SUMMER TRAINING PROJECT REPORT

ON
“A STUDY ON MARKETING WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO 90.8
FM”

SUBMITTED BY
NAUSHAD SHEKH
ROLL No: - 2005170700042

UNDER GUIDEANCE OF
Mr. SIDDHARTH SINGH
Assistance Professor

In partial fulfillment for the award for degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 2021-2022

OF

Dr. APJ ABDUL KALAM TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY, LUCKNOW

KIPM- COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT, Sector-9,GIDA

GORAKHPUR (UP)

1
 INDEX

Sr.No. Topic Pg. no.

1) Introduction to Radio Industry 4-12

2) Cost aspect & Time sharing model 13- 21

3) Radio’s effect & Awareness report 22- 26

4) Future of Radio Industry 27- 34

5) SWOT analysis of Radio FM 35- 37

6) BIG-90.8 FM
i) Company Profile 38- 39
ii) Marketing Mix 40- 48
iii) Segmented Market 49- 51
iv) Marketing Stratagies 52- 63
v) Radio an interruption 64
vi) Survey Report 65- 71
7) Conclusion 72

8) Bibliography 73

2
 DECLARATION

I under signed, hereby declare that the p r o j e c t titled "A STUDY ON

MARKETING WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO 90.8 FM "
Submitted in partial fulfillment for the award of Degree of Master of
Business Administration of Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam Technical
University is a bonafide record of work done by me under the
guidance of Mr. Siddharth Singh (Assistant Professor) MBA of KIPM
College Of Management. This report has not previously formed the
basis for the award of any degree. diploma or similar title of any
University.

DATE: NAUSHAD SHEKH

3
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to pay my sincere thanks to Dr. Jaibeer Pratap Singh head of the department of
MBA KIPM - College of Management GIDA for providing me such a marvelous opportunity for
doing the project report, and I escalate a heart felt regards to our Diretor sir Dr. Deepak Kumar
Srivastava for giving me essential hands in concluding this work.
This report is based on “A STUDY ON MARKETING WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO
90.8 FM”

I pay my heartiest thanks to my project guide Mr. Siddharth Singh & and other faculty member
whom I always found supporting me at times when I was in trouble. He is very supporting and
helping without him I would not have complete my project report successfully.

I express my deep regards to my family esp. my beloved Parents, relatives, friends & classmates
for boosting up my morale at the times of disparity and I am also thankful for my clients and the
people whom I have surveyed ,for their cooperation and the trust they have shown in me.

I would also like to thank all those who directly or Indirectly helped me in the completion of my
project work. Last but not the least I thank GOD for being with me all the time, throughout
completion of the given task.

DATE:

PLACE: NAUSHAD SHEKH

4
 PREFACE

It was a pleasurable experience for me to work on this project report “A

STUDY ON MARKETING WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO 90.8
FM” It has not only helped me to enhance my knowledge about various strategies followed by

the company but also reviewed my knowledge about training & job opportunities for the management
students.

In this project report every possible effort has been made to highlight the major aspects
related to the topic by a comprehensive study of literature and by survey information.

To make it easier different tabular and diagrammatic approach has been used which help
in understanding the theme. It gives brands, a market image as well as depicts phase of their life
cycle to understand the company value in a better way.
Survey report and secondary data are an important document and contains information
that can be used to find out what are the findings of the research. I have tried my best to explore
the truth in my project reality regarding the survey and understanding practical way of working .

5
 Executive Summary

Marketing landscape was populated with the thinking focused on making the
sale. Today market place is enormously more complex. Communications media are
proliferating. Competitors are everywhere-in hunger. In the midst of these changes,
busy customers are changing their ways. Customers will continuously shift toward
suppliers who can deliver greater value. New world is also characterized by an
amazingly rich information environment. Customers with the help of communication
medium like TV, radio, magazines, etc are able to access information on competing
brands, including costs, price, quality, etc. This is a dramatic shift of economic power
from sellers to buyers. At this stage radio can server best to their customer’s n satisfy
them?
Radio is entirely a medium of sound, which evokes smells, sensations and
visual images which brings the listeners imagination into play.

Radio is one of the tools which is effectively used for communication and
positioning.. 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.

But then came the government’s order on liberalization and privatization. This
brought about lots of changes in the world of radio broadcasting in India. Prominent
and established companies entered the business of FM Broadcasting.

6
 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 and
Big92.7. 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.

Objective

Through this project my objective has been to understand the following

 To find about the current scenario of the radio industry.
 The working pattern and growth of the radio industry.
 90.8 FM- its marketing strategies.
 What 90.8 FM station has to offer the masses.

7
 Research Methodology

Doing project on “radio fm-its marketing” I have made an effort to understand

the marketing tool 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.

Primary Research:

The aim of primary research was to understand radio marketing as it is seen in

kthe corporate world. To understand this I have taken two interviews from different
fields.
Ms.Dipti Punjabi the marketing manager of 90.8 FM gave me an interview and
helped me in trying to understand as to how the station works towards its market mix
and looks after the needs of its customers and listeners.

Mr. Sudeesh Subramanian who is an Associate Consultant, Oracle Financial

Services Software Ltd, formerly i-flex solutions ltd helped me understand what all
goes into the making of a radio channel.

Secondary Research

The aim of secondary research was to understand as to why radio industry has
been able to grow at a considerable rate as compared to the other media. It was
undertaken to understand how radio channel runs and who are the current players in
the market.
Secondary data collection method: desk research
Secondary data collection sources: internet, books, newspaper articles

8
 Introduction

Old media don’t’ 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.

FM radio is a new entity altogether and has to deal with new market dynamics.
Media owners dealing with new markets will virtually have to draw up their strategies
as they go along, create programming that is new, innovative and grab away eyeballs
from TV sets and make them tune into their radio sets. It’s a whole new challenge and
competition is never far away. Ad revenues will also not be easy to come by, as
advertisers will expect media players to put their money where their speakers are
before they commit large sums of money towards radio advertising. The involvement
of listeners to radio is low, Vis a Vis television or print media.

However in spite of the various challenges the emergence of private FM

stations is certain to increase the quantum of radio in the country , much like satellite
channels did to the quantum of television in the country. That should open up a vast
new market of consumers-100 million Indian households own an estimated 150 million
radios, outnumbering television sets 3:1.

The geographical area covered by radio in India is as high as 98 percent and

the penetration level is approximately 97 percent. But FM presently covers only 17
percent of the area and 21 % of the population of India through transmitters. Currently
radio has just 2 percent of the 9000 crore Indian advertising market according to an
Arthur Anderson’s survey. Globally depending on each country, radio has a 5 % to 12
% of the advertising cake.FM station executives are not forthcoming on multi-platform

9
strategies as yet. Given that radio has penetrated into 100 million homes and a FM set
costs around Rs. 50/- FICCI estimates FM’s share up from the present 1.5 percent to
5 % in five years. Revenue of radio services is expected to rise to Rs 689 crore by
2008 at a CAGR of 30 per cent.

While TV is a family medium, radio is personalized. Also advertising of certain

product seems to work very well while some might not. For example, cellular phone
service or auto related products would have a good impact when advertised on radio
is primarily known as a “drive time” medium most people who turn in are doing so
while commuting. Thus the potential if FM is better is bigger town, as the car
population is much bigger. This would be the key when evaluating the medium. Also
one must not forgot that radio continues to be a medium that has tremendous reach
among the poor and marginalized sections of society.

With the coming of more channels and the emergence of lifestyle radio will
become a push and pull medium. As said earlier, is not just making a comeback but is
being reincarnated into a new avatar.

10
 History of Indian Radio

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. 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.

11
 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
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).

12
 Players in Different Centers

Company Location of Number Bid amount

Centers of for first
Centers years
license
(Rs. crore)
Entertainment Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, 12 43.87
Network [India] Chennai, Ahmadabad,
Bhubaneswar, Cuttack,
Hyderabad, Indore,
Jabalpur, Lucknow,
Pune

Hits FM Calcutta 1 1.00

India FM Calcutta 1 1.00

Living Media Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta 3 17.87

Mid Day Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai 3 20.17

Broadcasting

Millennium Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai 3 20.17

Broadcasting

Music Delhi, Mumbai, Nagpur, 6 41.37

Broadcasting Bangalore, Patna,
Lucknow

Sumangali Chennai, Coimbatore, 3 9.87

Publications - Sun Tirunalveli
TV

Vertex Calcutta, Indore, 4 2.90

Broadcasting Bhopal,
Vishakhapatnam

13
 Incidentally, Music Broadcasting became the first firm in India to commence
private FM broadcast from Bangalore in July.

License 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”. It’s 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.

14
Communication process

: 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
92.7 fm “what the announcer means is that you are listening to a radio station
broadcasting an fm radio signal at a frequency of 92.7 megahertz. Megahertz means
"millions of cycles per second," so "92.7 megahertz" means that the transmitter at the
radio station is operating at a frequency of 92,700,000 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

AM radio has been around a lot longer than FM radio. The first radio broadcasts
occurred in 1906 or so, and frequency allocation for AM radio occurred during the
1920s. In the 1920s, radio and electronic capabilities were fairly limited, hence the
relatively low frequencies for AM radio. FM radio was invented by a man named Edwin
Armstrong in order to make high-fidelity (and static-free) music broadcasting possible.
He built the first station in 1939, but FM did not become really popular until the 1960s.

15
Royalties

FM is primarily a music channel, so the question of royalties is relevant. The

Indian Photographic Record Society (IPRS) and Phonographic Performance (P) Ltd.
(PPL) are supposed to hold all the rights of royalties. They are demanding Rs. 1,500
per hour (as against Rs. 100 per hour, at which they are supplying music to AIR), PPL
is demanding a royalty of Rs. 250 per hour of needle time, the actual duration of a
piece of music. The IPRS is demanding Rs. 100 per hour. The IPRS claims royalty for
the original composers and authors of music.

Cost - Aspect

A Licensee pays Rs. 6000/- per hour.

Add Rs. 1,500/- for the music.
Add Rs. 3,000/- for the technology, salaries and other expenses. An hour long
show thus costs Rs. 10,500.
10 - Minutes have been set aside for advertising. One minute is reserved out of
10 - minutes for social awareness advertising.
Thus, advertising time available for sale is 9 - minutes.

In other words, 18 advertisements each of 30 seconds can be accommodate in an

hour.
This is the high target. Besides the tariff card should be modest, considering
the limited range and listenership supposing a 30 - secondary costs Rs. 500 at prime
time for 18 such spots, the total revenue generated is Rs. 9000/- . Another estimate
puts the production cost of an hour long programme around Rs. 6,000/-. Add Rs.
6,000/- of the licensee fee to AIR.
Studio hiring costs are between Rs. 500 - Rs. 1000 an hour. The total
expenses are thus Rs. 12,500 to Rs. 13,000 per hour.

16
 Advertising in India
India has been among the fastest growing economies in the world, with a nominal
GDP CAGR of 9.94% over the last 10 years (1997-2007). The nominal GDP for fiscal
2007 was Rs. 30,636 billion. According to CSO estimates nominal GDP growth for
fiscal 2008 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.

During fiscal 2007, 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 2008.

17
Segmentation 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
2002 49.0% 39.3% 2.5% 0.5% 8.4% 0.3%
2003 48.4% 40.6% 2.7% 0.4% 7.5% 0.4%
2004 47.2% 41.9% 2.9% 0.7% 7.0% 0.4%
2005 46.6% 43.0% 2.9% 0.7% 6.5% 0.4%
2006 46.3% 43.7% 2.9% 0.6% 6.0% 0.3%

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.

Radio As Advertising Medium

18
 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..

Companies that advertise on FM channels today such as Hindustan Lever

(HLL), Dr Morepen, Amul, Castrol, Santro, Britannia, Parle, DSP Merrill Lynch etc are
dominating the advertising on each one of the FM channels, be it Radio Mirchi, BIG
92.7, Red 93.5. 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.

19
 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,& Rs. 900 crores in 2005 representing a growth of about 8.5 per cent per
annum.

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.

20
 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).
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.

21
 Time sharing and Mumbai Radio Market

Dayparts Characteristics
6 a.m. - 10.00 Drive time, breakfast audience, interested chiefly in news
a.m.
10.00 a.m. - 3.00 Daytime, program characteristics of station, talk , music, or all-
p.m. news
3.00 p.m. - 7.00 Afternoon, drive time ; radio prime time and same as morning
p.m. 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.

Mumbai Radio Market

Length of Spot

22
 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
20 second spot should contain 45 words
30 second spot should contain 65 words
60 second spot should contain 125 words
If you’ve 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; you’ll
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.

Measuring the radio’s effect

23
 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 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 a 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.

24
 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 listener ship of a radio station.
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.

Awareness of radio stations

25
 100

90

80

70

60
Female
50 42%

At the country
40
level:
30

Total awareness
20 of radio stations Male
58%
10

Go 92.5
AIR FM1

AIR FM2

VOA
WIN 94.6
AIR Primary
Radio Mirchi
Vividh Bharati

World Space
BBC

SLBC
Radio City
% mentioning

Gender of radio audience

Female
42%

MALE
58%

26
 7am - 11.30 am

20%
18%
16% A
pm
11.30 - 6.00
12% 7pm - 11pm
14%
D/E
12% 45%
10%
B
8% 14%

6%
4%
Socio Economic Classification
2%
0% C
29%
% liste n

Listenership by time slots

Analysis
While the overall reach of radio in India is high it can be seen above that
awareness of private radio channels is not much. Prasar Bharti (AIR) has the highest
awareness which is due to the fact that it is a government channel with a pan India
coverage and enjoyed monopoly when the radio space was shut for private players.
Being the only service provider it was able to penetrate deep into the Indian market.
The private fm players mainly having license for big cities and towns although are
gaining awareness in cities and towns they are still in their growth stage and for them
to be known everywhere they have to diversify geographically and reach the rural

27
population where the radio is a very important medium of entertainment. Which is why
the new entrants are vying for their share of the pie and encouraging the government
to release more airwaves for them.

Radio is very popular with the sec D/E market due to its cheap cost. Radios are
now available at prices below Rs.50 which make it very affordable. While the sec A, B
has a wider variety of entertainment available to them radio is not widely used.
However with new players entering the market and providing them with the content
they want the trend is now changing more people are switching on their radio sets
even in these categories, specially the teenagers !

When an advertiser places an advertisement he has to make sure that his

target audiences are met through this medium.

Pros and Cons of Radio

Every medium has special strengths and weaknesses that make 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 advertisers as either a primary or
secondary medium. Also, there are certain disadvantages of this media which need to
be considered.

28
Advantages of Radio

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 can’t afford
a TV set. Therefore radio is more popular.

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.
Radio’s high overall reach and its ability to provide numerous formats make it a
multifaceted medium. Because of the relatively low cost of production, advertisers are
able to adapt commercials to the various stations then buy, a strategy that would
normally be prohibitively in television.

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

29
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.

1. 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 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 advan facing most companies, it is imperative that brands achieve consumer
reinforcement as near as possible to the purchase decision. Radio’s 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.

30
 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.

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.

Disadvantages 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.

31
 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.

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 radio’s 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 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 can’t 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.

6. Creative Limitations

32
 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.

Types of Radio Advertising

1. Network

33
 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 national’s advertiser’s 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.

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/What’s 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.

34
 Future 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 government’s 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.

35
 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 him 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 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 markets, advertising spending is expected to amount to Rs 500
crore this year.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths:
 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.

36
  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 hardly
read newspapers and radio is the only medium that they can understand. They
can’t 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.

Weakness:
 One of the major weaknesses of Radio is that there is very less differentiation
in the programmers 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 programmers 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.
 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

37
 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

Opportunities:
 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 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 programmers.
 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

38
Threats:
 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.

Company profile

Just when punters were writing epitaphs of our age-old radio;

this industry took a U-turn and rose like a phoenix from the
ashes proving its naysayer’s wrong. Today Big92, 7FM is
swaying to the music provided by a host of radio channels thronging not just the
metros, but also making the tier 2 and 3 cities swing to its tune, and in such a
competitive environment, each channel is adopting different strategies to out shadow
one another.

39
Bigfm - INDIA 'S LEADING RADIO NETWORK

Bigfm is pioneered private FM in India to offer premium quality radio

entertainment to every listener. Bigfm launched its first station in Delhi and hasn't
looked back ever since. Promoted by Adlab’s Pvt. Ltd. radio is today present in
Mumbai, Bangalore, Kokcatta, Lucknow, Jodhpur, Chennai, Surat and many more
remote rural areas and has captured the heart of every listener tuning in. Over the
years, 90.8 FM has become the choice destination for connoisseurs of music who
tune in to.

BIG 92.7 FM is poised to create history with its pan India presence, spanning across
45 cities, 1000 towns and 50,000 villages to reach 200 million Indians across the
length and breadth of the country. The company plans to take FM radio as a medium
of entertainment not only to the key metros, but also to virgin markets that have never
before experienced this medium of entertainment.
BIG 92.FM has the capacity to touch every fifth Indian across the country - every third
urban Indian and one in every eight Indian in the rural areas. In short, BIG 92.7 FM
has the largest coverage from any private radio channel in the country.

Technology and Infrastructure

Studios are modern and reflect international practices of the radio industry. BIGFM
has sourced equipment, such as transmitters, mixers and codec’s, from various
countries, including the United States and Canada. They believe they are well
equipped to migrate to more advanced digital broadcasting without incurring high
capital expenditures. Investment in technology helps increase the quality of broadcast
and coverage in each of local markets. Studio design and equipment allows their
programming staff to more effectively utilize their time and resources.

40
Broadcasting via transmitters with web based remote management capability, hot
swappable power supply & power amplifier with controller card redundancy. The
transmitters have the capability of backup playtime of four hours of music pre-
programmed content in case of any link failure. The highlight of big 92.7 FM will be
web-based Media Monitoring Center (MMC) at Mumbai to monitor all the 45 stations
live & provide technical support.

Marketing Mix

Marketing mix describes the specific combination of marketing elements used to

achieve an organizations goal and satisfy the target market. Marketing mix is made of
four P’s:

Marketing mix elements are also implemented in bigfm on mass basis and the
most effective of all is promotion.

41
 Focusing on this entire 4Ps one can grab the market and reach the desired
target audience.

But considering BIG 92.7 FM as a service industry it has an additional P-

Physical Evidence to be also looked into. Physical evidence is something that is
tangible in the product which customers can feel, as services provided by the
company are intangible.

Product

Product is a key element in market offering. A product is anything that is offered

to satisfy the customers. Since radio industry is totally a different streamline, its
product is nothing but customers itself.

90.8 FM serves their clients, who are actually their customers & the only
source of revenue by giving them the product called listeners. Clients are satisfied
when there is maximum number of listeners, so that they can hit the audience.

42
 90.8 FM serves two customers

CLIENTS

LISTENERS

To grab maximum number of listeners 90.8 FM try to come up with some innovations
and always do things that are very local. They are trying to augment their product
[MUSIC] at every stage.

Product Level

In planning its market offering, the marketers need to think through four levels of the
product. Each level adds more customer value, and the four constitute of a customer
value hierarchy.

The most fundamental level is the core benefit that a customer is really buying.
At the second level, the marketers have to turn the core benefit into a basic product.
At the third level, the marketer prepares an expected product, a set of attributes and
conditions buyers normally expect when they purchase this product.

43
At the fourth level, the marketers prepare an augmented product that exceeds
customer’s expectations.

To be successful in market each company tries to serve the best to their customers
and not only satisfy them but also surprise & delight them. Radio channels are no
more behind in doing this and impressing their listeners and customers.

BIG92.7 FM tries to sever best through this product level, via

1) Core Benefit: The core product served by BIGFM is music as by other channels.

2) Basic Product: Now the basic product to be served along with music is proper
networking & frequency modulations so that core benefit (music) is available
everywhere and anywhere.

3) Expected Product: ‘Good RJs add flavour to music.’ So it is expected that the RJs
should be good and try to be as friendly as they can be with the listeners. Also the
shows are getting popular because of RJs like- Morning India with Malishka on 93.5,

44
Mumbai Local with Neha & Tarun on 98.3, Love Ladkiya Bollywood with Anirudh on
92.7 Their should be a play list where both old and new songs should be played.
There should be news coverage and also updates of current local area situation.

4) Augmented Product: People are crazy about stars so bigfm making a note of this
point came with a very new and unimaginary concept of taking stars at their fans
place. This was something really great that your favorite stars land up coming at
your place. This was 1st time ever done in the history of radio stations.

Pricing

90.8 FM believes that “the best way to hold customers is to constantly figure
out how to give them more for less”

Since their product is listeners itself, pricing strategies are for all those who
advertise on the channel. Bigfm price its effective 10-second advertising spots at
Rs.2000,at par with market leaders like Radio Mirchi, Radio City, the rest of the FM
channels charge anything between Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,500 for a 10-second slot.

45
BigFM gives 45 lakhs weekly listeners as per Radar study. There is an average
listenership of 45 minutes per day on the station. The rates are so reasonable that
advertisers can afford 10 or 15 spots a day and run the campaign for 15 days or three
weeks at a fraction of the cost that you will incur in print or Television. There are about
more than 300 advertisers on BigFM. Today it is fashionable to be on radio.

BigFM sells independently and does not offer any print package deal even though
they belong to Adlab’s Group – they are an independent company.

There is very little retail advertising on radio. More than half of the revenue comes
from retail. But in Mumbai it is only 8%-10%.

Currently bigfm has hiked their prices because they know that BigFM today is one of
the best radio channels and they offer value to the advertisers who spend on their
station. While all the other stations offer more slots and run ads for over 15 minutes,
they offer ten minutes per hour on BigFM. There is huge inventory pressure on them
and therefore they had to increase the ad rates. Currently, on an average, there are
125 to 175 brands advertising on BigFM and are charged Rs.3000-Rs.3500.

In most cases, stations offer discounts on what is on their rate cards. On an average,
across the five stations, the effective ad rate going for a ten second spot would be
anywhere between Rs 1000 to Rs 2000. Clients buy effective rates and they buy a
combination of spots like prime time, non prime time and the likes

Research and development:

Research is conducted every week to know exactly what the listeners actually
want to lend their ears to. Hence, accordingly, they have implemented the changes in
the time slots of the different shows on air. So when the advertisers want to advertise
on radio, bigfm can provide them with more information and help them to decide on
the time slots and frequency etc.

Place

46
BigFM is currently running in both

a) Metro politics and

b) Non-metro politics

BigFM is spreading across 45cities, 1000towns & 50000villages. It is intensive in

Mumbai and selective all over the country since it is established in 44cities like Delhi,
Chennai, Kolkatta, Bangalore, Chandigarh, and many more.

They are operating in non-metro cities also. BigFM finds advantage of running a radio
station in places like Cuttack/Bhubaneswar and Rourkela as these places are very
compact. Due to this compactness, station can reach out to almost anybody and
everybody who lives there. No need to put too much of an effort to reach out to the
people, they are easily accessible and can reach out to many districts in and around
the city.Bigfm station reaches out to about 20 lakh people.

Since the area is small, it is possible to get celebrities to the studios for special
shows, in fact bigfm the first one in Bhubaneswar to do that. Instead of recoding the
programmers with celebrities, they did the shows live, which might not have been
possible in a metro city. Another advantage of operating from a small place is that can
organize events easily. Have a show called Radio Orchestra, where people are
performing in front of a small audience. This show is done live from various places in
the city. It is easier to organize events in smaller places as compared to a metro city.

Promotion

Promotion element of market mix plays a vital role. Promotion is used in hopes
of influencing the recipient’s feelings, beliefs, or behavior through any forms of
communication. BigFM uses various elements for promotion of there services viz;

a) Advertising.

47
b) Publicity

c) Public relations

d) Word of mouth

At the initial stage of its launching bigfm was much into corporate social
responsibilities (CSR).The target audience at that time was the older audience. But
now it has positioned itself and are currently targeting the youth between age group of
18-30.The promotional strategies are totally changed and keeps varying as per the
current and local requirement. There are lots of innovations and something different is
constantly innovated and worked upon. Various promotional activities are conducted
by bigfm,

Had contracted vendors to manufacture one lakh radio sets to be distributed through
contests, online merchandising & on ground activities. These will be single frequency
branded radio sets so that consumers get to sample the programming of 90.8 FM.

Tide up with manufacturers for co-branded radio sets.Big FM has done partnership
with 600-700 media & retail outlets(will promote on air)Transportation & college
canteens are also potential public to carry out their promotions.

With start has taken social responsibilities & now integrating its recruitment policy
within its CSR initiatives.

They are also planning to induct physically challenged people for copy writing etc so
that their physical incompetence should not be a barrier.

Big is the first radio station to use Brand Ambassadors like Abhishek Bachchan,
Upendra & Asin.

During its initial launching at Delhi, celebrities like Mona Singh & Gaurav Gera were
the RJ’S.To tickle the listener’s funny bone Sunil Pal was also a celebrity RJ.Shweta
Tiwari from Kasauti Jindagiki is also a RJ for spiritual shows.

48
They have tie up with Mumbai’s most dhamal festival like Lalbaug ka Ganpati,
Falgunis Navratri etc.

On AIR do a lot of promotional contest topical, local. Olympiad contest and

campaigning is the latest.

Physical-evidence

Something that is tangible is physical evidence. May be infrastructure of the

company or other attractive features of the product being sold like package, colour,
model in case of cell phone, etc. But for radio channels it is their promotional activities
that show their 5th P.

Bigfm carries out many on ground activities in malls, near college campus,
etc. RJs go to the malls, interact with local crowd play games and contest with them
pick up people from their who are given chance to go on-air.

RJs also go for lunch, dinner & movies with listeners and try to be amongst
local crowd, so as to grab maximum listeners.

49
 MEETING WITH CELEBRATIES

LAGAAN: MEET ‘N GREET WITH BIG FM WINNERS.

Segmen
tation

"If you have a clearly defined

strategy for the target audience and
know well what it takes to get them, you
can win the battle of ever-evolving
audience and markets" is what bigfm
feels.

The programming is decided largely

keeping in mind what their audiences
would like to hear at a particular time of
the day. They have segmented
programs as per the requirements of their listeners. Segmentation is not a problem as
their are programs for youth, children, housewives, professionals, etc.

 Teenagers
 Working Professionals
 Shop-owners
 Housewives
 Self Employed professionals
 Businessmen & Industrialists
 Soft, latest music, gossips….

Preferred Time Zones

• 5 am – 7am Senior citizens

50
 • 7am to 12noon Shopkeepers ,Teenagers Smaller Businessmen
• 12noon-5pm Housewives ,Self employed professionals
• 5pm to 10pm Businessman, Working executives, Teenagers
• 10pm-1pm Teenagers
• 1pm to 5pm Teenagers

Teenagers are the most targeted market and most of the time listeners are teenagers.
So bigfm is trying to focus on them only so as to expand and capture maximum
market share

Shows on bigfm
Shows name Time slot Tune in/RJs

BACK TO BACK

Only music no RJ talks. 1am – 5am Back to back

Enjoy your favorite music
uninterrupted
SEHER

Devotional/Spiritual 5am – 6am Seema

JO FIT HAI WOH HIT HAI

Relevant Health tips 6am – 7am Simmi Sakhuja

delivered with fun

51
BIG CHAI

7 am to 8 am - Astro
predictions, Birthday Shock
8 am to 9 am - Topical
Interactive Debate
9 am to 10 am - Yeh 7am – 12pm Aarchana Jain
Khabar Kyun Chapa/
MALOOM KYA
10 am to 11 am - Mere
Jawabo Ka Saawal Do/
Bollywood
11 am to 12 pm - Jaani Ka
Dabba

MUMBAI MUCH MUCH

5 pm to 6 pm - Prank Call
with Rowdy
6 pm to 7 pm - Mumbai
Disco local topical- RJ
take and listener take;
What's Hot in Mumbai
tonite 5pm -10pm Rohit
8 pm to 9 pm - Bollywood
fatfati - Celeb interviews,
Fokat ka call 9 pm to 10
pm - Whos on the Menu:
Dinner with Rohit and a
Hot Bollywood Star

10 pm to 11 pm -

52
Confessions, dates and
unrequitted love: K's
Verdict, Ex-Files, Love 10
at 10.
11 pm to 12 am - What
makes u so sure about
the other person in your 10pm -1pm K
life? Prospective Lovers
and K.
12 am to 1 am - Romantic
Music Dedications &
Requests

Marketing
With close to 100 radio channels operating in the country, it becomes
extremely difficult to stand out in the clutter and carve a niche for yourself. But despite
being a late entrant in the sector, Big 92.7 FM has, in a short span of time, created a
strong position for itself in the market. The radio station always planned to be 'Big'
because for them 'Big is Better' and 'Big is Beautiful'.

Bigfm is doing very well in terms of marketing. Once people get to know the
whole concept of Big FM and its programs r they realize the importance of advertising
with big and tunning with them. Later on became an established name, and now they
dont face any difficulty as brand”SUNO SUNAO LIFE BANAO” has become very
popular with the people. So, now their objective is not only to maintain their position,
but to go a step higher and stay ahead of all competitors.

Major Competitors In The Market

53
 Radio City 91.1 MHz

A C Red FM 93.5
Radio Mirchi MHz
98.3 MHz Competiti
or s n

E D
Big FM 92.7 Radio One
MHz MHz

Time Sharing Model of Big92.7 FM

Big fm is currently operating in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkatta and many more under the
brand name Big92.7 FM, Suno Sunao Life Banao.

Our rate card per 10 seconds (1 unit) of ai

airtime
rtime is as listen as below for 3 states;

Individual City Rates

City Prime SPT NPT/ROS
Mumbai 1800 2400 1200
Delhi 1800 2400 1200
Kolkotta 1200 1800 600

Super Prime Time:

54
  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.
 Evenings 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
 Evenings 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Sponsored Shows:

Super Prime Time + 25 % premium

Branding-The name game

Branding is the art and cornerstone of
marketing. Brand is a complex symbol. A brand is
essentially a seller’s promise to deliver a specific set of
features, benefits, and services consistently to the
buyers. A brand is moreover a complex symbol.

Roping in the page three crowds to speak

into the microphone isn't enough, though. FM
channel operators are also realizing the need to create their own brands - for the
stations, as well as the RJs.

Many channels are promoting listener-RJ interaction. Call-ins, text messages and
song requests are hygiene factors now, but face-to-face meetings with RJs and
contests and promotions are also popular.

"It is important to realize that radio is not just music, but it is about interactivity. This
interaction can help build a loyal listener market, thus in turn attracting a large
advertiser base."

55
For its part, Bigfm is counting on a rub-off effect. The latest with them is, if u
participate an win a contest then u can have pakodas with stars and Rj’s like Vidya
Balan, Shahid Kapoor, Sunidhi Chavhan, Rj Archana, Rj Rohit. It's already working on
co-producing shows dedicated to sports, fiction and entertainment.

Even as that happens, Bigfm has been busy plastering Mumbai with hoardings and
advertisements on bus shelters. Bigfm also does lot of BTN strategy.

56
 Positioning & PLC

Positioning:

Normally Bigfm does everything that is local and also daily routine task of providing
information regarding traffic updates especially during some chaos and during
festivals. BIGFM positions itself local and undergoes small and local variations.

BIGFM is undergoing a repositioning.

PLC (Product Life Cycle):

Today in such a competitive market it is very essential to run with the speed of market
growth and expansion. Radio market is very fast moving and changing everyday. The
talks are new and gossips are countless. So considering the PLC in radio channel and
its programs would be difficult. PLC of the shows is very dynamic in nature. It keeps
on varying all the time. Infect bigfm always tries to do new and all local so the PLC of
that new program is short lived and no sooner decline.

57
 Internal and Co-ordinate Marketing
Employee-customer mirror: “The way your employees feel is the way your customers
will feel”. Internal marketing relates to meeting the needs of employees so that they
can meet the needs of their customers. Staff must work together in a way that is
aligned with the firm’s mission, strategy and goals. "If people are happy and satisfied,
then they would be willing to walk that extra mile to create a great product. Producing
a great product would impact the company's performance in a positive manner and
lead to a greater employee satisfaction. Employee satisfaction would lead to customer
satisfaction which in turn translates into shareholder's satisfaction. So it's the whole
chain and one needs to add value at each stage of this chain and having an
'Employee First Organization' culture helps to achieve that."

All the radio stations are feeling the heat of retaining good talent. BIGFM says "The
employees of today are not mere employees – they are your partners and your
associates. So there is a need to inculcate the right set of values and culture in them."
So bigfm has adopted a CAFETERIA APPROACH in its remuneration policy.
Cafeteria approach is were you yourself can select the salary into three categories as
per your expectations

CAFETERIA APPROACH:

Like any other sector, radio is also feeling the heat of retaining good talent as
employees are constantly poached by offering higher salaries. To tackle this issue Big
92.7 FM has adopted a Cafeteria Approach in its remuneration policy. Here the
employees have an option – within a frame work – to alter the heads under which they
get their salary on a platter. This helps them to pick and choose the kind of salary
structure they want as per their requirements.

\The much-hyped marketing efforts need to be complemented with strong and

talented workforce. And thus the role of the HR in the organization became even more
proactive than before. The think tank of the human resources at Big 92.7 FM were of
the firm belief that there exists a strong relation between companies who are doing
well and companies which have good HR practices in place.

CATCHY AWARDS:

The USP of bigfm is their catchy awards. Catchy stands for spontaneous recognition
of someone doing something positive in terms of great contribution. Employees are
being valued for their job.

58
INTEREST:

The best part of big is that it has got other concern like bif92.7fm, big pictures, big
movies, big events, big street, big live, big reach. So it is possible that if someone
doesn’t want to do the same job for a long time then they can be shifted from that
department to some other department. Thus interest of an employee is very well taken
care off.

59
 Research and Development

CONTENT ANALYSIS:

Bigfm like other stations also have special persons doing job of content analysis. They
carry out survey of their listnership and also try to get information on what their
competitors are planning. Rating comes to them on weekly basis and changes are
then planned on as per the requirement of the rating.

DAIRY MEASURMENT:

It is obviously very important to have precise measurement tools and techniques.

World over the diary measurement is the most widely used methodology. The new
measurement tool addresses all requirements of broadcasters and advertisers alike.
The study is being conducted by the most credible research houses in the country –
TAM, IMRB and ACNielsen, who have done thorough research in individual markets
before setting up the diary panel.

Dairy method is where particular cities are selected and chosen for survey. They are
given a dairy in which they just have to say that which radio you listen and which
program, and on this basis ratings are done.

RAM AREA:

RAM(Radio Audience Measurement) data is clearly the most credible currency. It is

the only continuous measurement study in India which tracks radio audience behavior
24x7. It is acknowledged as a currency across markets providing robust and market
sensitive consumption habits.

The fact is that in certain markets – even between No.1 & No.2 there is no clear
leader, which means that no-body dominates the market right now. The gap between
the players is small and hence weekly activities undertaken by stations are going to

60
see change in leadership in some markets. Weekly shifts are true for all measurement
systems across the world, where competing brands are close to each other.

The clients are shown these RAM ratings for advertising purpose. Those channel
whose ratings are the highest; advertisers choose their channel to advertise their
product as they can reach the maximum target audience.

TARGET AUDIENCE RATING:

TAR is similar to TRP. In target audience rating only a particular area is being targeted
and only that target market is being viewed in all respect.

TIME SPENT LISTENING:

It is when data is being analyzed and information is being given in marketing

department. Say 3-4 pm 50 people are listening to bigfm.

Last 4weeks ratings are being taken into consideration and bigfm is the top[per for this
foe weeks i.e. in the month of July-August.

61
TRANING AND DEVELOPMENT

Big 92.7 firmly believe in its people centric approach, which is

clearly reflected in its training programs, recognition and reward
schemes.

TRANING PROGRAMMES:

Recording in a studio.

Training is of utmost importance at Big 92.7 FM because it is the one factor that
enables them to differentiate not only from other radio channels but also from other
media companies. They have instilled a drive towards creating a learning environment
across all their stations.

For developing a culture of learning in the organization Big 92.7 FM heavily relies on
e-learning and to strengthen this they have tied up with US-based firms like Danoday
(for programmers training) and Keep Tingle (for RJ training). They also send some of
their associates to US for training at RAB (Regional Advertising Broadcaster in the
US) and NAB (National Association of Broadcaster in the US) and on returning these
associates share their experience and learning's with the rest of the clan.

The HR at Big 92.7 FM was quick to realize that in the media domain there is a
constant need to strike a balance between the technical and creative workforce, for
each individual has his/her own set of needs, passion and prejudices. The first step is
to understand them and only then think of measures to motivate them. The focus is at
making each day a special experience for employees as erratic schedule and odd war.

62
. CELEBRITY ENDORSMENT
Big is the first radio station to use Brand Ambassadors. Ambassadors like Abhishek
Bachchan, Upendra and Asian were being used and has been successful in making
the name of bigfm.

Abhishek Bachchan has ensured aspiration at the highest level. In the cluttered radio
market, he has helped bigfm stand apart. Abhishek Bachchan is an icon and a superstar
and his brand equity has worked extremely well for BIG 92.7 FM.

Celebrity RJs also help connect better with the listeners and offer an aspiration edge.
Once low on aspiration as a medium, celeb RJ's have gone a long way in bringing on
new listeners and of course retaining existing ones.

RELATIVE MARKET SHARE

Relative market is not fixed as such. It keeps on varying, but 90.8 FM is the largest
networking.

INNOVATION AND IDEA GENERATION

No monopoly exists in the market; there are lots of competitors to beat around.
To stand out in this market one has to do constant innovation. Innovation as the name
itself suggests is doing something new and come up with new ideas. Product
modification is required every time. Ideas are seen in the product that are served to
customers and based on the result evaluation we come to know that how well it is
accepted by the customers.

No radio stations are also left behind in this innovation strategy.90.8 FM is

always ahead of all when it comes to doing something new.

Initially bigfm use to do lot of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibilities) activities

as their target audience was the older public. But with the passage of time they
started targeting youth. So the innovative ideas took a turn at this stage.

 Every month there is something local which is carried out.

 This monsoon they wanted to do different as last year they came up with CSR
activities like donating umbrellas and raincoats to the poor masses. But this
time their were many contest held out were the winners given a chance to have
pakodas and chai with RJs and starts like VIDIYA BALAN, SHAHID KAPOOR,
SUNIDHI CHAUVAN.

63
 This was a mission for helping out Raja who was suffering from HIV AIDS. it
was a campaign named “RAJA MISSION". Even a girl named Sahara suffering
from Cancer, 1st stage was helped by BIGFM by a campaign called “SAHARA
MISSION”
 There were special shows related to monsoon like “Monsoon Raga” only o n
bigfm.
 Tie-up based weather updates are constantly aired on, so as to make people
aware of the consequences. There are 200 people all around the city appointed
by bigfm who gives the news updates live-its live, its authentic, its current.
 “Lyricsis laheri” u like it na I come back, where one is suppose to sing a hindi
song in English version and he translates into Bengali. It is funny and comedy
tickling the nerves of the listeners.
 Their basic idea is to go local.
 Time ago, introduced Raju Shrivastav on BIG 92.7 FM, he does the breakfast
show with a humorous take on the same.
 Then was the Sabse BIG Diwali offering where listeners got to win BIG this
Diwali. Came up with Chipak ke Jeetho- an endurance test, where the winner
gets a car and the New Year will usher in Ek Saal Free Maal, where the winner
gets free goodies from 90.8 FM, the year round.
 Initially Abhishek Bachan as brand ambassador, but in Bombay where people
are not much into filmy world RJs face are being used on hoardings. Like the
recent is their Radio Olympiad was 40-50 hoardings are being placed with RJs
Rohit and Aarchana.

NEW PROGRAM- LATEST INNOVATION

64
 With ‘Beijing Olympics 2008’, the biggest sporting event of the world
approaching, BIG 92.7 FM in a first-of-its-kind initiative and in keeping up with the
‘Vibe of the City’ presents an Olympiad where every Indian will now get the chance to
win, like never before in the form of a unique ‘Radio Olympiad’ across 44 stations!

BIG 92.7 FM is the first ever radio station to host and bring alive the spirit of
an Olympiad on-air, wherein every Indian across the length & breadth of the country
will now enjoy the opportunity to win & create records!

There are lots of challenges faced by Indians to win at an Olympiad so this is

a kind of imitative taken by bigfm that one can win.

Listeners’ will get to prepare themselves for their first-ever Olympiad on radio,
as ‘Gold Medals Ki Baarish’ Kick-start across cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad,
Chennai & Bangalore, August 8th onwards. As part of the offering, there are tons of
exciting games & contests on-air / off-air lined up at malls, youth hang-outs, offices
hosted by BIG 92.7 FM, with winners getting the chance to walk away with ‘Gold
Medals’.

The ‘Radio Olympiad’ will t see BIG 92.7 FM presenting some of their key
RJs battling it out for the ultimate endurance test, a record breaking on-air RJ
marathon, wherein RJs across 36 stations attempt for a Limca Record of 100 hrs of
RJing! But the true fortitude test will be showcased by none other than RJ Speed
‘Dheena’ in Chennai, who will be attempting a heroic feat with 136 hrs of the Guiness
Record! Aug 8th and the first city to flag-off the on-air marathon will be none other
than BIG 92.7 FM’s very popular RJs Anubhav & Pankaj from Chandigarh followed by
RJs Ravi in Delhi, Shekhar in Hyderabad, Dheena in Chennai, Harsha & Shruti in
Bangalore & RJ Rohit in Mumbai.

Special training to RJs

This unusual record requires the Radio Jockey to have immense passion for
Radio, given that it is a true endurance test. Such a marathon makes for a rare
attempt and hence there are no learning’s for the RJ’s. All the RJ’s are going through
several preparations for the marathon both physically and mentally and undertaking
fitness, yoga and meditation classes to ensure the highest levels of patience,
commitment and focus.

BIG 92.7 FM has ensured all arrangements required like medical

assistance, food, energy drinks, string of well wishers to ensure the RJ’s are in their
high spirits and also a well chalked out programming plan to ensure the successful
completion of the marathon. All the RJ’s attempting for 100 hrs will begin the
marathon with conversations with celebrities, friends and fans that are expected to
call BIG 92.7 FM, to wish them luck and pray for a successful marathon completion.

When radio is an interruption

65
 & when its not

Radio is back with a bang and it must thank, the terrible

traffic, because most of the listening is done while in transit, which stretches pretty
much to eternity.

Jayant Bhokkare of Radio indig

indigo
o says about FM Radio's future in India, “Out-of-home
radio consumption has huge potential. With cities getting de-clogged
clogged and the
formation of new business districts and residential townships, people are bound to
spend much more time out of home. We shoul should definitely see listenership growing in
ambient areas. Marketers have enormous potential. Given that high traffic density is a
favorable factor, listeners today experience a lot of compulsive listening.”

He is right to the extent that listeners do experience 'compulsive listening'. Is that good
enough to have marketers climbing on the FM radio bandwagon. For the moment, it
seems they are. But then compulsive listening that people are exposed to, while on
the move is at times wasted on them. Thus the markemarketing
ting message that comes along
is ignored. This may happen, lets say while a listener browses through stores at a
mall; remember the assumption here is that his movement is purposeful. But the
scenario changes drastically if the listener is stationery; or o
onn the move, aimless,
without a specific purpose. Lets say he is either in a moving vehicle (remember he
himself is not on the move, technically) or maybe he's at a bar nursing a drink; at such
a time he may be all ears; maybe even just walking down the roa road
d (FM playing on a
mobile device). This distinction is important.

When consumers are purposeful, most media interventions are treated as

interruptions, therefore ignored. When the same consumer is aimless, media
interventions are sometimes even welcome.

Radio listenership,, thanks to FM is on the rise in India. As long as the format does not
come at a price,, consumers are willing listeners. When charged, I am not sure if
consumers would be as accepting. Take the case of World Space.. Business hasn't
been too o good for them. Consumers are just not willing to pay for something they
listen to.

Survey Report

66
I did my survey in our college campus itself. I used quantitative method and for
research I did survey on 10 students.

QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS:

1) Do you listen to radio fm or tune into your MP3?

 Radio (80.%)
 MP3 (20.%)

Question Number Percentage

Radio 8 students 80%
Mp3 2 students 20%

Radio
Mp3
Slice 3
Slice 4

67
2) Which radio channel do you prefer listening to?
98.3 (23.07%)
91.1 (15.38%)
92.7 (26.96%)
94.3 (07.69%)
93.5 (07.69%)
104.8 (07.69%)
107.1 (03.84%)
100.7 (03.84%)
104.3 (03.84%)

Question Number Percentage

90’s range 27 times 80.79%
100’s range 5 times 19.21%

Number
(times)
Percentage

Slice 3

Slice 4

68
3) Preferred time to listen radio fm channels?

Morning (28.%)
Afternoon (14.%)
Evening (16.%)
Night (42%)

Question Number Percentage

Morning 6 times 30%
Afternoon 3 times 15%
Evening 3 times 15%
Night 8 times 40%

Morning
Afternoon
Evening
Night

69
4) Does it help u in creating awareness about new products?

Yes (50%)
No (50%)

Question Number Percentage

Yes 5 students 50%
No 5 students 50%

Yes No
Slice3
Slice4

70
5) Do you prefer listening to songs or chitchatting with Malishka, Anirudh, Rohit &
Superstars sitting in studio?

Songs (60%)
Chitchatting (40%)

Question Number Percentage

Songs 6 students 60%
Chitchatting 4 students 40%

Songs
Chitchatting
Slice3
Slice4

71
6) Does listening to radio sometimes acts like an interruption in your work?

Yes (70%)
No (30%)

Question Number Percentage

Yes 7 students 70%
No 3 students 30%

YesNo
Slice3
Slice4

72
7) Will you listen to FM channels if they start charging you?

Yes (0.0%)
No (90%)
May be (10%)

Question Number Percentage

Yes 0 students 0%
NO 9 students 90%
May be 1 students 10%

Yes
No
Maybe
Slice4

73
 Conclusion

Radio has many natural advantages that make it an excellent choice for advertisers
and listeners. These advantage 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 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 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.

74
 Bibliography

While working on this project I visited a radio station BIG 92.7FM in Andheri
(Infinity Mall) 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:

 Marketing Management by Phillip Kotler .

 Service Marketing by Christopher Lovelock
 Direct Marketing Management by Mary Lou Robert and Paul Berger.

Newspapers and Magazines

 Times of India
 Economics Times
 Business Standard

Various websites were also visited such as,

 www.allindiaradio.org
 www.star.co.in.
 www.rab.co.uk
 www.exchange4media.com
 www.timesofindia.com
 www.economicstimes.com
 www.indiatoday.com
 www.big927fm.com

75