Report: MEDIA CAMPAIGN FOR RED RIBBON EXPRESS (RRE)

Newspaper Advertisement on March 14, 2012

GENERAL FEEL & FLAVOUR OF THE MEDIA CAMPAIGN:

The entire campaign needed to have a feel of being a ‘fun way of learning about health’. The tagline of the Red Ribbon Express is ‘Zindagi Zindabad’, to give a positive vibe to the public about the message brought to them by the event. MDACS made sure that this positive vibe was reflected in their media campaign that ran across newspaper advertisements, hoardings, radio promotion and press conference.


What was taken into account throughout the campaign was that we needed to drive the maximum footfall during the event. Also, we needed to have a youth oriented flavor throughout. This was consistently maintained.

I HOARDINGS 

172 RRE hoardings were prominently displayed at railway stations on the central and harbour routes all leading to CST. The colourful hoardings were on display for over a week before the actual event to make sure that they were not missed by the commuters.

Hoardings at Railway Stations

II NEWSPAPER ADVERTISEMENTS


There were three types of advertisements that were given in newspapers – 3 Marathi dailies; 3 Hindi dailies & 2 English dailies.

Hindi
Nav Bharat times
Navbharat
Hamara Mahanagar

Marathi
Loksatta
Maharastra Times
Lokmat

English
Mid-Day
Mumbai Mirror

Newspaper advts. in English, Hindi & Marathi

The first advertisement was placed in the papers on the Sunday prior to the actual event. This was March 11, 2012. The advertisement brought to the attention of the readers that the Red Ribbon Express was to arrive at CST on March 14 and will remain stationed there till March 15. It also mentioned the timings and what the attractions were.

The second advertisement was placed in the newspapers on March 14, on the day of the inauguration of the event.

The third one appeared in the dailies on March 15, the last day of the event.

III RADIO PROMOTION

Fever 104 FM was the Radio partner that tied up with MDACS for promoting the Red Ribbon Express event.

The key elements of the radio promotions for RRE were:

Celebrity bytes: Popular Celebrities who visited the RRE gave interviews and their experience of the express urging listeners to come and visit this train.

FEVER 104 FM Radio Jockey covered the actual event on March 14 & 15; interviewing many groups of visitors especially the youth and showcasing it live to the listeners. One such group that was interviewed live was that of young scouts and guides from a school. The students narrated their experience of visiting the exhibition and learning about HIV/AIDS.

Red Ribbon Express was publicised on a radio show called, ‘Zara Si Life’ on FEVER 104 FM. This show talks about dealing with change and difficult issues and events in life, most importantly encouraging positive thinking. The radio jockey of this show, Karan Singh Rathore, spoke widely about the Red Ribbon Express and explained about the features of the express and the services available. He highlighted this train as a vehicle of change and support for the cause of HIV/AIDS.

IV PRESS CONFERENCE

A press conference was held on March 13 at the Press Club of India. The key objective of this PR exercise was to reach and inform as many people in the city through the medium of the press and invite them to visit the RRE on March 14 & 15, 2012. The press conference saw a powerful turnout of 37 media representatives from newspaper publications and news channels, some of the names mentioned in the table below:

IMPACT OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE

Newspaper articles based on the press conference

• 11 newspapers carried articles about the arrival of the Red Ribbon Express at CST on March 14, 2012.
• On March 15, 2012, 12 newspapers covered the RRE event and reported the highlights of the day including the counseling and testing figures.
• Nine online news portals carried articles on the Red Ribbon Express and covered the event on both March 14 & 15.