk station, I want to send a messages like: being safe, saving money, thanking our troops, being informed about holiday traffic, etc.
Why? Because that’s what my audience cares about.
Take another 2 minutes to write down some things your audience cares about during the holidays. Try to think in terms of emotions. What brings about a feeling, not just a fact? War, love, evil, kindness, make you feel something. Statistics do not. Here is a list of possibilities to make it easy. Choose the ones that apply to your brand and your audience. Add your own. But don’t overthink, just write it down quickly. What does your audience care about? Some suggestions:
1. The well-being of my family
2. Making enough money to pay my bills
3. Coming home for the holidays and partying with friends.
4. My favorite teams winning a championship
5. Love for a spouse.
6. Sex.
7. Beer.
8. Getting ahead a work.
9. Hating your boss or the government.
10. The thrill of a big vacation.
Ok, we have our brand identity and we have our holiday emotions. One more step before we begin writing. Make a short list of categories for your liners. Maybe:
1. Thank you for listening.
2. Artist liners.
3. Seasons Greetings.
4. What a great year.
5. Things to make you laugh.
6. Promises from the station.
For example, here are two for the seasons greetings category:
Holiday Message: “Merry New Year!” Brand Message: “From your station for the 80s, 90s and today. 99.9 The Point.”
“Tis the Season. For the best classic rock. Merry Axemas. From Z106.”
Here’s a work form for you:
Holiday: _____________________________ Brand:_______________________________.
Now, let’s write. Each liner should be a combination of a holiday message and a branding statement. Write 2 quick ones for each category. That’s all.
To get ideas for funny lines, Google this: “Christmas one liners” or “funny holiday bumper stickers.” To get warm and fuzzy holiday messages, Google this: “Christmas wishes.” But grab one or two ideas and then get back to writing, don’t get sucked into the time wasting internet void.
Boom! You have 12 new holiday liners. Rip ‘em and ship ‘em!
Ok, 15 minutes is up. Time to move on to the 100 other things you want to accomplish today. Have a great holiday season! And remember, rum is scientifically proven to make eggnog healthier.
Rich Van Slyke does VO for KUFX San Francisco, WBIG Washington, WIOD Miami, WXYZ-TV Detroit, WWSK Long Island, KXTG Portland, KCFX Kansas City, WRIT Milwaukee, KBRU Oklahoma City, WGRD Grand Rapids, KKFM Colorado Springs, KDFO Bakersfield, KARS Albuquerque, WZEW Mobile, KTHK Idaho Falls, WKQZ Saginaw, KIGL Fayetteville, WKZQ Myrtle Beach, WTMM Albany, KZOZ San Luis Obispo, KTUX Shreveport, 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
