BRANDED AUDIO SOAP OPERAS

WHY BRANDED AUDIO SOAP OPERAS?

Brands and products sponsoring soap operas is as sold as modern broadcasting. From the days of radio soap operas such as The Guiding Light and Ma Perkins to As the World Turns, soap operas have been a natural home for advertisers looking to reach an engaged, female centric audience on a daily basis.

A branded audio soap opera gives your brand a chance to connect with your audience – as well as those outside of your traditional audience – through three to five episodes per week, all year. SoapKast will craft an original branded audio soap opera which will enthrall your audience while promoting your brand’s messaging. 

The SoapKast Process

SoapKast produces original, high quality branded audio soap operas which air three to five times per week (156-260 episodes per year) and will enable your brand to engage your audience within the predictability of one of the most successful programming devices ever conceived. SoapKast relies on the following 7 elements to ensure your show is a success:

    1. Story-Brand fit

    2. Consistent brand messaging before, during, and after each episode

    3. OMG moments

    4. Engaging storytelling

    5. Realistic, identifiable characters

    6. Superior production quality 

    7. Cliffhangers in every episode 

How do we do it? Below, you’ll find the 7 Steps to Success SoapKast employs in order to deliver high quality audio soap operas for brands and listeners: 

1. Development 

Session 1:

    1. Listening session

    2. Identify key stakeholders

    3. Define your target audience 

    4. Understand long term goals 

Output: 1 working session 

Session 2:

    1. Present three soap operas for client review OR create a new soap opera for the client based on their brief

    2. Work with the client to identify the best soap opera for their brand

    3. Audience demo presentation

    4. Understand brand messaging, ads, CTAs, etc. for the soap opera

Output: 1 working session 

Session 3 & 4:

    1. Present the final audio soap opera package for their brand (character descriptions, the series theme, first year story projections, thirty breakdowns, and three scripts)

    2. Present the proposed budget for the audio soap opera

    3. Present audio growth plan 

    4. Present the production and release calendar.

Output: 2 working sessions 

Sessions 5 & 6:

    1. Finalize details for the audio soap opera (i.e. soap opera package and budget). 

    2. Finalize the production and release calendar.

    3. Sign contracts for the first season of the audio soap opera.

    4. SoapKast sends the brand its corporate banking information. 

    5. SoapKast kicks-off pre-production on the new show. 

Output: 2 working sessions 

Total working sessions in development: 6 

Development output: Soap Opera Bible | Audio Growth Plan | Final Budget | Final Production and Release Schedule | Brand messaging 

2. Pre-Production

Once we drop the flag on your new branded audio soap opera, we will enter Pre-Production to ensure your show premieres in 185 days. Pre-Production will be guided by the CEO of SoapKast, who will serve as the Executive Producer of the audio soap opera. 

The first piece of creative material you will receive from us are the scripts for Episodes 001-030. 

    1. Read and review the scripts for Episodes 001-030

    2. We will meet a week after delivery of the outlines to discuss the story as it unfolds in those episodes. 

    3. Based on your notes, we will revise the scripts.

    4. Revised scripts will be put into production.

While that is taking place, SoapKast will embark on hiring the following members of staff:

    1. Supervising Producer
    2. Storyliner/Writer
    3. Producer/Director
    4. Cast Members
    5. Editor/Engineer 
    6. Production Assistant
    7. Marketing Specialist 
    8. Data Analytics Specialist 

All staff members are required to ensure your branded audio soap opera is a thrilling success for your brand, as well as with your audience. Please consult your package for staff member job descriptions. 

During the hiring process, SoapKast will handle the following items:

    1. Executing contracts for staff, cast, and crew members

    2. Setting up the remote recording studio

    3. Setting up our project management software, Basecamp

    4. Setting up Google Workspace to share documents, the production calendar, etc. with the brand and production

    5. Setting up a Slack channel for all stakeholders

    6. Sending the requisite equipment to staff members, cast, and crew

    7. SoapKast onboards its staff, cast, and crew.

    8. Securing licensing agreements for music and sound effects

    9. Hiring a freelance designer to create the logo with your branding, as per your contract.

    10. The Storyliner submits outlines for Episodes 031-060.

    11. Notes/review of the outlines for Episodes 031-060.

    12. Setting up podcast hosting for your branded audio soap opera.

    13. Securing all necessary social media handles for your audio soap opera.

    14. Brand delivers all CTAs, scripts, messaging, etc. for insertion or recording.

    15. Issuing the first press release for the audio soap opera to go live the first day of production. 

    16. Kick-off meeting with the brand, Executive Producer, Supervising Producer, Producer/Director, Writer, Editor/Engineer, Marketing Specialist, and Data Specialist.

    17. Distributing a contact sheet, the final production calendar, and final release schedule. 

    18. Once everyone is hired, our technical requirements are in place, the logo is locked, and we will have a kick-off meeting the Friday before our first day of recording.

    19. On our first day of production, we will record Episodes 001, 002, and 003. We’re officially in production as we go live on social media and in the press announcing your brand’s show.

Output: Conference about scripts for Episodes 001-030 | Hiring, contracting, and onboarding cast, crew, and staff | Setting up production management and communication suites | Secure podcast hosting & social media handles | Brand sends all deliverables (CTAs, pre-recorded ads, scripts for live read ads, etc.) | Approving, submitting, and releasing initial press release | Kick-off meeting with key stakeholders from SoapKast and the brand | Commence Day One production with Episodes 001, 002, and 003 | Schedule weekly production meetings |  Schedule story meetings to review long term story, episodic outlines, and scripts with point person for the brand, Storyliner, CEO/Executive Producer, Supervising Producer, and Producer. 

3. Production

As production ramps up on your high quality audio soap opera, our Supervising Producer will serve as the go-between for SoapKast and the production, with the Producer serving as the day-to-day manager on your show. During our “always on” production schedule, SoapKast will:

    1. Supervise production, post-production, and release of each episode of the brand’s audio soap opera.

    2. Ensure the show’s social media is aligned with the brand’s. 

    3. Have weekly production meetings with the brand point person and the key SoapKast team (CEO/Executive Producer, Supervising Producer, and Producer) to discuss where we are in terms of production, release, issues with the show, fixes, etc.

    4. Ensure we have the most up to date brand messaging for insertion in each episode to correspond with its premiere date 

    5. Host biweekly meetings to present reports and discuss marketing and data analytics with the brand and SoapKast (CEO/Executive Producer, Supervising Producer, Producer, Marketing Specialist, and Data Specialist)

    6. Organize quarterly meetings to review the upcoming outlines and story with the brand and SoapKast (CEO/Executive Producer, Storyliner and/or Writer, and Supervising Producer).

    7. An annual meeting to present the next year’s long term story with the brand and SoapKast (CEO/Executive Producer, Storyliner and/or Writer).

    8. Lead an annual review meeting to discuss progress on the audio soap opera from the brand’s perspective and SoapKast’s perspective.

Output: Supervising an “always on” branded audio soap opera through production to delivery | Organizing weekly production meetings between SoapKast and the brand | Managing brand messaging in each episode | Producing biweekly marketing and data analytics reports for the brand | Quarterly meetings to review long term story between the brand and SoapKast | An annual meeting to present the next year’s long term story | Progress meeting for the last year from the brand and SoapKast’s perspectives

4. Post-Production

Post-production for an “always on” audio soap opera is part of production, but for the sake of clarity, it involves the following steps:

    1. The editor crafts each episode based on the production scripts, producer, and director notes from each recording session.

    2. SoapKast submits a finished episode with music and sound effects, but without branding for client review.

    3. Upon client review, SoapKast refines the episodes and inserts all client branding into the episode.

    4. Client reviews the episode for approval. 

    5. SoapKast prepares episode descriptions and metadata.

    6. The Marketing Specialist creates promo clips and social assets for each episode and one clip which teases the week. 

    7. The episode is scheduled for distribution as per our air schedule.

Output: Two rounds of revision per episode | Inserting all client branding, CTAs, etc. | Metadata | Social assets | Promo clips | Episode Descriptions | WAV and MP3 files 

5. Distribution

SoapKast ensures your audio soap opera will be available to the widest possible audience from the day it launches. Our team will:

    1. Manage the hosting platform for your audio soap opera

    2. Ensure your show is available in all podcast directories

    3. Make sure our audience measurement systems are in place 

    4. Schedule the release of all episodes as per our release schedule

Our team makes sure your show is available, no matter the platform or streaming service. You never have to worry that your show is floating around in the ether. 

Output: Host platform | Podcast directories | Audience measurement | Distribution release schedule 

6. Promotion

We will use all of the information we gleaned during your development calls to promote your audio soap opera to your target audience. SoapKast uses its knowledge of the soap opera industry, its best practices, and harnessing the power of your brand to promote your audio soap opera on a daily basis. Our intuitive approach involves:

    1. Promotion via current & upcoming stories on social media 

    2. Cross promotion with the brand, SoapKast, and our cast across social media 

    3. Earned media in the soap press and general press

    4. Paid advertising on popular podcasts (Top 100)

    5. Paid advertising on podcasts which align with our target audience 

    6. Using big events on the show as a lever for promotion (i.e. a big wedding or the 100th episode)

    7. Behind the scenes material 

    8. Brand giveaways 

    9. Brand specific CTAs

Output: Media buying strategy | Earned media pish | Brand specific CTAs and giveaways | Social media promotion | Integrated promotion | Behind the scenes 

7. Data and Analytics

As your audio soap opera continues to grow, SoapKast monitors its audience, growth, data, and analytics across the series. Every two weeks, SoapKast’s Data Analytics Specialist will:

    1. Produce a custom report on the last batch of new episodes along with how many people are listening to older episodes of the show. 

    2. Ongoing audience measurement (demographics, downloads, devices used, best performing platform, etc.)

    3. Evaluation of CTAs and other brand messaging 

    4. Data and analytics from social media campaigns, social clips, promos, etc.

    5. Week by week analysis of the show’s overall performance 

Output: Biweekly data and analytics reports | Audience measurement | Evaluating CTAs, brand messaging | Social media and promo data and analytics | Overall show performance

Contact us now!