Red FM takes Bajaate Raho Awards on-ground

Sumedha Srivastav - Televisionpoint.com | Mumbai
As a build up to the Bingo! Red FM Bajaate Raho Awards, Red FM has rolled out a series of initiatives to involve the listeners in an innovative voting process.

The awards celebrate mediocrity in fields such as Bollywood, music, cricket and television; and empowers people to get back at those who have caused them irritation over the last year.

A multi-media campaign, spread across two weeks, has been initiated to engage the audiences. The radio company has used the outdoor medium to promote its annual event and the campaign, titled Bajaaney ka mausam aa gaya, is created by O&M. Other prominent media being employed include radio, print, digital and there is also an interesting lineup of on-ground activities.

The on-ground initative is executed by below-the-line (BTL) agency Jagran Solutions. The objective of the BTL activation was to make listeners aware of these awards and to encourage the public to participate, both on-the-spot (forms) and on-air (SMS).

The activation was on-ground for eight days, with road shows and canter activities at all major hangouts including malls, shopping areas, societies and colleges across Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata.

In the activity, people were asked to choose their favourite nominations and then aim the egg or tomato at that particular choice on a spinning board, which contains all the choices. If they aim correctly for all 12 nominations, they stand to win a free pass for the award ceremony in addition to some goodies.

The on-ground action was reported live on all the three stations through Red FM's OB Jocks. To ensure further visibility and participation, forms containing the nominations are also given out at all major stops, which invite people to SMS their votes to the radio station.

Anuj Singh, national marketing head and station head, Mumbai, Red FM, says, "Through our on ground initiatives, we have built apertures where listeners can interact with the brand and experience its philosophy first hand."

Singh adds that the motive of the on-ground activation was to engage with listeners at the ground level and empower them to express themselves through the radio station, which is the essence of the awards.

Speaking to Televisionpoint.com, Ambika Sharma, national head, Jagran Solutions, says, "The Bajaate Raho Awards initiative gained success because of its listener centric communication, low spillover and the ability to deliver the objective of the awards as against pure messaging."

Sharma claims that the radio station has received a tremendous response of 8,000 plus applications from the public and listeners, both in terms of votes and participation. She says the on-ground opportunity will reap the benefits from word of mouth, viral marketing, podcasting, consumer generated media and field marketing.

The final culmination of the campaign will be a awards ceremony in Mumbai on March 27. It will feature the witty Suresh Menon in his many hilarious avatars, Dr. Hoezay, other celebrities and star Red FM RJs Malishka, Nitin and Mantra. This year, Red FM brings 11 hilarious categories, with four nominations in each vying for the Bajaate Raho Awards trophy.

While categories such as 'Sabse zyaada mehnat karnewala music director', 'Ajeeb-o-gareeb harkattein' and City Special awards have been repeated, there have also been some new additions such as 'Yeh judge kaise ban gaya' and 'Best on-field dramebaaz', based on some of the important 'achievers' of the year 2008.