Radio rebrand connects with local communities
“These are brands with deep connections to their local communities and real day-to-day relevance in people’s lives. People rely on their local radio stations for far more than just entertainment, news, travel, sport and great music. The stations provide certainty, companionship and offer listeners a sense of social currency and belonging. It is the station’s job to ensure it delivers that with a local tone of voice and unique personality and style,” says Bauer Media’s head of brand marketing & special projects Stuart Duncan.
The media group, Europe’s largest privately owned publishing company, which has a diverse radio portfolio across the UK, has announced a rebrand of its radio properties. The rebrand, carried out by London-based brand consultancy The Allotment, will see a new visual identity and brand strategy applied to 17 regional radio brands and 43 individual stations.
Bauer says that at any time in the UK, four of 10 people are interacting with content produced by the company and its brands. Listeners score its radio brands higher than others in trust, loyalty, love and commitment, according Bauer. Thus the rebrand had to both fulfil the objectives set out by the Bauer Media Group’s communications team and address the needs of listeners in local and interest-based communities.
Paul Middlebrook, managing partner of The Allotment says the new identity rests on ‘YOUR’ as both a digital and verbal device. It is intended to reflect Bauer Media Group’s understanding of its local audiences for each of the 43 stations it oversees.
Nick Button, marketing director for radio brand Place, says, “This was a challenging brief but we are delighted with the outcome. It is a multi-platform brand identity that is vibrant, cohesive and really unifies our extended Place local radio offering while maintaining what’s at the heart and soul of every single local Bauer station – their relationship with their listeners and their locations.”
The new identity will roll out in early 2015.
