Virgin To Promote Film Screenings For The Times
Virgin Radio has secured a deal with The Times to promote its season of film screenings through its Access All Areas initiative.
The eight week-long bespoke campaign begins later this month and will see Virgin Radio broadcast a series of promotional trials and features in the form of movie updates. Ten ‘Film First’ movie updates will air each week during late afternoon and evening slots, with additional trails running throughout Virgin’s programming schedule.
The campaign, which was negotiated by Carat, uses the strapline “Film first from The Times” and is intended to encourage listeners to turn to the paper for movie recommendations and preview screening offers.
Commenting on the deal, Brian Commins, promotions director at Virgin Radio, said: “Our unique approach to developing campaigns allows clients such as The Times to add value to their services through informing and educating listeners in an engaging manner. The eight week commitment made by The Times is testament to the effectiveness of our bespoke approach offered by Access All Areas.”
Virgin Radio recently secured The Times as the first ever sponsor of its daily sports bulletins. The deal began earlier this year and covers the sports bulletins on Virgin’s Pete & Geoff Breakfast Show, the Daryl Denham Drivetime Show and the Saturday Virgin Radio Rock n’ Roll Football Show (see Virgin Radio Secures The Times For Sports Sponsorship).
The latest RAJAR data for the fourth quarter of 2002 reveals a lacklustre performance for both Total Virgin Radio and Virgin Radio AM. The former saw its weekly reach decline by 12.9% year on year and the latter slipped by 8.4% during the same period.
Analysis over a longer period shows that both Total Virgin Radio And Virgin Radio AM have seen their weekly reach decline steadily over the last few years, down by 27.3% and 27.9% respectively since the fourth quarter of 1999. However, the network recently announced plans to invest £3 million to promote its rock sound to the nation in its biggest ever advertising campaign, covering TV, outdoor, print and cinema (see Virgin Radio Invests £3m In Biggest Ever Ad Campaign).
Virgin Radio: 020 7434 1215 www.virginradio.co.uk
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