KALW PUBLIC MEDIA
A strategic campaign for a public media company building awareness & growing audiences.
Services
Discovery
Campaign Strategy
Brand Refinements
Campaign Creative
Campaign Implementation
Industry
Media & Communications
Social & Political Impact
The Challenge
With a bold strategic plan, new Executive Director, and a major move to a prominent downtown San Francisco location, KALW wanted to attract younger, more diverse audiences and educate listeners that they offer far more than broadcast radio. But they weren't sure how to break through the noise of competing media and cultural institutions, which new audiences to target, or how to effectively reach younger demographics across the Bay Area.
The Approach
Rather than a traditional awareness push, we proposed a test-and-learn programmatic approach that would reach new audiences and deliver the data-driven insights KALW needs to scale effectively.
4.6M
233% impressions above 1.98M forecast
28K
campaign ad clicks
105%
increase in daily page views
The campaign exceeded expectations, delivering both immediate reach and the strategic insights to support audience growth.
During the three-month digital advertising campaign, engagement on Meta platforms increased dramatically, YouTube emerged as a strong performer, and we learned which channels delivered the lowest cost-per-click.
KALW has a strategic foundation to scale, including performance benchmarks by channel and audience, an optimized social media strategy, and a proven audience development playbook for future growth.
Our data-driven, programmatic approach was designed to maximize a nonprofit marketing investment.
KALW had strong instincts about who they wanted to reach, but needed concrete evidence of what channels, messaging, and creative formats would actually convert.
Comprehensive audience research and stakeholder interviews ensured we understood KALW's market position and informed our campaign proposition. KALW is Original - deeply rooted in San Francisco's history with local, Bay Area voices, telling stories you won't hear anywhere else.
Detailed audience personas, prioritized target segments, and clear goals and KPIs grounded the marketing and media strategy, integrating both owned and paid media across five channels: Display, Bay Area Podcasts, Meta (Instagram/Facebook), YouTube, and YouTube Shorts.
The campaign tagline, "Originality never sounded so good," anchored all advertising messaging.
"Originality never sounded so good" worked on three levels: celebrating KALW's history as a San Francisco public media innovator, honoring the Bay Area's culture of individuality, and inviting audiences to embrace their own uniqueness. The tagline positioned KALW as the station for people who think differently—the originator in public media, celebrating your originality through news, culture, and music that's never boring.
Bold, authentic visuals and messaging are distinct from typical public media campaigns.
Using KALW's existing photography and video content, we created thumb-stopping content across platforms. We developed a comprehensive creative suite of digital advertising assets – display ads, video content for YouTube and Meta, and audio scripts for Bay Area podcast placements — all optimized for testing across channels and target audiences.
We launched a three-month programmatic advertising campaign with an automated channel mix that optimized in real-time. Detailed monthly performance reports tracked paid performance by audience and channel, organic marketing across owned platforms, and engagement metrics. This allowed us to identify winning combinations of messaging, creative format, and channel to maximize reach and ad spend efficiency.
WHAT WE DELIVERED.
Campaign Strategy
Audience Personas
Tone of Voice
Messaging Matrix
Channel Plan/Media Plan
Test & Report Plan
Campaign Calendar
Discovery
Stakeholder Interviews
Audience & Staff Surveys
Core Essence
Campaign Creative
Campaign Tagline
Visual Treatment
Messaging
Calls to Action
Display Ads
Video Ads
Audio Scripts
Brand Refinements
Logo Refinements
Refined Color Palette
Campaign Implementation
Programmatic Advertising Campaign
Monthly Progress Reports
Creative Refresh/updates
Post-campaign Report
