Radioadvertising Pratik P

STUDY OF RADIO ADVERTISING
CHAPTERIZATION
CHAPTER1
In this chapter I have explained the main core purpose of the project along
with the methods used for collection of data in order to make the project as
well as the executive summary of the book.
CHAPTER2
The chapter explains the base of what the whole word radio advertising
stands for, along with some basic technical knowledge as well as advent of
format radio.
CHAPTER3
Here the chapter has in store the history of radio along with the players in
different centers & license free and revenue sharing model, the cost of
setting up new radio station as well as future of radio industry.
CHAPTER4
Here I took a bit of Indian advertising and its segments, this also has radio
advertising its advantages and disadvantages The chapter also explains
length of spots, buying radio time, producing radio commercial and creative
radio advertising.
CHAPTER5
The SWOT analysis of radio advertising has been explain
CHAPTER6
Here the radio is compared with other media.(television, newspaper etc)
CHAPTER7
The radio frequency in India are explained in this chapter with a bit of
information on the same.
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CHAPTER8
This chapter goes with case study alongside 5 keys of radio advertising
success. It also gives away the necessary recommendation along with
conclusion, the survey on the topic and lastly the relevant website used for
collecting the data.
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1Executive Summary
Advertising in general expresses the positioning. Powerful advertising is the

result of powerful planning. Great ideas and great ad campaigns dont just
pop out from no where, they are built on the key communication points that
motivate sales.
Radio is entirely a medium of sound, which evokes smells, sensations and

visual images which brings the listeners imaginations into play.
Radio advertising is one of the tools of advertising which is effectively used

for communication and positioning. It is one of the foundations for effective
and successful advertising. Radio can be used effectively for advertisement
since it can target the large audience because of its high reach. Radio is good
at increasing awareness about the brand and business and helping in building
the brand image.
But all this was only for pure academic purpose. With the advent of
television radio lost its popularity and thus its purpose with the marketers.
This led to sharp declines in the proportion of advertisement spending on
radio as compared to other media.
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But then came the governments order on liberalization and privatization.

This brought about loads of changes in the world of radio broadcasting in
India. Prominent and established companies entered the business of FM
Broadcasting.
FM broadcasting has breathed a new life into the medium of Radio in the
past few months. Could radio now think this as a new phase of its life or a
re-birth? Of course yes, people are today talking only Radio---- Radio
Mirchi, Radio City, RED, Go and WIN. One will find people with radio sets
of different shapes and sizes listening to their favorite music on roads, in
hotels, even the bide shops aired on any of the music channels. The radio
channels are now vying against each other to provide their best to the
listeners
However one can see that although radio is an excellent medium it has been
used to its full potential and various efforts should be taken to improve it as
with proper direction radio can reach heights as it is the cheapest and a very
good medium.
1.2Objective
Through this project my objective has been to understand the following

To find out about the current scenario of the radio industry.
The reasons for a stunted growth of the industry
The various steps in radio advertisement
Realizing the needs and wants of consumers and fulfilling them
What the various radio stations have to offer the masses.
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1.3Research Methodology
Through this project I have made an effort to understand the advertisng tool
called radio advertising which is being increasingly recognized by
marketers as a powerful tool that helps in finding new customers and
retaining the existing ones at a much lesser cost.
1.Primary Research:
The aim of primary research was to understand radio advertising as it is seen
in the corporate world. To understand this I have collected two from
different fields.
Mr. Madhav Joshi who is currently working in Leo Burnett who helped me
understand what all goes into the making of a radio advertisement.
The mode of interview used was an informal one where he answered my
questions on one to one basis with the help of telecommunication.
Also Mr. Sudarshan Sahe works marketing department of Radio City

helped me in trying to understand as to how the station works and looks after
the needs of its consumers.
2.Secondary Research
The aim of secondary research was to understand as to why radio advertising
has been able to grow at a considerable rate as compared to the other media.
also the fall out of radio in the last decade .
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It was also undertaken to understand how radio advertising is done and what
re the current players in the market.
Secondary data collection method: desk research
Secondary data collection sources: internet, books, newspaper articles
SURVEY DESIGN
This study is cross rational study because the data were collected at a
single point of time.
For the purpose of present study a related samples of populations was

selected on the basis of convenience.
SAMPLE SIZE
A sample of 100 respondents was taken on the basis of convenience.
The actual consumer was contacted on the basis of random sampling.
RESEARCH PERIOD
The survey was conducted within two weeks time period.
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RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS
The study was conducted will self administered questionnaires.
The questions included were open ended and MCQs.
Old media dont die! They just bounce back in new avatars. Not so long ago
radio had been written off as fuddy-duddy, down market and not so cool.
Television and later new media were touted to being the media of the
future. But thanks to technology radio is making a comeback. In fact, in its
new avatar-fm-radio is all set too become the hippest, coolest and most with
-it medium.
The research has helped me in making this book successfully.
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CHAPTER 2
Basic information
2.1Radio
Is the radiation (wireless transmission) of electromagnetic signals through
the atmosphere or free space. Information, such as sound, is carried by
systematically changing (modulating) some property of the radiated waves,
such as their amplitude, frequency, phase, or pulse width. When radio waves
strike an electrical conductor, the oscillating fields induce an alternating in
the conductor. The information in the waves can be extracted and
transformed back into its original form.
2.2Advertising
In business is a form of marketing communication used to encourage,
persuade, or manipulate an audience(viewers, readers or listeners;
sometimes a specific group) to take or continue to take some action. Most
commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a
commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also
common. This type of work belongs to a category called affective labor.
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Radio advertising
A true form of mobile advertising, radio is ancient yet unique, growing and
pervasive medium. Radio is able to penetrate our daily lives still of-limits to
other media like television, internet, print or outdoor. Radio is with its
audience when one wakes up in the morning, goes to jog, commutes to and
from jobs, at workstations and goes to bed. It can be broadcasted to highly
targeted audience. Commercial radio stations earn revenue by playing radio
spots ranging from few seconds to minutes. The format is evolving with
time; stations now stream their program on internet and reach wider
audience.
2.3Some Basic Technical Knowledge

Any radio setup has two parts:
The transmitter
The receiver
The transmitter takes some sort of message (it could be the sound of
someone's voice, pictures for a TV set, data for a radio modem or whatever),
encodes it onto a sine wave and transmits it with radio waves. The receiver
receives the radio waves and decodes the message from the sine wave it
receives. Both the transmitter and receiver use antennas to radiate and
capture the radio signal.
When you listen to a radio station and the announcer says, "you are listening
to 91.5 fm what the announcer means is that you are listening to a radio
station broadcasting an fm radio signal at a frequency of 91.5 megahertz.
Megahertz means "millions of cycles per second," so "91.5 megahertz"
means that the transmitter at the radio station is operating at a frequency of
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91,500,000 cycles per second. Your fm (frequency modulated) radio can

tune in to that specific frequency and give you clear reception of that station.
All fm radio stations transmit in a band of frequencies between 88
megahertz and 108 megahertz. This band of the radio spectrum is used for
no other purpose but fm radio broadcasts.
Common frequency band includes the following
AM radio - 535 kilohertz to 1.7 megahertz
FM radio - 88 megahertz to 108 megahertz
2.4Advent (arrival) of Format Radio
The arrival of 'Moving Pictures' with sound and then 'Television' were
expected to be the death knell for 'Radio'. However Radio has not just
survived repeated predictions of its demise but grown tremendously. It has
benefited listeners and advertisers alike and earned the status of a 'Constant
Companion'... What allowed Radio to accomplish this feat? Read on for the
long journey the Radio industry has covered thus far.
It was way back in 1895, that Guglielmo Marconi invented an antenna to
send and receive radio signals. It took quite a while before Reginald
Fessenden developed the first radio receiver in 1913. However, experts give
a lot of credit to David Sarnoff who actually conceived what is called as the
"radio music box". It was Sarnoff who suggested that radio should be mass-
produced for public consumption. His persistence paid off in 1919 when
such sets were available for general purchase. This saw the beginning of
what was later looked on as the 'Golden Age of Radio'.
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Early 1920s saw the launch of commercial radio. People in households

would gather around the radio to listen to their favorite programs much as
they do today with TV. Radio became the first medium delivering
entertainment to the masses in their homes. The 1st paid announcement on
radio was a 10-minute capsule from Hawthorne Court; a Queens based Real
Estate Company. This era was characterized with 'block programming'
wherein radio offered something to everyone. News, drama, sports; live
musical recordings would be presented in 30 or 60-minute programs. A
network soap opera could be followed by a 15-minute newscast followed by
one hour of a concert.
Then in the 1950s TV began to catch the public's attention. Audiences were
charmed by the audiovisual experience of TV. A large number of popular
shows moved from radio to TV. That was not all, as the radio industry was
also losing a large number of talented staff to TV.
At this point in time, radio experts discovered an opportunity that only radio
could provide. They realized that radio was the only medium that could be
used while doing other things, like getting dressed for work, cooking a meal,
traveling to office, studying and more.
Radio turned 'local' and moved to what is known in the industry as 'Format'
programming. This era also spawned two of radio's greatest strengths:
immediacy and local service. Format radio strategy was based on providing
the same kind of entertainment to a selected audience, throughout the day,
seven days a week.
As the story goes, Storz and McClendon used to frequent a local malt shop,
which had a jukebox. They observed that the customers would usually come
and play the same songs that they liked, over and over again. In fact, the
staff serving these people would end up playing just the same songs even
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when the shop was closed. From this insight emerged the "Top 40" format or
the "Contemporary Hit Radio (CHR)" format were the most popular hits
would be played on a higher rotation.
This led to a change in the way radio time was being sold. Sales people
shifted from selling programs to selling commercials. It also led to a shift in
the way radio programs were scheduled. As radio was being used as a
background medium of entertainment, it had to be relevant to the listener at
every point of time in the day. The shows therefore had to be reflective of
various day parts in the life of the listener.
Irrespective of the form it came in, format radio definitely made radio not
just survive the onslaught of TV but also made it grow tremendously. Being
the only medium that could be carried and used wherever you are, it could
update you about your world throughout the day while providing you with
the entertainment you like all the time. Radio became "The Constant
Companion".
The total number of radio sets at the time of independence in 1947 was a
mere 275000.at that time a radio receiver used to be a status symbol in this
country. But today its possession is taken for granted. According to
estimates, there are radio sets in about 105 million households in the
country.
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CHAPTER 3
History of Indian Radio
3.1Back in time
For more than 4 decades, the Government of India did not permit private
radio stations to broadcast in India. Then history changed its course. In 1993,
the Government allowed private FM operators to 'buy' blocks (chunks) on
All India Radio, prepare programming content, book commercials from
advertisers and broadcast the whole lot. Within 4 years, (1997-98), the FM
Radio advertising and sponsorship business grew to Rs. 93 crores with
Times of India's Times FM & Mid-Day Group's Radio Mid-Day becoming
the main players.
Then, in June 1998 the Government, through its electronic media regulatory
body Prasar Bharti, decided not to renew contracts of private FM operators.
Not surprisingly, the advertising revenue fell by 50% within a year!
This time, the Government gave the green light to privatize radio in India.
July 6, 1999 was the historic day when the Government announced that 150
new FM channels would be licensed across 40 cities.
And in 2000, the Government auctioned licenses for private FM channels to
bolster the revenue. And the focus on metros was evident in the bidding.
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Expecting to collect Rs 800 million from auctioning 108 licenses, the

government had to actually face mass withdrawal of bidders because of the
huge license fee. A handful of serious bidders chose to remain.
In response to the Government's offer, many companies bid for the licenses
to operate in key markets. But the going was not so easy. Many gave up,
unable to shell out the high license fee. For instance, the bidding price for
the Mumbai license was reportedly to the tune of Rs 9.75 crore. Others
dropped out saying the business was not viable. So, in effect, the
competition shrank, players consolidated and the Government extended its
deadline. Today, there are roughly 10 players who will operate
approximately in 37 cities across the country.
The government collected close to Rs 4.6 billion as license fee for the
privately run FM radio channels in 40 cities. New Media Broadcasting, a
Zee Group company, which focused mainly on the smaller towns, won the
largest number of bids.
The first round of bidding - for 76 channels in 26 cities, garnered close to Rs
3.5 billion. The government got the highest bids - Rs 97.5 million from each
of 10 broadcast companies - for stations in Mumbai. Interestingly, the bids
for Hyderabad and Nagpur came next, each for Rs 77.2 million and Rs 74
million, respectively, while the bids for Delhi were Rs 71.2 million each
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Fig1
Radio is expected to follow the growth of the Television industry, which

grew rapidly following the entry of private players.
Currently, FM coverage in India is restricted to just 17% of the country,
compared to 89% of All India Radio (AIR).
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3.2Players in Different Centers
Company Location of Centers Number of Bid amount

Centers for first years
license
(Rs. crore)
Entertainment Delhi, Mumbai, 12 43.87
Network [India] Calcutta, Chennai,
Ahmadabad,
Bhubaneswar,
Cuttack, Hyderabad,
Indore, Jabalpur,
Lucknow, Pune
Hitz FM Calcutta 1 1.00
India FM Calcutta 1 1.00
Living Media Delhi, Mumbai, 3 17.87

Calcutta
Mid Day Delhi, Mumbai, 3 20.17

Broadcasting Chennai
Millennium Delhi, Mumbai, 3 20.17
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Broadcasting Chennai
Music Delhi, Mumbai, 6 41.37

Broadcasting Nagpur, Bangalore,
Patna, Lucknow
Sumangali Chennai, Coimbatore, 3 9.87

Publications - Tirunalveli
Sun TV
Vertex Calcutta, Indore, 4 2.90

Broadcasting Bhopal,
Vishakapatnam
Udaya TV - Sun Vishakapatnam 1 0.50

TV
Incidentally, Music Broadcasting became the first firm in India to commence

private FM broadcast from Bangalore in July.
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3.3Licence Fee and revenue sharing model

Currently, FM players pay annual license fees, which go up by 15 per cent
every year. Private FM radio sector would shift to a revenue-sharing model
from the existing license fee regime. However, revenue-sharing also exists
in the media sector. The objective is to make FM radio a success story. Its
better to keep the revenue-sharing figure low than to have a failed project.
There has been debate on whether to recommend a revenue-sharing structure
or a fixed amount for a period of 10 years; it is firm on revenue-sharing now.
Revenue-sharing will follow payment of a one-time entry fee through a
process of bidding. Revenue-sharing figure is quite low at around 4 %.
While the private FM players had sought revenue-sharing in the band of 2-
2.5 per cent, the panel has fixed it at 4 per cent.
3.4Setting up new radio stations
After the second round of privatization, the number of FM radio stations

targeted is around 300 to 400. The panel also suggested that players wanting
to enter the sector in the second round of licensing need to have a technical
viability clearance by a financial institution on the financial viability of the
project. It has also recommended to the government to release additional
spectrum for the use of FM radio companies so that the number of
companies operating in one centre can go up.
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3.5Future of Radio Industry
FM Radio can play its part in building a stronger business future for India.
Providing free-to-air local broadcasts of music and entertainment, helpful
information - traffic advisories, community announcements and public
service messages provide a real value-added service. But at current levels of
advertising support, each radio station is reeling under the brutal financial
impact of high costs. With more players in the fray the FM radio industry
would grow and also enhance the governments yield from licensing radio
naturally.
The new India deserves an active private FM radio sector. It can provide a
level playing field with benefits for listeners, for advertisers, employment &
career options. Spearhead the government objective of growing the FM radio
business in India.
With the government ready to reduce the license fees it will help in
attracting new players like reliance which had earlier backed out only due to
the entry fees. also government allowing foreign players to enter he Indian
market it will help the industry grow. Virgin group has already started
exploring the Indian market for suitable partners. various radio stations are
coming up with IPO for example Radio Mirchi thus helping them expand.
The future looks bright as the reach of radio is expected to raise post the
increase in the number and quality of players in the industry. It is on the
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basis of these key drivers of growth, it is being predicted that radio's share in
the total advertising pie will see an increase in the medium term. There are
an estimated 150 million radio sets across the country. The Rs 1.6 billion
industry is reported to be growing by 31 per cent every year and should
touch the Rs 6.2 billion by 2007, with revenue rising at 23 per cent annually.
Also, though radio has only a 2 per cent share in the Rs 6,000 crore Indian
advertising market, advertising spending is expected to amount to Rs 500
crore this year.
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CHAPTER 4
Advertising in India
4.1Indian advertising
India has been among the fastest growing economies in the world, with a
nominal GDP CAGR of 9.94% over the last 10 years (1995-2005). The
nominal GDP for fiscal 2005 was Rs. 30,636 billion. According to CSO
estimates nominal GDP growth for fiscal 2006 is estimated at 10.9%. There
is a correlation between the economic growth rates of a country i.e. the
nominal GDP growth rate, and growth rates of the advertising industry
The Indian advertising spends, as a percentage of GDP, is 0.34%, which lags

behind other developed and developing countries
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Fig 2
During fiscal 2005, the gross advertising spend in India is estimated at Rs
111 billion, and is expected to grow at 14.2% to reach Rs. 127 billion by
fiscal 2006
Fig3
4.2Segmentation in advertising
The five key industry segments comprise print, television, radio, cinema,
and outdoor. These different segments within the industry are at varying
stages of growth and corporatization
Media Spends as % of Total Ad Spend
Year Print TV Radio Cinema Outdoor Internet
2000 49.0% 39.3% 2.5% 0.5% 8.4% 0.3%
2001 48.4% 40.6% 2.7% 0.4% 7.5% 0.4%
2002 47.2% 41.9% 2.9% 0.7% 7.0% 0.4%
2003 46.6% 43.0% 2.9% 0.7% 6.5% 0.4%
2004 46.3% 43.7% 2.9% 0.6% 6.0% 0.3%
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Fig4
The Indian television industry has grown rapidly, especially since 1991,
which saw the beginning of satellite broadcasting in India. This growth was
also aided by the economic liberalization program of the Government. The
growth of the satellite television audience saw proliferation of a number of
satellite television channels offering more choices to media buyers and
consumers of entertainment. Thus, the television broadcasting business,
which started off as a single government controlled television channel, now
has over 300 channels covering the Indian footprint, resulting in growing ad
spends on this medium. Reforms and proliferation of private players were
the key reasons for this rapid growth of the share of television in the
advertising industry.
4.3Radio Advertising
Radio is still the king when it comes to getting your music. The best way for
a new band to get heard by the public and record label executions is over
the airwaves.
Paradoxically, radio currently has only a 2.9 per cent share of the total
advertising pie in India. Globally, depending on country, radio has a 5 per
cent to 12 per cent share of the advertising cake. On the higher side are
countries like the United States, with 13 per cent, Canada, with 12.7 per cent
and Spain, with 9.1 per cent.
Companies that advertise on FM channels today such as Hindustan Lever
(HLL), Dr Morepen, Amul, Castrol, Santro, Britannia, Parle, DSP Merrill
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Lynch etc are dominating the advertising on each one of the FM channels,
be it Radio Mirchi, Go 92.5 Red 93.5 or Radio City.
Today, 70 per cent of the advertising comes from big-budget, national
advertisers and the balance 30 per cent comes from retail. It is a known fact
that retail advertising will grow because radio presents the perfect
advertising medium for local businesses in a local environment. But national
advertisers are also operational in the local market, implying that it is as
important to them as it is to a retail advertiser, if not more.
Nevertheless, it is undeniable that radio can be integral in exposing a new
artist, new product or services to new fans and taking a local market to a
national level. Accordingly, it is extremely difficult to obtain meaningful
airplay. Putting it bluntly, successful radio promotion revolves around
making and managing relationships.
Radio promotion is an art that demands a certain style you may simply
neither have nor desire to cultivate. On top of that, it can take a great deal of
time to make all the contacts and connections that are required for successful
radio promotion.
Advertising agencies that control the national picture will be slow to move
on to radio for creative reasons. They have people who love to make
television commercials, but don't have anybody who knows how radio
works. Here, only about 2.9 per cent of the money spent by advertisers goes
to radio, and up till now, all of that went to ALL INDIA RADIO.
However, in revenue terms, money from advertising has gone up. Revenue
from commercials on AIR, including on Vividh Bharti and Primary Channel
(including FM) rose from Rs 393 million in 1990, to Rs 808.4 million in
2000, & Rs. 600 crores in 2002, representing a growth of about 7.5 per cent
per annum.
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A clear advantage that radio has is that it can easily target city-based
audiences. This makes sense if the advertiser, like a food chain that is
opening an outlet in Mumbai, wants to target a specific audience. In such
cases, it does not make much sense to advertise on TV, and the print
medium is too expensive. Radio is the best bet for such small-scale
promotions. It is also aptly suited for local promotions, and once audiences
can be targeted, it has tremendous potential to eat into local mediums.
Consumer opinions
The evidence from the qualitative research is that young people feel their
local FM station is aimed at people like them, but the advertising is not -
they feel, probably quite correctly, that most advertising is aimed at adults.
Because radio is a real-time intrusive medium, they have to sit through the
full length of any ads which are for irrelevant products. There was evidence
of three sorts of memories:
Relevant : This includes Ads which mentioned areas or names of specific
interest, e.g. films, outlets selling favoured brands, concerts
Vague/ not relevant: This includes memories of ads for local garages, cars
and insurance companies - little or no specific detail remembered
Sonic Brand Triggers: Much evidence of children's ability to pick up on
musical Sonic brand Triggers (SBTs) and sing them out loud.
Pros and Cons of Radio Advertising
Every medium has special strengths and weaknesses that makes it more or
less suited to special marketing problems of specific advertising. There is no
one medium which is ideal for advertisers or every situation. Radio has a
number of characteristics that makes it an ideal vehicle for numerous
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advertisers as either a primary or secondary medium. Also, there are certain

disadvantages of this media which need to be considered.
4.4Advantages of Radio
1. Largest Reach and Frequency

Radio offers an excellent combination of reach and frequency. The average
adult listens more than 3 hours a day, radio builds a large audience quickly
and a normal advertising schedule easily allows repeated impact on listener.
90% of India has access to radio which is unmatched by any other media.
Radio is not only the medium of hearing news but also is a source of
entertainment and advertising for the rural masses. Radio also reaches to
uneducated village folk who do not read print publications. At the places
where the literacy rates are low where people hardly read newspapers and
radio is the only medium that they can understand. They cant afford a TV
set. Therefore radio is more popular.
2. Broadly Selectivity
Specialized radio formats with prescribed audiences and coverage areas
enable advertisers to select the market they want to reach. From a marketing
perspective, radio has the ability to reach prospects by sex, age group, ethnic
or religious background, income group, employment category, educational
level or special interest with a format that adds even greater dimensions to
its already strong personal communication environment.
Radios high overall reach and its ability to provide numerous formats make
it a multifaceted medium. Because of the relatively low cost of production,
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advertisers are able to adapt commercials to the various stations then buy, a
strategy that would normally be prohibitively in television.
3. Cost Efficiency
Radio is the least cost medium and it helps to reach mass audience with
various backgrounds. Radio offers its reach frequency and selectivity at one
of the lowest costs per thousand and radio production is relatively
inexpensive. National spots can be produced for about one tenth the cost of a
TV commercial, and local stations often produce local spots for free. Also,
radio ads can be produced very quickly.
4. Creativity and Flexibility

Radio is the most flexible medium because of very short closing periods for
submitting an ad. This means an advertiser can wait until close to an air date
before submitting an ad. With this flexibility of simple formats such as voice
only can be created almost immediately to reflect changing market
conditions or advertisers can take advantage of special events or unique
competitive opportunities in a timely fashion.
Radio also offers timeless, immediacy, local relevance and creative

flexibility. The personal nature of radio, combined with its flexibility and
creativity, makes radio the choice for numerous product categories. Copy
changes can also be made very quickly.
While radio may be one-dimensional in sensory stimulation, it can still have

powerful creative impact. Radio has been described as the theatre of the
mind. The musical formats that attract audiences to radio stations can also
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attract attention to radio ads. Audiences that favor certain music may be
more prone to an ad that uses recognizable, popular songs.
5. Proximity to Purchase
The mobility of radio and its huge out - of - home audience gives the
medium an advantage enjoyed by few other advertising vehicles. In the
competitive environment facing most companies, it is imperative that brands
achieve consumer reinforcement as near as possible to the purchase decision.
Radios daily frequency offers scope for continued messages and hence the
consumers are more likely to remember that product and consumer lend up
buying that product.
6. As a Complement to Another Media

In some cases, radio is the primary medium for local advertisers. However
for national advertisers and most large local and regional firms, radio is most
often used as complementary medium to extend the reach and frequency of
primary vehicles in their advertising schedule.
A fundamental marketing strategy for radio has been its ability to

successfully work with other media to increase reach and frequency or to
reach non-users and light users of other media. The radio industry realizes
that the bulk of its revenue comes from advertisers who use radio as a
secondary medium.
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7. A personal medium
The human voice is the most personal means of communication. Radio gives
the advertisers the opportunity to take advantage of the right combination of
words, voices, music, and sound effects to establish a unique one-on-one
connection with prospects that lets you grab their attention, evoke their
emotions, and persuade them to respond.
Radio can be targeted by lifestyle formats and is more efficient than other
media from a cost and production standpoint. As a result many advertising
agencies will move their budgets into radio.
4.5Disadvantages of Radio
1. Misunderstanding
Sometimes there might be a misconception regarding the radio ad as it is
only heard. In television the chances of such misconception is less, as it is
audio as well as visual.
2. Poor Radio Attentiveness

Just because radio reaches audiences almost everywhere does not mean that
everyone is paying attention. When a consumer is listening while doing
some work or traveling in a car, he or she often switches stations when an ad
comes and divides his or her attention between the radio and road.
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3. Fragmented Audiences
The large number of stations that try to attract the same audience in a market
has created tremendous fragmentation. If a large number of radio stations
compete for the same audience, advertisers who want to blanket the market
have to buy multiple stations, which may not be cost effective. However, in
radios quest to continue to fine tune its reach, some advertisers wonder if
radio is offering too many narrowly defined options. For those product
categories with broad appeal, it is difficult to gain effective reach and
frequency without buying several radio stations and networks.
4. Chaotic buying procedures

For an advertiser who wants to include radio as a part of national advertising
program, the buying process can be sheer chaos. Since national networks
and syndicated broad cast do not reach every geographic market, an
advertiser has to buy time in individual markets on a station-by-station basis.
This could involve dozens of different negotiations and individual contracts.
5. Short Lived and Halfhearted Commercials

Radio commercials are brief and fleeting. They cant keep like a newspaper
or a magazine ad. Radio must compete with other activities for attentions,
and it does not always succeed. Only 20 % of time availability restricts the
frequency of message exposure.
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6. Creative Limitations
The audio-only nature of radio communication is a tremendous creative
compromise. An advertiser whose product depends on demonstration or
visual impact is at a loss when it comes to radio. Many advertisers think that
without strong visual brand identification the medium can play little or no
role in their advertising plans.
7. Limitations of Sound
Radio is heard but not seen, a drawback if the product must be seen to be
understood. Some agencies think radio restricts their creative options.
8. RJ needs training
It is very important that the Radio Jockey is trained enough to deliver the ad.
Sometimes the voice really matters. If the voice is irritating then there is a
chance that the campaign may flop.
9. No proper research available

In India, there is no proper research has been available on the area of radio
listening, which will be very helpful for the advertisers to decide them on
advertising plan and budget and other matter. Therefore, there could be a
problem for the marketers in the sense that they might advertise on wrong
channel at a wrong time.
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4.6Types of Radio Advertising:
1. Network
Advertiser may use one of the national radio networks to carry their
messages to the entire national markets simultaneously via stations that
subscribe to the networks programs. Networks provide national and regional
advertisers with simple administration and low effective net cost per station.
The advantage is less paper work and lower cost per station. Disadvantage
includes lack of flexibility in choosing affiliated stations the limited no. of
stations on a networks roster and the long lead times required to book time.
2. Spot Radio
Spot radio affords nationals advertisers great flexibility in their choice of
markets, stations, airtime, and copy. They can tailor commercials to the local
market and put them on the air quickly some stations will run a
commercial with as little as 20 minutes lead time.
3. Local Radio
Local times denote radio spots purchased by a local advertiser for local
market. It involves the same procedure as national spots. Radio advertising
is either live or taped. Most radio stations use recorded shows with live news
in between .Likewise, nearly all radio commercials are pre recorded to
reduce cost and maintain broadcast quality.
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4. Sponsor Programme
Here the advertiser sponsors the whole or part of the programme. The RJ
informs the audience about the sponsored company throughout the
programme.
5. RJ Mention/Whats On Mention
Here the Radio Jockey [RJ] informs the audience the information given by
advertiser about the new product launch, sale, exhibition going on at certain
place etc.
Radio Stations Divide Their Days And Their Rates.
Radio stations divide their rate cards into dayparts .The exact divisions vary
from station to station.
6 am -10 am Morning drive
10 am 3 pm Daytime
3pm 7pm Afternoon drive
7pm- 12am Nighttime
12am 6 am All night
Rating services measures audiences for only the first four day parts because
all night listening is very limited and not highly competitive. Heaviest radio
use occurs during drive times (6-10 am and 3-7pm) during the week
(Monday- Friday).
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This information is important to advertisers because usage and consumption

vary for different products. For example, radios morning drive time
coincides with most peoples desire for a steaming, fresh cup of coffee, so its
great time for advertising coffee brands. For the lowest rate , an advertiser
orders spots on a run of station (ROS) basis, similar to the ROP in
newspaper advertising .However, this leaves total control of the spot
placement up to the station. So most stations offer a total audience plan
(TAP) package rate, which guarantees a certain percentage of spots in the
better day parts if the advertiser buys a total package of time.
4.7Length of Spots
The radio commercials in the test reels consisted of several different spot
lengths, ranging from 15 to 60 seconds. The longest commercial played on
the radio is 120 seconds. Those however are rare. In theory, one could
assume that the longer a spot, the better it will be remembered or at least, the
more chance there it that it will be heard. Research on television
commercials proved that this theory holds true for the medium television: a
doubling or tripling in spot seconds results in duplication in recall.
The spots for advertisement can be for 10 sec, 20 sec, 30 sec and 60 sec. In
General,
10 second spot should contain 25 words
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If youve never written a spot, 30 seconds sounds like an impossibly short

time to get your message across. But take a stop watch and time some spots
on the air; youll see that quite a lot can be accomplished in a short time. In
fact, you may find that 60s, unless very well written and well produced,
sometimes seem a bit too long.
A 60 does allow you more variety in music, sound effects, and voice and can
be useful for political message, the announcement of a new or little-
understood service, or other sports with a information/education content.
30 is usually 70 to 80 words long, and a; 60 around 150 to 160 words. The
cost of a: 30 is usually about 60% to 75%.
Some stations no longer charge a separate rate for: 30s and: 60s. Instead,
they charge a unit rate. In other words, a: 30 costs the same as a: 60.
Obviously, this is one case where you might want to use a: 60 to take
advantage of the free air time. Check the rate cards of the stations you are
interested in, or ask your sales rep
4.8Buying Radio Time
Station Rates
While buying procedures to achieve national coverage may be chaotic, this
does not mean they are completely without structure. Although the actual
buying may be time consuming and expensive if many stations are involved,
the structure is actually quite straight forward. Advertising time can be
purchased from networks, syndications, or local radio stations. Advertisers
generally invest most heavily in local placement. About 80% of annual radio
advertising is placed locally. About 15% is allocated to national spot
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placement and only 5% is invested in network broadcasts. Many stations

have local rates for Individual Business and National Rates for Agencies.
Advertiser may use one of the national radio networks to carry their
messages to the entire national markets simultaneously via stations that
subscribe to the networks programs. Networks provide national and regional
advertisers with simple administration and low effective net cost per station.
Your Dayparts Buying Options

Most stations offer several options for buying air time:
Buying by specific dayparts
Buying packages
Buying sponsorships or adjacencies
a). Buying specific dayparts

This relates to the time period of purchase. There are five basic dayparts on
basis of which advertiser can choose. The time period decision is based
primarily on a demographic description of the advertisers target audience.
Drive-times dayparts attract a mostly male audience, while daytime
primarily female and nighttime is mostly teen. This information combined
with programming formats, guides an advertiser in a buying decision.
Putting half your sports into drive time and half into midday is a very safe
strategy. Weekend sports can also effectively reach teens.
b). Buying packages
As with magazine buying, radio advertising time is purchased from rate
cards issued by individual stations. Run-of-stations ads- ads that stations
choose when to run- cost less than ads scheduled during a specific dayparts.
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The price can also increase if an advertiser wants the ad read live on the air
by a popular local radio personality hosting a show during a day part.
Buying packages is an easy, usually low-cost method. Marking a package
buy is called buying Run of Station (ROS), Total Audience Plan (TAP), or
Best Time Available( BTA). This means simply that you pay to buy a
package of sports at a flat rate and the station decides (within certain
specified limits) when the sports will run. Stations will usually guarantee to
divide your sports fairly between drive times and other dayparts.
c). Sponsorships or adjacencies
A sponsorship is just what its name implies. You are associating your
company name with a specific program. The advertisers sponsor the whole
or part of the programme. The RJ informs the audience about the sponsored
company throughout the programme. . Is brought to you
by
An adjacency is the next best thing to a sponsorship. If you buy an
adjacency, your ad will run every day just before or just after (in other
words, adjacent to) the program you specify.
Other fixed-position spots are also available. For example, you may specify
that you want your spot to run at 6:13 a.m. every Monday, Wednesday, and
Friday.
Sponsorships, adjacencies, and fixed positions go for premium rates.
Sponsorships on top-rated shows can cost up to twice as much as other spots
in the same dayparts. Having your name associated with a particular show or
event can do a lot to reinforce your positioning, and these premium spots can
be so powerful that you may be able to run far fewer spots than you
otherwise would, spending less to achieve the same impact.
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Sponsorships are like marriages; theyre only for people who are ready for a
long-term commitment.
3) Frequency
Radio, like most media, requires repetition to have impact. As a general rule,
a minimum of 20 spots per week should be aired. There are scheduling
strategies that help increase the impact of the spots you place.
Flight and schedule are two words you may hear your radio sales
representative use when you plan your advertising. A flight is a group of ads.
(Im running a flight of 80 ads this month.) A schedule is the long-term
version of a flight. (I run a schedule of 20 ads a week, six months out of the
year.)
4) How many stations do you need

Just as you should never run too few spots, you should also not run on too
few stations. But how many is enough? Generally, you should run on at least
two or three stations, but that varies depending on your audience and the
number of competing stations in the market.
If your target and audience includes both younger and older people, you may
need to buy two or more stations with widely different formats.
There are, however, times when one station will suffice. If your audience is
business people, and you can afford to buy drive time on the dominant
news/talk station in the market, that may be all you need to succeed.
To really learn who is listening to your spots, survey the local market. These
surveys break the audience down by age and sex, break the listening week
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down into segment, and then tell you how many listeners each station had in
each category. Similar survey on listenership has been conducted by IMRB
(Indian Market Research Bureau)
4.9 Producing Radio Commercial

Producing a radio spot can be a lot of fun advertisers often say its the most
fun they ever have in advertising. It can also be simple and inexpensive.
There are three basic elements to work with: the announcers voice, music,
and sound effects. Production can be done in the stations own studios or in
an independent production house. Stations are usually well- equipped to
produce spots, and they often employ young, creative people whose fresh
ideas will keep your spots from sounding like everywhere elses.
It all begins with a good script, which means not just the words, but the
combination of words, music, and sound effects. All these are part of the
script. Your spot can be clever or straightforward, but it must grab the
listeners attention in about three seconds, and it must not leave the listener
wondering, whose spot was that, anyways?
The following are some of the factors you should have in mind from the first
moment you sit down to plan your spot.
The Voice
There are two factors concerning voice. First, you should use a voice that is
appropriate for your image.
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There are two good, low- cost options for achieving this, and one higher-
cost option:
Using local radio talent
Using an amateur voice
Hiring professional voice talent.
Using local radio talent

If station produces the spot, one of their on-air people risk having the voice
be so familiar that the listener doesnt pay attention. If the ad runs only in
drive time, one can have the midday announcer do the honors. Get the least
familiar voice available. Listeners will be less likely to tune it out.
Female announcers can also be used. Studies have shown that women
presenters are just as effective as men; but only a small (but increasing)
percentage of all broadcast sales presentations are made by women.
Using amateur voices

One great thing about radio is that even an untrained voice can be very
effective. In fact, the less the voice sounds like one of the regular
announcers, the better.
A womans voice, a childs, or even your own can make listeners stop and
pay attention simply because its not what theyre expecting to hear. A word
of caution: Amateurs can sound stiff and false.
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Using professional voice talent

If a very sleek production value is needed hire voice talent from another
station, the local community theater or, in larger markets, from a talent
agency. Celebrity voices can sometimes be hired.
2). Music
The power of music cant be overemphasized. There are several options for
putting music into your commercials:
Have original music produced.
Use free music from the stations library.
Get permission to use an existing recording by a known artist. (But Its
difficult and expensive to obtain the rights).
Buy canned music (sound alike) in the style of many popular composers in
all large markets who supply such productions for a modest charge.
A lot of radio or TV advertising, can be done having a jingle product. The

cost runs anywhere from Rs.600 to a few thousand rupees, and it can be a
very worth while investment. A catchy jingle helps potential customers
remember you more than almost anything else.
3). Sound Effects (SFX)

various onomatopoeic sounds like eeek, ho ho ho, ding dong, whistle etc.
are available at the local radio station. The sound of waves on the shore can
help sell your vacation package and bird song can put people in the mood for
your spring sale.
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Radio is entirely a medium of sound. When you use sound to evoke smells,
sensations, and visual images, you bring the listener, more involved with
your spot, will be more involved with your ideas.
4. The tapping Session

Once the decision is made about the script, voice, music, and sound effects,
its time to record. At may be just you and the announcer in the studio; the
announcer will operate the equipment. At large stations and professional
recording studios, an engineer will record the spot while you and the
announcer concentrate on the reading.
You should also understand. Be aware that the announcer may have slight
interpretation of the reading than you do, and dont expect a performance
that could only come from someone reading your mind.
4.10Selling Radio Commercial

Selling radio advertising involves a number of steps. The radio salesperson
must be aware that everyone involved in the transaction is looking for
different results. The media buyer is looking for efficient cost per point,
while the clients goal is to move product. As all radio stations are perceived
to be same it is important to build value into the radio station by offering
credible benefits that produced results and solutions for prospective clients.
Radio salesperson must begin with the clients needs and marketing goals.
The first step in the process is to meet the client to gain as much information
as possible about the client and his or her business. After the salesperson has
a firm grasp of the advertising problem, the next step is to prepare a
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proposal. The successful ones begins with the clients problem and sales
objectives an move systematically to a solution.
Often the job of the radio sales person must be conducted on a number of
levels.
An advertiser who is not currently scheduling radio may have to be
convinced that the medium in general is for a particular product.
The salesperson must move from the general advantages of radio to the
advantages of specific station.
The radio representative may have to show how radio fits into the media mix
currently being used by the advertisers.
Radio advertising faces challenges both from within the industry and from
other media as it competes for advertising price.
Dayparts Characteristics
6 a.m. - 10.00 a.m. Drive time, breakfast audience, interested chiefly in news
10.00 a.m. - 3.00 Daytime, program characteristics of station, talk , music, or
p.m. all-news
3.00 p.m. - 7.00 Afternoon, drive time ; radio prime time and same as
p.m. morning drive time
7.00 p.m. - 12.00 News, music, talk shows
a.m.
12.00 a.m. - 6.00 Music, talk shows
a.m.
Elements of good radio commercial
- 43 -
Be single-minded, focused. The consumer should not be burdened with too

much information. Prioritize the copy points. The central idea should be
highlighted.
Research your product or service. Many clients keep tabs on their
competition, but they rarely related their features and benefits to factual data.
Meaningful statistics can give substantial support to your massage.
Relate to the consumer, Always relate the brand to customers wants and
needs. D
Generate extension. The effect of a commercial can be multiplied by
achieving extension. A clever phrase or execution can have consumers
asking other people if they have heard the spot.
Produce an immediate physical, emotional, or mental response. Laughter, a
tug on the heartstrings, or mental exercises of a consumer during a radio spot
help seed the memory and aid messages retention.
Use plain, conversational English. Be a clear communicator
4.11Creative Radio Advertising

These are some guidelines for producing creative radio advertisements:-
1. Understand the environment
2. Speak the listeners language
3. Engage and entertain the listener
4. Keep it simple
5. Judge what you hear, not what you read
6. Production values are important
7. Plan your production
8. Dare to be different
9. Take it seriously
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4.12Steps in Radio Ad Production
An agency or advertisers appoints a producer

The producer prepares cost estimation
the producer selects a recording studio
With the aid of the casting director, if one is needed, the producer casts the
commercial.
If music is to be included, the producer selects a musical director and
chooses the music or selects stock music.
If necessary, a rehearsal is held.
The studio tapes music and sound separately
The studio mixes music and sound with voices.
The producer sees that the master tape is prepared for distribution on either
tape or cassettes and shipped to stations.
You are on the air!
4.13Measuring the radios effect

Effectiveness research requires clarity of objectives what are the agreed
objectives of the overall campaign and of the radio campaign within this?
Radio effectiveness can be measured either using continuous research or in
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stages (pre & post) the pre-stage is normally the week before the
campaign, the post-stage in the week after the campaign finishes.
Consumers tend to misattribute radio-advertising memories to other media,
particularly TV. This is particularly likely to happen where there is a strong
executional link between the two media and/or where there is an history of
TV advertising for the brand.
This tendency to misattribute can be offset by using matched samples of
listeners and non-listeners. This way, if the increase in advertising awareness
is greater among listeners than it is among non-listeners, then the effect can
be attributed to radio fairly confidently even if the listeners think the
advertising was in another medium.
Radio research can successfully be done using telephone interviewing ads
can be played down the line. However cases where other media are to be
included in the research it might be more appropriate to use face-to-face
interviewing.
Commercial recognition is a valuable technique i.e. playing the ads to
consumers. It provides a more robust measure of whether they have heard
the campaign, and avoids problems of trying to describe the ads. Brand
names can be bleeped out of the commercial, to test whether the campaign is
linked to the brand.
Defining the research objectives
The key to any successful research is to have a clear understanding of why
the research is being conducted in the first place. In other words, what are
you aiming to measure?
In broad terms, radio advertising research aims can be categorized into two
types:
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Marketing issues to what extent has radio helped to achieve the campaign
aims?
Media planning issues what effect do different media strategies have on
the performance of the campaign?
Marketing Issues:- These vary widely and there can be often more than one
objective set for a campaign. Below are some typical examples:
.Increase sales
Increase footfall / store traffic
Increase brand awareness
Change consumers perceptions about a brand
Broaden consumer appeal
Not all of these aims are best evaluated with consumer survey research -
there are specific tools available for measuring sales effects for example.
Media Planning Issues: - In addition to tracking radios contribution to the
success of a campaign, as a secondary aim you might also be trying to test
and evaluate the effects of using different media strategies, for example:
- Effectiveness of different spot lengths
- Burst versus continuous activity
- Use of different day part strategies.
If you do intend to test a particular media strategy there are three important
considerations to note.
Firstly, and most obviously, you must gear the campaign so that you can test
the particular media strategy in which you are interested.
Secondly, if you are testing a number of media strategies simultaneously,
you will need to be able to separate the effects of each using a separate,
balanced research cell for each media-variable.
- 47 -
Lastly, when testing different media strategies, bear in mind that you will
still be judging the effects in terms of the overall campaign objectives.
Whatever your research objectives, once you have defined them make sure
that they form the core of the questionnaire you use. Any other questions are
of secondary importance
2) The Importance of Split Samples
Misattribution of Advertising:-
When asked to consider advertising, consumers will turn their thoughts to

the most salient source they can think of this tends to mean TV.
Television, as the medium with the most active expectations, tends to
dominate memories of advertising, with the result that campaigns in all other
media are, to varying extents, attributed to television in the consumers
mind.
This misattribution is disproportionately likely to happen with radio and is
still more likely to happen when radio campaigns are creatively synergistic
with TV executions.
Avoiding Misattribution: Using Split Samples:-
The simplest solution to the problem of measuring true radio awareness is to

split your sample into two parts: listeners (target consumers who have been
- 48 -
listening to the radio stations which carried the advertising) and non-
listeners (people who do not listen to those stations, but who are the same as
the listeners in all other
respects).
If the only difference between the two samples is their radio listening, then
any differences in their awareness or attitudes to the advertised brand can be
reasonably attributed to radio regardless of where they think they have
seen or heard the advertising.
It is particularly important to use split samples where radio is part of a mixed
media schedule in order to gauge the true radio effect.
Which Option Should You Choose:-
Neither of the two approaches above is necessarily better than the other.
However, the second method has the advantage of questioning people who
will have the same history of exposure to the brand. Local distribution levels
for the brand will also be the same.
The key point is that the listener and non-listener samples must be matched
as closely as possible in terms of demographics, media consumption and
weight of exposure to the brands advertising in other media. This ensures
that any differences can confidently be attributed to radio ad exposure.
- 49 -
3) Where to do the research
Test and Control Samples in Different Areas:-
This involves taking two matched samples of respondents in different

geographical areas and comparing their advertising responses one sample
will live in the advertised area, the other in an area where no radio
advertising ran.
In this way, it will be possible to compare the results among those who have
been exposed to the campaign with the results among those who have not -
thus giving you a measure of radios effectiveness.
It is important to match the media consumption of the samples (e.g. how
much TV they watch etc) as well as their demographics, as this could affect
response. It is equally important to ensure weight of advertising for your
brand in all other media is the same for both samples.
The two geographical areas should also be comparable (or typical) in
terms of media and product consumption as a whole.
- 50 -
Fig5
Test and Control Samples within the Same Area
In this second approach, all of the research is done within the same area.
One part of the sample will comprise people who do listen to the station(s)
on your radio schedule, whilst the other part of the sample will comprise
people who do not listen to any station on the schedule. In this way it will be
possible to compare the results of those who have been exposed to the
campaign to those who have not giving you a measure of radios
effectiveness.
4) When to do the research
The ideal research method is to monitor advertising activity on a continuous

basis, since this allows movements in advertising response to be compared
directly to current advertising activity. Often, however, continuous radio
- 51 -
research is impractical on grounds of cost unless it forms part of ongoing

advertising tracking.
Typically, radio research is conducted in two stages - a pre-campaign and a
post campaign study.
The pre-campaign study should be conducted as close to the start of the
radio campaign as possible preferably during the week immediately
preceding the radio campaign. This will establish the base levels of whatever
is being measured (e.g. brand awareness).
The post campaign study should be conducted as soon as possible after the
radio campaign has ended ideally during the first week after the campaign
has come off air.
In some instances one considers conducting more than two stages of
research. For example, it might be worth slotting in an additional research
phase during a particularly long advertising campaign or sponsorship.
Similarly, having done the post-research, consider adding an additional stage
of research some weeks after a campaign has ended in order, say, to track
decay in brand awareness.
- 52 -
5) The research sample and sample sizes

Sample Sizes
Generally speaking, the larger the sample the better. However at some point,
the cost of an increased sample size becomes cost prohibitive and
contributes little extra to statistical robustness.
6) Method and questionnaire
Telephone research is often used for assessing the effect of radio campaigns:
the method is adaptable and can often be cheaper than face-to-face
interviewing. Radio ads can successfully be played down the phone to
respondents.
Face-to-face interviewing may also be preferable if respondents need to be
shown visual ad material such as stills from TV ads.
Commercial recognition is a valuable technique i.e. playing the radio ads
to consumers as this is the best memory jogger of all. It also delivers a
larger sample of people who are identifiable as having definitely heard the
campaign: this is useful when analyzing them for their attitudes to the brand.
When playing the radio commercials in order to measure commercial
recognition, two different approaches can be taken: blind or branded.
Blind By bleeping out all brand references in each execution and asking
whether the commercial has been heard before and then asking for the brand
name, it is possible to see whether creative treatment has successfully linked
the message to the brand.
- 53 -
Branded - this allows prompting for brand-specific data, (e.g. attitudes to the
advertising/feelings about the proposition), whilst giving a true measure of
ad recognition.
A fairly straightforward questionnaire will take around 10-15 minutes to run

through much longer and respondents will begin to lose interest and
concentration!
- 54 -
CHAPTER 5
SWOT Analysis
5.1Strengths:
Recently, the government has agreed upon revenue-sharing model, which is
4 % for the growth of the radio stations. So that they can develop themselves
well because this industry is still in an introduction stage.
The success of private FM stations, and reveals that radio listenership habits
have changed considerably; not only are listeners tuning into it more often
but also sticking to radio for longer hours everyday.
The advertisers, who would depend on word-of-mouth, pamphlets,
brochures or ads in local supplements of newspapers, are welcoming the
opportunity.
Radio is considered as a background medium, because people can listen to
radio anytime and anywhere they want. It is also a free medium.
90% of India has access to radio which is unmatched by any other media.
Radio also reaches to uneducated village folk who do not read print
publications. At the places where the literacy rates are low where people
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hardly read newspapers and radio is the only medium that they can
understand. They cant afford a TV set. Therefore radio is more popular.
Radio is the least cost medium and it helps to reach mass audience with
various backgrounds. Radio offers its reach frequency and selectivity at one
of the lowest costs per thousand and radio production is relatively
inexpensive.
Radio is considered as a medium where the Proximity to purchase is very
high.
Radio is a complement to another media. Therefore, other media or the
advertisers or agency can use this medium for brand recall.
5.2Weakness:
One of the major weaknesses of Radio is that there is very less
differentiation in the programmes that are aired. Most of the stations plays
much of the music that is played consist of Hindi Film songs, and therefore
it is difficult to differentiate between the programmes of the different
channels.
Fragmented Audience - the large number of the audience in India is
fragmented in various remote places. And therefore, the percentage of
listener tuned to anyone station is likely very small.
No proper research available - research is very important for any advertising
segment. Research is the main base to attract client and get more revenue.
But, in India there is no proper research is available. Many stations are
conducting their own research which can be biased.
- 56 -
Radio-only nature of radio communication is a tremendous creative

compromise. An advertiser whose product depends on demonstration or
visual impact is at a loss when it comes to radio. And like its radio message
creates a fleeting impression that is often gone in an instant. Many
advertisers think that without strong visual brand identification the medium
can play little or no role in their advertising plans.
Increase in listenership numbers but no increase in ad revenue. This is the
situation that every radio channel is facing.
Short commercials
5.3Opportunities:
Getting copyright licenses from the government for running mega events
which are aired on the AIR radio station and have been restricted to be aired
on other private stations.
Launching a radio station with 24-hour news channel
Tie-ups with BEST or railway authority for playing the FM in train and in
bus.
The launch of Private Radio FM has managed to create a set of New
Listeners for the medium
The new radio stations which will come in future they can have venture with
the college or university campuses. And can play their station which will
exclusively provide with the information relating to that university/college
campus.
With the coming of the many more new players in the radio industry each
channels can position themselves quite different from others, like, if some
station is targeting the health conscious people then their programming
- 57 -
strategy will vary accordingly. And then it is easier for the advertisers also to
decide on which channel to advertise.
Allowing private FM players to start news and current affairs programmes.
One has to constantly innovate, and that is the challenge. Brand building is
thus much more difficult. At the same time, we are very bullish, and gung-
ho about this whole enterprise.
Leaves huge scope for innovation in local market
5.4Threats:
The biggest threat to private radio industry players is ALL INDIA RADIO.
AIR is the biggest player in India because of its reach, low charges,
government channel etc
Because of the new government policies there will be more number of
stations and then competition will also increase. This is one of the biggest
threats it faces. With no particular differentiation in the music. So, there is a
fear of losing its brand loyalty.
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CHAPTER 6
Radio with other media
Most brands tag radio to their existing communication plans. Reason enough
for us to study the role of Radio vis--vis other key media.
'what Radio can add' to each medium on three key parameters - a)
Planning, b) Communication and c) Detailing of communication points.
6.1Radio with Television
Characteristics of Television
TV has traditionally been the most powerful and popular advertising
medium for people in the media business. This is mainly because it does
most things well - coverage, frequency, image, persuasion, demonstration,
impact etc.
Traditionally a high-cost medium, the downside with TV is that the audience
is now fragmented across many different channels, production costs are
extremely high and viewers are increasingly avoiding ad breaks.
What radio can add:
In planning:-
Radio's main contribution is a dramatic increase in frequency of exposures,
either in the same period as the TV campaign or later to extend the campaign
over time; radio can be used for regional or local exposure booster; radio can
be used to reach light viewers; it extends TV messages to key times of day
- 59 -
when TV audiences are lower or when product relevance is higher; radio

also allows tighter targeting against audiences thus reducing wastage.
In communication:-
Given that Radio is perceived as personal medium, radio can bring brands
closer and speak to the consumer at their level; radio has a culture of
response where listeners frequently interact with their station which they see
as accessible.
In detail:-
Radio allows activity to be geographically varied; radio can allow a fast
turnaround for new initiatives; low production costs mean multiple copy
messages can be varied round the core TV communication Sonic Brand
Triggers. Sonic Brand Triggers are sounds, which consumers recognize and
associate with certain brands.
Example of powerful SBTs:
"Britannia Ting Ting Ting"
They help to ensure that TV and radio advertising is well branded. They
leave a brand impression with even the most passive TV viewer or radio
listener, as they tend to rely on rhythm and music, which are absorbed at
very low involvement levels. A sound, which has been successfully
established on TV, can be transferred on to radio.
- 60 -
6.2Radio with Newspapers
Characteristics of Newspapers
Newspaper brings 'immediacy' to a communication. Newspapers also have
the authority of the written word, and are good at presenting detail. As a
print medium, the national press suffers from clutter and from the fact that
the reader can and does edit ruthlessly to avoid advertising.
What radio adds:
In planning:-
Radio adds frequency, and this is real frequency in that exposures take place
in real time; radio also reaches non-readers so it can significantly increase
coverage; in most sectors, adding radio also means increased share of voice
thus overcoming clutter
In communication:-
Radio brings intrusiveness to a press campaign, and there is less ad
avoidance; it can bring to life ideas, which may seem flat on the page; radio
can more strongly convey the brand's tone. Radio brings brand messages
closer to the individual, speaking in a more personal way than press; radio
allows brands to emphasize specific key times of day.
In detail:-
Flexibility means radio allows geographical variation on top of a national
press campaign.
- 61 -
6.3Radio with Outdoor advertising
Characteristics of Outdoor
The strength of outdoor advertising lies in its ability to suddenly confront the
consumer with an idea or a challenge, in a very public way. Like radio,
posters also operate within time which people think of as free - typically
travelling time.
The weaknesses of outdoor advertising mainly stem from three issues: it has
no editorial context, it uses extremely simple, striking ideas to be effective,
and it suffers from relatively expensive production.
What radio adds:

In planning:-
Radio adds real frequency, in the sense that additional exposures to the
advertising are played in full rather than having the listener look away or
ignore; radio offers far tighter targeting which means reducing wastage;
radio also offers tighter timing - within time of day, day of week or even
week of month.
In communication:-
Radio allows more information to be conveyed, which is useful for
explaining or persuading; radio allows multiple copy; radio brings brands
closer, as listeners identify with their radio station and see it as aimed at
people like them; radio is better able to communicate the tone or character of
a brand.
- 62 -
In detail:-
Radio offers speed of production compared with the lengthy process of
poster print deadlines; it also allows localized copy variation relating to a
national poster execution.
6.4Radio with Magazines
Characteristics of magazines
Magazines are useful to advertisers because of the relationship they have
with the readers, who consume them in a personal way. They allow targeting
by lifestyle and interest group. In many magazines the ads are seen as part of
the magazine experience.
Weaknesses of magazines include the fact that lead times can be very long
depending on the title's frequency of publication, the high levels of clutter,
and the reader's inclination to simply turn the page.
What radio adds:

In planning:-
Radio adds frequency and also extends coverage well beyond the magazine
readership; radio allows tighter timing - time of day, day of week etc; radio
also offers a greater share of voice for most categories, which means
overcoming clutter.
- 63 -
In communication:-
Radio brings intrusiveness to a magazine campaign, and there is less ad
avoidance; radio can bring to life ideas which might seem flat on the page;
radio can more strongly convey the advertising tone of voice. It allows
brands to speak to consumers close to certain activities - driving, cooking,
housework etc
In detail:-
Radio offers fast turnaround within the long copy deadlines of magazines,
and the opportunity for geographical variations.
Recall of advertising. At the post-stage, you will be seeking to detect
spontaneous and prompted awareness. Commercial recognition playing the
ads to respondents.
Thoughts on what the main message of the ads was Creating the right mix
A fieldwork was conducted by IMRB(Indian Market Research Bureau) to

know about the listeners which encompassed the entire Mumbai urban
agglomeration through a random sampling of 6,000 households and 3,600
individuals.
With the growing salience of Radio, IRMB believes that time is ripe for a
continuous Radio audience measurement system. IMRB International
decided to launch RADAR RADIO LISTENERSHIP SYSTEM - the
continuous radio audience measurement system in Mumbai.
The findings have helped many radio stations to develop. The following is
the standard procedure involved in calculating the listenership of a radio
station.
- 64 -
The research can be undertaken by the research agency voluntarily to be sold

later to companies, or on particular request by a company.
A project is selected and a deadline is given.

All the interviewers are informed of the above and a questionnaire is given.
A sample size is decided which is spread all over the target city / town etc.
When the questionnaires are filled, they are complied and sent to the
analysis department
Then the analysis findings are forwarded to the research department and
published
At the country level:

Total awareness of radio stations
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Vividh Bharati Radio Mirchi Radio City AIR Primary SLBC World Space
% mentioning
Fig6
Gender of radio audience
- 65 -
Female
42%
Female
42%
Male
58%
MALE
58%
fig7
Listenership by time slots

7am - 11.30 am
20%
18%
16%
14%
11.30 - 6.00 pm
12% 7pm - 11pm
10%
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
% listeners
Analysis
Fig8
- 66 -
Analysis
While the overall reach of radio in India is high it can be seen above that
awareness
- 67 -
CHAPTER 7
Radio stations
7.1All India Radio
A.I.R, which is a national service planned, developed and operated by the

Ministry of Information & Broadcasting under the Government of
India. Sound broadcasting started in India in 1927 with the proliferation of
two privately owned transmitters in Bombay and Calcutta. It was changed to
All India Radio in 1936 and it came to be known as Akashwani since 1957
to inform, educate and entertain the masses.
All India Radio is one of the largest radio networks in the world in terms of
reach. When India attained Independence in 1947, AIR had a network of six
stations and a complement of 18 transmitters.
All India Radio has a network of 283 broadcasting centers with 146 medium
frequency (MW) transmitters, 50 high frequency (SW) transmitters and 87
FM transmitters. With broadcasts in 24 languages and 146 dialects (home
- 68 -
services), and another 10 foreign languages in external services, A.I.R.'s

coverage exceeds 90% of India, reaching over 98% of the people in the
largest democracy of the world. Add FM radio and you have a formidable
arsenal.
AIR has a three-tier system of broadcasting, namely, national, regional and

local.
National channel of All India Radio started functioning on May 18, 1988. It
caters to the needs of the people, through its transmitters at Nagpur, Mogra
and Delhi beaming from dusk to dawn. It transmits centrally originated news
bulletins in Hindi and English, plays, sports, music, newsreel, spoken word
and other topical programs, to nearly 76% of the country's population fully
reflecting the broad spectrum of national life.
The Regional Stations in different States form the middle tier of the
broadcasting. Including North-Eastern Service at Shillong disseminates the
vibrant and radiant cultural heritage of the Northeastern region of the
country.
New initiatives by AIR
Change is in the AIR. Prasar Bharati now plans a 24-hour news radio station
- not on FM, but on shortwave. For FM it has other ideas - classical music
channels to start with in Bangalore and Lucknow and to be extended across
the country later.
AIR, which produces more than 300 bulletins daily, will also cash in on
phone bulletins. The service, which is on in Patna, Hyderabad, Kolkata and
Delhi at different numbers, will be launched across the country with a four-
- 69 -
digit common number. AIR planned and developed special packages for the
North East and J&K, focusing on the rich cultural heritage, development of
infrastructure and the changing scenario in the state. Prasar Bharati is also
planning to fill the vacancies in regional stations, especially in North East
and J&K, setting up radio clubs and maximizing AIR revenue.
Prasar Bharati is set to launch a major campaign aimed at repositioning and

total branding of the two FM Channels of All India Radio (AIR). Prasar
Bharati is positioning AIR FM Rainbow as a channel offering a buffet fare -
Hindi Music, Western Music, Chat shows, Helplines etc. and for this it is
launching a campaign in select cities. The publicity campaign of AIR is
focused on projecting AIR as the world's oldest and largest radio network
both in terms of geographical and population reach and the only source for
news and entertainment for people in remote places. AIR as the radio
network that communicates with people in their language broadcasting in 24
languages and 146 dialects contributes to the enrichment of Indian classical
music and broadcast fast and accurate. It will promote and publicize sports
events covered by AIR besides popularizing existing services like Radio on
Demand and News on Phone.
The entire publicity campaign of AIR is being designed by Prasar Bharati's
ad agencies. The ad agencies have been asked by the Prasar Bharati to make
a strategy presentation, recommending a suitable positioning for AIR
Channels, a marketing plan and publicity plan with suitable media mix.
- 70 -
7.2RADIO CITY [91FM]
Radio City, a venture promoted by Star and Music Broadcast Private Ltd
(MBPL), was launched on 21st May 2002. MBPL is a company backed by
P.K.Mittal, family and Associates. The company has received the license to
set up radio stations across the country in six cities - Bangalore, Delhi,
Mumbai, Patna, Nagpur and Lucknow. The Mumbai license was secured for
Rs 10 crores. STAR Indias radio division would provide or take charge of
advertisement sales, marketing and programming. Radio City aims to reach
out to listeners across demographic barriers.
Target audience
Rad7.2io City is not looking at any particular segment to target, and is trying
to create a brand name. The idea is to create the brand and then to move on
to specific target programming. Radio Citys market strategy is backed up
by six months of intensive research in Bangalore. Intensive research is being
carried out to ascertain demographic profiles of radio listeners, so as to
enable more targeted programming in the future.
- 71 -
7.3GO [92.5FM]
GO 92.5 FM was launched on 10th May2002 by mid day group. The

wonderful world of Go 92.5 FM, The Sound of Mumbai from Mid Day
multimedia limited, trailblazing media company.
Radio Midday seem to have found a niche for themselves and clearly
positioned themselves as 'the English Channel with a local/Indian image'.
Therefore, a focus on international artists popular in India. Not to say that
big Indian artists with big fame do not feature in their mix. So if the
advertiser wants to target a niche population with a fastidious ear for English
music you know where to be! It delivers the best international chart topping
hits and the most with it bollywood sounds, belting out the best hits non
stop 24 hours a day. It does not only concentrate on Hindi or English but
emphasizes on the attractive blend of both the world.
Target Audience:
Mid-Day's Go 92.5 FM now targets only the socio economic category (SEC)
A and B1, target audience is young, and more westernized. It primarily plays
English music. They are clear on their strategy and have already started
catering to a certain set of audience that is mature, white-collar and
upwardly mobile. Providing an attractive blend of 50:50 Hindi & English
programmes, the channel targets the age group of 15 to 45 year old,
educated, white collar executive whose needs are clearly English music and
programming. Go92.5 FM targets the upscale Mumbaikars, Corporate
- 72 -
aiming to serve the cream class of Mumbai can select go92.5fm as a part of
their communication programme.
7.4RED [93.5FM]
Red is in your Head, screams the advertisement of Red

FM, the 24-hour FM radio channel from the Living Media
stable. The much-awaited Red FM on 93.5 MHz hit the
airwaves in Mumbai first on June 26, 2002, followed by
Delhi and Kolkata. Described, as a bright, energetic and
passionate Apparently, RED FM has spent close to Rs 17.87 crores as
license fees for the three centers of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata for the first
year. An additional Rs 20 crores has been invested on infrastructure etc in
these three cities. And in the second phase,
Red FM may not be modest but it is certainly witty, reliable, friendly, warm,
uncomplicated and honest. The take aways are plenty everything that the
station says and does is of relevance to its listeners.
Target Audience
93.5 Red FM caters to 25-plus age group. Because it is more a mature
audience.
They changes everything in terms of how we play music and the RJs we
have according to this target group
- 73 -
The 4 Ps
Product:
For listeners: The programming mix has non-stop music interspersed with
Red FMs crisp and entertaining updates on traffic, weather, city-specific
events and the latest buzz on everything current.
For corporates and retailers: the airtime
Place: Intensive in Mumbai and selective all over the country because it has
other stations in Delhi and Kolkatta.
Price: advertisement rates. (Refer to annexures)
Promotion: Red Fm is affiliated with some clubs and pubs, which promote
the station. Also it has a tie up with shopping malls like crossroads and
Groove a music store. They have 100 hoardings all over Mumbai city.
Moreover, innovative methods like painting Double Decker buses; trains etc
have also been adopted.
- 74 -
7.5RADIO MIRCHI [98.3FM]
Radio Mirchi belonging to the Times of India Group is in an enviable

position to encash into a monopoly the 10-year license period for FM radio
in the 12 cities it won. Radio Mirchi has landed this gift indirectly from
Reliance and Zee who chickened out of the FM radio business after
instigating a bidding war resulting in unviable and exorbitant license fees
(Rs. 9 crores annual fees for Mumbai).
7.5
On April 23, 2002, the Radio Mirchi private FM station, owned by
Entertainment Network (India) Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The
Times Group, debuted in Mumbai, on 98.3 FM. Radio Mirchi is now present
in seven Indian cities and is the only company with private FM radio
stations in all four metropolitan cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and
Kolkata. they are also the only private FM radio broadcaster in the cities of
Ahmedabad, Indore and Pune.
As the punch line says, 'it is hot.' They have a very clearly defined position -
they are a contemporary hit radio station, and their Target is around 18 to 35
- SEC A and B and in that too mainly youth and housewives. This segment
addresses about 12 lakh listeners
- 75 -
The 4 Ps
Product:
For listeners: 90% of the music played on RM is Hindi and contemporary
English hits are played keeping in mind the tastes of their TG. Since radio is
a free to air medium, which reaches the lower end of the audience spectrum,
RM later made a conscious decision to go Hindi. Hence it quickly became a
mass channel with Hinglish being its prime lingo and having a wide
audience appeal..
For corporates and retailers: the airtime
Place: intensive in Mumbai and selective all over the country since it is
established in cities like Kolkatta, Delhi, Chennai.
Price: The advertisement rates. (Refer to annexure)
Promotion: The marketing strategy of Radio Mirchi revolves around two

crucial pegs create hype around the name Radio Mirchi, plug Radio Mirchi
through the other media that The Times Group owns.it also does a lot of tie-
ups and contests for the consumers
7.6FM broadcasting in India
FM broadcasting began on 23 July 1977 in Chennai, then Madras, and was

expanded during the 1990s, nearly after 50 years FM has mushrumed in
US. In the mid-nineties, when India first experimented with private FM
broadcasts, the small tourist destination of Goa was the fifth place in this
- 76 -
country of one billion where private players got FM slots. The other four
centres were the big metro cities: Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai.
These were followed by stations in Bangalore, Hyderabad,
Jaipur and Lucknow.
Times FM (now Radio Mirchi) began operations in 1993 in Ahmedabad.

Until 1993, All India Radio or AIR, a government undertaking, was the only
radio broadcaster in India. The government then took the initiative to
privatize the radio broadcasting sector. It sold airtime blocks on its FM
channels in Indore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Vizag and Goa to
private operators, who developed their own program content. The Times
Group operated its brand, Times FM, till June 1998. After that, the
government decided not to renew contracts given to private operators. In
2000, the government announced the auction of 108 FM frequencies across
India.
Radio City Bangalore is India's first private FM radio station and was started
on July 3, 2001. It launched with presenters such as Rohit Barker, Darius
Sunawala, Jonzie Kurian and Suresh Venkat.
Online streaming is limited, some major stations are available at Global

India Radio.
Indian policy currently states that these broadcasters are assessed a One-
Time Entry Fee (OTEF), for the entire license period of 10 years. Under the
Indian accounting system, this amount is amortised over the 10 year period
at 10% per annum. Annual license fee for private players is either 4% of
revenue share or 10% ofReserve Price, whichever is higher.
- 77 -
Earlier, India's attempts to privatise its FM channels ran into rough weather
when private players bid heavily and most could not meet their
commitments to pay the government the amounts they owed.
FM stations in New Delhi
raman moga fm 107 (104 MHz)

AIR FM Rainbow / FM-1 (107.1 MHz)
AIR FM Gold /FM-2 (106.4 MHz)
AIR Rajdhani/Gyanvani Channel (Non-Regular broadcast) (105.6 MHz)
Oye FM (104.8 MHz)
Fever 104 (104 MHz)
Radio Mirchi FM (98.3 MHz)
Hit FM (95 MHz)
Radio One FM (94.3 MHz)
Red FM (93.5 MHz)
Big FM (92.7 MHz)
Radio City (91.1 MHz)
Radio Jamia 90.4 FM
Delhi University Educational Radio (Available only in University area)
(DU Radio FM) (90.4 MHz)
apna radioa iimc 90.4
FM stations in Kolkata
SRFTI Community radio (90.4 MHz, Available only in Film institute

area)
- 78 -
JU Community radio (90.8 MHz, Available within a 5 km radius of

University)
Friends FM (91.9 MHz)
Big FM (92.7 MHz)
Red FM (93.5 MHz)
Radio One (94.3 MHz)
Radio Mirchi (98.3 MHz)
AIR FM Gold (100.2 MHz)
Fever FM (104.0 MHz)
Oye (104.8 MHz)
Gyan Vani (105.6 MHz)
Aamar FM (106.2 MHz)
AIR FM Rainbow (107 MHz)
Power FM (107.8 MHz)
FM stations in Mumbai
bansal24hr.fm 95.5
Vividh Bharati
Jago Mumbai 90.8
Radio City 91.1FM
Big FM 92.7
Red FM 93.5
Radio One 94.3
Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM 98.3
Radio Dhamaal 106.4
AIR FM Gold 100.7
- 79 -
RAIN BOW FM 102.2

Fever 104 FM 104.0
Oye 104.8 104.8
AIR FM Rainbow 107.1
Mumbai One
Gyan Vani
Radio MUST
FM stations in Bangalore
Radio City 91.1 FM - Kannada

Indigo 91.9 FM - English
Big 92.7 FM - Kannada
Red FM 93.5 FM - Hindi
Radio ONE FM 94.3 - Hindi
Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM Kannada
Amruthavarshini 100.1 FM (devotional)
FM Rainbow 101.3 FM (Kannada, Hindi, English)
Vividhabharathi 102.9 FM (Kannada, Hindi)
Fever FM 104 FM (Hindi)
Gnyanavani 106.4 FM (Kannada, English, Hindi)
FM stations in Chennai
AIR FM - RAINBOW
AIR FM - GOLD
- 80 -
Chennai Live 104.8 FM

Hello FM (106.4),
suryan FM
Aaha FM (91.9),
BIG FM 92.7,
Radio City FM,
radio mirchi FM,
Radio-ONE FM.
Anna FM
FM stations in Kerala.
Real FM 103.6
Best FM 95.00,
Radiomango 91.9,
Red FM 93.5,
Club FM 104.8
Current allocation process
In FM Phase II the latest round of the long-delayed opening up of private

FM in India some 338 frequencies were offered of which about 237 were
sold. The government may go for rebidding of unsold frequencies quite
soon. In Phase III of FM licensing, smaller towns and cities will be opened
up for fm redio
- 81 -
Reliance and South Asia FM (Sun group) bid for most of the 91 cities,
although they were allowed only 15% of the total allocated frequencies.
Between them, they have had to surrender over 40 licenses.
- 82 -
CHAPTER 8
8.1CASE STUDY ON AIRTEL
Airtel, Indias leading cellular operator in the private sector. Operating in

more than 23 cities it has been able to attain a high number of customer and
is now regarded as one of the best cellular services being provided in India.
Its major competitors are orange and R.I.M and various other providers.
Airtel is creating an attitude of being people friendly and thus gaining huge
share in the market. However it has a long way to go as no one is ever safe
in this market and one has to keep up its good work going.
With increasing competition airtel is now going in for more of radio

advertising as against the television . the reason being the huge radio boom
with the large number of customers tuning into radio more often than ever.
Airtel saw this as an opportunity to grab the most number of customers
through radio and their started spending more on radio than ever before.
Promotional strategies adopted by Airtel through radio:

uff Uff Mirchi! Hai Hai Mirchi!
- 83 -
Airtel is now the first GSM service provider to tie up with a radio channel
for the users benefit. The radio channel in question happens to be Radio
Mirchi.
To avail this innovative tie-up, the users need to dial 646 from their Airtel
enabled mobile handsets. They can then listen to some popular programmes
of the channel like, Mirchi Movie of the Month, Bappi-da Da Gyan, Mr.
Hotpot Crackpot, Devdas - the Asli Batliboi and Ding Dong - Mona Sing a
Song.
Pre-paid and post-paid customers of AirTel can access this service. For this,
users have to pay a Value Added Service (VAS) rate of Rs.6 per minute with
no extra subscription charges.
Recently, there has been an increasing demand of listening to FM channels

through mobile handsets. Nokia first introduced FM enabled phones, where
users can listen to any FM channel through their handsets. Airtel's tie-up
allows users to listen to one channel only. Among CDMA service providers,
through the R World of Reliance handsets, users can listen to songs.
For a long time now, radios have offered services to its users free of cost.
With regard to this particular trend, it does become quite doubtful as to how
long Airtel's 'mirchi effect' will last with the charge rates as high as Rs.6 per
minute.
- 84 -
Airtel - radio ad jingles

TUM KO DEKH TE HIN ,
CHARGE HUA ZINDAGI,
KABHI LINKING ROAD , KABHI PEDDAR ROAD ,
KABHI MEERA ROAD , KABHI AAREY ROAD ,
DESH BHAR MAIN RE-CHARGE KAHIN BHI,
AAISI AZADI AUR KAHAN.
Jingle made by airtel basically targets its own customers by saying that
wherever they go they will be able to avail of airtel services anywhere. And
would also be convenient for its customers to recharge their mobile phones
in these centers. This all shows about their care for their customers.
Annexures
Radio City - National Rate Card
30 Secs spot buy rates (in Rs.)
Programme category Mumba Delhi Banglor Luckno
i e w
07:00 - 11:00 Radio active 8000 8000 5000 4000
17:00 - 20:00
11:00 - 17:00 Radio Mix 6000 6000 4500 3000
20:00 - 22:00
22:00 - 00:00 Radio Master 6000 6000 4000 3000
Blaster
Round the Radio Ga Ga 4000 4000 2500 2000
clock
- 85 -
RED FM
Red fm is currently operating in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkotta, under the
brand name 93.5 RED FM, Asli Masti.
Our rate card per 10 seconds(1 unit) of airtime is as listen as below:
Individual City Rates
City Prime SPT NPT/ROS
Mumbai 1800 2400 1200
Delhi 1800 2400 1200
Kolkotta 1200 1800 600
Super Prime Time:
Mornings 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
Evenings 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Prime Time:
Morning 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.
Morning 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Sponsored Shows:
Super Prime Time + 25 % premium
- 86 -
Radio mirchi rate card
Day Parts Time Delhi Mumbai Chennai Kolkata Ahmedabad Pune

Band
7 a.m 8 Family 500 500 220 220 170 170

a.m
8 a.m 12 Family 850 650 260 260 215 215

a.m /Drive
12 a.m - 5 Housewife 260 250 145 145 130 130

p.m / Traders /
Youth
5 p.m 10 Drive 550 400 220 220 170 170
p.m
10 p.m 7 BPOs / 260 250 145 145 130 130

a.m Youth /
Drive
Minimum jingle length

The minimum jingle duration will be considered as 10 sec.
Over 10 seconds, jingle length would be counted in multiples of 5 seconds.
- 87 -
E.g. A 23 second jingle would be billed as 25 seconds

Jingle production charges
Centres Jingle cost
Mumbai Rs.10,000
Delhi Rs.10,000
Chennai Rs. 7,000
Kolkata Rs. 7,000
Ahmedabad Rs. 5,000
Pune Rs. 5,000
- 88 -
Time Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Big
Brunch
(0800-
0700- Good Morning Mumbai (GMM)
1200
1100 Jaggu & Taranna
hrs)
hrs Rate: 1500/-
T-Man
Rate:
1250/-
Sunday
Midday
Show
1100- The Midday Show (1200-
1400 Shruti 1600
hrs Rate: 1000/- hrs)
Ravi
Rate:
1000/-
1400- Mumbai
1800 College Radio Matinee
hrs Nadir (1600-
1700- Orange Request Hour 1800
1800 Rate: 1250/- hrs)
hrs Travel
- 89 -
Guy
Rate:
1000/-
Mumbai
Top 20
(1800-
1800- Horn Ok Please
2100
2100 Malini
hrs)
hrs Rate: 1500/-
Annie
Rate:
1250/-
Nineties
Bacardi Breezer
2100- NightShift on 925
Vivid Nights
0000 Glenn Chris
Malini
hrs Rate: 1250/- Rate:
Rate: 1250/-
1250/-
Live
Midnight
0000- DJ Set
Midnight Shift Shift
0100 Sandy
Rate: 750/- Rate:
hrs Rate:
750/-
750/-
*All rates are per 10 seconds of airtime

Super Prime Time Band (0800hrs-1000hrs) and (1800hrs-2000hrs)
*SPTB will attract a 50% premium on card rates.
- 90 -
8.2Five Keys to Radio Advertising Success

Radio is an affordable ad medium that can reach a mass audience. These five
keys help increase your chances of having a successful radio ad campaign.
Frequency of Ads
A radio commercial needs to air multiple times before it sinks in with the
listener. Running your commercial once a week for a month isn't going to be
enough.
Frequency refers to how many times your ad airs in a short amount of time.
A
commercial that airs multiple times in a day has a better chance of reaching
the listener than a commercial that only airs a few times in a week.
Target Audience
Just like with every ad you create, you must know your target audience.
Advertising your western gear store on a country station makes sense.
Advertising a teen clothing store on the same station doesn't.
Make a list of the radio stations in your market. Listen to each one to help
identify your own target audience. What kind of listeners will be tuning in
and are they a potential customer for your product or service?
Radio stations also offer programs you'll want to know more about before
you buy. You won't want to advertise your Christian book store during a
program that uses a raunchy sense of humor.
- 91 -
Producing Your Commercial
Unlike television commercials, production is more simple for a radio

commercial. You need a script and voice talent.
However, that doesn't mean you should just slap something together. Your
copy isn't relying on any visuals so it's vital you capture the listener's
attention from the start. The copy needs to be crystal clear and not muddied
by trying to be cutesy in your pitch.
Voice talent can be as simple to find as calling the radio station. Most
stations have a complete list of voice talent in your area. You send the script,
they voice it.
Remember, frequency is the key so make sure your ad hits the mark and will
get the consumer's attention the first time. Research shows it takes a few
times before the consumer actually gets what your company is all about. It's
vital your ad stands out and conveys your message repeatedly.
Rates
Take advantage of the low ad rates for radio. Ad rates are on the rise but the
costs are still more affordable than visual mediums like television.
Use your negotiating skills to get a good deal on an ad bundle. The more ads
you buy, the better rates you'll be able to get.
Timing Your Spending
Ad rates are generally less expensive in the first and third quarters. Radio
- 92 -
commercials in these time frames are easier to negotiate and cheaper for you
to advertise.
Before you take the plunge into radio advertising, find out if you're Ready
for Radio. And if you're ready to hit the airwaves, this radio commercial
script can show you how to deliver strong copy that will reach your listeners
every time.
- 93 -
8.3Recommendations
The vibrant voices airing music shows on twenty odd private FM radio
stations in major cities do not reflect the viability worries and restrictions
that haunt this industry.
The basic problem in the Radio space in India is the excessive Government
control and regulation. In order to let the industry to grow the government
needs to give it some space. Though the Supreme Court decision in 1995
declaring airwaves as public property led to the entry of a number entrants
challenging the monopoly of All India Radio, nothing much changed as
regards to government control. The government charged a very heavy
license fee for entering the market, did not allow broadcast of news and
current events nor was there a scope of a foreign player entering the Indian
market.
One way to get over the license fee crisis in the radio broadcasting industry
is for the government to drop the bidding-driven process for setting radio
license fees because it is this system that leads to the viability crisis. They
should in fact, as recommended by the TRAI, go in for a system more
prevalent worldwide - revenue sharing. Under this system, stations will pay
the government a certain % of their gross revenue every year.
The Government should review its ban on private stations airing news and
current affairs, currently a monopoly with All India Radio. This could
attract potential listeners on the move who want their daily share of the
- 94 -
happenings around the world. But with the government citing national
security as the reason for not doing so leaves little hope of this happening, at
least in the near future.
Allowing foreign players to enter the Indian market could also spell a boon
for the Indian company gain from the expertise and superior technology of
the foreign player. The consumer will also benefit as the industry can now
tap into a larger basket (the foreign players) for greater variety.
- 95 -
8.4Conclusion
Radio has many natural advantages that make it an excellent choice for an
advertising medium. These advantages include high amount of time spent
listening, superior target ability, superior listener loyalty, ad recall and
message retention, and much more which can be attributed to the low cost
of ownership feature of RADIO as a medium.
Consumers spend 85% of their time with ear-oriented media, such as Radio,
but spend only 15% of their time with such eye-oriented media as
newspapers and magazines. Yet advertisers spend 55% of their money on
eye media (print) and only 45% of their money on ear media such as Radio
and television.
Radio's share in the total advertising budgets of companies is likely to grow

from 2 per cent to 5 per cent in the next three years, with an expected growth
rate of about 10 to 12 per cent every year. In fact, the fortunes of radio
advertising are likely to change with the advent of private players like Star
India, Bennett Coleman & Co, Living Media, Mid Day etc.
The opening of the FM market is a new phenomenon and the maturing of the
market will take its own evolutionary path. Interestingly, the private FM
players have a huge opportunity in grabbing a bigger chunk of the radio
advertising pie as, despite All India Radio's enormous reach (97 per cent of
the population), its revenues have declined.
In such a scenario, where the cheapness of radio is likely to ensure that the
bulk of radio advertisers are those that go for a one-city-local-audience
- 96 -
strategy, greater reach may not necessarily translate into a marketing

advantage. Ultimately content and packaging will be the king.
However, what will spell out the difference between success and failure will
be neither size nor niche. It would be just plain old quality of programming
and the explosion of contests and sweepstakes offered by the Radio Stations
currently. One aping the other is an honest testimonial to justify this
statement.
In the end Radio offers tremendous opportunities for advertisers and media
planners need to explore various options by which they can effectively use
radio in their media mix. Conversely, broadcasters need to develop the
market by being more responsive to the advertiser's needs. This will provide
an opportunity for the market to arrive at the final verdict on the
effectiveness of the medium.
- 97 -
8.5Radio advertising survey
1) Do you listen to radio?

a. Daily
b. Sometimes
c. Rarely
d .Never
sometimes
59%
rarely21%
daily12%
never8%
2) Did you hear any advertisement on radio?

a. Yes
b .No
yes 85%
no15%
- 98 -
3) How effective/attractive was the advertise?

a. Effective
b. Less effective
c .Not at all effective
1st Qtr
2nd Qtr
3rd Qtr
4) Do radio advertise influence you to buy a product?

a. Highly influential
b. Influential
c. Not at all influential
not at all
influential8%
highly
influential14%
influential78%
- 99 -
5) Is such advertising helpful for you?

a. Yes
b. No
yes55%
no45%
6) Do you think promotion through radio is a good medium of

communication?
a. Yes
b. No
yes40%
no60%
- 100 -
7) According to you do radio ads help company to expand its business, and
make profit?
a. Yes
b. No
no43%
yes57%
8) Do radio advertising proper communicates with you?

a. Yes
b. No
no55%
yes45%
- 101 -
9) Is radio ads one source of income for radio channels?

a. Yes
b. No
no30%
yes70%
10) Rate radio advertises comparing with other medium of

communication/advertising.
(Out of 10)
a. Excellent (10)
b. Very good (5-9)
c. Good (1-4)
excellant13%
very good21%
good66%
- 102 -
8.6 Bibliography
While working on this project I visited some of the radio stations and they
gave me some information
However to support the same I have done some most of the research work
from the following text books:
The advertising handbook by Dell Dennison

Direct Marketing Management by Mary Lou Robert and Paul Berger.
Newspapers and Magazines

Times of India
Economics Times
Business Standard
Financial Express
Various websites were also visited such as,

www.allindiaradio.org
www.radiomirchi.com
www.star.co.in
www.go925fm.com
www.rab.co.uk
www.exchange4media.com
www.agencyfaqs.com
www.timesofindia.com
www.hinduonnet.com
www.economicstimes.com
www.indiatoday.com
- 103 -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_advertisement
http://www.newsonair.com/
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/177002
http://radioworks.co.uk/advantages-of-radio
http://transition.fcc.gov/omd/history/radio/documents/short_history.pdf
http://www.csuair.org.in/RateCard/RateCard%20of%20AIR%202013.pdf
- 104 -

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STUDY OF RADIO ADVERTISING

Advertising in general expresses the positioning. Powerful advertising is the

Radio is entirely a medium of sound, which evokes smells, sensations and

Radio advertising is one of the tools of advertising which is effectively used

But then came the governments order on liberalization and privatization.

Through this project my objective has been to understand the following

Also Mr. Sudarshan Sahe works marketing department of Radio City

For the purpose of present study a related samples of populations was

The actual consumer was contacted on the basis of random sampling.

The questions included were open ended and MCQs.

2.3Some Basic Technical Knowledge

91,500,000 cycles per second. Your fm (frequency modulated) radio can

2.4Advent (arrival) of Format Radio

Early 1920s saw the launch of commercial radio. People in households

Expecting to collect Rs 800 million from auctioning 108 licenses, the

Radio is expected to follow the growth of the Television industry, which

3.2Players in Different Centers

Company Location of Centers Number of Bid amount

Hitz FM Calcutta 1 1.00

India FM Calcutta 1 1.00

Living Media Delhi, Mumbai, 3 17.87

Mid Day Delhi, Mumbai, 3 20.17

Millennium Delhi, Mumbai, 3 20.17

Music Delhi, Mumbai, 6 41.37

Sumangali Chennai, Coimbatore, 3 9.87

Vertex Calcutta, Indore, 4 2.90

Udaya TV - Sun Vishakapatnam 1 0.50

Incidentally, Music Broadcasting became the first firm in India to commence

3.3Licence Fee and revenue sharing model

3.4Setting up new radio stations

After the second round of privatization, the number of FM radio stations

3.5Future of Radio Industry

The Indian advertising spends, as a percentage of GDP, is 0.34%, which lags

advertisers as either a primary or secondary medium. Also, there are certain

1. Largest Reach and Frequency

4. Creativity and Flexibility

Radio also offers timeless, immediacy, local relevance and creative

While radio may be one-dimensional in sensory stimulation, it can still have

6. As a Complement to Another Media

A fundamental marketing strategy for radio has been its ability to

2. Poor Radio Attentiveness

4. Chaotic buying procedures

5. Short Lived and Halfhearted Commercials

9. No proper research available

4.6Types of Radio Advertising:

Radio Stations Divide Their Days And Their Rates.

This information is important to advertisers because usage and consumption

If youve never written a spot, 30 seconds sounds like an impossibly short

4.8Buying Radio Time

placement and only 5% is invested in network broadcasts. Many stations

Your Dayparts Buying Options

a). Buying specific dayparts

4) How many stations do you need

4.9 Producing Radio Commercial

Using local radio talent

Using amateur voices

Using professional voice talent

A lot of radio or TV advertising, can be done having a jingle product. The

3). Sound Effects (SFX)

4. The tapping Session

4.10Selling Radio Commercial

Be single-minded, focused. The consumer should not be burdened with too

4.11Creative Radio Advertising