WSFM is now GOLD101.7 – and everything’s changing but the talent
ARN has launched a new TVC in Sydney to ease loyal listeners into the morphing of WSFM into GOLD101.7, ensuring them that although the music is skewed younger, and the name has changed, the on-air talent remains in place.
The commercial introduces the tagline, New Look, New Sound, New Faces, “reassuring loyal listeners that while the station has a fresh name, look, and sound, it remains the home of the familiar voices they know and love”.
Lauren Joyce, ARN’s chief audience and content officer, said: “Sydney listeners have loved WSFM for decades, and GOLD101.7 builds on that legacy with a fresh, dynamic energy while keeping the music and personalities they know and trust.
“This campaign brings the GOLD brand to life, uniting Sydney and Melbourne under a shared passion for great songs and real connection.”
ARN announced the rebrand from WSFM to GOLD at the end of 2024, co-incidentally in the same week the station took the top spot in the Sydney radio ratings for the first time since 1984.
Duncan Campbell, the then-chief content officer at ARN, explained the motivation behind the change.
“The WSFM brand, while it’s a heritage brand, it does carry with it some baggage,” Campbell told Mumbrella. “It was a Western Sydney station. The station does suffer from low top-of-mind awareness, which we know through our ‘unaided recall’ research we do.”
Campbell said the audiences were also getting older.
“The core audience for the station, and for Jonesy and Amanda in particular, was getting around 50-55, and we’re very much 25-54,” he explained, of ARN’s target market.
The WSFM playlist has skewed modern over recent months, with the demographic target moving five years’ younger, helping cement it firmly in that broad and lucrative 25-45 range.
“We’ve improved the music on the station, which is getting a very positive reaction,” Campbell noted of the playlist pushing past the turn of the century.
Ahead of the rebrand, Mike Byrne, content director of WSFM since 2020, was made redundant, with ARN telling Mumbrella that any station refresh “sometimes involves making difficult decisions and farewelling remarkable team members.”
The GOLD101.7 TVC launched this week on broadcast television and will roll out across out-of-home, transit, TV, social, digital, print, and radio.
Credits:
GOLD101.7 Campaign
Chief Audience & Content Officer – Lauren Joyce
Head of Brand Marketing – Donna Gordon
Senior Brand Manager – Erin Donati
Senior Marketing Executive – Alicia Brown
Head of Creative Production – Sean Vandenberg
Creative Director – Ante Miocic
Sound Design – Todd Falusi and Anthony Badolato
Production Company – Entropico
Design – Gabrielle Revell
Media Agency – Initiative
GOLD104.3 Campaign
Chief Audience & Content Officer – Lauren Joyce
Head of Brand Marketing – Donna Gordon
Senior Brand Manager – Erin Donati
Senior Marketing Executive – Alicia Brown
Head of Creative Production – Sean Vandenberg
Creative Director – Ante Miocic
Design – Mikey Fleming
Media Agency – Initiative
Keep up to date with the latest in media and marketing
Got a tip?
Nathan Jolly is the Features Editor at Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
Linkedin
Have your say