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R
adiocentre – the industry body
for commercial radio in the UK
– launched a series of personalised
radio adverts in May 2016, putting
the top marketers of some of the
country’s biggest advertisers right at
the heart of the message.
The campaign, developed with
the agency Lucky Generals, was
designed to make marketers see
radio differently and persuade them
to invest more in radio. Radiocentre’s
objective was to help advertisers
understand how they could use
radio more ambitiously and thereby
increase the fame of their brands,
which was achieved by making a
select group of marketers famous
within the marketing industry.
First into the spotlight was Keith
Weed, CMO of Unilever. The 60” spot
featured a hip hop artist rapping
“You can be the leader, Keith Weed
from Unilever,” and suggesting that
radio is “OMG to the FMCG.”
The second target was Craig Inglis,
Customer Director at the retailer
John Lewis, with a ballad inspired by
the company’s famous Christmas TV
ads. “Oh Craig Inglis, where have you
been ... why don’t you give radio a
go?” The third iteration was an indie
rock track dedicated to L’Oréal’s
Chief Marketing Officer, “This is
for Hugh Pile from lovely L’Oréal ...
just because you’re worth it!”, and
the most recent version was in the
style of a house anthem, inviting
Jonathan Mildenhall, CMO of Airb&b
– a company that does not invest in
radio – to see radio differently.
R a d i o m a k e s i t s m a r k
The great strength of this campaign
is that it lets radio just be itself
– witty, creative, playful and
effective – and demonstrates that
it is capable of so much more than
tactical and promotional advertising.
Although radio reaches millions of
listeners each month, it remains
a uniquely personal medium, and
what better way to influence the
people who ultimately make media
strategy decisions than to reach out
with a radio ad?
The starmarketers have reacted very
positively to the campaign, engaging
with the spots and responding
through social media. Weed thanked
Radiocentre for reminding him of the
power of radio and name checked
the campaign during his talk at the
Cannes Lions International Festival
of Creativity. Inglis, for his part,
responded on Twitter saying that he
loves radio and that he might spend
more on it next year.
The cheeky nature of the spots,
and the reaction of the marketers
themselves, generated considerable
press coverage for the campaign,
which was also supported by online,
outdoor and print advertising as
well as social media. Playing out
over some of the UK’s biggest
radio stations, the first week of the
campaign alone reached an audience
A highly innovative
personalised ad campaign
that helps marketers see
radio in a new light
I n i t i a t i v e :
S e e R a d i o
D i f f e r e n t l y
M a r k e t :
U K
D e v e l o p e d b y :
R a d i o c e n t r e
T a r g e t
a u d i e n c e :
B 2 B –
m a r k e t e r s
O b j e c t i v e :
T o p e r s u a d e
r e l u c t a n t
a d v e r t i s e r s t o
i n v e s t i n r a d i o
t h r o u g h a h i g h l y
p e r s o n a l i s e d
r a d i o
a d v e r t i s i n g
c a m p a i g n