By Patrick Avenell

Commercial Radio Australia (CRA) today announced it’s promotion and marketing strategy for digital radio. The centrepiece of this plan is a blue logo, shaped like a cross, that is accompanied by a very irritating sound byte.

Talking about this marketing expenditure is CRA chief executive officer Joan Warner.

“The industry-wide Digital Radio Plus on-air awareness campaign, worth an estimated $10 million will be rolled out in three phases in the first quarter of 2009,” said Warner.

The marketing campaign is being handled by advertising agency Smart, who were represented at the event by creative director John Mescall.

Mescall spoke of how digital radio was more of an extension of the existing product, rather than an altogether new venture. It was this premise that led to the new slogan “it’s radio as you know it, plus…” [intentionally lower case].

Taking this theme a step further, the logo for the format is a symmetrical cross, in shades of blues, with the words “Digital Radio” at the western point. In an allusion to the Intel keynotes device, this logo is accompanied by a ‘sonic audio device’, a composition of four notes, followed by a girl whispering the word “plus”. This sound byte was played to ad nausea throughout the event and, judging by the noticeable irritation it was causing, it is likely to be the defining element of this campaign.

In addition to branding, Mescall also announced a four-point advertising campaign, designed to introduce, launch and support the format.

-Radio advertisements, intended to highlight the advantages of the new format, will commence in immediate advance of the format.
-Point of purchase material will be made available to retailers, informing customers of the benefits of digital radio.
-An online campaign, in which consumers can explore the format and listen live streaming.
-Third-party television commercials, in which individual partners in the venture will promote its own interests.

The online site will also feature digital radio tutorials, designed to educate those with invested interests in digital radio. This section will include tutorials for retailers, providing information on how best to sell digital radio hardware to interested consumers.

To check out the branding and logo of digital radio in Australia, click here.