DMG turns to ‘advertising genius’ Ted Horton for smoothfm launch
DMG Radio has called in Ted Horton to lead the marketing of its new radio network smoothfm.
Group marketing director Tony Thomas told Mumbrella the decision came on the back of working with Horton during his stint at the Coles marketing team. Thomas and Horton – boss of agency Big Red – worked together on the Curtis Stone-fronted Feed Your Family for $10 promotion.
Thomas was head of advertising and media at Coles in a contract role during 2010. As well as Coles, Horton also handles advertising for Jetstar, some of Target and Westpac.
The launch of the easy listening format in Sydney and Melbourne was revealed last week. It replaces the short lived Classic Rock, which in turn replaced Vega.
Speaking in a video interview with Mumbrella editor Tim Burrowes, Thomas said: “I’ve had a good relationship with Ted over the years, I worked with him at Coles.
“I absolutely admire and respect the guy. I think he’s an advertising genius and I’m really excited he’s a part of this.”
UM is handling media planning for the launch.
Group programming director Paul Jackson – who like Thomas joined the network after the failed Classic Rock launch said: “It’s a year hence since we took the decision to go into neutral and review our position. From late last year we started to evolve into what we’re doing now.
“There’s a clear definitive gap in the market and that’s what we’re looking to exploit.”
Thomas added: “Of course we’re not happy with the success of Classic Rock. There wasn’t enough clean air and we didn’t invest in the station enough. The potential ratings upside wasn’t there. That’s why we’ve made the decision to relaunch it.”
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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“There’s a clear definitive gap in the market and that’s what we’re looking to exploit.”
Nup, they’ve gone too soft and have ditched a winning formula of Classic Rock. The mix in the pudding will be the next survey for Melbourne to come out. For the last couple of weeks I’ve been wondering if I’ve been driving around in a Volvo with my dressing gown and slippers on.
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Well if survey 3 is anything to go by for 95.3 and 91.5, they are doing the right thing finally. They are the highest they’ve been since they launched classic rock just by evolving the music. With marketing and the final contemporary format, they could see some success
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Good interview. They finally seem to know what they’re doing with these stations
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Chris – if Classic Rock was a winning formula why did it never increase in the ratings? It was a terrible idea and the programmer responsible for setting that strategy obviously didnt have a clue.
I’m a 48 year old male and I think it sounds great… love the mellow show at nights
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I am incredibly excited for the launch of Smooth FM – this is going to be the ultimate revival i have very high hopes for this station, it’s going to kill
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I agree with Tony Thomas about Ted Horton. The Coles brand is on fire and the turnaround is in a big part due to the brilliant retail advertising that Ted has been responsible for.
This industry forgets that its not one size fits all for creative development. Different categories need different ads.
Great move to get Ted on board for Smooth. I think radio could learn a little from retail
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Classic rock didn’t work because they didn’t rock. They had the perfect opportunity at launch to play non-stop AC/DC for 3 weeks, start narrow, build passion then expand. But instead they lobbed in the Dire Straits and Crowded House because it tested well. YAWN.
And now, they are leading with an outdated “Smooth” music proposition which will do NOTHING to build passion or community.
Brilliant advertising (and music for that matter) isn’t the way to draw listeners, only compelling content from a strong team of communicators will do it.
I predict fail.
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Good on you Tony there is a gap in the market
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Gap in the market? What gap? Between WS and Mix, and even Triple M, the adult end of the market is well and truly covered, especially for women. More Sade for everyone!
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It maybe 3rd time lucky, but this will work for DMG. The playlist will be a lot more classic and chilled than stations such as Mix, which is Hot AC rather than AC. They will be looking to take Smooth to the very chilled end of AC radio, with tracks played like: Sade, Duran Duran, BeeGees, John Farnham, Jackson 5 & Elvis Presley (tracks like Always On My Mind). If they play modern tracks it’s only likely to be by artists such as Michael Buble.
If you look at Magic in London, a station that Paul’s Dad consulted for and self-claimed to have pulled out of the gutter (In all fairness, it was in the shit, but fair credit of pulling it out should also have been given to Francis Curry, a much underrated radio genius)… Well, Magic now holds a fantastic share of the London radio market and has in the past overtaken Capital FM and Heart in the London Rajar’s (UK – Radio Joint Audience Research).
With the right marketing and with a bit of time, it’s not inconceivable this format could achieve a 15% reach in both markets. I think they’ll easily hit ten in the first year if the marketing is focused well and they get everything else balanced right. They need to not pick suitable artists, but suitable tracks that have been well researched. If you get this right, AC is where the money is, so they could be sitting on a real winner with Smooth!
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G’day John,
I’m 40 and at long last I was able to listen to Rock without the rubbish as to the likes of MMM. It’s now set to become a 4BH. Looks like CD’s when I drive. I could drive with my slippers on dressing gown on, but. I agree with Dan.
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Smooth? Classc Shlock!
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“It replaces the short lived Classic Rock, which in turn replaced Vega.” What the??? Smooth has not replaced Classic Rock. It has replaced Sydney’s 95.3 which had replaced Classic Rock which had replaced vega 95.3. All within 3 years!! Let’s not be fooled by the sugar coating. Classic Rock was not short lived. It was launched in 2010 because dmg saw a “clear gap in the market” (sound familiar?) for Classic Rock.
“There’s a clear definitive gap in the market and that’s what we’re looking to exploit.” – this is nearly word for word the same as what was said when they changed from vega to Classic Rock!!
Cant wait until mid 2013 when they change to Reggae 95.3fm….it’s one of the only genre’s they havent tried yet…
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