JOY FM and BOOST Radio are sister Christian radio stations serving the St. Louis area. While both stations serve up positive, life-giving music, their distinct approaches let them serve a variety of listeners.
When JOY FM and BOOST Radio called ArtSpeak, both stations had established reputations in the metroplex.
JOY FM is known as a reliable source for family-friendly contemporary Christian radio. It had a strong brand, but it realized that a brand refresh could help it reach more listeners.
BOOST Radio is an edgier brand targeting a younger listener base, namely folks between 25 to 44 years old. They, too, had a strong brand, and they knew their target audience wasn’t tuning in to typical Christian mainstream radio.
Both stations wanted a strategic brand refresh to reach more listeners and retain each station’s distinct styles. When they needed a web presence and a branding refresh that would connect with their listeners, they called ArtSpeak Creative.
As part of the branding refresh process, ArtSpeak helped JOY FM to define its core values, establish a clear mission statement, and create a brand promise that would serve its listeners: “To be here for you to inspire, connect, and share the life-changing message of Jesus.”
We worked to broaden their listener base and sway the perception that “this radio station is for my older relatives.” Part of this strategy included Pulse Words to help capture and define the brand in a way that is transferable into creative media, including “fun,” “excellence,” “warm,” “uplifting,” and “community.”
ArtSpeak also walked BOOST Radio through strategic messaging. Part of their challenge was ensuring their brand remained distinct from traditional contemporary Christian music culture and mainstream pop and hip-hop outlets. Their pulse words, “youthful,” “urban,” “relatable,” “welcoming,” and “different” help creatively position them in the radiosphere.
We developed a brand promise of “Always positive, always clean, pop, hip-hop, and hope” to connect their aim with their audience.
JOY FM already had a logo, but ArtSpeak worked on refining and expanding the brand. This included giving the logo an updated look as well as a refreshed web presence to help JOY FM maximize calls to action and connect with more listeners.
Although the JOY FM radio station website was functional, it relied upon a repetitive, limited palette of corporate colors: shades of gray and dark blue and white. We updated the site with teal and white to brighten the pages and give the overall site a less corporate tone.
To balance joy and sophistication while maintaining authenticity, the brand uses colors to enhance recognition and highlight key elements on the site. These colors also establish a visual hierarchy, creating graphics that are both beautiful and professional.
These are supported by Zilla Slab Light as the paragraph font. Each of these fonts is modern, easy to read, and has a bold, steady vibe. They also feel approachable, adding a fun and uplifting touch to connect with an audience in their late 20s to 30s.
Finally, we incorporated eye-catching photographs featuring a diverse collection of people in their 20s and 30s to visually engage viewers in a new way and reflect JOY FM’s upbeat nature.
BOOST Radio’s website also got an updated visual brand, with a fresh logo and additional photography that reflected the urban lifestyle of its intended audience.
We updated the site’s color palette with bright colors and groups of colors to lead the eye toward key areas of interest. The youthful and welcoming colors are strategically incorporated to target visuals that feel fresh and dynamic.
We integrated three new fonts: Bebas Kai, UTC Blonde Regular, and Uni Neue Light to streamline the brand’s look and feel.
These fonts convey a modern, easy-to-read style with a bold, edgy vibe. They reflect a simple, clean, and urban aesthetic. The display and positioning of the fonts evoke a welcoming, youthful energy that is both distinct and strategically intentional for the brand.
Because JOY FM and BOOST Radio are sister stations serving the St. Louis metropolitan area, churches rely upon them to be bulletin boards for local events. This presented a challenge when it came to their websites being able to share information.
ArtSpeak’s web team created custom coding for both websites, which included backchanneling to enable simultaneous posting of community and church events and prayer requests. This allowed for sharing between the sites whenever needed.
In addition to the site sharing, ArtSpeak custom-coded a Live Stream Listen Now player for both JOY FM and BOOST Radio station websites, which evolved into an artist database for listeners.
Every time either radio station adds an artist to their playlist, the online directory is populated with that artist’s biographical and record release data. Information can also be input manually when needed.
To provide both radio stations with financial support options, ArtSpeak Creative also built two e-commerce sites where listeners could give to their ministries and purchase merchandise.
Today, ArtSpeak Creative continues to provide creative support to both JOY FM and BOOST Radio for their marketing campaigns, volunteer recruitment efforts, job posts, and various other needs, such as strategy and ongoing website development.
With their brands’ refreshed looks and websites, JOY FM and BOOST Radio are staying true to themselves and reaching more listeners with the Good News.
