Abraham Thomas, COO, Red FM

Abraham Thomas started his career in the print media with The Indian Express, where he worked his way up to the position of All-India Head of Ad Sales. Television soon beckoned him and he joined Sony Entertainment Network as Director-Sales for SET, MAX and AXN. He then moved to MTV Networks, where he headed the revenue function for MTV, Nickelodeon and Vh1.

Thomas joined Red FM as COO in March 2005. He believes that his strong background in revenue generation and his experience working with client brands helps him drive the station’s programming and marketing towards increased listener pleasure, while co-creating win-win marketing solutions for his clients. His vision has enabled Red FM to move ‘beyond radio’ and on to Red Activ (activation), Red Mobile (content on multi-digital platforms) and Red Creativ (Creative Solutions for clients).

In conversation with exchange4media’s Robin Thomas, Abraham Thomas shares his vision for Red FM, the challenge of building up and maintaining that listnership, and the thought process behind the ‘Bajaate Raho’ concept.

Q. Despite radio being the second oldest medium in the country, advertising on radio is a mere 3 per cent. Where do you think the problem is?

There are multiple problems; it had a couple of false starts in terms of private radio and then came Phase II of licencing. Initially, with the license fees the medium was still hampered but, it is now that the radio industry is really beginning to grow. The international averages range in between 8 per cent and 12 per cent of the market share and countries like Sri Lanka have about 20 per cent of the market share. Now that private radio and multiple players have come in, there are enough differentiation and innovations that have been created and there are a lot of attempts by individual radio players to increase their listenership market. Once that happens, you will see more money coming in the radio industry. Secondly, measurement is beginning to come in, which gives confidence to advertisers that their money spent is on the right medium; thirdly, more and more creative people are beginning to understand the medium and use the medium effectively, as a result of this, the trend is changing and more and more people are beginning to use the medium for what it is valued.

We have seen only one year of data, but I have always believed that trends are more accurate. For instance, if you look at say 8-10 weeks of data, it clearly gives us an indication of what is working and what is not and what kind of people like our shows and so on. Secondly, with the measurements making inroads in radio, it has only been good because today we have some form of measurement, which has given confidence to advertisers that they have spent their money in the right medium, otherwise they have been going as per their gut feelings. About the methodology, all I have to say is that every methodology has its pluses and minuses, but again, it is the trends that are accurate and we keep a good track of the trends.

Although there are no authentic confirmations, estimates of our revenue show that we are growing quite rapidly. Initially, the growth was coming from geographic expansions and new players and new markets, but growth will also come from the existing markets because of these factors of radio. I am quite optimistic that radio will get to the 8-10 per cent of the share soon.

One of the big things that we did last year was that we consciously and strategically went into the space beyond radio. We do a lot of on-ground activities even at the micro level – malls, trains, taxis. In terms of digital, our content is available on mobile phones for downloads, there is interactivity on the web, we also have an activation cell called ‘Red Activ’, which is doing activations for our clients, so a lot of our clients are taking to our on-air and on-ground activities. At one level, we are creating solutions for their client brands, which are very single client solutions, while on the other hand, we have large properties on which multiple clients ride on. The best example is the ‘Bajaate Raho Awards’, which started off as an on-air activity, then went on to on-ground activity, and finally television, where Sony Entertainment aired the entire event. It was the same content, but the client is allowed to ride on multiple mediums. It is this 360-degree direction that we have taken and it helps our brand become more visible.

In terms of operating level, there are multiple reasons for us being in the No. 1 position in Mumbai. There are many small things that we are continuously working on to keep ahead of the curve. Firstly, we make our ideas look really big and with numerous FM stations coming into play, our entire effort is to stay ahead of them all, for which we continuously brainstorm and innovate and come up with new ideas. Secondly, it is the execution of our idea that is brilliant and, therefore, our idea gets amplified. Thirdly, we have been consistent with our messages and our ideas across everything and anything we do. So, what you experience on air is the same that you will experience off air, what you will experience on ground and even in our events hence, the consistency in the multiple platforms amplifies the whole idea and that’s why we’ve been winning.

We have managed to amplify all our communication, therefore, the challenge before us is to stay ahead of the curve and keep innovating. At the macro level, we have a brand progression plan, this plan is something where we brainstorm and set milestones of where the brand should go. For instance, we were earlier ‘Asli Masti’, then we became ‘Bajaate Raho’. In that initial phase, ‘Bajaate Raho’ meant great music so, play on, then it turned into ‘Bajaate Raho’, which would ‘bajao’ issues and people, later on we added CSR where we brought ‘bajao’ for a cause, wherein we did charity and so on. Gradually, we added facets to the brand and the brand was evolved to a certain level. Similarly, we have a plan of what the brand should be like in the coming year. It is the combination of the brand plan and the operational plans that keeps us going.

As a brand, we are ‘bajaate raho’ – we are honest, real and not superficial – and this brand is carried forward by the RJs. The RJs and the content are all in sync with what Red FM is all about, and all the communication taking place in some form or the other on Red FM are all consistent with the brand.

We did heavily promote and build Malishka, and we heavily promoted and built Mantra, too. He is extremely popular and strong in the evenings. Mantra is our expert on cricket, Bollywood and so on. Similarly, we have Nitin in Delhi; we have picked up talent and nurtured it. We also have Suresh Menon, who has lots of properties with us, and his shows are clear winners – they are all ‘bajaate raho’. Individual RJs need to be in sync with what the brand is all about and only then can you promote them.

We have pretty long working hours, however, the work is so enjoyable that one does not realise the number of hours put into it. My day begins quite early and it ends quite late as well. What I do is keep my weekends for my family.

Yes, I do believe in self-regulation. I believe this is the only way that will work as your biggest regulator is your listener. If you are not giving the content your listener wants, they will automatically reject you. This forces you to give him what he wants.

We are clearly focussed on the 15-35 ABCs of our target audience and our programmes are targeted at them. It is true that across all cities it is only in Mumbai where we are in the clear numero uno position. In Kolkata, we are in the No. 2 position, according to the RTG and the distance between us and the No. 1 is too large, in Delhi, too, it is a similar tale. Yes, in Mumbai we have managed to surge ahead, however, in Delhi and Kolkata we are fighting hard and following through.

First of all, it will allow radio players to give different kinds of content. News, current affairs and multiple frequencies will allow the universe of the radio listenership to grow, and more and more people will find something as per their tastes. Thus, more people will listen to the medium, and as a result, the industry will grow even faster.

The penetration of radio is growing, and more and more people are joining the bandwagon. Mobile phones are playing a huge role in promoting radio listenership. I believe listenership of radio will continue to grow as there is place for everyone, some might decide to be niche and others, mass channels.

I believe differentiation exists and the listener is able to understand and recognise which station he is listening to. Our difference is our attitude, we play only superhit music, plus our content is in the ‘bajaate raho’ format, which is all framed in the listeners’ minds. Very soon, you will find radio players differentiating and going into profitable niches and it would be an ongoing process. The top three players will make 77 per cent of the money, while the other players would be forced to find other niches where they can be profitable. But these are still early days.

A lot of it, including my competitors.