Smoothfm enlists Spandau Ballet for new TVC

Smoothfm, which launched in May 2012 under Nova Entertainment with Michael Bublé’s Haven’t Met You Yet television commercial, will premiere a new TVC with iconic British band Spandau Ballet.

Spandau Ballet launched Nova’s A Night With series, where the station’s core artists perform in intimate settings for fans. Speaking to TMN, Tony Thomas, NOVA Entertainment’s Chief Digital and Marketing Officer said the endorsement for the TVC was sparked during Smoothfm’s work with the band’s label Warner Music for A Night With, which actually gave Nova Entertainment access to Michael Buble for the original TVC.

“Warner Music and Tony Harlow [Warner Music Australia MD] was absolutely crucial and central to pulling off the event itself and also getting us access to the band for the TVC,” Thomas told TMN. “[…] We had significant production resources to pull it off so it was high enough quality that we would be presenting the artist in the best possible way.”

The idea for the new TVC, which features Spandau Ballet performing their hit True in a woman’s living room, furthers an amendment from Buble during the filming of the original TVC.

:: WATCH THE NEW TVC HERE

Back in 2012, Buble reversed the power between himself and the female talent on set, where he suggested the woman ‘shush’ him. Smoothfm have continued Buble’s self-deprecating idea where the control is put back in the hands of the female talent, giving the impression she isn’t phased by having an artist in her home, because it’s an everyday occurrence for all Smoothfm listeners, of course.

While True was released in 1983, when it peaked at #4 in Australia and held #1 on the UK charts for four weeks, the track has been covered, sampled, re-released, remixed, remastered and gained appearances in films like The Wedding Singer, Sixteen Candles and 50 First Dates.

“What we see with both Michael Buble and Spandau is that they both span generations, we’re not pigeon holing anyone so it actually is appealing to more generations across the board,” Thomas told TMN.

“I think [artists] need to play a particular role [in endorsements] and I think there needs to be an association that makes sense to the audience so when that’s not immediately obvious I think then the audience can look at that and think ‘why is that artist there?’” Thomas said. “So I think for us there’s a natural trust and credibility because we have such string roots in music and the music industry. We support their music, we play their music, there’s never an issue around credibility and the association.”

Smoothfm's latest TVC will air on commercial, pay TV and digital from Sunday 8 March.

The TVC follows the release of new research, which found that Smoothfm listeners are more relaxed and more engaged with ads than its four direct competitors.

This year, Smoothfm plans to continue it’s A Night With brand, it will be rolling its Sydney-launched Festival of Chocolate out to Melbourne and it is also looking to deepen its relationship with Foxtel via its The Smooth TV channel, which in 2013 saw it become the first radio station to become a TV channel.

“We’ll be looking at a bunch of joint initiatives with The Smooth Channel on Foxtel with content initiatives and promotional initiatives around that.”