As predicted last month here on radioinfo, the old Blue Planet logo is now dead and a new Blue Spiral Today network logo has emerged as part of that network’s rebranding strategy.
The changes were launched this week with the new logo and formats going public without much fanfare on Monday, the same day as most of the network’s breakfast teams returned from their summer holidays. The rebranding is being supported by new tv ads (click below).
Austereo CEO Michael Anderson has told radioinfo that the changes are more evolution than revolution: “It’s a refreshment of the logo we have had for so long, not a radical departure. It is saying we are going back to what we stand for, but doing it in a contemporary way.”
Last year was about the “re-growth of the Today brand,” according to Anderson, who says the Sydney breakfast show last year “was unfavourably compared with the previous one,” so further work was needed. The new branding and lineup changes are the culmination of that work.
The biggest change has come in Sydney, where Judith Lucy was moved to drive and replaced on breakfast by Kyle and Jackie O. According to Anderson: “Last year was the beginning of a transition period for 2Day. It had been dominant for a long time, but new competition from Nova and Mix at both the younger and older ends of our core target was a challenge.”
Anderson believes the competition factor, plus changing one of Sydney’s most successful long term breakfast shows, saw the decline of the brand further in 2004.
“The product and the brand became confused, people were not sure what we stood for any more. So we are saying let’s reclaim the territory which is the natural ground for 2Day.”
The territory that Anderson is talking about is a combination of a hit music based radio station and popular culture. “Neither too cool nor too young… it’s a combination of pop culture and what’s going on.”
Did solving the Sydney problem really need to involve changes in other states? Anderson says yes. He has told radioinfo:
“We will program as appropriate to each market, but we did need change everywhere. 2DAY Breakfast was a Sydney issue, but the solution preempts the same potential issue in other states so that we do not face problems as significant as we did in Sydney.”
The changes were test marketed in Adelaide last year and Anderson says that market has “settled quickly” with Mix “retreating” to its traditional market and others in the market also moving in response to the SAFM brand changes.
How are the changes being received by listeners after a few days?
Assistant 2DAY Program Director, Shaun Gough, has told radioinfo:
“The focus for any station is breakfast and we are working on that hard. Kyle and Jackie are now only 4 days in, but I’m really impressed where they’re at so early. I took a call from a listener today who had to pull over because she was laughing so much at the show… She had been listening to the Edge last year. Anecdotal evidence from staff taking calls here is telling us we are getting some switch backs already, which is a great thing for 2Day.”
Gough says “every song we play is a hit,” and describes the music as “uptempo hit mainstream music for under 40s.” The station has this week added new CHR songs including “the new Jennifer lopez song, Nasty Girl, and the new Usher song.”
“A top CHR format has new songs all the time,” according to Gough, who says the playlist includes top 10 hits in its high and new rotation categories. The oldest songs in the station’s playlist include a few from the late 80s, but most of them from the 1990s. “It is the formative stuff for our target audience.”
As well as breakfast, Gough says morning presenter, Labrat, is “super strong in mornings” against Nova’s Bianca Dye. The Edge, WS and even Triple M’s Cage have all made changes this year, so Gough thinks “listeners will be surfing” in the next few weeks and will find something to offer from 2Day.
While Gough would not be drawn on what was wrong with Judith Lucy’s breakfast show, he says Kyle and Jackie O’s breakfast “is a very different show” from the other stations in the market which have presenters on air who are trying to tell jokes and be funny. Kyle and Jackie give their listeners lifestyle and a connection with popular culture which Gough thinks will give them a point of difference from the other ‘joke teller’ shows.
And does he like the new Blue Spiral?
“I was skeptical at first because I liked the old logo. It took a while for it to grow on me, but I’m a fan now. I like the rationale behind it… I like the fan effect which symbolises the wind of change, freshness… A sense of searching for what the next hit song will be. It reflects what we want to do this year.”
And in a nice play on words Gough adds: “No two days will be the same.”
While that slogan is not being used on air, it is being used in the station’s sales and marketing push to indicate the amount of new material listeners will hear on the station and the fresh approach which advertisers can expect.
The new logo is being rolled out in all states except Perth at this stage. Perth changed its logo just two years ago and is happy with its red square logo for the time being until there is a need for change according to 92.9 PD Jason Walkerden: “The new logo looks great… we will possibly use it down the track. Our brand in the market is really strong and well recognised in the market at this time. We only changed to the logo we have 2 years ago.”
Walkerdon is delighted with Perth listeners’ responses to the new breakfast team, which is anchored by Luke Boland, a new young talent who began at the station in carting and production, and features Stella Bevilacqua, a mum who had never done radio before this breakfast gig, and well known long time breakfast host, Bernie Britten.
Advertisers have responded well to the branding changes so far says Michael Anderson: “The changes have generated interest. They can see things are different and we are staking out the clear territory of a pop culture breakfast show that makes us different from what the others are doing. Initial response has been cautious but supportive. There seems to be genuine goodwill and respect from the feedback so far but, at this stage, it’s too early to tell.”
Does Anderson have any predictions for the first survey of this year? “My only prediction is that they will be out on 22 February. If I predict anything else, I would probably be wrong.”
The lineups for Austereo’s two main Today network stations, 2Day and Fox for 2005 are:
2DAY
THE KYLE AND JACKIE O SHOW
6am-9am Monday to Friday
THE LABRAT
9am-12noon Monday to Friday
KATE MAC
12noon-4pm Monday to Friday
THE ARVO with Judith Lucy and Peter Hellier
4pm-7pm Monday to Thursday
HOT30 COUNTDOWN with Higgo and Alexis
7pm-10.30pm Monday to Friday
HOT HITS with Kyle & Jackie O
4pm-8pm Saturdays
JAMZ
8pm-10pm Saturdays
LOADED (Dance tracks)
10 pm-2am Saturdays
TAKE 40 AUSTRALIA
7am-11am Sundays
AT40 WITH RYAN SEACREST
5pm-9pm Sundays
AUSTRALIAN FIRST with Rohan “Brownie” Brown
9pm-12midnight Sundays (a weekly show featuring a mixed bag of Australian content including urban, pop, dance and rock)
And from this week 2Day will also run Hamish and Andy 10 – noon Saturdays from Melbourne.
FOX
THE MATT & JO SHOW :: 6-9 WEEKDAY MORNINGS
ANDY PARK :: 12-4 WEEKDAYS
12noon-4pm Monday to Friday
THE ARVO with Judith Lucy and Peter Hellier
4pm-7pm Monday to Thursday
HOT30 COUNTDOWN with Higgo and Alexis
7pm-10.30pm Monday to Friday
LIVVY BELVEDERE :: 10:30PM-1AM WEEKNIGHTS
REMEDY ::
:: SOLEMAN :: 10:30PM-1AM THURSDAY NIGHTS
FATBOY SLIM (Norman Cook )- BRIGHTON BEACH MIX :: 10:30PM-1AM FRIDAY NIGHTS
THE ALMOST MIDDAY SHOW ::
WITH HAMISH AND ANDY :: 10:00AM SATURDAY MORNINGS
HOT HITS with Kyle & Jackie O
4pm-8pm Saturdays
JAMZ
8pm-10pm Saturdays
LOADED (Dance tracks)
10 pm-2am Saturdays
TAKE 40 AUSTRALIA
7am-11am Sundays
AT40 WITH RYAN SEACREST
5pm-9pm Sundays
AUSTRALIAN FIRST with Rohan “Brownie” Brown
9pm-12midnight Sundays
For the network’s new tv ad click below and scroll to ‘TV Commercial.’