Radio One appoints Starcom and Vivaki; launches a multimedia campaign

The media spend for this campaign is Rs 10 crore

Radio One has appointed Starcom Mediavest and Vivaki Exchange to handle its planning and buying media functions following a multi agency pitch, which was held a month ago.

Radio One has also launched its first nationwide multimedia campaign, which has a listener centric approach at its core. The main promotional activity for this campaign is 'Play Your Music Day', wherein thousands of listeners across the country will physically visit Radio One stations in the seven cities that it operates in, including Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune, Kolkata, Chennai and Ahmedabad, and play 13 of their favourite songs.

The first such activity is slated for July 28 and will be kick-started by an unplugged concert by musicians Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy. Subsequent 'music days' will be supported on air by celebrities from the film and music space.

The media spend for this campaign will go up to Rs 10 crore. The campaign will utilise traditional as well as new media channels including television, print, mobile, the Internet, outdoor promotion as well as on-ground activities.

Vineet Singh Hukmani, managing director, Radio One, explains, "Our business strategy is one of 'music specialisation' and we want to prove that in a sea of generic radio stations, we are the only music station." He adds that the main marketing strategy is a polarisation policy with the intention to democratise music.

The campaign is currently led by five ad films, the first of which went on air on Sony (during Indian Idol) on July 20, followed by Zee (Dance India Dance). The films are being aired on all major general entertainment, news, music, movie and lifestyle channels. Six more films have been shot and are slated for a gradual release.

All the films feature brand ambassadors Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy and highlight the brand's promise to deliver product attributes such as more songs per hour, informative talk from radio jockeys and no song repetition.

The print dailies being used for the promotion are those from the Mid-Day and The Times of India groups, along with a few other magazines and regional publications.

Aggressive outdoor and on ground promotional activities are being carried out at various locations in the seven cities, in order to select the listeners who will play their favourite songs on 'Play Your Music Day'. On ground activities include dances by pom-pom girls at malls across the seven cities. The on ground campaign is supported by bus back branding.

To generate a buzz around the campaign, Radio One is using an anthem song, titled 'Aao Apna Gaana Bajao' composed by the trio endorsing the brand, download banners for which are visible on all key B2B websites. To increase mobile involvement, Radio One has launched song alerts on SMS and has made the anthem downloadable for free. The digital partner for Radio One is 2ergo.

Shyju Varkey, national head, marketing, says "We want our listeners to be involved with all aspects of our product's attributes and to feel the maximum music experience. The campaign aims to heighten this in an uncluttered radio brand space."

The creative work on ideas, film scripting and print creation is in house, with support from Blue Sky Mind Films headed by Kaustav Niyogi (who shot the films) and Fork 13, Delhi, which has helped design the print campaign.

For the record, Radio One is a joint venture between Mid-Day Multimedia and BBC Worldwide.