Bauer Media today announced the launch of two new national commercial radio packages, Bauer Place portfolio and Bauer Passion portfolio. The portfolios, designed around Bauer’s personal approach to programming, will enable commercial offerings to be even better understood and will replace the current framework, including the Big City Network brand. Barclays has become the first brand to agree a deal, signing with Bauer Place.
In development for more than a year, the new portfolio structure reflects Bauer’s investment in developing more relevant programming and increasing personalised interaction with its 13 million listeners in the UK. Bauer’s research into how and why audiences engage with its 42 local, regional and national stations has led it to align its radio offering around audience clusters with similar motivations and behaviours. The move takes Bauer away from the industry trend toward national networked programming, meaning it will offer brands more flexible, targeted and measurable advertising packages.
Bauer Place Portfolio – big in all the right places
Stations in the Bauer Place portfolio champion local communities and strive to deliver more relevant local programming and to unite listeners in the places they live. Dominating the premier cities and towns across the UK, Bauer Place is big in all the right places, as commercial market leader in 20 of 21 markets, including London, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Belfast and Southampton.
According to the last Rajars, Bauer Place reaches 8.7m listeners every week and registers a 33% higher market share within TSA of adults than the Heart Network, 222% higher than the Smooth Network and 273% higher than total Real Radio. Bauer Place includes the most influential stations in the most important places, including Magic 105.4 in London, Forth One in Edinburgh, Key 103 in Manchester and Radio City 96.7 in Liverpool.
Plans for the Bauer Place portfolio stations in 2011 include:
- The staging of major local music events in Newcastle, Manchester, Leeds, Belfast and Glasgow, hosted by the local breakfast teams and featuring live acts like Jessie J. In London, Magic 105.4 will present its inaugural ‘Magic Summer Live’ event in July 2011, with Sir Elton John as the headline.
- More local campaigns to help communities; the Metro Radio Newcastle £1million jobs project recently unearthed more than £15 million worth of jobs in the North East and has now been replicated at Hallam FM in Sheffield. The campaign has received cross-political party support.
- The introduction of individual and bespoke mobile apps across the portfolio; the stations will be able to work with advertisers to deliver localised content.
Bauer Passion Portfolio – uniting listeners around music and lifestyle
Bauer Passion portfolio is the home of passionate, iconic brands dedicated to music and lifestyle. Designed to unite listeners around their interests, the portfolio includes dance music station Kiss, rock music brand Kerrang!, iconic music brand Q, celebrity brand heat, and the UK’s biggest commercial digital station, The Hits.
Passion audiences are characterised by the emotional connection they make with a station’s music format. A mobile audience, they use every platform available to engage, from FM to DAB, Freeview, online, social media and mobile apps. According to the latest Rajars, the Bauer Passion portfolio reaches 6.3m listeners every week with a younger average age of 29 compared to 33 for the recently re-branded Capital Network, 33 for Total Choice FM and 32 for Total XFM UK. Its market share within TSA of 15-34 year olds is 10.7% compared to Capital on 9.4%, Choice on 0.95% and XFM, 0.82%.
The stations in Bauer Passion are committed to bringing audiences closer to the artists, gigs, events and presenters they love through exclusive content and direct interaction. Plans for the Bauer Passion portfolio nationally in 2011 include:
- The roll-out of Kiss’s Rickie, Melvin & Charlie in the Morning breakfast show on all national platforms; the popular show already consistently outperforms BBC Radio 1 Chris Moyles breakfast show every week in Greater London
- The addition of exclusive artist content to digital station, The Hits Radio; more world class artists are in the pipeline to present shows in 2011
- The introduction of mobile apps across the entire portfolio; the success of the Kiss Kube will soon be copied, across i-phone, Android and Blackberry.
‘Place’ and ‘Passion’ portfolios give new freedom and flexibility to advertisers
The new portfolios will give marketers the freedom to create customised advertising packages utilising the individual portfolios, or a combination of both, depending on the objectives of the campaign. Brands seeking to engage and appeal to consumers emotionally will find value in the Bauer Passion Portfolio, which appeals on the basis of lifestyle choice. Alternatively, Bauer Place will offer brands the chance to engage personally with loyal, local communities in specific geographical locations.
Dee Ford, group managing director radio, Bauer Media comments: “Bauer’s stations are more influential than our competitors because for us, radio is personal. We work relentlessly on the product and personality of each individual station to ensure it is reflective of either the passions of our listeners or the places where they live. The creation and launch of the Bauer Place and Bauer Passion portfolios will give our advertisers and partners measurable commercial advantage by allowing them to customise campaigns to reach and engage directly with their audiences through a mix of interests and geographic locations.”
Karen Stacey, broadcast director, Bauer Media comments: “The Place and Passion portfolios are reflective of Bauer’s long-term strategic investment in radio nationwide. Our research shows us that networked national programming, as now favoured by the wider industry, simply does not resonate with listeners. Instead, our focus on increasing locally relevant programming and personalised interaction is already returning results. We are now recording 7% higher listening hours and engagement than our nearest challenger in the market, making our stations a far more attractive advertising proposition for brands.”
Ends
Contact:
Braben | 0207 025 8021 | kissmagic@braben.co.uk
