Red FM takes Bajaate Raho Awards out and about

Red FM is known for the hard hitting outdoor campaigns around its theme, Bajaate Raho. The radio company has now used the outdoor medium to promote its annual event, Bingo! Red FM Bajaate Raho Awards 2008. The awards celebrate ‘mediocrity’ in fields such as Bollywood, music, cricket and television, and ‘empowers’ people to get back at those who have caused them irritation over the last year!

Commenting on the awards, Abraham Thomas, chief operating officer, Red FM, says, “Bajaate Raho Awards set off on a high note last year with the awards being aired on TV for the first time. We are now back with these awards to engage, entertain and enthral our listeners.”

The outdoor formats used include hoardings, bus backs, seat backs of BEST buses, bus panels, bus shelters and gantries. Ambient media was also effectively used with branding in malls and multiplexes; the interiors of gold cabs; BEST bus grab handles; and flyers, posters and forms.

Discussing the creative idea behind the campaign, Anuj Singh, national marketing head and station head, Mumbai, Red FM, says, “In the fourth year of its inception, we want to tell our listeners through our concept that the annual honour for flop stars is back.

“Thus, with Bajaaney ka mausam aa gaya, we are saying that it is ‘that’ time of the year when you get to ‘bajaao’ (take revenge on) all those who have caused you grief over the past year. Our creatives have originated from this thought.”

Commenting on the extensive use of outdoors, Singh says, “Today, consumers spend more time travelling than ever before and this makes outdoor an extremely powerful medium with better reach and cost efficiency. Radio being a local medium, outdoor can garner a high degree of visibility that caters to a local audience, thus acquiring higher number of eye balls, and in effect increasing the impact of the campaign.”

In addition to the outdoor campaign, there is also an interesting lineup of on-ground activities in each city. One of the activities at malls and colleges invites people to choose their nominations out of the list by throwing eggs and tomatoes at them. To ensure further visibility and participation, forms containing the nominations are also being distributed at all major stops, inviting people to SMS their votes to Red FM.

Singh adds, “The objective of the on-ground activations is to engage with our listeners at the ground level and empower them to express themselves through our radio station, which is the essence of the awards.”

Commenting on the association of Bingo! with the awards, VL Rajesh, head, marketing, ITC Foods, says, “We are extremely pleased to be associated with Red FM’s Bingo! Bajaate Raho Awards for two years in a row. Arguably one of the most differentiated awards that exist in India today – the awards are hilarious, real and reflect public opinion. They are just the right fit for our brand.”

The media campaign will span over two weeks and the final culmination will be a grand awards ceremony in Mumbai on March 27. It will feature the witty Suresh Menon in his many hilarious avatars, Dr. Hoezay, other celebrities and star Red FM RJs Malishka, Nitin and Mantra. The awards will be aired on Sony Television.

This year, Red FM brings 11 hilarious categories, with four nominations in each vying for the Bajaate Raho Awards trophy. While sarcastic categories such as ‘Sabse zyaada mehnat karnewala music director’, ‘Ajeeb-o-gareeb harkattein’ and City Special awards have been repeated, there have also been some new additions such as ‘Yeh judge kaise ban gaya’ and ‘Best on-field dramebaaz’, based on some of the important ‘achievers’ of the year 2008.

For the record, Red FM’s flagship event property, Bingo! Red FM Bajaate Raho Awards, has already won two awards for New Event Property of the Year and Event/Property of the Year by a Radio Station at the WOW awards for Events and Experiential Marketing.