SOME IMP INTERVIEWS====

Kaushik Ghosh, Senior Vice President - Marketing, Radio Mirchi, joined Entertainment Network India Ltd (ENIL), which owns Radio Mirchi, in the year 2000. He later handled regulatory affairs for the company and also its initial forays overseas. Before coming on board ENIL, Ghosh has worked for Asian Paints and HCl Frontline. Speaking to agencyfaqs!, he talks about the growing influence on entertainment on radio, and Radio Mirchi in particular.

Q. Radio has come to move increasingly from music to entertainment. Why do you think this shift has happened?
A Radio has always been for entertainment, i.e. music based entertainment. It is therefore not true that radio has moved away from music. Music is what brings listeners to radio. If we can embellish music by interesting things (mostly around music) like film music premieres, then it helps build stickiness in listenership.

Q. Do you think entertainment will remain the backbone of the new radio industry? What programming trends do you predict?
A. Entertainment will always be the backbone of radio. Music will drive the entertainment and not talk. Radio markets will be segmented very well, with clusters of radio stations catering to different audience segments; segmentation will start happening by old or new music to start with. Special programming activities will be tried out by all radio stations to create buzz. As penetration of mobile entertainment devices (like FM enabled mobile phones) increase, a significant listenership chunk will be out of home – thus radio stations may need to cater to this segment – like giving more information on the go.

Q. Radio Mirchi has been partnering with a number of Bollywood movies. How did this come about? Was the first move made by Radio Mirchi or the film producers?
A. We don’t remember whether it was a producer or it was us who initiated it. But the idea was with us early on in 2001. Music comes largely from films; films need publicity; radio gives music play outs; so here was a great way of getting the films and radio together. We promote the film in return for exclusive music, music premiere on radio and exclusive stars on our channel. This is great content for listeners; and it helps us sustain our position as "Aapka apna Bollywood station".


Q. How did Radio Mirchi come with the idea for a radio film, and for the Mirchi hain Baraati event? What image of Radio Mirchi are you trying to portray through such events?
A.The idea of a radio film was developed by the programming team. They wanted a fun way to put forward a discussion on air on a topic that was occupying Delhi’s attention at that time. The radio film was a superb innovation – in fact when people heard about it they were really excited. Mirchi Hain Baraati was another idea that helped connect Mirchi with the city – on Dec 13th there were more than 10,000 weddings in Delhi – and we wanted to make the wedding of the couple on Radio Mirchi the most talked about one.

These initiatives help sustain the image that Mirchi has – that of a leader and innovator and a fun channel.

Q. Radio stations are moving on-ground in a big way. Red FM recently launched its Activation division. Does Radio Mirchi have similar plans?
A.It is really surprising how much noise is being made about an idea that we converted to a business unit two years ago! We pioneered the concept of NTR (non-traditional revenue) in radio and converted it into a full fledged business unit called Mirchi Activations. Activations is growing very fast. Activations helps Radio Mirchi not only in terms of revenues but also in terms of on ground presence, visibility and an opportunity to be at a consumer touch point. Activations have truly demonstrated the power of radio in driving response or footfalls.


Q. Celebrities are coming to play a bigger role in radio stations. Do you think this could undermine the role of regular RJs? Will it raise the expectations of listeners unusually high?
A. Celebrities on our stations never take on the mantle of an RJ. A celebrity on our station is interesting content to listeners; but it is the RJ who ensures the interaction with the celeb becomes interesting.
 

bonddonraj

MP Guru
Experience is definitely a key factor in marketing our service.”

Harshad Jain
Chief Marketing Officer,
WorldSpace India




Harshad Jain, Chief Marketing Officer, WorldSpace India, joined India’s only satellite service provider earlier this year. Jain had been in the FMCG industry for over 14 years, with a particularly successful career at Pepsi. Speaking to agencyfaqs!, he talks about the promotional strategies of WorldSpace in India, and the growth of the brand over the past six years.


Q. Though off to a slow start, WorldSpace has grown impressively since its launch. To what do you attribute the success or turnaround?
A WorldSpace launched its services in 2000 in India and introduced the revolutionary concept of satellite radio to the country. In the past five years we have expanded our retail presence to reach out to customers in across India and offer a choice of over 40 radio stations playing the widest choice of music, entertainment and information, which can be accessed virtually anywhere in the country.

This growth is a result of sustained campaign that involves consumer education and trial initiation, BTL activities, retail network expansion and a host of experiential marketing strategies that involves establishing tie-ups with retails outlets as well as expansion of the Worldspace Lounge concept to more cities. An aggressive product strategy also helped bringing more people into our subscriber base.

Among the other factors that are driving our growth in the country is the fact that music lovers still find a dearth of variety in the Indian radio space, to which we offer an effective solution.

Q. How challenging has it been to educate Indian consumers about satellite radio? How different would your listener be from an average FM radio listener?
A. To educate the consumers about satellite radio we have provide a 360-degree experience for our consumers by generating consumer education and awareness. This has been done by launching an advertising and communication campaign, providing better product availability through an enhanced sales and distribution network and customer service set up. Our advertising campaign includes print, radio and outdoor advertising, BTL (below-the-line activities) and customer contact programs by way of one-on-one interactions; all aimed at inducing experience of the service. ‘Experience’ is definitely a key factor in marketing our service.

WorldSpace offers a unique value proposition, with quality content that is clutter-free for the discerning listener. The subscription model actually lends a new dimension to marketing of the concept because when customers have to pay for content, very clearly, they are looking for a distinct proposition. These include quality of choice, diversity of programming, and range of content. Indian listeners have never had the luxury of such a variety and choice of music, 24 hours a day. It is a new experience for music lovers, wherein they can choose to tune in to any genre of music as per their mood and taste.

In terms of a customer profile – a satellite radio customer is an evolved radio consumer who is looking for specific niches that satisfy his radio entertainment needs.

Q. What are the genres of music that have been picked up most by Indian listeners?
A. We have a wide base of listeners across our bouquet of stations. Shruthi, our 24 hour Carnatic classical channel; Farishta, the 24 hour channel that plays old Bollywood hits; Spin, the 24 hour International Pop and Rock music channel; Moksha – our new spiritual and wellness channel and Jhankaar, the 24 hour new Hindi and Indipop music are the most popular channels.

Q.While satellite radio is on a different plane than terrestrial radio, what is your strategy to promote this difference?
A. Satellite radio is a new category and right now, we are the only player in the Indian market. The biggest challenge the medium faces currently is the lack of understanding of the concept and its features. We are focusing on expanding our reach and educating music lovers across the country on the value proposition that we offer them.

We offers music lovers several options where they can experience the immense value of the satellite radio services – at our exclusive Worldspace Lounges, currently located in Bangalore, Delhi (Gurgaon and Noida), Kochi, Chennai and Hyderabad; through our mobile experience vans; through participation in a range of ground events and concerts that bring music closer to music lovers and through our marketing alliances with brands such as Café Coffee Day and Barista where Worldspace entertains their customers as well as our partnerships with Music World and Planet M where people can get a taste of the Worldspace experience as they shop for their music.


Q. What is the scope for marketing campaigns on WorldSpace as there are no conventional ads? Are co-branded promotions popular?
A. WorldSpace radio is virtually advertising-free, and the programs, channels and RJs are music-focused and committed to leading listeners through a journey of musical exploration on our channel. Yes co –branded promotions have been a success. Particularly successful has been the in-film promotion in Lage Raho Munnabhai. We also have ongoing promotions with Outlook and The Telegraph. I think co-branded promotions are a great way for brands to leverage each others’ strengths.

Q. How do you intend to take WorldSpace to the next level, given the rapid pace of growth in FM radio?
A. Satellite radio has been acknowledged as one of the fastest growing entertainment media. This is borne out by the fact that in USA alone there are over 10 million subscribers of satellite radio services, despite there being hundreds of FM stations available there.

We plan to dedicate significant resources to our current business strategy, including increasing our visibility to support our marketing and outreach efforts, developing our product offerings in India through cost-effective partnerships and agreements and demonstrating the power of our business model.

As we add cities to our market rollout in India, we are also focused on the quantity and the quality of our retail points of presence where our service is sold. Because India’s consumer electronics distribution is significantly more fragmented, we are approaching the retail and distribution on a city-by-city basis. We complement these networks with our own Experience stores.

Additionally we are also focused on increasing the points at which consumers can experience the Worldspace service by ensuring our presence in malls, in colleges, in theatres, in coffee shops and places where we can reach people.

Q. Do you see shock jockeys (like Howard Stern) emerging in the Indian space, like we have in the US market, which is also the largest satellite radio market in the world?
A.Right now the industry is still in its stages of emerging and blooming in India. The programming format is also evolving and so are the styles of the RJs which are more or less uniform across all radio stations. And this is bound to continue for sometime. Therefore it will definitely be a while before jockeys in India are allowed to do their own thing (like shock jockeys).

Q. What kind of music do you like listening to?
A.I like listening to English music on our stations Voyager and Orbit Rock, and Bollywood music on Jhankaar.



 

bonddonraj

MP Guru
We are going to proactively approach clients for Red Activ.”

Abraham Thomas
COO, Red FM




Abraham Thomas, COO, Red FM, has been playing this role in the radio station since March 2005. Thomas (popularly known as Abe) started his career with The Indian Express and later moved on to the television industry before joining Red FM. Speaking to agencyfaqs!, he talks about Red FM’s new ‘activation’ division and Red FM’s attitude-based programming.
Q. How has the role of a radio station changed over the past five years in the lives of its listeners?
A. Radio began as a passive background medium, but it has now evolved into a more interactive one. Not only does this include interaction through phone calls and SMS, the RJs have also become a friend to the listeners and are a part of their lives. Radio has more ‘surround’ now. There are many ways how listeners can interact and experience the radio brand off-air at events and on-ground activities.

Radio today also has a lot of visual imagery attached to it. For example, a radio station may be present as a booth at a shopping mall or may be doing an activity at a traffic signal. Radio is associated with a lot of ‘activation.’.

Q. Radio stations are increasingly taking a 360-degree approach towards promotions. What does Red FM offer advertisers in this regard?
A. We have just launched a division called Red Activ which will implement events and on-ground activities for clients. Red Activ can be customized for individual clients to help them interact with customers. Thus, Red Activ implements single-client brief-driven activities. Recently Ford wanted to put an on-ground spin to its promotion for a car. The cars were parked at malls, which was supplemented by on-air promotions and a treasure hunt at the venue.

We also organised an on-ground promotion for the launch of the TV show ‘Solah Singhaar’ where girls dressed at brides interacted with people at railway stations in Mumbai, telling them about the programme.

Q. What does Red Activ offer over the promotional packages of other radio stations?
A. Informally, most radio stations offer services for on-ground and other promotional activities. This is because advertisers are demanding multiple media options for their campaigns. For Red Activ, we are going to proactively approach clients and create new ideas for them. Red Activ will not be restricted to radio and will include multimedia campaigns involving print and television as well.

Q. As the third phase of bidding approaches for FM stations, the focus is shifting to smaller towns. How different should the programming strategy be for small towns? What is Red FM's approach?
A. This trend of getting into smaller towns is also evident after the second phase of bidding. The advantage of a national network of a radio station is that it gives advertisers and clients more visibility. However, for listeners, radio has to be local. Radio should therefore, connect locally with listeners. While programming for Red FM will remain in the confines of the brand, it will cater to local tastes. Even in a metro like Kolkata, the programming is very different from Mumbai and Delhi. The issues dealt with there are localized.

Though our first priority is music (plus the Red FM attitude), our promise in any market is to play super-hit songs. Every song played on Red FM is tested, and packaged with our attitude which identifies us. Therefore, programming is never at the cost of hit music. Instead of a happy on-the-bench approach, Red FM would rather take an in-your-face approach.

Q. On the other hand, metros like Delhi are reaching a saturation point. Do you agree? How do you intend to tackle challenges in the form of 'young' radio stations as compared to Red FM's 'common man' approach?
A. Every industry, including radio, follows a ‘Rule of three’ where three players emerge as market leaders and the rest follow. Red FM has always focused on market leadership and to maintain this, it must remain in mainstream programming. There are always a set of players for identify ‘profitable niches.’ I believe that the latest trend of no-RJ, only-music programming is only a temporary phase. RJs and talking to the listeners are essential for a radio station to build character and personality. While other radio stations may attempt to differentiate themselves on the basis of music or language, Red FM will have its distinct combination of music and attitude.


 

bonddonraj

MP Guru
We believe that there is going to be dearth of talent in the radio space.”

Rathnakar Rai
Managing Director,
Primetime International Services Ltd.



Rathnakar Rai, Managing Director, Primetime International Services Ltd, founded Primetime in 1985 as an independent media company. In 1995, he led Primetime into a joint venture with Havas International, the number two player in independent media marketing in Europe. Realising the opportunities in the outdoor advertising market, Rai led his company via Prime Outdoors (currently known as Prime Market Reach) as a media planning and buying agency for the out-of-home advertising. Recently, with the spurt in FM radio licenses and the growth in the industry, Primetime has initiated the launch of Radio Minds in a joint venture with Kagiso Media, a leader in the South African radio industry. Rai talks to agencyfaqs! about the new venture and the prospect of radio consulting in India.
Q. I believe Radio Minds is the first consultancy of its kind in India. What services will it offer and to whom are these services targeted?
A. With the phenomenal growth we are witnessing in the radio industry, we believe that there is going to be dearth of talent in the radio space. Therefore, training of radio professionals including radio jockeys, station managers, programme structuring and formatting professionals, technicians are the areas for training we will be focusing on. The training can be on different levels. We prefer the long-term training intervention of up to two years which includes station pre-launch training to post-launch. Since it takes time for a station to stabilise, we intervene from the time the station is being planned through to the time the services are launched and when they are putting up infrastructure and studios and content.

The other services we provide are consulting - including strategic management, of which training is a part. Strategic research helps identify market gaps in audiences and using research in interesting ways to create programming format and structures and promos for branding and positioning is another component of consulting. Besides this, there are also ad sales services. For this, we use software customised to the radio business for inventory management, which has been in use by our partners, Kagiso Media, for the past 15 years - now optimised it for the Indian market.

Q. How will Radio Minds change the advertising model in the industry?
A. For the ad sales inventory, we will be working with a spectrum of radio stations, covering the industry as widely as possible. Our clients at any location can avail of inventory from all over India. We are approaching both ad agencies and media buyers. As radio stations may not have the resources to sell their inventory, we will bring together them in touch with the agencies who seek them. Therefore, a small radio station sitting in Orissa can become a part of the national grid, where the software will be an aggregator for individual radio stations. Using both content positioning and audiences who are listening at different times of the day, we can target audiences accordingly for the brand.

Q. What is your business development strategy at this stage? Who are the companies on board currently?
A.We are in the process of signing up a few radio stations. Our plan is to get into the market in association with these stations and reach out to advertisers. So we are meeting individual radio stations and presenting our proposition to them. We will be announcing our collaborations in the next few weeks. We will be largely working with the 290 private radio stations that have been licensed in phase two for FM.

Q. How did the deal with Kagiso Media come through?
A. In easily accessible media like radio we can reach out to diverse audiences. To get into the radio consulting business, we needed to be with the right people. Kagiso Media is the largest privately owned radio station in South Africa. They have a track record of turning around small radio stations to lead the market. They had their own constraints, in terms of regulations, and they wanted to expand to South Asia. Kagiso has an expertise in using out-of-home media, internet and mobile to boost audiences for radio.

With their experience and our inclination, plus our ad sales experience, we are sure this partnership has a great future. What we are bringing into it is our understanding of the market, our presence across cities and our relationships with agencies.


Q. Do you think there is a lack of strategic programming in Indian radio stations, as most of them end up sounding the same to the listener?
A. Perhaps there is a lack of strategic programming but I am sure different radio stations have their own means to tackle that. Strategies in radio, like any other industry, need to be based on the market segments - the target audience, and the content has to be created accordingly. This perfect fit is what creates strategy. The market segments in our radio industry are not clearly identified, which leads us to believe that there is generic content being played all over.

One of the reasons for this could be the lack of adequate research covering all of India. Though organisations like MRUC have taken steps in this direction, the research universe remains small. Still, we cannot say that radio programming in India does not follow a strategy. It is the lack of appropriate market segmentation which creates a gap. In fact, it is a matter of time that a better understanding of the audience develops through quality research on a better scale.

Radio Minds conducts research which is more relevant to the radio industry, which will help radio stations in deciding accurately what music should be played and for how long, and how should the airtime be decided between music and the RJ’s talk. It is more of a scientific process, based on algorithms.


 

bonddonraj

MP Guru
"The FM radio industry needs to grow outwards in the coming years”

Apurva Purohit
CEO, Radio City




Apurva Purohit - CEO, Radio City, is a media brand specialist and has created and forged successful brands like Zoom, India’s first lifestyle channel and Lodestar, one of the leading media agencies in the country today. She also fashioned the relaunch strategy for Zee TV, the flagship channel of Zee Telefilms and launched evergreen shows like Astitva, Piya Ka Ghar, Thursday Premiere etc which continue to run even today.

Her expertise and vision as a media brand specialist today are the guiding force behind the brand Radio City that is currently poised to grow into a major national player with presence across the country in key metros and towns.

In an exclusive interview with agencyfaqs!, she talks about her vision for the radio industry in India, with the phenomenonal growth the sector is witnessing right now.

Q. As someone with extensive management experience in broadcasting and media planning, what attracted you to radio as a professional?
A Radio is a medium where you can really experiment in many ways. The kind of creativity which is possible in radio is on a different level altogether. The radio industry is witnessing many changes and there is also a lot of experimentation happening – these are the factors which attracted me to this industry.

Q. What sort of growth rates do you think the FM radio industry will manage over the coming years?
A. Geographically, the growth in radio has been enormous. Where earlier FM radio was available in eight to ten cities, it is now present in ninety cities. In that sense, we have seen large-scale geographical expansion in the past one year or so. From the point of view of advertising, the industry is expecting a double-digit growth of thirty to forty per cent in the next year and a half.

Q. Do you think there is enough scope for differentiation in the market, considering the fact that the operating rules are the same for everyone? Will niche segments and audiences get overlooked?
A. Most of the operators have to find their own segments and niches, and each of them has their own way of differentiating themselves. This can be done from the target audience perspective, in content or genre. Since current affairs cannot be part of our programming right we have, we do not have much of a choice with regard to the genres we can offer. Apart from that, there is enough scope for growth in the entertainment, chat show or movie formats. Niche audiences can only be catered to completely when multiple frequencies and greater number of genres are permitted.

Q.What are the plans for Radio City in the next twelve months?
A. At Radio City, there is a major expansion in infrastructure happening as we are moving from the four to seven stations. We will expand further as the government sanctions our remaining stations in thirteen cities. In fact, Radio City is one operator that is constantly innovating and coming up with new programming like ‘Babbar Sher’ earlier and recently, ‘Meri Kahani’

Q. With more players entering the industry, are we likely to see some sort of consolidation? What is your view on these new players like HT Media, and other regional media entrants?
A. As the bigger players already have a presence in a number of cities, I don’t see a large-scale consolidation happening, except for informal marketing efforts. The FM radio industry needs to grow outwards and reach out a greater variety of audiences in the coming years.

Q. How does the medium expect to face the growth of emerging technology like satellite radio?
A. Internationally, satellite radio has captured only a small percentage of the radio industry. The reason for this could be that it satellite radio cannot focus on interactivity or the tastes of the local audiences. Ultimately, it is for FM radio to perform these functions.

Q. What in your opinion could be the single biggest factor to give the next big fillip to radio in India?

A. In the past two years, the radio industry has expanded geographically. The factors which could give it a fillip are addition of genres like current affairs and the availability of multiple frequencies to operators.


 
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