In a mission to expand its service beyond the (expansive) borders of conventional satellite radio, XM Canada today announced the launch of XM online+, a new web-based version of it service, and a new mobile app to go along with it.
Supported with an extensive media campaign handled by ZenithOptimedia and Toronto’s Digital Cement, the campaign to promote the new products starts today and will run until February. The goals of the campaign were to drive awareness of the XM online+ app and online service, and to get people to sign up for the 14-day free trial.
The media strategy sought to accomplish those goals through a conventional and digital media buy. The conventional buy focused on specialty TV and Corus radio stations nationwide. The creative by Digital Cement focused on the fact that XM Canada can now be experienced anywhere the listener wants. The digital component included a network buy through Quattro for in-app advertising, a Weather Network mobile site ad and an online ad buy on specialty TV sites. Bridging the two worlds is an OOH postering campaign, with creative by Toronto’s Field Day, featuring QR codes that drive smartphone users directly to the iTunes App Store.
The online media buy for the campaign includes an SEM strategy that links certain keywords to landing pages; for instance, someone searching for country music would be directed to a landing page on XMradio.ca that had country music content, Matthew Smith, marketing strategist, Digital Cement, told MiC. The creative strategy for the website ad unit buy is the same: the content of the ad mirrors the content of its host site, and a click-through will carry the user to a XMradio landing page with reflective content (women-targeted music content for an ad on W Network, for instance).
A new subscription model has been created for XM online+, allowing customers to sign up for it as a standalone product at half the price of a traditional basic subscription (and without having to purchase an XM Radio, or to tack XM online+ to their existing plan).
The new products and campaign are exciting for the brand because it opens it up to an entirely new demographic and customer base, Andrea Fiederer, director of marketing, XM Canada, tells MiC.
‘Traditionally satellite radio was consumed more in-vehicle or in-home and now with this app, people can take it anywhere,’ she said. ‘The tagline is ‘anything, anywhere, anytime.’ Now you can consume XM content anywhere you are, so the campaign really focuses on this portability aspect.’
Advertising and sponsorship opportunities are not currently available through the XM online+ app, but the company may be open to them in the future, Fiederer said.
