Telford Centre is one of the region’s leading retail and leisure destinations, and has trusted Bauer Media as a partner for four years running.
That long-standing relationship says it all. When a client comes back year after year, it’s because the results keep coming. Alongside their ongoing sponsorship, Telford Centre also runs a six month audio advertising campaign every year, a targeted campaign built to reach shoppers. This case study shows the impact that radio sponsorship and audioXi have delivered for Telford Centre, and why the partnership continues to grow.
The Brief
Telford Centre wanted their marketing to work harder, reaching the right people, at the right time, and turning that awareness into real visits and real spend. The goals were simple:
- Reach a large, relevant audience across the centre’s catchment area.
- Stay fresh and relevant throughout the year, in tune with how customers shop and spend.
- Drive a genuine uplift in customer spend, not just awareness.
The Execution
We built a simple, powerful radio strategy around two things Bauer Media does best, sponsorship and audioXi, kept fresh with a seasonal approach so the message always matches what customers are doing.
Sponsorship
Telford Centre sponsor the Breakfast show on Hits Radio Black Country & Shropshire, the biggest, most-listened-to part of the day. It puts the brand front of mind with a huge, engaged audience right at the start of their day, supported by a standout super credit for extra presence. As well as this, Telford Centre also sponsor Drive on Greatest Hits Radio Black Country & Shropshire. Here are some audio examples:
AudioXi: reaching the right listeners
AudioXi targeted the listeners most likely to visit and spend, focusing the campaign on an audience with real spending power rather than a broad, general reach.
The Results
Telford Centre ran a six-month brand awareness campaign across Bauer Media’s audioXi platform, from June to November 2025, combining digital audio advertising with sponsorship to build standout in West Birmingham and Stoke-on-Trent. Running across all devices and all Bauer brands with a booked volume of 460,000 impressions, the activity was built in two phases: June to September (Phase 1) and October to November (Phase 2).
The sponsorship element gave Telford Centre repeated, trusted association with Hits Radio content, lending the brand the credibility and familiarity that spot advertising alone cannot deliver.
The campaign delivered in full against every metric:
- 460,005 impressions served, split across All Adults (360,005) and Shoppers (100,000)
- 99.07% listen through rate for All Adults and 96.26% for Shoppers, both comfortably above typical digital audio benchmarks
83,456 unique listeners in phase one and a further 37,282 in phase two, landing the brand message in full with well over 100,000 people
Together, the sponsorship presence and the sustained advertising weight gave Telford Centre consistent, high-quality brand visibility in two of its most important feeder markets across the whole second half of the year, with messaging weighted towards shoppers exactly when it mattered most.
Client testimonial
“Using Bauer Media as part of our media mix has delivered beyond expectations over recent years. From start to finish the process of understanding our brief, to creating a proposal and then delivering the output, always goes above expectations. I trust Bauer and the experience within the team, I always take their feedback on board and listen to what they suggest. I always find Bauer Media cost effective in proposal planning and always feel we get added value from any investment. This last year we took the teams advice and invested into the audioXI as well as traditional broadcast through sponsorship packages, which complimented our digital strategy. The Centre performance this last 18 months/ 2 years has consistently been above regional benchmarks for footfall and store sales data is strong across all retail categories. The synergy between the radio and audioXI campaigns works really well and using this format going forward will be something we will always consider.”
Katie Broome, Marketing Manager at Telford Centre
Summary
Four years on, the partnership between Telford Centre and Bauer Media is stronger than ever, and the reason is simple: it works.
- Sponsorship keeps the brand front of mind with a huge daily audience.
- AudioXi reaches the listeners most likely to visit and spend.
- A seasonal approach keeps the campaign fresh and relevant all year round.
- Independently rated the best-performing channel for reach and uplift in customer spend.
Let’s do the same for your business
Telford Centre’s journey shows what’s possible when a client and Bauer Media work as true partners. Let’s talk about how a radio partnership could benefit your business.