Radio City makes a new promise

Nearly five years after its launch, FM channel Radio City has decided to move on from its City Bajao campaign, which has been on since the time of its inception. It has launched a new brand identity, City Mein Kho Jao, which is based on the insight that music relaxes people, making them forget their daily troubles. This new brand identity comes in the wake of Radio City acquiring licences in 14 new cities, in addition to the existing four, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Lucknow.

Explaining the need for the change in campaign, Saurabh Kanwar, head, marketing, Radio City, says, “The earlier campaign, City Bajao, was primarily aimed at inducing trials. We wanted listeners to sample our product offering. Now that we believe Radio City has acquired a leadership stance, there is a need for the brand to evolve and move from a functional connect to an emotional one.”

The new campaign, City Mein Kho Jao, revolves around the idea that people listen to music to escape from their problems, which is where Radio City steps in, as their companion. The new brand identity will be formally unveiled on air on February 3.

Apurva Purohit, CEO, Radio City, says that in order to come up with the campaign idea, the channel undertook extensive research across various cities to understand how Radio City is perceived as a brand.

“We found that people think of Radio City as a positive, happy, uplifting sort of brand, as opposed to qualities such as aggression or brashness, with which some other brands are associated,” Purohit remarks. “In our research, we found that listeners feel that Radio City helps them forget their surroundings and just relax. Thus evolved the thought: ‘Relax ho jao, City mein kho jao’.”

The campaign will be supported by a new signature tune, composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and sung by singers Shaan, Nihira Joshi and Shankar Mahadevan. The track has two different versions, a Bhangra one and a soothing one. In addition, outdoor advertising, press and below the line activities will also be leveraged.

On air promos have been introduced, which include the Kho Jao contest. To participate in the contest, listeners will be asked to name their place of escape, or Kho Jao point. Winners of the contest will be taken for an experiential tour of the city every Sunday by an RJ. They will be accompanied by musicians and other entertainers and the destination will be a Kho Jao point.

“We are also doing something unique called the Mood Map,” says Purohit. “We will schedule our programming in accordance with it.”

The Mood Map is a study that throws light on the various moods a person goes through, depending on the time of the day or the day of the week. “For instance, one wouldn’t want to hear ‘Kajra Re’ early in the morning. Similarly, weekend programming has more songs that are fun and lively.”

Radio City is counting on leveraging three moods: romance, ‘masti’ (fun) and relaxation. All its programming will be based around these. The new brand identity is being supported by new programmes such as the romantic ‘Maya’, which is a narration of her life experiences by a woman, interspersed with songs, and the fun-filled ‘Chef Ali Khan’, which is a cookery programme that features recipes being sung in the form of popular songs.

For the record, Radio City recently acquired licences in 14 cities: Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Nagpur, Pune, Surat, Ahmednagar, Akola, Nanded, Jalgaon, Sangli, Sholapur and Vadodara.

Purohit feels that the new brand promise is strong enough to induce trials in these cities, as well as evolve the brand in the other four cities in which it has a presence already.

© 2006 agencyfaqs!