Formats Unpacked: You Heard It Here First

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It’s been a while. We’ve been quite busy with our Attention Matters newsletter which is currently running a series called “How to STAY HUMAN and Avoid a B2B Zombie Apocalypse.” It’s part of a campaign we’re running to highlight how important it is for brands to STAY HUMAN in the age of the algorithm. Check it out then download that guide. If you do need help with a campaign and want to chat about how you tell stories humans really connect with, hit that big button below.

Thankfully we have some very kind humans that love formats and occasionally offer to write about their favourites. This week’s format has been unpacked by one such wonderful human - Dan Perry. Dan is a marketing and advertising strategist. He's an advocate for not taking yourself too seriously and a fan of healthy debate. He’s also got really good taste when it comes to radio listening.

Over to Dan…

What’s it called?

You Heard It Here First (radio show)

What’s the format?

It's a radio comedy panel show where, to quote the BBC, "Comedian Chris McCausland asks a panel of comedians to live in an audio-only world, deciphering brainteaser sound cues for points and pride."

Essentially, to illustrate the travails of living without sight, each episode pits two teams of comedians against one another over a series of sound-only rounds where they have to, for example:

• Identify unexpected noises

• Follow the narrative of TV adverts without the visuals

• Make sense of small children describing what they're looking at

And generally try and figure out what on earth is going on.

What’s the magic that makes it special?

It's uniquely perfect for radio, with a perfectly qualified host.

No other medium could so perfectly capture the experience of having to navigate the world through sound alone.

It's something that Chris McCausland, as a blind comedian and actor, knows intimately. He even points out in the intro that the premise of the whole show is to make the contestants realise how difficult it can be for him (and how he'll be gutted if they find it easy).

Hearing it for the first time gives listeners a whole new perspective, as you can't help but play along at home and realise how alien and disorienting everyday sounds are when they're stripped of context.

But, because it's comedians doing silly things under the supervision of a host deliberately trying to make things difficult, it's also immensely entertaining, slipping the empathy in between the laughter.

There's also a glorious gradual ratcheting up of confusion and exasperation, culminating in the frantic final 'quick-fire' round, ending on a high.

Favourite Episode?

I fell in love with the anarchic energy from the first episode, which also helped me identify my own misophonia.

Similar Formats?

I'd never heard anything quite like it.

99% Invisible's '700 Foot Mountain of Whipped Cream' episode dedicated to the golden age of radio ads also gives listeners an appreciation for the unique power of audio to activate the world's best special effects department: the listeners' imagination.

Only Connect (a more cerebral BBC quiz, this time on TV) ran a special episode that translated the usually very visual clues into sound to accommodate some partially sighted contestants.

And, more abstractly, there are similarities to other formats that perfectly suit their media, in the same way that the murder mystery novel 'Decagon House Murders' by Yukito Ayatsuji could really only work as a book (sorry, slight spoiler).

Thanks Dan.

Make sure you follow Dan on LinkedIn and check out the show.

If you want to talk to Storythings about how we can help you develop a campaign that connects with humans, book a call by hitting the button above.

Here are two simple ways to get started working with Storythings:

• Our Formats Unpacked workshop will help you come up with lots of format ideas to prototype.

• Our 15-day story-finding sprint will help you find compelling stories about your company that will make you stand out and help your customers make better buying choices.

Both approaches have been tried and tested with some of the biggest brands, foundations, and arts organisations on the planet.

Thanks for reading. See y’all next time,

Hugh

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