Maureen Bulley, President, The Radio Store, Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Maureen Bulley spent most of her radio career as a Creative Director for various stations in Canada. Her talents have awarded her with a Clio and several awards from the International Radio Festival of New York and the Canadian Radio Awards. In September of last year, Maureen made the infamous "break from radio" to open the doors to The Radio Store, a radio only advertising agency. Her first year has been a success, and The Radio Store is expanding, offering more than just creative services to advertisers. Next month, The Radio Store's first Creative Workshop for Radio Writers and Producers takes place in London, Ontario. This workshop came into existence after independent research said advertisers are now more concerned with the creative content of their radio ads. Finally, radio advertisers are waking up. Finally, radio associations are waking up. Finally, radio writers and producers are getting recognition, not so much because they are talented, but because their talents are being recognized as the source of the elusive creativity those treasured advertisers are now asking for. 1996 might be a good year to be a Production/Creative Director in Canada. Let's hope north winds blow some of this enlightenment southward.
R.A.P.: Tell us where your radio career started and how you wound up with the Radio Store?
Maureen: I guess my career in radio started at a college station. I was the first female announcer on CKCC, which is the station for Centennial College in Toronto. I took a three-year program and studied radio and television broadcasting. From there, I went to the prairies--a real culture shock from the big metropolis of Toronto--to Swift Current, Saskatchewan which had a population of fifteen thousand people. My first few jobs there were actually in television as a copy chief and then as a videographer and photographer for CJFB television. Then I got my first job in radio in Regina, Saskatchewan at a station called CKCK, which is one of the oldest AM stations in Canada. While I was Creative Director at CKCK, we launched an FM station called CKIT-FM. I was Creative Director there from 1980 to 1982. Then I had the good fortune to return to a major market as Creative Director at CFNY-FM in Toronto for a period of ten years--certainly the best ten years of my career.
From CFNY in Toronto I went just outside of the city to an adjacent city called Hamilton. There were two stations, CHML-AM and CJXY-FM which was a classic rock station. Both of those stations were number one in their target demos and had experienced an explosion of growth in advertising, particularly in local retail advertising, and they were not equipped to really handle the success of the stations at that time. So I was brought in as Creative Director to restructure those departments. Then, as other opportunities became available at the stations, I became the Director of Marketing and Promotions, as well as Creative Services Director. The stations were both very promotionally active and very active with regards to the amount of local retail creative that was done. It was a great experience and a lot of hard work running four departments. After the tenure there, I was at the point where I decided that if I was going to work that hard, it was a great time to do it in a business of my own. So I began to formulate the Radio Store and we opened our doors shortly after in September of 1994.
R.A.P.: You obviously spent several years at the radio stations writing commercial copy. Did you write promos for any of the stations as well?
Maureen: Yes I did, and that was a responsibility I encouraged the Program Director to put on the creative department. It had been a responsibility of the programming area, and there weren't necessarily writers in the programming area to handle those things. So I really wanted it to come into the creative area, primarily because I feel that doing the promo writing is probably the most fun writing you can do at the radio station because you are the client. For the most part, writers spend a lot of time dealing with clients and trying to achieve a balance between what the client wants and what will be effective and what will sound good on the station. Writers need to have fun. There has to be an element of fun in the job, and I think that writing promos for the station gives the writers and producers an opportunity to let loose. So I actually added that responsibility to the creative department at all the stations I've been at.
R.A.P.: Did you get your hand into production at all while you were at the radio stations?
Maureen: No. I'm not a producer. I'm a good director of producers, and I seem to know how to get what I need out of them, but I can't technically tell them how to do it.
R.A.P.: Judging from the literature you sent, The Radio Store sounds like quite a comprehensive enterprise. Was it something smaller than this in the beginning?
Maureen: Yes, it really was. The objective of the Radio Store at the outset was to provide better quality radio creative to advertisers using the radio medium and to encourage more people to include radio as a primary advertising medium and not just as a secondary addition to a media buy. I had a feeling when I started the company that there would be many more opportunities in the radio arena than strictly doing media buying and creative for clients, and that certainly ended up to be the case.
As the company grew--with my contacts in the industry and the reputation the people at The Radio Store had as being people who really understood radio--we got involved in some other areas, particularly syndicated programming. This is one area we got into that we really didn't intend to at the outset. But we were approached by some people who are real leaders in the field, from a talent point of view, who produce syndicated shows. They wanted someone to represent them in the areas of developing a network for their shows and also in representing the shows to advertisers and exposing the advertisers to a different way to buy radio. So that was another development in the growth of The Radio Store that came along and wasn't necessarily something we had planned on.
In the long-range plans for The Radio Store, we had intended to offer training to radio writers and producers at some future point, and, once again, the opportunity presented itself much earlier than we had anticipated. So a workshop for radio writers and producers has been developed, much earlier than we thought it would be. It was developed and marketed in response to two directives, actually, one from the Radio Marketing Bureau which is similar to the RAB in the United States and, also, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters. Both of those bodies have indicated in their 1996 objectives to provide annual training for radio writers and producers. While that's admirable, there really wasn't anyone available or qualified to provide that kind of training other than the people at The Radio Store. And having done that type of training before and having been involved in managing creative and production people for many years, I just felt the timing was right. As a result, we've added the training to the mix of products that The Radio Store offers.
R.A.P.: So, in the beginning, The Radio Store was primarily an ad agency for radio.
Maureen: Yes.
R.A.P.: Was it just you or did you have a partner or two?
Maureen: It started out with me as the Founder and the President of The Radio Store and Drew Allen who was the Director of Client Services. Mr. Allen has about fifteen years experience in selling radio and working at the number one station in Canada, and he was brought in to help with the sales efforts of the company. So it really started out with two people.
Over the year, we have added the people we work with primarily on a free-lance basis. If we need extra assistance with a media buy, we have a media buyer who we consult on a free-lance basis and, of course, our production talent and additional writing and so on is on a free-lance basis.
R.A.P.: Did you, like most people who break away from radio, start with a client base that you had already developed a relationship with through the station?
Maureen: Yes. I had a base of free-lance clients I had worked with for many years at the radio station level, and they liked the work I was doing for them. Basically, they were the foundation for The Radio Store. I've been doing creative work for over ten years for many of these clients. I still do work for them, and we've expanded our base of clients in the last year or so.
R.A.P.: Regarding those initial clients, I assume you were getting a talent fee or creative fee for your services. Are you now also the buyer for these clients and receiving an agency commission as well?
Maureen: The clients I had as creative clients still remain as creative clients. A lot of them are big national advertisers who do their buying in-house or have a buying house that executes the media on their behalf. However, I am now buying for some of the clients I have developed since The Radio Store started.
R.A.P.: Let's talk about the workshops for writers and producers. Have you had one yet?
Maureen: The first one is scheduled for mid-January. This one will be in London, Ontario, which is about two hours to the southwest of Toronto, and it will be with all the stations in the London market.
R.A.P.: What can people who attend the workshop expect?
Maureen: Great writers and producers are really the most valuable asset that any radio station has, and oftentimes they're the most overlooked and under-trained people in the station. They're charged with providing that service to the client which actually turns the wheels in the radio station, and, unfortunately, they're not always put on the pedestal where they belong. So, the workshop is designed to motivate and revitalize the writers and producers and remind them how important they are and to give them some skills to improve the quality of work they are doing, tips on how to overcome writer's block and so on. We consulted Sales Managers and Program Directors at the stations where the workshop was being marketed, and we determined their objectives to be to gain something that was results-oriented, that was measurable, something that would give them the things they needed from their writers and producers.
The workshop is a three-day process which actually begins a few weeks before the actual workshop. Any two week period prior to the workshop taking place, I have the writers and producers undertake detailed tracking of the workload they have, to indicate how many commercials they are writing and producing, whether they're involved in writing promos, and what other responsibilities they have. Often they may be charged with carting music or whatever. There might be a lot of additional things that come into their arena of responsibility. So we try to measure those, and it's pretty easy to gauge whether there are too few people there to do the job or whether there are too many people who maybe aren't doing it properly. But it's really insightful to do that kind of tracking, and that's what we do prior to coming in.
On the first day, I'll actually visit the radio stations that are involved in the workshop and have a look at their creative and production systems--what actually happens between the time the air time is sold and those commercials actually are played by the announcer. I take a look at that and see if there are any ways to streamline that process and improve it. At that time, I also will have meetings with the sales and programming people to discuss their relationship with creative and production staff. What are their needs that, perhaps, are not being addressed? Do they need more spec tapes? I determine just whatever happens to be the situation at that particular station.
On the second day, I take the writers and producers out of the station setting, and we all gather in a neutral area like a meeting room. We spend eight hours in a workshop talking about a lot of different things. We spend a little bit of time talking about the rules and regulations governing radio advertising. I assess their knowledge of those areas and then spend the appropriate amount of time just reviewing what the laws are that they need to be aware of. We spend time talking about the tools of the trade, examining production music libraries, reference books, and other things like that--simple things like, "Do you have a stop watch?" You'd be surprised what you find. Some stations are very well equipped and others certainly are not.
We spend a lot of time talking about the creative process. I feel it's very important for people who rely on their brain to earn their living to understand how it actually works. Why did they get that great idea in the shower or while they were driving in the car? Then how do we actually manipulate the brain to give us those ideas when we need them on the spot? You oftentimes have a deadline and five or ten or twenty commercials to write. How do you actually turn on the creativity? That is very important. We also review some brainstorming techniques that can be used in a group situation or with just one writer brainstorming on one's own, techniques that will be useful, perhaps, in developing pitches for new clients or maybe a series of promos for the next ratings period. Then we actually talk about effective radio writing and go through some techniques and styles of scripts and discuss some ways to write better scripts.
The really important thing for people to remember, and what I try to reinforce, is that the responsibility of writers and producers is to make sure that the entertainment value continues into the stopset. Their commercials and promos should be just as entertaining, or even more entertaining, than the programming of the radio station. And if they approach it with that attitude, then they appreciate the responsibility that they have and really take charge of the situation.
It's also important for them to know their limitations. I mean, it would be very unrealistic for me to go in and say, "Okay, you all need digital studios, and you all need brand new production music and sound effects libraries, and you all need much nicer offices with Jacuzzis and cappuccino machines." That's obviously not realistic in the radio climate of today. So we help them work with the tools they have, and it's really important for them to know the limitations of the facilities they have available to them--the limitations of the production music, the limitations of the talent. We work with them to maximize their resources instead of trying to do things they don't have the facilities or the talent to do.
Then, on the final day, I go back into the radio stations and meet again with the programmers and the salespeople and basically tell them what kinds of things I've learned, what the concerns are of their writers and producers. I give them some suggestions on how to make sure that the benefits of the workshop are appreciated long after I've left so they can enjoy continued results from the creative writers and producers. And I let them know some of the things those people need in order to do their job effectively.
We also have the Radio Rewards Program which awards the Hanna Barbera or Warner Brothers sound effects library to the creative or production team that generates the most new business as a result of the workshop. There are a couple of reasons why that became part of it. First of all, as I had mentioned, Sales Managers and Program Directors wanted measurable results from the workshop. They obviously wanted to see an influx of new business, whether it's a new client or an existing client who finds they are happy with their commercials and therefore books more radio time. But I also wanted to reward the writers and producers with the right kind of thing. I mean, I could have sent everybody on a gambling junket to Vegas, but I really wanted to give them something that would help them to do their job in a more effective way. They can make use of these libraries, and they're fun. You know, when you prioritize the list of things you're going to buy as a radio station, buying things for fun is probably way at the bottom of the list.
R.A.P.: So, rather than having a workshop and inviting people from everywhere to attend, you take the workshop to the market and try to get as many stations as you can to participate. This certainly enables you to be more effective because you are able to visit with everyone at the station involved and see the facility as well.
Maureen: There are other variations that we're working on based on the demand. Some people want a one-day thing in their particular city, and we're working on developing that now. When this particular workshop in London was developed in response to the needs of the Radio Marketing Bureau and the CAB, I felt it was important to involve all the people who are part of the process from making the sale to actually getting it on the air because if those people work in opposition to each other, it makes it very difficult. It's obviously a much easier task if they understand the objective is to write entertaining and effective radio commercials. Then everyone works toward the common goal, and that's very important.
R.A.P.: Do you find that some stations don't want to be involved in a workshop with other stations in the market, some of which might be their direct competition?
Maureen: Well, it's funny, there's sort of a dichotomy there in a lot of markets. Obviously, all radio markets are competitive, and people are kind of reluctant to work together with other stations in the market to bring all the writers and producers together for better training. It requires sort of a higher level of understanding on behalf of all the stations. As a group, they need to work together to attract more revenue to radio. They have to work cooperatively in order to do that, and some markets are willing to do that. But there are other situations. For example, I'm being hired by a parent company to do training only for stations they own, so it's been a mixed bag so far.
R.A.P.: You mentioned that the CAB and Radio Marketing Bureau had decided that this type of training was necessary. What research was done to come to this conclusion?
Maureen: There were several research studies undertaken. One of them was by Angus Reed who was hired by the Western Association of Broadcasters to survey direct radio clients and advertising agencies to identify what they felt some of the weaknesses were. In those surveys, and in others that were done, the level of radio creative came up as a reason, more often than not, as to why someone might not use radio.
R.A.P.: Apparently, clients are becoming more aware of the importance of creative in advertising. Do you think radio management is getting the message?
Maureen: I would say that now they are realizing there is a need to provide good radio creative as well as an efficient time buy because one without the other is just not complete service to the client. In a service oriented environment, it's important to really follow through. It means you can't drop the ball after you make the sale.
R.A.P.: Commercial copy for radio advertising is more regulated in Canada than the U.S.. Does that have any effect on the creative approach? Do you find yourself tied up in any way?
Maureen: With specific advertising categories, yes. With regard to beer and wine advertising there are very specific, very strict guidelines. Advertising to children is very closely monitored. Food and drug advertising is also closely monitored. It's very scrutinized.
R.A.P.: That sounds like a good thing.
Maureen: Well, absolutely, it is. And it's interesting. I think the differences between the countries stem more from the laws. For example, the laws governing what can be in the food are much more liberal in the United States than they are in Canada. You have a lot of products there which would never be able to be sold in Canada. There's just a more liberal attitude towards what can be in the products. So, the domino effect is such that the way those products are advertised is different, too.
R.A.P.: Well, obviously, the people who have set up the guidelines in Canada are well aware of the power of advertising.
Maureen: Yes. Indeed they are, and I think that while it's sometimes difficult to write around the regulations, they are in place for a reason, and I certainly support the fact that they are there.
R.A.P.: Give us a tip or two from the workshop. What's something you would teach people about getting their creative juices flowing?
Maureen: I think one of the best things people will do in the workshop is to learn individually what makes them creative. That's really the big thing, to understand what makes them tick. To give them one thing that will work for everybody simply isn't going to work. As I said before, if you find that you are really in a relaxed situation when you get good ideas, then try to emulate that or have things around you that you like. Make your work environment comfortable, whatever comfortable is. Comfortable is a relative term, so maybe it includes having sea shells from your last holiday on your desk or little games that you like to play like little mind games that help sort of distract you. That kind of thing tends to work well for people. Other people like plants and the ergonomic things like the lighting and so on. All these things should be conducive to creativity. You shouldn't be in a little tiny box with fluorescent lights beaming over your head. Try to make it as livable as possible. I find that a lot of writers tend to do their best work at home. So why is that? Try to emulate the home office as much as you can in the workplace. That's really a big thing.
As far as a brainstorming technique, what I like to do with brainstorming in a group is to put forth a concept and have people just give ideas while I write them on a little Post-It. Someone else actually conducts the brainstorming, and I'll stand and write the ideas on a Post-It note and plaster the wall with them. Sometimes we've ended up with quite a lot of ideas depending on what we're brainstorming about. One of the obvious rules with that is that there is no judgment allowed. So if you think that the other guy's idea is bad, then keep it to yourself. There's no judgment in the creative process because those two concepts are on opposite sides of the brain. So we get all the ideas up on the wall on the Post-It notes, and then we try and see where the commonalities are or where we are getting the most ideas from. Then we group them. Is it all comedy, and is it all in one particular area? Is it serious, or is it a hard sell or soft sell, or does it all have a baseball theme? Then we group them all in the appropriate categories and make a decision about which one is the strongest. If we had four writers in the brainstorming session, then they would each pick whatever topic they felt they could write on the best. Then I actually give them all the Post-It notes with all those ideas, and then they go away and work individually on the project. That's been a good technique.
R.A.P.: What are some don'ts when it comes to creativity? Is there anything that comes up as a common mistake that people make when they are writing that they should try to avoid?
Maureen: I would say that when you're trying to be your most creative, don't take the safe route. If you really want to do something creative, it's gotta be different. You have to really take risks being a creative person. I think creative people take more risks in their life, and they need to take more risks on paper, too. That is what is really going to cut through the clutter and get results. Produce something that's really meaningful and entertaining on the radio. Now people will always say, "The client is opposed to that." Obviously, you can't use that technique with a brand new client on your station, but everybody has a client that they have a certain trust level with. And when they trust you for your ability and your knowledge of radio, those are the people to use the new ideas and the different risk-taking copy on.
R.A.P.: It seems the commercials tagged as "creative" usually involve comedy. Humor seems to be the emotion a lot of people will try to get from the listener when they are writing a "creative" commercial or promo. Would you say you lean towards comedy in your creative work? Are the awards you've won been mostly for humorous commercials?
Maureen: No. I mean, we use humor for some of our clients, but I don't think it's the only way. I think you sort of hit on it when you said that humor is the emotion we go to most often, but I think the key word there is emotion. If you can really strike a chord with somebody, whether it's to make them laugh or make them cry, I think the commercial is equally effective. It doesn't necessarily have to be humorous. Humor is also the most difficult thing to write. It takes a very skilled person to write a genuinely funny commercial, and the other downside, if there is any, is that humorous commercials need to be replaced more often because the joke is only funny the first five times you hear it. After that, it kind of burns out. Humorous campaigns require a lot more maintenance than others tend to.
R.A.P.: What would you tell me if I said I want to write creative commercials, but I don't want to go for the humor thing for the reasons you mentioned. I want to do a creative spot and tug at some other emotions. But I don't want to make somebody cry over, let's say, a furniture store. So how do I sell furniture and be creative if I'm not gonna make them laugh and I'm not gonna make them cry?
Maureen: Just remember that the fundamental thing is that it has to be entertaining. I firmly believe that the commercials and promos should be as entertaining as the programming. If you think about it simply being entertaining, you can achieve that in many different ways. For example, a well produced commercial with an interesting use of sound effects or an interesting use of music can be entertaining. To use a very interesting voice can be part of the commercial itself. Entertaining doesn't necessarily mean funny. It can be startling.
R.A.P.: What are some qualities to look for in a good producer and a good writer?
Maureen: Whenever I've hired producers, what I've really looked for is a producer who has a musical background, not a star musician certainly, but somebody who has a great sense of rhythm. I find them to be much better editors if you're cutting a music bed. I find that also they tend to lend a lot more to the finished product as they have a real sense of what's required to make a spot really cook.
As far as hiring a good writer, I think that it's important for them to certainly have a good sense of humor. I don't think you can really teach someone how to be a writer. A lot of people have the ability to write, and they just need to be shown the way a little bit. If you're adding writers to your station, it's really good if you have the opportunity to have maybe a senior writer who has the time in their work day to bring along a junior writer and sort of watch them grow and develop. I've been fortunate to be in that situation where we've had four or five writers at a station. You can have a couple of junior people who bring some really great ideas to the table but just don't know how to get them to the final stage. That's a really great breeding ground if you have the opportunity.
R.A.P.: How about a tip for PDs and managers about managing their creative people?
Maureen: It takes a creative person to know one, but you really appreciate managers who take a hands off approach to managing creative people and just simply let them do what it is they do. If that happens to be hand stands or playing a quick game of cards, that's fine, as long as the job gets done when it needs to be done. That's really the main thing. Certainly, they are the most difficult people to manage, but the rewards are great if you can figure out actually how to do it.
R.A.P.: People who leave a radio station and go into business for themselves, as you did, usually find it to be a pretty scary step. Was it for you?
Maureen: Absolutely. It was probably the most difficult decision I ever made, but it was certainly the most rewarding. I'm not working any fewer hours. In fact, I'm working a great deal more. But it's the most rewarding time ever, and I absolutely love it.
R.A.P.: Any parting thoughts for your creative comrades?
Maureen: I think the primary thing is to continue to have fun at what you do, and when you stop having fun, it's time to move on. Not very many people will become rich being radio writers, but they will certainly be happy people because they're doing what they want to do. And at the end of the day, that is what is more important.