NOVA Entertainment launches “eye” catching campaigns for marquee shows via The Hallway

NOVA Entertainment has launched new marketing campaigns via creative agency The Hallway, to celebrate big changes to two of the Nova Network’s marquee shows – the Nova Network’s national drive show and Nova 96.9’s Sydney breakfast show.

The roll-out started with a teaser campaign for the then-unannounced Nova 96.9 breakfast show, with the big news that Kate Ritchie would be joining Fitzy & Wippa. Sydney audiences are used to seeing Fitzy & Wippa and Kate Ritchie separately in various Nova campaigns over the years, so the new creative needed something striking to underscore the fact that Fitzy, Wippa and Kate would now be one team.

The Hallway developed the dramatic visual concept where all three faces are merged together, taking inspiration from the cover art of Queen’s album The Miracle. This ran alongside a ‘Coming Soon’ message in the tease phase and then, post announcement, under the headline ‘A new face for breakfast radio’.

Says Adam Johnson, chief growth officer, NOVA Entertainment: “There’s a category norm in radio show marketing, where we tend to have a fun image of the presenters to give a sense of the show itself, accompanied by the show name and a call-to-action. With somebody as loved and recognisable as Kate Ritchie joining such an established and successful show as Fitzy & Wippa, we knew we had to do something in the announcement stage to make people sit-up and take notice to generate talkability. The image may be somewhat visually challenging, but it’s achieved its aim and we’re proud to have delivered something different to anything else in our sector.”

Says Jules Hall, CEO of The Hallway: “Kate Ritchie joining Fitzy & Wippa on the breakfast show is huge for radio. Our job was to amplify the news which is a lot easier when you have brave clients willing to shake up category conventions. With the announcement out there, and Kate on air, we now get to enjoy an even more entertaining start to our days!”

Once the launch period for Fitzy & Wippa with Kate Ritchie is over, the campaign will move into a new phase with a more traditional radio image accompanied by the headline ‘Look who’s come to breakfast’, which will run across digital large format sites, impulse screens, transit megasides and showcase sides throughout Sydney.

As well as the new breakfast show line-up, NOVA has also just announced that artist and broadcaster Ricki-Lee will officially join the Nova Network’s highly successful national drive show. With the show having been number 1 nationally for 46 consecutive surveys, NOVA developed a campaign designed to highlight that listeners will continue to enjoy everything they love about the show, but with the addition of Ricki-Lee who will deliver a whole new energy and tone.

‘Same, same but different’ was developed as the campaign line to reinforce this, accompanied by a striking new show image that brings to life the individual personalities of the presenters in a way audiences are sure to notice. Commencing from Monday 13 March, the campaign will run nationally across digital large format sites, impulse screens as well as transit megasides and showcase sides.

Ricki-Lee, Tim & Joel can be heard nationally from 4pm – 6pm, while Fitzy & Wippa with Kate Ritchie can be heard weekdays on Nova 96.9 from 6am – 9am and nationally on the Nova Network from 6pm. Listeners can also download the Nova Player to stream and catch up with their daily podcasts.

Creative and Production: NOVA Entertainment
Fitzy & Wippa with Kate Ritchie
Creative and Production: The Hallway Photography: Peter Brew-Bevan
Media Agency: Carat Sydney