‘We have been using Radio to front-end many ground activation initiatives’
A Radio-led mystery shopping initiative in a distribution dark market saw the brand’s secondary sales move up by 50% during the activity period Q] How important is Radio as a communication tool for you? Radio over the years has become an important amplifier of all our integrated marketing campaigns. Also, we have been using Radio to front-end many of our ground activation initiatives. Q] How does Radio score over other media formats? Radio by far is the most portable of the broadcast media, allowing brands to reach consumers at home, in the office, in the car, on the street, virtually everywhere at any time. Also as it is local and inexpensive, Radio serves as a great medium for both amplification of TV and Print campaigns and also as a standalone medium for promoting local tactical offers. Q] What is the share of radio currently in your media mix and are you looking at upping your spends? How do you see Radio’s future as a medium for marketing campaigns? Currently Radio accounts for around 8% of our total ad spends. As FM Radio penetration moves up from the current level of 90 towns to about 300 towns, post Phase III of FM Radio licensing, Radio would emerge as a viable and cost effective reach medium and ad spends by FMCG brands would definitely see an upswing. Q] What’s been the most innovative campaign undertaken by your brand on Radio? A Radio-led mystery shopping initiative for improving retail stocking and improving retailer affinity towards the brand was undertaken in a distribution dark market. It resulted in brand secondary sales moving up by 50% during the activity period. Q] How do you think Radio can be utilised better as a marketing tool? The economics of Radio allow tailoring of content to the needs of small and diverse audiences. Brands should exploit this leeway to recast content to address audiences in different sub regional, cultural and linguistic context for more effective messaging and response. Q] How effective is Radio when it comes to targeting specific towns, especially small towns? Given its localized DNA, low production and broadcast costs and fast turnaround time, Radio is an effective medium for building market-specific awareness and recall. Q] How do you rate innovation and customization on Radio versus other media? Currently Radio offers limited avenues for innovation and content customization. However, after programming in Radio opens up, there will be plenty of interesting opportunities for innovative advertising in Radio. Q] How do you use Radio during your festival campaigns? We use Radio as a supplementary medium along with Print for amplification of our tactical/festive promotion offers. Q] Does Radio help in connecting with not just the masses but also the classes? At a pan-India level, the FM Radio reach among the Sec A is 36% against the all-India reach of 17.5%, so the medium definitely provides a platform to reach the affluent consumer. Also music, a genre that has appeal across categories, being the dominant content on Radio today, the medium in my opinion provides good connect with both the classes and the masses. (As told to Simran Sabherwal) NoteBook: Radio
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