Heart Pumps Up Adspend To Take On Capital In London
Chrysalis-owned Heart 106.2 is aiming to knock rival Capital 95.8 off the top spot in London by revamping its image and hiking up its adspend by around 20%.
It is understood that Chrysalis has awarded advertising agency Clemmow Hornby Inge the £3 million account to lead a major relaunch of London’s Heart 106.2 FM and midlands station Heart 100.7 FM with an extensive television and outdoor campaign due to begin later this year.
Reports suggest that the rebrand will see the station’s three year-old strapline ‘The right song right now’ scrapped, along with its distinctive red and white logo, which has been used since it launched back in 1995 after securing its London licence.
A spokesman for Chrysalis Radio refused to go into specifics, but said: “Heart has been increasing marketing spend over the last year as London’s commercial radio market becomes more competitive than ever before. As we continue to revitalise the Heart brand Chrysalis firmly believes in continued strong and creative marketing.”
Heart has had its sights firmly set on knocking Capital off the top stop in London for sometime and the latest RAJAR data for the three months to June 2004 show that the station now trails its fiercest rival by just 200,000 listeners each week (see NewsLine Interview: Steve Parkinson – Managing Director Heart 106.2).
The arrival of Johnny Vaughan to replace veteran breakfast show presenter, Chris Tarrant, has so far failed to bolster Capital’s London lead. The station saw its weekly reach decline by almost 20% year on year in the second quarter, as listeners went elsewhere for their early morning fix (see RAJAR Results Q2 2004: Vaughan Fails To Boost Capital).
Capital will not place too much emphasis on the initial figures, which also include Tarrant’s last two weeks at the microphone. Vaughan will take time to bed in to the breakfast slot and the real test will come in a few months time when the effect of the advertising campaign wears off.
Chrysalis: 020 7221 221 www.chrysalis.com
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