Radio Mirchi makes Rudalis happy

The FM network rolled out a TV campaign after nine years around the unique Rajasthani community of professional mourners called Rudali.

Radio Mirchi, with its brand proposition 'Mirchi sunne vale always khush', is back on the advertising circuit. After a gap of nine long years, the FM network, owned by Entertainment Network India, executed a television campaign along with McCann Worldgroup.

Titled Rudali, the campaign revolves around how the new generation of rudalis, professional mourners of Rajasthan, are failing at their craft. And, the reason for this is Mirchi's content offering which makes listeners happy.

Right from its first ad in 2006-07, which made even a sewage worker sing a song, Mirchi's aim has been to convey to the audience that a Mirchi listener is happy, optimistic, full of life and always hopeful.

According to G G Jayanta, national marketing head, Radio Mirchi, the network's brand positioning is 'sunshine'. "For this particular campaign, instead of showing the rather formulaic storyboards of the modern urban, angst-ridden youth, we decided to use an approach that is exactly the opposite. Hence, the rudaali has been brought in to draw the contrast between the young and the old, this time in a rural setting. The ad shows younger rudaalis find it hard to cry much to the chagrin of the older generation of rudaalis. The reason they find it hard is revealed at the end," explains Jayanta.

This is brilliant! Take a bow #RadioMirchi for this hilarious #Rudali ad! https://t.co/fm9XEwYhJS via youtube

— Apurva (@Apurvasrani) December 24, 2015

On being quizzed if Mirchi's broad TG (youth) will relate to the Rudaali theme, Jayanta admits that the brand chose the risky route with the campaign's grim beginning, but the surprising climax reinforces the brand positioning.

"And, since rudaalis are not a popular concept, a longer format had to be used," he adds.

LOL... made my day #Swag Radio Mirchi - Rudali https://t.co/gXOFbkQx9f via @YouTube

— AshuArvIndian (@AashuArvind) December 22, 2015

The film will be heavily promoted on social media including Mirchi's Facebook page, YouTube channel, and RJs' Twitter feeds. Directed by Nikhil Rao of Jamic Films, it has an advertising budget of Rs 10 crore, and tops Mirchi's list of its forthcoming campaigns.

Jayanta promises innovation in the content and programming line-up of 2016, and informs that there will be new segments and shows to build engagement with the listener. The marketing challenge, in his opinion, is two-fold. The first is to be in sync with the audiences' tastes as they evolve, and second, to further increase the reach of the radio.

Meanwhile, Prasoon Joshi, chairman Asia-Pacific, CEO, and chief creative officer McCann India, says, "Radio Mirchi is very special to me, and for all of us at McCann. We've been partnering with it since its inception. This ad campaign is another gem in its repertoire. Kapil Batra and Ashish, and director Rao and his production team have done a great job," says Joshi, while congratulating the creative team. "I also extend my thanks to Vineet Jain and Prashant Pandey's team at Radio Mirchi for the trust and faith that was placed in us. I am positive that consumers too, would love this ad which builds on the brand in such a fantastic manner," Joshi adds.

The campaign posted on Facebook on December 20 has received 9,84,000 views so far, and is being shared over social media.

Spreading Cheer

Manish Bhatt, founder director, Scarecrow Communications, feels that the brand has cleverly used the metaphor of death to bring out the brand proposition of happiness. According to him, it is a beautiful contrast of hasna (laugh) and rona (cry).

"Rudali, for most, is folklore. Many of us have not even witnessed the tradition and our only reference point is the movie featuring Dimple Kapadia. Hence, as a campaign theme it does not come across as grim," he opines.

Bhatt finds that at a time when television is filled with superficial entertainment, the campaign will be memorable as it's an example of intelligent entertainment and is quite gratifying.