“We will renew thrust on strategic alliances”

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: script’. The result, of course, was that our brand awareness increased and sales in smaller towns, such as Indore and Baroda, increased notably. Our endeavour is to constantly explore opportunities where WorldSpace can be an integral part of the script and not merely a product placement.

Has your marketing strategy changed from the days when the task was more missionary in nature?

In 2005, when we launched, we introduced niche regional content. The idea was to reach out to all consumer segments. We kicked off the AR Rahman campaign. Another strategy was to also give the consumer an opportunity to touch and feel the product through kiosks and lounges set up across the country.

The second stage of our marketing efforts focused on creating distinction. While the earlier Rahman campaign captured the width of WorldSpace, the next one focused on the depth. We also made significant strides with our strategic alliances with brands such as Café Coffee Day and Barista.

The current marketing campaign focuses on broad-basing. We will focus our efforts in taking WorldSpace to tier-2 or class-B cities, where they have limited entertainment avenues. This year, we will also build momentum in the area of commercial broadcasting. Last year, our music were made available online via a strategic alliance with MSN. We will seek such strategic alliances this year too.

Where do you have the maximum subscription base? Which are relatively weaker?

WorldSpace was launched in Bangalore; hence the awareness level and adoption is probably highest in this market and other southern markets. Metro markets like Delhi and Mumbai have also shown a high level of traction.

I would say the east and central India present an unexplored, untapped future opportunity.

What is your growth rate in smaller, tier-2 cities?

Earlier, our strategy was to achieve growth in the top-10-city category before extending our retail network. Today we have posted over 50% growth in tier-2 markets, such as Cochin, Pune, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Trivandrum, Surat, Nagpur, Dehradun, Jaipur, Baroda, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Mangalore, Indore and Goa.

Going forward, what is the road map for WorldSpace in India?