MUMBAI: In a move that promises to ‘strengthen its product promise’, Radio One’s Mumbai station has kickstarted the â€?maximum music fataafat’ campaign – meaning they will play 13 songs every hour. The priority on music will be carried forward to other Radio One stations over a couple of months.
Commenting on the new positioning, Radio One national marketing head Shyju Varkey says, By playing 13 songs in an hour, we are offering a tangible differentiation and superiority over the other stations in Mumbai. Also, the primacy of radio as a product lies in its music content and often listeners tend to swap channels to listen to music….
Varkey says the changes to the station were made after Radio One’s dipstick marketing survey indicated that listeners preferred stations with the highest music content. The station is now targeted at the SEC AB 18-34 who are passionate about music in Mumbai, says the station.
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Carrying the music quotient further, Radio One has resolved to call its radio jocks as MJs (music jocks). Varkey elaborates, We are lining up MJs who are passionate about music and will talk about music industry, singers, and musicians on air. There would be a reduction in the generic content by MJs….
Significantly, the change in positioning comes close on the heels of veteran breakfast show hosts Jaggu and Tarana leaving the station last week. Their breakfast show was essentially a talk heavy show After their exit, the station has roped in MJ Devaki for the morning band and MJ Prachi in the evening band. Recently, Radio One has roped in RJ Mihir Joshi, part of music band, â€?The works’ for hosting â€?The Midnight Shift’ between midnight and 1 am. Sources indicate Joshi could be asked to host some other slot as well soon.
The last time the station went in for a ‘product strengthening exercise was in mid 2007, when Radio One decided to package its shows in 20 minute formats. This had followed extensive surveys in Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore amongst listeners which found some interesting facts related to listening habits of people. The survey showed that, on an average, a listener stayed tuned in to a station for about 20 minutes.
Now, in its new music heavy format, the Mumbai station has launched a media campaign in the form of a contest titled â€?Har Ghante Mein 13 Gaane Ka Challenge’ across sister publication Mid-Day, via SMS and radio. The contest will be run from Monday to Friday till 31 July and will challenge listeners to catch Radio One playing less than 13 songs in any hour to win prizes.
The station stresses that the music content on air would be directly from singers, composers, actors, and would not be outsourced by websites and newspapers. Radio One believes, the new positioning will facilitate them to get more advertisers on board as they have better quality of music.
Radio One has seven stations operating in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune and Ahmedabad.
