Preliminary communication
https://doi.org/10.22572/mi.30.1.5
Rebranding of Narodni Radio in Bravo! and Radio Gold fm in Happy fm – Increase in Listenership or Change in Image?
Marin Galić
orcid.org/0000-0002-3009-1260
; Sveučilište Sjever
Abstract
Commercial broadcasters determine the concept and develop their brand on the basis of listenership and listener profile. If radio station does not have an adequate audience or a listener profile interesting to advertisers, the management must react. The decision to rebrand is typically made for the purpose of increasing listenership and changing the image, which attracts a listener profile that is more attractive to advertisers. According to the Ipsos agency’s audience report, the most listened-to Croatian station in the third quarter of 2022 was narodni, whilst Gold FM ranked thirteenth out of 136 commercial radio stations. Despite being the most popular radio station, narodni underwent a complete rebranding and on November 16, 2022 became bravo! Gold FM was rebranded on November 29, 2022 and became Happy FM. The work, using a survey, analyzes the effectiveness of rebranding in terms of a better image and a better profile of listeners, while investigating the reasons why the management decided to rebrand, which results in more listeners and improved financial outcomes for the publisher. In collaboration with the Ipsos agency, 12,000 individuals were interviewed using the telephone survey method. The survey was conducted in three periods: the third quarter of 2022, the last in which narodni and Gold FM broadcast independently; the fourth quarter of 2022, in which the rebranding of radio stations was carried out; the second quarter of 2023, when the new media - Bravo! and Happy FM – have already established themselves on the Croatian radio scene. The results of the research showed that narodni by rebranding only partially managed to change its image and the profile of its listeners. Bravo! started to be listened to by younger, more educated and urban audience, compared to the listeners of narodni radio, but the number of listeners dropped. Although its listenership was not the highest, Gold FM had a positive image and a high-quality profile of listeners. Following the rebranding, Happy FM had significantly worse listenership than Gold FM, and at the same time it lost both the positive image and the listener profile interesting for advertisers that Gold FM, its predecessor, possessed.
Keywords
radio station rebranding, radio stations’ image, listenership, advertising, listener profile
Hrčak ID:
318224
URI
Publication date:
24.6.2024.
Visits: 593 *