Leo Burnett’s first campaign for Heart 106.2 breaks this week with
a new symbol for the London FM radio station - a heart-shaped car aerial
made from a coat hanger.
The commercial, airing for the first time on Thursday, pokes fun at the
egotistical and patronising attitude of disc jockeys found on some music
stations.
It opens on a lengthy traffic jam, with the camera moving along a queue
of cars and the soundtrack fading in and out of the different radio
stations each driver is tuned into. The ad features one station on which
the DJ is talking non-stop over the music, while on another station the
DJ is spewing out an incessant stream of cliches.
Finally, the camera comes to a car which sports a heart-shaped
coathanger aerial. The owner is listening to Eternal’s I Want to be the
Only One on Heart. ’Discover the difference’, says the endline.
Written by Scott Sparks and art directed by Paul Miles, the TV ad is
aimed at 25 to 44-year-olds who are still keen on clubbing and the music
scene but now have other demands on their time. It will run in the
London area on Channel 4 and London Weekend Television in programmes
like Frasier, Friends and Blind Date. Media is being handled by Leo
Burnett.
The ad was directed by Tom Connolly through Sneezing Tree and will be
supported by a six-sheet poster campaign, also using the theme of the
heart-shaped aerial.
Heart plays a mix of music from the 70s and 80s as well as a sprinkling
of new releases. With the new ad it is hoping to attract those Capital,
Radio One or Virgin listeners who are looking for a radio station that
is more relevant to their daily lives.
Miriam Nevill, the group marketing controller of Chrysalis Radio, which
owns Heart, commented: ’The new ad demonstrates how Heart stands out
from the competition. At Heart we understand our listeners, we know what
irritates them and we know what they want from us.’
Burnetts won the Heart business, previously handled by Mellors Reay and
Partners, after a competitive pitch in June.
Mellors Reay had worked with the station since its launch in London in
1995.
Its most recent work for Heart depicted an alien attending to his daily
chores while listening to the sounds of Heart on his radio.
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