‘It does carry some baggage’: ARN boss reveals motivation behind big WSFM rebrand
WSFM has rebranded after 46 years as one of Sydney’s most recognisable and reliable media brands. ARN’s chief content officer Duncan Campbell explains why they decided to ditch the heritage.
“I announced to the staff it’s officially WSFM day today,” ARN’s chief content officer, Duncan Campbell told Mumbrella in mid-November, a few hours after the station found out it had topped the Sydney ratings.
In claiming the crown, the 46-year-old station managed to sail past not only smooth, its major rival in the ‘classic’ FM radio format, but AM talkback kings 2GB.
Remarkably, it was the Sydney stalwart’s first ever outright ratings victory – 2WS tied with 2UE for one ratings survey back in 1984, but had never claimed a clear victory. It was a well-deserved win for a radio station that had been entrenched in the community for close to half a century.
The rebrand will make it easier to network shows between Sydney and Melbourne. ARN need all the $$$$$$$ they can get their hands on with the Kyle and Jackie O contract about to come into force.
Thank goodness Duncan is not in charge of Coca Cola, Google, Netflix, Bunnings, Samsung, Cadbury, Toyota, Chemist Warehouse or Bendigo Bank as he would be using his “unaided recall research” to be removing these leading brands from the market.
What’s in a name? In my teens I listened to a popular radio station that only came on when the sun went down and it was plagued with static and faded in and out. It was named after its country – Luxembourg. It was the content not the name that brought in the listeners. Like TV watermarks – does anybody care outside of marketing?