Rohit Nautiyal
OOH

Red FM to continue 'bajaoing' with new stations

As part of the re-branding of all SFM stations to Red FM, the radio station launched a phased OOH campaign, revolving around social issues

As afaqs! reported earlier this month, all the 38 stations of radio channel, SFM (Sun FM) have been re-branded as Red FM. With this, Red FM now has 41 stations in its kitty, including Red FM's existing stations in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. To herald this change, Red FM took the OOH route and launched a phased teaser and revealer campaign.

The teaser campaign started early this month, with creatives featuring two situations each. In one ad, one half of the creative showed a man answering nature's call wherever convenient; while the other half focused on a corrupt government official. The copy for both parts read, 'Deewar geeli karega toh patloon geeli ho jayegi' and 'Rishwat lega toh mehenga padega', respectively.

Red FM to continue 'bajaoing' with new stations
Red FM to continue 'bajaoing' with new stations
Red FM to continue 'bajaoing' with new stations
Red FM to continue 'bajaoing' with new stations
Another creative showed a speeding biker zipping away on one half and a stout politician giving fake promises on the other half. Again, the copy read, 'Tez chalaega toh bach nahin payega' and 'Jhoote waade karega toh bhaari padega', respectively.

On August 14, the official date of the re-branding, the revealer showed these offenders meeting their fate -- being crushed under radios -- with copy to the tune of, 'Deewar geeli karne walon ki ab bajegi' and 'Rishwat lene walon ki ab bajegi'. The fate of the biker and the politician was no different, with similar copy for each. This time, all the creatives carried the Red FM logo.

Manoj Shetty, senior creative director, Ogilvy India, tells afaqs!, "Usually, a music station that plays a particular number of songs everyday is perceived as something that is devoid of a stance. Red FM, as a responsible radio station, has taken up social issues on a regular basis. This, along with the tagline of the station -- Bajaate Raho! -- inspired us to create the outdoor campaign, which brings out a funny taste of social issues."

While the teaser campaign ran for a week, the revealer will run till the end of the month. The radio station used billboards, hoardings, bus shelters, pole kiosks, gantries, buses, branding at malls and multiplexes and other ambient media for the outdoor campaign, which was executed in all 41 markets.

Speaking on the significance of outdoor in the campaign, Anuj Singh, national marketing head and station head – Mumbai, Red FM, says, "OOH is the primary driver for this campaign, designed to create an element of curiosity in the listeners about the upcoming change and also to introduce them to the 'Bajaate Raho!' spirit. For this, it was important that the campaign grabs the audience's attention and is talked about by the common man on the street. The strategic use of OOH media ensured that the campaign was highly visible and generated a lot of buzz in the respective cities."

Regarding content, he adds, "Radio is a very local medium and while Red FM's DNA, its on-air attitude, programming and music format will be incorporated into all the stations, local tastes will be taken into account while deciding the final product mix."

Red FM has also used English and regional language dailies in various cities for the revealer campaign. Also, a sustained interactive plan has been lined up, incorporating on-ground activations.

Recently, many brands have wrapped their communication in social service messages. While Idea prescribed 'Walk while you talk' to its subscribers, the latest Jaago Re campaign from Tata Tea grapples with the issue of corruption with the tagline, 'Ab Se Khilana Bandh, Pilana Shuru'.

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