Source The Australian


DMG Radio Australia’s slow birth of its Vega FM brand continues with the launch of another outdoor campaign in Sydney and Melbourne.


Sydney’s Vega 95.3FM and Melbourne’s Vega 91.5FM are now being promoted with the campaign line “Vega variety 70s, 80s and the best new songs”.It is the first push in what is expected to be an intense rush of marketing for Australia’s FM stations in the first months of 2007.


Austereo’s youth stations, primarily 2DAY and Fox, gained a march on their competitors in early 2006 with expensive early campaigns. The network held and consolidated its FM ratings lead after that bright start.


For DMG’s baby-boomer stations, the story is a little different, with both stations still struggling for recognition after high-profile launches in 2005. Both Vegas remained beside Triple J at the bottom of the ratings table, although the last survey of 2006 showed small signs of growth and encouraging cumulative audiences.


“The next step in our marketing campaign, the most recent of which was communicating the message of ‘Vega variety’, is taking that one step further and further describing the playlist,” said Jane Earnshaw, promotions and marketing director for Vega 95.3FM and Vega 91.5FM.


“It’s not a tinkering as such; it’s looking at the playlist now and what listeners are saying they want from it.”


The campaign, designed in-house, will feature on billboards in both cities and bus advertising in Sydney.


DMG’s $160 million gamble on the new network hasn’t replicated the success of its stablemate Nova. After launching with big personalities, including Wendy Harmer, Tony Squires and ABC recruit Angela Catterns, the Vega stations have pared back the talk content in favour of music.


“It’s no secret that initially the (marketing) concept was too complex, which was surprising for everybody because it was so well researched,” Ms Earnshaw admitted.


“It’s always hard when researching a new station because you’re asking about the incumbents and what they don’t like about them and also asking about something that doesn’t exist yet. But the (audience) behaviour just didn’t match the insights.”