ITV

Tag: Gaurav Seth

  • KBC ties up with Radio Mirchi for ‘Kaun Banega Lakhpati’

    KBC ties up with Radio Mirchi for ‘Kaun Banega Lakhpati’

    MUMBAI:  Back with a grand opening, Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) has not left any stone unturned to stay true to its tagline, ‘Yahan sirf paise nahi dil bhi jeete jaate hai’ .

     

     After a stellar opening in Surat, the channel has now joined hands with the leading radio station Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM for an exclusive on air contest ‘Kaun Banega Lakhpati’ in several cities across India.

     

    With this unique innovation, Sony Entertainment Television (SET) intended to bring their fans closer to the show through a different yet successful medium. Radio Mirchi gave listeners and KBC loyalists a chance to not only be part of the mega franchise but also be a double lakhpati.

     

    Speaking about this unique contest, SET senior VP and head  marketing Gaurav Seth said, “This unique contest with Radio Mirchi was specially conceptualised to give our viewers an opportunity to play this great game and engage with our show. Sitting on a hot seat is a dream come true for every viewer and this contest was the perfect platform for them. I am extremely happy at the overwhelming response that the contest has received.”

     

    For the contest, morning RJ’s floated questions from the previous night’s telecast episode on air inviting Mirchi listeners to answer. All they had to do to become a lakhpati was SMS the correct answer to the question. The first person to send across the message with the correct answer (Fastest Finger First) became eligible to be a contending participant in the radio show on that day. The shortlisted contestant was then asked a series of five questions. Prize money for correctly answering the first question was Rs 10000, for the second question it was Rs 25000, for third it was Rs 50,000, fourth was Rs 1,00,000 and finally by answering the fifth and final question the participant became eligible to win the bumper prize of Rs 2 lakh.

     

    Amongst many contest winners, Sultan Mohammedbhai Dalal won Rs 2 lakh on Hi Mumbai and Sunita Pokhriyal won Rs 1 lakh on Hi Delhi.

     

    Commenting on this, Radio Mirchi Mumbai cluster head Preeti Nihalani said, “KBC is one of the biggest and most admired shows on television. Radio Mirchi is delighted to associate with a show that is so close to the hearts of people around the country. The tie-up amplified the interest level of the TV audience as well as the radio listeners and gave them a chance to be a lakhpati sitting at home.  We received a tremendous response on air and appreciation from our listeners on Twitter and Facebook. This activity has definitely got the audiences closer to the show.”

  • KBC 8: Stays true to its message, wins hearts at Surat

    KBC 8: Stays true to its message, wins hearts at Surat

    MUMBAI: It was a night to remember for people in Surat who were entertained by none other than Amitabh Bachchan and Kapil Sharma.

     

    Sony Entertainment Television took its property, ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’, out of its sets for the first time and created magic at the Surat Stadium for the 7000 plus audience. The live event held on 2 August saw Big B open the season in his inimitable style along with a bevy of dancers with whom he grooved to songs sung especially by him for KBC.

     

    The event was hosted by Kapil Sharma, who left the audience in splits with his impeccable comic timing. He also experienced the tension contestants go through as he sat on the hot seat for the first time. Sharma expressed his happiness of working with Sony again and sharing the KBC stage with Bachchan. “It is always a pleasure to work with him,” he said.

     

    SET senior EVP and business head Nachiket Pantvaidya added that getting Sharma on-board was a good move, considering his popularity among the masses. “He has added a lot of value to the show. Plus, he has worked with Bachchan before so there is a certain chemistry between the two which was an advantage for us,” he informed.

     

    Adding to the excitement were the iconic cops, Dayanand Shetty and Abhijeet from Sony’s popular crime show, ‘CID’, who interacted with the audience.

     

    If that wasn’t enough to leave the audience spellbound, then the valiant warrior and Rajput hero, Faisal Khan from ‘Maharana Pratap’ surely did that with his stellar dance performance. The trio of Neeti Mohan, Meiyang Chang and Anirudh Dave also added to the entertainment quotient of the evening keeping the audience engaged in a musical banter. The charming Shillong Choir gave a heart- warming performance.

     

    This year, the channel wanted to target the cities which usually are ignored. Pantvaidya believes that it is either the state capitals or the metros that get their share of entertainment. “Thus, there was a need to target the smaller cities which are otherwise ignored and not paid much attention to,” he said.

     

    “If we connect across these smaller cities, we will be able to fulfill all those aspirations and we did that with Surat,” added Pantvaidya.

     

    According to SET SVP head marketing Gaurav Seth, it is also a good way to test how both, the brand and the channel, is doing in these cities.

     

    The channel is quite happy to take the show outside the sets for the first time. “I am quite happy that everything went as per plan,” opined Seth.

     

    So what is new this season? Though the prize amount remains the same, Rs 7 crore, to make the show more interesting, two additional features have been added.

     

    The expert advice lifeline has been converted into a panel of three wise men who will sit amongst the audience called ‘Triguni’. Upon being called, these three wise men will give the correct answer along with interesting trivia around the question.

     

    Another interesting lifeline called ‘Code Red’ will let the family of the participants tell them to quit, if needed, by pressing a buzzer placed in front of them. According to Pantvaidya, “This will also increase the number of factors in the game theory. This is not just a knowledge game but it is also about uncertainty in people’s mind.”

     

    At the marketing front, the channel is leaving no stone unturned to create the buzz.

     

    After Surat, it will be travelling to three other cities which have not yet been finalised. However, the aim is to keep the buzz alive at the same scale.

     

    Seth believes that this season’s core message ‘Yahan Sirf Paise Nahi, Dil Bhi Jeete Jaate Hain’ will be the constant catchphrase for the show.

     

    “Keeping in with the promise of our brand, we are happy that we are able to integrate our thought into the content,” added Pantvaidya.

     

    To increase the level of engagement with the consumers, the channel has created a KBC app. For the first time, this year, wherein people sitting at homes can experience in real time and play by answering questions and win prizes.

     

    Apart from this, social media is going to play a major role to drive the point. The channel has rolled on a 100 ground events, where people will share their experience of sitting on the hot seat on Facebook.

     

    Though both the officials refused to disclose any financial details, sources from the industry estimate that around 30 per cent of the entire budget is being spent on marketing.

     

    Four episodes have already been canned and are at the edit phase right now.

     

    Though the channel is betting big and spending loads and loads of cash, media planners believe that like last year, this season will also not add value to the ratings and give the channel those numbers as expected.

     

    Produced by Big Synergy, it will hit the television screens from 17 August, five days a week at 8.30 pm.

  • KBC8: Strumming the heart strings of viewers

    KBC8: Strumming the heart strings of viewers

    MUMBAI: It’s Big B time on Sony Entertainment Television.  Almost 14 years after he mesmerized the nation with his baritone voice as the host of the first season of Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), Amitabh Bachchan  made his fictional debut in  a drama series Yudh on the Hindi GEC earlier this month. Come mid-August, and viewers of Sony will get to see more of the thespian as the first episode of the eight season  of the quiz game show hits TV screens.

     

    KBC8 – as it is being called – promises a lot and the channel is banking heavily on it to boost its viewership and pull it out of its fifth placed spot amongst GECs.  Like previous years, Sony Entertainment’s marketing mavens are putting their best foot forward to help it build a better connect with audiences.

     

    “We sat and thought about what we have said and done in the past so that we can come up with a new concept this time,” says SET senior VP and marketing head Gaurav Seth. “The conclusion we came up was that whatever be the case, Big B and a few contestants over these past years have been able to win million of hearts. Hence, came the new communication, which is – Yahan Sirf Paise Nahi, Dil Bhi Jeete Jate Hain. ”

     

    Conceptualised by Leo Burnett and executed by Opticus,  the underpinning thread of KBC’s promotional campaign this year will center around social issues gripping the nation.  Three films, each with a different story, character, set-up and theme, will be aired over the coming few days on TV and released in social media.

     

    The first of these titled ‘Kohima’ touches upon the sensitive issue of racialism or discrimination that people from the northeast face.

     

    Just over a minute long, the TVC  opens with Amitabh Bachchan asking Poornima, a young contestant hailing from the northeast, “Which country is Kohima in? (A) China (B) Nepal (C) India or (D) Bhutan.”

     

    The contestant opts for an audience poll (a lifeline in the game show) and 100 per cent of the respondents say India. Bachchan tells her, “it’s India, everyone knows this answer” to which the young contestant replies, “Everyone knows the answer, but how many people actually acknowledge it?”

     

    The film ends with the message ‘Yeh khel kuch aisa hi hai, yahan sirf paise hi nahi dil bhi jeete jaate hain.’

     

    It took three-four months of brainstorming, a lot of hard work by all the concerned entities (Sony Entertainment, Big Synergy, Leo Burnett) to weigh the pros and cons, before the theme was finalised.

     

    Leo Burnett executive creative director Nitesh Tiwari says the first challenge for him was to be innovative and avoid repetition. Says he: “This is the fourth year I am being associated with the channel. In the last three years, we had done it all, so the biggest challenge for us was how to make it different this season.”

     

    The creative agency’s CEO Saurabh Varma believes Tiwari and his team have come out with a winner as the KBC8 ads effectively use the power of communication to raise the collective conscience of the nation.

     

    He asserts: “Over the years we have noticed that people wait for the KBC promos as much as they wait for the next season of KBC. And the participants who reach the hot seat take more than just money from the KBC stage. Our latest promos take this insight to a larger, national and social canvas. The ads effectively use the power of communication to raise the collective consciousness of the nation.”

     

    Pantvaidya too is pleased with the way the three TVCs have been filmed (for the first time in Gujarat), adding that stereotypes have indeed been broken.  What must be making him happy is the number of views that the Kohima film has garnered on Youtube since its release on 8 July:  584,251 views, at the time of penning the article.

     

    Promos aside, Pantvaidya is pushing below the line activation in a big way in the coming weeks to build a face-to-face connect between KBC8 and Indians on the streets.  Marketing spends according to sources have been upped by 30 per cent or so.

     

    “We believe that we need to address these consumers by reaching out to them and that is the real thought behind all our campaigns,” adds Pantvaidya.

     

    The direct-to-consumer push includes Amitabh Bachchan  hosting four events across four cities; Surat being the first one. Another100 ground events are slated to be held in smaller towns which will give small-town-ers an opportunity to play along and get a chance to sit on the hot seat and try his/her luck to win the cash price of Rs 5 crore. This aside, viewers will also be encouraged to play the game real time through the KBC8 application on their hand held devices like mobile phones and tablets.

     

    As far as each episode of KBC is concerned, its length has been cut to an hour as against an hour and a half last year. Then, a new lifeline has been added called the community lifeline, which allows contestants to call any one in the community for help if they find a question tricky.

     

    Production for KBC8 is in the able hands of Siddhartha Basu’s Big Synergy Productions with filming slated to start in end July.

  • ‘Yudh’ will rewrite Indian television history

    ‘Yudh’ will rewrite Indian television history

    MUMBAI: When the shahenshah of Bollywood enters the daily soap genre ruling the small screen, it is bound to create curiosity among his fans and others.

    And the channel, Sony, airing Amitabh Bachchan’s debut in a fiction show with Yudh isn’t shying away from going an extra mile to keep the buzz alive before the big launch on 14 July.

     “We have gone that extra mile to break the clutter and establish top of mind recall,” says Sony Entertainment Television (SET) SVP head-marketing Gaurav Seth.

    The 20 episode fiction series, which will replace Balaji telefilms’ Bade Achche Lagte Hain and air Monday to Thursday at 10.30 pm, is said to be an audience pulling because of the legendary artist on-board.

    “Some shows open slow and take their own sweet time to get bigger while others are quite the opposite.  A lot of shows on Sony opened really big but over time people felt that they were dragging. But with the new show, we are hoping for a win-win situation. Bachchan will pull crowds and finite episodes will keep them hooked on,” strongly believes Seth.

     “Considering that Anurag Kashyap is the storyteller here, I think it is an advantage. It is quite high-tide drama show,” he adds.  

    Filmy style

    The channel is pitching it like a movie, and hence, following the rules and steps taken during movie promotions. The first look was launched through a poster, followed by music release and then a trailer on television and digital.

    It was last year, 6 June to be precise, when the channel started the buzz around the show.

    Set to go down in the history of Indian television, the channel is using unique and innovative ways to reach out to the viewers. To promote the show as the next big thing, a robust 360 degree marketing activity has been lined up.

    The marketing initiative started in the national capital, where a 50 feet tall poster was unveiled from the famous Statesman house. The poster revealed the first look of the show; and the cast spearheaded by Bachchan along with the directors Anurag Kashyap and Shoojit Sircar were present at the unveiling.

    This was closely followed by the protagonist listing his company Shanti Constructions at Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The trading at the stock exchange started after the star rang the opening bell at the BSE on 17 June. 

    The channel has also been extremely strong on digital. Starting 11 July, viewers will get a chance to view a 10 minute sneak peak of the first episode. All one has to do is to tweet about the show and the video hosted on yudh.setindia.com; the more one tweets, the more closer they get to unlocking the 10 minute video.

    The strategy will be used throughout the season, wherein viewers will get a chance to view the first few scenes from the next episode of the show by answering the question asked post every episode.

    Bachchan who is active on twitter, launched a lot of trailers on his timeline.

    Starting 21 July, the channel also plans to launch a character based application. Online quiz has also been planned wherein people will be asked a few questions about themselves and based on the answers they will be told which character personality comes closest to them. “The objective of the activity is to build key characters from the show and for viewers to identify with them,” says Seth.

    SET refused to divulge the production cost but sources claim it could be close to Rs 3 crore per episode (including marketing spends). The amount is more than ever used for a fiction show on Indian television. Generally, the production cost of a daily soap is less than Rs 1 crore per episode.

    Yudh has also managed to break boundaries in terms of ad rates. A 10 sec ad spot is being sold at double rate than the usual at Rs 3 lakh.

    Sometimes, it is just not about investments, believes Seth. “At times, we have done high-budgeted shows and spent a lot in marketing them as well. But it is not always about investments; sometimes it is all about creating content that you believe in. You have a big star and you believe he has certain kind of affinity with the audience.”

    Will it be able to break-even? “The marketers have shown interest in it,” says Seth.

    Many advertisers have jumped on the opportunity to associate with it. Cadbury and OLX.in are the main and powered by sponsors with six associate sponsors namely Honda, Maruti Suzuki, Nutrela, Syska LED, Ultratech and Goibibo.com.

    Masses on mind

    And similarly like a movie, the channel with this show aims to target the entire country and not any particular TG.

    “Bachchan appeals to both, male and female.  We are talking to the masses, irrespective of men and women,” asserts Seth.

    With 10.30 pm slot, is it skewed more towards adults? “It is my belief that AB is loved by both youngsters and older generation as well.”

    The promo of the show will be seen across channels like news, music, movies and regional.

    The channel has secured over 10,000 spots outside the MSM network. “Sometimes you have limitations on what you can take and cannot take because of your rival networks, but outside that almost everything has been covered,” pinpoints Seth.

    Radio listeners from Mumbai, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and cities of Maharashtra and Gujarat with a population of over 1 million will also be hearing spots of the promo on the radio station’s popular show. Movie goers too will witness the high octane promo in multiplexes and single screens.

    The one-hour series will be competing with other shows like Veera (Star Plus), Doli Armaano Ki (Zee), Tu Mere Agal Bagal Hai (Sab), yet-to-air Laut Aao Trisha (Life OK).

    “The slot doesn’t have much of competition. Whether it does extremely well, or not well, is not on our mind but the idea was to create a show that will stand alone on its own entity. All I am saying is that here is an opportunity for a finite period of time for you to come and sample a great legend on a television show,” concludes Seth.

  • Sony’s weekday bet with ‘Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega’

    Sony’s weekday bet with ‘Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega’

    MUMBAI: Sony Entertainment Television (SET) seems to be focusing strongly on its strength, which is in the non-fiction space. After a victorious innings of four entertaining seasons that packaged non-stop entertainment, the channel is back with Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega with its fifth edition. Starting from 12 May, the channel is betting big by airing the show for five days a week at 9pm.

     

    With its maverick judges, Anu Malik and Farah Khan spicing up this season, the show will also have the gorgeous Mona Singh hosting the show with her impeccable style and grace. Joining Mona will be her hilarious co-host, Krushna Abhishek, who with his funny antics will ratchet up the humour quotient and take the madness to a whole new level.

     

    Produced by Wizcraft Entertainment, it will see acts ranging from heart-stopping bike gymnastics to an international illusion act straight from France. Handpicked contestants from all over the country will display their extraordinary skills and talents at the auditions, and the best among them voted by the audience and the judges, will win Rs 11,111 on the spot in cash. Additionally, the best performer of each week will receive a cash prize of Rs 1, 00,000.

     

    Speaking about the launch, Sony SVP and head marketing Gaurav Seth explains: “Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega is a show that celebrates extraordinary talents in ordinary people and the uniqueness and the sheer variety of entertainment in India. This season has lots more entertainment and breathtaking acts that will leave the viewers amazed. We are thrilled to yet again have the unbeatable team of Anu Malik and Farah Khan who will be judging the show for its fifth year. We are offering a differentiated and entertaining option in primetime viewing and we hope our viewers enjoy watching it.”

     

    “Wizcraft is proud to be back with the fifth season of Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega, a show that showcases unique entertainers where performers get a chance to win some money at every step unlike other shows where only one wins in the finale. Along with the baap of entertainers Anu Malik and Farah Khan, adding a freshness to show will be the new host Krushna along with Mona, whose chemistry is infectious. We are sure this season of Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega will take the entertainment quotient to another level”, opines Wizcraft International Entertainment creative head Kailash Gandhi.

     

    The show is going to face hard hitting competition with shows like Diya Aur Baati Hum on Star Plus, Beintehaa on Colors, Chidiya Ghar on Sab, Nadaan Parinde on Life OK and Kumkum Bhagya on Zee TV.

  • Sony’s ‘Encounter’ with Manoj Bajpayee

    Sony’s ‘Encounter’ with Manoj Bajpayee

    MUMBAI: For Endemol India that has established itself as a leader in the reality TV space and has expanded into other strands of content, it has been a roller coaster ride.

    Although crime shows on TV are common with almost every channel, but the way Sony Entertainment Television (SET) has accepted this genre, nobody has, believe the experts of the industry.

    Crime always sells and it is this genre that has worked for the channel which is currently languishing among the bottom three GECs, according to the weekly TAM TV ratings.

    CID and Crime Patrol has been airing for years and it won’t be wrong to say that the shows belong to the crime space.  To get back its long lost position in the ratings chart, SET is set to launch Encounter on 11 April. Produced by Endemol India, the show will be hosted by Manoj Bajpayee.

    Encounter, as the name suggests, is an account of the dangerous encounters between cops and gangsters. It will bring alive the stories behind the famous encounters of the police and the underworld in India starting from the early nineties. Inspired by real-life incidents, the show aims at redefining the proverbial action series on television.

    The promos of the show that is to air 36 episodes have already hit the television screens and will be telecast every Friday to Sunday at 9 pm. It will replace the channel’s dance reality property Boogie Woogie that is shown on Saturday and Sunday while it will also take away a day’s telecast of Nandini (aired at 9 pm) and Jee Le Zara (aired at 9.30 pm) that airs on Fridays. Sources indicate that the latter will be shutting its shop very soon due to poor ratings.

    Gaurav Seth

    SET senior vice president, head-marketing Gaurav Seth believes that crime shows are the channel’s strength. “There are a lot of crime shows on television but we believe that such shows are our strength. People talk to us in big numbers, watch the crime genre and believe that we do it well. Whether its CID or Crime Patrol, these are the shows which have cult following over a period of time because people think that this is something Sony does best. We want to continue that trend.”

    Spelling out the reason of getting Bajpayee on board Seth avers, “He is going to play a very interesting role of narrating the stories from the inside. He has got most implacable credentials when it comes to this genre and has also played humorous characters that have actually stood out in Indian cinema.”

    SET has rolled out an aggressive marketing campaign for this show. There will be more than 20-25 channels telecasting the promos of Encounter. For the channel that has already bought 8,000 spots, television is going to play a lead medium for communication. The promotional TVC featuring Bajpayee will also be promoted on other mediums like radio, print, digital media, games and apps.

    Ajay Bhalwankar, who has recently joined SET as its chief creative director, believes that the show is going to be a blockbuster. He reveals: “It is going to be very different show and not on the lines of Crime Patrol as people are comparing it with. These are all different cop stories and are not wholly focused on the criminals. You will find a lot of difference from other crime properties which are airing on television today.”

    Ajay Bhalwankar

    A source closely connected with Endemol revealed that the planning for the show started three months ago. “When we started off, we wanted to do a real encounter series, real cases with real people. But it was just not possible. It also needed to have a fictional twist because getting the police on-board was a difficult task. So we decided to make it a fiction series because the channel believes in crime-related shows and that is its audience.”

    The same source further goes on to add: “We shot a small pilot with an actual encounter specialist A Khan and the channel liked the concept so much that they immediately picked it up. The pilot would be of one episode.”

    Moreover, compared to Sony’s other crime properties like CID and Crime Patrol, the production cost of Encounter is much higher per episode. As of now three episodes have been canned and are ready to go on-air.

    Media professionals feel that the channel should concentrate more on its line-up of fiction rather than giving viewers weekend dose of entertainment. “The show is going to compete with one of the best shows other channels have in that time slot. Since Sony already has strong crime properties that are doing well for them, there was no need to create another one. They should come up with innovative content for its daily soaps which are struggling to find its place in the ratings chart,” reasons a prominent media planner who did not wish to be named.

    Encounter is going to compete with Pavitra Rishta (Fri) and DID Lil Masters (Sat-Sun) on Zee TV, Beintehaa (Fri) and Khatron Ke Khiladi five (Sat-Sun) on Colors, Diya Aur Baati Hum on Star Plus (Fri-Sat) and Mad In India (Sun) and Chidiya Ghar on Sab.

    Seth is not worried about the competition. “We are extremely hyper and aggressive about everything that we are doing. Since it’s a very competitive slot, we have to believe in our content. And to ensure that people latch on to this content, we have a very interesting promotional campaign going on and we are very excited about it,” he signs off.

  • SET airing month-long Mumbai special on CID, Crime Patrol

    SET airing month-long Mumbai special on CID, Crime Patrol

    MUMBAI: As the undisputed leader in the crime genre, Sony Entertainment Television has kicked-off a one-month special titled Mission Mumbai dedicated to maximum city.

    The series started airing early March and will continue through the month, and sees two of Sony’s longest running crime shows – CID and Crime Patrol – showcasing actual crime in the city.

    Sony has come up with a comprehensive marketing strategy to promote its Mumbai special on CID and Crime Patrol.

    Speaking of CID, the channel has flagged-off a campaign where Mumbaikars can participate in a plethora of fun-filled activities across prominent areas of the city. Twenty-five to 30 localities are on the radar where functions are held every week to felicitate the winners of what Sony calls the ‘Heroes initiative’.

    Sony SVP head marketing Gaurav Seth says they wanted to re-energise Brand CID that has successfully completed 17 years and 1,000 episodes. “Plus, we’ve been noticing that Mumbai, which had become a key market for CID and Crime Patrol over the years, is responding in a lukewarm manner to CID over the past few months. We wanted to bring back the show to this market and make it alive for consumers here once again,” he adds.

    We wanted to re-energise Brand CID – Gaurav Seth

    Sony has ensured that the message of ‘Mission Mumbai’ goes out everywhere, with over 500 outdoor hoardings, bus shelter hoardings, bus panels, platform boards and inside train panels dedicated for the purpose.

    The channel has tied up with 10 to 15 McDonalds’ outlets where kids will participate in a contest by answering why they want to meet the CID protagonists. Writers of the best replies will get to interact with CID actors.

    Further, SET has tied up with Radio Mirchi where the listeners can nominate their near ones or themselves for the ‘Mumbai ke Heroes’ contest. One more initiative on the FM channel called Mumbai bana CID will have radio jockeys quiz Mumbaikars about their city. The one who gives the most correct answers will get to feature in one of the CID episodes.

    What’s more, the channel has collaborated with certain local cable operators to get TV audiences direct transmissions of these one-off events. It is also promoting the Mumbai special on regional news channels to target the local, Marathi-speaking junta with over 1,000 spots.

    Seth claims the response received in the very first week has been fantastic. “Over 2,500 people turned up for the event and over 1,000 people interacted and played games during the three-day pre-promotion phase. We reached over 1,000 households and invited them for the main event,” he says.

    “We are extremely happy, we have always been doing ground out-reach programmes in terms of how people react to our programmes. This gives us a good feeling that the brand is alive and people love the show and the characters and the channel.”

    Buzz is, SET plans on more specials like Mission Gujarat and Mission Delhi but is testing the waters with Mission Mumbai first.

  • Sony’s ‘Mahotsav’ to engage with its TG

    Sony’s ‘Mahotsav’ to engage with its TG

    MUMBAI: The last few years haven’t been very kind to Sony Entertainment Television (SET), at least in terms of weekly TAM ratings, but that hasn’t stopped the channel from making all the right noises in recent months.

     

    On the back of NP Singh’s elevation from COO to CEO and Man Jit Singh’s appointment as president of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) comes ‘Sony Mahotsav’, an engagement extravaganza launched by the channel to get up, close and personal with its audiences in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana. Having started in November last year, the festival will continue till the end of this month, both gratifying and exposing audiences to the opportunity of understanding the 17-year-old brand.

     

    Says SET senior VP and head marketing Gaurav Seth: “This extravaganza has been organised to take the experience of Sony to our audiences in UP, Punjab and Haryana. UP and Punjab are critical markets for us. Through the show, we have realised that even if the channels’ reach and viewership doesn’t reflect in the TV ratings, there is a huge section that wants and desires the shows aired on it.”

     

    SET has already covered Varanasi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Allahabad, Agra, Meerut and Dehradun in UP and plans to cover Punjab and Haryana’s top nine markets including Bathinda, Abohar, Batala, Yamuna Nagar, Kaithal, Jind, Rohtak, Jalandar and Bhiwani.

     

    “We are covering cities in UP which have a population of one million plus, while cities in Punjab and Haryana which are being covered have a population of a 0.1-1 million,” informs Seth.     

     

    With ‘Sony Mahotsav’ held on Sundays, he goes on to explain how it works. “We reach the destination one week in advance and start promoting the festival through radio stations, local cable channels and print. We also rope in a few local people, who inform the residents through word of mouth. Then, we take up a huge ground and set up stalls which showcase the colours of the channel,” he informs.

     

    What can one expect from the fest? It gives audiences an opportunity to interact with their favourite characters from Sony’s shows and serials. Indeed, popular faces like Anoop Soni, Sangeeta Ghosh and Ruslaan Mumtaaz among others have been roped in to engage with the audience.

     

    Elaborates Seth: “There are separate stalls. So, we have a Nandini stall inspired by the show ‘Nandini’ based on the political scenario. On offer are activities like voting for the best couple or best show on the channel.” In a similar vein, there is a Maharana Pratap museum where spectators can dress up like the Maharana; a Kaun Banega Crorepati stall where people can pose alongside show host Amitabh Bachchan; an Indian Idol stall where fans can take to karaoke singing; and a Boogie Woogie stall where fans can groove to foot-tapping music. “There is something for everyone. We have also set up a workshop for women to teach them self defence, which is inspired by our shows CID and Crime Patrol,” says Seth.

     

    Also, spectators can view five to seven minute clips of shows aired on Sony during the day. “The idea is to ensure that people who have somehow missed the shows so far can be informed what the shows are about and can start watching it here on,” Seth informs.

     

    While the sponsor for ‘Sony Mahotsav’ in UP and Punjab is Kent RO, the music talent partner for the state is Universal Music. “We have also partnered with major radio stations in the state. So for UP, we roped in Radio Mirchi and Big FM for promotions. Also, we partnered with local cable operators to distribute the free-of-cost entry passes for the event,” reveals Seth.

     

    Sony has made a ‘sizeable’ investment in the festival and though it has conducted similar such events in the past, they’ve never been on such a large scale.

     

    The channel claims to have got a capacity crowd in every city of UP it has covered so far. “Though the numbers do not suggest the popularity of the brand, the crowd did show the love for the brand,” exults Seth, adding, “Looking at the response, we may conduct such events in other states as well.”

     

    So has a mammoth exercise like ‘Sony Mahotsav’ succeeded in boosting viewership? “We haven’t done any ROI till now. That will be done once the whole activity is complete. Once this is done, we will get an idea of the increase in viewership and reach numbers,” says Seth.

     

    And ‘Sony Mahotsav’ isn’t all. Recently, the channel launched two new shows as well – Ekk Nayi Pehchaan and Main Na Bhoolungi. Whether all of this reflects on the ratings, only time will tell…

  • Sony adds colour with two new shows

    Sony adds colour with two new shows

    MUMBAI: So what if it’s currently yo-yoing among the bottom three as far as TAM ratings go? Sony Entertainment Television is leaving no stone unturned to regain lost ground.

    Earlier this week, the GEC has launched a new show titled Desh Ki Beti Nandini with another one, Bhoot Aya, preparing to air every Sunday, at 11:00 pm, starting 13 October.

    Desh Ki Beti…, produced by Rashmi Telefilms, traces the journey of a typical Indian woman from the confines of her home to the limelight of politics and is a comment on how every Indian woman is a delicate mix of softness and strength.

    In sharp contrast, the upcoming Bhoot Aya, produced by Akashdeep Sabir and Sheeba’s Cinetek Telefilms, explores the dark forces through real-life, spine-chilling encounters of ordinary people.

    Speaking about the marketing campaign for Desh Ki Beti… , SET senior vice president, head – marketing Seth says: “Nandini’s rise to, the promise of the show is that one day, she is going to run the country and that is something we have showcased in all our communications. Whether it was in music, promos or it’s been the visual imagery in print or outdoor. It shows the journey and definitely gives that hope and umeed to say that an empowered, confident and intelligent woman has no feelings.”
    We will dominate that slot through the power of our idea and our concept, says a confident Gaurav Seth

    Seth adds that in a bid to get people to understand the concept, the channel asked them the question: “Do you believe, ek ladki joh ghar chala sakti hai.. desh bhi chala sakti hai?”

    As regards the non-fiction show, Seth says: “Firstly, we have tied up with the Indian paranormal society, which in a sense we refer to as ghost hunters. They go out and validate whether it is a fraud or for real. We are marketing it in a very interesting manner using this scary super-natural spooky zone to promote it. We have press ads which are going to show on the day of launch.”

    Independent experts have been roped in who will relate how these things happen to the audience and the channel is confident the show is going to really scare people. It has even created five to six television spots for the purpose of promoting the show.

    This apart, Sony’s official page, which boasted around 460,399 likes at the time of writing this article, will be used to promote the new shows. Asked why no exclusive pages have been devoted to the programs, Seth reasons: “We have stopped creating individual character pages. We are pushing Nandini as a show and concept across all social media.”

    What about competition considering Desh Ki Beti will air at 9:00 pm? “It all lies in the concept. There’s always going to be competition at any given slot across multiple channels. And I don’t think competition is something we are really worried about. We will dominate that slot through the power of our idea and power of our concept,” Seth shoots back confidently.

    With one of Sony’s best and longest running crime shows, Crime Petrol, having been cut down to accommodate Bhoot Aya, isn’t the channel worried about viewership? “We are just making a three-day thing to a two-day thing. There won’t be a problem in that. We want to introduce some novelty and some differentiation,” quips Seth.

    Meanwhile, asked if the new shows will help Sony reclaim its number three position or higher, a media planner says: “We cannot be wrong in saying that, Sony has been very experimentative in nature. I see some positive vibes from Nandini, the storyline and concept is relevant in today’s time. As far as Bhoot Aya is concerned, the concept is not something unusual. Already there are shows like this; people want to see something different. I don’t know what different the channel plans to show viewers, but this non-fiction piece will definitely fail viewership.”

  • Can Sonys new offering Live it up?

    Can Sonys new offering Live it up?

    MUMBAI: Every Thursday is a reality check for the channels and its shows. And more so when it gets a new show onboard. The success of any marketing campaign is reflected in the ratings and so when Sony Entertainment Television launched its new soap Kehta Hai Dil…Jee Le Zara, it built a big marketing campaign to create the right buzz to get good viewership numbers.

     

    Sony which is the highest gainer this week, as it added 48,804 TVTs (Television Viewership in thousands) taking its cumulative to 349,377 GVTs (Gross Viewership in thousands) (300,573 last week), launched Jee Le Zara, on 15 August in the 9:30 pm slot.

     

    The show which entered into a very competitive time slot with Star Plus’s Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai and Zee TV’s Qubool Hai ruling the ratings chart in this time slot, has received 2,620 TVTs in its launch week and all this after some good marketing campaigns.

     

    “Every time slot today is competitive, we need to get audiences and so created a huge marketing campaign to inform people of the new show,” says SET senior VP & head-marketing Gaurav Seth. From a ‘Van Flag Off’ by Sangeeta Ghosh, the protagonist of the show to running of Twitter contests, the channel went a whole hog to hit the right cord with its audiences.

     

    The promotional activity started with the three promos shot for television. “Similarly, we had radio spots, which spoke on Sangeeta’s character in the show. We also launched a big multi-media print campaign on the day of launch of the soap which sustained till the first week of it going on air,” informs Seth.

     

    To sustain pressure and ensure that the promos went viral, the channel launched several social media activities and outdoor innovations. “One of this was when on 13 and 14 August we had a Jee Le Zara bus ferrying women from one part of the city to the other. The idea was to inform people of Sangeeta’s return on TV and also to promote the idea of Jee Le Zara,” he comments.

     

    The channel which launched the #Jee le zara moment contest on Twitter received over 7700 tweets with nearly 5.37 million people joining the conversation. “We were trending on Twitter on the launch day,” he informs.  The channel also ran promos of the show in major cinema chains nationwide for one week during the screening of Chennai Express.

     

    With Sony targeting not only the metros, but also UP, Rajasthan and Gujarat, with a 360 degree marketing campaign, we wonder if the numbers are enough when compared to the 7,435 TVTs of Qubool Hai and 7,284 TVTs of  Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai. The show will need some catching up to do in the coming weeks.