Capital hires Coca-Cola marketer to steer provincial stations

Capital Radio has appointed Coca-Cola marketer Howard Bradley to the new role of regional marketing and communications manager for Contemporary Hit Radio (CHR).

Bradley will be responsible for increasing market share for CHR’s eight radio stations outside London, including Birmingham’s BRMB.

He will also work on the brand strategy of these stations, which have a combined audience of 3 million, but will not have any involvement with London stations Capital FM, Capital Gold or XFM.

Capital Radio has no agencies for its regional stations and does creative work in house, and has no plans to change this.

Bradley will report to CHR marketing director David Andrews, who was promoted from head of marketing for BRMB in August.

Bradley was marketing manager at Coca-Cola, where he was responsible for developing marketing plans aimed at grocers.

Capital Radio’s regional stations exist in the south of England, Birmingham, Wales and Scotland, and include Fox FM, Red Dragon and Southern FM.

CHR was created in August as part of a major restructure of the Capital group. The regional stations were grouped with Capital FM under the CHR umbrella, with XFM, Century and Capital Gold grouped under their own networks.

The move marked a culture change within the company, with emphasis placed on brands rather than the different media used – such as digital, Internet and the FM and AM wavebands.