Media & Marketing: The big winner in last week's radio listenership figures was undoubtedly Dublin youth station Spin 1038, writes Emmet Oliver.
The station, in which Mr Denis O'Brien has a majority stake, managed to increase its listenership by 4 per cent to 10 per cent, leaving it just one percentage point behind Today FM and Q102 (owned by UTV) in Dublin.
Based on last week's results, the station's chief executive, Mr Tom Wright, is now forecasting the station will break even this year and could also pass out Today FM and Q102 in Dublin by the end of the year.
According to accounts to the end of 2003, the station had accumulated losses of €3.5 million, but the losses are believed to have been significantly pared back since then.
On air since 2002, the station has found it difficult to find a substantial niche - up to now. Ostensibly aimed at 15 to 34-year-olds, the station, Mr Wright admits, suffered from something of an identity crisis initially. "There was this perception of us as a dance station, pumping out rave music 24 hours a day," says Mr Wright, who previously worked with KPMG and Tedcastles.
This association with rave music meant stuffy media buyers and clients shied away from the station, but in the last year the station has been subtly tweaked, he says, and the music policy is more "urban", rather than pure dance.
This switch in emphasis, much of it based on research, appears to be working with Mr Wright reporting strong revenue growth in the last six months. Last week's figures are likely to help this process.
"Advertisers are now saying we have a seriously good JNLR book under our belts," Mr Wright says.
Owned by a company called Maypril Limited, the station regards itself as one of the few strictly youth-orientated options available for advertisers in the radio or television market. Having youthful demographics means the station must not only perform strongly in prime time, but also at night.
Unlike many of its competitors, Spin relies on music late at night and not phone-in shows so beloved by FM 104 and 98FM over the years.
The marketing of the station is not based around on-air personalities, says Mr Wright. "We don't go in for show-specific promotion, we really want to build the station's brand first, rather than highlight specific presenters".
This is in contrast to Today FM, a national station, where on-air talent is to the fore in marketing campaigns.
When Spin was launched it was under threat from pirates, but a crackdown by ComReg has reduced this threat.
This leaves the station in a strong position. The only threat may come later this year when Phantom FM enters the market.
However, Mr Wright is sanguine about its arrival. "I would be surprised if they are a threat to us. They are planning to play rock music, whereas we are not a rock specialist station," he says.
The growth of Spin comes at an interesting time. A complete takeover of the station by Mr Denis O'Brien is currently before the Competition Authority. Mr O'Brien is proposing, via his company, Radio Two Thousand, to buy out the final shareholder, haulier, Mr Michael Sherry.
Amárach deal
Amárach Consulting, the market research firm, has acquired fellow research firm Research Solutions for an undisclosed sum.
Research Solutions was founded in 2000 by Ms Bernadette Coyne. Its clients include Vodafone, Coca-Cola and Toyota. Ms Coyne will remain as managing director.
The purchase price is believed to be in excess of € 1 million. The new group of companies is expected to have a turnover of more than € 5 million this year, giving them an estimated 10 per cent share of the market research market in Ireland.
Mr Gerard O'Neill, chief executive of Amárach, said "we will use our combined scale to develop even stronger research capabilities as well as to launch innovative new research services".
Weather worries
The Ireland and England rugby teams won't be the only ones worrying about the weather on Sunday.
RTÉ executives will be hoping cold weather deters rugby fans from watching the crunch game in the pub.
As Saor Communications, the Dublin agency pointed out this week, those watching in pubs are not counted in television viewing figures. "Montrose are no doubt hoping the current cold weather will last into this weekend's Six Nations clash against England so the last Sunday of February will give their month's viewing figures an additional push."
RTÉ, like most stations, sells its advertising airtime based on published viewing audience figures.
These Nielsen figures only count home viewership and don't account for the out-of-home sports viewers in pubs and clubs nationwide, the agency pointed out.
Pepsi in the picture
According to new research just published in the US, Pepsi is now the top brand in terms of product placement in films.
Apparently, Pepsi products appeared in seven of the top 37 films in 2004. Coca-Cola, Motorola and Nike were all tied for second place.
Pepsi products were featured in an array of films ranging from Alien versus Predator to the comedy, Dodgeball. But as the Dublin agency, AFA O'Meara, pointed out, Apple remains the king of product placement tactics. Its products have been appearing in movies since 1986.
Emmet Oliver can be contacted at eoliver@irish-times.ie
