In New Orleans, a ‘yat’ is mostly a term of endearment. It refers to a typical neighborhood character, someone born and raised in New Orleans, who never lived anywhere else, or wanted to. Men “yats” know their way around the kitchen and take good care of their “momma and dem,” otherwise known as their mom […]
In New Orleans, a ‘yat’ is mostly a term of endearment.
It refers to a typical neighborhood character, someone born and raised in New Orleans, who never lived anywhere else, or wanted to.
Men “yats” know their way around the kitchen and take good care of their “momma and dem,” otherwise known as their mom and her family.
The accent can sound like it’s from New York and it comes from the New Orleans expression, where y’at, or how are you?
And if you want to speak to real New Orleanians in a news promo, you find yourself a “yat,” and that’s exactly what Jeff Funk, the creative services director for WGNO, Tribune’s ABC affiliate in the Big Easy, did for his station’s God Bless Louisiana campaign.
“It’s just someone who was born and raised here,” says Funk when asked if the voice used in the spots is a professional announcer, “a local guy, a personality.”
God Bless Louisiana won the 2015 Promax Gold for General Branding/Station Image Campaign Small Market at the PromaxBDA Station Summit in June.
The campaign was launched in 2011 and features a soulful gospel backdrop scored by Stephen Arnold Music.
“The music perfectly matches the vibe, the scene and the feeling that you experience walking through New Orleans,” says Funk. “Stephen Arnold Music did an amazing job encapsulating all of that in one track.”
The score, a moving arrangement of organ, guitar, bass and brush drums, is a Southern hymn-style musical complement to each spot, and has become inseparable from the long-running campaign.
Perhaps not surprisingly, music has been the foundation of local TV news promotion for more than 30 years in New Orleans.
“We’re proud that our music plays a continuous role in a campaign that uplifts the New Orleans community,” says Stephen Arnold.
Comments (0)
Reader Interactions