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Tag: Big FM

  • 92.7 BIG FM and Star Plus join hands for Big Star Entertainment Awards

    92.7 BIG FM and Star Plus join hands for Big Star Entertainment Awards

    MUMBAI: Since last three years, on the New Year’s Eve, Star plus has been honoring the biggest entertainers from television, films, music, theatre and sports. It has not just been popular but also gives a chance to start the year with a good omen. And thus, encouraged by the success of the previous three seasons, 92.7 BIG FM in association with Star Plus is presenting the fourth edition of BIG Star Entertainment Awards.

    This awards ceremony is completely ‘for the people and by the people’ and gives the audiences an opportunity to nominate and vote for their favourite entertainers across fields. This year, the awards promises to be an intensely exciting affair, giving the audience not only a larger than life experience in terms of entertainment and glam quotient but will also herald the most unforgettable New Year extravaganza on Star Plus on 31 December.

    92.7 BIG FM and Star Plus will keep audiences informed of the nominations and conduct a mass voting drive where thousands of people are expected to participate and vote for their favorite entertainers. The dazzling awards ceremony to be held on the 18 December promises to be a star studded affair which will feature the finest of Bollywood and TV entertainers delivering their best performances.

    Speaking about the awards, 92.7 BIG FM business head Ashwin Padmanabhan exults: “We are proud to launch the fourth edition of BIG STAR Entertainment Awards this year. The platform offers people a chance to choose their favorite ‘superstar’ from different fields of entertainment. We thank our partners Star Plus for coming together with us on this property yet again.”

    The BIG Star Entertainment Awards 2013 will be promoted across multimedia platforms which include radio, television, outdoor and digital.

  • ‘Five Star Chicken’ to use radio as one of the pillars for building its brand

    ‘Five Star Chicken’ to use radio as one of the pillars for building its brand

    BENGALURU: Thai food retail major The Charoen Pokphand Foods Limited Indian subsidiary CP India Foods, (CPIF) plans to use radio as one of the main three pillars for brand building and mass media communications for its restaurant chain brand ‘Five Star Chicken‘ reveal company sources. The other two pillars are social media and sampling at ground events.

    To that extent, CPIF has brought on board Big FM Bangalore as a radio partner and procured around 12 radio spots per day for a 45 day period on the station. “Typically, we plan to run a campaign for around 45 days, with a 15 day break, before commencing another radio campaign,” revealed the source.

    “This time around, the campaign coincides with the launch of our first Five Star Café in India. We will be opening our next Five Star Café in Bengaluru shortly and plan to have around six Cafes by the end of this year. Our tag line is ‘Happy things happen in happy places‘. We ran a teaser campaign for the Five Star Cafe on the 16th, 17th and 18th of this month and then revealed the brand on the 19th. Big FM has a kiosk at our Café and will be broadcasting live from here this evening.”

    “We might look at other radio stations also. For online, we have had contests in place on Facebook and the winner of the best cheer won a one year supply of Chicken, we have more contests in place,” he added.

    “We plan to use other mediums of mass media communications over the next few months once our store count in South India increases. Print is another medium that we are looking at quite seriously.”

    “Typically, a Five Star Chicken outlet brings in revenues of about five Lakh rupees per month, through the campaigns, we think that revenues may grow by 15 to 20 per cent,” said the source further.

    The company started selling its Five Star Chicken products in Bengaluru through small mom and pop type outlets of 100-300 square feet area during the latter part of 2012. Since then, CPIF has upped the number of outlets to 30, 10 of which are company owned. By the end of this year, CPIF plans to have about 80 outlets in the garden city and about 15 in Chennai. By end 2014, CPIF will have about 150 outlets in these two cities and over a three year period, it has planned for 300 outlets, including a few in Hyderabad.

    Five Star Chicken is one of the subsidiary food companies and brands of The Charoen Pokphand Foods, a first Thai multi-national conglomerate with over $10 billion business in agro-industry and food in many countries across the world. Five Star Café is its first concept store in Bengaluru.

  • 92.7 Big FM makes key level appointments in ad sales team

    92.7 Big FM makes key level appointments in ad sales team

    Mumbai: Reliance Broadcast Network has announced the consolidation and strengthening of ad sales functions within its radio business, 92.7 Big FM, through strategic elevations across key positions.

    As a part of the new appointments Ashwin Padmanabhan’s has been promoted as business head of Big FM. He was earlier business head for West and South of the radio network.

    Nitin Jain takes over as national sales head of 92.7 Big FM while Shalini Dureja moves to vice president, head impact sales west and south. Dureja’s new role requires her to service key clients, selling key innovations and intellectual properties, while maximising
    revenues.

    Meanwhile, Kiran Thangarajan has also been promoted to cluster head of Big FM, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Charanjeet Arora moves to the position of regional business head – North, which includes the regions of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Rajasthan.

    Sanjeev Sharma, who joined 92.7 BIG FM in 2010 as the regional head (govt. business) based in Chandigarh, has grown to take up the role of national head – government business, where he will be responsible for revenue generation for both the radio and television businesses.

    Reliance Broadcast Network CEO Tarun Katial said, “We have always been immensely proud of the quality of our workforce. It is they who help create ever-growing value for our customers while driving profitable growth for the company. As the radio business continues to dominate key markets across India, we feel the need to streamline business divisions to derive maximum value within us. We are confident that these moves will help us transform into a more holistic radio business and see us achieving better growth in the near future.”

  • RBNL appoints Grey India as creative AoR

    MUMBAI: Reliance Broadcast Network Limited (RBNL) has entrusted the creative duties of its entire portfolio across radio and television to Grey India. The agency‘s Mumbai and Delhi offices will be in charge of the account.

    Grey Delhi will handle creative duties of 92.7 BIG FM, BIG Magic (UP, MP, Bihar and Jharkhand) and Spark Punjabi (part of Big CBS), while Grey Mumbai will handle Big CBS Prime, Big CBS Love and Big RTL Thrill.

    The development comes after the network conducted a multi agency pitch in the capital.

    Grey India had entered the fray only for the radio business but was eventually awarded the mandate for the entire RBNL portfolio.

    Grey India EVP and national creative director Amit Akali said, “As usual we didn‘t approach the creative through traditional above the line advertising. We tried to find solutions for BIG FM, whether they came through programming, slugs, on-ground activation, events or digital ideas. Most importantly we had great fun working on the pitch and that obviously showed in the work we presented.”

    Grey South and South East Asia chief strategy officer Dheeraj Sinha said, “This was a pitch which didn‘t feel like one. It felt like we were partners discussing strategy and responding to creative ideas. The vibe between the teams on both sides has been great and that to my mind is the biggest starting point to a successful partnership. I am fascinated by the role of media in today‘s changing cultural landscape and see a big opportunity for us in this space, especially with the width of offering Reliance Broadcast Network has across radio and television. We look forward to redefining some codes in this space.”

  • Homeshop18 awards Eleven Brandworks its creative biz

    Homeshop18 awards Eleven Brandworks its creative biz

    MUMBAI: On air and online retail brand Homeshop18 has appointed Eleven Brandworks as its creative partner following a multi-agency pitch.

    Eleven Brandworks has been entrusted with the duty of building and establishing a strong ‘HomeShop18’ brand across the verticals of TV, web and mobile.

    Homeshop18 CMO Rashmi Berry said, “Eleven Brandworks displayed the right combination of creativity & agility, both critical in the highly competitive and cluttered E-commerce space. We look forward to building a compelling & differentiated brand with them with their highly talented team of rofessionals.”

    Eleven Brandworks is a full service agency based in Mumbai and Gurgaon, founded three years ago by Prateek Bhardwaj who was earlier a creative director from McCann-Erickson. Its client list includes Tata Mutual Fund, Times Group, Big FM, Archies Ltd, NDTV Goodtimes, Sportsfit and Star Plus.

    Bhardwaj said, “Homeshop18 is already a household name in India. Eleven Brandworks’ mandate is to create a robust integrated strategy for the brand and help carve a distinct dotcom brand out of it too.”

  • Big Magic unveils new positioning ‘Apna Pradesh Apna Magic’

    MUMBAI: Big Magic, the variety entertainment channel for the Hindi heartland from the Reliance Broadcast Network (RBNL) stable, has unveiled a new brand positioning – Apna Pradesh Apna Magic – coinciding with its first anniversary.

    The new positioning is intended to build Big Magic as the very own channel of the Hindi heartland as the channel is looking at expanding its original programming.

    Apna Pradhesh, Apna Magic brings the channel closer to the people of the heartland as it translates into their very own channel for their very own region – truly local and a reflection of the people‘s taste preferences and entertainment requirements.

    Conceptualised by the in-house team, Apna Pradesh, Apna Magic will be communicated to audiences through a multi-media campaign with a heavy use of radio -Big FM, outdoor, television, print and social media.

    The channel has launched a series of local shows like Big Bal Kalakaar, Big Memsaab, Hasya Panchayat and newly launched shows Hum Hai Bajrangi, Police Files and Mele ka Big Star. These shows created on the basis of local insights have all been produced in the Hindi Heartland reflecting the culture, language, entertainment and ethos of the region.

  • Health ministry launches music video campaign against tobacco consumption

    Health ministry launches music video campaign against tobacco consumption

    MUMBAI: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s (MoHFW) tobacco control campaign has launched a music video ‘Life Se Panga mat Le Yaar‘.

    The track of the campaign has been sung by singer Shaan, who was announced as the tobacco control ambassador of India in May 2011. It is targeted towards youth and adolescents all over the country and sends a strong message that life without tobacco is “a life worth living”.

    The campaign is being aired on radio stations like Radio Mirchi, Radio City, Big FM and Red FM across India since 28 January 2012. On 1 February, the music video was unveiled on MTV, Sab, UTV Bindass and 9XM. The track runs for 2.3 minutes.

    National level mass media public awareness campaigns are important component of the National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP). As per the ‘WHO report on Global Tobacco Epidemic 2011’, India is one of the few countries to have a dedicated budget for the tobacco control mass media campaign.

    As per estimates, in India nearly 1 million people die every year due to diseases related to tobacco use. If current trends continue tobacco will account for 13 per cent of all deaths in India by 2020. As per Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) report, nearly 50 per cent of cancers among males, 25 per cent among females about 80–90 per cent of all the oral cancers are associated with tobacco use.

    Available evidence suggests that 40 per cent of all TB deaths, majority of cardio vascular diseases and lung disorders are directly attributable to tobacco consumption. Tobacco has also been identified as a risk factor for Non-communicable disease (NCD) and it accounts for one in six deaths resulting from NCD‘s.

    As per the Global Adult Tobacco Survey-India (GATS -2010) conducted in the age group 15 and above, over 35 per cent of the population in India consume tobacco in some form or other, with 47 per cent male and 20.8 per cent female consuming some form of tobacco. In absolute numbers there are 275 million users of tobacco in India. Thus, India is second only to china, which has over 300 million smokers, who are mostly males.

    Further as per the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS 2009), 14.6 per cent of the youth in the age group of 13-15 years consume tobacco in some form or other. There are also studies indicating that 5500 youth in India start tobacco use every day.

  • Big FM appoints Vivek Malhotra as marketing head

    Big FM appoints Vivek Malhotra as marketing head

    MUMBAI: Reliance Broadcast Network Limited (RBNL), has roped in Vivek Malhotra as the head of marketing for its radio brand Big FM.

    He moves from Bloomberg UTV where he was Sr.VP- marketing, PR and research of the English business news channel.

    At Big FM, Malhotra will be responsible for developing the overall brand and communication strategy for the business and implementation rollout across the stations. He will be closely associated with the product, operations and revenue teams as the radio business charts its aggressive growth for the next phase.

    RBNL said in a statement, “We are delighted to have Vivek on board. He brings with him vast experience across marketing, media research, trade management, sales support, AFP solutions, distribution and corporate strategy. With a strong understanding of business and tremendous creativity, we are confident Vivek will play a key role in leading the team to continue the development and growth of the radio business.”

    Malhotra added, “I am really excited about my new role at RBNL”

    He has worked across diverse business environments. Prior to Bloomberg UTV, he has also worked with Media Content and Communication Services (MCCS) and TV18.

  • IPL: Big FM Hyderabad partners Deccan Chargers

    IPL: Big FM Hyderabad partners Deccan Chargers

    BANGALORE: Continuing its partnership for the fourth consecutive season of Indian Premier League, 92.7 Big FM Hyderabad has been appointed as the official radio partners for Deccan Chargers (DC) for the fourth season of the Indian Premier League.

    To ensure Big FM listeners get to be part of all the action happening, Big FM in association with TVS Tyres and State Bank of Hyderabad has chalked out a programming mix both on-air and on-ground. An emotional campaign – ‘Mana Chargers, Mana Radio’ – has been planned to connect with 92.7 Big FM’s Hyderabadi listeners to garners support for the DC team, get all the experience of meeting their star players, win merchandise, match tickets, etc.

    Among the initiatives by 92.7 Biog FM include: During the breakfast show hosted by RJ Shekar a listener will get three balls to play with Shekar, the winner who scores ten runs will get exclusive Deccan Chargers merchandise and opportunity to meet and greet the players of Deccan Chargers; A ‘Cheer Squad hunt’ in colleges to look out for a “Cheer squad” by which a 12 member squad comprising of enthusiastic youths who will stand chance to watch all DC matches played in Hyderabad for free, as well as squad get merchandise, etcs., for supporting the DC team.

    92.7 Big FM Radio Operations Head-South Ramesh Bhaskar said, “IPL is an extremely fast forward format with lot of actions happening in and out of the field and our association with Deccan Chargers ensures the right mix of entertainment to our listeners as they seek information which ranges from match updates to merchandise to players information to the dressing room gossip and much more”.

    As part of the on-ground activation, a specially fabricated canter will have a Big wish card taking messages of the people on the streets, the message card will be sent to the DC players.

    To create further awareness about the games played, an innovative ‘Big Chargers Telugu Class’ has also been planned with foreign DC players who will visit studios and interact with localities. Listeners will get a chance to call in and teach the players three Telugu words of their choice with the one to remember most words at the end of the hour being declared the winner. Other initiatives include sledging in the local language, ‘Cheer the chargers’ slogan contest.

     

  • ‘We used the brand ambassador route to break through the cluttered FM market’ : Tarun Katial – Big FM COO

    ‘We used the brand ambassador route to break through the cluttered FM market’ : Tarun Katial – Big FM COO

    Reliance ADAG has aggressive plans laid out for its radio venture Big FM. With 29 stations already in place, Big FM has 16 more waiting in the wings. And it has an investment outlay of Rs 4 billion.

    Banking on Abhishek Bachchan as the face of Big FM and supported by the brand philosophy of ‘Suno Sunao Life Banao,’ Reliance’s radio venture is looking to firm up its position in existing markets by rolling out four unique properties this year-end.

    In an interview with Indiantelevison.com’s Nasrin Sultana, Big FM chief operating officer Tarun Katial speaks about the penetration of the FM stations into the urban and smaller markets, the potential that the sector has, and the advertising opportunities it throws open for local advertisers.

    Excerpts:

    Being a new entrant in established markets, has it been a tough journey for Big FM?
    We have been extremely successful in selling the brand across the country. Our success comes from launching in cluttered markets like Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai. We were the first station in Bangalore to come out with local language content.

    How has it been in the smaller markets which opened up for private operators in the second phase?
    Big FM is working extremely well in small towns. We have, in fact, revolutionised media and media consumption habits in the tier II and tier III cities. Eventually people are realising that radio is a local medium which needs to have localised content and marketing to make it successful.

    We have even entered troubled places like Srinagar and Guwahati where no one thought of venturing.

    Are the big advertisers willing to put money in the small town stations?
    For Big FM, local advertising contributes 30-40 per cent of our entire revenue kitty. Apart from this, there are corporates who advertise across all the 29 stations including big FMCG and telecom players.

    Is Delhi turning out to be a sticky wicket for the new players?
    Delhi is one of our best stations. It has been getting us good revenue. Nokia, Samsung and the big FMCGs, apart from the local retailers, are our major advertisers in Delhi. As far as listnership goes in Delhi, our internal research says that we have a good amount of base in the capital city.

    What has been the focus area for Big FM?
    It is really bad to say that we are focused on some markets and not on others. In the tier II, tier III cities it has been our effort to gather a base for listenership. In the next roll out phase, our focus will be about building a uniqueness and getting the dynamics of the company to all the stations.

    Why was there a requirement to change content in your Delhi station?
    The consumer behaviour and attitude of Delhi changes very frequently and it is very different from the other cities. Our internal research showed that Delhi is happening and on the move. That is where we zeroed in the ‘100 chartbuster’ format whereby every week the songs that the station plays is renewed. 100 songs are selected on the basis of a survey that covers mobile phones, internet downloads, music sales and song requests. This way, we satisfy the need of Delhi listeners to get something new every week. We are the first station in the country to have introduced such content in music.

    How is Big FM faring in regional markets like Jhansi, Bareilly, Jalandhar, Asansol and Guwahati among others?
    We have created a local brand out of the local product. FM has created an atmosphere where local entrepreneurs have understood these cost effective measures. There are lots of un-organised and semi-organised workers in the Indian economy for whom we have provided a platform.

    In the regional space, we have been beneficial to the common people by generating job avenues. People now need not go to cities in search of jobs in media.

    Physical hardware sales are also up. Nokia, Reliance and Samsung have got sales high. Even FM radio is being launched on the mobile platform.

    Is having Abhishek Bachchan, Upendra and Asin as brand ambassadors helped you in grabbing listenership in the Hindi and southern regions?
    Today we are in a cluttered FM market in India. The easiest way to break through the clutter is through the brand ambassador route.
    ‘FM should be allowed to have news and sports in the content mix‘

    How has the brand philosophy ‘Suno Sunao Life Banao‘ worked for Big FM?
    The whole premise was to provide a new space. If you listen to our station, it’s about raising ones voice. Our content and marketing campaigns affect the lives of the people. Later this year we will introduce four new properties that will make (banao) someone’s life. As far as music goes, we are currently playing contemporary hot music of Tempo 3. Tempo 3 are specific songs that are up beat because as a rule the station does not play extremely slow music.

    What do you regard as prime time for Big FM?
    Our prime time is dependent on who our target audience is at a particular time band. If it’s the youth, then the prime time band is evening. If it’s the office goers, then it’s definitely in the morning. If it’s women, the target then is the afternoon time band.

    Which are the different platforms you are experimenting with to build brand awareness?
    Across mediums, internet is the best medium as it has an extended reach. But the best thing that works for us is on-ground activities. Big FM has been doing a good amount of on-ground activities across the country, which has received a good response in terms of participation.
    What do you think about TV campaigns used by FM stations to advertise?
    TVC is definitely a good way of promoting a brand. We are also looking to launch a TVC soon.

    What is your argument for or against the Content Code?
    Instead of getting ways to regulate us, the government should grant us some freedom. As FM affects so much of the consumption of people’s life, we should be allowed to have news and sports in our content mix.

    The ministry is talking about regulating FM broadcasters, when we are already functioning with restrictions to our content.

    When they are comparing Indian FM stations with the international radio industry, they have conveniently forgotten that we are the only set of broadcasters who have been working on the restricted content set up by the government.

    What is the investment outlay for Big FM?
    We are pumping in Rs 4 billion.

    What is the de-merger status of Big FM?
    I can’t comment on that.

    How is Big FM planning to synergise Reliance ADAG’s Big Music and Entertainment for music and home video?
    Big FM gets the exclusive music and content rights from Big Music and Entertainment, giving us the first right of refusal. We have the option to build music properties across the medium. We have the option to promote the division by pushing the content through internet downloads and mobile ring tones. Big FM does 360 degree advertising for Big Music and Entertainment.

    How are your advertising spots being priced?
    Recently we have introduced the uniform rate card system ‘Aqua’ for all our advertisers across the country. This is easily available in our website. Unlike other stations, we are transparent in our advertising rates. The advertisers know what is the rate for the same space on the other stations. The advertisers are aware of how we are priced in different markets.

    Besides, all our stations have installed the wide orbit software.

    With the increasing content clutter on radio especially with Bollywood music, how is Big FM placed?
    I agree that Bollywood is all over FM stations, but it also depends on what kind of songs you are playing at what time of the day. How you treat the music is what differentiates the content. We play old songs across era in different time bands.

    You have recently got Raju Srivastav (stand up comedian of The Great Indian Laughter Challenge) as an RJ. In an attempt to break away from the clutter, every FM station is now adopting the fun element. How is this differentiated?
    Fun is an important aspect of entertainment. We are here to entertain, so what’s wrong in doing it? Some are doing it by some other means and people; we are doing it with Raju. He is the best and the biggest clutter breaker in the industry. Nobody wants to start the day on a sad note. We will get you to start the day with laughter and good thoughts. Our effort is rewarded if we can put smile in our listener’s faces.

    Do you think the future will be in niche or mass stations?
    The FM business is in a nascent stage for me to predict the future. It depends on what is the target, though I would recommend that segmentation is required.

    How are you looking to close 2007?
    We have recently announced the four properties that Big FM has planned for the various festival seasons for the later part of the year. Starting from September, Big FM will start rolling out these properties.

    We will soon launch a show completely based on and coinciding with the ICC World Cup Twenty20. The show will provide scrore updates, interactive contests and interview of cricket celebrities.

    During the time of Diwali and Dusshera, Big FM will launch a shopping contest Sabse Sasti Diwali. With the various tie-ups that we are still working on, the contest will offer shopping discounts from 9.27 per cent to 92.7 per cent.

    Then we have a contest titled Chipak Ke Dekho by which we will give away a car to whoever remains near the car for the longest duration of time.

    Finally, we have the biggest contest of its kind, Ek Saal Free Maal to bear the entire expenses of the winner for the whole year of 2008.