Promoting the fischer brand since 2005
fischer's distribution in the UK has improved dramatically in recent years - fischer is now the no. 1 fixings brand in the builders merchants for instance. Therefore radio advertising is one of a number of new strategies which fischer is now using to communicate with the end-user and encourage the 'sell-through'.
Following regional test campaigns in 2005 and 2006, fischer launched its biggest campaign to date in 2007 on Capital FM, one of London's biggest music stations. The ad featured a highly creative execution which never failed to raise a smile with anyone who heard it. The timings were carefully selected to catch fischer's target listeners of DIY enthusiasts and builders.
In 2008 this market has been targeted in the most focused way to date with an eight-week campaign on Talksport. This is a national talk channel, concentrating solely on sport, especially football. fischer's research ahead of the campaign indicated that this station was especially popular among fischer's target audience of builders and other tradesmen. The highly positive reaction to the campaign has proven that this has been the right strategy, given the popularity especially of football within the target market.
fischer's radio advertising campaigns have been supported in a number of ways. These have included trade advertising and PR to inform fischer's customers what we are doing - and encourage them to ensure they have extra products in stock! We have also supported the campaign to the consumer on the street, especially with large banner advertising on busy motorways, mobile promotion and brand sponsorship of roundabouts near fischer's UK head office and also in the vicinity of key customers.
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fischer Radio Campaign 2005
2005 saw fischer UK's first-ever radio advertising campaign. This was a one-week campaign running in the southern English cities of Bristol and Reading during the month of June. The creative execution featured a tongue-twister: "fischer fixings fix fittings fast and firm". This proved to be highly memorable!
fischer Radio Campaign 2006
Feedback from the 2005 campaign was positive, so the decision was taken to 'step up a gear' in 2006 with a move to London and Birmingham, the UK's two biggest cities. A two week campaign was run simultaneously in both cities in September on Capital FM in London and BRMB in Birmingham - both popular music stations. The ad timings were fixed to ensure maximum exposure to the target audience of builders - either on the job or traveling to work and listening to the radio in their vehicles. The ad creative was designed to promote fischer as the builder's friend - the source of all information on fixings solutions. This was a 30-second ad which achieved a combined reach across the two stations of 1.75 million.
fischer Radio Campaign 2007
In 2007 the decision was taken to put the primary focus on to London, fischer therefore linked up with Capital FM for a four-month campaign which ran from the start of April. The ad featured a brand new creative execution, which aimed to communicate technical excellence and reliability from fischer. The 40-second ad blended this key message with a humorous delivery which brought a smile to everyone who heard it. Again the timings of the ad were designed to catch the target audience, "white van man" while he was on the way to and from work. The ad aired nearly 3,000 times, including some spots on regional stations in the south of England also owned by Capital FM. The total reach was virtually three million. In the second half of October this main campaign was backed up by a further two-week burst of advertising on Radio 2Ten. This is a Reading-based music channel and so is one of the channels which broadcasts in fischer's immediate geographic area.
fischer Radio Campaign 2008
Following the successful campaign of the previous year, fischer conducted research via its sales force into customers' listening habits. Although stations such as Capital FM were popular in particular geographical areas, when considering a move to a more national platform, one name was consistently mentioned - Talksport. This is the UK's only national commercial speech station and it caters for the enthusiasm for sport - especially football - amongst a mainly male audience. It has won increasing popularity recently with the employment of a number of celebrity broadcasters. The growing popularity of the station was clear and also the strong fit with fischer's target audience. The 2008 campaign on Talksport broke in the London and Midlands regions just before Easter and ran for eight weeks. The 40-second ad was once again a new creative execution, this time with a football association, featuring fischer products as key team players. This campaign was very well-received, attracting many comments from customers and others in the trade. The campaign on Talksport had a total reach just short of two million across the Midlands and London, and an OTH of 12 in London and 15 in the Midlands.