Search results matching tag 'Absolute Radio'

Cameron turns the airwaves blue

1704826 — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 10:15:00 GMT

Potty-mouthed Tory toff Dave Cameron caused some mild controversy on Absolute Radio after using two swearwords that are now commonplace in most wokplaces, seminaries aside, and tame to what you'd hear in most schoolyards.

Its breakfast DJ, Christian O'Connell, was delighted with Dave's outburst and so must have been the station's management. It gave the station, once known as Virgin Radio, some much-needed publicity.

I used to listen to Virgin Radio occasionally (more of an Xfm man) but have still yet to sample Absolute - I'm not clear what it stands for and what its position is. Virgin Radio had a close association with live music and events and although Absolute claims to be the same I haven't yet seen this in practice.

But now I know that it's the home of sweary Tories I might give it a try as I'm all for liberating swearwords. Apparently Vince Cable has got language worse than a navvie and a foul-mouthed exchange would surely liven Question Time up.

Is Absolute Radio better than Adam & Joe? It's time for DJ Wars

1704826 — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:52:00 GMT

I've been quite critical about Absolute Radio in the past as I don't like the name and I can't stand those ads - the last I thought I'd see of Doug was him lying in a pool of blood in Bruges - and Christian O'Connell is in danger of veering into the annoying ‘wacky' side of funny.

So when I saw its debut Rajars with audiences falling off a cliff I thought I had been vindicated, again.

But perhaps I was too hasty. Absolute Radio is up for seven gongs at the Sony Awards (radio's annual awards festival), which is more than any other commercial radio station.

Although awards schemes are not without their critics, quite rightly, as they are usually self-selecting and therefore rarely reward best in class to those who deserve it, real credit is due to Absolute Radio as the Sonys at least have credibility.

Even more impressive is that it has three DJs shortlisted in the entertainment category out of a total of five so the odds look good.....except they are up against Adam & Joe from BBC 6 Music, a small piece of the BBC's output that is worth a slither of the licence fee.

If Absolute Radio do manage to beat Adam & Joe, doyennes of the media industry's chattering classes, then I'm going to tune back in.

Are Absolute and Aviva good names?

1225254 — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 11:52:00 GMT

Absolute Radio has allegedly shed nearly half a million listeners since changing from Virgin Radio. Aviva is spending even more ditching Norwich Union. Naming is a tricky business. It takes many years to embed a name in the public consciousness so any change is fraught with risk. The Royal Mail got their fingers horribly burnt with the anonymous 'Consignia'. And nothing was quite as funny as PwC's attempt to rebrand its consultancy arm 'Monday'.

It must be tempting for GM to drop 'Vauxhall', but they haven't. Brylcreem has been around since 1928 yet the brand owners have not yet opted for something more 'hip'. Club 18-30 is still called that, while successfully shedding the Beaver Espana image. Mars' Marathon globalised as 'Snickers' amidst playground sniggers, although for its energy bar, Mars has re-introduced the Marathon name. Coco Pops returned after a short, sad life as Choco Krispies.

There are success stories. UKTV G2 is happier as Dave. Not too many people mind that Jif is now Cif. And Midland Bank is in a better place as HSBC.

Name changes are fraught with risk. I can understand how it appeals massively to the corporate ego ("we control and direct this brand") and the dynamics of global marketing, but consumers should have a say, too. Lucozade was once a much-loved tonic for convalescence. It's still around but is now loved as a sports performance aid. Are Absolute and Aviva sufficiently distinctive? Are they deeply meaningful or utterly empty? Do they make customers more or less likely to turn to them? Mmmm. What do you think?

What's in a name? Absolutely everything if today's Rajars are anything to go by

1641923 — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 09:49:00 GMT

Absolute Radio's programme and operations director Clive Dickens will be testing his international diplomacy skills today, as he tries to explain away listening drops of more than a fifth to his new bosses in India.

One of the few surprises in today's radio listening figures for the last quarter of 2008 is the dramatic loss of audience recorded by the former Virgin Radio station following its rebrand to Absolute in September.

Led by nearly 100,000 falls for Christian O’Connell's Breakfast show - from 554,000 to 466,000 listeners - the station, acquired by Times of India group last year, has posted an annual 23.6% decline in reach to just 2.2 million.

A defensive Dickens says the drops were expected and can be largley explained by confusion caused by the name change among the listeners completing the Rajar diaries.

His argument will not be helped if someone in India gets their hands on one of these diary forms - which clearly states (was Virgin Radio) next to each mention of Absolute.

He insists the station remains on track to hit its audience target of 3.5m listeners by the end of 2010 or the beginning of 2011, although where this confidence is coming from remains a mystery.

Virgin Radio was already losing listeners before the takeover, and the loss of its 15 year brand heritage appears to have only speeded up the exodus. And this despite a £5m advertising campaign pushing the strapline "Discover real music".

Could it be the station's wider playlist which now incorporates more "classic" rock from yesteryear is not hitting the spot?

Re: Does Absolut Vodka have a case against Absolute Radio?

2409173 — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 08:28:52 GMT

There's no such thing as bad publicity, if listening to the radio station is going to do anything it'll be to reifnorce the name Absolute in the listeners mind making it more likely to be the brand of choice when faced with a shelf of about 15 other Vodkas. While it technically is an infringement (audio is heard not seen and they therefore sound the same) I don't see what Absolut have to complain about.

Re: Does Absolut Vodka have a case against Absolute Radio?

1363416 — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 07:21:34 GMT

While technically they may not have a case, as a member of the public when I first heard about Absolute Radio I immediately assumed that the vodka brand was involved. It is not a difficult mental leap to make these days, after all we all knew Virgin as an airline and then when it also became a vodka brand, among other things, we did not question it. Will we be getting Easy Vodka next?

Good luck Absolute, but that's enough rebranding of radio stations

1704826 — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:41:00 GMT

The Beatles' A Day in the Life finally heralded the death of Virgin Radio and the phoenix-like emergence of Absolute Radio this morning.

After a slightly pompous mission statement about what the company thought ‘real music' is, which included the suggestions ‘gigs not photo shoots' and ‘built to last not flavour of the month', breakfast DJ Christian O'Connell declared that today was ‘The first day in your life of Absolute Radio'.

It's difficult not to wish them well, given the state of the radio industry, although I still find the Absolute name a bit underwhelming.

Rather more fleet of foot and less self-reverential, over at O'Connell's former station, Xfm, his replacement Alex Zane, lampooned the relaunch by temporarily re-naming his own charge as ‘Tremendous Radio' at exactly the same time that Absolute emerged from a rather lengthy and largely Beatles-inspired music mash-up.

With Capital 95.8 being rebranded, Xfm being disbanded from some cities and other stations being subsumed into the Jazz FM network there has been too much change in radio.

Radio owners would do well to remember that while it might just be possible to whip media buyers and branding experts into some sort of excitement about these changes, listeners probably don't care that much.

Virgin Radio, run by Absolute Radio, renamed Absolute Radio - how absolutely boring

1704826 — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 17:26:00 GMT

So after months of trying to build up some sort of excitement about Virgin Radio's enforced name change with promises that the new name would only be chosen once all stakeholders had been ‘engaged with', the radio station in association with ad agency Albion has come up with Absolute Radio.

In a remarkable coincidence, this is also the name of part of the consortium that bought the ailing radio station, the other being the Times of India Group, which I suppose they decided after a lengthy process involving ‘complex criteria' was not an appropriate alternative.

Times of India with Absolute Radio bought Virgin Radio in June and promised to spend £15m on the new branding. There is a key lessons here - don't try and build up expectations and excitement when you are going for the obvious name otherwise it'll end up looking distinctly underwhelming.

An open-source re-launch?

1841938 — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:47:00 GMT

Virgin Radio is about to be acquired by the Times of India and relaunched by the Absolue Radio team of Clive Dickens, Donnach O'Driscoll and Adrian Robinson.
They've got a tough task ahead of them as the Virgin Radio name is going and they're having to rebrand and relaunch, as well as coping with all the issues (staff, operational, relationships) that arise when you buy a business.

The team are doing something a little different, however, to most evil corporate takeovers - they're being open. All Virgin Radio staff (and anyone else who wants to take part) can read and contribute to a blog - OneGoldenSquare.com - that the team have setup to discuss and brainstorm what the new owners should be doing and how they should be doing it. Already you can read about Clive's first staff presentation, breakfast jock Christian O'Connell talking about music research or digital media head Andy Gumbridge talking about the relevance of streaming on the iPhone.

In takeovers, whilst management often talk about staff being the most important asset, it's these kinds of initiatives that prove they really mean it. Or am I just being naive?