Constant refresh gives Sony MAX a premium image: Vaishali Sharma

Sony MAX, the Premium Hindi movie channel from Sony Pictures Network, has rolled out a new campaign to celebrate its success of being the undisputed number one Hindi movie channel in India. The campaign is based on the thought ‘Naaz Hai Humein Apni Deewangi Pe’ which encapsulates the country’s obsession with Hindi Cinema and its influence on the everyday moments of life. The channel will be unveiling multiple short films showcasing how fans inspired by movies have imbibed the Deewanapan.

The three 45-seconder TVCs string together people from different walks of life and depict how extremely passionate movie buffs look at every situation from a 70mm lens. The campaign also attempts to capture the rich pallet of emotions behind various facets of Hindi Cinema. The TVCs consist of 7 distinct situations including the likes of a young couple eloping with the entire community running behind them and then with a sudden sharp turn they screech and look into the camera and say “Ishq karo toh aise karo ki zamana peeche lag jaye”. Another one is a college graduation ceremony sequence where an Anil Kapoor inspired student dances her way to the stage to receive her degree, leaving the audience and the professors spellbound – “Entry maro toh aise ki sab dekhte reh jaye”. A rickshaw driver inspired by Hindi movies pulls his collar wide when two pretty looking girls arrive for a ride. With a lot of cheek, he turns them down and says “Aur thukrao toh aise thukrao ki choor-choor ho jaye”. One more situation on friendship sees a young man taking a beating for his friend by some goons much larger than him. As he takes one to the chin he says, “Dosti nibhao toh aisi ki misaal bann jaye.” All TVCs end with a voiceover in the end “Deewana banate aaye hai, banate rahenge”.

Vaishali Sharma, Senior VP – Marketing, SONY MAX movie cluster, commented, “The strategic reason to have a fresh campaign is to celebrate the uninterrupted leadership and success of the Sony MAX channel over the last 26 weeks. The campaign is a reflection of the influence and impact that Sony MAX has had on people’s lives with its movie offerings. The core thought ‘Naaz hai humein apni Deewangi pe’ not only showcases the madness that movies instills in every Indian, but also takes the deewanapan a notch higher.”

The TVCs are conceptualized by DDB Mudra and shot by Tubelight Films. The campaign kicked off on November 12. To promote the core thought, the channel is engaging in a massive television plan across news, regional and music channels (apart from its own TV network) for two weeks. The marketing plan also consists of a digital leg.

In conversation with Adgully, Vaishali Sharma speaks more on the new campaign, content plans, channel performance and more.

On the progression of the campaign thought from ‘Deewana Bana De’ to ‘Naaz hai humein apni Dewangi pe’.
It is not a progression, the campaign thought is the same – ‘Deewana Bana De’, ‘Naaz hai humein apni Dewangi pe’ is a new campaign line. For MAX, one of the initiatives we do every year is to strengthen the brand imagery and its emotional connect with viewers. For many years ‘Deewana Bana De’ has been a strongly established brand ethos amongst viewers. But this year, we had a great opportunity to build our campaign as MAX has been an undisputed leader for weeks post IPL, in fact, we have been the leaders week-on-week post IPL. So, this was a perfect opportunity for us from a consumer perspective and the TVC actually shows the impact and spread of the brand on the viewers.

The objective was, how do we through a campaign establish the fact that we are the undisputed market leader and how do we celebrate the success and the following that brand MAX has in the HSM market. From a consumer insight point of view, the campaign reflects how the passion for Hindi cinema has seeped into moments, mannerisms, the way we look at life and our reaction to situations in real life. It is about how Hindi cinema has become part of our DNA.

We strongly believe that a constant refresh helps position the channel better in minds of the viewers and gives it a premium image, especially for a movie channel as the product for them is just films, so it is important to create that distinction.

On the brief shared with DDB Mudra.
The brief was very simple as our objective was very clear. First – showcase the width and scale on how Deewangi is spread across consumers across various moments in life expressing different emotions that Hindi cinema is actually known for. Second – a larger than life campaign that gives a feel of how Deewangi and MAX is relatable to each consumer and the ownership they feel for the channel, for the brand.

On plans to build up on the ‘Deewangi’ proposition in the communication and across the content.
The campaign will be promoted through a heavy television plan and on digital. We will be using Hindi news, music and GEC channels apart from our own network to promote the campaign.

On Sony MAX’s performance so far.
The channel has been doing great in terms of viewership as we have been markets leaders post IPL week-on-week.

On strategy to build up the movie property.
MAX has always been known for its premieres; there were quite a few in the past few months post IPL. We recently premiered ‘Sultan’ and will have staggered premieres in the near future as well. The announcements will happen closer to a premiere date.