"Corporate Radios Still Suck"

I often talk about the need for radio stations to not only understand and ‘get’ their audience in terms of attitude, but also to demonstrate to them they’re credible in that space and regularly do things to reinforce that.

So well done to my clients and friends at the mighty Radio Rock in Finland for doing just that!

In Helsinki last week, I was given their latest promo T-Shirt, which proudly states: “Corporate Radios Still Suck”.

This is a clever reference to the famous cover of Rolling Stone magazine from April 1992, where Kurt Cobain showed up to the photo shoot sporting a shirt with the ironic message: “Corporate Magazines Still Suck”.?

I love this reworked T-Shirt, because although Radio Rock is firmly in the camp of ‘corporate radio’, its attitude is far from it. And it knows its audience will get that irony too. Plus, there’s the Nirvana reference (which of course rock fans will love), and no visible station branding. It’s almost like a secret sign from one Radio Rock listener to another which reinforces that sense of community, with added credibility.

And if you don’t get the reference, and your friend was wearing one, you’d probably ask them about their T-Shirt... right?

It’s hard to get your listeners to promote your radio station to other people, but with this T-Shirt design, I think Radio Rock have created some really clever marketing.