The Hindu Business Line : Building the radio brand

YOU'RE heading home in your car, battling traffic signals and snarls. The radio is crackling all the while in the background, with a radio jock talking his head off. Switch channels, but does that sound like you've heard it before? Do all radio stations sound the same or is it possible to have a unique positioning for each? Increasingly, FM radio channels too are finding the need to brand and reposition themselves.

Take the case of Mumbai's Red FM 93.5. In a bid to differentiate content, the channel recently repositioned itself as " the voice of the common man."

As part of its re-launch, it unfurled a series of innovative hoardings `raising the voice on issues that affect the common man.' The channel unveiled its latest hoarding in Bandra, which depicted dazzling clothes hung on a clothesline, mirroring the plight of the dance bar girls out of jobs because of the ban imposed by the Maharashtra Government.

Achieving connect

According to Abraham Thomas, COO, Red FM, this is a new way of raising one's voice. Red FM will mirror the issues and concerns of the common man, says Thomas. "With the new FM regulations, the number of stations around the country is only expected to grow. In such a situation, every channel will need to have its unique positioning," he explains. Regarding Red FM, he says, "We will play only popular music, and position ourselves as a channel for the masses. Soon you can actually listen to a song and recognise that it's playing on Red FM. And empathy for the common man would be the main reason for tuning into the station."

The new `brand connect' for the channel is through its programmes such as Bajaate raho and now Hamaara Jawab. The former is about connecting with the people on issues and empathising with the masses to give them a reason to tune into Red FM as "apni awaaz," is how Thomas describes it. "It is about touching everyday irritants: daily miseries like water and power shortage, relationship issues and corruption in everyday life at the micro level,'' he elaborates.

All for the common man

Other radio stations too have taken the mass tack, targeting the "common man." Admits Prashant Panday, Deputy CEO, Radio Mirchi, "The basic fact is that all radio stations are targeting the common man. Radio is a local business and the common man is the listener. The Mirchi sound, however, is totally different in Delhi from Mumbai and the other markets because the issues of the common man are different in each city.''

Considering most radio stations have been busy appointing creative agencies for their campaigns, creating a USP seems to be the need for the stations, since all have been tending to sound the same. However, catering to the masses seems to be the main objective and in the process there seems to be hardly any differentiation in content for the `listening masses.'

Apurva Purohit, CEO, Radio City, agrees that radio content is primarily targeted at the masses. Says she: "According to me the challenge is mass customisation — how one connects with the mass audience and still cater to each individual since radio is a very personal medium, unlike TV or print. It acts as a companion and a friend to the listeners. However, the need to differentiate should not be dependent on competition or external factors. I feel, at the core of every brand, differentiation and creating an identity is critical. Though the absence of the same may hurt you more in the wake of increased competition.''

At the moment radio is for the masses and it will take a while for channels to become niche. Attracting the masses is priority for all the radio stations, especially when they would like to reach out to the bulk of radio listeners in the country.

Explains Satbir Singh, VP, Creative, Euro RSCG, the agency handling the Red FM account, "Penetration of radio is higher in the mass segment and so we are trying to address problems and issues related to this section. Besides radio stations are not extremely niche and all that one hears is mostly Hindi pop music. Therefore it makes sense to play mass music.''

Content challenge

Radio brands are thus looking at ways to stand apart with their programming, trying to create a difference in both content as well as positioning.

"It is true that music content is similar to the extent that we play Bollywood and Hindi popular music. But distinction lies in the song selection, the content and the way in which it is packaged, in what is discussed on-air by our RJs, the tune-in the promos and so on,'' claims Radio City's Purohit.

From humour-based shows such as Babbar Sher, Lingo-lila and Kya Baat Kar raha Hai to contests such as `Citee Bajao, Car Le Jao to Bollywood-based shows such as `Hafta Bandh' Radio city believes its content is king and that itself is its greatest differentiator.

"It is true that today there is hardly any differentiated content but over time when the number of radio stations increase, they will have to stand for something and the positioning has to get stronger. Radio brands have to connect emotionally with their audiences. It is not happening right now but we are getting there. Currently all channels are connecting with the mass consumer but over time, even the content is bound to get differentiated,'' claims Aniruddha Banerjee, COO, Everest Advertising, the agency handling the Radio City account.

In fact, radio stations have been trying to differentiate content and creating campaigns built round this proposition.

"The campaign has to support what programming is doing and not the other way around. Any station which does different things with its non-music content can hope to differentiate itself as right now the music content being offered by all stations are more or less similar," says Shariq Patel, Station Head, Go 92.5 FM.

However, Go, claims Patel, has a distinct product: `Best place for international and Hindi hits.' Go's product differentiation, he claims, makes it unique. Not only is the music content different even the non-music content such as College Radio Challenge and Bollywood Badshah is unique. Mid-Day Multimedia's Go FM is quite clear that it does not want to target the masses. Positioning itself as a `fun, young, Mumbai' brand, its programming and marketing efforts have been directed at maintaining this positioning. From its currently running College Radio Challenge — where colleges have the opportunity to participate and get their own show on air to its recently-concluded Bollywood Badshah campaign, a pure audience expansion property, the radio station has stayed away from targeting the masses. "We don't believe that a campaign targeting the common man can distinguish a station because the common man is what all mass market stations target in any case and cannot lead to any serious differentiation,'' claims Patel.

But catering to the masses is not going to get easy. "It is very difficult to regulate the programming and if you narrow it down it cannot be done tactically. Since none of these are niche channels, it is about targeting just about everyone especially the youth. As a creative agency for Radio Mirchi, we have tried to elevate the listeners to feel good about the station they have tuned into,'' explains Prasoon Joshi, National Creative Director, McCann Erickson, the agency handling the Radio Mirchi account.

However, with time (especially with the second round of bidding for FM licences commencing) competition is bound to lead to increased differentiation among radio stations.

Says Radio Mirchi's Panday, "Whenever there is competition, the basic rules of marketing come into play. There is need to segment the market, differentiate the product, develop a brand personality appropriate for the chosen segment and consistently deliver the brand promise. So the issues are no different in the business of radio broadcasting. There are at present a few FM broadcasters and they are trying to occupy different positions in the minds of listeners. The music on different radio stations may be similar but slowly and steadily radio brands are emerging.''

Adds Go FM's Patel, "When the market opens up the need to differentiate and stay ahead of competition is going to be of utmost importance. It is important for the existing players to establish their brands firmly in the hearts and minds of listeners so that it becomes an entry barrier for the new stations that come in post the second round of licensing.''

Also, the regulatory atmosphere for radio does hamper the brands from creating differentiation. Observes Sunir Kheterpal, Country Head (Entertainment & Media Banking), Yes Bank, "Content on FM radio is severely constrained by regulations preventing news and current affairs programming. Therefore, programming is concentrated on music interspersed with talk shows and quiz shows. Branding for FM radio channels becomes difficult due to lack of `niche' avenues. Currently, FM Radio branding is being governed either by choice of music being played (old versus new; Hindi v/s English) or the target segment (youth 15-35; mass market). While the former is built by active listening, the latter accomplishes both, by active listening as well as differentiation through ad campaigns.''

However, the efforts to create differentiation will pay off for the existing FM players, who have the first-mover advantage. With the second round of bidding commencing and changing government regulations there are more FM radio brands backed by corporate biggies waiting to make a beeline into the FM radio segment. In future, differentiation of content will be the key to attracting and sustaining advertisers and, of course, the interest of the `common man.'

Radio factoids

The average radio listener is already tuning in more than two hours a day, just a step behind television. Catching `Mindspace' is now priority for radio station marketers.

The bulk of the listeners are from the mass segment. In fact, over 60 per cent of FM radio listeners belong to SECs B, C and D.

The largest number of FM radio listeners is concentrated in the age group of 20-29, followed by the12-19 age group and the 30-39 age group.

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