Dallas, Texas—Stephen Arnold Music collaborated with KTLA to mark its 75th anniversary with an emotional and endearing anthem—“LA’s Very Own,” taking its name from the TV station’s tagline—highlighting the broadcaster’s unique connection to the city of Los Angeles.
The song supports a multifaceted branding campaign focused on the city’s people and spirit, and KTLA’s role as its first and most trusted television station. Conceived by KTLA Creative, the campaign’s hero spot is a montage of colorful lifestyle vignettes and sweeping landscape cinematography captured throughout Southern California. The song expresses a similar theme, evoking the city’s “golden sunshine and Pacific stars.” It ends with the optimistic refrain, “For years we’ve been together, and the best is yet to come. We’re LA’s Very Own.”
KTLA Creative’s team included senior director of creative service Scott Altus, special projects producer Kenneth Johnson, senior. writer/producer Bobby Mathews, and editor Daniel Navarrete.
Stephen Arnold Music creative director Chad Cook says the sentimental, acoustic guitar–driven ballad evokes pride. “Few stations are as beloved as KTLA is in California,” he explains. “People have a true sense of endearment for the station, and we wanted to honor that through the tone of the song. It’s quite a bit more intimate than is typical in an image piece.”
“It’s not a heavily produced piece,” adds Cook. “The song called for a sparse, acoustic style, but it hits all the emotional checkpoints.”
Altus adds that the key to the campaign is its authenticity, noting that most of the visuals are not staged, but reflect real people and real events. The new song has the same genuine quality.
“The creative team from Stephen Arnold Music understood immediately what we were looking for and produced a song that connects emotionally and is very melodic and memorable,” he observes. “It has real poetry to it. It’s absolutely on the money.”
