Wagon R turns Red FM blue

Because of a Maruti Suzuki-Red FM collaboration, blue ” normally associated with sadness” became the colour of innovation, pleasant mystery, and desire. Blue became the dominant mood of 20 Red FM stations, as they launched a teaser campaign praising the characteristics of a mysterious "blue-eyed boy': the re-launched Wagon R, bristling with exquisite new features. On the day of the re-launch of the car, everything from the station jingle to the RJs' sign-off was retooled to extol the virtues of the blue-eyed boy.

How could Red FM, an aural medium, so powerfully harness the power of colour? To find out, Adgully spoke to B Surendar, the senior vice-president and the national sales head of Red FM. Surendar started off by saying that images were created in the mind. "Radio talks and, through imagination, creates an image in the mind of the listeners," Surendar said. He said that words could evoke the desired feelings if the communication was personal. "Radio is a very intimate medium on which the RJ is a friend, philosopher and guide to the listeners and interacts with them on a one-on-one basis," Surendar said.

Though Surendar's analysis is astute, there was a niggling question that demanded an answer: did "Red' FM so cleverly change colour as the result of the client's strategy? "Yes, it was the client's strategy and we have helped them to develop it," Surendar said. "People knew about the car and so if the conventional route was taken, it might not have attracted attention." He said that an inventive campaign was required to herald the new features of the car. "We worked on the plan and packaging, for which we built a teaser two days before the launch," he said.

Such campaigns, Surendar said, were best suited for big occasions, big brands and product launches.