RnM bring you the Navratri Plans of NINE FM (91.9 FM) broadcasts from Siliguri, the second largest city after Kolkata in Bengal and from Gangtok, the capital town of Sikkim. Bobby Gupta, CEO – NINE FM, The station which has a mix of local, regional, national and international programming and the tagline ‘Your song, your voice’, spoke with Radioandmusic.com about NINE FM’s Navratri plans.
Navaratri is all about religious fervor through music and dance. What is your strategy to attract the maximum listeners? What are the programming specials that you have planned to be able to co-opt the on-ground fun, celebration and masti from the Navaratri Pandals?
The whole of Bengal gets a facelift during Pujas and that is exactly what we at NINE FM have done and planned for the Puja. Preparation began days in advance – Planning, devising, producing, weighing the pros and cons and finally implementing. After all this, what we have in hand is very promising and is attracting maximum listenership.
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Durga Puja 2010 has been etched in the history of NINE FM because on the day of Mahalaya, Bangla music was introduced in the station. The show content is also Puja relevant and many station properties like sweepers, jingles denoting Pujas have been introduced. Listeners are participating in varied contests right from the Breakfast Show to the Evening Show. There are a lot of exciting prizes they have won.
NINE FM, Siliguri has been conferring ‘Sharod Samman’ to the best Puja Pandals in association with The Statesman since two years. This year again the panel of Judges comprising of dignitaries, senior journalists and others are visiting the Pandals and selecting the best. The winners will be announced on Navami in the Breakfast show and the prizes will be given away on 21st October at Royal Sarovar Premiere. The children from ‘Children In Need Institute’, North Bengal Unit will be taken for a ‘Puja Parikrama’ on Saptami.
NINE FM gives the people of Siliguri a Reality Show this Puja with ‘Siliguri Durga Parivaar’, a contest where each of the Puja Committees have send entries of people representing each of the five deities worshipped during Durga Puja. The finalists will contest for the title at Royal Sarovar Premiere. Let me add here, that Durga Puja 2010 in NINE FM is a confluence of many big names in print and electronic media, five star and luxury properties. Rupashee Bangla is the electronic media partner for the entire Navaratri events beginning from Mahalaya to the final event at Royal Sarovar Premiere on the 21st October.
To which cities and how will you extend this programming?
We have extended it to Sikkim as well. Dussehra or ‘Dassain’ is a major festival of the Nepali speaking people that is why in our Gangtok station, we are organizing contests in which the listeners will get to win really big prizes. We are also playing songs which carry the flavor of ‘Dassain’ in the station besides the properties which we have created especially for ‘Dassain’
We have also taken our ‘Orange Pehno Winner Bano’ Contest to the major Puja Pandals of Jalpaiguri.
What are your promotional Plans during Navaratri? How do you plan to market NINE FM’s Navaratri offerings?
We have already introduced IVRS to enable our listeners to call and get their wishes recorded in their own voice and also request their favourite song to be played..in the true sense.NINE’s tag line reads “Your Song Your Voice”. The response has been overwhelming and we are happy we chose Pujas to introduce IVRS to the people of Siliguri. We have also introduced revert SMSes to wish all our listeners writing to us. This is a radio channel that is for the people and by the people. We have talked to the listeners and after hearing them, we have created this channel.
The listeners also request songs from the Puja Pandals and make dedications to their loved ones. Our marketing initiative is to reach out to each of our listeners on a more personal level. We will be giving a three day grooming and training session to the contestants selected for the reality show ‘Siliguri Durga Parivaar’.
‘Orange Pehno Winner Bano’ is another station property which we have been executing since two years. It is a contest where people wearing orange will be spotted at the Puja Pandals and they are summoned by our RJ’s to the stage and asked to participate in activities like conch blowing etc. The winner wins a month’s supply of Fanta and exciting goodies. The RJ’s will be interacting with the crowd and live links will be aired from the venue.
We have also tied up with the central shopping hub, Seth Srilal Market for a month long NINE Shopping Loot where the buyers can avail discounts galore and walk back home with gifts alongwith their shopping bags. There are mobile phones, bikes, laptops, music players etc to be won each week.
We have tied up with Royal Sarovar Premiere for a Street Food Festival which will bring to the people of Siliguri, popular street food ranging from ‘pani puris’ to’ batata vada’.
Regular updates from each of these venues will be given on a regular basis. We have also chosen to introduce the new station colours this Durga Puja, which is as vibrant as the festival of Navaratri. Each of the venues has been branded with the new campaign adding to the colour of the Pujas. It focuses a lot more on the community that makes Siliguri and Gangtok what they are. NINE aims to be the one uniting factor that brings together a community and becomes a source of pride for the people of these areas.
What are your special offerings during Navaratri for ad sales? What special properties have you developed to help local business and regional/national brands strengthen their business through advertising with you?
We have started the on air NINE Shopping Loot where listeners get to know of the discounts which brands would be offering. We are also acting as guides to shoppers by informing them of the best deals that they can get from various shops.
We have also introduced the ‘Devotional Hour’ where we would be playing devotional songs ranging from bhajans to sufi songs, carol to hymns. The ‘Devotional Hour’ is from 6a.m to 7a.m.
Traditionally, how does Navaratri impact advertising on radio in general, and on your station/network in particular?
The design of the programme is such that it will definitely reap benefits for all our advertisers . NINE FM has always been a favourite choice among advertisers due to the quality of work we deliver to them. Durga Puja being a major festival here NINE FM becomes a natural choice for traders who are promoting their special offers during Navaratri. We have also offer them special Puja offers which make advertising with us more beneficial for them and they get service worth the money they spend on advertising.
How will you market the entire programming? A big part of marketing is not just to inform existing listeners but to also expand the listener base. How do you plan to reach those who are not currently tuning into your stations? What are the media and ATL/BTL activities you plan to use for this?
As mentioned earlier, we are harping on one to one interaction with the listeners by introducing IVRS and also by sending our RJ’s for OB from the venues. We are reaching out to them by activities like ‘Orange Pehno Winner Bano’, ‘Siliguri Durga Parivaar’ and ‘Sharod Samman’. By introducing Bangla music and the Devotional Hour we are now catering to another stratum of listeners and the response has been great!
Often media businesses use such festive, entertainment-driven events for B2B promotion too. How are you doing this for and during the Navaratri Festival?
We have taken the opportunity to promote symbiotic relationship with the major trade hubs of Siliguri. The Street Food Festival and Siliguri Durga Parivaar with Royal Sarovar Premiere, ‘Sharod Samman’ with The Statesman and Ruposhee Bangla, the month long ‘NINE Shopping Loot’ are the initiatives which we have taken to promote the same. This definitely has added impetus to the entire Navaratri festival and also to the long term relationship between each of the trade hubs.
