After attaining leadership of the Indian market, brand Mirchi expanded its footprints in the international market by partnering with the Abu Dhabi Media Company (ADMC) and launching a station in UAE in early 2012. Exactly one year after the launch, Mirchi has announced another station in Dubai bringing bollywood music to yet another South Asian realm.
In a conversation with Radioandmusic.com, Radio Mirchi chief strategy officer Mahesh Shetty narrates the success story of brand Mirchi in UAE and the long road ahead.
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Shed light on your association with Abu Dhabi Media Company (ADMC) for expansion in the international market.
Our association with Abu Dhabi Media (ADM) is for the UAE market, and the association has been absolutely wonderful. ‘Mirchi’ the brand is extremely dear to us and we feel it’s in safe hands with ADM. The ADM team has done a fabulous job in making Radio Mirchi a preferred radio station in an extremely competitive radio market.
Exactly after a year, Mirchi has now announced a new studio in Dubai. Why?
Mirchi has been broadcasting out of the Abu Dhabi studio to the whole of UAE since its launch in February last year, and we have received fabulous response to our content. Dubai is the most critical market in UAE and starting off the Dubai studio is one of the things we are doing to build an affinity with the Dubai listeners. This studio will be used to broadcast special shows, do live audience engagements with celebrities and get listeners to meet their favourite stars.
How well are the three frequencies- 97.3FM Abu Dhabi, 88.8 FM Dubai & northern emirates, and 95.6FM Al Ain- catering to the country’s extensive south Asian expat population?
The content we broadcast over the three frequencies is the same. Mirchi is the only Bollywood station with a pan UAE presence through the three frequencies and that definitely gave us a reach advantage. UAE is an extremely competitive radio market with seven Hindi channels in addition to the numerous Malayalam, English and Arabic stations. Hence, the challenge was to deliver compelling content which stands out in the clutter. Audiences were aware of brand Mirchi as India’s number one radio station. Over the last one year, the UAE Mirchi team has delivered customized content with the best of bollywood, cricket and localized content which has made Mirchi a household name in UAE. Listeners across UAE have given Mirchi thumbs up by voting it as the most popular Asian radio station in the recently concluded Masala Awards.
Is the programming line-up working for Mirchi UAE? Do you aim to experiment with new content this year?
The programming line-up has worked well so far. Having said that, innovation is very much part of the plan and we will keep doing them so that we continue to stay relevant to the changing listener needs.
In terms of revenues, are the advertisers enthusiastic for Mirchi UAE and is the station raking in moolah?
Mirchi is one of the top ranking stations on revenue in the ADM radio network and has a host of advertisers across categories. One of the key highlights is the long term deals that some of the brands have signed up for on-air properties and sponsorships on Mirchi. This indicates that the advertisers have faith in the Mirchi brand and the audiences it delivers.
How well is Mirchi UAE facing competition? Has it achieved dominance like in India?
The launch of Mirchi has definitely shaken up the market and made some of the competitors change their product mix and marketing strategy. We are very happy with the progress Mirchi has made in the last one year, and being voted the ‘most popular station’ in such a short span of time is a significant achievement. The dominance we have in India has been built over the last 12 years. As I have mentioned earlier, UAE is an extremely competitive market and Mirchi entered a market which had some well entrenched players. We are confident that over the next couple of years Mirchi UAE will build a dominant position similar to Mirchi India.
Where do you aim to see Mirchi UAE five years down the line?
We aim to see Mirchi UAE as a dominant player in the South Asian radio space in UAE.
