Louisville Public Media

Louisville Public Media: Connecting listeners to information

For most of us, listening to something – be it news or music or stories – is more than a habit, it’s a ritual. Depending on your age and tastes, radio may be a part of that ritual. But the fact is that what we listen to and how we listen to it is changing.

As more listening shifts from real-time to on-demand, national groups like NPR are reexamining what kind of content creates lasting relationships with listeners. How can stations engender the same type of loyalty online – where there is far greater competition? It’s an exciting time to be part of public media.

Louisville’s public radio remains a fiercely popular community asset. WFPL, WFPK, and WUOL provide entertainment and education for the whole region. Each station is headquartered in Louisville Public Media (LPM), a nonprofit organization in the heart of Louisville’s downtown. This is a vital media company. But no one understands the connection between the organization and their favorite public radio stations.

Louisville Public Media is at a turning point in its more than 60-year history. Even amidst all of this change, the organization is primed for digital listenership, with successful podcasts in motion. In combination with their focus on the radio experience, LPM’s strategy is not strictly digital – it’s a strategy in a digital age. While this shift can seem daunting, LPM has turned it into an opportunity.

Armed with an overall verbal tag, we worked with audio producer Brad Cassetto to create options for an overall audio tag. Brad is a Louisville resident – and an LPM enthusiast. His efforts were developed by Daniel Gilliam using a diverse selection of instruments to tailor each tag to each station. Their combined work resulted in the following audio tags:

We built a transition plan for LPM to thrive in this increasingly digital future. The plan hinged on allowing the stations to lend their considerable brand equity to the parent, LPM. The way we did this fits the medium. We created a unifying tagline for DJs to verbalize across stations: Gather Around. To support that verbal tag, we worked with local musicians to create an audio tag that plays multiple times an hour on each station. We also streamlined the naming system so that each station fit the same format.

A Brand Identity for Louisville Public Media by Bullhorn Creative

We used the same logic for their visual identity. The stations have unique colors that reflect the primary logo. They add continuity to their social platforms, to their app, and to the website. The visual assets connect the dots with their prominent storefront and branded apparel. They join together the wide range of live music they sponsor from larger events like Waterfront Wednesday, to the concerts they support across nearly every genre and size of venue. Their new identity solidifies the unique bond they share with their listeners.