Urban centers of India have shown a trend of increased consumption of online podcasts. Streaming platforms such as JioSaavn, Spotify and Gaana and now even accessible smart speakers, such as Amazon’s Alexa are increasing in households. With such products and platforms being marketed heavily in metropolitan cities, it becomes easy to write off radio as a platform for audio entertainment, and subsequently, an effective medium for advertising.
Appearances can deceive, and multiple statistics prove that Radio in India today still stands amongst the topmost widely consumed media in our country. All India Radio reaches 99.19% of our 1.3 Billion person population, and FM Radio reaches above 65%. In the view of the recent Covid-19 Pandemic, studies show that listenership has grown by over 22%, with many households turning to radio in search of reliable and legitimate news. A radio set even today can be purchased at Rupees 50/- - A meager sum compared to the costs of smartphones and televisions. In a developing country, statistics show that Radio’s outreach is still extremely high, despite large-scale digitization.
Higher outreach of audio ads
A higher outreach, a greater sense of reliability and easy accessibility then make radio a natural contender for brands and companies who wish to advertise in the most productive way possible. As per an EY-FICCI report, the radio advertising sector grew by 7.5 % in 2018 reaching the size of 31.8 Billion Rupees in revenue. Projected figures show an increase to 45 billion rupees in revenue by 2024. Given its availability in rural India, advertising on Radio has immense advantages in terms of its outreach over television and digital media. Furthermore, Advertisements broadcast over Radio are less expensive than those produced and shared over television and digital media, making it a budget-friendly alternative for small and local businesses. Literacy is not a requisite for understanding a Radio advertisement, making it one of the more egalitarian forms of advertising.
Disadvantages of the trend
While statistics and demographics may lead us to believe it is an ideal advertising medium there are some distinct disadvantages to radio advertising just as well. The absence of visual and images makes the impact potentially limited- the copywriter must solely use words and music to help the listeners envision a product or an experience. A rapid and successful set of advertisements with every ad break ads the burden of making one’s advertisement stands out and grab the listener’s attention. Writing an ad for Radio therefore requires a special set of skills to consider in order to make the advertisement successful.
