MUMBAI: Life OK is all set to add twist this Valentine’s Day as they launch its brand new show ‘Har Mard Ka Dard’.
Protagonist Vinod Khanna seems to be blessed with super powers to understand and answer the most crucial question in this history of mankind, ‘What is going on in a woman’s mind’. If the 360 degree marketing and promotional initiatives across various cities are something to go by, the show seems to give a ray of hope to men as it gives a break from the regular saas- bahu serials.
The channel has left no stone unturned in reaching out to their male audiences. Life OK has innovatively activated radio networks, print media, on ground activations and social media to promote the show.
Starring Faisal Rashid (Vinod Khanna) and Jhinal Belani (Sonu) in lead roles the sitcom is produced by Tony and Deeya Singh of DJ’s Creative Unit. Directed by Parmeet Sethi, the show premieres on 14th February and will be airing Monday to Friday at 8:00pm.
TV as a medium was utilized to the fullest to promote the show. Three very distinct promos were used. The first promo is set across 3 decades citing instances of a typical husband-wifenok-jhokwhere the wife feels her husband just doesn’t get her. The second promo showcases the various meaningin woman’s dictionaryof the sentence ‘Ok fine go’ and the third promo gives a glimpse of Vinod going to a temple and pleading to a goddess with his prayers being answered. The promos were an instant hit amongst the male audiences as it was a very honest and relatable communication.
Life OK has always tried to push the envelope further and for the first time in the history of Indian radio, Life OK and Red FM will be getting 50 male RJs fromacross cities to talk about Har Mard Ka Dard. Unlike every year where the radio channel celebrates Valentine’s Day with its ardent listeners, Red FM this year will give thisday of love a skip and will be dedicating this day to men to share their ‘Man’ Ki Baat’. The RJs will be speaking their heart out aboutpersonal experiences of understanding women. They will be seeking Vinod Khanna, the protagonist’s help in decoding women. The RJs have already started promoting the activity and the feedback so far has been phenomenal. An interesting video with RJ Malishka, RJ Rishi Kapoor and RJ Nasar who rule the radio space has been created and is doing its rounds across social media platforms. The video gives an insight into how women think and how men react to what they have to say.
Taking the marketing innovations a notch higher, Life OK launched a rap song titled Dard-E-Rap video which is a tribute to all men on the occasion of Valentine’s Day.The song gives an insight into various ways in which men struggle tounderstand women. The video provides a humorous take on how a woman’s mind works. Every man will be able to connect and nod in agreement to the video. The lyrics of the rap narrate Vinod Khanna’s life with the words, ‘No means no, yes means no and maybe kamatlab is also no’. Vinod raps on the fact that ‘there are 99 shades for the wordfine, whereas ok has 100 different meanings’. For the first time ever the focus ofValentine’s Daytowards men and their plight in relationships.
With Life OK tilting towards male audiences, the channel was on the look out to promote the show at touch points that are conversation starters for men, where men connect. A research carried out by the channel came out with the inference that Barber shops is one of the places where men spend their time. Taking this outcome forward, the channel has put up stickers on the mirrors across barber shops in Delhi, Gujarat and Punjab with a tagline that reads ‘Bina blade ke shave karnamumkinhain, par Aurtonkosamajhnamushkil hi nahinnamumkinhai’ and ‘Sarkesaarebaalginanamumkinhai, par Aurtonkosamajhnamushkil hi nahinnamumkinhai’. The whole idea of having stickers on the mirror is to catch the men’s attention and draw them to a conversation with other men on the concept of the show.
To top it all Chetan Bhagat who has interviewed over 100 women as a research for his book ‘One Indian girl’ which he wrote from a women’s perspective was roped in to launch a life size book with lead protagonist Faisal Rashid titled ‘A Guide to Understanding Women’. Chetan Bhagat, was the first man to write on the book followed by Faisal Rashid. While men would be documenting their experiences of failing to understanding women, their counterparts can also come forth and share their views on what men must do in order to understand them better. The 4ft book will be travelling across the lengths and breadths of the country to reach as many people as possible.
