Shashin Devsare, Executive Director, Karbonn Mobiles, in conversation with Pavan R Chawla about Karbonn Mobiles' sponsorship of Uninor Mirchi Music Awards 2010 powered by Karbonn Mobiles. Excerpts.

What do you think about the Mirchi Music Awards – as a tribute to the best and most popular Bollywood Music in India?

The Mirchi Music Awards has, in a relatively short span of time, become one of the leading and prestigious awards related to the Indian music industry. The awards, supported by Radio Mirchi, which is among the most popular FM radio channels, and a panel of jury comprising of the leading lights of the music industry, has gained a pre-eminent space among music enthusiasts.

We would like to have in your own words, the reasons for your sponsoring the Uninor Mirchi Music Awards.

We are extremely happy and truly honored for this opportunity to associate ourselves with the Mirchi Music Awards. The popularity of Bollywood music, globally as well as in India, is unparalleled, and one which cuts across demographies and appeals to one and all. We found this as a strategic fit to Karbonn Mobiles' product offering in the multimedia segment of mobile phones and perceive it as perfect medium to reach out to our target audience 

We are also doubly excited that the Mirchi Music Awards reaches out to help junior and mid-level professionals as well and are happy that the awards are doing their bit to promote young and upcoming talent.

How do you use Music to promote your brand?

As somebody has rightly said, music is truly universal in nature and speaks a language that knows no boundaries. Karbonn Mobiles has effectively leveraged this power of music and has been extensively associated with music in the past too, being a part of music-based reality shows to create a recall for the brand.

How do you use Radio as a medium for marketing, and to what results?

Radio has figured prominently in our media plans and marketing strategies owing to the reach and ubiquity of radio as a medium. We have extensively leveraged radio channels across the country to create awareness for Karbonn Mobiles and have got extremely positive results.

Have you created any specially-for-Radio advertising for your brand?

As I mentioned, we have extensively used Radio as part of our promotions. We had created radio-specific campaigns for quite a few of our phones, which include the Karbonn K1212 and the Karbonn K30. We had utilized radio for our promotions during the last edition of the Indian Premier League as well, of which Karbonn Mobiles was the official mobile phone partner.

Pls share your views on the composition and quality of the jury  of MMA

The jury of the Mirchi Music Awards, ably led by the inimitable Javed Akhtar, truly comprises of the Who's Who of the music industry in India, boasting of names that are undoubtedly the best in the business.

What do you think of the fact that the Uninor Mirchi  Music Awards 2010 powered by Karbonn Mobiles focuses on purely musical entertainment at its live event? And the lineup of entertainment for this year's awards?

It is befitting that the awards are focusing on pure musical entertainment. The entertainment quotient in this year's edition of the Mirchi Music Awards promises to be like never before, with a dazzling array of performances with renowned musicians like Daler Mehndi, Vishal Shekhar, Mika, Mamta Sharma, Neeraj Shridhar, Anushka Manchanda and Master Saleem, among others.

Two of India's most popular and best singer-anchors, Shaan and Sonu Nigam, will anchor the live event this year. Your views and expectations from this?

Shaan and Sonu Nigam are two of the best singers of the country with an amazing stage presence and a remarkable ability to connect with the audience. It would be indeed interesting to see them anchor this year's show and I am sure they will set the stage on fire  We are really excited and happy to be part of this year's edition of the Mirchi Music Awards and wish the awards all the success.