Refocusing a product
A BBC Radio 2 case study
Page 5: Ongoing promotion
Having refreshed the product offering through the programming and presenters, marketers followed this up with a carefully thought out promotional campaign to challenge the audience's perception of the station. The campaign involves making the public aware of the 'big stars' featured on the station and also surprising the audience in order to give a fresh feel to Radio 2. One example of this surprise element that was included in the regular documentaries featured on Saturday nights was a documentary about punk music. This received rave reviews in the press and from the listening audience. This innovation was followed up by a series of other successful documentaries, including 'Mancunian Way', which outlined the impact of Manchester on new musical sounds.
The advertising and promotion used by Radio 2 is based on a consistent identity that is easy to recognise. It includes frequent use of purple, coupled with use of neon and moving backgrounds in television advertising. Media campaigns are prepared several months ahead, and provide consistent messages: Radio 2 is a station that offers surprises, innovation and broad audience appeal. The consistent identity of the media campaigns is designed to enhance the brand identity of Radio 2 and to gain visual recognition for the brand over time. In addition, the brand consistently uses the sign-off line "Radio 2 – the most listened to station in the UK", which helps to underline the brand's popularity.
To obtain the best results, advertising and promotional activity needs to be carefully targeted at the right audience: 35-54 year old music lovers. Research clearly shows that in terms of the national press the best media for reaching this audience are national papers like:
the Guardian, Observer and Sunday Times to reach a male audience
the Daily Mail and Daily Express to reach the female target audience.
Radio 2 advertisements are targeted not only at the national press but just as importantly at the specialist press. This includes magazines such as Time Out and specialist music publications such as NME, which provide the natural channels of communication. Research shows that publications such as Q and Mojo are particularly effective for targeting music lovers.
BBC Radio 2 | Refocusing a product
2: Winning a broader audience
3: Refreshing the product
4: Targeting the market
5: Ongoing promotion