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Promax Download: "REFRESHED, RECHARGED, REDIRECTED"
PROMAX is an incredible organization for creatives.
The station summit brings all creative leaders in the broadcast industry from around the country together to learn, be inspired, and celebrate our achievements.
Here are my main take-aways and my concerns:
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No, I didn't bring home any hardware this year. Myself and my team were finalists for two Promax awards though... and even better, two of my former stations (KOAT and WTRK) both won a Silver! It's nice to know that while myself and my team produce some of the best content (we won gold last year)... the people I've worked with in the past are also some of the best in the industry.
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There is a duality happening between broadcast and streaming when it comes to news and entertainment content. Streaming is winning. You can tell because the big 4 networks promote their new shows that way. In fact, broadcasters are promoting network streaming platforms... for free. We're promoting our own demise. But there is a silver lining. Broadcast can change too, we need to get ATSC 3.0 up and running faster and find ways to become more relevant at the local level using emerging marketing tools and social media... in an evangelical way. Brand promotion must become our religion for local broadcasters to survive. And soon, the streaming boom will find itself in the same world cable did 10 years ago. Too many choices and too costly for it's consumers. Broadcast is and will always be free.
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Sadly, things are changing so fast, I'm afraid the broadcast industry will be a fraction of what it is today. It's already a fraction of what it was 20 years ago... and 20 years before that. That is why my current role, will most likely be my last in broadcast. I've pushing for years to move towards digital and social and embrace those platforms faster even if the money isn't there. I said 10 years ago... "if you wait until the money is there to change, it will already be too late." Well it's nearly too late.
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And I'll leave on a high note. I love drilling down and marketing to the strengths of any individual product. Monarch on FOX is a new show starting this fall (2022). I have some exciting ways to promote it that I won't share publicly here, but feel free to email me about my ideas if you would like to know more (ethankewards@gmail.com)
Family Matters: "WHAT DRIVES YOUR AMBITION?"
I recently asked a question on LinkedIn and launched a firestorm. I like to be in touch with what drives my team. I know the best way to help them grow, learn, and contribute is to understand they may eventually leave and do something new. I also wanted to take a pulse on what others felt.
It started with wanting to change my LinkedIn profile picture. I finally decided that I would share an image of my family since that had become a big factor in moving my life forward. Yes, the pandemic and working from home made it more obvious, but turning 40 helped too.
So I put the question to a poll: "What drives your ambition?" More than 6,000 votes later: Here is how others responded
More Awards?: "YES PLEASE!!!"
We just won 2 of the 3 promotions categories for the 2021 Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters Outstanding Achievement Awards!
General Image Promotion (Left)
News Image Promotion (Right)
Both campaigns were a true team effort showing a great deal of skill.
I'm very proud of the work we do and the fact it is so highly regarded by our peers.
Bring Home The Gold: "PROMAX LOCAL AWARD WINNER"
I am very proud to announce that one of my spots won gold at the PROMAX Local Awards.
This 360 spot (top) all started when GoPro released their GoPro MAX camera. I saw the potential to convey a brand message in a unique and visually stunning way. Take a look!
Another spot was also a finalist. This is a PSA (bottom) to encourage mask wearing in Oklahoma. This campaign started as a PROMAX challenge. Oklahoman's aren't easy to win over, so the messaging had to be different but convincing.
See the awards: Click Here
Let's Break Something: "ROGUE ANCHORS"
Getting anyone's attention is a battle. A battle you can't win with brute force. It's even harder say, during NFL or college football halftimes. You've got to hack their minds a bit to get a message through to them. In this case, I chose to break something. I took the average boring news promo and let our anchors go rogue to sell our brand message on a more personal level.
Morning Fun: "IT'S THAT SIMPLE"
When your morning team has a true sense of adventure, how do you show that off? Well you could give them free run of an adventure park called Riversport OKC and then just bring a ton of cameras, include a few lines of simple copy, and just have a blast. There was a brief window of relaxed covid-restrictions and we got this shoot in just in time. We wanted to talk about what makes Good Day OK on FOX25 different. That meant getting out of the studio and showing our talent in ways you've never seen them before. This one was a lot of fun and was produced as a "Social-first" promo. That means the product was driven from a social media standpoint and not an television spot. Watch our social media spot on the left and then the two on air versions below.
Smart Weather: "DON'T RELY ON YOUR SMART DEVICE"
Don't you just hate it when Siri, Alexa or Google gets it horribly wrong. My 5 year old get's frustrated when Alexa can't understand her... and so do I. All the more reason to rely on good ol' human intelligence when it comes to the important things... like weather forecasting. That was the idea behind these new funny, yet honest spots. We 3D printed the speaker and built the lights from scratch. I wrote, directed and edited these spots, but without my team, they would not be this good. These three are just a sample, if you would like to watch them all, click here.
Personalities: "LET YOUR TALENT SHINE"
Your people can be your best asset, especially if you give them the chance to shine through. These spots were done as everything was reopening in late spring of 2021. We wanted to get back out in the community in a bright uplifting way and still reinforce the brand message. We chose a very iconic location and shot with three cameras. Our Sr. Producer molded these into concise spots. These videos are a small taste of the full campaign. If you'd like to see them all, click here.
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