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Tag: Sony YAY

  • Sony YAY! unites kids across the country for a noiseless and pollution free Diwali

    Sony YAY! unites kids across the country for a noiseless and pollution free Diwali

    MUMBAI:  Diwali, is inarguably one of the most awaited occasion for kids across India. The entire country is in the festive mood, children on their holidays and all geared up to revel in the celebrations. In all these festivities, one usually tends to overlook how our celebrations affect the animals around us. Animals have an acute sense of hearing and smell, the features that are a part of their survival mechanism. But the same attributes cause them acute disturbance and discomfort with the loud noise of crackers and the left over gunpowder. With an aim to bring awareness about the same and initiate a new tradition of celebrating noiseless and clean Diwali, Sony YAY! announced the 3rd edition of their landmark campaign – Pawsome Diwali. And who better than kids’ favorite cats i.e. Honey and Bunny from Sony YAY!  to drive this message forward.

    As a part of the entire drive, Honey and Bunny with their young fans donated ear mufflers to animal shelters and NGOs working towards animal welfare, to shield animals against the noise of fire-crackers. They also got together with NGOs like Jeev Basera, Stray Relief and Animal Welfare, India and Almighty Animal Care Trust to organize workshops across various key cities like Lucknow, Delhi and Chennai respectively to educate young minds about the importance of a noise-free Diwali.

    Not only this, social media celebrities also joined hands with YAY! to address all age groups and amplified the message through engaging videos and explanatory posts. Through their  digital outreach platforms, Sony YAY! also shared informative posts, contests and messages featuring Honey & Bunny requesting their fans to be more considerate to their pets and animal friends.

    The overarching thought was to instil a sense of empathy amongst the young fans so that they can celebrate Diwali in a pawsome way for years to come and bring happiness not only to their friends and family but also to animals.  

    Sony Pictures Networks India, Kids’ Genre! Business Head Leena Lele Dutta said,"Diwali is a festival of lights and not noise. With the first two years, we encouraged and introduced kids to the message of celebrating noise and pollution free Diwali. With the third edition the call for action evolves to inspire kids to make ‘cracker-free Diwali’ a habit. We want our next generation to understand the repercussions of bursting crackers and its adverse effects on pets, animals and even the environment. With Honey and Bunny being kid’s two favourite toon characters, our hope is that their message will positively translate in to a concrete change on these young and bright minds.”

    Rakhi Kishore, President- Jeev Basera (SPCA Lucknow), “In my opinion it's a great initiative by Sony YAY! that they are recognizing animal distress as a real problem. People should not forget that animals are an important and integral part of the ecosystem and they need to be loved and nurtured and cared for. Honey Bunny in their adorable form and character are spreading the beautiful message of having a safe and cracker-free (noise free) Diwali & Jeev Basera loved to be a part of this initiative of Sony YAY!.”

    Sai Vignesh, founder and president of Almighty Animal Care Trust, Chennai, “I support the initiative of Sony YAY! to raise awareness among kids about celebrating Diwali by not bursting crackers. Crackers are harmful to our health, environment and animals around us.”

    Vasanthi Kumar; Co- Founder & Managing Trustee, STRAW (Stray Relief and Animal Welfare) Delhi, “My experience with Sony YAY! has been Fantastic. Sony YAY! is a wonderful fun channel for children to connect with the world of animals & environment. Inspired from the initiative of Pawsome Diwali kids along with our NGO volunteers took a pledge on not bursting crackers this Diwali.”

  • Sony YAY!’s consolidation plan in regional markets

    Sony YAY!’s consolidation plan in regional markets

    MUMBAI: As per BARC India data, Sony YAY! continues to remain in the top three positions for the past few weeks. In week 41 the channel grabbed second position with 87898 weekly impressions (000s). The channel says its extensive plan starting from Dussehra to New Year has been one of the reasons in getting the top-three position. As part of its plan, the channel is airing three new movies of Honey Bunny during Diwali and four movies to be launched during the Christmas–New Year period.

    Sony YAY! launched Honey Bunny in Gangs of Filmcity on 6 October, Honey Bunny & The Cricket Gang on 13 October and Honey Bunny in a Crazy Family Adventure on 20 October.

    In an interaction with Indiantelevision.com Sony YAY! business head Leena Lele Dutta highlighted the factors that have propelled the growth of the channel. She said, “We are 30 months old in the market and we are one of the top three kids channels. The growth of the channel has been propelled by two reasons. The first is our content being available in seven regional languages and other reason is doubling the volume of our shows.”

    She explained further, “We are actually catering to kids who consume content in regional languages on a day to day basis and affinity for them to see content in that language is even stronger as they are better able to identify with the characters. We have doubled the number of episodes of a show that has helped us to give fresh content on a regular basis. So, it’s a combination of regionalisation and airing new episodes at a rampant pace.”

    Dutta also believes that ground marketing initiatives have also added to the growth. She said, “Our BTL initiative in our key market and our entire marketing push to connect with kids have helped us in getting the top three positions in the last 13 weeks.”

    Dutta also revealed her plans for festive seasons. She said, “There are two times in a year which are critical. One is the summer season of April, May and June and the other one is festive season starting from Dussehra to New Year. It’s a long period where there are short bursts of holidays which comes in and out and that also varies from market to market. We started festive offering with Honey and Bunny’s new episodes and movies from Dussehra which will continue till Diwali and end with Christmas – New Year. So during each of those long holidays we introduced movies and new episodes of Honey Bunny ka Jholmaal.”

    The channel will follow the same template for Diwali. Dutta informed that there will be three movies during the Diwali weekend and four during Christmas and New Year i.e. three of Honey Bunny and one of Kicko. They will be accompanied by below the line marketing activities such as Durga Puja pandal activation in Kolkata and Honey Bunny branded Dandiya in Ahmedabad and Surat.

    “In Diwali, we plan to roll-out pan-India activation across almost 70 cities. We will be going below tier 2 and tier 3 cities because our content is available in the regional language for those markets. The popularity of our toons and the connection with them is much stronger there. We plan to continue with our movie-binge in December towards the last 10 ten days starting with Christmas till New Year. So, that’s how we have phased our offering. We don’t do an on air activation, we always combine it with our ground efforts and marketing initiatives,” Dutta said.

    Dutta also informed that the channel will not have any new IPs for some time as it wants to focus on consolidating the present IPs. She said, “Right now we are consolidating our position in the regional market. If we look at the data in those individual markets, it says we have exclusive language feed. For example in Kerala we have exclusive feed in Malayalam, so no other kids channels have that, even in West Bengal and Maharashtra we are the number one channel in those markets. We have maintained that leadership for a very long time. Now to get into consolidating with our numbers and viewership in six markets is critical.”

    Going further she said, “We are also doing a lot of initiatives with local cable operators in regional markets. We are offering contests via operators to kids to watch Honey Bunny and wins prizes. That’s basically our localisation plan. The more we spread out to getting into the markets where we have regional feeds, we see traction and growth. West Bengal, Maharashtra and Kerala are the states where we see major traction coming from.”

  • Kids content should not be excessively kiddy

    Kids content should not be excessively kiddy

    MUMBAI: Kids animation content should be more inclusive to make a bigger impact, insisted a panel, speaking on “Creating an Impact for Kids Audience”, at the recently concluded KAM Summit by AnimationXpress.com. The panellists noted that content created for kids should not be ‘so kiddy’ that it doesn’t appeal to the people they are watching it with.

    The panel aimed to highlight ground rules for creating marketing content targeted and kids and included Wavemaker managing partner Monaz Todywalla, Omnicom Media Group AVP-PhD media Asmita Reelkar, and GREY Group India head of strategy and national planning director Arun Raman. The session was moderated by Sony YAY! VP – marketing and OAP Sujoy RoyBardhan.

    Reelkar mentioned that parents play a key role in monitoring the content that kids are watching and are also making most of the purchasing choices for them, so it is pertinent that a brand can persuade the parents too.

    Citing some interesting examples, Raman said, “There are no massive kids’ brands in India. I can think of Gini & Jony, which is one of the largest brands in the space, but no one is buying from them. People buy from brands like H&M Kids and Zara Kids.”

    He pointed out that there has been a behavioural and cultural shift in the Indian audience. “There are many kid-centric brands like ‘Naughty Boy’ from Bata, which are not as popular now. They now have something called ‘Ambassador Collection’. I am hearing Britannia and Parle are putting ‘Chota Bheem’ on their packages but it doesn’t mean that they are creating separate kids brands. In fact, it is making a brand meant for adults relevant to kids.”

    The panellists also pointed out that kids today are smarter and know facts. They can read through if a brand is trying to lie to them and that’s why it is important for brands to maintain highest standards of advocacy while creating communications for them.

    Another important point shared was that the brands should now be focussing on multi-screen advertising as the kids of today are digital natives.

    Todywalla said, “More and more creators, marketers, and brand custodians are realising that it has become a multi-touch world. But brands are still relying mostly on TV to interact with kids. Maybe they do some sprinkling of digital or a few events. But the landscape is changing dramatically. Kids are probably bypassing the whole TV phase and going directly to digital. Brands are agencies are still grappling with that area.”

    They unanimously agreed on the point that content is going to play a key role in taking brands through this phase of change.

  • This Teacher’s day Sony YAY! celebrates with their ongoing annual property, Heroes Behind the Heroes

    This Teacher’s day Sony YAY! celebrates with their ongoing annual property, Heroes Behind the Heroes

    MUMBAI: Real heroes don’t always wear capes; they also teach, mentor and help individuals realize their best potential. Dedicating countless hours to us with their knowledge and insight, it is teachers, who with their blood, sweat and love, become of one of the biggest superheroes in our lives. While we look up to a host of successful icons across various fields, it is their teachers who are instrumental in propelling them to success. This year, on the occasion of Teacher's Day, Sony YAY! celebrates these real heroes through a unique initiative Heroes Behind The Heroes.

    India has always been a country that has placed its teachers on a pedestal. Taking forward the annual celebrations of Teachers Day, Sony YAY’s  Heroes Behind the Heroes campaign recognizes and celebrates those mentors/gurus who have not only groomed world-class individuals across various fields, but also continue to encourage budding talent. Sony YAY! aims to strengthen the bond kids’ have for their teachers, mentors and guides.

    Building on the unprecedented support for the last two years, which brought a host of teachers and students under one roof, the third edition of Heroes Behind the Heroes continues with the promise to recognize and felicitate the nation’s eminent mentors. The past editions of Heroes Behind The Heroes witnessed stalwarts such as Sania Mirza, Terence Lewis, Subhash Ghai, Kailash Satyarthi, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and many more being recognized for their efforts.

    In the current edition, Sony YAY! acknowledged inspirational personalities such as:

    Vivian Fernandes, better known as DIVINE, an Indian rapper who brought upon a new wave of rap and hip-hop right from the streets of Mumbai. A genre that was unheard of, DIVINE was the face behind redefining India's underground rap movement.In his bid to take the rap genre to greater heights and give rise to new superstars, DIVINE, through his label, Gully Gang Entertainment, now manages and unearths desi hip-hop talent by churning out content round the clock.

    With more than a decade of experience in the Indian film industry, Remo D’Souza, is not only credited for his success today as a film director, but for his sheer passion for dance. The ace choreographer has taken his expertise forward through mentoring and training dancers at his esteemed Remo's Dance Institute. Having made a telling contribution to Indian cinema, his students specialize in various genres such as Freestyle, Break Dance, Hip Hop, Jazz, Contemporary, Waltz, Salsa & Bollywood style and continue to perform and dazzle across a host of award shows and other esteemed events in the country and worldwide.

    Director Mahesh Bhatt, is well known for his distinctive work in Hindi cinema. The Indian film-maker is regarded highly not only in the Indian film fraternity but also globally. Having mentored and trained several successful Bollywood actors, he is credited for some of the finest work in the film industry.

    The Heroes Behind the Heroes campaign also celebrated those gurus who have not just produced cricket icons that represent the country, but have also made grass-root cricket in Mumbai prosper immensely through their academies. Dinesh Lad, is a renowned name across cricketing circles. Dinesh is credited for nurturing and honing the talent of the country’s current Vice Captain, Rohit Sharma and his own son Siddesh Lad. Not only that, he has been mentoring and grooming talent at the Swami Vivekananda International School.

    A product of the Mumbai grounds himself, Mr. Dilip Vengsarkar today presides over three academies in the city. The channel celebrated his contribution to not only Indian cricket but also coaching and mentoring famed cricketers, Ajit Agarkar and Ramesh Powar. Under his guidance, budding cricketers of today have honed their cricketing skills towards reaching their dream of representing India.

    Not just cricket, Badminton too continues to win laurels for the country with its shuttlers dominating on the world stage. One of the most inspiring figures in producing the new badminton stars of tomorrow has been Mr. Pullela Gopichand. Mr. Gopichand has taken the likes of Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu under his wing and trained them to perfection. In addition to these two superstars, the 2009 Dronacharya Awardee grooms youngsters at the Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad. A badminton player himself, he has a watchful eye over India's badminton contingent as the National Coach.

    The initiative also celebrated and felicitated heroes from other walks of life, one of them being Afroz Shah, the man behind the largest beach clean-cup drive in the city. In October 2015, this Mumbai-based lawyer spearheaded the drive that saw the 2.5-km long stretch at Versova beach being entirely transformed over three years ago. The Versova Beach clean-up every Sunday was one of the largest citizen initiatives that the world has witnessed. His efforts were even recognized by the United Nations, which awarded him with the Champions of the Earth award in 2016.

    Another face for change that was recognized through the initiative was Ria Sharma, the founder of the NGO, Make Love Not Scars (MLNS). MLNS has since 2014 rehabilitated over sixty acid-attack survivors. Their campaign #EndAcidSale won a Gold Cannes Lion in film in 2016. Over the years, her NGO, which works to raise funds for acid attack survivors in India, has helped rehabilitate many survivors medically, legally, financially, psychologically, as well as educationally.

    Adding a layer of fun to the heartfelt initiative with these heroes were Sony YAY!’s iconic duo of Honey and Bunny. The pair known for their light-hearted banter and teaching kids something or the other through their camaraderie, celebrated these heroes. It was an enjoyable experience for the icons as the feline duo visited them personally to felicitate them.

    Through the campaign, the channel aims at celebrating and recognizing these iconic personalities who continue to chase excellence and produce new champions of tomorrow. Celebrating these gurus who have shaped today’s heroes, for their heartfelt and selfless contribution during their formative years, is what Heroes Behind the Heroes stands for!

  • Sony Yay focuses on building existing characters, brand integration

    Sony Yay focuses on building existing characters, brand integration

    MUMBAI: Sony Yay is focussing its energy in consolidating programming and content within four characters in its shows Honey Bunny ka Jholmaal, Guru Aur Bhole, Kicko & Super Speedo and Paap-O-Meter. The channel, which owns 100 per cent of IPs of the characters, revealed that it will not be launching any new shows or characters rather it would build on the existing shows and characters.

    In a fireside chat with Indiantelevision.com co-founder, CEO, editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari, Sony Yay business head Leena Lele Dutta said that the channel came up with six shows along the way and two of them didn’t do well. So the channel is focusing on consolidating the programming and content within four characters. It will root for Honey Bunny ka Jholmaal to lead the pack.

    “From the programming standpoint, we were very clear from the beginning that we are not going to get into dubbing of international content. So we started working a year in advance on the creation of our characters. We were very clear that we will own 100 per cent of the IPs of the characters because of the monetisation value 10-15 years down the line. With those tent-poles in mind, we develop and drive our content strategy of being completely original, extremely indigenous in term of the languages that we would dub the channel and go into the masses,” said Dutta.

    In a conversation with Wanvari, Dutta also spoke on the challenges and advantages of being a late entrant in the segment.

    She said, “We may be the last entrant but we look at it as turning it around into an opportunity. There are channels that have been launched 12 years before or seven years before but we look at the gestation between the last-launched and us and we identified the need gaps which we thought could be the core of our channel. We use those gaps as the opportunity to stream the DNA of our brand. We have been fortunate that kids have accepted us in such a short time. The acceptance of our brand and characters is overwhelming.”

    She further said, “There have been many characters that have been entrenched in kids' minds and that was the biggest challenge – how do we displace those characters from their mind and make space for our own. Another challenge was – how do we do something really distractive to get ourselves noticed. We look at the challenges and turned that into an opportunity.”

    On challenges, she explained, “There was a point in time where the distribution landscape was completely different. Seeding the channel was extremely critical to gain the reach; acceptance and sampling were the challenges. Another challenge that we went through in a most structured manner was the rebranding of Animax from Sony’s table. So it was easier to rebrand a channel as against launching a brand new channel which did not have any distribution footprint available in the market.”

    Lele claims that advertising revenue in the past year has been healthy. “The growth for us has been healthy and always been in double digits quarter on quarter. Brands also come to our channel and that helps them to realise that within our secondary TG our channel performs better than the rest of the competitor channels. Even if they are targeting the mother it’s a good enough platform that it is fairing reasonably well,” she said.

    The channel is in the process of getting into the devising of large scale brand integration including associating with brand ambassadors as a part of the show.

    Wanvari also inquired about the stage where brands want to come in – existing content or new IPs. Dutta replied, “It’s a mix of both. We look at it from the stage where they want to come in. We are extremely brand-friendly. We have got into a lot of on-air properties with brands on campaign to campaign basis. If there is a brand that is targeting kids and they know that the brand ambassador is hugely popular in their TG, then the best route for them would be to look at 365-day association rather than 90-day association.”

  • KAM Summit brings together advertisers, broadcasters, studios in the animation space for better collaborative ecosphere

    KAM Summit brings together advertisers, broadcasters, studios in the animation space for better collaborative ecosphere

    MUMBAI: India’s first kids’ animation summit, KAM (Kids Animation and More), organised by AnimationXpress.com, saw an insightful array of sessions ranging from fireside chats to exclusive presentations and elaborate panel discussions orchestrated around key themes of the kids’ animation ecosystem followed by the ANN Awards, India’s first and largest premium and full-scale award function to celebrate the excellence in the animation sphere of the M&E space across Indie studios, major Indian animated shows, prestigious brands, students, animation studios, institutes, and aspirants.

    Bringing the industry stalwarts under one roof, the event took place at Mumbai’s The Lalit on 30 August 2019. Kicking off with the customary lamp lighting session, KAM summit set the tone for the summit with a welcome note. The starry day marked the growth trajectory of India’s animation ecosystem, creating memorable moments and engaging industry veterans in the most constructive ways.

    The proceedings of the day began with a fireside chat between Sony Yay! business head Leena Lele Dutta and Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari who discussed about the challenges faced by Sony Yay being a new entrant in the segment.

    Denying that being a latecomer is a shortcoming for them, Dutta said that she rather sees this as an opportunity. She noted, “The only challenge is that children already have so many characters entrenched in their minds, so we have to do something disruptive enough to disperse them from their minds and make a memorable IP. We see a lot of unconventional brands also coming to our channel.”

    This was followed by a presentation by Discovery Kids’ Vednarayan Sirdeshpande, where he spoke about the upcoming IP Fukrey Boyzzz, displayed an exclusively comic portion of the animation show.

    Next was an insightful panel discussion named “Building on 200 million eyeballs”, that tried to answer the important and difficult question of how advertisers can capture the attention of kids audience.


     
    The panel moderated by Publicis Worldwide managing director Srija Chatterjee included big names from the brand side – Hamleys India head of marketing Sivaraman Balakrishnan, Baskin Robbins India head of marketing Samyukta Ganesh Iyer, Pidilite Industries category head – consumer products division Kartik Subramanian, KidZania India marketing director Tarandeep Singh Sekhon, Parle Products senior category head marketing Krishnarao S Buddha, and Mattel Toys head – consumer products Permendra Singh.

    The panel called out the need for broadcasters to create more relatable and successful Indian animated characters that they can license to create advertisements that can connect better to the audience. They also discussed how kids today have become smarter and are guiding their parents to buy certain products and hence it becomes necessary to communicate with them in their own language.
    The next item on the agenda was a presentation by Mondelez International licensing head – India & MEA Suparna Madan who gave a perceptive presentation on reaching out to the kids’ audience with an analysis of parenting patterns over the years.

    The day was taken forward by a free-wheeling chat between Wanvari and Sphereorigins Multivision founder Sunjoy Waddhwa, and HopMotion Animation business head Anish Patel.
    The trio turned the cart in the direction of the way the panelists materialised their visions into success stories.


     
    Speaking about the success of creating Choti Anandi, Waddhwa said, “The show was already a hit on Colors so the fact that it had a built-in audience also helped. It fact it did better on Rishtey in terms of viewership.”

    They also threw light on their partnership and the studio pipeline. HopMotion Animation business head Anish Patel shared, “We specialise in 2D but we also have a 3D facility. It's a harmony-based studio. We also cater to service studios.”

    Following that, BARC India head – product leadership and excellence Elbert D’Silva took on the dais to elaborate how Indian kids consume TV and how advertisers can utilise the opportunity to connect with them.
    D’Silva also spoke on the impact that NTO had on the viewership of kids’ channels, saying, “Kids genre saw a drop post NTO but redesigned with the increasing trend leading to summer vacation.”
    The second half of the day began with a panel discussion on Animation 2020, between Green Gold Animation founder and CEO Rajiv Chilaka, Sony Yay! programming head Ronojoy Chakraborty, DQ Entertainment COO Manoj Mishra, Viacom18 programming head Anu Sikka, BIG Animation COO Tejonidhi Bhandare, and Cosmos Maya AVP revenue and corporate strategy Devdatta Potnis, moderated by FICCI chairman animation and gaming Ashish Kulkarni.

    Discussing the way forward for the animation industry in the coming years, they elaborated more on the opportunities and challenges that the industry currently faces. The panel insisted that there is a big need there to have more successful animation studios in 2020.

    Discussing his visions about the future of the animation ecosystem, Chilaka shared, “I wish to see more successful Indian studios. I realise the pain of running an animation studio. You have to keep on upgrading the hardware and software. You need to understand the pain of the employees. On top of all this, there is GST also now. But I’m happy that Chhota Bheem paved the way for domestic animation. Motu Patlu is a roaring success. We need more passion and more young blood coming with us. We need to reach out to the Indian diaspora. Being number one is something we never dreamt of. We need to reach the benchmark of Rs 100 crore and then Rs 100 million.”

    The next item on agenda was a fireside chat between Lodestar UM CEO Nandini Dias and Wanvari. The duo discussed how kids’ animation sector has evolved over years for the marketers and what opportunities it presents to the advertisers.

    Dias mentioned, “Five years back, we would start with TV as the mainstay, but today often our conversation starts with e-commerce, digital, and factors like methods of discovery. Then comes television.” She further noted that apart from e-commerce, another thing that has boomed in the past few years in the gaming industry.

    The chat was followed by another panel discussion titled “The Boutique Studios: Tomorrow’s Giants”. Discussing the power of studios in today’s creative world were Paperboat Animation Studios creative director Aashish Mall, Dentsu StoryLab EVP Kumar Deb Sinha, Vaibhav More Films founder Vaibhav More, PhilmCGI managing director Anand Bhanushali, and Bioscopewala president Nishith Takia. The session was moderated by industry veteran Krishna Desai.

    The speakers discussed the ways in which the Indian animation scenario can be improved. The panel noted that there is a need to work on design forms and build on them to attract more audiences.

    The proceedings were taken forward by Cosmos Maya AVP revenue and corporate strategy Devdatta Potnis who gave a presentation on Cosmos Maya’s journey and IPs. He also announced the launch of the upcoming IP “The Fukrey Boyzzz” based on a popular Bollywood franchise Fukrey.

     The next panel to take on the dais comprised of Videogyaan chief strategy operations Rangarao TM, Shemaroo SVP – animation, kids digital, and L&M Smita Maroo, Sun NXT senior manager Vidhyalakshmi TA, and Lattu Kids co-founder and CEO Vivek Bhutyani, moderated by Kinsane Entertainment CMO Pranab Kunj. The panelists shared their views on the evolution of kids’ content on digital platform.

    Next, there was a discussion on the topic of “Making odd-screen animated hits” between Dream Theatre founder and CEO Jiggy George and Green Gold Animation chief strategy officer Srinivas Chilakalapudi. The duo discussed licensing and merchandising in a light-hearted yet informative manner.

    Upon being asked about the challenges in licensing of the IPs due to the absence of L&M culture in Dream Theatre, George shared, “There wasn’t really a culture of L&M and India is a very diverse market. You can make a t-shirt for Rs 99 and high-quality ones for Rs 499. However, the biggest challenges remain to be piracy and counterfeiting.”

    Speaking about his success with L&M, Shrinivas Chilakalapudi shared, “We have had success with licensing so you we have done Mighty Raju, Super Bheem, Mighty Little Bheem in Toddler’s Space.”

    George added, “To the animation companies, my wish is that we need authentic characters. it's authentic when you do your own characters. Do what the Japanese do. Check which characters can be seamlessly integrated into the script. When it's seamlessly done, it easier for us. Otherwise we don't like to slap it onto the t-shirt.”

    The final panel of the day discusses the topic of “Creating an Impact for Kids Audience”. Sitting on the panel were Grey India national planning director Arun Raman, Wavemaker managing partner Monaz Todywalla, and Omnicom Media AVP, PHD Media Asmita Pawar Reelkar. The panel was moderated by Sony Yay! VP marketing and OAP Sujoy RoyBardhan.

    Arun Raman noted that segmentation within the kids’ genre creates a big problem for marketers. He insisted that kids’ content should be made more inclusive and relevant to audiences across categories including adults.

    The knowledge-packed day culminated into the gala ANN Awards where top performers in the animation sector within the country were felicitated for their work.

    Speaking about this first-of-its-kind initiative taken by AnimationXpress, Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO, and editor-in-chief congratulated the whole team for their efforts and stated that he is proud to blaze a new trail in the world of animation. He requested the animation community to send more entries for the next year’s awards to induce a better competitive spirit and celebration of creativity in the ecosphere.

  • Sony YAY!’s perfect weekend treat for young fans with its YAY! Fest

    Sony YAY!’s perfect weekend treat for young fans with its YAY! Fest

    MUMBAI: After a fun-filled weekend with their favourite Jholmaal Jodi Honey & Bunny, kids are all set to kick start their week on a positive note. Sony YAY!’s coolest toons visited Noida and gave an enthralling experience by bringing YAY! Fest to their city. The fun-filled Fest took place at Funcity, DLF Mall of India on August 24 and August 25.

    The beloved toon duo met and interacted with young fans and played some fun games. A few lucky winners got the chance to win YAY!-branded goodies. The toons left everyone amazed with their dance moves. It was a treat for the kids as they witnessed their beloved characters Honey and Bunny up-close and had the best time by meeting and dancing with them and taking innumerable selfies. The kids also witnessed magic tricks, played exciting games, went on fun rides and even attended a movie screening making it a super-duper weekend.

    Sony YAY! plans to come up with many more such activities with delightful performances by the toons, photo sessions, games and goodies thus giving kids and families something fun to look forward to.

    So, stay tuned to Sony YAY! and experience the magic that will make you say YAY!

  • Sony YAY! celebrates World Cat Day with their funny feline duo Honey Bunny

    Sony YAY! celebrates World Cat Day with their funny feline duo Honey Bunny

    MUMBAI: “I have studied many philosophers and many cats. The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior.” As rightly put by Hippolyte Taine, cats truly hold a very special place in every family. No wonder every year the world fondly celebrates World Cat Day on 8th August. This year Sony YAY! too celebrated their own goofy cats – Honey and Bunny. The feline duo are immensely loved by their young fans for their wacky and comic antics.The combination of Honey’s goofiness and Bunny’s over smartness from the popular show ‘Honey-Bunny ka Jholmaal’ leaves everyone in splits. Through their adventures, their camaraderie and their trippy dance moves, the adorable cat duo brightens the day for everyone.

    The love and fan following that Honey and Bunny enjoy is also due to the way they connect with the kids whether it is through their unconditional friendship or how they help each other get through tricky situations. Given how Honey and Bunny make the kid’s TV viewing experience special for them, Sony YAY! decided to make them feel special on a day dedicated towards cats. The channel celebrated Honey & Bunny and called upon all feline lovers to celebrate their cats together with them. Making it an all-cat affair, Sony YAY! hosted Honey-Bunny and all the cat lovers at Cafe Pefe,  a feline-theme restaurant in Mumbai. It was a fun themed party hosted by RJ Karan from Radio City 91.1 FM with a specially crafted Honey Bunny-themed menu, Jholmaal themed games and the title track of Honey-Bunny ka Jholmaal on loop for kids to have unlimited fun.

    With lots of pictures, selfies, dance and masti, the day truly belonged to Honey-Bunny!

  • Sony YAY! plans a laughter break for kids across 500 schools in India

    Sony YAY! plans a laughter break for kids across 500 schools in India

    MUMBAI: Schools have just begun and it is the time of the year when kids look forward to reunite with their old friends and to make new ones. This year, YAY! toons Honey-Bunny are all set to welcome their young fans in to the new academic session by bringing a fun campaign “Laughter Raja” to their schools. The hilarious duo Honey & Bunny are in a race to be anointed the funniest one, to win the ultimate crown of Laughter Raja. Kids across India are leaving no stone unturned in cheering for their favourite toon by excitedly voting for them through the Sony LIV app.

    Through this campaign, the channel aims to give kids a fun reason to take a break from their usual school routine and share laughter with their best friends. This will continue with a bundle of exciting games like a fun version of musical chairs played using hula hoops with music from the title track of this show. Kid’s will have a gala time in playing their favourite toon while they get to participate as Jholmaal pairs and win exclusive channel merchandise.

    In one of the largest on-ground initiatives, the three-month campaign will see the channel cover around 500 schools across 26 cities. The campaign has also attracted relevant sponsors. ‘Laughter Raja’ is co-powered by Himalaya, Act II popcorn is the associate partner while Club Mahindra is on board as experiential holiday partner.

    With a whole lot of games, fresh content and the excitement of getting to see their favourite toon crowned as Laughter Raja, the kids are in for a YAY!tastic time ahead.
     

  • Sony YAY!’s Honey-Bunny movies ‘Crazy Crazy Chase & Haunted House’ hit PVR screens near you

    Sony YAY!’s Honey-Bunny movies ‘Crazy Crazy Chase & Haunted House’ hit PVR screens near you

    MUMBAI: The camaraderie, chemistry and comedy of errors, that take place between the quirky duo of Honey-Bunny from Sony YAY!, is loved and adored by kids across the country! That same jodi is now set to go larger than television and give fans an experience to remember as theyare now set to bring all the madness on the big screen. A fun-filled outing for the entire family awaits as Sony YAY! exclusively associates with the leading theatre chain PVR Cinemas for the theatrical release of ‘Honey-Bunny in a Crazy Crazy Chase and Haunted House’on 28th June 2019.

    The movies will be released at PVR theatres across Mumbai, Delhi, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Indore, Pune, Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat. With Sony YAY! teaming up with PVR to double the fun, fans are in for a fabulous movie-viewing experience of their favorite YAY! toons.

    The young viewers will surely be at the edge of their seats in theatres as Sony YAY! once again endeavors to give fans a one of a kind experience. The movie starts with Honey-Bunny setting out on a vacation that takes a hilarious wrong turn! Our favorite duo are supposed to head to Kanyakumari, but a series of unfortunate events see them following a look-alike of their owner Ms. Katkar ending up in the sandy beaches of Goa. Just when they start to enjoy the beach vibe, the comedy of errors begins! What follows is a hilarious chase between two burglars and the toons which ends with the real Ms. Katkar coming to their rescue and putting the burglars behind bars.

    The fun doesn’t end there, as what follows is high on thrills and chills as the Jholmaal pair, try to get the better of a number of villains in a scary mansion. And that’s not all. If you thought all ghosts were scary, think again, as the movie features a friendly ghost named Mini. But unlike most other stories, this one is a light-hearted take on ghosts that is bound to leave kids laughing their wits out.

    To top it all, young fans are also in for Sony YAY!’s exclusive  goodies and treats as the hilarious duo, Honey-Bunny, will also join them to shake a leg and make memories. The idea is to transform the theatres in to a YAY-zone as kids have a YAY!-tastic weekend.

    So, book your tickets at PVR Cinemas now and get ready to joinHoney-Bunny’s adventures in a Crazy Crazy Chase and Haunted House!