The Challenge

Attract lapsed and younger listeners to Today without alienating loyal fans. The latter are very protective of their programme so we had to develop a method of communication that in no way felt like marketing.

The Solution

We used voice-over clips from well known but non-political guests talking about unusual subjects; e.g. Jonny Wilkinson being existential, Yoko Ono talking about politics. We then overlaid illustrations that looked like their own work, giving the audience a visual link to their thoughts.

The Result

There were other contributory factors but, after the first burst of the campaign, the audience rose by 500,000. In tests, nearly 80% of lapsed listeners saw the films as new, relevant and credible. Almost 70% said they encouraged them to start listening.