Radio brand
Here in Halifax, among the many stops on the FM dial, there are two radio stations: C100 (C100 FM) and 101.3 The Bounce (CJCH-FM).
C100 touts itself as a Top 40 radio station. Playing the hits, or as they put it “Today’s Best Music”. It’s pretty much the regular station you hear in public in Halifax, like at the dentist or in a store. It fits in the niche in between a classic hits station like 96.5 Kool FM, easy listening like Lite 92.9 or 105.9 Seaside and the rock radio stations like Q104 or 89.9 HAL FM.
The Bounce (a relatively new station) angles a bit more toward the dance/club vibe, calling itself Halifax’s Hit Music Station. It’s focus is a bit of a younger crowd, placing it in competition with Z103.
Now both stations advertise themselves on TV and in some cases, these advertisements air one after another. This makes sense as the stations are both run by the same company, the CHUM Radio Network.
As radio advertisements often go, both feature clips of music that they would regularly play. In this case, they sample maybe five songs, combine that with talk about their station and clips of the city and the music videos associated with the songs they chose to represent their station.
Here’s where it gets interesting though: both TV commercials are almost exactly alike when it comes to what songs they chose to play. Both commercials begin with Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling and ends with Katy Perry – Waking Up In Vegas. I think one of the middle songs is also Lady Gaga – Paparazzi in both cases as well.
Now I’m not arguing that these songs don’t fit the general identity of both stations. All three songs can definitely be considered Top 40 hits with a bit of a dance or club vibe to them. I guess what gets me is that for a company trying to establish unique brands and identities for their radio properties, the decision to use identical songs (the precise bread and butter, the actual product that music radio puts out) is a bit mind-boggling. How can you establish exclusive distinctive brands by using the exact same material?
Frankly, it seems like a lazy decision and I’m surprised that whoever handles the marketing for CHUM let it pass.