We want to blend our core strengths into the digital economy for Big World's verticals: Sunil Kumaran

Big FM has announced its new business offering titled, 'Big World'. 

With this offering, the audio network aims to add value to its consumers' lives by inspiring and entertaining them through content and connections. 

The announcement of this offering was made on 8 June 2022, wherein the new logo and the audio network's initiatives were detailed.

Campaign India caught up with Sunil Kumaran, chief operating officer, Big FM, ahead of the launch to understand the concept of Big World, how they intend to drive connections, and how brands can cash in on Big World's verticals. 

Edited excerpts: 

What was the intent behind launching Big World? 

Big World is going to be Big FM's go to market strategy. It is a slew of offerings emanating out of our strength as an audio brand. 

The Big World umbrella will encompass verticals such as Big Social (Big FM's social media offerings), Big Life (its on-ground and digital events offering), and Big Audio, an offering that taps into the strength of the network's audio ecosystem capabilities.  

It comes from the approach of driving effectiveness for our clients coming on board as advertisers on a platform. 

We strongly believe that effectiveness and engagement are driven by two factors: the reach of the platform and content. 

With the Big World offerings, we intend to offer powerful content and strong connections to thereby drive effectiveness. 

How will this new brand offering add value to your stakeholders and consumers?

For radio, our whole focus is to tap into our strength of being a brand of storytelling. We aim to leverage trends and this capability of storytelling in the regional market. 

The growth of India is primarily coming from tier two and three towns. Most brands are also seeing a significant amount of attraction in these areas. 

There is a great synergy where brands are seeing a great opportunity and what we bring to the table as a media entity. So we are tapping into these markets with programming initiatives and regional IPs. 

Additionally, brands will be given the chance to tap into these regional IPs to grow in these markets. 

How will Big FM leverage its content creators to instil the message of the Big World philosophy?

We are tapping into our network of RJs who are content creators in their own right. We have a hundred plus RJs across all our 58 markets and will be availing their influential capabilities for this new philosophy. 

Beyond that, we are tying up with regional RJs in tier two and three markets. We will be utilising them to deliver content as well as reach our clients in these markets. 

Many media companies are reforming their strategies and philosophies post-pandemic. What is the primary reason for this shift, and how often is a revival in offerings required to sustain in the market? 

Evolution has always been happening. It's just that the covid pandemic accelerated the course of evolution. 

One of the significant changes that took place was that consumers became much more digital-savvy. From financial transactions to consumption of content, everything has shifted to digital. 

Brands have realised this shift and started leveraging the potential that digital offers. We approach this digital leverage by utilising our core strengths. 

We want to blend our core strengths into the digital economy. That is how we are approaching all the Big World verticals. We are tapping into the strengths of RJs, their ability to be an influencer and their social media presence. 

We are also approaching the digital evolution with our ability of audio production and looking at newer formats like smart speakers. 

What is the impact expected from this launch? 

Since these are newer verticals and we are at different stages of evolution at this point we will have to see how it plays out. 

However, we are envisaging that the growth of these verticals will see an upward trajectory. We hope that in the future, these verticals will become a large contributor to our bottom line. 

Some areas like podcasts, smart speakers, influencer marketing, and digital concerts are already seeing a growth trajectory. 

The growth potential for these verticals is monumental, and that is why we felt the need to invest in them.