Jagran Radio will launch in December; Brand Curry roped in for advertising

The Jagran Group, publishers of the Hindi daily, ‘Dainik Jagran’, is all set to launch its FM station, Jagran Radio, across eight cities from December 2006. In fact, the Jagran Group has already roped in Brand Curry to handle the advertising for the venture. Brand Curry was awarded the creative duties after a multi-agency pitch called for in June 2006, involving agencies such as FCB-Ulka, Mudra, Leo Burnett, M&C Saatchi, Saatchi & Saatchi, Brand Curry and K-Factor.

The ad spend for Jagran Radio is estimated to be upwards of Rs 5 crore. In the first round of presentations, the agencies were asked to work on the concept and strategy for Jagran Radio. Two agencies, Mudra and Brand Curry, were short-listed for the final round, wherein the details of an internal IMRB study were shared with them and both were asked to submit an interpretation of the findings. Brand Curry finally won the account. Media, however, would be looked after in-house.

Confirming these developments to agencyfaqs!, Rahul Gupta, director and project head, Jagran Radio, says, “We were looking for a partner as passionate about the business as we are. Brand Curry’s ability to execute thinking, the earthiness in its approach and its understanding of the markets that need to be targeted made us zero in on the agency. Moreover, its hunger to succeed matches ours, which is a complete personality fit.”

In the first phase of licensing, the group has won the bidding for eight cities, Hissar, Karnal, Gorakhpur, Jalandhar, Agra, Ranchi, Benares and Bareilly. The Gorakhpur and Karnal radio stations are slated to be launched on December 31, 2006. The Hissar and Agra stations will follow in January 2007. Bareilly, Benares and Jalandhar will be launched in February 2007 and Ranchi, in March 2007. In addition, in Phase 2(A) of the licensing, which is to take place in March 2007, Jagran Radio is looking forward to bidding aggressively for Delhi, Dehradun, Patna and Jamshedpur.

Subrata Chakraborty, managing director, Brand Curry, says, “What made us a clear differentiator was that we looked at Karnal through the eyes of Karnal and not through the eyes of Delhi. A strategic perspective for each place is what we offered to the client.”

The agency’s mandate will be to look at 360-degree communication, which will comprise press, outdoor and market activation. Jagran Radio plans to cash in on the strong foothold that ‘Dainik Jagran’ has in the eight cities where it is to be launched.

Advertising on a national level through television will come at a later stage. However, advertising on cable is definitely on the cards for local communication. The current need that requires to be addressed is that of establishing the brand in the consumer’s mind.

On what Jagran Radio expects of Brand Curry, Narendra Tripathi, COO, Jagran Radio, adds, “The agency understands the market. They realise that the communication will change with the city that is to be targeted.”

Speaking about the agency’s plans to take the brand forward, Ashish Sood, senior vice-president, creative, Brand Curry, says, “We are looking forward to creating some path-breaking work for the client. We plan to visit the market, gather local nuances and insights, and finally translate them into creatives, to do a good job, overall.”

Jagran Radio faces competition from Radio Mirchi, Reliance Adlabs, BAG and a few other local stations in some of the eight cities. Talking about competing against established radio brands, Tripathi says, “We have conducted research along with the IMRB and there will be differentiation in terms of music and programming.”

The target audience that Jagran Radio wishes to reach out to in each of the eight cities is within the age band of 18 to 34 years. The content will be city-centric.

© 2006 agencyfaqs!