Radio and Podcast
The presented client was First Step, who The Makers were tasked with making a radio and podcast advertisement for. Two scripts were created and both advertisements were produced with the goal of spreading awareness of the services that First Step provides.
Creative Brief
Radio
Creative Approach
The overall tone of the ad is informative and sincere. Because First Step VA is a domestic abuse hotline and treatment center, the ad works to provide a comforting and serious approach to getting help to those who need it. The only SFX used in this ad is an instrumental song that plays throughout the entire ad. It is hopeful and uplifting as it plays in the background to emphasize sincerity of the information being provided. The ad seeks to make the listener feel safe and understood as they learn about what First Step VA is and how they can utilize the services.
Podcast
Creative Approach
The tone of the podcast ad is serious and genuine. Taking a similar approach to the radio ad, the podcast aims to inform the listener and create a safe and secure space to learn more about how to get help when dealing with a domestic abuse situation. At the beginning of the ad, there is a warning for listeners that is accompanied by a calm and relaxing song to introduce the tone of the ad. This song only lasts the length of the warning. To keep the focus on the message of the podcast without overwhelming the listener, the ad mainly uses SFX toward the end of the advertisement. The ad uses the sound of heels walking to create a visual in the audience’s mind of them taking the steps to getting help. During the mention of getting counseling, there is SFX of muted voices talking. The muted voices fade to show that counseling can help individuals deal with the struggles they are facing. At the end of the ad, the instrumental song returns to help reemphasize the tone and leave the listeners feeling comfortable contacting First Step VA.
Radio Rationale
The type of approach used within the radio advertisement is one-voice, where one person is reading the script to the audience. Ideally, the station playing this advertisement would play on FM radio during morning-drive and nighttime hours. The time of day will allow for people who are working, to possibly be traveling solo, which may make one more comfortable to use the resources provided by First Step Virginia since they are traveling to and from work, alone.
One radio station this advertisement would be placed on is Q101. Q101 is a public radio station that listeners can access from the Harrisonburg, Staunton, and Waynesboro areas. The radio station gives information about a variety of topics and typically has thousands of listeners, most being during the commutes to work (Q101, 2019). WXJM is an additional radio station that this advertisement would be placed on. James Madison University students and the surrounding towns, such as Harrisonburg, are the main audience of this public radio. With the high numbers of sexual violence on college campuses, utilizing this radio station as students listen to and from campus, the audience who may use these resources can be reached (WXJM, 2024). Another radio station that may work well for the First Step VA radio advertisement is WSVA. The radio station talks about news and has hot topic conversations. This station has listeners that want to know things that are happening around the world, which would benefit the topic being talked about to all ages (WSVA, 2024).
Podcast Rationale
The podcast selected, Speak Up! Virginia, is a news podcast hosted by Victoria Cobb and Candi Cushman. This is considered a news podcast because they inform listeners of current events and news that is affecting Virginians. The hosts are also known to add in satire to make it a more entertaining listening experience. Speak Up! Virginia was selected for the ad because it targets a key part of the desired audience being Virginia residents both female and male within the desired age range of mid twenties to forties. The podcast would fall into the category educational, as only the hosts offer a more casual, conversational and easy-to-listen approach to both news and local/current events.
For alternate podcasts, Date Yourself Instead with Host Lyss Boss was chosen due to the desired target audience also being their target demographics. The podcast is also known to be geared towards self love, acceptance and growth, which in turn can relate to those who are survivors or in general listening to a podcast about accepting themselves and putting their well being first. The second being Gen (der) Ed hosted by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University’s Women’s center. The podcast explores topics of gender and all that it encompasses for individuals. Lastly, due to its material, as well as demographic and geographic audience, Unscripted: Conversations about Sexual and Domestic Violence hosted through Fairfax County Virginia was chosen.
The approach taken for this ad would be script and , which has been written so that all the hosts have to do is read it off. This approach was taken to give the ad the feeling of a conversation between the two hosts and in a sense open up the conversation about domestic abuse. This approach also flows seamlessly through the podcast, not causing an abrupt disruption in the conversation already happening in the podcast but instead contributing to it, the only “disruption” being the warning which is to be sensitive to listeners who may not want to listen to the message for their own reasons.
References
Choices of Page County. (2024, October 7). Home.
https://choicesofpagecounty.org/#
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Date Yourself Instead. (n.d.). Instagram page. Instagram. Retrieved October 22nd, 2024, from
https://www.instagram.com/dateyourselfinstead/?hl=en
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Fairfax County Virginia. (2024). Podcasts. Retrieved October 22nd, 2024, from https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/podcasts/
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FirstStep. (2024). Home. Retrieved October 22nd, 2024, from https://www.firststepva.com/
Response, Inc. (2021). Our Mission. Retrieved October 22nd, 2024, from https://www.responseva.org/
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NDC. (2024). About us. Retrieved October 22nd, 2024, from https://www.newdirectionscenter.org/about-us
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Q101 Radio. (2019). Home. Retrieved October 22nd, 2024, from https://q101online.com/#
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Universal Production Music. (2024). Music is Universal. Retrieved November 27th, 2024, from https://www.universalproductionmusic.com/en-us
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Virginia Tech Women's Center. (n.d.). GenderEd program. Virginia Tech. https://www.womenscenter.vt.edu/Program/GenderEd.html
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WSVA Radio. (2024a). About us. https://wsvaradio.sva.edu/listen
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WXJM Radio. (2024). Home. https://www.wxjm.org/