Media Central to handle all Communicorp radio sales

Denis O'Brien's radio group Communicorp has awarded the tender for all of its advertising sales to the agency Media Central. The company was already the sales house for Communicorp stations 98FM, Spin 1038 and Spin SouthWest, while it also sells advertising for Beat 102-103, iRadio and 4FM.

The radio sales operation for Communicorp’s national stations Today FM and Newstalk will now switch from the subsidiary Communicorp One to Media Central.

Employees of Communicorp One will move to Media Central under a transfer of undertakings, and all sales staff will eventually relocate under one roof.

Communicorp chief executive Adrian Serle, who was appointed to his role last December, told employees the move would make it possible for advertising agencies and clients to access "what will become a market-leading group of stations in the 15-34 and 20-44 demographics".

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All stations are expected to begin trading under Media Central, which is led by Gavin Deans, from August.

Structural change

The radio group recently dropped the chief executive roles for its individual stations as part of a major structural change at the group.

Communicorp is also setting up a new “creative partnership team” that will seek to maximise the commercial value of the “privileged and enviable relationship of trust and loyalty” it said its presenters enjoyed with audiences.

Mr Serle said there was an opportunity for the group to “leverage value” from the relationship it has with its listeners.

‘Multiple platforms’

“We believe the power of being able to do this across multiple stations and multiple platforms significantly enhances campaign effectiveness.”

The group will recruit a head of creative partnerships to lead this team, which it hopes will create “memorable WOW moments” for its advertising clients.

“In a world dominated by an overwhelming level of content at the ends of our fingertips, advertisers increasingly rely on outstanding creative solutions to get noticed,” the job ad begins.

The successful candidate must be “inspiring to work for”, it concludes.