MUMBAI: Entertainment Network India Limited (ENIL), which has radio stations under the brand Radio Mirchi invests heavily in on-ground events for brand building and visibility. These events include a host of TV properties such as the Mirchi Music Awards (in Hindi, Punjabi, Marathi and four south Indian languages, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam), Mirchi Top 20 countdown and Mirchi Spell Bee to ensure brand visibility.

However, ENIL has not invested on a TVC in the last nine years, but private FM’s shift from Phase II to Phase III has changed that. ENIL has initiated a new TVC – ‘Rudaali’. Conceptualised by McCann Worldgroup India, the TVC has been produced by Jamic Films and directed by Nikhil Rao with Rohit Devgun as art director.

Talking about the new TVC Radio Mirchi national marketing head GG Jayanta said, “The concept of ‘Rudaali’ is a creative extension of Mirchi’s core positioning of sunshine as exemplified by our tagline ‘Mirchi Sunnewale Always Khush’. We believe that our listeners are a happy bunch, full of life, have a never-say-die attitude and are optimistic whatever the situation or circumstance they are in. This campaign is based on ‘Rudaali’ – professional mourners at funerals. The younger Rudaalis’ find it hard to cry to the exasperation of the older Rudaali. The reason they find it hard is revealed at the end.”

‘Rudaali’ is a continuation of one of Mirchi’s most iconic TVCs’ called the ‘Gutter Ad’. In the ad, even a person working in a sewer is singing in an unobtrusive way. At the end of the ad it’s shown that he is a Mirchi listener. Something similar happens in the new TVC.

The current ‘Rudaali’ video will be edited for a TVC that will break on TV sometime next week.

On getting back with a TVC after nine long years Jayanta said, “Mirchi has been doing print and outdoor-led campaigns at the local level for the past few years. We also have on-ground events that on an average come up to nearly 200 events a year. But, with the imminent entry of Mirchi into new markets following the Phase-III of radio auctions, and in the new environment of streaming music, we felt this was the right time to do a an overarching , pan-India brand campaign that will draw in the youth, reinforce the Mirchi brand and revitalize the radio category itself.”

This is just the beginning for the Radio station according to Jayanta, there will be more such TVCs’ in the future.

Throwing some light on Mirchi’s future plans the marketing head said, “Marketing plans are driven by our objective, which is to consolidate our position of being the No.1 radio brand. So, marketing plans dovetail into the business plan of a three to five year horizon in which new stations, new markets, new frequencies will be launched, while the brand in the existing markets will need to be reinforced.”