Mischief to work on Virgin Radio rebrand

The agency won the account after a three-way pitch. It has been brought in to launch the station's as-yet-undisclosed new brand identity in the autumn. Its PR brief is part of an overall £15m campaign to build the new brand.

Mischief has also raided Lexis PR for a new joint creative director to work on the account. Ben Dutton, a former PRWeek '29 under 29' star, will join the agency at the end of the month, alongside creative co-director Dan Glover. Dutton leaves Lexis, where he was joint head of creative, on Friday. Co-head Will Hill will assume Dutton's responsibilities.

Mischief will target current listeners, including members of the European ex-pat community who listen to Virgin Radio, but it will also attempt to target new listeners with its multi-platform campaign.

Mischief MD Mitchell Kaye heads the account, reporting to Virgin Radio head of comms Cat Macdonald.

The account is initially for two months, with a view to extending it further after the launch. Virgin Radio has an in-house press team of four.

The relaunch follows last month's £53m sale to TIML, a subsidiary of The Times of India. The Virgin Radio brand will disappear 90 days after the completion of the sale, which was achieved on 30 June.

Acquiring the Virgin brand reportedly would have cost TIML an extra £8m, but it is also rumoured that Virgin refused to grant rights to the licensing of its iconic moniker.

It is believed star breakfast DJ Christian O'Connell and DJ duo JK and Joel will continue to work at the new station.

Virgin Radio's marketing director David Lloyd is leaving the station.