Metro advertise on rival’s Facebook page

Metro Radio has launched an advertising campaign aimed at taking listeners away from cross-town rival Capital FM.

Former Capital breakfast presenters Steve and Karen are now on Metro, and at the centre of the creative.

The on air launch of Steve Furnell and Karen Wight has been backed by a six figure advertising campaign developed by Newcastle agency Hedley McEwan. The creative has several different media campaigns booked, one of which specifically targets fans of Capital Radio’s Facebook page who live in the North East.

The outdoor campaign connects the station with specific communities across the region as Marketing Director Dom Munnelly explained: “We pride ourselves on delivering local relevance and using the ‘People Of’, followed by local place names, approach underlines this commitment and hopefully engages people right across the North East.”

Their arrival provoked an immediate positive reaction on the station’s Twitter and Facebook pages with hundreds of comments and a surprise good luck phone call from Cheryl Cole and Paul Gascoigne.

Stephen Grant from Ryton tweeted “Proper fat cheesy grin on my face at the fact Steve and Karen are back on my radio.”

Steve Furnell, 36, from North Shields, said: “It’s great to have the first show done and dusted, it reminded me of my first day at high school. It’s a massive honour to be hosting the show I grew up listening to when I was a kid. This really was my boyhood dream, so it proves that if you work hard enough dreams can come true.

Karen Wight, 34, who lives in Heaton said: “It’s been a long time coming, it feels great to be back on air and I really feel at home at Metro. The first show just flew by and all the positive comments from the listeners made it a very special day for both of us.”

Managing Director at Metro Radio, Cath Ellington: “Steve and Karen have established a loyal and loving audience who have grown up with them over the last 10 years.

“With a huge regional advertising campaign announcing they are back and now on Metro, we expect a big lift in our audience and many new listeners to be tuned to Metro at breakfast time.”