Warsaw radio stations get programming revamp
Reflecting on the future: Radio's Kolor's president, Kazimierz Piekarz, readies his station for an overhaul.
Two Warsaw radio stations, Radio Kolor and Radio WAWa, last week launched ad campaigns promoting new corporate identities including image revamps and updated playlists aimed at widening their audience appeal.
The regional Radio WAWa, whose listeners in the capital account for up to 40% of its audience, and Warsaw-based Radio Kolor decided to make the change after research showed listeners now expect more professionalism from their radio stations.
Wojciech Reszczynski, director of Radio WAWa, said the station had come a long way since the early 1990s. "Today we do it for listeners through learning about what they want," he said.
Warsaw's local stations are going through far-reaching changes to attract wider audiences as competition bites. "Warsaw-based radio stations are in the process of upgrading by using updated imaging and marketing methods," said Marcin Duszynski, general director of Advent International venture capital fund in Poland. "Times of acting on the basis of a hunch have ended." Last year Advent purchased a 29% stake in Radio Kolor, which was established in 1992.
Through its corporate revamp, Radio Kolor has adopted a new logo, new presenters and a new music format focused on hits from the 1980s through to today. The ad campaign promoting the station's new image on billboards and in the press cost some zl. 500,000.
"We hired a foreign company to give the station a new image, and another company to prepare a database of music hits," Duszynski said.
Kazimierz Piekarz, who took over as president of Radio Kolor last December, said the station lacked an up-to-date image and a clearly defined playlist. "We wanted to position ourselves on the market," Piekarz said. "And it's music that creates a station's image. We want to be a music radio station exclusively for Warsaw."
Meanwhile, Radio WAWa, which introduced changes to its style last month, is also focusing on defining its musical direction.
"Most people would say that all radio stations play the same kind of music, but we decided that it's necessary to clearly define this," WAWa's Reszczynski said. "Tests we did confirmed that music from the 1980s, 1990s and the most recent hits are what listeners want to hear."
Reszczynski said he hadn't expected Radio Kolor to broaden its playlist to the 1980s and 1990s. "I was surprised they hadn't taken into account that we've been playing this kind of music for some time now," he said. "But there's no conflict between (the two stations). I don't plan on taking any steps (against Kolor)."
As part of Radio WAWa's new programming, Sunday will have other shows included on the playlist. "We will have travel, sailing, charity, interviews, etc. on Sunday, while during the week we will compete with all other Warsaw stations broadcasting music and news," Reszczynski said.
Warsaw has four main stations competing for listeners: WAWa, Kolor, Eska and Radio Pogoda, in which Agora, the publisher of the Gazeta Wyborcza daily, has a majority stake.
Radio Pogoda is the youngest among the four competitors, but the most successful through its strategy of playing only contemporary hits. According to market research company SMG/KRC, in the last three months of 2000, Radio Pogoda had a 14.7% share in the market, while Eska had 9.5% and Radio Kolor 7.7%. Piekarz said Radio Kolor's goal is to reach a 10-12% stake in the market. But Pawel Sulik, Radio Pogoda's programming director, is skeptical about the new marketing strategies of his competitors.
"It's hard to change your habits (as a listener) because of the influence of a billboard campaign," he said. "But, of course, it's a question of whether our listeners will be willing to leave us." Radio Pogoda has a listener target group of 35 to 50 year olds, while other stations focus on audiences aged between 25 and 44. Within its target group Radio Pogoda had a 28% share in the market in October-December 2000.
Although Sulik admitted that his station has also based much of its current format on market research surveys, he remains skeptical about his competitors' approach. "If you trust only tests, it gets you nowhere," he said. "You also need intuition."
