Communicorp’s Newstalk is about to launch a new quarter of a million Euro marketing campaign to explain what the station does.
The message is that Newstalk is about more than just news, as recent research showed some listeners thought it was just current affairs.
“The perception among some listeners was that it was a rolling news service, that it was heavy on current affairs from 6.30am until midnight,” station editor Garrett Harte told the Irish Times.
“So there was a need for Newstalk to give clarity on the variety we have with presenters like Tom Dunne and Seán Moncrieff, or even with the review of the papers slot on Breakfast, or the tech slot and the movie slot on the Right Hook,” he says.
Previous campaigns included statements such as “get the news without the State-run spin”, comparing them to RTE.
Listeners are looking for entertainment, “a bit of irreverence and a bit of levity” alongside the news, Harte says. “We have a job to communicate the package that we have.”
The chief-executive-less station is hoping to attract more female listeners and will advertise Newstalk Breakfast, Moncrieff, Newstalk Lunchtime and The Right Hook from next week.