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Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery – Local Radio Edition

By On December 13, 2011 · 17 Comments · In A Big Something, Design, Media, Regional

It has recently come to our attention that a local radio station has been marketing itself in a fashion that resembles the marketing efforts of KRCC. Colorado’s pure rock station, KILO 94.3FM has, for some time now, been using the Colorado license plate theme that so many loyal KRCC listeners and members have long associated with us. We had a bit of a chuckle when we first noticed it, but due to the ubiquity of the theme we shrugged it off with a simple question of why KILO would want to confuse itself with a member-supported public radio station – I mean, we hardly ever play Korn and stuff (Vicky did once, but she insists it was a mistake). More recently, we became aware, via an advertisement in the Colorado Springs Independent, that KILO has now incorporated a crown into its logography, a crown that is very similar to our own crown. This worries us as it appears that KILO is gathering its forces in an effort to challenge KRCC’s status as the monarchical broadcast overlord of Southern Colorado.

Examples:

KRCC’s friendly and familiar bumper sticker:

KILO’S suspiciously similar sticker:

KRCC’s crown logo:

KILO’s ad in the Independent:

They never used to have a crown…:

What to do, oh, what to do? Well, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. We hereby endeavor upon a new world of KRCC branding:

And finally, we’re toying around with the idea of changing up the sonic feel of KRCC a bit, to be a bit more… well, you’ll get the idea:

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Let us know what you think of the direction we’re heading in – afterall, KRCC is your station.

 
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17 Responses to Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery – Local Radio Edition

  1. Amber says:
    December 13, 2011 at 7:06 am

    I <3 Noel and Craig! Thank you for regularly starting my mornings out with thought-provoking stories of our local community, but today with hardy laughter.

  2. Nancy Wilsted says:
    December 13, 2011 at 7:57 am

    Oh! So much better! No comparison.

  3. nospode says:
    December 13, 2011 at 7:58 am

    oh that’d be wonderfull!
    I remember when KILO was “Super K 94″. A country station!

  4. Jeremy says:
    December 13, 2011 at 8:14 am

    good one!

  5. Daisy says:
    December 13, 2011 at 8:31 am

    I remember when Ira Glass came out and made fun of the KRCC crown. In only the way he can, he ridiculed KRCC’s poising itself as the “king of public radio stations” while managing not to offend.
    It’s odd that KILO doesn’t reference the crown in the ad though, like it’s just something you get after “rockin’ the rockies” for 33 years. GOCA is celebrating 30 years soon, I think we need to add a crown to our logo accordingly.

  6. Jene' says:
    December 13, 2011 at 9:00 am

    KRCC could start “crowning” other “local” radio stations when they do something in line with the member-supported public philosophy.

  7. Sarah says:
    December 13, 2011 at 9:59 am

    KILO’s crown resembles a nipple on a gently sloping breast, in fact it reminds me a bit of Janet Jackson’s famous wardrobe malfunction. Not the best design concept I’ve ever seen – very busy and disjointed.

    On the other hand, KRCC’s crown logo looks like it was designed by a paid professional! Lovely!

  8. Barb Van Hoy says:
    December 13, 2011 at 10:08 am

    I <3 you, too!

  9. Jennifer says:
    December 13, 2011 at 10:29 am

    I laughed so hard I had to re-apply my mascara. What a lovely gift for this Tuesday morning. THANK YOU CRAIG!!

  10. Eric says:
    December 13, 2011 at 11:14 am

    Thank-you for politely informing me of this. Great stuff.

  11. scooby says:
    December 13, 2011 at 12:16 pm

    What’s next??? Is kilo going to steal all the subaru driving lesbians from krcc as well? why is kilo set on destroying all other radio staions in colorado?

    • Craig Richardson says:
      December 13, 2011 at 1:08 pm

      Hey Scooby, yesterday I reached out to a few folks at KILO for a response to our post but, alas, no one responded. Should we consider your comment an official KILO response or should we consider it the personal views of a “Colorado Springs Radio Broadcasters” aka KILO employee (as your IP address betrays) though not necessarily representative of the company’s official stance on the matter? Regardless, you guys may be on to something stealing our “Subaru-driving lesbian listeners” by providing such attractive enticements as your endearing “2012 KILO Kalendar.” Why didn’t we think of that?

  12. budweiser says:
    December 13, 2011 at 2:55 pm

    I will be taking krcc to court over the crown thingy, and i will be suing any brewery that puts it’s beer into a bottle… i invented that.

  13. Craig Richardson says:
    December 13, 2011 at 3:00 pm

    UPDATE! KILO’s program director and morning show host has issued an official response to this post. Click HERE for more.

  14. Nasya says:
    December 13, 2011 at 3:51 pm

    Okay, so what station did they “bet” out (down), for what contest (best of Indy/Gazette / national ) ?!?!?Just wondering.

  15. Mike Procell says:
    December 13, 2011 at 3:58 pm

    But wait, there’s a huge difference here… clearly the sky is white and the mountains are green in the KRCC logo while it’s the complete opposite in the KILO version. So can I keep my earlybird and my kilo club card now?

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