The voice of health
Of late, Tata Chemicals has been using radio innovatively, to promote their health products. Shalaka Kamat, GM-Marketing, Consumer Products Business, Tata Chemicals, reveals the brand’s diverse radio advertising and marketing strategies Q] What’s been the most innovative radio campaign undertaken by your brand? For our products such as Tata Salt, Tata Swach and Tata I-Shakti dals, we use radio to optimise synergy and reach. Radio is used to support on-ground events, where consumers’ responses and participation are essential and to this effect, we target specific geographies to engage with consumers through this medium. To drive our ongoing campaign for Tata I-Shakti unpolished dals, we roped in prominent RJs to discuss the significance of consuming these dals. To ensure listener participation, we introduced quizzes and contests on health-related subjects. Q] What is radio’s constitution in your media mix? Are you looking at increasing your spends? When using radio, it is important that the script and creative are crisp and catchy, and help create visual imagery in the listeners’ minds. Radio is used heavily for product launches, promotions and to generate awareness on World Hypertension Day and Mother’s Day. The primary objective of using radio is to render support to the primary campaign. Allocating expenditure for radio depends on the campaign objective and the desired impact. Since the number of listeners varies depending on the time, there are many ‘drifters’ and it may be a good idea to have multiple spots in an hour. Q] Does radio help connect with not just the masses but also the classes? There is no doubt about the outreach of radio as a medium. Listening to radio at home is still very popular in rural India; however the ‘radio on the move’ trend is catching on in urban and semi-urban areas largely due to availability of radio on mobile handsets. To cite an example, our nationwide radio campaign on World Hypertension Day was well received and enticed people from all walks of life, to participate at our blood pressure check-up camps held at different locations across the country, thus enabling us to have a clear call-to-action. Q] How effective is radio when it comes to targeting small towns? Radio is one of the most cost-effective mass media. Even where electricity is unreliable, transistor/mobile phone radios are popular among listeners in small towns. Also, when targeting specific markets, using local celebrities for regional radio campaigns is an effective strategy for penetration of brands in small towns and rural areas. Q] How do you think radio can be utilised better as a marketing tool? Cinema, television and radio can deliver to massive audiences. However due to high costs, cinema and television may not always be a viable option. Radio, on the other hand, is both affordable and highly effective. Local radio stations are often an important part of a brand’s communication strategy, as listeners often listen to their favourite station as a kind of friend. For marketing on radio, it is important to have creatives specifically designed for radio shows. If it’s being used as a standalone medium for any market, then the entire campaign should be planned in great detail. However, this medium often works best as a media multiplier. Q] How does radio score over other media formats? The number of people listening to the radio has grown in India over the last decade. Radio spots can be allotted at both local and national levels. This allows improved coordination of targeted marketing efforts. The most significant benefit is that it is inexpensive yet effective as compared to traditional media. Also, there is no seasonal listener erosion as people listen to radio while at home, while driving or on their radio enabled mobile phones. NoteBook: Radio
Tags : Interview