tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16176455931773713912024-03-18T15:17:39.406+05:30Enabling a Digital Life...We are well past the age where Gladiators or Lions used to entertain a select few in a large arena...!!!
Communication, Media and Entertainment (CME) has transformed the way we live and consume entertainment.
The blogs are focused on CME developments in Indian geo-region but feedback, suggestions and brickbats will be appreciated from any quarter of the world.Himanshu Agarwalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09323306147389892165noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1617645593177371391.post-65371364261665382342014-05-16T17:39:00.000+05:302014-05-16T17:39:11.139+05:30Lesson learnt from Sachin’s B’day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxydKXdiv0nlK0UOH4INgoOD0G1K8XUin-BRbtmhTgU7VrAjNJxSKs0sz_7djtEdxzHbgLAIwA31TXeaOgp8ql08cZN1fWTcRtlaX1BZzrwi_VOEk2dDy5ltmheLkaVHHnmvUWS51ylMs/s1600/Sachins+Birthday.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxydKXdiv0nlK0UOH4INgoOD0G1K8XUin-BRbtmhTgU7VrAjNJxSKs0sz_7djtEdxzHbgLAIwA31TXeaOgp8ql08cZN1fWTcRtlaX1BZzrwi_VOEk2dDy5ltmheLkaVHHnmvUWS51ylMs/s1600/Sachins+Birthday.png" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If cricket is religion, Sachin is
God. His 41<sup>st</sup> birthday on April 24, 2014, was manna for marketers. It
was a mad scrambling of everyone wanting to associate with brand Sachin to drive
sales. From car dealerships offering the master blaster offer to radio stations
running week long specials, to brand updates alluding to Sachin on their social
media feeds, it was ‘Sachin…Sachin…’ all the way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Six years back, I was responsible
to drive revenues on the short code owned by a leading media group. The idea of
doing a Sachin special came up, a few days before April 24. As we did only text
SMSs (no wallpapers, animations, etc.), I was at my wits end to figure out what
can possibly be done on text to ride the Sachin bandwagon. A no brainer was
facts and trivia about Sachin. The modus was simple, to have keyword(s), which
the user texted on the short code to get info about Sachin. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The difficult part was promoting those
keyword(s) on zero dollar budget. Unless people knew the keyword(s), they could
not text them to the short code and we made no monies. One of the three options
was to publicize the keyword(s) in the group daily/online properties. It was not
a viable option. If we were to plug the short code in the group daily/online properties,
the group would have lost revenues by not being able to sell that inventory to
paid advertisers. This option meant that we generate traffic in the order of 6–7
digits because 70-90% of the topline would have gone as revenue share to
Telecom Service Providers. We knew that we won’t get a million SMSs at an end
user price of INR 3.00 for a property like Sachin’s trivia!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Second option was to promote the
keyword(s) as footer in the response message to other keywords or to put simplistically
cross promote on existing keywords, which were already generating traffic. Third
option was to on-board Telcos to promote the keyword(s) on their SMS
promotional channel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We cracked option 2 and 3, but couldn’t
generate traffic that would meet our projections. Was it worth it? With the
benefit of hindsight, I would perhaps say yes. Six years back mobile internet
was not pervasive. Something tactically gimmicky such as trivia about god of
cricket on mobile with SMS as a distribution channel made sense. Today, one
would not spend INR 3.00/- to pull some trivia about someone; as googling on
phone is easier and cheaper. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Did we make monies? No. Was the
product bad? No, if it was bad, the Telcos would not have promoted the keyword(s).
Why didn’t we make monies? Perhaps the promotion didn’t reach as many people as
it should have. If we do something similar today, will it make monies? No. I
believe what we did in 2008 over SMS, holds good for mobile apps today. Download
numbers of a Sachin app offering facts and trivia about him launched close to
his birthday in 2014 is anyone’s guess. It was one of those scenarios where an allusion
to a star birthday did not cut ice. I am not sure about the experience of those
car dealerships and radio stations. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Lesson learnt</b>:</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> Celebrity birthdays don’t lend to money spinning
opportunities for businesses which are remotely connected to the appeal of the
celebrity. In this case perhaps a sports mall would have made more monies
selling cricket bats than us selling Sachin trivia. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But yes, even Sachin would agree that singles
are needed to keep the scoreboard ticking :-)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Himanshu Agarwalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09323306147389892165noreply@blogger.com17Bangalore, Karnataka, India12.9715987 77.59456269999998312.4764182 76.949115699999979 13.4667792 78.240009699999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1617645593177371391.post-84241778605566162912014-04-16T11:03:00.000+05:302014-05-07T18:05:03.455+05:30Why don’t we have format shows on Radio!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVLvgrBWmrFWjVazz9g3WEwoLfdWsJCcAkjOOB0XuEnLHAGQVYbwSBDuRPVi3qhWwJrW2veuQwKl00Eni_7sV59WymBuNu3E01Q0GSKGD_rYtqyn-AX7U6Zsr60t7TCeQDloNCNvGlOaY/s1600/Format+Radio+Shows.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVLvgrBWmrFWjVazz9g3WEwoLfdWsJCcAkjOOB0XuEnLHAGQVYbwSBDuRPVi3qhWwJrW2veuQwKl00Eni_7sV59WymBuNu3E01Q0GSKGD_rYtqyn-AX7U6Zsr60t7TCeQDloNCNvGlOaY/s1600/Format+Radio+Shows.png" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Why don’t we have format radio
shows of scale, and even if we have format shows why is it difficult to recall a single name unlike the format shows on television,
such as Fear Factor, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Dancing with the Stars or
many other such shows? Is it because of the nature of the radio as a local medium
(each city having its own programming mix), or because of the economics behind
it? Let us discount the fact that due to the aural nature of the medium,
creativity on radio is limited. There are enough creative options to build
format properties on radio.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In the case of multi city radio
networks, I have seen concerted social campaigns that gained national traction
and attracted public notice, be it Red FM’s ‘Dabaa Ke Bajaao’, urging the
public to vote during the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections or Fever FM’s ‘Voice of
Change’. Was it the magnitude of the cause behind the success of these social
campaigns? Why can’t the same success with social campaigns be replicated to
create format shows of national stature on radio?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">These questions merit a detailed
debate, beyond the scope of this post. Let us attempt an answer by taking an
economic view.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We’ll make some assumptions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Assumption 1: Contests/games format
such as identify the voice, identify the song etc. are the result of a station’s
own creative process. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Assumption 2: The station uses a
premium priced short code, i.e. each time you send a text to the short code,
you are charged an amount typically INR 3.00 or any other amount, which is not per your regular SMS
tariff plan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Assumption 3: The premium SMS
charge is split between the telecom service provider and the short code owner
(in this case the station) with telco keeping a lion’s share.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Assumption 4: The amount retained
by the station is used to sponsor the prizes. For example, if the station
receives 1,000 responses to a contest question on a given day on its short
code, the total kitty is INR 3,000 (1,000 * INR 3.00). Assuming the revenue
share is 50:50 between the telco and the station, the amount available to the
station for prizes is INR 1,500.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Pretty simple, isn’t it? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Let’s add another entity to the
mix. The entity that develops contest formats powered by the underlying
software solutions, which integrate with various media to produce game shows that
can also be played over radio. Let’s call this entity ‘contest IP provider’.
Now, if a station uses the concept/format provided by this entity, the above
kitty of INR 3,000 has three claimants. Assuming the share of the telco is
fixed, not much is left on the table for the other two. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Is the radio ecosystem ripe
enough to accommodate contest IP provider? What are the potential hurdles faced
by such contest IP providers:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">First, it’s an additional overhead
for the station. A station has the ability to attract sponsors and advertisers even
without paying extra for add ins. At best, it could be a quid pro quo wherein
the station can provide air time to ‘contest IP provider’ to promote
themselves, thus translating to zero dollars for the contest IP provider.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Second, even if it is a fixed
license fee charged by the contest IP provider, the fee needs to be realized by
the station’s sales and marketing folks when they go looking for sponsors for
such licensed format shows. I believe sponsors may not be willing to pay more
than what they are currently paying for air time because it increases their budgets.
Sponsors may also give a pass to give high value prizes in lieu of dollars, which
directly impacts the number of people who participate in the game/contest
because the number of participants is proportional to the value of prizes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Third, the SMS revenue share between
telecom service providers and Radio Stations is not favorable for innovation in
India. If the show goes well, the contest IP provider makes money for the telecom
service providers. Not much is left for the radio station and contest IP
provider, thus there is not much motivation for a station to run a licensed
format show thereby incurring additional costs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I am not into the skin of the business of radio, and would like to have
your thoughts on this. Is the nature of the medium such that it does not lend itself
to format/license shows of scale? Is there no room for Endemols, Celadors or
Freemantles of the world on radio?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<i style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I’ll look forward to your answers.</span></i></div>
Himanshu Agarwalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09323306147389892165noreply@blogger.com11Bangalore, Karnataka, India12.9715987 77.59456269999998312.4764182 76.949115699999979 13.4667792 78.240009699999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1617645593177371391.post-73384086141399303182014-03-24T17:43:00.000+05:302014-05-07T18:03:31.868+05:30Spot the Odd Location<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3woZnuHJOiOe2o0PCX7fqjsOL1dbpDFyVzF3bZ_Twah9I6gRoKc5C2qafdpheT0tJdbkcLcX-DUfrhjEZy5uxqYQhOYt6mEyGPJLujOdWKBo2IPWRoNODrtu8HQ86oxtushirqcOrVv4/s1600/Spot+the+Odd+Location.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3woZnuHJOiOe2o0PCX7fqjsOL1dbpDFyVzF3bZ_Twah9I6gRoKc5C2qafdpheT0tJdbkcLcX-DUfrhjEZy5uxqYQhOYt6mEyGPJLujOdWKBo2IPWRoNODrtu8HQ86oxtushirqcOrVv4/s1600/Spot+the+Odd+Location.png" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I should admit that it is not
easy to miss the recent radio ads of <a href="http://www.99acres.com/" target="_blank">99acres</a>, which are into some heavy duty
rotations. I caught their four ad units on radio. Three of them were typical of
real estate portal ads, which counted attributes of maximum verified listings,
11,700 listings for properties in Bangalore (I liked how they localized it for
a medium like radio!) and posting free ads. The fourth ad unit took an
advergaming route, which I found different from the other three ad units.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What’s it all about?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The ad urges the listeners to
spot an odd location amongst the three options given to them. The advergame
goes by different names on different radio stations depending upon the language
played by the station. I caught the advergame on two stations, <a href="http://bangalore.fever.fm/" target="_blank">Fever 104 FM</a> and
<a href="http://www.indigo919.in/" target="_blank">Indigo 91.9 FM</a>. I believe the campaign might be live on other stations too in
Bangalore (Karnataka, India), perhaps other cities too. The advergame goes by
the name <b>Galat Location Ko Karo Alag</b> on Fever 104 FM which plays Hindi Music
and <b>Spot the Odd Location</b> on Indigo 91.9 FM which plays English Music.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">How to play ‘Spot the Odd Location’?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The listeners have to respond
with the name of the odd location by texting it on the short code/long code
announced in the ad. Fever 104 FM listeners have to send the responses to 54242.
In the case of Indigo 91.9 FM the response code is 9900100919. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Game Play<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It’s simple and intuitive. The ad
gives the names of three localities from the city in which the ad is broadcast.
For Bangalore, out of the three locations, J.P.Nagar, Malleswaram and Malviya
Nagar, I know that Malviya Nagar is an odd one, because there is no locality by
the name of Malviya Nagar in Bangalore. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It is at this point in the ad
that the underlying message of the campaign is conveyed. A city may have odd
locations, but there are no odd properties on 99acres.com :-), ok, I believe it :-)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What’s the Prize?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Couple movie tickets.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What’s the big deal?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Tailoring the communication to
leverage a local medium like radio is commendable. I also appreciate the
production efforts behind the campaign. The nature of the campaign is such that
ad units have to be tailored for each city (assuming it’s a pan-India campaign),
and it has to be a different ad unit for each day of the campaign to avoid repeating
locality names, not to mention, tailoring it for each radio station too to
incorporate the station’s short code/long code. It is an execution challenge
for the media agency too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, if you have read my
earlier post, <a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2013/10/guess-property-price.html" target="_blank">Guess the Property Price</a>, I am not sure if 99acres advergame
drives the same level of listener engagement as <a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2013/10/guess-property-price.html" target="_blank">Indiaproperty advergame</a> did. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Advertising opportunities?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">None. Air time is bought by
99acres.com and I believe the prizes too.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What next?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Personally, I value clear and
transparent communication of terms and conditions, if one is taking to
contesting as a central idea in an ad. As a listener I did not understand, how
many units of prizes are up for grabs, or how the fulfillment will happen. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A response text communicating the
URL to the terms and conditions would have been helpful. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What else?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Regarding the fulfillment of the
prizes, I am not sure if it will be done by 99acres, radio station, or through
an online ticketing platform; am not sure if there was a possibility to get the
prizes sponsored from an online ticketing platform in lieu of the on-air plug
(or within the response text), ‘Couple movie tickets fulfilled by xyz.com’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A response text also providing
the URL for downloading the <a href="http://www.99acres.com/mobile-apps" target="_blank">99acres mobile application </a>would have helped
stretch the advertising dollars.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Himanshu Agarwalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09323306147389892165noreply@blogger.com20Bangalore, Karnataka, India12.9715987 77.59456269999998312.4764182 76.949115699999979 13.4667792 78.240009699999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1617645593177371391.post-79001507332221018782013-11-25T11:47:00.000+05:302013-11-25T11:47:21.110+05:30Aao Twist Karein (Come, Let’s Twist)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0PWwjOun8Zj9aJVxwdhgAv805Mjy6GfieWACnj3q2cOOEukxyTw_l0jngVn0JqyasJOBgBloe_vff9FsAdZxKrb3BIWWMZ-AaN9akdEZiIZ8lER1tfx3clUH9JiLF2r29yVKvsOusDkk/s1600/AaoTwistKarein.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0PWwjOun8Zj9aJVxwdhgAv805Mjy6GfieWACnj3q2cOOEukxyTw_l0jngVn0JqyasJOBgBloe_vff9FsAdZxKrb3BIWWMZ-AaN9akdEZiIZ8lER1tfx3clUH9JiLF2r29yVKvsOusDkk/s1600/AaoTwistKarein.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Well, this post is NOT about the
Hindi movie ‘Bhoot Bangla’ released in 1965, which featured the popular song ‘Aao
Twist Karein’ (come, let’s twist). Instead, it’s about the song’s namesake
segment on <a href="http://www.radioone.in/bangalore" target="_blank">Radio One 94.3 FM Bangalore (Karnataka, India)</a>.<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What’s It All About?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The listeners are presented a tongue
twister each day (Monday-Saturday) during the evening show between 5:00-9:00 PM,
and they have to say it correctly maximum number of times in 10 seconds. As a
linguistic exercise, check the number of times you can call out these example
tongue twisters in 10 seconds from the evening show; ‘hottie nottie nottie
hottie’, ‘a quick witted cricket critic’, or ‘she sells swiss sweets’;-)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">How to Play Aao Twist Karein?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once the Radio Jockey (RJ)
introduces the tongue twister of the day, the listeners are prompted to call
the station number +91 80 41156 943 to set the record or beat the record of
another listener by saying the day’s tongue twister maximum number of times in
10 seconds.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Game Play<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The listener who calls in first
sets the record for saying the tongue twister maximum number of times. Once the
record is set by the first listener, the RJ opens the floor to other listeners
to break the current record. The listener, who breaks the record set by the
first, second or third listener, wins. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Depending upon the station’s
programme clock, it is the RJ’s discretion to set the iterations to two, three,
four or more. Example, if the programme clock permits three iterations, the
first listener sets the record, the second listener betters the record, and if
the third caller to the show is unable to better the current record then the
second caller wins. The modus is similar for four or more iterations.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In another variation of the
format, a listener who says the tongue twister correctly above a certain number
of times in 10 seconds is the winner, thus allowing for more than one winner on
the show. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What’s the Prize?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The prize is valued at INR
1,000.00/- <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What’s the Big Deal?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I like the way the RJ associates
the day’s tongue twister to topical themes. The tongue twister ‘a quick witted
cricket critic’, presented on October 23, 2013 coincided with India vs.
Australia fourth ODI in Ranchi. Similarly, the tongue twister ‘hottie nottie
nottie hottie’, presented on November 19, 2013 coincided with the birthday of
former Miss Universe from India, Sushmita Sen.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Advertising Opportunities?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The prize sponsors on this
segment are assortments of brands. When I last heard the show it was a mattress
brand, earlier the prize sponsor was a cookie brand.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What Next?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I believe it will be more
interesting if listeners are allowed to suggest tongue twisters for the show;
and if the tongue twister suggested by a listener is selected by the station
for the day’s show, the listener who suggests it gets recognized/gratified. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What Else?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In a multilingual and
cosmopolitan city such as Bangalore, why the tongue twisters should only be in
English? No, the tongue twisters are NOT always in English. The segment is
sprinkled with ones in Hindi and occasional tidbits about the state’s native
language Kannada. Who can forget the Hindi tongue twister ‘kacha papad, pakka
papad’ made famous by Amitabh Bachchan from the bolly movie Yaraana. Incidentally,
this twister too was featured on the show on a ‘Wacky Wednesday’ of November 20,
2013.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Please share your valued experience
and thoughts, the comments box is just below this line!</span><o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
</div>
Himanshu Agarwalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09323306147389892165noreply@blogger.com6Bangalore, Karnataka, India12.9715987 77.59456269999998312.4764182 76.949115699999979 13.4667792 78.240009699999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1617645593177371391.post-78958924944068871122013-10-15T17:51:00.000+05:302013-10-15T21:17:22.510+05:30Radio Interactive II - WhatsApp<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioX-MdrfwMU-rVeLvW50Uo4ye_k39lyaWV5IwYrAGae9gv2cm9Qb-vhlXpePiaLCJFn64-1_bcY9gEhGn6801ShXRbd2A79p0Sehc1SvP-hbD9WaKWR7THZYL3S3n9hoV_3ZPj1I6g1Vo/s1600/RadioInteractivity.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioX-MdrfwMU-rVeLvW50Uo4ye_k39lyaWV5IwYrAGae9gv2cm9Qb-vhlXpePiaLCJFn64-1_bcY9gEhGn6801ShXRbd2A79p0Sehc1SvP-hbD9WaKWR7THZYL3S3n9hoV_3ZPj1I6g1Vo/s1600/RadioInteractivity.png" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.indigo919.in/" target="_blank">91.9FM Radio Indigo (Bangalore,India)</a> is one of the stations that <a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2013/10/radio-interactivity.html" target="_blank">spans all the four communication mediums</a>
covered in <a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2013/10/radio-interactivity.html" target="_blank">Part I</a> of this post. <a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2013/09/an-indigo-birthday.html" target="_blank">Though they have retired the short code</a>, their
usage of <a href="http://www.whatsapp.com/" target="_blank">WhatsApp</a> piqued my interest. I searched on internet to find other
stations that use WhatsApp for listener engagement. The only relevant result I
got was <a href="http://www.power98.com.sg/contests" target="_blank">Power98FM (Singapore)</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What could be station’s objective
in using WhatsApp? I don’t have WhatsApp on my phone and have limited
understanding about its functionalities, my initial thought was perhaps it
helps the station know the number of unique listeners who have added it to their
WhatsApp contacts. It might be a useful metric apart from the listenership
numbers to a sponsor. But, the lack of such functionality within WhatsApp brings
it at par with SMS (both short code and long code). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So, from numbers perspective, it
is of little significance to a sponsor whether the station uses WhatsApp or
SMS. Being similar to SMS, the station will know the number of unique listeners
who have added it to their WhatsApp contacts only when they respond against an
on-air call for action.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A compelling differentiator in
favor of WhatsApp is the element of multimedia. One of the contests that I
caught on 91.9FM Radio Indigo, required listeners to share their wildest party
pictures and the best picture stood a chance to win <a href="http://justbake.in/Party-in-a-Box" target="_blank">Party-In-A-Box</a> gift hamper sponsored
by JustBake. To me WhatsApp was the
ideal communication medium for this contest. The listener did not have to dial the
studio number to share their wildest party experiences with the Radio Jockey (RJ)
or send a long text describing their wildest party moments, the picture said it
all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One can argue that the creative
solution can always be tweaked to accommodate the station’s dominant
communication medium, for example SMS (in the absence of WhatsApp) to engage
with listeners. This is an absolutely valid point. But, one has to appreciate
that WhatsApp as an additional medium available to the stations helps drive listener
engagement in a manner not possible earlier. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">More than a year ago, I caught
the song <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1230165/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">Rock On!</a> on <a href="http://bangalore.fever.fm/" target="_blank">104FM Fever (Bangalore, India)</a>. The song bought back
memories of my tenure with the music label that owned its rights. I immediately
sent an SMS to the RJ. “Hey <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rjdarius" target="_blank">Darius</a>, I once licensed this song to TV Channels in
India.” The next day I get a call from Arjun who was Darius’s show producer and
he wanted me to share my nostalgia on-air. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Perhaps there are many such
listeners who will have a story to share. Likes of WhatsApp makes this
engagement and interaction easy for both the station and the listener. Had it
been today, instead of a text, it would be my voice message, “Hey Darius, do
you know I once licensed this song to TV Channels in India” and all that Arjun
had to do was to appropriately slot the voice message in the program clock. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Do you agree that likes of WhatsApp
elevates the station’s engagement and interaction with its listeners? Please
share your valued experience and thoughts.</span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Himanshu Agarwalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09323306147389892165noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1617645593177371391.post-41559510083626476912013-10-10T00:31:00.001+05:302013-10-15T21:22:50.671+05:30Radio Interactive<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyGp8DMVL7IsVzS5zS2txDlvbYHDUd3FhFRWI5PU-fDgNb-HRuMIuN4l0YxtAgZt6wlsRzozcmzWyOs_yjCy7PtOWn-Zyn1A0HxkiKLCPk408vzDUOaXv97fNjnYpSgKzd8PmhQBMDwQs/s1600/RadioInteractivity.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyGp8DMVL7IsVzS5zS2txDlvbYHDUd3FhFRWI5PU-fDgNb-HRuMIuN4l0YxtAgZt6wlsRzozcmzWyOs_yjCy7PtOWn-Zyn1A0HxkiKLCPk408vzDUOaXv97fNjnYpSgKzd8PmhQBMDwQs/s1600/RadioInteractivity.png" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It is interesting to note how
radio stations employ various communication media to engage listeners in a
dialog rather than a one-way broadcaster-to-listener monolog. As a listener, I have
attempted to rank the current communication media employed by the stations on four
parameters. There could be additional parameters (or even additional communication
media), which I might have missed in this post. I’ll be glad if you can point out
those. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It is important to define ‘dialog’.
I’ll stick to the definition contextual to the terrestrial radio broadcast: “<i>Call for action solicited from the listener
on a linear timeline synchronous with the terrestrial broadcast of the radio
station”</i>. This essentially means <a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2013/09/an-indigo-birthday.html" target="_blank">listener interaction sought on-air either by the Radio Jockey (RJ)</a> or through an interactive advertisement with a
definite start and end time during the segment/program broadcast. For example, “<a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2013/10/guess-property-price.html" target="_blank">Guess the Property Price</a>”, a contesting segment. This does not include off-air
interaction such as listener comments on the social media or web presence of
the radio station.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableMediumShading2Accent2" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 2.25pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext 2.25pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background: #C0504D; border-bottom: solid windowtext 2.25pt; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: solid windowtext 2.25pt; mso-background-themecolor: accent2; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 96.5pt;" valign="top" width="129"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #C0504D; border-bottom: solid windowtext 2.25pt; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: solid windowtext 2.25pt; mso-background-themecolor: accent2; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 60.5pt;" valign="top" width="81"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: white; mso-themecolor: background1;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Phone
Call<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #C0504D; border-bottom: solid windowtext 2.25pt; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: solid windowtext 2.25pt; mso-background-themecolor: accent2; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: .9in;" valign="top" width="86"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: white; mso-themecolor: background1;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Short
Code<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #C0504D; border-bottom: solid windowtext 2.25pt; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: solid windowtext 2.25pt; mso-background-themecolor: accent2; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 60.5pt;" valign="top" width="81"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: white; mso-themecolor: background1;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Long
Code<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #C0504D; border-bottom: solid windowtext 2.25pt; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: solid windowtext 2.25pt; mso-background-themecolor: accent2; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 60.5pt;" valign="top" width="81"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: white; mso-themecolor: background1;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">WhatsApp<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: #C0504D; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: accent2; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 96.5pt;" valign="top" width="129"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: white; mso-themecolor: background1;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cost
<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #D8D8D8; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 216; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 60.5pt;" valign="top" width="81"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Low<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #D8D8D8; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 216; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: .9in;" valign="top" width="86"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">High<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #D8D8D8; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 216; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 60.5pt;" valign="top" width="81"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Low<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #D8D8D8; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 216; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 60.5pt;" valign="top" width="81"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Low<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: #C0504D; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: accent2; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 96.5pt;" valign="top" width="129"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: white; mso-themecolor: background1;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Immediacy<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 60.5pt;" valign="top" width="81"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Low<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: .9in;" valign="top" width="86"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">High<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 60.5pt;" valign="top" width="81"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">High<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 60.5pt;" valign="top" width="81"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">High<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: #C0504D; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: accent2; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 96.5pt;" valign="top" width="129"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: white; mso-themecolor: background1;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Recall<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #D8D8D8; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 216; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 60.5pt;" valign="top" width="81"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Low<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #D8D8D8; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 216; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: .9in;" valign="top" width="86"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Medium<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #D8D8D8; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 216; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 60.5pt;" valign="top" width="81"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Low<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #D8D8D8; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 216; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 60.5pt;" valign="top" width="81"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">High<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: #C0504D; border-bottom: solid windowtext 2.25pt; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: accent2; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 96.5pt;" valign="top" width="129"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: white; mso-themecolor: background1;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Acknowledgement<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 2.25pt; border: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 60.5pt;" valign="top" width="81"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Low (Nil)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 2.25pt; border: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: .9in;" valign="top" width="86"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">High (Yes)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 2.25pt; border: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 60.5pt;" valign="top" width="81"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Low (Nil)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 2.25pt; border: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 60.5pt;" valign="top" width="81"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Low (Nil)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Example, the RJ requests the listeners
to share their happiest memories from <a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2012/05/pappu-pass-ho-gaya.html" target="_blank">school days</a> by:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="color: #c00000;">Phone Call</span></i></b><span style="color: #c00000;">: </span>calling
<b><i>(080)
4115 6943</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #c00000;">Short Code</span></i></b><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">: </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">texting
on</span><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>
53650</i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #c00000;">Long Code</span></i></b><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">: </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">texting
on </span><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>9986
104 104</i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #c00000;">WhatsApp</span></i></b><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">: </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">sending
their school photos on </span><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>WhatsApp</i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="color: #c00000;">Cost</span></i></b><span style="color: #c00000;">: </span>Amongst
the four listed communication media, short code bears the maximum charge to the
listener as it is usually a premium priced SMS. Cost of other three depends on
the voice/data tariff plan listeners have with their communication service
provider. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="color: #c00000;">Immediacy</span></i></b><span style="color: #c00000;">: </span>Ability
provided by the communication medium to get across the listener’s response against
a call for action in the least number of attempts with minimum effort. My
personal experience as a listener is reaching the radio station over a phone
call is the most difficult. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="color: #c00000;">Recall</span></i></b><span style="color: #c00000;">: </span>Ability
of the listener to remember the number to call/message the radio station.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="color: #c00000;">Acknowledgement</span></i></b><span style="color: #c00000;">:
</span>The response text (Push SMS) received by the listener against the SMS
sent to a short code. For example, ‘Thanks for texting your favorite radio
station. Keep tuned in for great music’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As I write
this paragraph, the above text seems obvious and elementary, for the simple reason
that terrestrial radio is the only broadcast medium that is still analog. Progressing
on its target to a complete switch over to digital mode by year 2017, on
September 24, 2013, the state broadcaster, <a href="http://allindiaradio.gov.in/Oppurtunities/Tenders/Documents/PnD%20Specifications%20for%20DRM%2025092013.pdf" target="_blank">All India Radio issued a tender</a> to
acquire 800 <a href="http://www.drm.org/" target="_blank">Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) (a digital radio standard)</a> General
Purpose Receivers. Will digital radio change the mode and manner of dialog
between the radio station and its listeners?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So what do you think? Please
share your valued experience and thoughts, the comments box is just below this
line :-)</span></i></b></div>
</div>
Himanshu Agarwalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09323306147389892165noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1617645593177371391.post-78229528596248538752013-10-05T21:45:00.000+05:302013-10-15T21:25:19.937+05:30Guess the Property Price<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij39I_p4pOSFz-XCt_IDU_Fose54GD2uqZbYBI-to9CFjCS_GSALHxJNgn1j2G1RLkAYEcdpSM2rCdQ1qaCfRlwqjw7Mogs4M-vuzPPBzZp3n-seuBx7qYQJjQbn1ZQsau-XI4r-QmOJU/s1600/GuessThePropertyPrice.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij39I_p4pOSFz-XCt_IDU_Fose54GD2uqZbYBI-to9CFjCS_GSALHxJNgn1j2G1RLkAYEcdpSM2rCdQ1qaCfRlwqjw7Mogs4M-vuzPPBzZp3n-seuBx7qYQJjQbn1ZQsau-XI4r-QmOJU/s1600/GuessThePropertyPrice.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I bumped into the radio ads of the
three real estate portals in the month of September 2013. Switching stations
during commercial breaks did not help escape these ads. The two of them that grabbed
my attention were <a href="http://www.99acres.com/" target="_blank">99 acres</a> and <a href="http://www.indiaproperty.com/" target="_blank">IndiaProperty</a>. <a href="http://www.99acres.com/" target="_blank">99acres</a> was about 99 property
tips with each ad unit being a knowledge nugget for property investors, whereas
<a href="http://www.indiaproperty.com/" target="_blank">IndiaProperty</a> took an advergaming route.
<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What’s it all about?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.indiaproperty.com/" target="_blank">Indiaproperty’s</a> ad urged the
listeners if life is about guessing one thing or the other, than why not guess
the price of a property in the advergame, ‘Guess the Property Price’, hosted
exclusively on <a href="http://bangalore.fever.fm/">Fever 104 FM Bangalore (Karnataka, India)</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">How to play Guess the Property Price?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The listeners register by
texting, FEVER<space><Their Name> to 9986 104 104<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Game Play<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Two listeners are chosen by the Radio
Jockey (RJ) and are pitted against each other on-air. The RJ introduces both the
participants to the listeners and starts the game by describing the property.
The property elements described by the RJ are, name of the builder/developer, name
of the property, location, size of the dwelling unit (for example, 2BHK having
an area of 1260 square feet) and amenities. The first participant takes a shot at guessing
the price followed by the second participant. The RJ gives the option to the
first participant to revise the guess followed by the second participant. The
RJ then reveals the property price and the participant whose guess is closest
to the actual price, wins the game.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What’s the Prize?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The prize is valued at INR
1,000.00/- <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What’s the big deal?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The number of Google search
results against the query ‘Guess the Property Price’ suggests that the idea is
beaten to death. However, I did not come across any webpage, which suggested
radio as a medium for the game. So is it a first on radio, perhaps not.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Circa 2004, my pitch to brands while
suggesting them advergaming solutions from a pioneering advergaming portal of
India (<a href="http://c2w.com/">contests2win.com</a>) was, ‘if it is just an ad in a medium, the time spent with
the brand equals the duration of the spot or length of the copy, but turn the
communication into a game, and you have an engaged, sticky audience. Unleash
the intrinsic gamer within your target audience’. The big deal is perhaps this
insight used by <a href="http://www.indiaproperty.com/">IndiaProperty</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I can speak for myself, though I
was not at all interested in the property being described by the RJ or had any
intention of buying it, but I can still recall name of the property and its
price. It’s not bad given the fact that it has been over two weeks since I first
heard about the property on the advergame. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Advertising opportunities?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The segment is sponsored by
<a href="http://www.indiaproperty.com/">Indiaproperty.com</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What next?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I believe it will be more
interesting if an additional winner is chosen from the listeners who do not
make it on-air, but have texted the right answer before the price reveal by the
RJ. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What else?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Mentioned above is what met the
‘ear’. What intrigues me is:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Who pays whom, – Is it co-op
advertising? Can one assume that a part of the campaign budget is booted by the
builders/developers whose projects feature in the daily question? This also
begs a related question—who sponsors the prizes—<a href="http://www.indiaproperty.com/">Indiaproperty.com</a> or the builder/developer
whose property is featured in the daily question. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The choice of property in the
daily question, – What is the criterion of picking up a specific property to
feature in the daily question? Is it the past campaign of the project on this
station? Or is it the properties from builders/developers who have committed
good advertising dollars to get a featured listing on <a href="http://www.indiaproperty.com/">Indiaproperty.com</a>?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<b style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So what do you think? Please
share your valued experience and thoughts, the comments box is just below this
line :-)</span></i></b></div>
Himanshu Agarwalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09323306147389892165noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1617645593177371391.post-51880298171479527472013-10-02T18:50:00.002+05:302013-10-02T20:07:47.880+05:30Don Ka Dance Bar<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ70auwVbzJgnw-70jarxTxiJsEhCIzjI2oZU5RIH0NemICJQEpzbvG1VyvVnOxrDK8eEgmzBcoZGpew4BNH99mTPDdwffUKfeRtSNPur7iHCypF9xA1BATUtU7nfdetoBZ0TgR1lmtXs/s1600/Dance+Bar.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ70auwVbzJgnw-70jarxTxiJsEhCIzjI2oZU5RIH0NemICJQEpzbvG1VyvVnOxrDK8eEgmzBcoZGpew4BNH99mTPDdwffUKfeRtSNPur7iHCypF9xA1BATUtU7nfdetoBZ0TgR1lmtXs/s1600/Dance+Bar.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It was one of those days (October
8, 2012 to be precise), when I had this fleeting moment of self-actualization with
a voice (the same as they use in Big Boss!) in my head questioning the merit of
professional education when all I was doing was churning out files in different
formats of MS Office!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It was this beautiful and chirpy
voice of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sriranjani.ts" target="_blank">Sriranjani</a> that uplifted my mood and bought me back to the realization that ‘Yes…MS Office
is the way to go…it rocks!’ She sang me:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Himashuji zara dheere chalo, B.E. Kiya MBA Kiya, Padhne se kya faayda…</i><a href="https://soundcloud.com/sriranjani-t-s-jgd/himanshu" target="_blank">takea listen on Sound Cloud</a> for the full song.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 127.55pt; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What is it all about? </span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 127.55pt; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In my earlier post <a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2013/06/supari.html" target="_blank">Supari</a>, I
mentioned that the evening show on <a href="http://bangalore.fever.fm/" target="_blank">Fever 104 FM Bangalore</a> is all about the
elements of a Bollywood Don. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sriranjani.ts" target="_blank">Sriranjani’s</a> song and dance sequence is the
segment <i>Don Ka Dance Bar</i> on RJ
Darius’s evening show <i>D Company</i> (Mon
– Fri, 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">How to enter the Don Ka Dance Bar?</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Listener sends an <u>SMS to 9986104104</u>
with a witty message that gets the attention of the Don…<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And if the Don likes the message,
the listener gets a call from Don’s show producer and in-house <i>Dance Bar</i> singer, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sriranjani.ts" target="_blank">Sriranjani</a>. She asks the
listener about what she should include from the listeners life in the
personalized song she would sing for the listener (in my case it was PowerPoint,
self-actualization…). And yes, there you are with a personalized song being
sung to you in the most mellifluous of voices…it’s your moment to bath in all
that glory with the realization that a city of 8.5 million is able to listen
what is being sung for you…you are very much the hero (or heroine) of that
moment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What’s the big deal?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Do you remember, when it used to
be your buddy’s birthday, you could SMS the radio jockey with your pal’s number
and birth date and your pal gets his/her birthday surprise with someone from
the radio station singing a Happy Birthday song for your pal. Well Dance Bar is
not the same thing. It differs. One, it’s all about you, whether you want to be
in the Dance Bar or not, is up to you. No proxies here…if you want to be in,
it’s you who sends the SMS for your own self. Two, unlike Birthdays, Dance Bar
is all about both happy and not so happy days; it need not be your happy day to
request entry in the Dance Bar.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Advertising opportunities<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I don’t recall if it was a
sponsored segment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What next?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I believe the segment is now
retired. May 31, 2013 was the last working day of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sriranjani.ts" target="_blank">Sriranjani</a> at <a href="http://bangalore.fever.fm/" target="_blank">Fever 104 FMBangalore</a>. I was twice lucky on this segment and the second time around (May
10, 2013) she sang me a song befitting the monsoons. <a href="https://soundcloud.com/sriranjani-t-s-jgd/go-dhak-dhak-on-don-ka-dance" target="_blank">Take a listen on SoundCloud</a> for the full song. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It was RJ Sindhu who kept the
segment alive for some time post <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sriranjani.ts" target="_blank">Sriranjani’s</a> movement from <a href="http://bangalore.fever.fm/" target="_blank">Fever 104 FMBangalore</a>. If the segment is retired, why write about it now? Well, couple of
days back I caught the ad of a memory storage cards brand on television which
bought back past ‘memories’. You’ll be asking, what’s the connection? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When I first entered the Dance
Bar, I remember writing to RJ Darius with a suggestion to create a personalized
tangible for the non-tangible on-air experience. The idea was to provide the
listener with a <a href="http://bangalore.fever.fm/" target="_blank">Fever 104 FM</a> branded USB stick of their personalized song. The
sponsor I had in mind was a memory storage card brand. The suggestion did not make
a dent, because I do not remember any memory storage card brand sponsoring the
Dance Bar segment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You can take a listen of
</span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sriranjani.ts" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Sriranjani’s</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> Dance Bar personalized songs on her </span><a href="https://soundcloud.com/sriranjani-t-s-jgd" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Sound Cloud Channel. </a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Himanshu Agarwalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09323306147389892165noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1617645593177371391.post-26936665875969237552013-09-29T17:19:00.001+05:302013-09-29T17:19:05.740+05:30What’s behind the weaving of a film song in the storyboard of an advertisement? – Part 5<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1n06vnTlOndE5IKAO1SPSqi6us4frAUQ39iXc3R7KuEUawTguE7AQv-pMWiZsJIHufP_YxVrIxdCmvI3iTq_kKCg_rRhXiZAmuwCuSJXHt66cVdp7YuM-F9gXJgegR-EtzyOYk0j8j3A/s1600/Film+Song.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1n06vnTlOndE5IKAO1SPSqi6us4frAUQ39iXc3R7KuEUawTguE7AQv-pMWiZsJIHufP_YxVrIxdCmvI3iTq_kKCg_rRhXiZAmuwCuSJXHt66cVdp7YuM-F9gXJgegR-EtzyOYk0j8j3A/s1600/Film+Song.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When I wrote the four (04) part series, What’s behind the weaving of a film song in the storyboard of an advertisement? (click here to read <a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2011/06/whats-behind-weaving-of-film-song-in.html" target="_blank">Part 1</a>, <a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2011/07/whats-behind-weaving-of-film-song-in.html" target="_blank">Part 2</a>, <a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2011/07/whats-behind-weaving-of-film-song-in_05.html" target="_blank">Part 3</a> and <a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2011/07/whats-behind-weaving-of-film-song-in_14.html" target="_blank">Part 4</a> of this post), it was about how a music label should pitch its catalogue to the brands and the creative agencies. The segment I overlooked was the media owners, especially radio. The realization came after I heard two ads on radio, which have a film song weaved in their story board.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Brand: <a href="http://www.krishnahomes.com/" target="_blank">Krishna Mystiq</a> (Real Estate)<br /> Song Utilized: Kya Dekhte Ho (<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0246879/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Qurbani, 1980</a>)<br /> Song Element: Tune (<a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2011/11/navigating-maze-of-music-royalties.html" target="_blank">Publishing License</a>) <br /> Media Vehicle: Radio<br /> Station: <a href="http://bangalore.fever.fm/" target="_blank">Fever 104 FM</a>, Bangalore (Karanataka), India<br /> Date/Time: September 24, 2013 / 18:50 Hrs – 18:55 Hrs<br /><br />Brand: Vishal Megamart (Retail)<br /> Song Utilized: Mar Jawan (<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0964516/" target="_blank">Fashion,2008</a>) <br /> Song Element: Music (<a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2011/11/navigating-maze-of-music-royalties.html" target="_blank">Sound Recording & Publishing License</a>) <br /> Media Vehicle: Radio<br /> Station: <a href="http://bangalore.fever.fm/" target="_blank">Fever 104 FM</a>, Bangalore, India<br /> Date/Time: September 18, 2013 / 19:30 Hrs – 19: 35 Hrs <br /></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I believe that not all brands/clients are inclined to spend a part of their budget on an agency to get the ad created, one of the reason is they would rather allocate the entire budget on building reach and frequency, i.e. on buying the mass media (in this case, radio). These would be direct clients (not through an agency) and depending upon the mechanics employed to sell the media plan, it might be the creative solutions team of the radio station that creates the ad for the client. The station either does it gratis (because a bigger chunk of the media budget is spent on the station or it is the only station to get the client’s entire budget) or perhaps for a lesser fee than what an agency will charge to the client. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As radio is a localized media, the ratio of local to national advertising on it is approximately 60:40 (this statistic pertains to India. I remember it from a newspaper report of 2011). For a music label, it makes sense to pitch its catalogue to the radio station for utilization in the ads created by the station for its direct clients. But, music labels should also realize that the budgets for a local campaign are not in the same league as a national campaign. If the radio’s creative solutions team decides to obtain the synchronization license from the music label for its client’s ad, it is an additional cost borne by radio’s client. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The key for the music label is to strike a right balance between what it will charge for granting the synchronization license to a national versus a local campaign. One cannot score a six of each ball; it is the singles that keep the scoreboard ticking!</span></div>
</div>
Himanshu Agarwalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09323306147389892165noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1617645593177371391.post-6963857080682642082013-09-24T23:13:00.000+05:302013-09-24T23:13:07.099+05:30An Indigo Birthday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF1CJH-KByD_uh-4Pvd4FcfJVUyrweh_rQaajwa1iHO0eJYuFPBN7DZax-_SV7_uXM0TvweWIrtIEG_yOudgnMfFPB3O9uUdxIWHIKNPi3b-dt9a__gstmdfy7DEJ30GN3X20Rce-MpYE/s1600/Radio+Indigo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF1CJH-KByD_uh-4Pvd4FcfJVUyrweh_rQaajwa1iHO0eJYuFPBN7DZax-_SV7_uXM0TvweWIrtIEG_yOudgnMfFPB3O9uUdxIWHIKNPi3b-dt9a__gstmdfy7DEJ30GN3X20Rce-MpYE/s1600/Radio+Indigo.png" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It was either July or August of 2006. I was working with Reliance Communications (RCOM) in Mumbai. I was part of the team that took care of commercial/legal negotiations with organizations, desirous of opening their mobile short code on the RCOM network.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I don’t know if Jagadeesh M R, from Indigo Mass Communications Private Limited is reading this post and if he is, whether he will be able to recall those few mail exchanges we had to formalize the Agreement between RCOM and Indigo Mass Communications Pvt. Ltd. for its mobile short code 2919*. For me it was just another short code Agreement amongst many others. I did not know then, that seven years later, in 2013, I will recount my 2006 encounter with Jagadeesh and will be writing about <a href="http://indigo919.in/" target="_blank">Radio Indigo 91.9 FM</a> (Indigo Mass Communications Pvt. Ltd.). Things sure pan out in unimaginable ways!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Why a walk down the memory lane? I tuned to <a href="http://indigo919.in/" target="_blank">Radio Indigo 91.9 FM</a> during the week of September 16, 2013 to September 20, 2013, while their seventh birthday celebrations were on. I realized that the short code 2919 has been rested and is now replaced by the long code 9900 100 919. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I also came across the segment ‘Prize Vault’, which was all about sharing the birthday happiness with the listeners. The listener had to be the ninth caller to the number 255 02 919 on the morning show with RJ Michelle and RJ Nathan. The RJ gives them an option to open one of the three vaults by pressing the corresponding number on their phone, i.e. 1 for opening vault one. This is followed by cling and clang of a heavy shiny steel door opening up and the sound of a grand reveal. The RJ tells the listener what’s inside the vault and the listener has the option of claiming or passing the riches of the selected vault in favor of the next vault (greed is good sometimes!). The only condition being that the listener foregoes the goodies of the previous vault in favor of the next vault, even if the next vault turns out to be of a lesser value than the previous vault (greed is not good sometimes!). </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The prizes were valued pretty decent. The prize value ranged between INR 1,000 – INR 10,000, that’s what I gathered when I was tuned to <a href="http://indigo919.in/" target="_blank">Indigo</a>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The modus to participate in the evening drive show with RJ Sriram was a bit different than the morning show. The listeners had to text their name on 99 00 100 919 and a lucky one got to open the Prize Vault. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For <a href="http://indigo919.in/" target="_blank">Indigo</a> it was their seventh birthday celebration and for me it was a trip down the memory lane. Here’s wishing <a href="http://indigo919.in/" target="_blank">Radio Indigo 91.9 FM</a> many more such Happy Birthdays.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>*As per the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) order of 2007, all 4 digit short codes had to be prefixed with number 5 and consequently be five digit short codes. I believe that 2919 would have changed to 52919 in 2007. I am a Vodafone customer and did a quick test to check if the short code 52919 is still alive! I chose a random keyword INDIGO and SMSed it to 52919. The response text suggested that the short code 52919 is perhaps retired. The response text read; select longname, password from smstable where longname=’hutch’ and password=’hutch’ Thank you, your message has been registered. Stay tuned to Indigo 91.9 FM. Log on to <a href="http://www.indigo919.in/">www.indigo919.in</a></i></span></div>
</div>
Himanshu Agarwalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09323306147389892165noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1617645593177371391.post-59437004452961786152013-09-08T01:12:00.001+05:302013-09-08T15:21:49.811+05:30RJ Mentions<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwEkOmbxDS_MULoNjN5b0_2_sS0o8eRvM9nSsMVW3eGFrbNOtCl6q-FDU5suQ_CNzx82vfrq_FcroKQUUvxcIo7qyoWePreqtuck14G5Uuz8Q9N9cE_alSnWBFfWUQKOwMHtt-apFEzeY/s1600/RJ+Mentions.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" psa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwEkOmbxDS_MULoNjN5b0_2_sS0o8eRvM9nSsMVW3eGFrbNOtCl6q-FDU5suQ_CNzx82vfrq_FcroKQUUvxcIo7qyoWePreqtuck14G5Uuz8Q9N9cE_alSnWBFfWUQKOwMHtt-apFEzeY/s1600/RJ+Mentions.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I know what a RJ Mention is when I hear it. But if I am asked to define it, I can’t. I have heard it on radio, and on occasions I liked how RJ Mentions added value to the spot and made it meaningful to the listener. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Googling did not help find a definition. It provided me links to debate about “<a href="http://www.mxmindia.com/2012/01/are-rj-mentions-unethical/" target="_blank">should <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">RJ Mentions</b> be regulated</a>”, or network executives who believe “<a href="http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/interviews/radio-mantra-coo-narendra-tripathi-corporates-are-eyeing-smaller-towns-and-radio-facilitate" target="_blank">that stations should demand a premium for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">RJ Mentions</b></a>” or opinions that “<a href="http://www.impactonnet.com/anniv2012/arjunmadhusudan.html" target="_blank"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">RJ Mentions</b> are not good for listener experience</a>”. Given the fact that this is being debated, eulogized and rubbished, it deserves to be first defined! I will define it simply as:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mention of a brand when RJ speaks to you</b>. Of course on radio </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The spot I heard was about a business that delivers online trainings. They are named as SIMPL<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I</b>LEARN.com. Like me, if you have <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADXNUp-3hcA" target="_blank">heard their spot</a>, it would SOUND to you as SIMPL<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Y</b>LEARN.com. For all you know, the ad dollars spent by SIMPL<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I</b>LEARN would be driving traffic to its homophonic (phonetically similar sounding) counterpart SIMPL<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Y</b>LEARN. Scary isn’t it? So what options do these guys have to make the ad dollars count by driving the traffic to the right URL? Not so good three options come to mind:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Change their name, which is not a good idea, they can’t rename their business just to do a campaign on radio.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Create a spot which emphasizes their name over 50% of the time, which would be an utter waste, as they would rather speak about their work than spell their name.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Use a URL shortening service to set up an acronym redirect to their site and spend ad dollars to advertise the short alias than building their brand.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Since this campaign also had RJ Mentions in its media plan, the RJ not only spoke about SIMPL<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I</b>LEARN, but also spelled out the URL for listener benefit and in the process salvaged the ad dollars spent by the brand. If the brand actually paid a premium for the RJ Mention, I’ll say it was money well spent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hypothetically, an online brand with homophonic words in its URL would not face such a dilemma while advertising on radio if it is a big spender on visual media (e.g. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/quikrclassifieds" target="_blank">QUIKR</a>) and uses radio as a supplementary media to increase reach and frequency. But for brands who are yet to grow big on visual spends, do you believe they present an opportunity for radio stations to sell RJ mentions at a premium to them?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ll be glad to have your thoughts on this. Please leave your comments.</span></div>
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Himanshu Agarwalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09323306147389892165noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1617645593177371391.post-60940679261697262712013-06-02T22:38:00.000+05:302013-06-02T22:50:56.713+05:30Supari!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7ESsOahucV8Ch7AYRUEerV1IOpLDj4ais-4vADuldVXdQ3lV6EgPa7douNd4XCQrBk0Kpm5uZn5-I4cZkOUsENaau8fy_jwSnD0FHWdi3tKVTVrOQ0zs01blRB0gb0GtMCWdQMVPWli0/s1600/Supari.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7ESsOahucV8Ch7AYRUEerV1IOpLDj4ais-4vADuldVXdQ3lV6EgPa7douNd4XCQrBk0Kpm5uZn5-I4cZkOUsENaau8fy_jwSnD0FHWdi3tKVTVrOQ0zs01blRB0gb0GtMCWdQMVPWli0/s1600/Supari.png" yya="true" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Broker:</span></span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #c00000;"> Madam, you recently bought a shop in Koramangala.</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #215868; mso-themecolor: accent5; mso-themeshade: 128;">Madam:</span></b><span style="color: #215868; mso-themecolor: accent5; mso-themeshade: 128;"> Yes, I did.</span></span><span style="color: #c00000;"><br /><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Broker:</b> Madam, you did not pay us the brokerage for the transaction.</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #215868; mso-themecolor: accent5; mso-themeshade: 128;">Madam:</span></b><span style="color: #215868; mso-themecolor: accent5; mso-themeshade: 128;"> (With a sudden change in the tone and raising the voice) who are you and why should I pay you the brokerage? I don’t even know you and I did not engage any broker for this transaction.</span></span><span style="color: #c00000;"><br /><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Broker:</b> (In a local accent) Madam, you do not understand the issue. If we are present in a locality, irrespective of whether you engage us or not, you have to pay us the brokerage.</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #215868; mso-themecolor: accent5; mso-themeshade: 128;">Madam:</span></b><span style="color: #215868; mso-themecolor: accent5; mso-themeshade: 128;"> Look, I don’t follow what you are saying; my husband will speak to you (about to hang up the phone…).</span></span><span style="color: #c00000;"><br /><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Broker:</b> Madam, don’t hang up the phone on me, if you hang up I’ll do tunak tunak tun ta naa naa in front of your shop.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And…, the conversation goes on for some time before it is cut by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Don</i> Darius. Well, the above is a segment called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Supari</i> during the evening radio show, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">D Company</i> (5:00–9:00 pm), which is hosted by <u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/rjdarius" target="_blank">RJ Darius</a></u> on <u><a href="http://bangalore.fever.fm/" target="_blank">Fever 104FM, Bangalore</a></u>. <u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/danish.sait" target="_blank">RJ Danish</a></u> is the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Broker </i>in the above conversation and a Fever 104FM listener has placed a contract aka <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Supari </i>(in Bollywood parlance), on the Madam. RJ Danish executes the contract (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Supari</i>) as a broker by placing a prank call to the Madam. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">RJ Danish is the prankster on the evening show who assumes a different identity each day and executes the contract placed by a listener of Fever 104FM. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As Fever 104FM advertises itself as the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Baap of Bollywood</i> and RJ Darius as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the Don of Radio</i>, the evening show is all about the elements of a Bollywood Don. Be it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Don Ki Sazaa</i> (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fever Googly</i>), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Contract Killing</i> (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Supari</i>) or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dance Bars</i> (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Don Ka Dance Bar</i>).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">How to place a Supari?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Listener sends an <u>SMS to 9986104104</u> with the message <u>SUPARI<space><Name></u><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After the listener sends an SMS with his/her name, RJ Danish gets in touch with the listener to find who the listener wants to place a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Supari</i> on. As I never placed a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Supari</i>, I assume RJ Danish would ask the listener additional details for the prank to be played. The details might include <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Supari’s</i> name, age, gender, any recent event in their lives such as dine-out, a purchase (for example, the conversation between Madam and Broker), a college admission etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What’s the big deal?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Playing pranks is not new. It goes by different names on television channels (do you remember Bakra!) and perhaps other radio stations too. In my opinion, RJ Danish has struck a chord with the listeners. On numerous occasions, I have heard Fever 104FM listeners on air that they liked today’s prank. You can check out the pranks by clicking <u><a href="https://soundcloud.com/danish-sait" target="_blank">here</a></u>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As the call is always cut abruptly by RJ Darius, in one of the shows RJ Darius asked RJ Danish, ”we never get to hear what happens in the end”, and RJ Danish replied “I get abused a little more and then I apologize…”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Advertising opportunities?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I cannot recall if it is a sponsored segment, so I won’t be able to comment on this topic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What next?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It would be good to send ‘the subject’ of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Supari</i> a card with Fever 104FM branding on it with a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Supari</i> (betelnut) stuck in the middle. The card might say, ‘Someone took out a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Supari</i> on me’ and mention the date, time and name of the person who gave the contract! It can also be a digital version of the card that ‘the subject’ can place on his/her social media profile. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Can this content be networked to other Fever 104FM stations, currently in existence or likely to come up in future (Phase III FM expansion)? It is a difficult question for me to answer, I’ll say no. Can this content be syndicated to any other radio station as an interstitial?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another difficult question, perhaps the answer would depend upon how the station acquiring this content will be able to monetize it. Can this content be monetized in any other manner or squeezed out to gain the maximum advantage? Yes, Telecom Value Added Services is a viable option and is something which Fever did in the past for their show, <u><a href="http://bangalore.fever.fm/fat/details/9" target="_blank">Gandhi</a></u>. How about a mobile application which allows the user to play back/forward the repertoire of past <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Suparis</i>? Folks, I am out of answers now, why don’t you leave your thoughts in the comments box below! We’ll take it offline ;-) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Himanshu Agarwalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09323306147389892165noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1617645593177371391.post-77393742415680288022012-10-16T11:44:00.000+05:302012-10-16T11:48:50.929+05:30Breaking News…Looper Is Missing…!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6GFJNMgCYDpP8x964MWyXpi6N6xnaTYGYBWWDRSvcQY0WslTFmLZaGOB7yuHjDWA_tMGp8ZMUXIFyie36_xd1snPGf2eAIbn8iXgmPhUeS1qhyphenhyphenIQo00lHCdkGJlhQcTB3UvQVaA2Yzp4/s1600/Looper.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" nea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6GFJNMgCYDpP8x964MWyXpi6N6xnaTYGYBWWDRSvcQY0WslTFmLZaGOB7yuHjDWA_tMGp8ZMUXIFyie36_xd1snPGf2eAIbn8iXgmPhUeS1qhyphenhyphenIQo00lHCdkGJlhQcTB3UvQVaA2Yzp4/s1600/Looper.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">One of the checklist items of <a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2011/11/movie-promotion-then-and-now.html" target="_blank">movie promotions</a> is SMS/online contests, which win you movie merchandize or meet ’n’ greet with the cast or movie tickets or … <<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">placeholder for anything else that one can imagine </i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span></i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">>. So the same elements were at play prior to the release of Holly flick <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Looper</i> on Indian screens on October 12, 2012. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I responded to one of the two options against the question, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Who plays OLD JOE in Looper?” </i>flashed on television channel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ABP News, </i>on Thursday October 11, 2012, 11:17 PM.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>I knew it was Bruce Willis and immediately typed YES A (YES B, if option B was the right answer) and sent it to the short code 5782728. Now came the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Looper</i> moment which gave me a jolt, yes it was, the response text from 5782728 read from the past…when <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Looper</i> was not born!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Thank you for becoming Star Ananda Privileged Fan! We will keep you informed about important news, breaking news alerts on your mobile. Keep watching Star Ananda.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Not a single mention about the contest! I wanted to shout out loud that;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I DID NOT TEXT to become a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Ananda Privileged Fan!<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I don’t want to be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kept informed about important news, breaking news alerts ON MY MOBILE<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Keep watching Star Ananda</i> WHY? FOR WHAT? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s true that I engaged with the channel during random surf, but the context of the engagement was a movie contest and nothing else. What I expected was a response aligned to the context of the contest, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Thank you for your participation in the contest. Winners will be announced shortly. Logon to … for terms and conditions…”</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A typical condition laid out in the agreement between the Telco and the short code provider for provisioning the short code into Telco’s network is, the short code provider will not push any kind of promotional messages either as add on or stand alone, to a corresponding pull SMS. To de-jargonize, in the present context, what I sent to 5782728 was a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pull </i>and the response I received was a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">push</i> SMS. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The response text from ABP News was nothing but a promotional SMS, albeit a deficient one! It also fell short of aligning the response text to the purpose for which the SMS was sent. </span></div>
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Himanshu Agarwalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09323306147389892165noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1617645593177371391.post-1088189274883947892012-10-10T01:07:00.001+05:302012-10-10T01:08:39.391+05:30Hi! This Is … and You Are Listening to…<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtI7wgqmYFI3VqC_PsO_7xyjuxtne9Vk4Wb8_Ze2hDwxN2stEr7FkFUmMeY0rdt8itTKoMuc2dKvX-eUvBO-OezQdSs8HeZJ3w06CKwh_RB_HfzLzwQEgDpOnVtxhMa5FJvIThcVr6BtU/s1600/Station+Identifier.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" nea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtI7wgqmYFI3VqC_PsO_7xyjuxtne9Vk4Wb8_Ze2hDwxN2stEr7FkFUmMeY0rdt8itTKoMuc2dKvX-eUvBO-OezQdSs8HeZJ3w06CKwh_RB_HfzLzwQEgDpOnVtxhMa5FJvIThcVr6BtU/s1600/Station+Identifier.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We are all used to hearing station identifiers on radio. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hi this is … and you are listening</i> to … Sometimes these identifiers are station jingles or familiar (celebrity) voices which identify the station. They also come in a slightly different flavor as celebrity omnibus in which more than one voice identifies the station. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Earlier, I never paid attention to these station identifiers, but on Oct 3, 2012 I did, at around 7:17 PM. Not because it was the famous bolly actor <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sallu Bhai</i> (Salman Khan) who told me what station I was listening to, but I was more interested in listening to the song that followed this station identifier. The song that followed was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Karde Mushkil Jeena Ishq Kameena</i> from the bolly flick <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shakti (2002)</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After listening to the song, I was wondering what relation the song had with the immediately preceding station identifier in Salman’s voice. The film neither had Salman in its cast nor was the song filmed on him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Being unaware of the rules/policy employed by the stations in the linear placement of celebrity identifiers on the timeline for the day, I thought whether the identifier has to meet my expectation of confirming to the immediately succeeding song? A mental rewind of identifiers heard in the past, gave me two commonalities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">One, it identifies what the station stands for: In the present case, this radio station primarily stands for bolly music. Having an identifier in a bolly star’s voice, establishes the association.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Two, it identifies what the day part stands for: In the present case, since it was evening, during which contemporary bolly numbers are played by this station, the said identifier came across as appropriate. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Save for few exceptions, celebrity identifiers are not exclusive to a station. Sallu bhai may happily identify other stations as well. As the name implies, the station identifier is meant to identify the station and not a song. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">However, if the identifier relates to the immediately succeeding song, this radio station will definitely identify itself amongst its peers for its attention to detail.</span></div>
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Himanshu Agarwalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09323306147389892165noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1617645593177371391.post-265464513047538762012-09-24T22:52:00.002+05:302012-09-24T23:00:05.436+05:30Do Holiday Notices Provide Monetization Opportunity to Publishers?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTwP90HLQwH5iYU3QsU65oDjdBM_vlBkLB141QkVmnLp3b11fsOTk3jfmjKnHQsa-gaIzzxggVXkcuY5__Z-bNfOa6UUFvKjuQYTuJ6TEM_y2AztpN5KRvyEE-zbaQuhaBTx0wLoIA3YU/s1600/Holiday+Notice+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTwP90HLQwH5iYU3QsU65oDjdBM_vlBkLB141QkVmnLp3b11fsOTk3jfmjKnHQsa-gaIzzxggVXkcuY5__Z-bNfOa6UUFvKjuQYTuJ6TEM_y2AztpN5KRvyEE-zbaQuhaBTx0wLoIA3YU/s1600/Holiday+Notice+2.png" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Most of the offices and business establishments in India declared a holiday on September 19, 2012 on account of Ganesh Chaturthi. It was not unusual to spot Holiday Notices on print dailies saying that the press will remain closed on September 19, 2012 and there will be no edition on September 20, 2012.</span></div>
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I also found a holiday notice on one of the daily online media and marketing portal, mxmindia.com, this was unusual for me. Here is the <a href="http://www.mxmindia.com/2012/09/holiday-notice-were-closed-tomorrow/" target="_blank">URL</a> for the same. </div>
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When I saw the holiday notice on the portal, it struck me, yeah, why not, internet may be 24 X 7, but the content is being fed by real folks and not machines and if the folks are not around, the content won’t be refreshed on a holiday. I should admit, unlike print media, my brain was not trained to see a holiday notice on an online media, and it was a first for me to see it on mxmindia.com. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I thought, is there an opportunity for the media owners to monetize these holiday notices? Maybe these guys were closed on September 19, 2012, but there is a category which has its shop open 24 X 7, for example, online shopping portals. <br />
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I thought about the possibility of media owners cutting an annual deal for such ‘no edition days’ with online shopping portals. Think about it, if in a year, they have 10 ‘no edition days’, and on each such occasion they do a floating ad with the imagery of the online shopping portal accompanied with a smart copy, for example, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Our offices are closed today on the occassion of ‘…’ and the news stories will be refreshed tomorrow, but look who’s open today</i>?”, this may not be the best example of a smart copy, but just to give you an idea. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As a media owner one achieves the following:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span>Communicate the new and repeat visitors not to expect the fresh stories today (on a holiday).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span>Monetize the holiday notice which otherwise was just a holiday notice.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHksQliXmmTiTSFNXyRmvUJATqpjv0UM_ocjzh50_XVOyfTvuuC5Dkq-TnudHL1Fzcdl1cjUaAWvc50KhBVa44tjcZwYuEvAWdmR0LZu2gNvAfJFymbFjQ-6X3Kyg6MsEBgo9iqxQj4ik/s1600/Holiday+Notice+4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" hea="true" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHksQliXmmTiTSFNXyRmvUJATqpjv0UM_ocjzh50_XVOyfTvuuC5Dkq-TnudHL1Fzcdl1cjUaAWvc50KhBVa44tjcZwYuEvAWdmR0LZu2gNvAfJFymbFjQ-6X3Kyg6MsEBgo9iqxQj4ik/s200/Holiday+Notice+4.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Will print and online media monetize the Holiday Notices?</em></td></tr>
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And, as an online shopping portal one gets an opportunity to put their brand for 10 days in a year on one such portal, probably at a price that is lower than the regular price.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Coming back to the example of the print ad pictured above, I don’t know whether print publications or even for that matter mxmindia will monetize holiday notices, and even if they do, will the advertisers go for it? Have they (both advertisers and media owners) overlooked this media property? Doesn’t seem so..., not sure! </div>
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They say, “There’s a butt for every seat”. For an advertiser who can’t afford an expensive media, it can be a dream proposition. Do you agree?<br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
I’ll look forward to hear your thoughts on this one, please leave your kind comments on this post.</div>
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Himanshu Agarwalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09323306147389892165noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1617645593177371391.post-39543283008590730112012-08-21T13:54:00.000+05:302012-08-21T13:54:29.015+05:30PowerPoint for Kids!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj07-3pdpyAAbBKR-FRb0huia2m7AA-ZPIab4JM5iSMEzHLeUi8-koj0zt-OVNlJrCchY0cqDK91grkwbU80LrOMjx4GfGLLYhaRif9z53CSZqxwxhNFM7mgbuv6LZnXAxkwwVRCcsdzjY/s1600/Powerpoint_For_Kids.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj07-3pdpyAAbBKR-FRb0huia2m7AA-ZPIab4JM5iSMEzHLeUi8-koj0zt-OVNlJrCchY0cqDK91grkwbU80LrOMjx4GfGLLYhaRif9z53CSZqxwxhNFM7mgbuv6LZnXAxkwwVRCcsdzjY/s1600/Powerpoint_For_Kids.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Three triggers contributed to this post:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">First, ‘Monica Tata on 6 reasons why running a kids’ channel is no child’s play’*. In this article Ms. Tata opined that 48% of parents exercise control on the content watched by their kids and one of the ways to expand the viewership is by creating content that appeals to the adults as well. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">*Source: <a href="http://www.mxmindia.com/2012/04/the-anchor-monica-tata-on-6-reasons-why-running-a-kids-channel-is-no-childs-play/" target="_blank">MxMIndia.com</a> , Monica Tata is General Manager, Entertainment Networks, South Asia, Turner International India Pvt Ltd. <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Second, <a href="http://www.pogo.tv/mad/about" target="_blank">M.A.D.</a>, a popular program, telecast on <a href="http://www.pogo.tv/" target="_blank">POGO</a>, a channel owned by Turner, in this show, the program anchor, Rob, takes the audience, which I believe are both kids and adults, on a creative trip. The show is about art and craft. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Third, Inclusion of MS Office Application suite in school syllabus, this underscores the importance of such software, as most of our adult lives revolve around working with Office Application Software, be it presenting a topic given as a group-work to the class by the instructor, or making presentations as a part of the B-School curriculum, or as a professional making the PowerPoint presentations for internal or external stakeholders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So what’s the big deal? Is there a programming opportunity?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If Office Application Suite has become so integral to our lives, why aren’t we starting early on this journey? Can someone like Rob (or Rob himself) create the same magic on the PowerPoint canvas? I am sure, like me, there are many others whose job involves loads of PowerPoint. Be it presenting a cause and effect relationship of a business process or just putting together a graphical representation of an arcane concept. Sometimes, one feels stymied by the lack of the creative genius in themselves in creating original images using the basic shapes and tools available in PowerPoint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Do the programming honchos of kids channel feel that teaching creativity on television using this ubiquitous software will make for a good show? No prizes for guessing the sponsors who can be roped for such a program (no…it’s not just the software vendor, it could even be the computer or printer manufacturers…or even the nutrition supplements containing BHA, PXT or whatever). Such a show makes for a good repeat value with syndication opportunities in other markets as well as episodes available on DVDs as a learning aid.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Will adults approve their kids to see such a program? I’m not gonna miss even a single episode!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Disclaimer: All company, brand and product name/logos mentioned/depicted in this post are trademarks of their respective holders/individual parent companies.</span></i></div>
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Himanshu Agarwalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09323306147389892165noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1617645593177371391.post-61301820287891629292012-08-14T15:52:00.000+05:302012-08-14T15:53:27.428+05:30Which car engine makes that sound?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgakOIlcUDvGMM3IFphg1WuVLFjaHaewFZsw0PSt9YtGnebs6E3h216gnIcFVohQjTB0ikKYDeMqeFxtYGFXuuoLd7KmfNHyrMwFVJudYMJOXPOF3DDRahZDHCVCa3nMB2MmIP81CzkPwc/s1600/EngineSound.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgakOIlcUDvGMM3IFphg1WuVLFjaHaewFZsw0PSt9YtGnebs6E3h216gnIcFVohQjTB0ikKYDeMqeFxtYGFXuuoLd7KmfNHyrMwFVJudYMJOXPOF3DDRahZDHCVCa3nMB2MmIP81CzkPwc/s1600/EngineSound.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The idea for this post came about today morning, when I was half asleep in the office bus, on my way to work. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">While being driven to work in a bus, sleep happens in short sprints. Sitting next to the window seat and upon realizing that the morning breeze is no longer sweeping across your face it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dawns </i>upon you that the bus is not moving, you keep your eyes closed for some time and then half opening them, you look out from the corner of your eyes to see why the bus is not moving, where you’ve reached and the time you still have on your hand for another quick nap in the bus. Usual interruptions are the sounds of traffic on the signal or in a traffic jam. Sometimes it is just the whooshing sound of vehicles whizzing past yours or someone suddenly breaking to a screeching halt which wakes you up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">During these occurrences, while your visual faculties are overpowered by the urge to take a nap, somehow your aural faculties are still ticking. One may have earplugs plugged in to their ears listening to local radio or music from their mobile phone/portable music player, or the music is being played out from the loudspeakers in the bus (this option does not apply to me, as we have a very spartan bus service), the ambient sounds in the bus, of folks boarding at designated pick up points (sounds of their backpacks rubbing against the backrest of the seats while moving down the aisle and looking for vacant seats or ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">excuse me’</i>, ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">can you shift</i>’ etc.), sound of the bus engine or lastly the sounds on the road from, hawkers, honking from the vehicles, vehicles whizzing past your bus, folks revving the engine on traffic signals, etc…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Though your nasal senses also absorb the environment around you…let’s leave it out for now </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But how does all this lends itself to a business opportunity?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ll regress to my earlier post, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2012/05/pappu-pass-ho-gaya.html" target="_blank">Pappu Pass Ho Gaya!</a></i>, where I mentioned about the contest ‘<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Who said to whom’</i></b>. In this contest a short dialogue is played from a bollywood movie and the listeners have to text, who said this dialogue to whom and the name of the movie. Taking a spin on this contest on radio, what if <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">who </i></b>and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">whom</i></b> are vehicle sounds instead of bollywood celebrities! The vehicle sounds could be sounds of their engines or the car horn and the listeners have to identify the make of the vehicle. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Another spin to the contest can be two sounds of the same vehicle make…one that is brand new and another which is, say 03 years old. In fact the core idea is the vehicle sound, irrespective of whether it is a two wheeler or a four wheeler. How the concept is packaged and presented is up to the creative discretion of the radio station.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ideal sponsors of this contest could be engine oil/auto lubricant manufacturers, auto service providers, auto dealerships, etc. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The idea is not outlandish…a quick Google search with the search string ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">engine sound application</i>’, returns umpteen results of mobile phone applications which playback engine sounds and facts/trivia about engine sounds. There is also a mobile app which produces official Ferrari engine sound!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Even as kids, on our way to school, it was a common amongst us to quiz our pals to identify the vehicle coming behind us by just listening to its sound…!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I believe every one of us have developed auditory discrimination skills at a sub-conscious level during our growing years or as part of our daily experiences…isn’t it time that this human capability is leveraged by radio stations, thus generating a better recall for their clients!</span></div>
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Himanshu Agarwalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09323306147389892165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1617645593177371391.post-26768343025863630652012-08-08T21:53:00.002+05:302012-08-08T21:53:53.417+05:30Fulfillment First…!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb-XEKKgsKkcpQF1mvuRfSYLwl0dHhRwtTNAKijJxWgcZvjJrheMFO36fNXxvriJv4L-9igvIdHQaC5zhFtqPXkNIoayVZ0hb6oZSV-sKGkqLZ4Pm7oEz-ZLnufpwNXUix-60nd6VaNX0/s1600/F1V2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb-XEKKgsKkcpQF1mvuRfSYLwl0dHhRwtTNAKijJxWgcZvjJrheMFO36fNXxvriJv4L-9igvIdHQaC5zhFtqPXkNIoayVZ0hb6oZSV-sKGkqLZ4Pm7oEz-ZLnufpwNXUix-60nd6VaNX0/s1600/F1V2.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The two words in the title of this post signify three things:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fulfillment</i></b>: How an effective fulfillment imprints a positive impression on the consumers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">First</i></b>: A “first” I achieved.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fulfillment First</i></b>: The importance of placing the fulfillment strategy before anything else… if your grand plan does not ensure effective fulfillment to your consumer then, what was the plan?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Friday, 20 July 2012</i> – <a href="http://www.mxmindia.com/" target="_blank">MxMindia</a> launches the first edition of <a href="http://www.mxmindia.com/" target="_blank">MxMIndia’s</a> weekly media quiz, titled “Buzzer”. First prize INR 1001 and second prize INR 501 to be won every week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Friday, 27 July 2012</i> – It’s time for second edition of the quiz, Buzzer#2, but what about the winners of Buzzer#1? Winners are individually contacted over their phone, by none other than the Editor-in-Chief and CEO of <a href="http://www.mxmindia.com/" target="_blank">MxMIndia Private Limited</a> at 8:00 AM sharp. How do I know, because I won the second prize in the first edition of the contest, a “first” I achieved! Check out the screen grab of the winner announcement which appeared on 27 July 2012 on <a href="http://www.mxmindia.com/" target="_blank">MxMIndia</a>. As mentioned in the winner announcement and as told by Mr. Pradyuman Maheshwari, ‘Await our mail’…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7_y3SG7KfMjGjhixdFrKYLUXE7H3a56Jgh0Zo6ZFh6Md0B24xK0GP0Y-hhft7FJ-n9PIw_e6YOQgo0UCR3tIaxw8fHvy2ekclDxuxLjQwETv_JFvSUuYkar9V-EExR5Sm8ed8G9wASOA/s1600/F1+V1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7_y3SG7KfMjGjhixdFrKYLUXE7H3a56Jgh0Zo6ZFh6Md0B24xK0GP0Y-hhft7FJ-n9PIw_e6YOQgo0UCR3tIaxw8fHvy2ekclDxuxLjQwETv_JFvSUuYkar9V-EExR5Sm8ed8G9wASOA/s320/F1+V1.png" width="251" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sunday, 29 July 2012</i> – …I received a mail from Mr. Maheshwari formally informing about winning the second prize and a cash cheque for INR 501. Now comes the fulfillment part… I was given two options, either provide my address and get the cheque couriered on the said address or provide my bank account number, name, and branch for the cheque to be deposited in the said account, for instant gratification. How do I know the cheque will be deposited…I read the next line of the mail…"we’ll email you a stamped receipt…”. Now, that wowed me!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Monday, 06 August 2012</i> – As promised, I received the scanned copy of stamped receipt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The overall experience just awed me. I was kept informed at each stage after being declared a winner with proactive communication from the contest organizer. <a href="http://www.mxmindia.com/" target="_blank">MxMIndia</a> realized that winners can be across India and accordingly their choice of prize(s), ensured easy and speedy fulfillment. As I opined in my earlier post, <em><a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2012/04/15-minutes-of-famereloaded.html" target="_blank">15 Minutes of Fame…Reloaded!</a></em>, I am happy with both the value and satisfaction delivered by the cash prize and instead of someone else deciding on the winner’s behalf, I am happy to choose for myself with the prize money. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Wishing loads of success to <a href="http://www.mxmindia.com/" target="_blank">MxM</a> Buzzer and hope that it keeps buzzing for times to come!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>Himanshu Agarwalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09323306147389892165noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1617645593177371391.post-17229476873685246632012-06-30T17:53:00.000+05:302012-06-30T17:59:59.616+05:30100 Years of Journey<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPhI7cxs6rKFq-Q1ooPe0OYoh65gMjFQrJ8AF6oHVJJWTTBAPxtio2XQOJB2qymt7OHQqc8aUAP58-Iix8CxUWZiiqg8VyluQTn863fXPnGi5XZr9lvb8OMBK1eaOcsufPxARyAcDHaw4/s1600/Samsonite.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPhI7cxs6rKFq-Q1ooPe0OYoh65gMjFQrJ8AF6oHVJJWTTBAPxtio2XQOJB2qymt7OHQqc8aUAP58-Iix8CxUWZiiqg8VyluQTn863fXPnGi5XZr9lvb8OMBK1eaOcsufPxARyAcDHaw4/s1600/Samsonite.png" vca="true" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Apart from unrestrained access to great music, one of the joys of working with a music label is to track brand movements from one agency to another. If this seems unrelated to what music labels typically do, I suggest you to check out my earlier <a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2011/07/whats-behind-weaving-of-film-song-in_14.html" target="_blank">4 part series</a>, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2011/06/whats-behind-weaving-of-film-song-in.html" target="_blank">What’s behind the weaving of a film song in the storyboard of an advertisement?</a>”</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Circa 2009, Samsonite was about to complete 100 years of the brand, and I was in touch with the creative agency which was handling the Samsonite account to pitch the songs and sounds from our catalogue that signified and conjured the images of a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">journey. </i>The idea was to utilize these in ads commemorating the centennial celebrations of the brand and to release a limited edition Samsonite branded compilation, which the brand could distribute to its trade and consumers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We also suggested our colleagues at Home Video division to pitch movie titles to the brand owner/agency in which brand Samsonite was visible (as in-film placement) or titles which had an element of journey such as “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Terminal”</i>. The idea was to create a package of Home Video Titles with Samsonite branding on the cover, for distribution to its trade and consumers by the brand. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As I write this post, I don’t recall how the brand engaged with the medium of radio for its centennial celebrations in India, but in hindsight, I feel that it was an apt opportunity to create an interesting property on radio to engage the listeners with brand Samsonite in a manner which did not sound like an advertisement!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Questions based on the scenes from the prominent bolly (for example, SRK starrer “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.livemint.com/2010/02/02002048/8216My-Name-Is-Khan8217.htm" target="_blank">My Name is Khan</a></i>” had an in-film placement of Samsonite) and holly films where Samsonite has been used, questions about the evolution of luggage or jingles from the earlier commercials of the brand, would have made an engaging contest property for the duration of the campaign. This did not entail any production costs, but only the cost of media and contest gratifications, when radio jockey read the live copy each time they posed a new question about the brand, on their segment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Questions based on the facts and figures that established the brand legacy and attributes, like, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Identify this famous 2004 movie, a love story between xyz and abc, which also starred a Samsonite.”</i> or, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Samsonite was known by what name when it was first launched in 1910</i>?” or, “Out of the three, which one can <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Samsonite case withstand: a direct impact from an ant, a tortoise or a truck?”</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Luggage is intrinsic to life milestones and there are innumerable stories associated with our luggage. Think about it, it’s not a luggage or carry case or travel gear…it is what I call <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">LIFE GEAR</i>. If given a chance and a prop, everyone has a story to narrate. I have a story about my luggage I carried when I went to the hostel for the first time, someone would have a story around luggage when shifting house for the first time, a woman would have a story around it when she would have moved in to her in-laws house for the first time, a student would have a story about things they carry in their backpack…, prompting listeners to narrate such life stories and associated memories, sticks like a Velcro in the mind!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Check out <a href="http://www.samsonite100.com/stories.php" target="_blank">Samsonite100</a></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">…would have loved to hear such stories on-air during a relaxing drive back home!</span></div>
</div>Himanshu Agarwalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09323306147389892165noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1617645593177371391.post-11216758311071259832012-06-26T01:12:00.000+05:302012-06-27T16:02:20.253+05:30Connecting the Dots…<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFV6q3MhTL8lfLrYfdzSuZgt8ZBdU1lRGRprwENJa1OALq_tQUkkf4XE8w7Wzq3cL1MSn7AMOLNsnX4WTy4cIToMELMPv0JIAoAQD-Cz72MoKfafK-Wb9bn_W3rwYPShv8ODy7_ZqMP9o/s1600/Connecting+the+Dots.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFV6q3MhTL8lfLrYfdzSuZgt8ZBdU1lRGRprwENJa1OALq_tQUkkf4XE8w7Wzq3cL1MSn7AMOLNsnX4WTy4cIToMELMPv0JIAoAQD-Cz72MoKfafK-Wb9bn_W3rwYPShv8ODy7_ZqMP9o/s1600/Connecting+the+Dots.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sometimes connecting certain dots in an industry eco-system throws up patterns similar to a kaleidoscope. Certain patterns spark thoughts which might earn incremental revenues or create an offering that differentiates one from the competition. Today I picked up three dots.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The first dot – Brands that advertise on radio</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The radio ad of Dominos Pizza is on-air for some time and I heard it even today. Three things that stuck in my mind after listening to it over the campaign duration are; they want me to buy their pizzas more often, the ad mentions <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Namma Bengaluru</i> (My Bangalore) and has something to do with, what I like about Bangalore and third is that one of the voices in the ad belong to RJ Darius from 104 FM Fever Bangalore. I am not sure about the last bit, but if I have heard RJ Darius enough, I am sure the voice in the ad that says <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Namma Christ College Da </i>belongs to RJ Darius. Darius if you read this post, please correct me if I am wrong.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It is not uncommon to hear radio ads featuring voices of station’s on-air talent. This could be because the station also offers the services of radio ad production for a fee or gratis, based on the deal with the advertiser.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The second dot – Driving listener engagement through on-air contests/off-air, web based contests</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My earlier posts <a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2012/05/crude-shock.html" target="_blank">Crude Shock</a>, <a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2012/05/bollybingo.html" target="_blank">Bollywood Bingo</a> etc., contain examples of such on-air contest mechanics. Example of off-air web based contest is where the listener identifies the voice or content/ title (e.g. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">who said this dialogue and in which film?</i>) from the audio clip and mark one of the options as the right answer. This could be hosted on the social media profile of the radio station/ Radio Jockey or the station website.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000;">The third dot – What value add one can offer to the advertiser on a radio station </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">According to the recent <a href="http://www.livemint.com/2012/06/25000727/Digital-media8217s-share-of.html?h=E" target="_blank">forecast for year 2012 by media buyer <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Group M</i></a>, advertising revenues of radio will lag behind those of TV, Print, Digital and Outdoor. Digital’s share of advertising will rise to INR 1,969 crore in 2012, overtaking outdoor (INR 1,841 crore) and establishing a clear lead over radio (INR 1,618 crore). To make matters worse, the radio station or for that matter any media is asked by the advertiser/media buyer…<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">so what value add you’re giving to sweeten the deal!</i></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Connecting the Dots: Enkindle the past, energize the present and entice the future.</span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Enkindling the past:</span></u></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dear Past Advertiser, </span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">[P1] In the xyz segment we have launched a new contest property titled “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Who’s the RJ”</b>. The listeners will be played an audio clip in which one of the voices belongs to our station RJ. The audio clip will be played thrice during the segment. The listeners have to text the right answer and one of the lucky listeners to get it right, wins goodies. </span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">[P2] In the past we had produced an ad for you in which our RJ had lent the voice. We would like to include that .30s ad in this contest dated dd/mm/yyyy. </span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">[P3] This is an ideal opportunity for your brand message to reach out to our listeners once again, without you committing a campaign. This opportunity comes to you for INR xyz/- , which also includes the cost of gratification.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b><u>Energizing the present: </u></b></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dear Present Advertiser, </span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Retain [P1].</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">[P2] Our RJ has lent the voice in ad we produced for your current campaign. We would like to include that ad in the contest dated dd/mm/yyyy. </span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">[P3] As a token of our thanks, this opportunity comes to you without any charge. However, we request you to provide for contest gratification.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b><u>Enticing the present: </u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Well you would have got it by now :-) What you would have also figured out is that one can also plug in-house ads of radio stations promoting their various segments. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There are no templates in sales and probably this could be an opportunity for a station to serve the interests of its advertisers, listeners and itself! </span></div>
</div>Himanshu Agarwalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09323306147389892165noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1617645593177371391.post-79658872162298398862012-06-21T17:02:00.001+05:302012-06-22T18:38:21.927+05:30Who’s the Singer, Lyricist, Composer…<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9gOoLrsXR-CbLPlC-6h16g9WBinESMHWLHbTtky_iY2iw9RA1JsptudgGr80BctQmLIzQ7iPxQcOMRWLCyzGJzyvHbYM7rRW9uOB_zucdsH11o-fdQD0fmc71bkaAXAS6bP1z83K4td4/s1600/ShubhaMudgal_1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9gOoLrsXR-CbLPlC-6h16g9WBinESMHWLHbTtky_iY2iw9RA1JsptudgGr80BctQmLIzQ7iPxQcOMRWLCyzGJzyvHbYM7rRW9uOB_zucdsH11o-fdQD0fmc71bkaAXAS6bP1z83K4td4/s1600/ShubhaMudgal_1.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shubha_Mudgal" target="_blank">Ms. Shubha Mudgal</a>, recently <a href="http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-06-18/news-and-interviews/32282597_1_fm-stations-music-lovers-composer" target="_blank">tweeted</a>, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Appeal to the music lovers. Please, let’s ask FM stations in India to start announcing credits for music they play. They hardly ever do so”.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My Two Cents</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I agree with what Ms. Mudgal has to say. As a listener, there are times when I like a particular song on radio, and instinctively the question pops in my mind..."Which movie…?", though it’s difficult to define the degree of likeness, but based on how much one appreciates the song on-air, the next questions are who is the singer, composer, etc. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Television broadcast of songs on popular music channels usually include three lines of customary credits which include Name of the Song, Name of the Film and Music Label, shown once at the beginning and later towards end of the song (depending upon the policy adopted by the channel). Television being a media that engages both visual and aural faculties, display of customary credits once the song is rolling does not eat into the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">air time</i> of the TV Channel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">From the perspective of the radio business owner, announcing customary credits or acknowledging singer, composer, lyricist, film etc. at the beginning of each song shrinks precious real estate of the station, the AIR TIME. Assuming acknowledgements are not read out in a manner in which disclaimers are read towards the end of ads featuring mutual fund products…”Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks, please read the offer document carefully before investing”…(read out in two seconds flat!), it will take the station jockey at least 10 seconds to acknowledge the four parameters of film, lyricist, composer and singer. Assuming a station plays 10 – 12 songs in an hour, it is a hit of approximately 2 minutes on the valuable inventory (AIR TIME) of the station. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If the listening pleasure is not being compromised by the lack of ‘meta data’ for each song, is it worth for the station to read it out? I say no! It’s not that credits are ‘never’ given to any song. Being an avid listener of two hindi radio stations in Bangalore, I can vouch that new songs that debut on these stations are given due credits. Even for existing ones, a random sampling usually throws up a pattern like: RJ Talk <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">></b> Up coming Back to Back Song Pre-<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">listen</i> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">></b> Occasional mention of film name <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">></b> Commercial Break <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">></b> Back to Back Songs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Though as a practice, instutionalization of customary credits on contemporary FM radio stations sounds more like state owned radio broadcasts, which fortunately are not strained by commercial considerations but rather on how to deploy the monetary grants, unlike private FM broadcasters. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Today FM radio stations are not confined to on-air terrestrial presence. One can <a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2011/05/synchronization-of-consumer-touch.html" target="_blank">engage with them</a> vide their mobile apps, website, WAP site and social media presence. A middle path, without compromising on commercial considerations, will be attribution of the song to its creators/performers, in an off-air environment.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwMT1RORS0-PighsLJJGZmZDyyzN1QkJuVVanSyb_TbbUaeShRsncPe7uvSLHUG2y9IAU29_eIlQgTXvOC-bET6Rwua3TfCyItJWJl_BM0h9Cj0fCyyf5EZ6J_qOUWnQcYZcDNTZfbC8I/s1600/ShubhaMudgal.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="165" rca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwMT1RORS0-PighsLJJGZmZDyyzN1QkJuVVanSyb_TbbUaeShRsncPe7uvSLHUG2y9IAU29_eIlQgTXvOC-bET6Rwua3TfCyItJWJl_BM0h9Cj0fCyyf5EZ6J_qOUWnQcYZcDNTZfbC8I/s400/ShubhaMudgal.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Station websites can include names of the Lyricist, Composer and Singer in the Top 10/20/30/40 charts on their websites. Information on songs including attribution to its creators is a good conversation starter on the social media presence of the station and is a common practice on certain social media channels owned by FM stations.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, why the fuss and why stations should be apologetic about this whole tweet thing?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Please share your thoughts on this!</span></div>
</div>Himanshu Agarwalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09323306147389892165noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1617645593177371391.post-66131549405887476322012-06-14T11:03:00.000+05:302012-06-25T15:02:07.690+05:30What did IPL’12 give you?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaZVwzyZKw-7jmn-YMHhFsDe4lJTUC33g4trop6qjCZs4YFTJO8K-nA_lt7Q97BDwDw5zaRfE7JTskO6W6ZJklgEHe1H_Cg2uX-6B6oxUQAGQDnyllojqOSaZKHpdSAqdMY1H8C3Msn-4/s1600/WhatdidIPL2012GiveYou.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" pca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaZVwzyZKw-7jmn-YMHhFsDe4lJTUC33g4trop6qjCZs4YFTJO8K-nA_lt7Q97BDwDw5zaRfE7JTskO6W6ZJklgEHe1H_Cg2uX-6B6oxUQAGQDnyllojqOSaZKHpdSAqdMY1H8C3Msn-4/s1600/WhatdidIPL2012GiveYou.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The year 2012 has so far been serendipitous for me. Yup…I have been seeing cricket matches since my growing up years only to question myself after every match, what did I gain out of it?…and went back every time with the same gusto to catch the next tournament on television, as if I did not hear the question! I broke this loop sometime back when I almost stopped following cricket. Came April 2012 when <a href="http://www.iplt20.com/" target="_blank">IPL 2012</a>…the sporting and marketing extravaganza, started with the same zest as the previous four seasons. Depending upon what senses of sight and sound one followed, everyone had opinions and expectations from the tournament, with the same devotion as past seasons, whether it were marketing portals discussing at length about expected TVRs or the business press pondering about why a 10 second spot should be priced equal or lesser or higher than last year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Before committing my time to watch IPL 2012, I pro-actively asked myself, what’s in it for me. I asked, is the real estate of my brain worth keeping all those facts, statistics, schedules etc., when it does not generate anything in return, save for striking some small talk near the water cooler or in cafeteria? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Well this year, IPL 2012 rubbed off its infinitesimal bounty on me vide the humblest of all media…yup the teeny weeny radio. No, I did not have to remember anything about the game. I just had to be myself and participate in contests that revolved around the game.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The first contest I won was Super Six on <a href="http://www.radioone.in/" target="_blank">94.3FM Radio One</a>. It was a simple concept. The listeners had to text SIX and if the SMS was sent in the over in which a six was hit, the listeners would win goodies. I won twice on this contest. The first time around it was a wrist watch and the second time around it was the party passes. (More on this in my earlier post <a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2012/04/15-minutes-of-famereloaded.html" target="_blank">15 Minutes of Fame…Reloaded!</a>).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Second time around, lady luck turned the dial to <a href="http://www.fever.fm/" target="_blank">104FM Fever</a> on the segment, Fever Flashback hosted by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rjrubinapatel" target="_blank">RJ Rubina</a>. Rubina, gave an invitation to all 104FM listeners to catch the finals of IPL 2012 at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/amoebahmleisure" target="_blank">Amoeba Sports Bar</a> on a large screen and have dinner with 104FM Fever RJs, but but but...the listeners had to give a compelling reason on why they should be given this chance. The following words did the magic for me and there I was at Amoeba on 27<sup>th</sup> May 2012 with my better half.</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Facebook par face dekha hai, ab saamne dekhna hai,<br />Radio par baat karte huye suna hai, ab baat saath baith kar karni hai,<br />Rubina, IPL toh bahana hai...bas aapke saath ek baar baith kar khana khana hai </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">At the venue we learned that there were other 4 listeners who weaved a similar magic with their words on the station RJ </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">. We were joined by RJ Rubina and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/danish.sait" target="_blank">RJ Danish</a> from 104FM Fever.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In between the chat, photo clicks and munchies…we rooted and hooted for our favorite teams and were also heard on-air when Rubina linked to the station from Amoeba. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It is something to read about and follow the RJs (or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio Stars</i> as Paul Chantler called them in the guest post <a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2012/05/pizzazz.html" target="_blank">Growing the Pizzazz</a>) on Facebook and Twitter and a totally different experience to have a face to face interaction. You get to know them as a person, their likes and dislikes (not the facebook kind), what motivates them each day, what are their challenges, etc. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">RJ Danish who earlier RJed at <a href="http://www.radiospicefm.com/" target="_blank">105.4 Radio Spice, Dubai</a> shared his experience on how radio as a medium is different in India compared to Dubai; the RJs he idolizes; whether the absence of radio audience measurement is a boon or bane for stations in Dubai…RJ Rubina talked about how it is doing a 9:00 PM show (Fever Flashback) and what TV soaps she cannot live without </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Net-net, it was a great contest gratification. Opportunities such as these help stations build equity and loyalty amongst its listeners and most important, get to know, who is listening them? We found 104FM Fever <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio Stars </i>disposition quite humble and grounded and to borrow from the famous MasterCard ad…<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Drinks and Food @ Amoeba…INR XYZ.00/- …to sit, drink, eat and click pictures next to Radio Stars whose voices reach over a million listeners each day! PRICELESS..!!!</i></span></div>
</div>Himanshu Agarwalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09323306147389892165noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1617645593177371391.post-7883434828486512052012-05-30T00:36:00.000+05:302012-06-25T16:44:05.252+05:30Crude Shock!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFV5ig-HhlLQsxrjUcPiU1OWCrDFiby8C5PqLIrw1-eIiT3_RxaKgmOmgDqrDwPrhXVMAoha0xbSWZN_vOYsjiSN6AXRgtVE0jBvi69AbGUnfDv65p1tNleXdGCI41rYJs5ma689-onkI/s1600/CrudeShock.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFV5ig-HhlLQsxrjUcPiU1OWCrDFiby8C5PqLIrw1-eIiT3_RxaKgmOmgDqrDwPrhXVMAoha0xbSWZN_vOYsjiSN6AXRgtVE0jBvi69AbGUnfDv65p1tNleXdGCI41rYJs5ma689-onkI/s1600/CrudeShock.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The crude shock of hike in petrol prices by approximately INR 8.00/- hit at 00:00 Hrs on 24<sup>th</sup> May 2012, when it came into effect. Radio, a hyper local medium with its eardrums close to the ground, picked upon this theme and made me appreciate this medium…all over again. Radio has an uncanny ability to drape and color itself with local themes and engage its listeners. So, this is how the contests looked like on 24<sup>th</sup> May 2012.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">94.3FM Radio One, Bangalore (Karnataka, India)</span></span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Who Said to Whom?</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you are wondering what this contest is all about, check out my earlier post, <a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2012/05/pappu-pass-ho-gaya.html" target="_blank">Pappu Pass Ho Gaya</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://www.radioone.in/indian/Bangalore/Shilpa.aspx" target="_blank">MJ Shilpa</a> played a clip from the film <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0347304/" target="_blank">Kal Ho Na Ho</a> in which Aman Mathur (played by Shah Rukh Khan) tells his mother (played by Reema Lagoo) that he does not want to die. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The best part comes here…the RJ says that the petrol hike has even killed our bolly stars…that’s hilarious…</span><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, I liked how a routine contest plug in the segment was mould into the theme of petrol price hike. It was not only this contest, the overall theme of the RJ talk revolved around petrol price hike.</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Maximum Lies!</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">MJ Shilpa told three points related to petrol prices and Bangalore (I appreciate how Bangalore as a city was woven into this contest…that’s what I call local). The first point was, the prices have been hiked by approximately INR 8.00/-; second point was, Bangalore has the highest prices for petrol in India and the third point was, before the price hike per liter cost of petrol in Bangalore was INR 82.00/-. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">No prizes for getting the right answer…I did not get one </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">L</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">…OK hold on…the third point was a lie.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">However the gratification for the two contests was not aligned to the theme of the contest. Gratification for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Who Said to Whom </i>was a couple dinner voucher (OK, I admit…its closer to fuel…after all food is fuel for homo sapiens</span><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">) and for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Maximum Lies</i> it was beauty treatment vouchers valued at INR 7,500/- (hmm…the same value in cash would have bought at least 90 liters of petrol! and cushioned the effect of price hike…but think about it…if you look beautiful chances are you’ll be offered a ride…thus you save fuel!)</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">104FM Radio One, Bangalore (Karnataka, India)<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Later in the day when I tuned to Fever Flashback @ 9:00 PM hosted by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rjrubinapatel" target="_blank">RJ Rubina</a>…I could smell the petrol! One had to guess the name of the music director whose birthday was being celebrated by the station. The clue was the songs played by the station composed by this music director. Well, it was Rajesh Roshan’s Birthday on 24<sup>th</sup> May 2012. And you know what was the gratification…petrol vouchers worth…INR 1,000/- !!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was late to answer, my answer text missed the target, but opportunity came again…the listeners were given a second chance, but this time it was tough…they had to call 44104104/text 9986104104 citing reason why they deserve to win the petrol voucher.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here’s the sad part and I lived the idiom <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">slip between the lip and the cup.</i> I texted Rubina with the message…<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I own a two wheeler, therefore, I’ll be able to squeeze the maximum value out of the voucher compared to car owners and the voucher will take care of my whole month’s fuel expenses</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Guess what…my text was selected by Rubina and I had to say the same thing on-air…but that’s when the Vodafone doggy ditched me…I was on the <a href="http://www.blrelevated.co.in/" target="_blank">Bangalore Elevated Tollway Ltd (BETL)</a> road going towards Silk Board…when the signal got lost…shock after shock! Crude shock followed by signal shock!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">What happened…she picked up another winner! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But what I liked was, she called me back after sometime to console and wished better luck next time, this upped my Happiness Index (which otherwise was dipped by the hike in fuel prices)!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Given my terrestrial and language limitations (I cannot appreciate the radio content played in non-Hindi or English language and since am based in Bangalore, I do not know what radio folks are doing in say Chennai or Mumbai!), I was curious to know what other FM stations are playing on the petrol hike theme. Long live google! Here’s a brief glimpse.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">92.7FM BIG FM, Mumbai (Maharashtra, India)</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Listeners answer questions related to petrol, inflation and other such topics to win petrol vouchers worth Rs 927/-. <a href="http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/news/big-fm-initiates-social-campaign-petrol-price-hike" target="_blank">Click here</a> for a lowdown on this story.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #c00000;">98.3FM Radio Mirchi, Mumbai (Maharashtra, India)</span><u></u></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Radio Mirchi gave away bicycles to lucky listeners for an easier, better and eco-friendly commute. <a href="http://www.mxmindia.com/2012/05/radio-mirchi-tackles-petrol-price-hike/" target="_blank">Click here</a> for a lowdown on this story.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, what do I think?</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">On the dimensions of relevance of the theme to the contest format, gratification and user engagement/interactivity, I’ll order it as <a href="http://www.radiomirchi.com/" target="_blank">Radio Mirchi</a>, <a href="http://www.fever.fm/" target="_blank">Fever</a>, <a href="http://www.big927fm.com/" target="_blank">Big</a> and <a href="http://www.radioone.in/indian/about-us.aspx" target="_blank">Radio One</a>. To preempt criticism of my opinion, please understand this is what I feel and is my opinion, you are free to express yours…nothing more nothing less…have fun.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Before I conclude, lady luck has shown her benevolence once again and I’ll let you know <a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2012/06/what-did-ipl12-give-you.html" target="_blank">how and where I got to watch</a> the <a href="http://www.iplt20.com/" target="_blank">DLF IPL</a> Finals on 27<sup>th</sup> May 2012. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Keep tuned!</span></div>
</div>Himanshu Agarwalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09323306147389892165noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1617645593177371391.post-12813789598195482232012-05-23T20:48:00.000+05:302012-05-24T00:14:36.362+05:30Pappu Pass Ho Gaya!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUFulh_RyUFiLICpnG5-JRWe9RqveT_zOjEGeRMrFTPwR70FoYvkCIMfMPwUb-3S00xGdaSjX30YNQZoeMIPMdVmEIuWAs0cqQa190TKWN6YYE8BLqphuyXmcE7wlUQH2aVR_3wA5IlNM/s1600/ExamResults.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUFulh_RyUFiLICpnG5-JRWe9RqveT_zOjEGeRMrFTPwR70FoYvkCIMfMPwUb-3S00xGdaSjX30YNQZoeMIPMdVmEIuWAs0cqQa190TKWN6YYE8BLqphuyXmcE7wlUQH2aVR_3wA5IlNM/s1600/ExamResults.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Over time I have realized that listening to radio is nothing short of a stroll in a busy marketplace. Akin to how merchants change the wares displayed in shop windows in line with the season, festival or other topical themes, same happens in radio or for that matter on any other media. The programming wears the skin of the season and the same merchants descend on mass media singing virtues about how their wares are flavor of the season.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Listening to a segment on radio station <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.radioone.in/indian/about-us.aspx" target="_blank">94.3FM Radio One</a></b>, I realized that it’s been over a decade since I passed my 12th Standard Examinations. <a href="http://www.radioone.in/indian/Bangalore/Shilpa.aspx" target="_blank">MJ Shilpa</a> hosts the segment from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM and prompts her listeners to participate in two exciting contests during this period. Well what are these two contests…?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Maximum Lyrics:</i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Listeners are played a short clip of a popular Bollywood song with part of it muted. The listeners have to text the muted lyrics to win goodies. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Maximum Lies:</i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Listeners are told three points about a Bollywood flick, viz actor, actress…or anything that is Bolly! One of the three statements told by MJ Shilpa is false. The listeners have to text which statement was false, 1<sup>st</sup>, 2<sup>nd</sup> or 3<sup>rd</sup> to win goodies. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Today when I tuned to this segment, both the contests were woven around the theme of exams. Why? Well, today Karnataka Pre-University board announced the 12<sup>th</sup> Standard Examination Results! So instead of Maximum Lyrics, todays first contest was about <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Who said to whom</i></b>, wherein a short dialogue was played from a film and the listener had to text who said this dialogue to whom and the name of the movie. The dialogue was from the movie <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374887/" target="_blank">Munnabhai MBBS</a></i> in which <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Munna (played by Sanjay Dutt)</i> tells <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dr Suman (played by Gracy Singh)</i> that he has topped the exam!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The second contest <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Maximum Lies</i></b> was about three points from the story of the movie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1187043/" target="_blank">3 Idiots</a>. 3 Idiots was based on the concept of unforgiving nature of the education system and society towards failures and non-conformists.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">With almost a third of FM listenership contributed by 12 – 19 and 20 – 24 years old, and education being among the top advertisers on radio, no doubt, it’s an important segment to cater to. Last night on another radio station <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.fever.fm/" target="_blank">104FM Fever</a></b>, I liked <a href="http://bangalore.fever.fm/20/RJ-Darius-profile.php" target="_blank">Darius</a> saying, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">no matter what’s the result, you still have another 60 years of life ahead of you, so don’t do anything drastic…exam results are not the end of the world”</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, I brace myself for an advertising spree, offers from youth fashion retailers giving discounts equivalent to the marks one has scored, chocolatiers urging to have some <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">meetha</i> (sweet)…uff!</span></div>
</div>Himanshu Agarwalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09323306147389892165noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1617645593177371391.post-75082663935750725952012-05-16T00:15:00.000+05:302012-05-23T17:06:07.698+05:30Bollywood Bingo!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7UnngZWOqh_hwXLJP6ONI4umWf4-5J6lhItyynK_NuOuUoRX7auXtP1_Zlp5O_X9Yx1GVUF5dQVe9_NjsNPeiQefVJCg2dnRua6X8YrHB_I4SkWmcowo0VwFz5aLak36ov0bviLTrPaI/s1600/BollyBingo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7UnngZWOqh_hwXLJP6ONI4umWf4-5J6lhItyynK_NuOuUoRX7auXtP1_Zlp5O_X9Yx1GVUF5dQVe9_NjsNPeiQefVJCg2dnRua6X8YrHB_I4SkWmcowo0VwFz5aLak36ov0bviLTrPaI/s1600/BollyBingo.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Contesting is in the air, especially after my earlier posts <a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2012/05/rib.html" target="_blank">Piggy Bank of Ideas</a> and <a href="http://www.himanshuagarwal.com/2012/04/15-minutes-of-famereloaded.html" target="_blank">15 Minutes of Fame…Reloaded!</a> I have been observing…oops listening to contests (and participating too…) on this radio station, 94.3FM Radio One (Bangalore) which won me a handful of goodies. On 14<sup>th</sup> May 2012, on the birthday of yesteryears Bollywood actress Waheeda Rehman, 94.3FM Radio One kicked off a new game show BOLLYWOOD BINGO anchored by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">MJ Pavithra</i>. </span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What’s the Concept?</span></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sometime in late March/early April 2012, 94.3FM Radio One called out its listeners to be a part of Listener Audience Bureau (LAB). As mentioned by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">MJ Pavithra</i>, the idea of Bollywood Bingo, a music based game show came from LAB.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What’s the Name?</span></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Haven’t I revealed it already? To recap, it’s BOLLYWOOD BINGO. One may also choose to call it MUSICAL TAMBOLA, BOLLYWOOD TAMBOLA or BOLLYWOOD HOUSIE.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">How to Play?</span></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Similar to a game of Bingo or Housie in which players mark off numbers on cards/printed tickets, as the numbers are drawn randomly by a caller and won by marking off all the numbers on the printed ticket, Bollywood Bingo is played in the same manner. The Bollywood Bingo ticket can be obtained by sending a SMS to 53650. The call flow is:</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Listener sends an <u>SMS to 53650</u> with the message <u>BINGO<space><Name></u></span></i></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Listener receives the BINGO ticket which reads as (example): <u>BINGO 14-5-2012 18:33 1)London Paris New Y 2)Mitti Bol 3)Chammak Challo 4)Anarkali Disco Ch 5)Ajooba 6)Mudhi Mudhi Ittefa</u></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">14-5-2012</i>, indicates that the ticket is valid for the show on 14<sup>th</sup> May 2012 and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">18:33</i> is the time of issue of the ticket. Serial numbers <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">1, 2, 3…6</i> are the songs from Bollywood movies.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Game Play!</span></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Once you have the ticket, you are set for the game. You have to listen to 94.3FM Radio One and as soon as the song that’s mentioned in your ticket is played by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">MJ Pavithra</i>, you mark off that song on your ticket. Once all the songs on the ticket have been played on-air, you win, or else you don’t. The show airs from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM, Monday to Friday. The show started on 14<sup>th</sup> May 2012 and will be on up to 1<sup>st</sup> June 2012. Only those songs that are played between 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM are to be marked off on the ticket. If 5 songs mentioned on the ticket are aired between 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM and the sixth song is played at 8:05 PM, you won’t win. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">One can claim the tickets up to 7:30 PM. Tickets that are claimed post 07:30 PM are eligible for next day’s game. Now you know why the tickets are stamped with date and time! One can claim multiple tickets to increase the chance of winning, but remember, SMSes to 53650 are charged at INR 3.00/- </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">One concern that I had when I bought the ticket was, “gosh…I now have to be glued to the radio else I won’t know what songs have been played when I was not listening to it between 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM”. The good thing about the show is that in each commercial break <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">MJ Pavithra</i> gives a recap of all the songs that have been played before that break. To break the monotony, aided by her BINGO software that tells her how many songs have been played out from each ticket, she puts the listeners, who await just 3 or 2 more songs to completely mark off all the songs on the ticket, on air. </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What’s the Prize?</span></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">One winner each day gets Gold Vouchers worth INR 2000/- redeemable at <a href="http://www.abharan.in/" target="_blank">Abaran</a>. </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, what do I think?</span></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I think it’s a good contest which increases time spent listening 94.3FM Radio One. For the sponsor, Abaran, it ensures that the store gets sampled by the listeners of Radio One when they go to redeem their vouchers. Abaran has been an advertiser on Radio One and vide this contest; the station generates tangible real time data (by way of number of SMSes received) to share with the sponsor. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I would have appreciated if the station had put info on this segment on their website or social media, listing daily winners and songs played between 6:00 PM – 8:00 each day Monday to Friday from 14<sup>th</sup> May 2012 to 1<sup>st</sup> June 2012. This would relieve the listener to be stuck to a single station, but isn’t that the idea of the contest, increase time spent listening? </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So what do you think? What’s your idea of a Bollywood Music Based show that engages the listener? Share your thoughts and wisdom, the comments box is just below this line </span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></i></b></div>
</div>Himanshu Agarwalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09323306147389892165noreply@blogger.com2