Radio Rebrands: When Best Laid Plans Go Awry

14 February 2011

by John Davidson

The radio market is constantly changing and evolving; stations tweak and adjust to strengthen their brand and seek any advantage over their rivals. But change, while often necessary, is also fraught with danger and can create bigger problems for stations to solve. John Davidson looks at the art of change and the power of branding in radio.

The Vega Effect

Despite its financial backing, executive conviction and bold plans, it seemed destined to fail from the very beginning. VegaFM, DMG Radio Australia’s experimental station, targeted at baby boomers with a mixed talk and music format, was one of the most costly exercises in Australian radio history.

Vega lasted nearly five years, before the brand was dumped and turned into Classic Rock in March 2010. Vega suffered consistently poor ratings and despite boasting high-profile hosts and a robust marketing budget, it did not survive.

“It just wasn’t rating,” Greg Newman, Editor of industry publication Jock’s Journal, says. “The formula didn’t work in Sydney and Melbourne.” Former Austereo executive Sean Pickwell, Director of Waterfront Entertainment Marketing, believes the rebrand to Classic Rock will work. “They needed to do something with Vega,” he says. “It was just so awful.”

Considering its status as a high-profile casualty, examples like Vega are hard to find in Australian radio. It rarely gets to the stage where a whole identity must be rebranded to save a station. The simple fact is that radio stations are wrapped up in a constant effort to improve and rejuvenate, to keep their identity fresh and grab a point or two in the next ratings book.

“Most good stations are tweaking all the time, and you don’t really notice,” Pickwell says. “They get in trouble when programmers get lazy.” Part of the problem is that often changes are made that are ill advised, not planned properly or executed poorly. Pickwell’s observation is that it is all about “considered change versus kneejerk change. A panic in a ratings drop ends in a quick kneejerk reaction, throwing cash at the problem, and that rarely works,” he says. “You need to sit back and analyse it. Kneejerk change can often do more damage. There’s a root cause when there’s a drop. You have to look at the real reason.”

Mixing It With The Best

What drives a radio station to embark on a program of serious change? While often it is a slide in ratings, it also could be a drop in advertising revenue or simply the inability to maximise its existing revenue.

That was the case of Sydney station Mix, according to Pickwell, who says it was doing “OK” with the 25-54 year-old niche but then decided to take on 2DayFM. “It went very contemporary,” he says. “It was really a mimic of 2DayFM. And a poor imitation at that.”

Now Mix has changed its format back to a more adult-sounding identity, positioning itself between 2DayFM and sister Australian Radio Network (ARN) station WSFM.

Duncan Campbell, ARN’s National Content Director, said the new change at Mix was carried out to arrest a slide in ratings, and it had two main aims. “Trying to find a real point of difference, and to avoid cannibalising WSFM,” he says. Campbell agrees the art of the successful radio rebrand is hard to pull off, and says Mix was in a perfect place to reposition itself as it “didn’t have a lot of listener loyalty left.”

Rocking The Suburbs

Triple M is another major station that experienced significant change in the past 18 months. Several years ago, the Austereo-owned stations (specifically, the East Coast stations of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane) went to a more contemporary, pop aesthetic in an attempt to garner a broader appeal. This move belied Triple M’s rock music roots and was largely unsuccessful. Now the station has re-embraced its roots and is gaining traction as it leverages its rock heritage.

“We learned to be great at one thing... to focus on being a great rock station,” Nikki Clarkson, Austereo’s Head of Marketing and Communication, says. “We really redefined who we are. Rock is absolutely at the heartbeat of Triple M; it’s the lifeblood. It’s about being true and respectful to the brand.”

Clarkson says the Slash version of the Triple M theme song is the first execution in a long running campaign that is “going really well". "Ratings have been positive,” she says. “Repositioning is a slow journey. You have to be flexible as well.”

Loving The Brand

Listeners might not always know exactly what they want, but they are generally loyal. According to industry research, listeners are very loyal to two to three radio stations in particular. “Once people hit on a format they like, they tend to remain loyal to it,” Joan Warner, CEO of Commercial Radio Australia, says. “Listeners are ever loyal to their favourite radio personalities.”

Radio is also a very resilient medium, and so shifting listeners to different stations is a difficult ask. “People are generally forgiving,” Pickwell says. “They’re loyal to the brand. It stands for more than just music. People listen to radio for than just music. It’s very hard to shift people [to different stations]. Particularly with breakfast shows and stations with unique positioning. Radio’s a very loyal medium.”

The Nova network has certainly embraced the philosophy that audiences listen to radio for than just the music. In January, Nova launched a new national marketing campaign ‘Live Life Nova’ which both celebrates the network’s tenth birthday and promotes its new national Drive show. The campaign involves a refreshed logo as well as outdoor and television executions.

“The Nova brand is a very well recognised media brand in Australia and it is approaching 10 years in the market so it’s important to ensure the brand maintains its freshness and appeal in the market,” Tony Thomas, dmg’s Marketing Director says. “Brands are dynamic and the Nova brand has to move with our listeners.”

Marketing and promotion remains a central part of any successful radio station. The right research must also be completed; otherwise decisions can be made with the wrong information. “You need to research and promote it,” CRA’s Warner advises. “The success of a rebrand depends entirely on the content it’s offering, and the research that has benn done. Bad rebrands are down to poor research and poor execution.” Pickwell agrees: “It comes down to knowing your target audience, and knowing them well. Research is very key.”

Talking The Talk

It is not just the FM music stations in Australia that are faced with the prickly issue of change. AM talk radio is also in a battle to stay fresh and remain relevant. 2UE has recently overhauled its programming line-up with several new hosts such as Jason Morrison and Paul Murray, in a bid to secure ratings growth against its rival 2GB. 2UE has maintained its positioning as a talk/sport/lifestyle station but is now targeting a younger audience.

“They’re looking to tap into the next generation of talk listeners,” CRA’s Warner says. “They haven’t changed their brand value, but they’ve changed their brand appeal.”

Sometimes just one change of personnel can indicate a massive switch in the identity of a station’s brand. Take 2SM’s acquisition of radio legend John Laws, for example. The hiring of Laws has not only gained huge publicity but also managed to bring new listeners to 2SM. “It’s changed the perception of the brand,” Warner says.

Keeping It Real

ABC youth network Triple J might not have to concern itself with ratings or revenue levels, but it does have to remain relevant and modern as a brand. This is done by constant engagement with its audience, changing presenters and getting the music selection right. “Music is going to change a lot faster than the presenters so you need to be on top of,and in our case–ahead of, what’s coming out and who’s coming up,” Meagan Loader, Triple J Program Director, says. “And our presenters need to be living the brand – you can’t fake passion for music.”

Getting It Right

So you’ve decided on making a major change to your radio station. Perhaps a repositioning of the brand, or you’re chasing a different audience by updating your music format. The decision hasn’t been made lightly, but more to the point, how do you make sure you get it right? Approach with caution, is the advice of Austereo’s Clarkson. “It’s a path that shouldn’t be taken lightly,” she says.

Clarkson believes getting a major change such as a rebrand right is about “communicating the vision passionately,” as well as getting people on side and getting all the other elements such as hosts, programming, advertising, and music selection in order. “It’s extremely difficult to implement them successfully,” she says. “It needs to be a brand strategy that everyone believes in.”

Courage also plays a part in the process, as well as luck. Major changes to a radio station can cost tens of millions of dollars, so it is imperative that the change is well thought out and well-planned. When you are tampering with a station’s brand, a clear vision of what you want to achieve is crucial.

In the eyes of Sean Pickwell, it comes back to “building a personality and compelling radio”.

“It could be anything,” he says. “It’s about creating great radio that you can monetise, not just great radio.”