RADIO ADVERTISING

Executive Summary

Advertising in general expresses the positioning. Powerful advertising is the result of

powerful planning. Great ideas and great ad campaigns don’t just pop out from no where, they
are built on the key communication points that motivate sales.

Radio is entirely a medium of sound, which evokes smells, sensations and visual images
which brings the listeners imaginations into play radio advertising is one of the tools of
advertising which is effectively used for communication and positioning. It is one of the
foundations for effective and successful advertising. Radio can be used effectively for
advertisement since it can target the large audience because of its high reach. Radio is good at
increasing awareness about the brand and business and helping in building the brand image.

Radio advertising needs to do perform three things:

- grab the attention of the listeners in less than 3 seconds
- make an offer
- give the listener all the information to act on the offer.

Radio advertising is relatively low cost targeting to all the people irrespective of SEC A,
B or C. it is one of the most intimate and involving of all media it is great for conveying
immediacy i.e. grand openings, sales, promotions and special events at local and national level.
This survey will be useful for Advertising Avenues to know which would be the most effective
radio channel for placing advertisement and the best time slot for the advertisement based on the
listening habits, the perceptions and the preferences of radio listeners. This research would also
help to determine whether radio is an effective medium for advertising products, which would
help to determine if more efforts need to be focused on radio as a medium. The survey would
also be useful to help you to know which areas you should concentrate your advertising efforts
and save the cost.

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The Project included structured questionnaire to help determine the listening habits of the people
on FM Radio and also Personal Interview with Sales Manager of all four FM Radio channels,
content analysis of all four radio.

The FM Channels that the advertisers need to focus their advertising efforts are Radio
Mirchi and Go based on the target audience and analysis and to concentrate more efforts on
afternoon time slot to target the youngsters
Radio advertising is mostly suitable for the retailers at the local level. This medium is
also suitable for the real estate developer, corporates, shopping malls, etc.

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INTRODUCTION

Old media don’t’ die! They just bounce back in new avatars. Not so long ago radio had
been written off as fuddy-duddy, down market and not so cool. Television and later “new media”
were touted to being the media of the future. But thanks to technology radio is making a
comeback. In fact, in its new avatar-fm-radio is all set too become the hippest, coolest and most
with -it medium.
FM radio is a new entity altogether and has to deal with new market dynamics. Media
owners dealing with new markets will virtually have to draw up their strategies as they go along,
create programming that is new, innovative and grab away eyeballs from TV sets and make them
tune into their radio sets. It’s a whole new challenge and competition is never far away. Ad
revenues will also not be easy to come by, as advertisers will expect media players to put their
money where their speakers are before they commit large sums of money towards radio
advertising. The other challenge for radio in attracting advertisers is the nature of the medium-
radio has always considered being a reminder medium. The involvement of listeners to radio is
low, Vis a Vis television or print media.
However in spite of the various challenges the emergence of private FM stations is
certain to increase the quantum of radio advertising in the country , much like satellite channels
did to the quantum of television advertising in the country. That should open up a vast new
market of consumers-100 million Indian households own an estimated 150 million radios,
outnumbering television sets 3:1. The geographical area covered by radio in India is as high as
98 percent and the penetration level is approximately 97 percent. But FM presently covers only
17 percent of the area and 21 % of the population of India through transmitters. Currently radio
has just 2 percent of the 9000 crore Indian advertising market according to an Arthur Anderson’s
survey. Globally depending on each country, radio has a 5 % to 12 % of the advertising cake. On
the higher side are countries like the United States with 13 %, Canada with 12.7% and Spain
with 9.1%.
FM station executives are not forthcoming on multi-platform strategies as yet. Given that
radio has penetrated into 100 million homes and a FM set costs around Rs. 50/- FICCI estimates
FM’s share to revy up from the present 1.5 percent to 5 % in five years.

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While TV is a family medium, radio is personalized. Also advertising of certain product

seems to work very well while some might not. For example, cellular phone service or auto
related products would have a good impact when advertised on radio is primarily known as a
“drive time” medium most people who turn in are doing so while commuting. Thus the potential
if FM is better is bigger town, as the car population is much bigger. This would be the key when
evaluating the medium. Also one must not forgot that radio continues to be a medium that has
tremendous reach among the poor and marginalized sections of society.
With the coming of more channels, and the emergence of lifestyle advertising, radio will
become a push and pull medium. As said earlier, is not just making a comeback but is being
reincarnated into a new avatar.

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RADIO OVERVIEW IN INDIA

The past couple of years have witnessed a flurry of activity in the radio sector. An industry that
accounted for nearly Rs. 150 crores worth of advertising surely needs to be studied closer than
ever before. The current situation of the radio industry is akin to that of the TV industry in the
early and mid 1990s. Further, with the possibility of a revenue sharing regime being brought in
by the Govt. and the sector getting liberalized further, we need to be prepared for a revolution
that is staring at us in the face. With the FM stations giving the local press a run for its money, a
need gap still existed as far as the monitoring and evaluation of ad spends on radio was
concerned.
Radio advertising is getting bolder by the day with carefully worded scripts, brilliantly executed
situations, the right strategy etc. Though the quality of the commercials has gone up by notches,
FMCG companies still continue to bank wholly on television. FMCG brands ought to wake up to
this elementary fact, and be a lot more pro-active on the radio front. In light of the fact that in
cities like Mumbai and Delhi, radio stations have a far greater reach than print, companies ought
to partner with their respective agencies in executing well-strategised radio commercials.

Radio is perhaps the most cost-effective and powerful means of communications. Studies
indicate that instead of two commercials on television, one commercial on TV and the other on
radio gives about a 20 per cent higher brand recall. Also, a television commercial, if put out
exactly on radio, works very well as the listener can then visualize the whole ad
Agencies and clients are busy evaluating the media and its various stations. And the station heads
are busy putting together a veritable package for the listeners, the success of which may lie in
differentiation. And if one were to cite reasons for differentiation as a key to success, one would
arrive at a logical answer- that the listener would possibly dive in to a particular station only if he
is sure of a particular ‘flavor’ that the station has to offer time and again. This flavor can be a
concoction of choice of music, RJs and packaging. And though the station managers may not
agree, the radio stations in Mumbai today are sounding pretty much the same.
Over the years, publications and TV channels have been using radio as a support medium, as a
reminder medium, and as a means of building up frequency. With the proliferation of private
radio stations, one expects a definite increase in the usage of radio as a means of cross media

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marketing. This calls for some probing on our part to understand why the gush to market media
brands on radio, what has been the learning over the years and with the private players entering,
what would be the scenario in the days to come. Advertising drives revenues for a radio station.
Therefore, it is of prime importance for the client to establish a market share or listenership
To create word of mouth you need to stay close to the listener, you need to have a relationship
with the listener, and radio has that relationship. People choose to listen to their radio, you need
to feel that you’ve got a conversation going on between the radio and the listeners, they should
be able to feel that they talk back to their radio more than any other medium. It’s a medium that
talks to the consumers on their level, one-on-one, so it’s always like a conversation, it’s like a
dialogue medium, and this is why as soon as you start that dialogue your word of mouth
propagation has started already.

Mumbai has four private players — Go 92.5 (Mid-Day Multimedia), Radio City (Star's joint
venture), Radio Mirchi, and Red FM (Living Media) besides the two AIR FM players. In
Mumbai, FM reach is estimated at 62 per cent. According to IMRB, reach is highest among
students and working men; average daily listenership in households with FM access is 54 per
cent, as compared with 85 per cent TV viewership. Time spent listening to radio is 105 minutes
per day on an average, as compared to average daily TV viewership of 135 minutes. But the time
spent listening to radio has increased, and there has also been a significant increase in ownership
of music systems, 2-in-1s, and portable radios.

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SOME BASIC TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE

Any radio setup has two parts:

• The transmitter

• The receiver

The transmitter takes some sort of message (it could be the sound of someone's voice,
pictures for a TV set, data for a radio modem or whatever), encodes it onto a sine wave and
transmits it with radio waves. The receiver receives the radio waves and decodes the message
from the sine wave it receives. Both the transmitter and receiver use antennas to radiate and
capture the radio signal.
When you listen to a radio station and the announcer says, "You are listening to 91.5 fm”
what the announcer means is that you are listening to a radio station broadcasting an fm radio
signal at a frequency of 91.5 megahertz. Megahertz means "millions of cycles per second," so
"91.5 megahertz" means that the transmitter at the radio station is operating at a frequency of
91,500,000 cycles per second. Your fm (frequency modulated) radio can tune in to that specific
frequency and give you clear reception of that station. All fm radio stations transmit in a band of
frequencies between 88 megahertz and 108 megahertz. This band of the radio spectrum is used
for no other purpose but fm radio broadcasts.
Common frequency band includes the following…

• AM radio - 535 kilohertz to 1.7 megahertz

• FM radio - 88 megahertz to 108 megahertz

AM radio has been around a lot longer than FM radio. The first radio broadcasts occurred in
1906 or so, and frequency allocation for AM radio occurred during the 1920s. In the 1920s, radio
and electronic capabilities were fairly limited, hence the relatively low frequencies for AM radio.
FM radio was invented by a man named Edwin Armstrong in order to make high-fidelity (and
static-free) music broadcasting possible. He built the first station in 1939, but FM did not
become really popular until the 1960s.

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ROYALTIES

FM is primarily a music channel, so the question of royalties is relevant. The Indian

Protographic Record Society (IPRS) and Phonographic Performance (P) Ltd. (PPL) are supposed
to hold all the rights of royalties. They are demanding Rs. 1,500 per hour (as against Rs. 100 per
hour, at which they are supplying music to AIR), PPL is demanding a royalty of Rs. 250 per hour
of needle time, the actual duration of a piece of music. The IPRS is demanding Rs. 100 per hour.
The IPRS claims royalty for the original composers and authors of music.

COST - ASPECT
A Licencee pays Rs. 6000/- per hour.
Add Rs. 1,500/- for the music.
Add Rs. 3,000/- for the technology, salaries and other expenses.
An hour long show thus costs Rs. 10,500.

10 - Minutes have been set aside for advertising.

One minute is reserved out of 10 - minutes for social awareness advertising.
Thus, advertising time available for sale is 9 - minutes.
In other words, 18 advertisements each of 30 seconds can be accommodate in an hour.

This is the high target. Besides the tariff card should be modest, considering the limited
range and listenership supposing a 30 - seconder costs Rs.500 at prime time for 18 such spots,
the total revenue generated is Rs.9,000/- . Another estimate puts the production cost of an hour
long programme around Rs.6,000/-. Add Rs.6,000/- of the licensee fee to AIR.

Studio hiring costs are between Rs.500 - Rs.1000 an hour. The total expenses are thus Rs.12,500
to Rs.13,000 per hour.

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RADIO ADVERTISING

Radio is still king when it comes to getting your music out there. The best way for a new
band to get heard by the public -- and record label executions is over the airwaves.

Many people will tell you that radio is king in the realm of music marketing: You'll never
be a huge star without a radio hit; once you secure radio play, press and MTV will follow suit; a
big tour will not be far off, etc. In many ways, this pattern holds true. However, it is worth noting
that there are several examples of highly successful, long-lasting artists, companies-- of all
genres who have never had a radio hit.

Companies that advertises on FM channels today such as Hindustan Lever (HLL), Dr

Morepen, Amul, Castrol, Santro, Britannia, Parle, DSP Merrill Lynch etc are dominating the
advertising on each one of the FM channels, be it Radio Mirchi, Win 94.6, Go 92.5 or Radio
City. However Coca-Cola and other brands drunk by people of all ages would try to be present in
most of the segments.

Today, 70 per cent of the advertising comes from big-budget, national advertisers and the
balance 30 per cent comes from retail. It is a known fact that retail advertising will grow because
radio presents the perfect advertising medium for local businesses in a local environment. But
national advertisers are also operational in the local market, implying that it is as important to
them as it is to a retail advertiser, if not more.

Nevertheless, it is undeniable that radio can be integral in exposing a new artist, new
product or services to new fans and taking a local market to a national level. Accordingly, it is
extremely difficult to obtain meaningful airplay. Putting it bluntly, successful radio promotion
revolves around making and managing relationships.

Radio promotion is an art that demands a certain style you may simply neither have nor
desire to cultivate. On top of that, it can take a great deal of time to make all the contacts and
connections that are required for successful radio promotion.

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So, while you should give promotion your best shot and take DIY ("do it yourself") as far
as you can by following the guidelines here, you should also be aware that radio promotion is
one area where Turning eyes and years away will be the key to success in an industry where the
major revenue model, at present, is advertising. Paradoxically, radio currently has only a 2 per
cent share of the total advertising pie in India. Globally, depending on country, radio has a 5 per
cent to 12 per cent share of the advertising cake. On the higher side are countries like the United
States, with 13 per cent, Canada, with 12.7 per cent and Spain, with 9.1 per cent.

Advertising agencies that control the national picture will be slow to move on to radio for
creative reasons. They have people who love to make television commercials, but don't have
anybody who knows how radio works. Here, about 2 per cent of the money spent by advertisers
goes to radio, and up till now, all of that went to ALL INDIA RADIO.

Hence, sometimes you have radio commercials which you don't quite understand because
they took the audio out of television and ran it on radio. Radio advertising can be national, but it
is also with FM, a local medium.

However, in revenue terms, money from advertising has gone up. Revenue from
commercials on AIR, including on Vividh Bharti and Primary Channel (including FM) rose from
Rs.393 million in 1990, to Rs808.4 million in 2000, & Rs.600 crores in 2002, representing a
growth of about 7.5 per cent per annum.

A clear advantage that radio has is that it can easily target city-based audiences.
This makes sense if the advertiser, like a food chain that is opening an outlet in Ban galore or
Mumbai, wants to target a specific audience. In such cases, it does not make much sense to
advertise on TV, and the print medium is too expensive. Radio is the best bet for such small-
scale promotions. Radio advertising is aptly suited for local promotions, and once audiences can
be targeted, it has tremendous potential to eat into local mediums.

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Consumer opinions

The evidence from the qualitative research is that young people feel their local FM station is
aimed at people like them, but the advertising is not - they feel, probably quite correctly, that
most advertising is aimed at adults. However, because radio is a real-time intrusive medium, they
have to sit through the full length of any ads which are for irrelevant products. There was
evidence of three sorts of advertising memories:

Relevant
ads which mentioned areas or names of specific interest, e.g. films, outlets selling favoured
brands, concerts

Vague/ not relevant

Memories of ads for local garages, cars and insurance companies - little or no specific detail
remembered

Sonic Brand Triggers

Much evidence of children's ability to pick up on musical SBTs and sing them out loud

Consideration

It seems clear from this analysis that children are very selective in their attention, and are
strongly influenced by relevance of the brand or product advertised. It would follow that, since
they expect most ads to be irrelevant to them, care must be taken in the creative work to
overcome this expectation - through linking to the relevant topic, involvement, surprise, tone of
voice etc.

Tone of voice is a key area with radio: young people can tell when they are being addressed as
equals, and when they are not.

Young people pick up very strongly on musical Sonic Brand Triggers, even for seemingly
irrelevant brands.

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STRATEGIC ROLE OF RADIO

As Commercial Radio developed in the early days, its key strengths were seen as primarily
tactical - fast turnaround, low capital cost and local flexibility. These days however, while the
traditional strength still apply, radio is increasingly being used for strategic roles.

Dominant share of mind

Share of mind can be described as the extent to which a brand makes itself salient within the
consumer's mind - this is often the most challenging task in sectors where there are several top-
parity brands, and/or high levels of competitive activity.

The ability of radio to create dominant share of mind is a product of its intrusiveness and the
high frequency with which ads are broadcast.

Brands like the Carphone Warehouse have used this unique characteristic of radio to develop an
unassailable lead within their category.

Support to other media

Young people are of course consumers of several media, and campaigns which use only one
medium can miss out on the "media multiplier effect". Because of its inherent characteristics,
radio can work in a complementary way to other media.

With TV it is traditionally used to add to the length of a campaign or to fill weeks where there is
no TV activity - it can also be used to explain products or services in more depth, or to include
additional information. Brands in fast-changing areas like retail or financial services often use
radio for its ability to put over several different messages as an overlay to a core TV campaign
(multiple executions in radio are very inexpensive compared to TV).

Radio also works exceptionally well with TV if there is creative synergy, most conspicuously in
the form of a Sonic Brand Trigger.

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To press, radio above all adds intrusiveness, because levels of ad avoidance with print are so
high. Radio can also, like TV, bring things to life - for services or corporate advertising this can
be very valuable in adding personality and tone of voice.

The "explainer" medium

Young people, because of their inexperience, often need the benefits of products or services
explained to them before they can make a decision to purchase - for example, a bank account, or
a promotional offer.

Radio is particularly useful for this as it uses the human voice in real-time. This means that the
young people do not have to wade their way through extensive reading material before they even
know what the proposition is.

Speaking from inside youth culture

As the qualitative research illustrates, young people begin to move away from their parents'
world of choices and preferences, and to set up their own world independently. Inevitably this
means that some media are seen as outside that independent world - newspapers for example.

Radio, as a personal "me-medium", allows the advertiser to speak from inside the so-called
"youth fortress".

As the respondents said in the research, they feel as though the people on the radio treat them
like adults - leaving their parents out of the equation. Tone of voice is a key issue with
advertising strategies in this territory.

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KEY FACTS TO BE NOTICED

– Is Radio as a Medium Effective?

Till just a few months ago, we also believed Radio to be a "wallpaper" or a "passive" media
option, good enough to reach just 8-10% of potential audience, across markets. We always
related Radio to the average middle class, which does not have a choice other than listening to
some old Hindi songs of the 60's.
Many of us living in the big few metros have begun to acknowledge that "Radio seems to be
growing, thanks to the private FM stations". But may be we just left it that, merrily continuing to
spend our advertising investments, 75-80% on TV, some on Print/outdoor media options,
miniscule percentage on Radio or Internet. Not to forget the magazines, if any one of our
colleagues remind us that "we need to have a follow-up campaign in select magazines", because
housewives need to know more about the product offering. More introspection follows, when our
bosses insist otherwise.
Think again. Look at some of the facts, backed by numbers, which tell a different story.
• Listenership V/s Viewership
• The Radio Multiplier Effect
• Potential of Radio as a reach medium is as high as Print options (if not more) in Delhi &
Mumbai
• Average time spent listening to Radio is as good as average TV viewing time
• Prime time definition: is it different by medium?
• Radio Advertising growth

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• LISTENERSHIP V/S VIWERSHIP (‘000)

Metro – Mumbai Age 15 –29 SEC – A1 ,A2 ,B1 ,B2
Channel Total 6 am-9 am 9am- 1pm 1pm-7 pm 7pm-9pm 11 pm
onwards
Sony(Max) 119 3 11 21 64 20
ZEE (Music) 162 5 28 26 86 17
DD Sports 139 11 25 16 71 16
ESPN 331 20 63 54 164 30
Total 751 39 127 117 385 83
Mirchi 800 268 246 182 79 25
City 818 278 244 190 82 24
Go 253 87 82 55 20 9
Red 516 169 160 116 58 13
2387 802 732 543 239 71
M
Source – NRS 2005 DATABASE

From the above analysis done it can clearly be observed that RADIO has a far better REACH
than some the popular Television channels, if television reaches 751 then radio is able to reach
2387 population, one more important thing to be noticed is that radio is again able to reach far
more people throughout the day, its only in the night time when TV dominates radio.

Listenership (in a day)

Stations Mumbai (in lakhs)
Mirchi 23
City 21
Red 14
Go 6

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RADIO MULTIPLIER EFFECT - apart from RRR, another monumental study is the
Millward Brown study on radio multiplier effect. Millward Brown conducted the study across
October 1999 to April to find out how effective radio advertising can be relative to television.
This study involved nearly 5500 interviews in continuous research to track awareness and
attitudes to 17 brands. The media tested were Commercial Radio and television in the Central
Region of UK. The broad findings of the study proved that radio was, on an average, three-fifths
as efficient as television at driving advertising awareness amongst radio listeners; used in
conjunction with a television campaign, it proved to be an effective medium; and in general, if
10% of a given television budget is re-deployed onto radio, the efficiency of the campaign in
building awareness increases on average by 15% as shown in table below:

(Source: rab.co.uk)

The study highlighted that radio effectiveness result was achieved at one-seventh of the cost. Of
course, this cannot be taken as a thumb rule as there will be wide variance between rates in U.K

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and other markets. However, the study makes a strong case for advertisers to divert a small
portion of their TV budget to radio.

Conclusion
Radio offers tremendous opportunities for advertisers and media planners need to explore
various options by which they can effectively use radio in their media mix. Conversely,
broadcasters need to develop the market by being more responsive to the advertiser's needs. This
will provide an opportunity for the market to arrive at the final verdict on the effectiveness of the
medium.

• REACH POTENTIAL OF RADIO HAS DOUBLED OR TRIPLED

In Mumbai and Delhi, every third individual listens to Radio "yesterday".
(Base: All Adults, 12 + Years, All SEC)

So much so, at an overall level, Radio offers the potential to reach more than the local Print
options. (Caution: we know that you'll use your wisdom, not to compare these numbers, on an
apple to apple basis, considering the consumption patterns of the respective media options and
their inherent strengths and weaknesses.)

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• TIME SPENT LISTENING TO RADIO IS AS MUCH AS TV VIEWING TIME

If we consider anyone who listens to Radio for at least 5 minutes within a 15-minute slot, and
treat him as a "listener", then:
On an average a Mumbaikar (34% of 12+ Universe) listens to Radio for 2.35 hours a day, while
his Delhi counterpart listens for slightly longer at 2.45 hours a day.

This is just about a fraction more or less, when compared to the average TV viewing time in
these cities.
Interestingly, this intensity of time spent on listening to Radio does not vary too much, be it the
upper SEC A or the lower SECs of D/E (whereas we all know the pattern on TV, even within the
TV viewing universe).

WHAT IS PRIME TIME

As expected, popular prime time definitions for Radio and TV are very different. Radio rules in
popularity till about late evening, and tapers down, post 6 PM.

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Now, when do the actual transactions happen for most "impulse" categories & FMCGs? What
happens in case of purchase behaviour when someone listens to Radio on way to a shopping
mall? Who was referring to "recency planning" recently? Check it out for yourself.
If you are not still convinced about the "power of Radio", here are some additional insights
favoring Radio as a good advertising and promotional medium: :
Intensity of listening to Radio is higher amongst Males than Females. On the other hand, females
are more intense TV viewers. The lower age group of <30 years (with higher nagging power)
form a core set of Radio listeners.
Now, is it time to replace "our intuitive sense" or "historical wisdom" with some “real facts"
backed by syndicated research?
As per the study, the listenership is primarily youth centric. The incidence of listenership in
Mumbai and Delhi is highest in the 15-30 age bracket followed the 12-14 age group and 30-39
age group.
Source: IRS `04-05 & ILT `04 from Media Research Users Council

• RECORD BREAKING GROWTH FOR AD INDUSTRY

The industry's upping the growth rate to 14.1 per cent is clearly a spectacular achievement! And
the fact is that this is genuine growth, and not something sparked off by a couple of events - thus
reflecting the mood in the economy.
The 14.1 per cent growth makes the advertising industry at a healthy looking Rs 132 billion (Rs
13,200 crores). That’s up from Rs 116 billion last year.

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While the radio, press and internet share of spends have increased compared to last year, TV and
out-of-home (OOH) have marginally dropped. The drop in TV is primarily due to a slower
growth rate.

OUT OF THE OTHER MEDIA, INTERNET & RADIO RECORD IMPRESSIVE GAINS

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The two minnows, Internet and radio grew the fastest in 2005, albeit on a smaller base, outpacing
everyone else. While radio with a share of 2.4 per cent has grown by 44.5 per cent; Internet with
a 0.8 per cent share has grown by a whopping 78.3 per cent. It should be mentioned here that
radio today earns more ad revenues than all the television music channels put together!

The next chart gives a clear indication about the potency of radio as a local medium. Across the
four metros, the local advertisers account for nearly 75% of the total advertising on radio and a
market like Chennai is even more skewed towards the local advertisers.

Clearly, the numbers suggest that radio can no longer be a pushover in any media plan.

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PROS AND CONS OF RADIO ADVERTISING

Every medium has special strength and weaknesses that makes it more or less suited to
special marketing problems of specific advertising. There is no one medium is ideal for
advertisers or every situation. Radio has a number of characteristics that makes it an ideal vehicle
for numerous advertisers as wither a primary or secondary medium. By the same token,
advertisers need to consider some of the major advantages & disadvantages of radio.

ADVANTAGES OF RADIO

1. Largest Reach and Frequency

Radio offers an excellent combination of reach and frequency. The average adult listens
more than 3 hours a day, radio builds a large audience quickly and a normal advertising schedule
easily allows repeated impact on listener. 90% of India has access to radio which is unmatched
by any other media. Radio is not only the medium of hearing news but also is a source of
entertainment and advertising for the rural masses. Radio also reaches to uneducated village folk
who do not read print publications. At the places where the literacy rates are low where people
hardly read newspapers and radio is the only medium that they can understand. They can’t afford
a TV set. Hence radio is more popular.

2. Broadly Selectivity
Specialized radio formats with prescribed audiences and coverage areas enable
advertisers to select the market they want to reach. From a marketing perspective, radio has the
ability to reach prospects by sex, age group, ethnic or religious background, income group,
employment category, educational level or special interest with a format that adds even greater
dimensions to its already strong personal communication environment.
Radio’s high overall reach and its ability to provide numerous formats make it a
multifaceted medium. Each programming category can be treated as a distinct medium for
marketing proposals. Because of the relatively low cost of production, advertisers are able to
adapt commercials to the various stations then buy, a strategy that would normally be
prohibitively in television.

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3. Cost –Efficiency
Radio is the least cost medium and it helps to reach mass audience with various
backgrounds. Radio offers its reach frequency and selectivity at one of the lowest costs per
thousand and radio production is relatively inexpensive. National spots can be produced for
about one tenth the cost of a TV commercial, and local stations often produce local spots for
free. Also, radio ads can be produced very quickly.

4. Creativity and Flexibility

Radio is the most flexible medium because of very short closing periods for submitting
an ad. This means an advertiser can wait until close to an air date before submitting an ad. With
this flexibility of simple formats such as voice only can be created almost immediately to reflect
changing market conditions or advertisers can take advantage of special events or unique
competitive opportunities in a timely fashion.
Radio also offers timeless, immediacy, local relevance and creative flexibility. The
personal nature of radio, combined with its flexibility and creativity, makes radio the choice for
numerous product categories. Copy changes can be made very quickly. The short lead time in
radio ad production is an enormous benefit to the advertisers who must react quickly to changing
marketing conditions.
While radio may be one-dimensional in sensory stimulation, it can still have powerful
creative impact. Recall that radio has been described as the theater of the mind. The musical
formats that attract audiences to radio stations can also attract attention to radio ads. Audiences
that favor certain music may be more prone to an ad that uses recognizable, popular songs.
The ability to anticipate or react to changing conditions cannot be underestimated.
Radio’s sense of immediacy and flexibility, all at a cost within the budget of even the smallest
advertiser’s has made it an important part of advertising strategy of many advertisers.

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5. Proximity to Purchase
The mobility of radio and its huge out - of - home audience gives the medium an
advantage enjoyed by few other advertising vehicles. In the competitive environment facing
most companies, it is imperative that brands achieve consumer reinforcement as near as possible
to the purchase decision. Only point-of-purchase and outdoor audience, and radio has the
advantage of being able to deliver a personal sales message created specifically for a particular
target segment. Its daily frequency offers scope for continued messages and hence the consumers
are more likely to remember that product and consumer lend up buying that product.

6. As a Complement to Another Media

In some cases radio is the primary medium for local advertisers. However for national
advertisers and most large local and regional firms, radio is most often used as complementary
medium to extend the reach and frequency of primary vehicles in their advertising schedule.
A fundamental marketing strategy for radio has been its ability to successfully work with
other media to increase reach and frequency or to reach non-users and light users of other media.
The radio industry realizes that the bulk of its revenue comes from advertisers who use radio as a
secondary medium.

7. A personal medium
The human voice is the most personal means of communication. Radio gives the
advertisers the opportunity to take advantage of the right combination of words, voices, music,
and sound effects to establish a unique “one-on-one” connection with prospects that lets you grab
their attention, evoke their emotions, and persuade them to respond.
Radio can be targeted by lifestyle formats and is more efficient than other media from a
cost and production standpoint. As a result many advertising agencies will move their budgets
into radio.

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DISADVANTAGES OF RADIO

1. Misunderstanding
Sometimes there might be a misconception regarding the radio ad as it is only heard. In
television the chances of such misconception is less, as it is audio as well as visual.

2. Poor Radio Attentiveness

Just because radio reaches audiences almost everywhere does not mean that anyone is
paying attention. Remember that radio has also been described as audio wallpaper. It provides a
comfortable background distraction while a consumer does something else-hardly an ideal level
of attentiveness for advertising communication. When a consumer is listening and traveling in a
car, he or she often switches stations when an ad comes and divides his or her attention between
the radio and road.

3. Fragmented Audiences
The large number of stations that try to attract the same audience in a market has created
tremendous fragmentation. There are probably four or five different station that plays the kind of
music you like. This fragmentation means that the percentage of listener tuned to anyone station
is likely very small. If a large number of radio stations compete for the same audience,
advertisers who want to blanket the market have to buy multiple stations, which may not be cost
effective. Its wide variety of stations and programming formats allow advertisers to reach
virtually any marketing niche. However, some advertisers wonder if radio is offering too many
narrowly defined options. For those product categories with broad appeal, it is difficult to gain
effective reach and frequency without buying several radio stations and networks.

4. Chaotic buying procedures

For an advertiser who wants to include radio as a part of national advertising program,
the buying process can be sheer chaos. Since national networks and syndicated broad cast do not
reach every geographic market, an advertiser has to buy time in individual markets on a station-
by-station basis. This could involve dozens of different negotiations and individual contracts.

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 RADIO ADVERTISING

5. Short Lived and Halfhearted Commercials

Radio commercials are brief and fleeting. They can’t keep like a newspaper or a
magazine ad. Radio must compete with other activities for attentions, and it does not always
succeed. Only 20 % of time availability restricts the frequency of message exposure. The
effectiveness of radio advertising is at stake on the announcer’s presentation that has to do a hard
selling job.

6. Creative Limitations
While the theater of the mind may be a wonderful creative opportunity, taking advantage
of that opportunity can be difficult, indeed. The radio-only nature of radio communication is a
tremendous creative compromise. An advertiser whose product depends on demonstration or
visual impact is at a loss when it comes to radio. And like its radio message creates a fleeting
impression that is often gone in an instant. Many advertisers think that without strong visual
brand identification the medium can play little or no role in their advertising plans.

7. Limitations of Sound
Radio is heard but not seen, a drawback if the product must be seen to be understood.
Some agencies think radio restricts their creative options.

8. RJ needs training
It is very important that the Radio Jockey is trained enough to deliver the ad. Sometimes
the voice really matters. If the voice is irritating then there is a chance the campaign may flop.

9. No proper research available

In India, there is no proper research has been available on the area of radio listening,
which will be very helpful for the advertisers to decide them on advertising plan and budget and
other matter. Therefore, there could be a problem for the marketers in the sense that they might
advertise on wrong channel at a wrong time.

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TYPES OF RADIO ADVERTISING:

1. Network
Advertiser may use one of the national radio networks to carry their messages to the
entire national markets simultaneously via stations that subscribe to the networks programs.
Networks provide national and regional advertisers with simple administration and low effective
net cost per station. The advantage is less paper work and lower cost per station. Disadvantage
includes lack of flexibility in choosing affiliated stations the limited no. of stations on a networks
roster and the long lead times required to book time.

2. Spot Radio
Spot radio affords national’s advertiser’s great flexibility in their choice of markets,
stations, airtime, and copy. They can tailor commercials to the local market and put them on the
air quickly – some stations will run a commercial with as little as 20 minutes lead time.

3. Local Radio
Local times denote radio spots purchased by a local advertiser for local market. It
involves the same procedure as national spots. Radio advertising is either live or taped. Most
radio stations use recorded shows with live news in between .Likewise, nearly all radio
commercials are pre recorded to reduce cost and maintain broadcast quality.

4. Sponsor Programme
Here the advertiser sponsors the whole or part of the programme. The RJ informs the
audience about the sponsored company throughout the programme.

5. RJ Mention/What’s On Mention
Here the Radio Jockey [RJ] informs the audience the information given by advertiser
about the new product launch, sale, exhibition going on at certain place etc.

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RADIO STATIONS DIVIDE THEIR DAYS AND RATES.

Radio stations divide their rate cards into day parts .The exact divisions vary from station to
station.
6 am -10 am Morning drive
10 am – 3 pm Daytime
3pm – 7pm Afternoon drive
7pm- 12am Night time
12am – 6 am All night

Rating services measures audiences for only the first four day parts because all night
listening is very limited and not highly competitive. Heaviest radio use occurs during drive times
(6-10 am and 3-7pm) during the week (Monday- Friday).
This information is important to advertisers because usage and consumption vary for
different products. For example, radios morning drive time coincides with most peoples desire
for a steaming, fresh cup of coffee, so its great time for advertising coffee brands. For the
lowest rate , an advertiser orders spots on a run of station (ROS) basis, similar to the ROP in
newspaper advertising .However, this leaves total control of the spot placement up to the station.
So most stations offer a total audience plan (TAP) package rate, which guarantees a certain
percentage of spots in the better day parts if the advertiser buys a total package of time.

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LENGTH OF SPOTS

The radio commercials in the test reels consisted of several different spot lengths, ranging
from 15 to 60 seconds. In The Netherlands the average length of a radio commercial is 20-25
seconds. The longest commercial played on the radio is 120 seconds. Those however are rare. In
theory, one could assume that the longer a spot, the better it will be remembered or at least, the
more chance there it that it will be noticed. Research on television commercials proved that this
theory holds true for the medium television: a doubling or tripling in spot seconds results in
duplication in recall.
The spots for advertisement can be for 10 sec, 20 sec, 30 sec and 60 sec. In General,
10 second spot should contain 25 words
20 second spot should contain 45 words
30 second spot should contain 65 words
60 second spot should contain 125 words
Sometimes stations may provide 10 or 20 seconds spots. But unless you are doing
something specific - teaser ads as part of the large campaign, perhaps - these generally are not
cost - effective.
If you’ve never written a spot, 30 seconds sounds like an impossibly short time to get
your massage across. But take a stop watch and time some spots on the air; you’ll see that quite a
lot can be accomplished in a short time. In fact, you may find that: 60s, unless very well written
and well produced, sometimes seem a bit too long A :60 does allow you more variety in
music, sound effects, and voice and can be useful for political massage, the announcement of a
new or little-understood service, or other sports with a information/education content.
30 is usually 70 to 80 words long, and a; 60 around 150 to 160 words. The cost of a: 30 is
usually about 60% to 75%.
Some stations no longer charge a separate rate for: 30s and: 60s. Instead, they charge a
unit rate. In other words, a: 30 costs the same as a: 60. Obviously, this is one case where you
might want to use a: 60 to take advantage of the “free” air time. Check the rate cards of the
stations you are interested in, or ask your sales represrntative.

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BUYING RADIO TIME

1. Station Rates
While buying procedures to achieve national coverage may be chaotic, this does not mean
they are completely without structure. Although the actual buying may be time consuming and
expensive if many stations are involved, the structure is actually quite straight forward.
Advertising time can be purchased from networks, syndications, or local radio stations. Recall
that among these options, advertisers invest most heavily in local placement. About 80% of
annual radio advertising is placed locally. About 15% is allocated to national spot placement and
only 5% is invested in network broadcasts. Many stations have local rates for Individual
Business and National Rates for Agencies.
Advertiser may use one of the national radio networks to carry their messages to the
entire national markets simultaneously via stations that subscribe to the networks programs.
Networks provide national and regional advertisers with simple administration and low effective
net cost per station.

2. Your Dayparts Buying Options

Most stations offer several options for buying air time:
a) Buying by specific dayparts
b) Buying packages
c) Buying sponsorships or adjacencies

a). Buying specific dayparts

This relates to the time period of purchase. There are five basic dayparts on basis of
which advertiser can choose. The time period decision is based primarily on a demographic
description of the advertisers target audience. Recall that drive-times dayparts attract a mostly
male audience, while daytime primarily female , and nighttime is mostly teen. This information
combined with programming formats, guides an advertiser in a buying decision.
Putting half your sports into drive time and half into midday is a very safe strategy.
Weekend sports can also effectively reach teens.

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Keep in mind that that time on Saturdays usually sells at the lowest daytime rate, but
because so many people are in their cars shopping and running other errands, you can reach a lot
of people for those few dollars- and people who are ready to buy now.

b). Buying packages

As with magazine buying, radio advertising time is purchased from rate cards issued by
individual stations. Run-of-stations ads- ads that stations choose when to run- cost less than ads
scheduled during a specific dayparts. The price can also increase if an advertiser wants the ad
read live on the air by a popular local radio personality hosting a show during a day part.
Buying packages is an easy, usually low-cost method. Marking a package buy is called
buying run of station(ROS),total audience plan (TAP), or best time available( BTA).this means
simply that you pay to buy a package of sports at a flat rate and the station decides (within
certain specified limits) when the sports will run. Stations will usually guarantee to divide your
sports fairly between drivetimes and other dayparts.

c). Sponsorships or adjacencies

A sponsorship is just what its name implies. You are associating your company name
with a specific program. The advertisers sponsors the whole or part of the programme. The RJ
informs the audience about the sponsored company throughout the programme. “……………. Is
brought to you by………”
An adjacency is the next best thing to a sponsorship. If you buy an adjacency, your ad
will run every day just before or just after (in other words, adjacent to) the program you specify.
Other fixed-position spots are also available. For example, you may specify that you want
your spot to run at 6:13 a.m. every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Sponsorships, adjacencies, and fixed positions go for premium rates. Sponsorships on
top-rated shows can cost up to twice as much as other spots in the same dayparts. Having your
name associated with a particular show or event can do a lot to reinforce your positioning, and
these premium spots can be so powerful that you may be able to run far fewer spots than you
otherwise would, spending less to achieve the same impact.
Sponsorships are like marriages; they’re only for people who are ready for a long-term
commitment.

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3) Frequency
Radio, like most media, requires repetition to have impact. As a general rule, you should
run a minimum of 20 spots per week during periods when you are on the air. But you do not
have to be on the air every week. There are scheduling strategies that will help increase the
impact of the spots you place.
If you cluster spots, people will perceive that you’re running many more than you really
are. Let’s say you can only afford to run four spots a day. If you put them all in one dayparts,
same people are likely to hear most of them. To those people, it will seem as if your spots are
running frequently all day long, and as though your promotion is much bigger then it actually
may be. These people will retain the information much better.
Flight and schedule are tow words you may hear your radio sales rep use when you plan your
advertising. A flight is a group of ads. (“I’m running a flight of 80 ads this month.”) a schedule is
the long-term ver4sion of a flight. (“I run a schedule of 20 ads a week, six months out of the
year.”) in practice, the word schedule is often used to cover both cases,
And the word “flighting” can be used to describe the clustered groups within a larger schedule
(“my flighting is two weeks on, one week off.”)

4) How many stations do you need?

Just as you should never run too few spots, you should also not run on too few stations.
But how many is enough?
Generally, you should run on at least two or three stations, but that varies depending on
your audience and the number of competing stations in the market.
If your target and audience includes both younger and older people, you may need to buy
two stations with widely different formats.
If your audience is 40-year-old women, but there are half a dozen stations evenly sharing
that market, you may need to buy three, four, or more. If your audience is teenagers, flipping
four station to station at the speed of light, you may need half a dozen.

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There are, however, times when one station will suffice. If your audience is business
people, and you can afford to buy drive time on the dominant news/talk station in the market,
that may be all you need to succeed.
To really learn who is listening to your sports, survey for the local market. These surveys
break the audience down by age and sex, break the listening week down into segment, and then
tell you how many listeners each station had in each category.
Once you get past being overwhelmed by the sheer, forbidding look of the survey, you’ll
find that it’s pretty easy to understand.
In smaller market where surveys are taken only once or twice a year, stations may hold
special promotions during “sweeps week” that temporarily blow their audience out of proportion.
A popular on- air personality may switch stations and take his or her audience to a competitor.
Your best information may well come from those surveys you take among your own
customers. Help you know not only what people listen to but why and how they feel about it.
This is information you can use to write and place your sports.

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PRODUCING RADIO COMMERCIAL

Producing a radio spot can be a lot of fun advertisers often say it’s the most fun they ever have in
advertising. Thank heaven; it can also be simple and inexpensive.
You have three basic elements to work with: the announcer’s voice, music and sound
effects. Production can be done in the station’s own studios or in an independent production
house.
You have three basic elements to work with: the announcer’s voice, music, and sound
effects. Production can be done in the station’s own studios or in an independent production
house. Stations are usually well- equipped to produce spots, and they often employ young,
creative people whose fresh ideas will keep your spots from sounding like everywhere else’s.
It all begins with a good script, which means not just the words, but the combination of
words, music, and sound effects. All these are part of the script. Your spot can be claver or
straightforward, but it must grab the listener’s attention in about three seconds, and it must not
leave the listener wondering, “whose spot was that, anywhere?”
The following are some of the factors you should have in mind from the first moment you
sit down to plan your spot.

1) The Voice
There are two factors concerning voice. First, you should use a voice that is appropriate for
your image.
There are two good, low- cost options for achieving this, and one higher- cost option:
a) Using local radio talent
b) Using an amateur voice
c) Hiring professional voice talent.
a) Using local radio talent
If station produces your spot, one of their on-air people risk having the voice be so
familiar that the listener doesn’t pay attention. If you know you’ll be running only in drive
time, have the midday announcer do the honors. Get the least familiar voice available.
Listeners will be less likely to tune it out.

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If your favorite station has a female announcer, use her! Studies have shown that women
presenters are just as effective as men; but only a small (but increasing) percentage of all
broadcast sales presentations are made by women. A little digging may also reveal that some
of those overly familiar announcers may have uncommon talents you can use.
b) Using amateur voices
One great thing about radio is that even an untrained voice can be very effective. In fact,
the less the voice sounds like one of the regular announcers, the better.
A woman’s voice, a child’s , or even your own can make listeners stop and pay attention
simply because it’s not what they’re expecting to hear. If you do your s,own, or some other
untrained voice, you shouldn’t try to sound like a instant professional.
You must judge very carefully, through, and not be swayed by love or loyalty to the
person whose voice you’re considering. Amateurs can sound stiff and false
c) using professional voice talent
If you need very sleek production value you can hire voice talent from another station,
your local community theater or, in larger markets, from a talent agency. There are people
who make their living doing nothing but voice-overs (narration) and announcing, and they can
give you amazing range, charm, and polish.
If you decide to splurge, celebrity voices can sometimes be hired for less than you’d
imagine. An actor(not a star) on a highly rated network tv series can be hired for as little as
two times union scale.

1. Music
The power of music can’t be overemphasized. The music in your spot may stay with
people, and remind them of you, long after your actual words have gone, there are several
options for putting music into your commercials:
a) You can have original music produced.
b) You can use free music from the station’s library.
c) You can get permission to use an existing recording by a known artist. (But! It’s
difficult and expensive to obtain the rights).

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d) You can buy canned music (sound alike) in the style of many popular composers
in all large markets who supply such productions for a modest charge.
If you do a lot of radio or TV advertising, consider having a jingle product. The cost runs
anywhere from $600 to a few thousand dollars, and it can be a very worth while investment. A
catchy jingle helps potential customers remember you more than almost anything else. Think
about it.
Your radio station might offer to have a jingle composed free if you’ll contract to run a
certain number of spots during the year.

3. Sound Effects (SFX)

Biff, booms, wow, wow, meow eeek, crash, zoom moo neigh, ho ho ho, vroom, ding
dong, sizzle, pit pat, whistle, these and more are available at your local radio station. The sound
of waves on the shore can help sell your vacation package., and bird song can put people in the
mood for your spring sale.
Radio is entirely a medium of sound. When you use sound to evoke smells, sensations,
and visual images, you bring the listener, more involved with your spot, will be more involved
with your ideas. Take advantage of it.

4. The tapping Session

Once you’ve made the decision about the script, voice, music, and sound effects, it’s time
to record. You should always try to present at the recording session. If you can’t then atleast
make sure that your representative or agency plays the tapes for you before any spots run on the
air.
At a small radio, it may be just you and the announcer in the studio; the announcer will
operate the equipment. At large stations and professional recording studios, an engineer will
record the spot while you and the announcer concentrate on the reading.
You should also understand. Be aware that the announcer may have slight interpretation
of the reading than you do, and don’t expect a performance that could only come from someone
reading your mind.

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SELLING RADIO COMMERCIAL

Selling radio advertising involves a number of steps, many of which are unique to the
medium.
The radio salesperson must be aware that everyone involved in the transaction is looking
for different results. The media buyer is looking for efficient cost per point, while the client’s
goal is to move product … clien’t generally view all the radio stations from same perspective:
the station has something for sale, and they may or may not buy it frm u . because of this , it is
imp. For u to build value into ur station by offering credible benefits tht produced results and
solutions for ur clients.
Radio salesperson must begin with the client’s needs and marketing goals. The 1st step in
d process is to meet the client 2 gain as much info. As possible about the client and his or her
busi. After the salesperson has a firm grasp of the advertising problem, the next step is to prepare
a proposal. Although there is no set format for a radio sales proposal, the successful once’s
begines with the clients problem and sales objectives an move systematicallyt to a solution.
Often the job of the radio sales person must be conducted on a number of levels.
a) an advertiser who is not currently scheduling radio may have to be convinced tht the
medium in general is for a particular product.
b) The salesperson must move frm the general advantages of radio to the advantages of
specific station.
c) The radio representative may have to show how radio fits into the media mix currently
being used by the advertisers.
Radio advertising faces challenges both from within the industry and from other media as it
competes for advertising price.
Dayparts Characteristics
6 a.m. - 10.00 a.m. Drive time, breakfast audience, interested chiefly in news
10.00 a.m. - 3.00 p.m. Daytime, program characteristics of station, talk , music, or all-news
3.00 p.m. - 7.00 p.m. Afternoon, drive time; radio prime time & same as morning drive time
7.00 p.m. - 12.00 a.m. News, music, talk shows
12.00 a.m. - 6.00 a.m. Music, talk shows

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ELEMENTS OF GOOD RADIO COMMERCIAL

⇒ Be single-minded, focused. Don’t ask the consumer to take on too much information at
one time. Prioritize your copy points. Think of your commercial as a model of our solar
system. The major copy point is the sun and all the other copy points are planets of
varying degrees of importance, but they all revolve around and support the central idea.
⇒ Research your product or service. Many clients keep tabs on their competition, but they
rarely related their features and benefits to factual data. Meaningful statistics can give
substantial support to your massage.
⇒ Relate to the consumer, when you tell consumer your story, always relate the brand to
their wants and needs. Do not assume they will come to the right conclusion.
⇒ Generate extension. You can multiply the effect of your commercial many times over by
achieving extension…. Consumers picking up phrases from the spot and using them . a
clever phrases or execution can have consumers asking other people if they have heard
the spot, people requesting the spot to be played on the radio, even getting mentions by
DJs.
⇒ Produce an immediate physical, emotional, or mental response. Laughter, a tug on the
heart strings, or mental exercises of a consumer during a radio spot help seed the memory
and aid massages retention.
⇒ Use plain, conversational English. Be a clear communicator: Don’t force your character
to make unnatural statements. This is not the bored room… no “execubabble”, just clear,
plain simple English.

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CREATIVE RADIO ADVERTISING

These are some guidelines for producing creative radio advertisements:-
1. Understand the environment
2. Speak the listeners’ language
3. Engage and entertain the listener
4. Keep it simple
5. Judge what you hear, not what you read
6. Production values are important
7. Plan your production
8. Dare to be different
9. Take it seriously

Tips for briefing and judging radio creative work

Creativity in any medium always tends to involve personal or subjective judgement, and
radio is no different. The aim of these tips and hints is to help you think through your own views
about creative work which you are commissioning or assessing.
These hints and tips have been put together mainly from interviews with agency
creatives, specialist radio writers and producers – we thank all those who have contributed.

⇒ Firstly, why is radio being used?

⇒ Rule number one: keep it simple
⇒ Beware the "metaphorical proposition"
⇒ Think about "desired response"
⇒ Brand tone/"How your brand comes across"
⇒ Telephone numbers, websites etc
⇒ The briefing meeting
⇒ Creative brief - outline for reference

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Firstly, why is radio being used?

Radio is a highly flexible medium, which means it is often asked to perform challenging
tasks. It CAN carry detailed information, it CAN be booked relatively late, and it CAN be
produced at short notice and at low cost – but these tend to work against high quality creativity.
Advertisers have to take account of this and realize there are compromises to be made.
Rule number one: keep it simple
Advertising in any medium is always more effective when it focuses on a simple
message. But with radio this is not optional, it is essential, because it’s not possible to include
extra information “in the background” or in small print.
Beware the "metaphorical proposition"
Radio uses words, so it invites verbal wit. If your advertising brief says something like
“our prices will take your breath away” you are likely to get creative proposals back which focus
on breathing – people not breathing, holding their breath, turning purple... It is very rare for such
ads to leave an impression about your prices. So be straightforward about your message; this will
help the writers to find the best expression of it.
Think about "desired response"
Don’t focus the writer on what the brand is saying to the listeners. Focus instead on how
we want the listeners to react – what do we want them to know, think or feel having heard the
campaign? Remember, the radio may only be one part of the multi-media mix – what specific
response is desired for the radio component?
Brand tone/"How your brand comes across"
Radio leaves strong personal impressions, and you should clarify in the brief the kind of
impression you want your brand to leave. But make sure this doesn’t turn into a bland mission
statement (all brands want to be seen as “authoritative, contemporary and innovative”).
Remember the way radio uniquely makes impressions, as evoked in this piece of wisdom
“Brands are like people at parties – they make themselves look gorgeous because they want to
attract your attention. With radio, your brand is addressing the blind guest at the party”.
Telephone numbers, websites etc
The brief needs to be clear about priorities. If the ad is thirty seconds long, do we want to
spend those thirty seconds getting people to remember the telephone number or web address – or

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getting them interested in the proposition? It’s usually the latter, and consumers know how to
contact most brands. The contact details are therefore relegated to being a lower priority.
Remember that radio works well as an indirect response medium, driving response
through other channels such as press or door-drops.
The briefing meeting
Once the brief is written, always try to talk it through with the writers: this will help them
to understand your needs as an advertiser, and to take the brief seriously. And ask for the writers
who are enthusiastic about radio – not all are.
Creative brief - outline for reference
Key questions :-
 What are we trying to achieve in marketing terms?
(e.g. gain market share through increased trial, reinforce customer loyalty etc)
 What do we want the advertising to do within this?
(the contribution which advertising can realistically be expected to make)
 Who are we talking to?
(by age/sex class etc, and also related to our brand - what do they currently think / feel
about us? mention any secondary target groups e.g. rivals, trade etc)
 What do we want them to think/feel/do as a result of the advertising campaign?
(realistic ambitions please; consider any secondary target audiences)
 What do we want to say to them?/the proposition
(single-mindedness is essential here; supporting information goes below)
 Supporting information
(why should they believe us or find our message relevant or interesting?)
 Tone of voice
(how do we want to come over, in brief)
 Mandatory inclusions (if any)
(e.g. telephone number, website, logo etc)
 Media outline
(which media, and what kind of weight of activity? how many ads?)

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STEPS IN RADIO AD PRODUCTION

1. An agency or advertisers appoints a producer

2. The producer prepares cost estimation
3. the producer selects a recording studio
4. With the aid of the casting director, if one is needed, the producer casts the commercial.
5. If music is to be included, the producer selects a musical director and chooses the music
or selects stock music.
6. If necessary, a rehearsal is held.
7. The studio tapes music and sound separately
8. The studio mixes music and sound with voices.
9. The producer sees that the master tape is prepared for distribution on either tape or
cassettes and shipped to stations.

You are on the air!

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MEASURING THE RADIO’S EFFECT

Effectiveness research requires clarity of objectives – what are the agreed objectives of the
overall campaign and of the radio campaign within this? Remember not all objectives can best be
measured by consumer research (e.g. sales effects).
Radio effectiveness can be measured either using continuous research or in stages (“pre &
post”) – the pre-stage is normally the week before the campaign, the post-stage in the week after
the campaign finishes.

Consumers tend to misattribute radio advertising memories to other media, particularly TV.
This is particularly likely to happen where there is a strong executional link between the two
media and/or where there is an established history of TV advertising for the brand.
This tendency to misattribute can be offset by using matched samples of listeners and non-
listeners. This way, if the increase in advertising awareness is greater among listeners than it is
among non-listeners, then the effect can be attributed to radio fairly confidently – even if the
listeners think the advertising was in another medium.
Radio research can successfully be done using telephone interviewing – ads can be played
down the line. However cases where other media are to be included in the research it might be
more appropriate to use face-to-face interviewing.

Commercial recognition is a valuable technique – i.e. playing the ads to consumers. It provides
a more robust measure of whether they have heard the campaign, and avoids problems of trying
to describe the ads. Brand names can be bleeped out of the commercial, to test whether the
campaign is linked to the brand.

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1) Defining the research objectives

The key to any successful research is to have a clear understanding of why the research is being
conducted in the first place. In other words, what are you aiming to measure?

In broad terms, radio advertising research aims can be categorised into two types:

⇒ Marketing issues – to what extent has radio helped to achieve the campaign aims?
⇒ Media planning issues – what effect do different media strategies have on the
performance of the campaign?

Marketing Issues:- These vary widely and there can be often more than one objective set for a
campaign. Below are some typical examples:

 .Increase sales
 Increase footfall / store traffic
 Increase brand awareness
 Change consumers’ perceptions about a brand
 Broaden consumer appeal

Not all of these aims are best evaluated with consumer survey research - there are specific tools
available for measuring sales effects for example.

Media Planning Issues: - In addition to tracking radio’s contribution to the success of a

campaign, as a secondary aim you might also be trying to test and evaluate the effects of using
different media strategies, for example:

- Effectiveness of different spot lengths

- Burst versus continuous activity

- Use of different day part strategies.

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If you do intend to test a particular media strategy there are three important
considerations to note.
 Firstly, and most obviously, you must gear the campaign so that you can test the
particular media strategy in which you are interested.
 Secondly, if you are testing a number of media strategies simultaneously, you will need
to be able to separate the effects of each using a separate, balanced research “cell” for
each media-variable.
 Lastly, when testing different media strategies, bear in mind that you will still be judging
the effects in terms of the overall campaign objectives.

Whatever your research objectives, once you have defined them make sure that they form
the core of the questionnaire you use. Any other questions are of secondary importance.

Tip: Setting Realistic Objectives

Researchers and planners agree it is extremely difficult to change .perceptions of a

brand over a short period unless there is something .particular and engaging to tell the
consumer.

Most advertising campaigns are tasked with increasing or maintaining .awareness of

brands which are already familiar to the consumer – and. therefore slower to change
perceptions.

2) The Importance of Split Samples

Misattribution of Advertising:-
When asked to consider advertising, consumers will turn their thoughts to the most salient
source they can think of – this tends to mean TV. Television, as the medium with the most
active expectations, tends to dominate memories of advertising, with the result that
campaigns in all other media are, to varying extents, attributed to television in the
consumer’s mind.

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This misattribution is disproportionately likely to happen with radio and is still more
likely to happen when radio campaigns are creatively synergistic with TV executions.

Avoiding Misattribution: Using Split Samples:-

The simplest solution to the problem of measuring true radio awareness is to split your
sample into two parts: listeners (target consumers who have been listening to the radio stations
which carried the advertising) and non-listeners (people who do not listen to those stations, but
who are same as listeners in other respects).

If the only difference between the two samples is their radio listening, then any
differences in their awareness or attitudes to the advertised brand can be reasonably attributed to
radio – regardless of where they think they have seen or heard the advertising.

It is particularly important to use split samples where radio is part of a mixed media
schedule in order to guage the true radio effect.

Which Option Should You Choose:-

Neither of the two approaches above is necessarily better than the other. You might want
to bear in mind, however, that the second method has the advantage of questioning people who
will have the same history of exposure to your brand. Local distribution levels for the brand will
also be the same.

But remember that for some target markets, such as young people, it can be hard to
recruit a sample of non-listeners in the same area (sometimes almost all of them do listen to
Commercial Radio).

The key point is that the listener and non-listener samples must be matched as closely as
possible in terms of demographics, media consumption and weight of exposure to your
advertising in other media. This ensures that any differences can confidently be attributed to
radio ad exposure.

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Tip: Heavy, Medium & Light Listeners

Asking listeners how many hours a day they listen to a given station allows you to
categories them by weight of listening – this can be broken out on the analysis.

This can be useful. For example, if increased response is positive but actually
confined to heavy listeners, there may well be a mandate for increasing frequency
against medium and light listeners.

3) Where to do the research

Test And Control Samples In Different Areas:-

This involves taking two matched samples of respondents in different geographical areas
and comparing their advertising responses – one sample will live in the advertised area, the other
in an area where no radio advertising ran.

In this way, it will be possible to compare the results among those who have been
exposed to the campaign with the results among those who have not - thus giving you a measure
of radio’s effectiveness.

It is important to match the media consumption of the samples (e.g. how much TV they
watch etc) as well as their demographics, as this could affect response. It is equally important to
ensure weight of advertising for your brand in all other media is the same for both samples.

The two geographical areas should also be comparable – (or “typical”) in terms of media
and product consumption as a whole.

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Test and Control Samples within the Same Area

In this second approach, all of the research is done within the same area.
One part of the sample will comprise people who do listen to the station(s) on your radio
schedule, whilst the other part of the sample will comprise people who do not listen to any
station on your schedule.

Again, in this way it will be possible to compare the results of those who have been
exposed to the campaign to those who have not giving you a measure of radio’s effectiveness.

4) When to do the research

The ideal research method is to monitor advertising activity on a continuous basis, since this
allows movements in advertising response to be compared directly to current advertising activity.
Often, however, continuous radio research is impractical on grounds of cost unless it forms part
of ongoing advertising tracking.

Typically, radio research is conducted in two stages - a pre-campaign and a post campaign study.

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⇒ The pre-campaign study should be conducted as close to the start of the radio campaign
as possible – preferably during the week immediately preceding the radio campaign. This
will establish the base levels of whatever is being measured (eg brand awareness).
⇒ The post campaign study should be conducted as soon as possible after the radio
campaign has ended – ideally during the first week after the campaign has come off air.

In some instances you might want to consider conducting more than two stages of research.
For example, it might be worth slotting in an additional research phase during a particularly long
advertising campaign or sponsorship. Similarly, having done the post-research, you might want
to consider adding an additional stage of research some weeks after a campaign has ended in
order, say, to track decay in brand awareness.

Tip: No Time for a Pre-Stage Measure?

There is a “rough and ready” solution for times when a pre-stage has not been
possible.

If non-listeners are used as a control sample (i.e. people who would not have
beenexposed to the radio advertising campaign) they are in a sense equivalent to
a pre-stage sample.

In other words the difference, following a radio campaign, between a matched

sample of listeners and non-listeners, is equivalent to the difference between
listeners before and after a campaign. If you need to consider this as an option,
remember the following:

⇒ It does not take account of your other media activity

⇒ It doesn’t take account of anything else which happened during the radio
campaign (e.g. competitive activity etc).

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5) The research sample and sample sizes

Sample Sizes

Generally speaking, the larger the sample the better. However at some point, the cost of an
increased sample size becomes cost prohibitive and contributes little extra to statistical
robustness.

The table below shows details of what would often be recommended as minimum and suggested
sample sizes. Note however that if you intend to analyze the results amongst sub-groups of your
target audience larger sample will probably be required. As a general rule the greater the
complexity of the task

The larger the sample size needed. Your research agency can advise on this.

Tip: The Advertising Target Audience Defines the Sample

If the advertising is tasked with changing the attitudes of ABC1s, is there any
reason to gauge the views of C2DEs?

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6) Method and questionnaire

Telephone research is often used for assessing the effect of radio campaigns: the method is
adaptable and can often be cheaper than face-to-face interviewing. Radio ads can successfully be
played down the phone to respondents.

Face-to-face interviewing may also be preferable if respondents need to be shown visual ad

material such as stills from TV ads.

Commercial recognition is a valuable technique – i.e. playing the radio ads to consumers – as
this is the best “memory jogger” of all. It also delivers a larger sample of people who are
identifiable as having definitely heard the campaign: this is useful when analyzing them for their
attitudes to the brand. For more detail on the commercial recognition method see Appendix 1 on
“Radio memories and how to access them”.

N.B. when playing the radio commercials in order to measure commercial recognition, two
different approaches can be taken: blind or branded.

⇒ Blind By bleeping out all brand references in each execution and asking whether the
commercial has been heard before and then asking for the brand name, it is possible to
see whether creative treatment has successfully linked the message to the brand.
⇒ Branded - this allows prompting for brand-specific data, (e.g. attitudes to the
advertising/feelings about the proposition), whilst giving a true measure of ad
recognition.

A fairly straightforward questionnaire will take around 10-15 minutes to run through –
much longer and respondents will begin to lose interest and concentration!

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Questionnaire Structure

It is important to ensure your research agency’s draft questionnaire includes all your
original aims to ensure survey results encompass all factors you wanted to measure.

Pre- and post-campaign questionnaires will largely be the same (although the former can
often be shorter).

Key elements of a typical pre- and post-campaign research study would include the
following:

⇒ General questions on the category in which your brand operates

⇒ General questions on brand usage and advertising awareness
⇒ General questions on media consumption and specifically questions that can
separate listeners to the radio stations used in the campaign from nonlisteners.
⇒ Recall of advertising. At the post-stage, you will be seeking to detect spontaneous
and prompted awareness.
⇒ Commercial recognition – playing the ads to respondents.
⇒ Thoughts on what the main message of the ads was

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BARRIERS TO RADIO ADVERTISING

When was the last time you heard a really good Indian radio spot.
It can be argued that one hasn’t heard a good radio spot on radio simply because one doesn’t
listen to much radio these days (which is half the problem with radio advertising). Segmentation
in the FM radio industry will take place in a year's time. It will be content-wise and audience-
wise segmentation that FM channels will have to undergo in order to survive.
Local advertisers will also soon become strong revenue streams for radio channels. For
example, local players in various cities would be able to customize (city-wise) their advertising
on FM channels. What is particularly disheartening about radio advertising in India is that the
advertising industry, as a whole, appears to have become a trifle apathetic to radio. “The industry
is certainly not giving radio its due. The quality of radio advertising here is pathetic. Today,
when an agency plans spends; the bulk of the money goes to television. Then comes outdoor,
print… maybe mailers. Radio comes last.”

Blame the post-Ramayan, post-Mahabharat television boom for radio’s lot. With
audiences switching loyalties to the tube, clients too reallocated budgets. In the golden days of
radio, clients such as Dunlop assigned as much as 15-to-20 per cent of it’s spends on radio. The
industry spend was in the vicinity of 7-to-8 per cent. Today, it is down to less that 2 per cent.
Spends are down, but not out. And even today, quite a few big spenders advertise on radio. So
why don’t our radios spots match up to any standards? And in any case, low spends is a poor
excuse for the absence of creativity. “Unfortunately, in India, the big money is on TV, so that’s
where everybody’s attention is. At best, the client wants the TV commercial adapted to radio –
‘logon ko commercial yaad aa jaayega’ is the attitude. Radio is being treated simply as a
reminder medium. And even then, people don’t even edit the jingle. So you have meaningless
moments in the radio spot that visuals would have filled in the commercial.”
Indian agencies are not exploiting radio’s potential to the fullest. “Today, there are two
formulas that apply to radio advertising in India,” One is that of giving the characters affected
regional accents to communicate the message, and the other is taking a popular song and giving
it a spin.” There are very few radio ads with nice dialogues, the solution could lie in increasing

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the duration of the spots from 15 or 30 seconds to 40 to 50 seconds. If you have engaging
dialogues, a longer duration can salvage the spot.

One problem with radio is that, through some reasoning, it is perceived to be a poor
medium for building a brand. Perhaps one reason why India does not produce good radio spots is
because writing one calls for a lot of talent. After all, unlike, say, a TV commercial, there’s not
much help to be had in the form of technology and special effects. The idea has to be strong
enough to stand independent of crutches such as lighting, camera angles and cinematography.
“It’s difficult to do a great radio spot, “There’s no jazz whatsoever. The key to its success is in
the writing and the rendition. And the radio producer has to be good.”

The strange thing about radio spots is that even in the assorted award ceremonies, where
everything is a reason to celebrate, radio merely gets a passing mention (when there is so much
of hype built around the commercial and print categories).

To be fair, radio, as a medium, should take some of the blame for the sad state it has
slumped into. The problem with radio was that once television boomed, radio did not keep pace
with change. It stayed in government control, muddling along. Its content did not make an effort
to become contemporary, and audiences switched off. Also, unlike television, radio had no
monitoring service, which didn’t appeal to advertisers very much. For agencies to recommend
radio to clients, we need information on monitoring services, the reliability of such services is
also doubtful. Agencies had no such information, neither were there any procedures about how to
go about releasing radio spots. So naturally the medium suffered.

One thing is certain. No one wants to write off radio, especially now that the medium is
moving into private hands. “Radio won’t die,” Even today, the reach of radio is more than that of
television. In rural India, every individual has a transistor. And you can listen to the radio even
when you are tilling the soil. You can’t do that with TV.
Let’s hope that the new broadcast would revive interest in the radio listening habit and
also radio commercials.

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SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths:
• Recently, the government has agreed upon revenue-sharing model, which is 4 % for
the growth of the radio stations. So that they can develop themselves well because this
industry is still in an introduction stage.
• The success of private FM stations, and reveals that radio listenership habits have
changed considerably; not only are listeners tuning into it more often but also sticking to
radio for longer hours everyday.
• The advertisers, who would depend on word-of-mouth, pamphlets, brochures or ads
in local supplements of newspapers, are welcoming the opportunity.
• Radio is considered as a background medium, because people can listen to radio
anytime and anywhere they want. It is also a free medium.
• 90% of India has access to radio which is unmatched by any other media.
• Radio also reaches to uneducated village folk who do not read print publications. At
the places where the literacy rates are low where people hardly read newspapers and
radio is the only medium that they can understand. They can’t afford a TV set. Therefore
radio is more popular.
• Radio is the least cost medium and it helps to reach mass audience with various
backgrounds. Radio offers its reach frequency and selectivity at one of the lowest costs
per thousand and radio production is relatively inexpensive.
• Radio is considered as a medium where the “Proximity to purchase” is very high.
• Radio is a complement to another media. Therefore, other media or the advertisers or
agency can use this medium for brand recall.

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Weakness:
• One of the major weaknesses of Radio is that there is very less differentiation in the
programmes that are aired. Most of the stations plays much of the music that is played
consist of Hindi Film songs, and therefore it is difficult to differentiate between the
programmes of the different channels.
• Fragmented Audience - the large number of the audience in India is fragmented in
various remote places. And therefore, the percentage of listener tuned to anyone station is
likely very small.
• No proper research available - research is very important for any advertising segment.
Research is the main base to attract client and get more revenue. But, in India there is no
proper research is available. Many stations are conducting their own research which can
be biased.
• Radio-only nature of radio communication is a tremendous creative compromise. An
advertiser whose product depends on demonstration or visual impact is at a loss when it
comes to radio. And like its radio message creates a fleeting impression that is often gone
in an instant. Many advertisers think that without strong visual brand identification the
medium can play little or no role in their advertising plans.
• Increase in listenership numbers but no increase in ad revenue. This is the situation that
every radio channel is facing.
• Short commercials

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Opportunities:
• Getting copyright licenses from the government for running mega events which are aired
on the AIR radio station and have been restricted to be aired on other private stations.
• Launching a radio station with 24-hour news channel
• Tie-ups with BEST or railway authority for playing the FM in train and in bus.
• The launch of Private Radio FM has managed to create a set of ‘New Listeners’ for the
medium
• The new radio stations which will come in future they can have venture with the college
or university campuses. And can play their station which will exclusively provide with
the information relating to that university/college campus.
• With the coming of the many more new players in the radio industry each channels can
position themselves quite different from others, like, if some station is targeting the
health conscious people then their programming strategy will vary accordingly. And then
it is easier for the advertisers also to decide on which channel to advertise.
• Allowing private FM players to start news and current affairs programmes.
• One has to constantly innovate, and that is the challenge. Brand building is thus much
more difficult. At the same time, we are very bullish, and gung-ho about this whole
enterprise.
• Leaves huge scope for innovation in local market

Threats:
• The biggest threat to private radio industry players is ALL INDIA RADIO. AIR is the
biggest player in India because of its reach, low charges, government channel etc…
• Because of the new government policies there will be more number of stations and then
competition will also increase. This is one of the biggest threats it faces. With no
particular differentiation in the music. So, there is a fear of losing its brand loyalty.

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FUTURE OF RADIO INDUSTRY

FM Radio can play its part in building a stronger business future for India. Providing
free-to-air local broadcasts of music and entertainment, helpful information - traffic advisories,
community announcements and public service messages provide a real value-added service. But
at current levels of advertising support, each radio station is reeling under the brutal financial
impact of high costs. With more players in the fray the FM radio industry would grow and also
enhance the government’s yield from licensing radio naturally.
The new India deserves an active private FM radio sector. It can provide a level playing
field with benefits for listeners, for advertisers, employment & career options. Spearhead the
government objective of growing the FM radio business in India.

The mass media scene today in India is that both television and press are in a mature
stage and offer numerous options for the advertisers. Bottom-line - the competition for
advertisers “Rupee” is extremely high. If FM Radio wants more than just “Crumbs”, it will have
to position itself sharply and uniquely. Critical to leverage the strength of the advertiser
relationship with FM Radio as an advertising vehicle. Offer a unique benefit to the advertiser
(distinct from other media). In future, radio will cut into television consumption because it is
mobile and until now there was not much on radio in any case.

The future looks bright as the reach of radio is expected to raise post the increase in the
number and quality of players in the industry. It is on the basis of these key drivers of growth, it
is being predicted that radio's share in the total advertising pie will see an increase in the medium
term. There are an estimated 150 million radio sets across the country. The Rs 1.6 billion
industry is reported to be growing by 31 per cent every year and should touch the Rs 6.2 billion
by 2007, with revenue rising at 23 per cent annually. Also, though radio has only a 2 per cent
share in the Rs 6,000 crore Indian advertising market, advertising spending is expected to
amount to Rs 500 crore this year.

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Radio in India has about 2 per cent of the total advertising pie. Worldwide, that figure
ranges from 5 per cent to 10 per cent. Right now, about 38 per cent of the pie is in the hands of
television, and there are about 40 players there. On the other hand, in radio, there was just one
player - All India Radio - and it had all the 2 per cent that radio had.

If this sector grows to say, about 5 per cent, then about five players will share it. So the
share of each player will be the same as in television now. And we anticipate that radio will grow
at about 10 per cent to 12 per cent every year. In money terms, we are talking about Rs 6,000
crore to Rs 10,000 crore of advertising revenues. In the next two to three years, only a few
players will survive, and so there will be sufficient revenue for each player. As I see it, radio's
share of the advertising pie can only go up over the years.

While doing the analysis, CII has assumed revenues will rise 25 per cent annually,
licence fee will go up by 15 per cent every year but expenses will remain the same through the
10 years. At these rates, revenues and expenditure in year 10 could be Rs 358.41 crore and Rs
356.52 crore respectively, giving a net profit of Rs 1.89 crore.

But the cumulative loss could well be Rs 861.05 crore by then. The cumulative loss
includes an annual outflow of Rs 23.96 crore on account of interest paid at the rate of 16 per cent
on capital employed, adding up to Rs 239.6 crore over 10 years.

The operating loss is however seen to be lower at Rs 90 crore for last year, going down to
Rs 52 crore in the seventh year with the corner finally being turned in the tenth year with an
operating profit of Rs 33 crore.

On the expenditure side is the much talked about and controversial issue of licence fee to
be paid to the government. In the first year of operations 2002-03, of the total expenditure of Rs
169 crore (including Rs 31.35 crore on account of depreciation and interest loss on capital
employed), private radio companies generated revenues of only Rs 48.10 crore leaving a deficit
of over Rs 120 crore.

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In Mumbai alone, the five private players had a shortfall of Rs 54 crore on expenditure of
Rs 80 crore. While licence fee was Rs 48 crore for this city, other major cost was the
approximate Rs 660 paid per hour to buy music rights.

The problem has been compounded by low advertising revenues accruing to the channels.
The current ad spends on radio accounts for less than one per cent of the country's total ad pie of
Rs 8,600 crore.

However, if the government agrees, either through negotiation or court intervention, to

drop the licence fee system and move to a revenue sharing model, FM operators reckon they
could break even in about two years. Industry feels this should be allowed as the second round of
licence auction would be adopting a revenue sharing model.
The CII study also quotes Madison Media which has estimated a much higher ad spend
on radio in the future. It feels advertisers will spend about Rs 500 crore on radio by 2004, which
represents four per cent of the enlarged ad pie. In such a scenario, FM operators could start
making an operating profit if all estimates of expenses remain the same even with a licence fee
regime.
Radio is an electronic medium so what works for TV will work for radio also. FMCG,
services, durables are strong on radio. The category, which should have come on radio in a big
way but has not, is retail. For retail radio is a boon. Retail could fuel the boom that radio
requires.
The media fraternity is gradually shedding its wait and watch policy and pushing a small
bit of the clients' money to radio as well - more so in the case of automobiles, financial products
and FMCGs. And it has brought in some optimism in the industry.
Media planners have differing viewpoints on how the advent of radio will affect other
media, including the outdoors. One school of thought has it that radio will take a heavy toll on
local advertising.
The pioneer in the field, Radio Mirchi was the first to market its name using billboards
and hoardings. With its conspicuous mascot, the flaming red chilli and its catchy slogan which
was easy to remember and digest “It’s Hot” establishing itself as a station took very little effort.
Apart from that Radio Mirchi is the one station to absolutely avoid any advertising via
the mass medium of television. Radio city being a venture of STAR TV using initial promo

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teasers on its flagship channel was expected and RED FM the last to be launched also created
awareness by television but Radio Mirchi having the advantage of being the first mover and
having firmly established itself already chose wisely not to involve itself with the medium which
it was mainly competing with.Local advertisers, if they are faced with tight budgets, are likely to
cut on the media that they think is least important. And that perception is created more by savvy
marketing of a medium than any deep research.

The FM market will be matured in terms of content when everyone will create their own
hard burn programming formats. This misinterpretation of all stations sounding the same will
eventually go. For example - CNN and BBC that are both international news stations so they
look and sound the same but in terms of programming, they are miles apart. Right now all the
private FM stations have just started. They need some decent time to evolve in terms of different
TG focus programming. If A is playing a song Sharara Sharara… and B is also playing the same,
they are criticized for using the same programme. Today, most stations are hitting at the TG
which has the numbers.

The trends in the growth and evolution pattern of the radio market globally, indicate that
the Indian radio market can also be expected to take the same path. Looking at the 3 biggest
radio markets in the world (United States, Australia and U.K.), the trends show that de regulation
by the government led to rapid growth in the radio market. For example, in United States the
industry was deregulated in the 1930s and today they have around 6700 radio stations. In India
too with the government deregulating the industry, healthy competition in the market can give
the much-desired boost to this medium.

Learnings can also be adapted from other Asian countries like Indonesia, where radio has
proven to be an effective medium because of programming that reflected local culture, based on
interactivity and rooted in tradition and heritage. The same could hold true for India as well with
respect to the content of the programming. With the government opening up the radio market, a
number of private players have come into the industry.

If radio does grow in the way the optimists want it to – from the current 2 per cent to 8
per cent of the total advertising budget in a couple of years – it is unlikely that the heavily

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unorganized outdoor medium will be able to protect its turf for any major length of time. With
the encouragement given by the government, radio in India is all set to assume its new "Avatar"
of offering efficient and effective targeting of consumers in the days to come.

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The first broadcasting center at Bombay was commenced on 23/7/1927.When India became free, the
ALL INDIA RADIO [AIR] network had only six stations Delhi, Bombay, kolkota, Madras,
Lucknow & tiruchirapalli. FM service mainly for quality music was introduced in AIR from
1976.now fm services is available at all metropolis i.e Delhi, Mumbai, kolkota & madras.

SOME FACT ABOUT ALL INDIA RADIO :

Total employee strength – 10000 appx.
Target audience – all
Sector – non profit organization
Total assets – 65000 crores
Investment for 2004 – 2000 crores
Profit of 2004 – 600 crores
Mission - Bahujan hitaya bahujan sukhaya
Total stations available today : 155
Total channels available today : 5
1) Bombay A – national channel –1044 khz mv
2) Bombay B – regional channel – 588 khz mv
3) Bombay C – commercial channel –1188 khz mv
4) FM 1 – rainbow –107.1 mhz fm – 24hrs.
5) FM 2 – gold – 100.7 mhz fm – 12 hrs.
6) Coverage 96 %
7) Listenership 65-70%

Types of department –
• administration department
• engineering department
• programmes department

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HOME SERVICE PROGRAMMES

All India Radio originates a number of programmes for the listeners within the country
and also for those in foreign countries. In the home country AIR broadcasts programmes in 24
languages including English and 4 foreign languages. The service includes a good deal of
entertainment, informative and educative programmes along with news & current affair
programmes.
The programmes put out by AIR stations can be categorized as follows:
1) News and programmes of nationwide interest broadcast from Delhi.
2) News & programmes from state capitals catering to the needs and respect of their
respective areas.
3) Regional language services from individual stations and interests of their respective
regions.
4) Commercial services.

NATIONAL CHANNEL:
The national channel of AIR came into air on 18 May, 1988. It covers 70 % of the
population and provides a judicious blend of information and entertainment, the programmes
includes Indian & western music, investigative reports, magazines, plays, sports, an Urdu
segment.

LOCAL CHANNEL:
Local channel serves a small area, provides utility service & reaches right into the heart
of the community. the programmes of the local radio are a specific & they are flexible and
spontaneous enough to enable the station to function as the mouthpiece of the local
community.73 local radio stations were planned to open out of which 46 are already started their
broadcasts & the rest of the stations are in the pipeline & are in the various stages of completion.

REGIONAL CHANNEL:
The regional channel broadcast the region specific programmes like folk, light, film,
music, annual akashvani sammelan, classical music etc.

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EXTERNAL COVERAGE

The external services of AIR acts as a bridge between India and the world. The External Services
Division [ESD] broadcasts programmes for 71 hrs everyday in 24 languages-general overseas
services in English ,15 other foreign languages and in 8 Indian languages for AIR listeners in
different parts of the world. External broadcast projects the Indian point of view on world’s
affairs and acquaint the overseas listeners with the developments in India along with information
on the myriad facets of Indian life, thought, culture, tradition & heritage. The encouraging
feedback (about 1200 letters per day) that it gets from its listeners in various services is an
eloquent proof of this. The target areas of ESD span almost all the continents and include areas
of west, north, east & south east Asia, north west & east Africa, Australia, new Zealand, united
kingdom & Europe & of course the Indian subcontinent. in addition to foreign languages, ESD
also broadcasts in Indian languages for people settled in different parts of the globe. The services
in Hindi, Tamil, telugu and gujarati are directed to Indians in overseas while those in Urdu,
Bengali, Punjabi and sindhiare meant for the listeners in the sub-continent in the bordering
countries.

COMMERCIALS WITH ALL INDIA RADIO

Commercials on AIR commenced on 1.11.1967.

Commercials on the national network was introduced from 1st April 1982.the commercial
channels on the primary channels were introduced on 26 January 1985, all vividh bharti stations
carry commercials, are accepted in the film/light music, programmes, rural, women’s
programmes & other popular programmes.

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CODE OF CONDUCT

As AIR is governed by government, it has to follow certain code of conduct. Being non profit
organization & having mission of community service, it cannot sacrifice the well being of
community just to earn revenue through advertisement.

1) AIR cannot select advertisement without screening the script.

2) No alcoholic advertisement allowed.
3) No vulgar advertisement.
4) Non profit motive
5) No song/program should be repeated at least for 4 days.

BENEFITS TO ALL INDIA RADIO ADVERTISERS –

1) Broadest collection of music

2) Advertising agency registered with AIR
3) All services given by this ad agency like recording, broadcasting material, script etc
4) Widest coverage benefit
5) Highest listenership
6) For the advt of non profit organization only 20 secs is charged for 60 secs ads
7) Listenership abroad

SOCIAL WELFARE PROGRAMMES OF ALL INDIA RADIO –

Being a non profit organization All INDIA RADIO does not conduct any marketing activities
to attract advertiser, advertisers themselves approach AIR. Instead it conducts several social
welfare programmes through its various programmes on air, such as:

• English learning programs

• Blood donation programs
• Social awareness programs
• News updates

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NEW INITIATIVES BY AIR

Change is in the AIR. Prasar Bharati now plans a 24-hour news radio station - not on
FM, as one may imagine, but on shortwave. For FM it has other ideas - classical music channels
to start with in Bangalore and Lucknow and to be extended across the country later.
AIR which produces more than 300 bulletins daily, will also cash in on phone bulletins.
The service which is on in Patna, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Delhi at different numbers will be
launched across the country with a four-digit common number. AIR planned and developed
special packages for the North East and J&K, focusing on the rich cultural heritage, development
of infrastructure and the changing scenario in the state. Prasar Bharati is also planning to fill the
vacancies in regional stations, especially in North East and J&K, setting up radio clubs and
maximizing AIR revenue.
Prasar Bharati is set to launch a major campaign aimed at repositioning and total
branding of the two FM Channels of All India Radio (AIR). Prasar Bharati is positioning AIR
FM Rainbow as a channel offering a buffet fare - Hindi Music, Western Music, Chat shows,
Helplines etc. and for this it is launching a campaign in select cities. The publicity campaign of
AIR is focused on projecting AIR as the world's oldest and largest radio network both in terms of
geographical and population reach and the only source for news and entertainment for people in
remote places. AIR as the radio network that communicates with people in their language
broadcasting in 24 languages and 146 dialects contributes to the enrichment of Indian classical
music and broadcast fast and accurate. It will promote and publicize sports events covered by
AIR besides popularizing existing services like Radio on Demand and News on Phone.

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CURRENT PRIVATE FM CHANNELS

&
TARGET AUDIENCE

Player No. of Cities of operations

Stations
Radio 7 Delhi. Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Indore,
Mirchi Ahmedabad, Pune
Radio City 4 Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Lucknow
Suryan FM 3 Chennai, Coimbatore, Tirunelvelli
Red FM 3 Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata
Go FM 1 Mumbai
Visakha 1 Visakhapatnam
Aamar FM 1 Kolkata
Power FM 1 Kolkata

RADIO MICHRI 98.3 FM

Radio Mirchi is a nationwide network of Private FM radio stations in India."Mirchi" is a Hindi
word for Chilli. The station claims to be as "hot" as Chilli. It is one of the subsidiaries of The
Times Group. It has a presence in 7 cities in India namely Ahmedabad, Chennai, Delhi, Indore,
Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune.

Though Radio Mirchi FM radio stations are located in diverse regions in India it's been
successful in attracting local audiences in each of these markets. This is largely due to a superior
understanding of audience preferences, which enables it to provide content customized to the
taste, language and culture of the local audience

A track record of developing creative and innovative content or programming formats has helped
Radio Mirchi expand and retain its audience and advertisers. For example, it has exclusively
released the music for Hindi films such as 'Hum Tum', 'Salaam Namaste', and ‘Mangal Pandey'
where it enjoyed exclusive rights for FM broadcasting of the music of these films for around two
weeks.

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 RADIO ADVERTISING

Radio Mirchi's brand identity is defined by 95% Hindi music and 5% international music. It
targets Sec A and B under the age group 18-35. The English MB see it as a station that's too
commercial and one that plays too many Bollywood songs. The Hindi MB looks at it as a
channel that's very contemporary in terms of music. The study pronounces it as a fit in terms of
content and a misfit in terms of the target group and personality. Mirchi, which has the deepest
pockets of all, has bought an expensive tracking system called Moods Analysis and Mapping to
make sure that it reaches its target audience. Mood Analysis works out what type of music
listeners of various age groups want to hear at different times of the day.

Target audience of Mirchi

They primarily target students, youth and young working adults. The programming and
marketing teams primarily focus on this target audience to develop and market content.
Additionally, they follow a 'day-part' method for focusing on different segments of listeners.
They divide each day into seven day-parts, which consist of family (7:00am to 11:00am),
housewife (11:00am to 2:00pm), youth (2:00pm to 5:00pm), evening drive time (5:00pm to
9:00pm), late evening (9:00pm to 11:00pm), night (11:00pm to 1:00am) and late night (1:00am
to 7:00 am). We focus on different target groups during different day-parts and their
programming is customized to attract targeted listeners.
Programming focus
The primary programming focus is on contemporary film music based radio shows. They
package the sound recordings of film music with the narrative of our radio jockeys, who also
host interviews with various celebrities and engage in dialog with our listeners. They choose the
language mix of the music and programs based on understanding of local listener preferences.
For example, in Delhi and Mumbai primarily play Hindi music, in Chennai primarily play Tamil
music and in Kolkata play a mix of Hindi and Bangla music. The radio jockeys also cater to local
listeners by conversing in local languages, such as Tamil in Chennai and Bangla and Hindi in
Kolkata.
The play list is drawn from a master-list of sound recordings using a research process that is
customized and conducted by IMRB. The research measures the familiarity and popularity of
various film songs. This play list is updated weekly for new releases.

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 RADIO ADVERTISING

They have been successful in attracting and retaining high quality on-air and creative talent. The
radio jockeys are popular in their respective cities.
Mirchi Activation
In addition to deriving income from sale of airtime for radio broadcasting, they participate in the
organization and sponsorship of events and promotional activities, which they term as Mirchi
Activation events. These events usually offer advertisers a combination of radio and on-ground
events, For example, the Mirchi Activation team recently organized an exhibition called Mirchi
Consumex at Delhi and Mirchi Exposure at Ahmedabad, where they worked with several small
exhibitors and businesses who ordinarily may not advertise on radio. The exhibitors paid them
stall charges and/or sponsorship charges for the activity. By organizing such on-ground activities
and promoting them on our radio stations, they derive several benefits, including the following:
• attracting new advertisers who may normally not advertise on radio;
• targeting an advertiser's budget meant for on-the-ground activities;
• strengthening the Radio Mirchi brand; and
• utilizing our airtime inventory

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RADIO CITY 91FM

Radio City, one of India’s premier FM radio networks, was launched on May 21, 2002 in
Mumbai and has captured the hearts of millions of listeners across Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore
and Lucknow by playing truly popular music, attuning itself to the fast-growing radio listeners at
each center. Promoted by Music Broadcast Private Limited (MBPL), Radio City is the first and
only FM Radio to use state-of-the-art digital stereo FM for unmatched quality in signal strength,
clarity and brilliance. To keep pace with the changing market trends, Radio City uses every
opportunity to innovate with the category to build stronger involvement and listenership.
Listener call-ins, live contests and other interactive shows that are listener friendly and offer
fabulous prizes have made the station immensely popular. In keeping with the spirit of
innovation, the station has numerous firsts to its credit like pioneering in the genre of game
shows with the famous Suno Aurr Lakhpati Bano, hosting junior RJ hunt etc.

Target audience
Radio City on the other hand has a TG audience of SEC A, B, C, D and E between the age group
of 18 to 35.The English MB see it as a station that plays only Hindi Bollywood music, and the
Hindi MB see it as a station that has great contests and a good mix of Hindi music. The study
pronounces it as a fit in terms of content and TG.
Radio City, India's premier FM radio network has unveiled its 'new brand campaign', with a new
brand promise aimed at differentiating the brand through innovative content, music leadership,
thought leadership and passion.
The brand promise evolves around the concept of 'City Mein Kho Jao', also the new tagline of
the radio station. With a host of on-air & off-air initiatives, the new brand campaign aspires to
capture the radio listener through during the course of the day with music that caters to every
mood.
As part of this new proposition, Radio City has developed a new station anthem, which is
composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, one of India's Best Music Directors, and is brought to life by
singing sensation, Shaan, Nihira Joshi and Shankar Mahadevan himself. The new brand
campaign firmly focuses on Radio City's core Target Group of SEC AB, in the age group of 18-
30 years. The move thus, marks the beginning of an image makeover for the brand, without
moving away from the core brand ethos. Radio City aims at redefining the listening experience

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by introducing innovative, interactive and differentiated content catering to the needs of the
present day listener.
From creating path breaking programs like Musical-e-Azam to creating content with a discerning
focus on Music...like Maya and Chef Ali Khan.
The new brand identity is supported by an exciting 360-multimedia campaign. The off-air
creatives, position Radio City as a 'companion' who helps the listener move into a positive new
world. One rendition talks about moving into a 'romantic' state of mind, one talks about moving
to a 'relaxed, chilled out' state of mind while the third talks about moving into a 'fun & masti'
state. Radio City plans to provide its listeners with an experiential feel of this new campaign in
the true sense of its new brand promise 'City Mein Kho Jao' by taking them to an exotic Kho-jao
Point. Starting February 12, 2006, every Sunday, Radio City RJs will take the winners of an on-
air contest on a tour of one beautiful and exciting kho-jao destination, which will be an off-the-
cuff and exclusive destination.
The kho-jao trip will have one RJ accompanying the listeners, along with musicians and other
entertaining artists and will engage them in a host of musical games. A combination of good
food and good music, will render the winners with a feeling of "City Mein Kho Jana...." an
escape into a blissful world of music.
Be it through the vivacious radio jockeys going all out to make the listeners 'smile' and groove to
foot-tapping music, interactivity or with the help of novel shows like Babbar Sher, Maya,
Musical-e-Azam, Radio City's fresh sound is all set to mesmerize its audience with a unique
listening experience!

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GO 92.5FM
Go 92.5 FM is an FM radio station in Mumbai, India. The station plays Hindi and English
music. It is operated by the owners of Midday, the city's popular afternoon newspaper. Go 92.5
FM was earlier known as Radio Midday. In 2002, the station was relaunched as an English music
station. However, it switched over to 50% Hindi music to boost its revenues.
One of the most popular shows on this station is "Good Morning Mumbai" which runs on
weekdays from 7 am to 11 am. This show is the subject of the majority of the posts on the
message board of the station's website. A number of other shows such as "College Radio", "Big
Brunch" and "Night Shift with Glenn" are fairly popular with the city's youth.
The station broadcasts at 92.5 megahertz. The number represents the traditional working hours: 9
to 5.

Target audience
Go 92.5, plays English and Westernized Hindi music, it targets Sec A to B1 individuals between
the age group of 15-45. The English MB (music buffs) perceive it as a radio station that plays
good English numbers and has eloquent RJ's whereas the Hindi MB dismiss it because it's too
English centric in it's approach.
Keeping in mind the discerning Mumbaikar aged between 15 and 45, Go aims at providing the
very best in entertainment, information and music.. Now grown up and standing tall on its own,
Go ensures the perfect mix of the contemporary and the classic, bolstered by Cityscan, weather
and traffic updates and local events.

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RED FM 93.5
RED FM 93.5,a part of The India Today Group, is a radio station with attitude and plays popular
Hindi music. Positioned as the Voice of the Common Man, Red FM 93.5 is the only station
listening to the masses and addressing the common man's issues in an entertaining manner. The
station's attitude is well captured by Red's new baseline – Bajaate Raho! It signifies that Red will
not take things lying down - at the same time, will not lose their sense of humor.
Red FM is present in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.
With an all new revamped programming, special T-Series Music, new Star RJs like Malishka ,
Simran and Suresh Menon and an aggressive marketing campaign, Red FM is the fastest
growing radio station. (Source-NRS 2005).
RED FM's special tie-up with T-series presents a huge competitive advantage. Not just that, Red
uses international research technology called DMT (Digital Media Test) to research listeners'
taste in music .The primetime breakfast show, Morning #1, sees 2 new RJs in Mumbai and
Delhi- Malishka (Mumbai) and Simran (Delhi)-who are vivacious, bubbly and full of 'bajate
raho' attitude. Red also welcomes back noted comedian Suresh Menon to a new show, Comedy
#1 in Mumbai, with buddy and the popular RJ Hose. Suresh Menon also creates a laugh riot in
two newly launched humour segments-Angry Ganeshan and Junior Post Office. RJ Anuraag
Pandey in Mumbai continues to entertain listeners in his late morning show while Surendra
Sharma regales all with his deadpan humour. Last but not the least, Ameen Sayani, the golden
voice of radio, offers a hand-picked collection of his best interviews with the legends in the
world of music and movies
Not just that, Red FM's innovative marketing campaign seems to have taken the station's
popularity through the roof. Mumbai is abuzz with Red's current innovative outdoor hoarding
campaign that has taken the city by storm (Source-DNA, Business India, Aaj Tak).
Real-life objects namely car, raft, buckets, ghagra cholis, scissors and graduation degree - each
representing an issue that touches the common man's life - were put up on hoardings. Supported
by a 360 degrees campaign involving fun and interactive ground activities targeting the listeners
as well as the trade, seems to have touched a chord.
MUMBAI
A number of variety of RJ's speak up and entertain the public. From August 1st 2005, RJ named
Malishka has been on AIR on this channel. She was highly appreciated and listened to, when she

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used to be on another channel (intentionally not mentioned). Now, she rules the morning and
makes it most exciting and happening morning for all mumbaikars tuned to this channel. RJ
named Anurag Pandey entertains people by his own style of communication. He has a bulky
manly voice and a superb flow of Hindi.
Favourite RJ among many is Hozae, who hosts Saturday Night Live and a host of other
programs. One of the most notable feature of this Radio Station is that a very Famous RJ Ameen
Sayaani Saheb (Whose catch phrase is "Suniya keejiye, Mazaa Aayegaa" which means "Listen to
it,it will be fun") hosts a program whose voice ruled AM radio for many years. He's quite old but
his voice still remains in the hearts and minds of many. It broadcasts at 93.5 megahertz.

There's also special shows on weekends. One of them is Comedy Number 1 which is hosted by
RJ Hozae and Suresh Menon, a famous Television Comedian. Also, the "RED ALSI TEES
(pronounced as you would pronounce tease) (30)" or the "RED REAL 30(thirty)" is hosted by RJ
Siddharth on weekends broadcasting the week's top 30 songs played and liked by audience.
Fun, music and 'bajaoing' issues that touch the common man - that’s what Red FM stands for.
Bajaate Raho!

Target Audience
Red FM targets an audience in the Sec A,B,C category in the 25 plus age group. The brand
identity for the radio station is all about hot music, English and Hindi, Personality jockeys and
late night talk shows. The English MB see it as a station that has a good mix of music and
irritating but funny RJ's. The Hindi MB see it as a station that plays good Indipop and Punjabi
numbers. Its mostly regarded as a misfit in terms of TG.

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RADIO MIRCHI

CONTENT ANALYSIS OF RADIO PROGRAMME

Program Target Group Theme/ Content wise Comment

Hello Office goers, Stars Interview, poll, traffic Less of interaction, more of
Mumbai morning listeners updates, hindi songs, devang advertisement, hardly songs
patel, devdas, Manilala shah, played consecutively, Hindi
poll stuff songs, poll stuff shd be
made more active

Mumbai Women, Ash Contest, Devdas, Speaks Less of interaction, Long

Meri Jaan abt the coming things to come, Breaks, songs played
Snajeev Kapoor -website consecutively, old & Remix
Hindi songs, Sanjeev
kapoor repeats the same
stuff thrice in 10 min

Total Filmi Afternoon Yuva interview, nighar khan Rj still has that golden
listeners, women interview,Devdas, DingDong touch, connects well,
Youngsters not that
participative, Long Breaks,
mixture of old hindi songs
Bumper to Evening Listeners, Traffic Update, Celebrity new songs and retro, more
Bumper people coming Interview - contest, poll, advt,
from office new songs and retro, whats Songs could be more cool
happening in city, bappi da & energetic

Dil Chatha Night & old age Speaks about love stuff Old & cool songs, Rj
Hai Listeners cconnects well, interactive

Just Early morning Good new hindi songs. Talks RJ is good. Energetic feel
Jagoo Listeners. about things to come throughout to the show.
the day

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RADIO CITY
Program Target Group Theme/ Content wise Comment

Kasa Kai Morning Speaks About city, baabar Interactive, Catchy and
Mumbai Listeners, sher, jokes, humor, haaka Funny
bakka, popat
Ksbkbt, Women Repetition of tv shows Mixed Response
saans

Radio RagaWomen, Soft songs, Play Games, old Rj has created a bond
afternoon listeners songs & 90’s songs with listeners, songs as
per situation, huge
women following

Route no Evening listeners, Games, Interviews, talks to Going Good,

91 people coming people, haaka bakka, Garam moreAdvertisement
back from office Thada SMS poll

Apradhi Youth Horror Show Mixed Response

Kaun

Rahein NA Old People Old & cool Songs Mostly songs played but
Rahein also a good RJ
Hum

Love Guru Youth Solves Love Related Songs Plays Songs As Per
– Night Situation, interactive,
Show Different

Pareshaan Youth Funny Stuff, talks abt daily life Catchy & goes Well as
ho mein problems well as Different

RED

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Program Target Group Theme/ Content wise Comment

Bhakti Songs Early morning, Bhakti songs Going well with target
spiritual people group.

Namaskar Morning General stuff About More songs, less Rj talk,

Mumbai Listeners Mumbai, Mixture of new less interactive
& old songs, flim
Reviews, traffic update

Aaina Women and Mixture of oldies and hits, Consequent songs, less RJ
afternoon takes calls from listener talk. Plays hindi classics
listeners
Taal se taal Afternoon Soft music. yeah meri life Again, less RJ chat and
mila listerners hai contest. more continuous music

Happy Hours Evening listeners. Makes fun of the English Consequent songs. Rj is
language. ‘Sharmaji se boring.
poocho’, ‘Dialogue ke
dhulayi’
Lamhe Night listeners Old classics hindi songs, Going well with the
Ghazals dating back to the listners. Does not have too
60s. many ads.

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 RADIO ADVERTISING

GO
Program Target Group Theme/ Content wise Comment

Good Morning Early morning Special interviews, speaks Rjs are excellent., very
Mumbai listeners. Office about the whole day, has popular and the show is
goers and youth shows like Aao guess kare, very interactive and
Raapchik Sajjan, bol constantly innovating.
bachhan, wake up song

The mid-day women., people Aap kya paka sakte hai. Tol Going well with the
show sitting at home mol ke bol women listeners, and
people sitting at home

Program Target Group Theme/ Content wise Comment

College Radio Youth Has innovative shows like Lot of interactivity, youth
campus star, Exam Board, ar enjoying, quite catch,
Girl Talk, who’s at the door Rj Popular

Horn Ok Please Evening Has shows like dating, Popular among youth &
Listeners, office contest abt yeh meri life executives
executives hai, lord of lyrics, random
sms
Night Shift Youth Classic & Rock Music, Has become a Niche
retro music (totalyy show
english)

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SCHEDULE & RATES OF

FM STATIONS

RADIO MIRCHI SCHEDULE

Time MON TUE WED THRUS FRI SAT SUN

06.00 Just Jaago Just Jaago Just Jaago Just Jaago Just Jaago Just Jaago B2B
07.00 Hello Mumbai Hello Hello Mumbai Hello Mumbai Hello Mumbai Hello Mumbai B2B
Mumbai
8.00 Mirchi
Morning
9.00 Mirchi
Morining
10.00 Mumbai
demand
11.00 Khoobsurat Khoobsurat Khoobsurat Khoobsurat Khoobsurat Khoobsurat Mumbai
Demand
12.00 Astro
13.00 Astro
14.00 Total Flimi Total Flimi Total Flimi Total Flimi Total Flimi Total Flimi My 983
15.00 Back 2
Back
16.00 Back 2
Back
17.00 Bumper2 Bumper2 Bumper2 Bumper2 Bumper2 Bumper2 Back 2
Bumper Bumper Bumper Bumper Bumper Bumper Back
18.00 Bumper2 Indi Pop
Bumper
19.00 Mirchi Top
20
20.00 Mirchi Top
20
21.00 Dil chahata hai Dil chahata Dil chahata Dil chahata Dil chahata CLUB Angrezi
hai hai hai hai MIRCHI Top 20
22.00 Chaska
Mix
23.00 DR Love DR Love DR Love DR Love DR Love Chaska
Mix
12 am Cub Mirchi

1 am Chaska Mix Mirchi top Angrezi top Indipop Mirchi Top 20 My 98.3 My 98.3
20 20
2 am B2b B2b B2b B2b
3 am B2b B2b B2b B2b
4 am B2b
5 am B2b

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RADIO MIRCHI RATE CARD

1 Rate card for solo spot rates (Rs/1 sec )

Day Time band Delhi Mumai Chennai Kolkata Ahmendabad Pune Indore
Part
7 am Family 500 500 220 220 170 170 90
–8
am
8 am Family / 850 650 260 260 215 215 100
– 12 Drive
am
12 Housewife / 260 250 145 145 130 130 60
am – traders /
5 am youth
5 pm Drive 550 400 220 220 170 170 90
– 10
pm
10 Bpo/ 260 250 145 145 130 130 60
pm – Youth /
7 am Drive

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RADIO CITY SCHEDULE

TIME MON TUES WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUN
5.00:00
AM
5:30:00 Intstumentals play only if jock
AM is in place.
06:00:0
0AM Calm and light Calm and light
06:30:0 6.00 am to 9.00
0AM 5.00 am to 7.00 am (Savera) am
07:00:0 Radio City
0AM SAVERA
07:30:0
0AM
08:00:0
0AM
08:30:0 KASE KAI MUMBAI KOMEDY KA
0AM (Prachi) KING KONG
09:00:0 From joyful to
0AM Producer: Utkarsh energetic
09:30:0 Jock to move from Joyful to
0AM energetic and cheerful.
10:00:0
0AM 8,00 am to 11.00 am
10:30:0 SUNDAY KE
0AM KOMEDY KA KING KONG FUNDAY
11:00:0
0AM (Kavita)
11:30:0 Producer:
0AM Monaz
12:00:0
0PM 11.00 am to 2.00 pm
12:30:0 KOMEDY KA KING
0PM Masala Mix (Lavanya) KONG
01:00:0 BOSS ka BOSS
0PM Producer:Utkarsh (Ravi)
handover links with Annirudh
01:30:0 from 1.30 to move into (Romantic and
0PM romantic and calm. cheerful)
02:00:0
0PM
02:30:0
0PM 2.00 pm to 5.00 pm MANGTA HAI
03:00:0 FILM VILM PYAR VYAR
0PM (Annirudh) KOMEDY KA KING KONG (Paragi)
03:30:0 Producer:
0PM Monaz
04:00:0
0PM Producer: Monaz
(From Romantic
to
04:30:0 handover links with Route Happy/Cheerful
0PM No.91 jock )
05:00:0 Countdown
0PM Request Hour (Kyon Sunayen) Show,
05:30:0 Enthusiasm,
0PM 5.00 pm to 6.00 pm Anticipation
06:00:0 Dhoom Pichak
0PM ROUTE NUMBER 91(Rahul) Dhoom
06:30:0 Producer: Monaz (Praveen)

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0PM
07:00:0
0PM Producer Monaz
07:30:0
0PM
Komed
y ka Rahul anchors Best of KKK
08:00:0 King Komedy ka king Starting Monday 22nd (8.00 to
0PM Kong kong January. 9.00pm)
08:30:0 with songs
0PM INDIAN IDOL Move into mellow music in between
9:00:00 Approximately 7 links go on
PM air
9:30:00 Move to
PM Mellow Music
10:00:0
0PM Laidback and relieved
10:30:0
0PM Maya to start on January 15th
11:00:0
0PM Laidback, Serene, Relieved
11:30:0 Disco
0PM Nights
12:00:0 (Sohini
0AM LOVE GURU )
12:30:0
0AM Producer: Alok
01:00:0
0AM SeSerene, Calm and Quiet
01:30:0
0AM
02:00:0
0AM
02:30:0 JAAGTE RAHO
0AM (Praveen
03:00:0
0AM Bharati/Vishakha/Monaz
03:30:0
0AM
04:00:0 Back to back
0AM music
04:30:0
0AM
05:00:0
0AM (Back to back music)

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RADIO CITY RATE CARD

RADIO CITY - RATE CARD

Spot rates based on 10 seconds (in Rs.) 4

Time bands Mumbai Delhi Bangalore Lucknow 104.8FM

91 FM 91 FM 91 FM

Round the clock 1700 1700 2100 600

(Any 8 hour time band)
0800-1200 2000 2000 2500 700
1700-2100
1200 - 1700 1800 1800 2200 650
2100 - 2400 1800 1800 2200 650

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GO 92.5 FM SCHEDULE
Time Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Big Brunch
0700- Good Morning Mumbai (GMM) (0800-1200 hrs)
1100 Jaggu & Taranna T-Man
hrs

Mumbai Matinee
1100- The Midday Show
(1200-1600 hrs)
1400 Shruti
Ravi
hrs

1400-
1800 College Radio Back to Back
hrs Nadir (1600-1800 hrs)
1700- Orange Request Hour Travel Guy
1800
hrs
Mumbai Top 20
1800- Horn Ok Please (1800-2100 hrs)
2100 Malini Annie &
hrs Sangram

Bacardi Breezer Vivid

2100- NightShift Nineties on 925
Nights
0000 Glenn Chris
Malini
hrs

0000- Live DJ Set Midnight

Midnight Shift
0100 Sandy Shift
hrs

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GO 92.5 FM RATE CARD

Time Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Big Brunch
0700- Good Morning Mumbai (GMM) (0800-1200
1100 Jaggu & Taranna hrs)
hrs Rate: 2000/- T-Man
Rate: 1000/-
Mumbai
Matinee
1100- The Midday Show
(1200-1600
1400 Shruti
hrs)
hrs Rate: 1000/-
Ravi
Rate: 750/-
1400-
Back to Back
1800 College Radio
(1600-1800
hrs Nadir
hrs)
1700- Orange Request Hour
Travel Guy
1800 Rate: 1000/-
Rate: 750/-
hrs
Mumbai Top
20 (1800-
1800- Horn Ok Please
2100 hrs)
2100 Malini
Annie &
hrs Rate: 1750/-
Sangram
Rate: 1000/-
Bacardi Breezer Vivid Nineties on
2100- NightShift
Nights 925
0000 Glenn
Malini Chris
hrs Rate: 875/-
Rate: 875/- Rate: 500/-
Midnight
0000- Live DJ Set
Midnight Shift Shift
0100 Sandy
Rate: 600/- Rate:
hrs Rate: 600/-
600/-

*All rates are per 10 seconds of airtime

Super Prime Time Band (0800hrs-1000hrs) and (1800hrs-2000hrs)

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Red FM 93.5 Schedule

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Hello Mike
Testing - TBD
7:00 7:00
(HMT 092 26-
03-06 feat. )
Morning # 1 - Malishka TBD - Arnaz
8:00 8:00
Asli 30 -
9:00 Siddharth (A30 9:00
088 26-03-06)
10:00 10:00
11:00 11:00
TBD -
12:00 Anuraag Ke Raag - Anuraag Arnaz 12:00
Abhinav
13:00 13:00
14:00 Comedy # 1 - 14:00
Jose &
15:00 Mera Waala Gaana - Arnaz Abhinav 15:00
Suresh
16:00 Menon 16:00
17:00 Sharma Ji Se Poochho - Dilip & Surendra Sharma 17:00
18:00 18:00
Mumbai Local Dilip
19:00 19:00
Mumbai Local - Jose & Dilip - Dilip
20:00 20:00
21:00 21:00
Saturday Asli 30 -
22:00 Night Live - Siddharth (A31 22:00
Abhinav Jose 088 25-03-6)
23:00 23:00
0:00 0:00
1:00 1:00
2:00 2:00
3:00 Back To Back 3:00
4:00 4:00
5:00 5:00
6:00 6:00

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RATECARD RED FM
INDIVIDUAL CITY RATES
City Prime SPT NPT/ROS
Mumbai 1,800 2,400 1,350
Delhi 2,100 2,850 1,350
Kolkotta 1,500 1,800 900

Super Prime Time:

Mornings 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m
Evenings 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Prime Time: Mornings 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.

Mornings 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Evenings 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Evenings 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

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PERSONAL INTERVIEW (QUESTIONNAIRE)

PEOPLE INTERVIEWED –
1. ARUN BIJLANI – SENIOR MANAGER (SALES) – RADIO MIRCHI
2. AMIT VICHARE – ASSISTANT MANAGER (SALES) – RED FM
3. BHARAT SHARMA – ASSISTANT MANAGER (SALES)- RADIO CITY
4. FABIAN COWAN – SALES HEAD (MUMBAI) – GO FM

1. What does GO/ RED / MIRCHI / CITY represent?

Mirchi : It represents HOT music
City : It represents the music content that connects with the people
Go : It represents young people with attitude and mentality for music
Red : It represents Attitude and voice of a common man

2. How have you positioned GO/ RED / MIRCHI / CITY? What is your USP
Mirchi: Apka Apna Bollywood station! The ultimate stop for all the film world buzz. Mirchi
caters to the young at heart. It’s a royal mix of fun and entertainment! As far as music is
concerned, we are a hit radio format. We play music, which is already a hit amongst audiences.
And we do not break new songs. 80 per cent of Mirchi’s content is contemporary Bollywood
music That’s the Mirchi fare for you
As our punch line says, 'it is hot.' We have a very clearly defined position - we are a
contemporary hit radio station, and our TG is 15 to 35 - SEC A and B. Most of the music that we
play today is post 1995, 96.
City: Its music for the masses , the songs played really connect with people Radio City plays
only hit music, which is predominantly in Hindi – whether classics, Bollywood music or Indipop
– with a playlist designed from extensive consumer research.
Go: GO 92.5 FM has always positioned itself as a ‘fun and young’ Mumbai brand. As a radio
station, whatever we do in terms of programming or marketing, are efforts to maintain and
substantiate this positioning.

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Red: Red is all about being bright, being fresh and being vibrant. It's the opposite of dull. Red is
the color of life and connotes energy. Everything we do around the station reflects this attitude
and adds to the brand. We are vivacious and that's what the brand has now come to mean.

3. Who are your Target Audience ?

Mirchi: They are youth 15 –35 Sec A , B
City: 15-35 sec A1, B1 , B2
Go: 15-40 Sec A,B
Red: 15 – 40 Sec A, B , C, D music for masses

4. How well do you connect with college students? Are there any specific efforts (events) on
your part to do that?
Mirchi: There are specific shows targeted at youngsters such as Bollywood Centric and
Totally Filmi
City: There are shows targeted at youngsters where efforts are taken to make them
involve and participate
Go: We have a special show which is meant for college students called College Radio
which connects well with college students
Red: College events tie ups with 150 colleges , Rizvi – festival saskam

5. What is your definition of a good radio advertisement?

Mirchi : That is creative and connects well with the people
City : That is humorous , relates , useful and can be recalled easily
Go : That makes sense , prompt the consumer to take action
Red : That creates response , triggers people on the move

6. Radio has an audio appeal unlike TV, which has a visual impact also, so why do you
think advertisers should consider radio as a viable medium for placing their ads?
Mirchi: Radio is a medium which can heard by the people at anytime while Tv you have to
devote specific time

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City: In TV the viewership is always limited whereas radio as medium can be heard anytime and
everytime, one more advantage is that on radio is possible to make correction quickly, which
takes lot of time on TV.
Go: Its takes lesser time to grasp an audio impact than TV impact , words get registered in the
mind faster.
Red: Time spent on TV has reduced before it was 160 mins per day now it as become 120 mins
, radio reach is better than TV and also it is less costly as compared to TV.

7. Do you go by a time- band strategy? Does the segmentation addresses specific audience
for various day parts?
Mirchi: Yes, we have 7-11 mainly for office goers , 11-5 which is meant for youngsters
, 5-9 again for office goers and House Wife 11-5
City: Morning – office goers , Evening – office goers , afternoon – youngsters, but
however its more of mood mapping where music is played according to mood
Go: Yes, 7 –11 – Young professional
11-2 - Young women
2 –6 - Young college students
6- 8 - Office goers
8-10 - Mature audience
12- 5 - BPO crowd
Red: Yes, 7- 11 office goers
11- 2 House wife
2 – 5 College Students
6 –11 office movers

8. What all marketing activities have been taken on by GO/ RED / MIRCHI / CITY in order
to build itself as a brand?
Mirchi : As far as marketing is concerned, there are two aspects to it - establishing the brand
itself so that it has a top of mind recall and secondly, to develop a large number of loyal listeners
In Mumbai we have tie up with colleges such as NMIMS with their event Sampark, also
umbrella are distributed with mirchi name on it.

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City : Live favourite songs are played on radio channels where audience themselves are
involved and their requests are played which makes the show popular and the channel
Go : College radio with is really popular helps Go to gets the popularity and such shows helps
to build itself as a brand
Red : Many on the ground activities are taken place such as the whole lower parel station was
painted red to promote RED Fm brand apart from that bus shelters etc.

9. How would you describe the audience of Mumbai? Are they any different as compared
to other metros?
Mirchi: Yes, More vibrant , Energetic , Fast pace of Life
City: Not much difference , music has no categories
Go: Yes , Adapts to fashion more quickly , fast paced , tolerant , voice their
opinion
Red: Yes , in terms of flavour of music chosen , its typical Mumbaikar type.

10. What role does content innovation play in keeping ahead of competition? what is the
strategy of GO/ RED / MIRCHI / CITY in terms of deciding on the kind of content in city
like Mumbai?
Mirchi : Its an interactive medium so definitely the content has to be such that it appeals to the
audience
City : Radio City has pioneered innovative programming techniques, be it for the genre of
gameshows or various other contests. For monsoons, we are having a special programme called
Radio City Gaddha Tere Naam, which has been specially designed to address the issue of
potholes.
The strategy for each city depends on its listener-base and the local needs. However, the content
needs to be innovated almost on a daily basis to retain freshness. The RJ is a friend for the
listener and how he looks at topical issues makes the listener tune in.
Go : Content innovation plays very important , we play a mixture of hindi and English music ,
its all about the way you say , presentation plays important role in appealing to the audience
Red : Research guides us on deciding the content. What the competition does is not of prime
importance. Music is a station’s identity; one has to undertake thorough research on the desired

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target group. Some songs are played more frequently than the rest but all the songs have to cater
to that market. Radio is like the theatre of the mind. Take away the visual and keep only the
sound, you and I will see something different. It’s a powerful medium.

11. What genre of programming appeals to listeners today?

Mirchi : If we are talking about youngsters then Hip Hop music
City : More of show where requests are played
Go : It depends on the kind of audience , the music that then can relate to.
Red : Request songs , more of morning shows , breakfast shows

12. Which are the programmes on your radio channel targeted at youngsters and which is
the best time slot to reach them on your channel
Mirchi : Bumper 2 Bumper 2pm to 5 pm
Total Filmi 5 pm to 9 pm
City : Kyon sunaye request songs 5 pm to 6 pm
Go : College Radio 2 pm to 6 pm , Horn OK Please 6 pm to 9 pm
Red : Mera wala Gana 2 pm to 5 pm

13. Any one show on your channel that you call extraordinary and feel proud which really
connects with youngsters also?
Mirchi : Bumper to Bumper
City : Kyon sunaye
Go : College Radio
Red : Morning No 1

14. What is the station’s current advertiser profile?

Mirchi : Corporate : Hutch , reliance Infocom , ICICI .
City : UTI , LIC , BPCL , GO AIR , Sony music.
Go : Hutch , BPL , Apollo tyres , LIC
Red : Hindustan lever , Sony , Zee, Star , Today , Lexi

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15. Do you feel advertisement of products such as pens is effective on a medium like radio?
if so why ?
Mirchi : Yes , it serves as a reminder medium to products such as pens , it has to be
complimented with print campaign or TV , It is more of a tactical medium.
City : Yes , it serves as a local medium which connects with the local people so products such
as pens can be advertised on radio.
Go : Yes , Products such as pens equally need to create brand awaness as much as other
products do and radio is a very effective medium for that.
Red : Yes , cause radio is a cost effective medium and products such as pens can be
advertised on radio which has a high reach and it serves as a reminder medium.

16. Now that radio has firmly established itself, are local advertisers looking at radio as a
part of the regular media plan? And, are they accepting radio as a reminder medium or a
brand-building medium?
Mirchi : Its more of a reminder medium which has to complemented with print or TV
campaign
City : It’s a mixture of reminder and brand building medium
Go : It acts more of a support medium , it helps to reinforce the awareness
Red : Its more of reminder medium has to be supported with TV

17. What role does an RJ in attracting youngest to your radio station ? Is a Radio
Jockey a support to the station?
Mirchi : An RJ has to be creative in his talks , he is the one who connents with the people and
plays the role of pulling the crowd towards the station
City : He is like the local celebrity who pulls the crowd
Go : He creates a bond with the audience
Red : Interactive , Voice of the audience , presentation and the content or they would be just
plain music

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18. Name any radio commercial you think was effective, and why?
Mirchi : Airtel campaign which has first run on radio and later on cause of its popularity also
came on TV (the one Shahruk khan in it)
City : Health club advertisement – talwalkars
Go : Hutch advertisement – jingle , Clinic all clear
Red : Nerolac - Jingle

19. Where do you rate GO/ RED / MIRCHI / CITY as compared to other fm stations ?
Mirchi : Mirchi is No 1 cause it has a more reach as compared to its advertisers
City : City is No 1 with a listernership of around 20 lakhs per day
Go : Go ranks 4th as far as listernership but rating it in terms of advertisement and awareness
its 2nd
Red : We effectively reach the people we target. So we are number one in the segment that
caters to our target audience. Mirchi is probably the number one brand as far as radio is
concerned. I cannot however see how that connects to the actual listenership in that terms we
may be 3rd.

20. Finally ,what are the future plans of your channel?

Mirchi:It plans to expand its presence to 25 more cities and to 32 stations
City: To position itself as the most powerful Indian FM brand
Go: Realignment will take place in order to face the competition with more number of
stations coming up and still have the same number of audience
Red: Expansion plans to 45 cities, marketing campaigns, placing ads on television also in
future

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RESEARCH METHODLOGY

Research Topic:
To place an advertisement on FM Radio based on the listening habits on the people

Research Objective:
1. To determine the listening habits, the perceptions and the preferences of radio listeners.
2. To determine if radio is an effective medium for products such as pens.
3 .To determine the best channel for advertisement on radio.
4. To identify the most effective time slot and its impact for placement of advertisement of Linc
Gelstick Pen based on the most popular radio channel.

Type of Research: Descriptive Research

Research City:
Mumbai

Sample Size:
For survey purpose the sample size chosen is 150 people.

Sampling Technique:
Stratified Random sampling
We will stratify our sample on the basis of:

AGE GROUP
15 – 18 38 25.33 %
19 – 21 35 23.33 %
22 – 25 44 29.33 %
26 – 28 28 18.66 %
29 & ABOVE 5 3.33 %
TOTAL 150

EDUCATION
JUNIOR 42 28 %
COLLEGE
SENIOR 42 28 %
COLLEGE
99
POST 66 44 %
GRADUATE
TOTAL 150
 RADIO ADVERTISING

Methodology Employed:
1.Questionnaire in English
2. Personnel Interview

Research Duration:
31ST January 2006 – 21ST March 2006

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SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE
Date: Day: Time:

PERSONAL DETAILS

1. Name:

2. Telephone No/Mobile No:

3. E-mail Address:

4. Age:
AGE CODE
15-18 1
19- 21 2
22-25 3
26-28 4
29 and above 5

5. Gender:

GENDER CODE
Male 1
Female 2

6. Educational Qualification

Educational Qualification. CODE

Junior college 1
Senior college 2
Post graduate 3

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RESEARCH QUESTIONAIRE

1. Do you LISTEN to FM-Radio?

Code
Answe

Yes 1
No 2

2. Which are the FM Radio stations names that you aware of?
1. _____________
2. _____________
3. _____________
4. _____________

3. The catch line of various FM Station are given below can u recall the name of
the station

1. Its hot ________________

2. City mai kho jao ________________
3. Sound of Mumbai ________________
4. Bajate Raho ________________

4. The FREQUENCIES of FM-Radio stations are given below. Which of them are you
aware of?
Answer
Code
98.3 1
92.5 2
91.0 3
93.5 4

5. Which of the following FM stations do you listen to most frequently?

Answer Code
Radio Mirchi 1
Radio City 2
Red 3
Go 4

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6. Your Reason for listening to that particular Fm station

Answer Code
1. Better Music 1
2. Radio Jockey 2
3. Good mixture of content on the 3
channel (timing, Commercials, News,
Music)
4. Information (News, Sports, Contests) 4

7. How many times in a week do you listen to FM Radio?

Answer
Code
1. Everyday 1
2. Once in Two days 2
3. Once in Three days 3
4. Twice in a week 4

8. Which part of the day do you tune into FM?

Time slots -

Answer Code Answer Code

Morning Afternoon
6 am to 7 am 1 12 pm to 1 pm 1
7 am to 8 am 2 1 pm to 2 pm 2
8 am to 9 am 3 2 pm to 3 pm 3
9 am to 10 am 4 3 pm to 4 pm 4
10 am to 11 am 5 4 pm to 5 pm 5
11 am to 12 pm 6 5 pm to 6 pm 6

Answer Code Answer Code

Evening Night
6 pm to 7 pm 1 12 am to 1 am 1
7 pm to 8 pm 2 1 am to 2 am 2
8 pm to 9 pm 3 2 am to 3 am 3
9 pm to 10 pm 4 103 3 am to 4 am 4
10 pm to 11 pm 5 4 am to 5 am 5
11 pm to 12 pm 6 5 am to 6 am 6
 RADIO ADVERTISING

9. How long do you listen to radio FM in a session?

Answer Code
1. 20 mins or less 1
2. 20 to 40 mins 2
3. 40 to 60 mins 3
4. More than an Hour 4

10. How do you normally access your Daily Dose of your favorite FM ?

Answer Code
Multi-System 1
Portable FM-Receiver 2
Mobile Phone 3
Car 4
Others 5

11. Do you normally switch channels?

Code
Answe

Yes 1 Go to Q12
No 2 Go to Q13

12. Reason for switching Channels?

Answer Code
RJ Talks 1
Commercials 2
To get Better Music 3
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13. List your favourite programmes on your Favorite FM station

1. _________________
2. _________________
3. _________________
4. _________________

14. List your favourite programmes on other FM stations

1. Radio City _________________
2. Radio Mirchi _________________
3. GO _________________
4. RED _________________

15. Which brands of pen do you recall?

1 _____________ 5. ___________
2. _____________ 6. ___________
3. _____________ 7. ___________
4. _____________

16. From where did you come to know about these pens?

Answer Code
TV 1 Go to Q19
Radio 2 Go to Q17
Friends / Family 3 Go to Q19
Print 4 Go to Q19
Bus Shelters 5 Go to Q19

17. Can you recollect any Pen Advertisements on FM?

Answer
Code
Linc 1 Go to Q18
Add 3 Go to Q19
Lexi 4 Go to Q19
Reynolds 5 Go to Q19
Today 6 Go to Q19

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Parker 7 Go to Q19

18. Do you recall the Punch line for Linc pens?

_______________________________________
_______________________________________

19. Which Pen Brands do you mostly purchase?

Answer
Code
Linc 1
Montex 2
Add 3
Lexi 4
Reynolds 5
Today 6
Parker 7

20. Do you feel a ‘Pen’ Ad. on FM will enthuse you to buy that Brand?

Answer
Code
Strongly Agree 1
Agree 2
Neither 3
Disagree 4
Strongly Disagree 5

THANK YOU

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TABLES & ANALYSIS

GENDER RATIO

47% MALE
53% FEMALE

Out of sample size of 150 respondents, 80 were males and 70 females (refer table 1.0)

Education

junior coll
28%
Post grad junior coll
44%
Senior coll
Post grad
Senior coll
28%

Out of sample size of 150 respondents, 42 were from junior college, 42 from senior college and
66 were postgraduates (refer table 1.1)

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BRAND RECALL OF FM STATION

Brand Recall of FM station

130

139
Radio Mirchi (98.3)

11
119
Red (93.5)

90 110

31
124

26
Go (92.5)

116

131

19
Radio City (91.00)

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

No of respondents

Top of Mind Aided Unaware

Observation: (refer table 1.3)

Radio Mirchi is the most popular FM station with a strong brand recall of 130 respondents
enjoying 88.66 % recall followed by Radio City with 77.33 % recall. Respondents were able to
recall these stations quickly. Next to follow is Go which is not far behind Radio Mirchi and
Radio City however many of respondents were unaware about Red which not favourite among
the respondents as around 31 respondents were unaware about it.

Catch line Recall

150 134
122
No of People

105
100
55 Series1
50

0
Mirchi City Red Go
FM station

Observation: (refer table 1.4)

It can be observed that respondents can strongly recall the catch line for Mirchi with 134
respondents able to recall it thereby enjoying 89.33% recall followed by city which is not far
behind with 122 respondents enjoying 81.33 % recall however only 70% respondents recalled
Go catch line followed by Red with only 30 % recall

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Frequency Awarness of Station

150
No of People

100
Series1
50

0
Mirchi City Red Go
FM Station

Observation: (refer table 1.5)

It can be observed that nearly 92.66% of the respondents were able to recall the frequency of
Mirchi station which shows there is a strong awareness for it although Radio city is not too
behind thereby enjoying a 89.33 % recall of frequency followed by Go with 74% and red 70%.

Prefernce for FM station

No of respondents

150 128
102 110
96
100
Series1
50

0
Mirchi City Red Go
FM station

Observation (refer table 1.6)

It is clear from the above table that the respondents have a clear preference for Radio Mirchi
enjoying a preference of 85.33 % however an important thing to observe is that even though Go
does not score high on brand awareness as compared to radio city its more preferred to Radio
City among youngsters enjoys a preference of 73.33 % better that Radio City with 68%.

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Main Reason for Preference

Info
7%
Better
Music Better Music
Good
41% RJ
Mixture
35% Good Mixture
Info

RJ
17%

Observation: (refer table 1.6)

It can be observed that main reason for preference of FM station is Better Music, the kind of
music played on the FM is the reason for its popularity however respondents also feel that a good
mixture of Music, updates, Commercials is also the reason why they prefer listening to that
particular FM station , although RJ plays an important role in pulling the listeners towards the
station but however is not considered as important as better music and good mixture of content.

100 88
Frequency in a week
80
No of people

60 47
40
20 12
3
0
Everyday Once in two Once in Twice in a
days three days week
Days

Observation: (refer table 1.7)

It can be observed that nearly 58.66 % listen to FM everyday while almost 31.33 % of the
respondents listen to FM once in two days followed by 8 % respondents who listen once in three
days while only 2 % tune in twice in a week thus shows there are more number of respondents
tuning in everyday

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BEST TIME SLOT PREFERED BY RESPODENTS

Time SLot - Morining

50 42
40
No of People

32 31
30 24
20 Series1
17
20
10
0
Moring 6am - 7 am - 8am - 9am - 10 am 11 am
7 am 8 am 9 am 10 am - 11 - 12
am
Timing

Time Slot - Afternoon

160 132 140 132

140 112 121 111
No of People

120
100
80 Series1
60
40
20
0
on

pm

pm

pm

pm
pm
pm
o

-1
rn

-2

-3

-4

-5

-6
te

pm

pm

pm

pm

pm

pm
Af

12

Timming

Time Slot - Evening

113 109
120 98 95
84
No of People

100 76
80
60 Series1
40
20
0
2
ng

pm

pm

pm
pm

pm

-1
i
in

-8
-7

-9

pm
e

-1

-1
Ev

pm
pm

pm

11
pm

pm
7
6

10

Timming

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Time Slot - Night

120 112
100 90
No of People

80
60 Series1
40
12 10 15
20 5
0
Night 12 am 1am - 2 am - 3 am - 4 am - 5 am -
- 1am 2 am 3 am 4 am 5 am 6 am
Timming

BEST TIME SLOT (PREFERENCE OF TIME TO TUNE IN A DAY )

No of % No of %
Morning Respondent Afternoo Respondent
6 am -7 am 20 13.33 n
7 am- 8 am 17 11.33
8 am -9 am 24 16 12 pm-1 112 74.66
pm
9 am-10 am 32 21.33 1 pm-2 pm 121 80.66
10 am-11 am 31 20.66 2 pm-3 pm 132 88
11 am-12 pm 42 28 3 pm-4 pm 140 93.33
4 pm-5 pm 132 88
5 pm-6 pm 111 74
No of %
Evening Respondent
No of %
6pm-7 pm 113 75.33 Night Respondent
7pm-8 pm 109 72.66 12am-1am 112 74.66
8pm-9 pm 98 65.33 1 am-2 am 90 60
9pm-10 95 63.33
2 am-3 am 12 8
pm
10pm-11 84 56 3 am-4 am 10 6.66
pm 4 am-5 am 5 3.33
11pm-12 76 50.66
5 am-6 am 15 10
pm

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Observation: (refer table 1.8)

From the above analysis we can see that most popular and most heard time slot is 2 pm to 5 pm
where there are more number of respondents tuning in to listen to FM almost 90 % of the
respondents find that slot to be their favourite and make sure to tune in at that point of time, if we
have a look at the morning time slot then most respondents tune at 11 am to 12 pm nearly 28 %,
is highest in the morning slot , we see that the afternoon slot almost 70 to 90% of respondents
tune in at that point of time which means that advertisers should place their advertisements at this
point of time , then almost 70% of the respondents prefer to tune at evening at 6 pm to 8 pm , as
far the night slot is concerned 12 am to 1 am is most popular and heard.

Frequency in a day
100 84
80 55
No of People

60
40
20 3 8
0
20 mins 20 min 40 to 60 More
or less to 40 mins than an
mins hour
Time

Observation: (refer table 1.9)

It can be observed that 56% of the respondents listen to FM more than hour while 36.66% of
respondents listen to FM for about to 40 to minutes and less number of respondents less for 20 to
40 mins or less .

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Mode of Access

160 135
140 125
No of people

120
90 85
100
80 Series1
60
40 15
20
0
Multi Portable Mobile Car Others
System Fm Phone
receiver
Mode of Access

Observation: (refer table 2.0)

It can be observed that majority of the respondents tune in to FM by way of portable FM receiver
nearly 90% while since most of the youngsters have a mobile phone with FM almost 84 % tune
in through mobile followed by multi system at home and by car where nearly 60 % of
respondents tune in.

Switching of Channels

24

Sw itch Channels
Yes
No

126

Observation: (refer table 2.1)

When asked if they prefer to switch channels we see that a majority of them prefer to switch
channels almost 84 % and only 16 % stick with the same channel

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Main Reason for switching

RJ Talks
30% RJ Talks
Better
Commercials
Music
47% Better Music

Commercls
23%

Observation: (refer table 2.2)

It can be observed that majority of the respondents 47% prefer to switch channels not because
they find commercials irritating but they want to listen to good music which makes them switch
channel in between if they find that music is boring, RJ talks also makes them switch channels
and only 23 % would switch channel to actually avoid advertisements.

Favourite Programme
160
No of Respodents

135
140 125 121 112 106 110 101 106 122
120 98 105
94 93
100
80
60
40
20
0
l R ye

Ka uru

t
er Mo plz

a
Su mi

N Mi x
al g 1

M asa e
R um

D 91
o
B

hf
Lo Gan

M Lov
or adi
C na

tS
un Fil
To 2

sa e G
W nin

iM

te
ok

l
B

gh
ou
Ky tal

r
a
r
n

Ka v
ol
H

id
a
M

Observation: (refer table 2.3)

From the Analysis we can observe that favourite programme among the Respondents is College
radio which is aired on Go with 90 % of respondents choosing it to be their favourite followed
by Bumper to Bumper which is favourite among 83.33 % of the respondents aired on Mirchi ,
while the closest to it is Mid night shift which is again aired on Go in the midnight favourite
among 81.33 respondents , while the rest the programmes which follow are favourite among 60
to 70 % of the respondents

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No of respondents
Brand recall of Pen
150 116 128
102
88
100 68 62
50
0
y

s
r
xi

d
nc

ke
da

ld
Ad
Le
Li

no
r
To

Pa

ey
R
Brands of Pen

Observation: (refer table 2.4)

It can be observed that 85.33 % of respondents were to recall the brand parker as it advertised all
through the year on radio and on TV while the closest to it is Lexi which is mostly advertised
during season but respondents have a strong recall for it, while 68 % respondents were able to
recall today and only 58.66 % respondents were able to recall Linc which means that more
efforts need to be put in order to create brand awareness for Linc

Source of Awarness
No of Respodents

136 122
150 111
88 75 72
100
50
0
Hoarding
Friends /
TV

Radio

shelters
Print
Family

Bus

Source

Observation: (refer table 2.5)

It can be observed that almost 90% came to know about the brands of pens through TV but
important thing to observe is that next source of awareness is radio 81.33 % of respondent came
to know about the brands of pens from radio followed by print which is also closest to radio
enjoying 74% awareness

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Brand Recall of Pen on FM

No od respodents
150 102 110
100 55 44 42 51
50
0

r
xi
D
nc

ke
da
ld
AD

Le
Li

no

r
To

Pa
ey
R
Brands of Pens

Observation: (refer table 2.6)

It can be observed that brand Parker enjoys 90% recall of the respondents followed by
Lexi, which enjoys 83.60 % while Linc brand, recall was only 45.08 recall, which means
more efforts could be put in to increase its awareness by increasing the frequency of
advertisements.

PUNCH LINE RECALL – LINC

Punch Line recall - Linc

Yes
40% Yes
No No
60%

Observation: (refer table 2.7)

It can be observed that 22 respondents were able to recall the punch line while nearly 60 % that
is 33 respondents were not able to recall it.

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Purchase Behaviour of Pens

No of Respondents 102
120
100
80 58 65
55
60 42
40 18
20 2
0

y
s
x

r
d

xi
nc

ke
ld

da
te

Ad

Le
Li

no
on

r
To

Pa
ey
M

R
Brands of Pens

Observation: (refer table 2.8)

It can be observed that majority of the respondents purchase Lexi almost 70 % followed by
Parker which enjoys a share of 43.33 % then Linc and Today with a share of nearly
40 %

Conviction of FM ADs
No of Respondents

80
61
60
40
40 27
16
20 6
0
Strongly Agree Neitheir Disagree Strongly
Agree Dsiagree

Observation: (refer table 2.9)

It can be observed that nearly 40% agree that they would go ahead and purchase the pen if they
are convinced about its advertisement on FM and 26% strongly agree with that followed by 18%
who have no opinion and 10% disagree that pen ad would enthuse them to buy the pen .

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PERSONAL INTERWIEW QUESTIONS RELATED TO CASE STUDY

1. Do you feel advertisement of products such as pens is effective on a medium like radio? if
so why ?
Mirchi : Yes , it serves as a reminder medium to products such as pens , it has to be
complimented with print campaign or TV , It is more of a tactical medium.
City : Yes , it serves as a local medium which connects with the local people so products such
as pens can be advertised on radio.
Go : Yes , Products such as pens equally need to create brand awaness as much as other
products do and radio is a very effective medium for that.
Red : Yes , cause radio is a cost effective medium and products such as pens can be
advertised on radio which has a high reach and it serves as a reminder medium

2. Any advertisements of Pens of your channel?

Mirchi : Ceilo earlier
City : Lexi ,Linc ,parker
Go : Lexi
Red : Lexi ,Today

3. If products such as pens has to be advertised on radio what would be the best
programme and time slot on your channel?
Mirchi : Bumper 2 Bumper 2-5
City : Kyun Sunaye 5 pm to 6 pm , Bollywood Masala Mix 11 am to 2 pm
Go : College radio 2pm –5pm
Red : Mera wala gana – 11 am to 2 pm

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INFERENCES

From the above analysis the inferences that could be drawn are as follows:

1. Advertisers while planning should not make the mistake of attempting to convert TV viewers
to radio but must promote their advertisements on radio treating it as a different brand altogether.

2. Radio Channels are now able to fine tune their programmes to niche audiences at different
time slots and thus provide media planners with an appropriate tool to decide where best their ad
spend on radio goes

3. Radio is cost effective medium not only to be treated as reminder medium but also the one
which creates brand awareness

4. Instead of spreading the spots through the day/week, focus on the time brands that work for
your target audience – eg early morning traffic time for working men and afternoons for
youngsters, even if they are at a marginal premium

5. Schedule at least 6 spots per day station chosen to create sufficient salience. If
budgets are a constraint , compromise on length of campaign

6. In a multi –station FM market, spread your budget with at least two stations thereby reducing
the risk of “not being heard”

7. Advertisers can focus the efforts on Radio Mirchi which has a high reach and enjoys a brand
awareness of 88.66% also is the most popular among the respondents.

8. Radio city has a better brand recall than Go FM but however Go connects well with college
students and is preferred by them which is the target audience that Advertising Avenues is
looking for. The respondents may not be able to recall the name of the channel that their
favourite programme is aired but however they know the name of the show and the timings

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which is the reason we see that GO’s college radio programme scores better than most the Radio
city Programmes.

9. If Advertising Avenues had to place the advertisements on radio, instead of concentrating their
efforts on one channel they can place the advertisements on multiple channels such as Radio
Mirch is which most popular and has a high reach and Go which connect well with college
students cause of their programmes.

10. Time slot to place the ads from the point of view of the target audience is 2 pm to 5 pm
which is the most heard time slot and also most the respondents have their favourite programmes
played on this time, although it is non prime time but it connects with the TG another non prime
slot to be considered is 12 am to 1 am.

11. The other time slots to be considered as far as prime time goes is 11 am to 12 pm and 6 pm to
8 pm which is also most heard time slot

12. There is Strong brand awareness for brand Parker as its advertised on TV as well as on radio
and the campaign is run throughout the year ,while Lexi campaign even though its run only in
season ,its mostly advertised heavily on multiple FM channels, more brand awareness needs to
be created for brand Linc , it should be advertised on television and complimented with radio as
we see that the frequency on ads is less so respondents are not able to recall it so should be
increased and not concentrate on one channel but motile channels.

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Suggested Media Plan

Based on
Inferences and Analysis

Station 7am 11am- 2 pm – 6 pm 6 pm – 8pm 11 pm Total Cost

-11a 2 pm onwards Per day
m

B2B Total flimi Rs 6600

Mirchi 2pm-5pm 5pm- 9pm
Frequency- Frequency-
3 ads * 3 ads *
Rs 1000 Rs 1200
= 3000 = 3600
City Kyun sunaye Rs 800
5pm-6 pm
Frequency- 1
ads * Rs 800
= 800
Red

Go College Radio Horn OK Midnight Rs 4600

2pm-6pm please 6pm- Shift
Frequency- 2 8 pm 12 am to 1
ads * Rs 800 Frequency- am
= 1600 2 ads * Frequency
Rs 1000 = 2 ads* 500
2000 Rs 1000

Rs12,000

Source: Market Rates as given by Advertising Agency (Avenues)

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ESTIMATED COST

The campaign to be run for 1 month estimated cost :

Mirchi : - Bumper 2 Bumper – 3 ads * 30 days

= 90 ads * Rs 1000 per ad

= Rs 90,000

Total Filmi - 3 ads * 30 days

= 90 ads * Rs 1200 per ad

= Rs 108000

Total cost for placing ad in Mirchi: Rs 90,000 + 108000 = Rs 1,98000

City :- Kyun Sunaye - 1 ad * 30 days

= 30 ads * Rs 800
= Rs 24000

Go :- College Radio : 2 ads* 30 days

= 60 ads * Rs 800
= Rs 48000

Horn ok please : 2 ads * 30 days

= 60 ads * Rs 1000
= Rs 60000

Midnight shift : 2 ads * 30 days

= 60 ads * Rs 500
= Rs 30,000
Total cost for placing ads in Go – 48000 + 60000 + 30000 = 138000

TOTAL COST OF CAMPAIGN: Mirchi + City + Go

198000 + 24000 + 138000 = Rs 3,60,000

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• The advertising efforts are more focused on two FM channels Mirchi and Go, Mirchi as it
very popular among the respondents and has a high reach and Go cause it is preferred
channel by our target audience

• The number of spots on the two FM channels suggested are around 5 –6 spots per day
based on the listening habits of the people

• The time slot chosen is mostly Non Prime time as our target audience tune in to radio at
that point of time although they are few programmes which are in prime time liked by the
respondents so due consideration have be given to those time slots also.

• One of the channels Radio City also an ad is placed cause the programme kyun sunaye
is liked by most of the respondents and also it is during non prime time 5 pm to 6 pm
during which our target audience tunes it.

• During the afternoon time slot which is the most popular one, ads are placed on three
channels so as to minimize the chances of our advertisement being missed by the target
audience

• Most the ads are placed during Non Prime keeping in mind the budget and the popularity
of that time slot but wherever essential ads also placed on prime time.

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Annexures

Radio Trends in India & Abroad: A Madison India Study

It is ironical that while India has the second highest penetration of C&S homes in the
world, radio has suffered from shunted growth. This can be attributed to misdirected policies by
government, which did not give enough prominence to radio as a rich medium for entertainment
and also for community development. Recently though, government has liberalized radio
broadcast and this has resulted in most media houses diversifying to offer radio services. And
also the government is taking steps for the growth of radio as a whole.
In Mumbai, for instance, five private FM radio stations have been launched. Mumbai
listeners can tune in to any of the seven FM stations (five from private broadcasters and two
from AIR). Government has indicated that its long-term plan is to have 150 FM stations across
40 cities. Is this a case of one too many? Can Indian market sustain so many radio stations?
Going by the International benchmark, even 150 stations across India is a sustainable
proposition. There are more than 6000 radio stations in US and even a developing country like
Nigeria has 18 FM stations. In most markets, radio manages to garner around 4-5% of the mass
media spend. In some countries like Sri Lanka, radio accounts for 20% of ad spend. It is
estimated that in 2001, American radio commanded US$3.2 Billion out of US$60 Billion spent
on mass media. In India, currently radio is able to garner less than 1% of the total ad pie of Rs.8,
600 crore. It is estimates that by 2004, advertisers will spend around Rs. 500 crore on radio. This
will constitute around 4 % of the enlarged ad pie.
While growth of the radio broadcast industry looks exciting, there are numerous issues
facing the radio broadcasters. Chief of them being the licensing policy. After bidding
aggressively, many players have realized that high license cost is making the business unviable,
bidders license for 37 stations. This translates to around Rs.4.2 crores as license fee per station.
The broadcasters wanted the government to scrap fixed license fee and move to a revenue
sharing regime. And the government finally after long discussion they decided on revenue
sharing regime, in which the broadcaster has to 4 % of their revenue to the government as a fee.

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However, the industry feels that these are mere start-up issues; radio should feature in the media
planner's radar as a serious medium.
Today, media planners are quite at loss as there is inadequate information on this
medium.

International trends

International experiences show two distinct trends in evolution of radio business.

Consolidation, there is a surge of activity when the media is liberalized but over a
horizon of five to six years, consolidation is inevitable and stations groups are formed that
controls most of the revenues. For instance, in UK four media groups control nearly 60% of ad
revenue. It is expected to have similar consolidation exercise in India. Radio stations that are part
of established media houses would do well. Publications having strong city edition will do have
an advantage as they already have infrastructure to marshal local advertisers and also keep a tab
on the pulse of the city citizens.
Specialization, radio stations have grown by attracting niche audiences (like a Hispanic
channel in US or a Malayalam channel in gulf) and local advertisers. As of today, if one goes by
Mumbai experience, the concept of niche programming has not yet caught the imagination of the
broadcaster and audiences find it almost impossible to distinguish one from another. The
evolutionary pressures will prevail in India and radio stations will increasingly find their own
niche. For instance, it is expected that by year 2004, emergence of stations that address only
specialist audience groups - like a special radio station dedicated to south Indians residing in
Mumbai or a station that caters exclusively to college going population. Such specialist channels
will be ideal medium for advertisers, as they will have access to well defined captive audience.

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Key Findings

 Radio has a reach of 56% and there is a distinct skew towards males.
 Radio Mirchi is the most popular station and is tuned by people in SEC A and B.
 People listen to FM at home (70%), while driving (32%), at public places (9%) and at
the office (7%).
 Almost 51% of the people listen to FM for an average time of one hour and another
39% listen to FM for a longer period of 1-3 hours.
 Sunday listenership is dramatically low with only 10% of the people tuning in to FM
vs. weekdays where the number of tune-ins is as high as 94%.
 Majority of the people listen to Hindi film songs (63%), followed by Hindi pop
(40%), remixes (37%) and English pop (33%).

Conclusion
Radio offers tremendous opportunities for advertisers and media planners need to explore
various options by which they can effectively use radio in their media mix. Conversely,
broadcasters need to develop the market by being more responsive to the advertiser's needs. This
will provide an opportunity for the market to arrive at the final verdict on the effectiveness of the
medium.

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