Title first, feature second?

I produced an event for the Radio Academy which looked at the art of radio competitions and “branded content”.

Examples came from both commercial radio and on-air features from the BBC, particularly the BBC Radio 1 breakfast show.

The host, Roberto from Capital FM, asked the panel a great question which was simply ‘What’s the secret to a great radio competition?’.

Clare Baker, Marketing Director at Absolute Radio said “Keep it simple”: a mantra shared with Earshot’s own Steve Martin and his five simple creative perils to radio creativity. Steve Taylor, Bauer Media’s S&P guru, said “Lots of ideas”.

However, a standout comment for me came from “Comedy” Dave Vitty from the Chris Moyles Breakfast Show who simply said:

While there may be an element of jest in the comment – there’s been so many times you may have tried to shoehorn a mechanic idea (c’mon you know you’ve done it) as a result of what we think is a great comedy title.

This can at time work and can be really funny for the listener – however, the tried and tested method for the best features on the radio are ones that are originally created with specific aims and objectives in mind – in short, simple mechanics with a clear end outcome and benefit for the listener.

Once you’ve got that killer mechanic – now time to get that funny title!