Emma Barnett, Media Week, 22 April 2008, 07:30am

Bauer Radio expands job website offering

LONDON - Bauer Radio is to roll out a job recruitment website across the North West of England, as part of its ongoing bid to tap into the classified ad market.

Jonathan Turpin, digital director of Bauer Radio

The service, which offers integrated on-air and online recruitment advertising packages, initially launched in January in Manchester on Key 103.

Now, Bauer Radio is extending the service across the whole of the North West via radiocityjobs.co.uk, aligned with Radio City in Liverpool and Lancashire, and also via rockfmjobs.co.uk, which is aligned with Rock FM in Preston. Both sites will go live next Monday.

Beyond the expansion of its jobs site, there are also plans to develop the classifieds concept into other areas such as motoring.

Jonathan Turpin, digital director of Bauer Radio, said: "We are focusing on getting this service successful and hope to roll it out nationally once we have learned the strategy in the North West.

"We would then hope to exploit the synergies that exist in the group, such as our connection with Parker's, the buying and selling car company."

Turpin, formerly chief executive of jobs site fish4, was appointed in April last year, with a brief to launch new web businesses to help Bauer Radio diversify its revenue base beyond broadcast spot advertising.

All three job sites feature the Workmoose monicker, Bauer Radio's umbrella brand for online classified services, and are being supported by a £600,000 marketing campaign intended to raise the profile of the Big City Network radio brands.

Key103Jobs operates the "fremium" method, whereby employers can post up to 20 job ads a month for free unless they want a premium posting at the top of each search result.
To date, around half of the advertisers have chosen to pay for premium ads.

Recruiters using Key103Jobs, RadioCityjobs and RockFMjobs will have access to a dedicated campaign management team able to tailor advertising packages.

The management team for the three sites has almost doubled in size to keep up with the demand, increasing from 15 to 26.

Key 103, Radio City and Rock FM are part of Bauer Radio's Big City local radio network.
The Big City network has been prioritised for part of a total investment of £10m by Bauer Radio investment this year, alongside Kiss FM and launches including Q and Closer Radio.