As part of our ongoing series on media marketers, we speak to Rajat Uppal, Marketing Head - Red FM, who says that perception driven by marketing campaigns has become a game-changer and staying relevant to the audience is the need of the hour
Q] How has the role of the marketer evolved in the media industry?
With the media industry becoming extremely competitive over the last two decades, the role of the marketer has gained immense prominence. A marketer needs to be an authentic, digital-thinking strategist and relentlessly focused on improving the brand experiences across multiple devices for customers. It is very essential to constantly connect with the target audience through engaging content and exciting campaigns. Since the consumption is spread over multiple platforms, it is important to reach consumers effectively across platforms and this requires marketers to be multi-dimensional in their marketing skills. With consumers spoilt for choice, media houses either need to differentiate their content to stand out or marketers need to communicate innovatively to drive perceptions. With similar content being dished out, perception driven by marketing campaigns becomes a game-changer. The marketer today needs to be dynamic, innovative, nimble and adopt trends quickly. Digitization and Internet accessibility have created a very diverse and global customer base, requiring marketers to build their awareness of different cultures and respective sensitivities to market effectively. With everything going ‘Digital,’ it is essential to stay connected with consumers on the go.
Q] What are the challenges in marketing for a media company?
For most media brands, staying relevant to their audience is the biggest challenge. The current youth are of the ‘ME’ generation, self-focused, confident, sharp and knowing their preferences. They have articulated preferences and consume media on the go across platforms as per convenience. So, it is extremely important that content is rightly marketed to a focused audience and can be consumed conveniently on the device of their choice. For example, radio, which was earlier consumed through terrestrial radio sets, is now consumed in the car or over Internet, through various applications and the largest chunk of consumption is driven by mobile handsets. The challenge is to stay connected with consumers through different platforms and create campaigns that work across different mediums like Radio, TV, Print, OOH, Social Media and other display advertising. The consumer now spends limited time on a specific medium, with so many choices on offer. In such a scenario, strong brands with differentiated content will rule the roost and marketers need to spend time and money on building a strong brand and a loyal consumer base.
Q] Can you list three points of change you foresee in the marketing sphere for the media industry?
More Engaging Content – Content is king and media houses need to develop more engaging and interesting content for the target audience which can be presented on multiple platforms.
Innovative Marketing Campaigns & On-ground Initiatives– With stiff competition and consumers spoilt for choice, marketers have to be innovative in each of the marketing initiatives they undertake.
Trend-setters and Trend-spotters – Trends will have a shorter shelf life. Brands will either have to be smart enough to start trends or will have to be swift enough to adopt trends quickly. Media brands will have to spot trends quickly and build content & communication around it to remain exciting and engaging otherwise these brands will struggle.
Q] Can you highlight a careerdefining moment in your journey?
One of the defining moments was my shift from a liquor brand to the media industry. Liquor, being a controlled industry, did not allow advertising in the purest form and one had to advertise under the umbrella of surrogate advertising. Moving to media, i.e., Radio, opened up opportunities for me to explore my advertising and marketing capabilities. Another defining moment was the launch of ‘RED Live’, the live entertainment vertical at Red FM. Launched in 2012, it has become one of the largest live events vertical among media houses with more than 45 concerts organized.
Q] Tell us about a marketing campaign you are proud of…
Each of the campaigns has been special in its own way and was done to meet a particular marketing objective. The scale or grandness varied from campaign to campaign; some were a runaway success and some disappointed. But the ones which worked well had one thing in common - a strong creative insight and communication focused on a sharp target audience.
Q] Name five brands/campaigns that you associate with and that reflect your personality.
I associate with brands which have redefined the category they operate in, they are cool & trendy besides being functionally excellent. To name a few, Apple, Harley, Diesel, Tag & BMW.
