Festive Season Advertising Part 2: Useful Radio Ads Strategies

In the second part of the series, we would try answering the following questions:

1. How is radio advertising affected during the festive season?
2. Are there any radio advertising properties that are comparatively clutter-free during the festive season?
3. How can you create maximum impact with a limited radio advertising budget?

Read all the article(s):

• The Indian Festive Season 101: Introduction (Part 1)
• In-App Advertising During The Festive Season (Part 3)
• Transit Advertising During The Festive Season (Part 4)
• Best Ad Platforms for On-Demand Home Improvement Services (Part 5)
• Top marketing ideas to promote your events (Part 6)

Radio Advertising: Non-Festive Season vs Festive Season

Radio advertising is one of the most popular advertising media in India. In terms of city-level targeting, the impact and reach attained by radio advertising are unparalleled. Needless to say, during the festive season, both national and local level brands battle for getting maximum share of the advertising pie.

AirCheck Data for top 18 cites during Non-Festive season vs Festive season

AirCheck is an independent body that monitors radio spots and reports advertisements played on various radio channels. We have analyzed AirCheck data from May-July 2018 (Non-festive season) and Sep-Nov 2018 (Festive Season) to understand the change in advertising pattern and here are some insights:

There was an increase of 23% in terms of total time when ads were playing on the radio. 18% more brands advertised during the festive season. In terms of average FCT per brand also, there was an increase of 5%.

There was a 3% increase in FCT share of National brands against a 3% drop in share of Local brands indicating aggressive promotions by national brands.

• The western region witnessed the highest growth in FCT during the festive season backed by very high growth in Pune, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai.
• Eastern region witnessed above-average growth due to the popularity of both Durga Puja and Diwali.
• The northern region witnessed lesser growth due to having a higher than average advertising share during non-festive season.
• The southern region witnessed lesser growth during the festive season due to non-popularity of Dussehra and Diwali in non-metro cities like Vizag and Trivandrum.

Metro cities witnessed a much higher increase in advertising FCT as compared to non-metro cities.

Here are the categories that witnessed the highest jump in advertising spots during the festive season:

• Airline & Tourism: during the festive season holidays, people like to travel to home and tourist destinations to celebrate and relax.
• Pharmaceutical: These are various OTC medicines. Along with festive season, comes a variety of ailments due to over-indulgence, exhaustion, pollution, etc.
• Events & Exhibitions: Various events like Dandia Nights, Diwali Mela etc happen during this season.
• BFSI: The festive season is the time when people make high-ticket purchases like home, car, mobile and even small-ticket items like clothes, gifts, grocery, etc. This is the time when they are actively looking out for credit and payment options.
• Furniture & Furnishings: Home renovation and cleaning is the top activity for families during the festive season.
• Automobile: People consider it auspicious to buy cars and two-wheelers during the festive season. Also, since it’s close to the end of the year, auto brands offer lucrative discounts and offer to drive sales of old models.
• Dotcom: E-commerce businesses like Flipkart and Amazon plan their biggest annual shopping fest coinciding with the festive season.
• Shop: These are mostly the offline shops and retailers who depend on the festive season for most of their sales.

Radio Advertising Options To Rise Above The Clutter

In the previous section, we saw there is a very high demand for FCTs during the festive season. This makes us wonder if radio advertising for small businesses with a limited budget during the festive season is a good idea or not. Radio has a mass reach at a city level and with innovative content, the radio experience is not limited to music only but has become a part of the city life experience. Hence, it would be useful for advertisers to look beyond radio jingles and consider more engaging properties like contests and RJ Mentions.

3 Radio Advertising properties to help advertisers rise above the clutter

1. Contests (Radio Contest Sample): Contests are run by RJs on their shows during which they ask some questions or give some activities for the audience to answer/perform. The gifts or prizes for these contests are sponsored by the advertising brands. Following are the advantages of advertising through RJ contests:

• Engagement: Unlike other radio programs, contests are two-way communication that happens between the RJ and audience and it happens through-out the program hence, it has better engagement compared to jingles.
• Call to Action: Contests are sponsored by advertisers. Advertisers can offer prizes/vouchers/gift hampers and attach incentives to make the audience engage with the brand. For example, a retail store can offer a voucher to the contestant that can be redeemed by visiting the store and making a social post.
• Customized Content: Advertisers can also prepare customized content for contests that bring out the unique proposition of the brand. For example, a popular restaurant can ask the contestants to tell about the favorite dishes from the restaurant.
• Higher Reach: A contest runs for a longer period hence, has a higher reach.

2. RJ Mention (RJ Mention Sample): RJs’ job is not limited to host radio programs only, they are also influencers with a fan-following of their own. RJ Mention involves the RJ talking about the unique proposition of the brand for 30-40 seconds during his/her program. Following are the advantages of RJ Mentions:

• Credibility: RJ promotes the brand in his/her own style, making the content more credible and authentic.
• Engagement: Unlike the jingle ads playing when most of the audience change stations, the audience sit through and listen to the RJ mentions.

3. Outdoor Events organized by Radio Stations: Events and exhibitions are very common during the festive season like Dandiya nights, Durga Puja pandal, Diwali Mela, etc. A lot of these are organized/sponsored by Radio Stations. Advertisers can sponsor or advertise during these events. Following would be the advantages:

• Brand Visibility: These events are marked by thousands of footfalls. Owning a stall or section in the event would boost the brand awareness.
• Credibility: Association with Radio brands would give credibility to the advertisers brand.

How To Maximize Impact With Limited Radio Advertising Budget

Radio advertising mostly depends on brand recall factor. To cash on this factor, it is recommended to run a radio jingle at least 20-30 times a day. While this can prove to be heavy on brands’ pocket, it becomes extremely difficult during the festive season when both the number of advertisements and the number of advertisers increase. So, what should an advertiser do with a low radio advertising budget?

Select a Time Slot once a week

Majority of the audience listens to the radio while commuting. If this is your target audience then it would be a better strategy to stick to a certain time slot. It can be the morning prime time slot or evening prime time slot. Select one day in every week.

Own certain properties in addition to a radio jingle

During the selected time slot every week, run at least 20-25 jingles and also own other properties like sponsorship tags, RJ mention, contests, etc. An average commuter spends about 45 minutes daily on road. Higher frequency of ads would mean more reach and better impact.

Here is a sample plan:

In the next article, we will discuss some more advertising properties and explore whether there are strategies that can help small businesses stay ahead of the advertising clutter despite a tight budget.

Looking for ideas to advertise during the festive season? Write to us at Help@TheMediaAnt.com and keep watching this space for the next article.

 

 

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