Rana Barua, National Head, Marketing, Radio City, is known for developing and executing innovative, out of the box ideas. He has been involved in strategizing and launching of a number of durable, FMCG and entertainment brands as part of the management at Bates Enterprise. At Radio City, he hopes to further build on the innovative never-done-before aspects of marketing of the brand. Speaking to agencyfaqs!, he discusses the plans of Radio City as it expands its footprint across India.

Q. Your slogan says 'City Mein Kho Jao'. What's the idea behind it? How do you localize your programming?
A. Television talks to people while radio talks 'with' people. Radio is a habit forming medium which creates a deep personal connect with listeners. The listeners' connect lies in engaging the audience through what is 'relevant' to them.

At Radio City, our programming is backed by extensive research and we deliver content that is tinged with the local flavour. While leveraging international radio expertise, Radio City has its content tailored to fit the wants and needs of the local audiences and speaks the language of the people. 'City Mein Kho Jao' reiterates just that.

Thus, a sustained focus on understanding our listeners and leveraging synergies of our music expertise and innovative programming allows Radio City to deliver a unique listening experience and become an integral part of the lives of our listeners across markets.

Q. Besides Musical-E-Azam, Radio City does not seem to be promoting any other property in a big way. Why the low key approach?
A.I believe Radio City understands radio best. Musical-E-Azam is the brain child of this experience and understanding. To create a musical talk show in the radio format was a first for Radio City. None of this happens without months of meticulous planning and brain storming. The response from our listeners has been phenomenal. Having said that, the media fraternity has been very excited about this show. We are committed to innovation and there is a lot of excitement on the anvil and back end planning happening on the same. We will be sharing our plans shortly.

Q. Radio City will soon be launching in 13 cities. Does Radio City plan a new programming strategy as the footprint grows, or will it remain the same?
A. We will be extending a uniform Radio City experience in all markets we will be present in. So whether you are in Mumbai or Vizag, the Radio City essence will remain the same. Of course Radio as a medium needs localized content which will be developed for each station in keeping in mind with listener requirements.


Q. Your station has done well on the humour front, with a number of in-house productions. How effective has this been in terms of listenership and advertiser response?
A. Innovation is key to listener stickiness and we at Radio City are known for pioneering innovative content across genres - be in the comedy genre with Babbar Sher, Hasgule or music concerts, Musical-e-Azam or star autobiographies like Meri Kahani. These shows continue to delight our listeners and the good news is that we are constantly using listener feedback to create newer and relevant content.

Babbar Sher for example, possibly the longest running feature on Indian FM, is a huge success because of its unique style of delivery and the ambience of a real 'Mehfil'. It is generally accepted that it is the best produced show on Radio today.

Q. Radio City is reviewing its ad agency. Has the agency been chosen? What were the reasons for the review?
A. We are still in the process of finalizing the agency. The search for a larger agency stems from the growth of the radio station. We are poised for growth and are implementing larger operations. Only in terms of scale, we’re moving from a 7 to a 20 city market. We are looking for an enhanced creative output. With the expansion, we’re stressing on a 360-degree approach and below-the-line activities. The agency we finally choose would have a wider and deeper network, higher creative output, bandwidth and international expertise.


Q. With your new activation division in place, how do you plan to change your events strategy? How critical is on ground activation to Radio?
A. Over the years we have realized that every client wants his brand to be felt, touched, sampled and seen to deliver immediate results and the nature of radio being 'immediacy' it fulfills the role perfectly. We have always had 'activation' as a key component in the services that we have been offering. While Radio City will continue to entertain listeners with our music expertise, which is our core competency, along with Vibgyor, we aim to keep building the effectiveness of the brands associated with us in a more comprehensive manner. The potential that we have spotted makes activation a huge focus area for us in the near future. This is one of the series of initiatives we are doing to add value to our advertisers.

Q. How do you see the industry doing with the entry of so many new entrants? How many stations can a non-metro sustain in terms of revenue?
A. The FM radio market in India today is approx. Rs 360 crore and is expected to grow at a rate of 40 per cent yearly. With the geographical expansion of FM from 12 to 91 cities in the second phase, it is only natural that advertisers would look at the medium as more mainstream since it will have a very enviable national footprint, apart from advantages like being more interactive, local and cost efficient.

Differentiation is certainly going to be the key as more and more players come in. The various fringe players will need to find their own niches, be it in terms of segmentation or programming if they have to survive in the long run.

Q. What would be your wishlist for Radio in 2007? Are there any policy changes at this stage which could give the industry a fillip? What are the chances of it happening?
A. Radio in India is just about coming of age. The very medium by way of its inherent being has a certain set of strengths such as interactivity, networks, cost-effectiveness to name a few which need to be further leveraged and adequately so. Elements critical to business such as research and marketing of the medium are need-gaps which need to be addressed by the industry as a whole.

We believe that for the medium to expand it needs a lot more experimentation, willingness to try new formats, different types of music, and more content innovation. The other trend is going to be newer modes of distribution for the medium whether it is through your mobile phone or internet which will fuel the penetration of FM in the country. With its national coverage as a result of the geographical expansion, FM is going to become a hugely viable opportunity for national advertisers to use.

Radio City is certainly not looking at just sustaining its listener's base; we are aggressively looking at spreading the Radio City experience to even more and more people.

The industry is faced with regulatory issues such as permission to broadcast news, multiple licenses within a city for the radio operators, FDI limit of 20 per cent; which we are all aware of. While we all look forward to developments in this space eventually, I cannot speculate on that.

Q. Any special plans for World Cup cricket?
A. The World Cup mania will extend to Radio City as well and we will capture the excitement on air. There is special programming being created across stations. In fact Radio City Mumbai is uniquely placed to give our listeners continued updates even as the last ball is bowled in West Indies as we have our RJ Praveen 'Raat Ka Raaja' live at night jocking at that time.

We will integrate special programs for the World Cup into our regular programming. As always there will be great packaging and watch out for a few surprise experts on our station.

© 2007 agencyfaqs!