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Ideas and technique to help you promote and image radio

LBC’s chance to shine

Posted by on 26 March 2014

lbc-leaders

When LBC relaunched as a national station its promise to be Leading Britain’s Conversation was a big one. Today it shows it can do it with style and with scale.

The debate between Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats and Nigel Farage of UKIP is the first of two framed around the question of Britain’s place in Europe. This clarity of purpose and the fact that LBC succeeded in organising the first such debate this year between any party leaders has helped the occasion gain significant promotional value for the station.

As James O’Brien put it “it’s the debate everybody’s talking about” and that’s certainly true on air. LBC has been monstering it for days (that’s a good thing, by the way). Today, no LBC presenter can get through more than five minutes without finding good reason to mention the event. It’s in every programme, every station promo, is leading bulletins and nothing else on the station matters.

[audio:http://earshotcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/lbc-debate-promo-telescope.mp3|titles=”Telescope of the on-air build-up on LBC.”]

Help from rivals

Anticipation of the debate spilled out to rival stations BBC Radio 4 and 5 Live during the morning peak. The BBC’s Today programme pointed listeners calmly and respectfully to the rival station “…and you can hear the debate tonight on LBC”, they said. Tomorrow (Thursday), the Today programme plans morning-after coverage of the LBC debate with an OB in Salford.

The press is similarly crediting the event to LBC in its social media:

Outdoor

Prominent outdoor media supports the campaign in London. The debate is promoted on ‘Outdoor Plus’ sites at the Euston Road underpass and the Eye in Holborn.

LBC leaders debate outdoor

LBC leaders’ debate outdoor – picture by Chris Stevens. Strobing only a camera abberation.

Tonight’s debate will be simultaneously broadcast on the BBC News channel and Sky News, providing further visibility and exposure for LBC. Expect a heavily-branded set.

What can we learn?

Radio executive John Myers maintains that successful stations “say what they do and do what they say”. Today, LBC is proving his point and two others:

  • When your positioning is aligned, promotion and content are the same thing.
  • Fewer, bigger messages always win. No debate.