A case study of Autoradio: Engaging regional audiences and business partners through federal project localization

In the summer and fall of 2022, the “Let’s Go” drive show went on a tour to the largest cities in the Autoradio broadcasting regions. As part of the “Let’s Go to Cities” project, the hosts have visited St. Petersburg, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Sochi, and Tyumen. In this case study, we take a look at how a federal radio station solved its audience-related and commercial challenges by localizing its federal show.

Project tasks

Promote the “Let’s Go” morning show and the Autoradio brand on a regional level:

to reach new audiences,

and to raise brand loyalty.

Monetize the project at the federal and local level by attracting new clients.

Key concept

A large number of exciting celebrations, festivals, campaigns, and flash mobs are held all across Russia every single day. Autoradio’s idea was to send the hosts of the morning drive show “Let’s Go” on a cross-country tour so that they could actively participate in the ongoing events and report on them live from local studios. With radio hosts from the nation’s capital covering community festivals featuring prominent local personalities, themes and games, this tour has become a high-profile event in the aforementioned cities. The project was sponsored and partnered by local advertisers.

Екатерина Самукова

Marketing Director, GPM Radio

We have introduced a new definition—a federal-local project. The “Let’s Go” morning drive show is a federal project, but we have made it a notable newsworthy event for each of the cities. Typically, federal show hosts paying a visit to a particular city outside the capital region is like a short newsflash—the effect lasts only for about a day or two. Kurochkin, Kalinina and Bronevoy would stay for a week, lead morning broadcasts attended by local celebrities, and reach out to the broader audience after the shows. They would also interact with the listeners, visit local tourist attractions, and host games and contests. This allowed us to promote the radio station in a 360 format, both nationally and locally.

In St. Petersburg at “Petrovsky Summer Night Ball”

Solution

The tour began on June 6 in St. Petersburg and ended on October 28 in Tyumen. The hosts of the “Let’s Go” drive show spent a whole week in each of the cities. From 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Moscow time, Monday through Friday, Kurochkin, Kalinina and Bronevoy would go on the air from local studios. Then they would go out to get to know the local sights and residents personally. The show culminated in the hosts joining a vibrant, colorful, and large-scale city event.

In Kazan, at the Sabantuy Festival

During their tour of the country, Kurochkin, Kalinina and Bronevoy saw the main attractions of St. Petersburg, took part in the “Petrovsky Summer Night Ball,” celebrated Sabantuy in the capital of Tatarstan, extended the summer season in sunny Sochi, and got acquainted with Siberian hospitality in Tyumen. A total of 112 local celebrities participated in live broadcasts of the “Let’s Go” drive show. The hosts have familiarized their audience nationwide with over 70 cultural and natural attractions of the Russian regions and organized more than 30 authentic games, challenges, and contests.

The events were actively covered by Autoradio’s social media channels and local media. The visits of the radio hosts were accompanied by an advertising campaign on the most popular and notable platforms. The average audience reach was 83%.

In Nizhny Novgorod—The Capital of Sunsets

Autoradio’s regional broadcasters were given with the opportunity to add a local hour to the federal program to attract advertisers. Ad inventory for the project sponsors and partners included announcement promos and liners, image-building promos, and social media posts. Additional options for local advertisers included:

a series of themed sections with client integration;

an interactive game (with client integration and client giveaways);

integration with news content;

a contest on Autoradio’s VK page (with more than 752 thousand subscribers).