Print advertising and radio may seem unlikely compatriots. Jason Hughes of Classical Music South Florida (89.7 FM) argues otherwise in this exploration of the station’s most “It’s Alive” advertising campaign…

“Classical South Florida 89.7 FM (101.9 FM in the Palm Beaches) welcomed another addition to our “it’s alive” print campaign.  Keeping in the spirit of musical instruments bursting with foliage and flowers, our new artwork is Florida-specific with a beautiful bird of paradise climbing out of a bassoon.

We’re really interested in showing people in South Florida that classical music is fresh, lively, energetic and colorful.  Our goal is to reflect our beautiful surroundings in South Florida with traditional musical instruments, thus, creating a dynamic and eye-catching visual effect.

Our other “it’s alive” campaigns have included clarinets with a palm tree blossoming from the instrument, fern leaves growing from a fiddle and a trumpet lily sprouting from a trumpet.  Copy within the ads use words such as “flourishing” “perennial favorites” “fresh to discover” “sonic blooms” and “vivid surprises.” These exciting words evoke a sense of vibrancy for the on-air classical music listening experience and challenge the listener to see classical music in a different light.

These advertisements are used extensively in newspaper, magazines, program guides for various performances and arts organizations, in our television campaign and in some outdoor billboards.  We also run promos on-air with the “it’s alive” campaign.  This allows the listener to hear the freshness of the copy and visualize their own idea of what is alive to them in their own lives. At the end of the day, our goal is make classical music exciting and fresh for our listeners and to compliment the beautiful music we are so excited to share with our members.

Classical music is fresh.  Classical music is exciting.  Classical music IS alive!”

…Jason Hughes, American Public Media Group