LIC To Tune Into Radio With ₹12-15-cr Ad Spend

Life Insurance Corporation of India has earmarked an advertisement spend of ₹12-15 crore in the next financial year for advertiser-funded programmes (AFP) on All India Radio (AIR). The company is looking to market its services through AFPs, after a pilot was commissioned in 2013, and ride on the success of Prime Minister’s monthly radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat'.

The programme has raised the appeal of AIR as a medium for advertisers. A typical AFP contains a skit or a family drama that involves memorable characters created. “Having realised the need to increase insurance reach to rural and semi-rural areas, LIC has embarked on a campaign which will see the insurer broadcast the benefits of insurance to almost 92 per cent of the country’s population in 18 languages with new content daily.

Starting with 15 episodes of AFPs, LIC is looking to make this a long-running campaign to be extended to 90 episodes,” LIC Executive Director SN Bhattacharya said.

The State-owned firm intends to air AFPs of 15 minutes in 18 languages across 141 radio stations covering 92 per cent of country’s population.

LIC has a total advertising and promotional budget of about ₹400 crore per annum, of which about 10 per cent is earmarked for radio. Of this, ₹12-15 crore would be utilised for AFPs, he added.

AIR broadcasts to 99 per cent of the country’s population through 253 radio stations in 23 languages and 146 dialects.

Over the last several years, it has emerged as the medium of choice to reach areas that are termed as “media-dark corners”.

The country’s savviest marketers such as Hindustan Unilever and P&G have been running daily AFP on AIR in several markets to promote products such as shampoos, toothpastes, cosmetics, soaps and detergents.