Bates to front Smooth ads

GMG’s Smooth Radio is to use one of its presenters in a marketing campaign for the first time since going national last year.

Breakfast presenter Simon Bates will feature in the bus back advertising, initially across the North West and West Midlands, after a recent RAJAR boost in London following his arrival from Classic FM.

Creative agency, Arnold KLP, has devised three executions, all showing a watermark image of Simon with a different strapline “Easy like Monday – Friday Morning”, “The master’s voice” and “Where else would radio’s smoothest voice be?” We’re told the outdoor advertising will be followed up by a second burst of television advertising for Smooth, using their existing ‘Smooth Ambassadors’ creative. GMG say a digital campaign, focused on promoting the breakfast show, is also planned to run towards the end of June.

Bates’ arrival in January has already helped boost audience numbers for the London service, providing the best reach since the station’s rebrand from Jazz FM to Smooth several years ago. The RAJARs for Q1/2011 show a quarterly audience increase of 39% at breakfast.

Smooth Radio Managing Director Andy Carter said: “We’ve always promoted the brand and the music on Smooth so this is the first time we’ve actively promoted a presenter. Simon’s a broadcasting icon and a huge draw for listeners, as indicated by the uplift in the London audience, so this campaign is aimed at encouraging drivers travelling to work to tune-in to his show. We intend to extend it to other regions throughout the year.”