The Brand’s The Thing

Michael Hedges September 8, 2008

Promotion, marketing and branding is not just something NRJ does, it’s what NRJ is. It is not simply the company’s strong point, it’s the whole point.

“Branding equals loyalty,” says NRJ International CEO Mathieu Sibille. “We are independent, free to do everything that is possible to be successful. We’re testing new ideas, not just the traditional way to do promotions.”

Sibelle is CEO NRJ International and CEO NRJ GmbH (Germany). He joined NRJ as international sales manager in 2000.

NRJ International's business strategy is similar to Virgin Group, licensing the trademark. NRJ is not, though, simply flogging a brand name for a fee. For its partners and licensees, NRJ International creates and executes marketing promotions to build the brand, build audiences and build sales. "We are not arrogant," says Sibille.

Outside France NRJ Group subsidiary NRJ International operates radio stations in 14 countries, almost all with local partners. Modern Times Group (MTG) is the primary partner in Scandinavia. In addition, the NRJ name has been licensed in Russia, Bulgaria, Lebanon and Ukraine. Prof-Media is the Russian partner.

“We’ve got a strong trademark,” he says. Indeed, the NRJ brand is exceptionally strong in France, built on 25 years of ‘Hit Music Only’ and promotion on a grand scale, always centered on hit music and its stars. “If you have a good brand, if you have a good vision of what you are, you will succeed.”

Mathieu Sibille’s contagious enthusiasm for his product is propelled by a story-tellers gift. You can hear it in good salespeople. You can hear it in all radio people.

“I was managing director of the NRJ stations in the Nordic region,” he starts, setting up the story. “We had one of the first commercial stations in Sweden. We had to shake the consumers.”

“What we did..,” and he pauses, knowing very well what moves a listener to the edge of their seat, “…we had to do something crazy.”

The Swedish government opened commercial broadcasting with an auction in 1993. NRJ received a license for a Stockholm local radio station, the only foreign broadcaster making a winning bid. Most of the other new licensees weren’t really unfamiliar to Stockholm listeners; they had been operating as semi-legal community stations for several years. Ratings were illusive and NRJ sold the licenses to MTG, retaining marketing and brand development.

“We booked a flight to St. Tropez for forty well-known people in the market. Swedish people go on holiday in Sweden. St. Tropez is a place they only dream about. This created a buzz.”

When the ‘buzz’ was well in place, listeners were engaged. “Do you want to join the party of all parties,” asked the on-air promos. It was a contest. Send a photo and winners would also go to the beach.

At the same time a St. Tropez DJ released a single. NRJ broke it in Sweden. Two weeks before the trip winners were selected club DJs in Sweden were playing the single. More buzz.

Beginning to end, the promotion lasted four months. The results: “In those four months income was up 16%. And it cost less than a TV campaign.”

Developing the NRJ brand outside France, where the company has had no incumbency advantage, poses a clear challenge. Sibille uses every tool at hand. “We are not just a radio station,” he says. “We are a consumer brand connected through many platforms.”

Social networking and user-generated content websites like YouTube and MySpace attract the youthful audiences NRJ radio stations have always sought. The conventional, zero-sum wisdom holds that radio broadcasters targeting young people are suffering audience drain as that target audience spends more time with new media. Sibille turns that argument on its head.

“We (broadcasters) shouldn’t be afraid of YouTube,” he says, noting NRJ’s cooperation with MySpace. NRJ France debuted MyNRJ.com, targeting 12 to 24 year olds in November 2007. Sibille is neither reluctant about new media nor willing to give in to fad and fancy. NRJ International stations regularly incorporate aspects of both social networking and user-generated content. But on the web, he says, people create different selves. The radio and certainly events created for radio are different “because we are real life.”

“We are developing web radio in Germany. It’s a new channel. We try to surround consumers with our trademark.” The company offers nine web radio channels in Germany.

The strategy appears to be paying off. NRJ International reported its first half 2008 financial results last week (September 4) with a 7.4% increase in earnings over the same period 2007.

“Compared to 2003 when we (the non-French business) lost €8 million, we earned €1.1 million so far this year,” said Mathieu Sibille. “It will be €2 million at the end of the year.”

“We’ve adapted from being the owner to finding partners and taking a bigger piece of the cake.”