NEW YORK Previous ads with Paris Hilton may have lingered on her body parts, but these days the starlet is putting her face to work to promote a radio station. Called “The Faces of Z,” the campaign touts Clear Channel’s Z100 in New York.
In a talent roundup that also includes Nick Lachey, the Pussycat Dolls, Jesse McCartney, Rihanna, Fergie, Ne-Yo and Mario Vazquez, “The Faces of Z” conjures the join-the-party mood of the MTV Video Music Awards and brands Z100 as a wide-beam “beacon of music and lifestyle,” said Mitchell Stuart, creative director of West End Stories and architect of the campaign.
“Z100’s playlist is the only one where you can hear every genre of music,” he said. “Everyone’s welcome.” The accent on inclusion is designed to dispel Clear Channel’s reputation as a conservative voice, Stuart explained.
Kanye West, Shakira, Sean Paul, the Backstreet Boys and Ludacris shared the spotlight as music’s faces in round one of the campaign by HQ Productions, the production wing of West End Stories. That chapter of “The Faces of Z” ran from January to March.
Like the current installment, it included spots that aired on television, radio and the Internet as well as on Clear Channel’s giant electronic billboards in and around Times Square. Variations of this second edition will run in Regal Theaters and outer-borough malls. And as before, an audio feed will air on sibling Clear Channel stations around the country.
West End Stories’ efforts on behalf of Z100 began in early 2003 with a Times Square blitz featuring Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson, Usher and Jessica Simpson. Within two months, the Clear Channel station took top ratings nationwide.
“Z100 is taking over,” was how Stuart couched the broader message he was going for in his pan-media initiative. A prior initiative using this strategy was “Looking for Clues,” HQ’s TV campaign to boost the Z100 morning show, Phone Taps.
“West End Stories/HQ Productions has been a true partner in building the Z100 brand,” said Tom Poleman, operations manager of Z100 (WHTZ) and senior vice president of programming of Clear Channel Radio, in a statement.
HQ Productions also produces Stripped Raw & Reel, a concert series for Clear Channel Online Music & Radio.
The company recently inked a deal with News Corp’s Fortune Star in Asia to supply original content for television, broadband and mobile, among other media platforms. For starters, the New York company will expand its show on alternative healing, Medicine Trail, and produce a new series with wrestling star Paul Heyman. It also has a feature-length movie in the works.
N.Y.'s Z100, Hilton 'Face' the Music
