Have you ever heard the Aesop parable about the wind and the sun?
In it, the wind and the sun argue over who is stronger, settling it with a simple test: make a man take off his coat. The wind goes hard and fails. The sun takes a softer approach, and the coat comes off.
The takeaway is simple: Kindness always wins.
It’s a philosophy 2Day FM breakfast duo Nath and Emma (real names Nath Roye and Emma Chow) are holding onto, even as Sydney’s breakfast radio market enters one of its most unsettled periods in decades.
“Obviously, there’s been a lot of turmoil on Sydney Breakfast, but we never want to poke fun at other stations or other shows,” Roye told Mediaweek.
With Kyle and Jackie O listeners now up for grabs, the brains behind the shows across the board are doing their due diligence to find ways of luring new ears to their content.
It’s a sentiment the pair’s boss at SCA, Head of Content – Broadcast, Matthew O’Reilly, outlined to Mediaweek during our post-ratings chat late last month.
“From a 2DayFM point of view, it’s the first time in 25 years that the pop culture area is up for grabs, and we firmly want to win that at 2DayFM,” he said.
For Roye and Chow, that doesn’t mean going louder or sharper. It means going warmer.
A campaign built by Sydney, for Sydney
That thinking underpins their latest campaign, Nath & Emma & You, which flips the traditional radio marketing model on its head.
Rather than centring the hosts, it hands the spotlight to the audience.
“It’s not our ad in the slightest. And this is what makes it so unique and has never been done before. Because this ad has always been framed as being about Sydney and for Sydney. Starring Sydney. So this has been totally built by Sydney from the outset,” Roye said.
Developed on-air, the campaign invited listeners into the creative process, from casting through to final execution. What emerged is a series of documentary-style TVCs that capture everyday life across the city.
Emma said the intent was always to reframe what a breakfast show represents.
“We wanted to put a spotlight on the people who tune in to our show every day and keep doing so. I think every other radio station in the world makes it about the two people who are talking on the microphone. That’s not who it’s really about.”
Real stories, real places, real connection
The campaign moves through a cross-section of Sydney life, from a girls’ soccer club in Penrith to a basketball game in Kellyville, a barbershop in Bass Hill, a food challenge in Belfield and a family dinner in Constitution Hill.
“I think from the outset, for us, we really wanted this show to feel positive and like a big warm hug,” Chow said.
The campaign debuted at a listener-led event, ‘The People’s Premiere’, at Reading Cinemas Auburn, before rolling out nationally from 20 April across television, cinema, out-of-home, social and digital.
Creative and production were handled in-house by SCA and Seven West Media, with direction from Sam Power and Ben Fletcher.
For Chow, the campaign also reflects how they see their role behind the mic.
“We’re nearly vessels for our listeners to tell their amazing stories, because we’re really just like a platform to go, hey, this is what we’re talking about and bang. The phones light up, and they’re like, wait until you hear my story.”
Main image: Nath and Emma at the People’s Premiere.