I really can’t see ARN doing a rebranding campaign. Surely no one looks at SCA’s outcomes with Hit/Triple M and wants to copy it? Like would they flip Hot Tomato to KIIS, after watching Hit flip back to Sea? If you wouldn’t do it to your flagship regional station, why do it anywhere?
I think visual alignment (like I mocked up here) so they can use the common lips/guitar pick device in network wide branding campaigns makes sense, and they can just slot the local name in.
They can hub almost as effectively without a network brand, and they’ve had no problems selling the KIIS and Pure Gold networks with nearly no common names in metro areas.
It’s easy enough to just not name the station or use a common positioner - like ‘Pure Gold’ in networked voice breaks - and just insert sweepers with the station name. Far less noticeable to listeners than a metro brand replacement.