Radio City aims to have more fun with Bates 141

There was no formal pitch involved, but Bates 141 was invited to make a presentation. The ad spends are estimated to be more than Rs 10 crores

The newly christened Bates 141 has bagged the Radio City 91.1 FM account. The account was earlier held by Meridian. Radio City has marked an ad spend of more than Rs 10 crores for 2008.

Bates 141 will be responsible for all aspects of brand communication, including account planning, strategy development, creative development and below-the-line initiatives. Rana Barua, national head, programming and marketing, Radio City, says, “We needed an agency that was focused on strategy, and had all advertising solutions under one roof.”

Radio City aims to have more fun with Bates 141

Rana Barua

Meridian had won the account in 2007. Bates 141 was one of the agencies that took part in the pitch in 2007, and was thus called upon by the radio station to make a presentation. Bates 141 has not handled the creative duties for any other radio station. However, its creative strength and insight led to its final selection. Barua says, “The radio industry is not a large market yet, and is fairly young. So, there aren’t many agencies that can boast of having handled a lot of radio.”

Radio City goes with the tagline of Whatte Fun, and wants to go beyond television with its next campaign. The campaign, titled ‘Baaki shor machayen, Radio City music sunaye’, has also been released. The media mix will include outdoor, below-the-line, mall activation and street plays.

Subhash Kamath, group chief executive officer, Bates 141 informs, “It will be a 360 degree communication, but we have not yet decided whether television will be a part of it.”

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