Exclusive | AXN is known as home of Supernatural: Himmat Butalia

With the launch of their latest property Supernatural Thrillathon, English general entertainment channel AXN has revived its weekend programming.  AXN is going all out to promote the Supernatural Thrillathon series. It is a 46 day back to back showcase of Supernatural Season 7 and 8 which is a build up to the world premiere of Season 9 in October 2013. The channel will start promoting the ninth season of Supernatural during the telecast of Season 8. In an effort to be different from most other channels  in the genre, AXN for the first time will be airing a script based show on weekends. It will help the channel to build a following for the series that will ultimately lead to the launch of Season 9 of the show.

Supernatural is an American supernatural drama television series created by Eric Kripke, which was first broadcast in 2005. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester and Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester, the series follows two brothers as they hunt demons, ghosts, monsters and other figures of the supernatural. It is one of the top cult shows in the US.

In an exclusive interaction with Adgully, Himmat Butalia, Marketing Director, AXN India  spoke about the popularity of the show , their aggressive promotion , the marketing strategies and the media platforms they intend using for the same.

Briefing us about the upcoming show Supernatural Thrillathon on AXN and the concept behind focusing on the season 7 & 8  aggressively Butalia ,said that Thrillathon is actually a property designed for season 7 & 8 of Supernatural, and it went live from  4th August 2013. It is a 46 days line up and is being telecast every day in the 9 pm slot. “We have started with season 7 then will move on to season 8 and later on will also be premiering season 9.  That is one of the USP of AXN as a channel that we do premieres very close to US telecasts either on the same or the next day.

The launch of Supernatural Thrillathon is expected to revive weekend programming on AXN. Elaborating further on this Butalia said that Supernatural Thrillathon has a huge fan following not only abroad in US, UK or other countries but also in India. “The large fan following comprises mainly of young boys and young  girls in the age group of 15-24 years  because of the Winchester Brothers, Sam & Dean  who are very popular across the globe. We made and created a campaign around them to indulge our audience.  Generally people do line up shows Monday -- Thursday or Monday – Friday, but we are doing it from Monday – Sunday, so every day you indulge yourself in Supernatural Thrillathon at 9 pm and that is why it is going to be 46 days back to back shows every day,” he explained.

He further avers “If a show has got a fan following they do not mind watching repeat episodes persistently, the treat being  that you get to watch it every day. From AXN perspective, we have marketed it in 10-12 cities, and where print is concerned in certain cities we have done a full page, back page and half page. We are currently occupied with  Supernatural Indulgence Lab which is an on ground event covering metros such as Kolkata, Chandigarh and Bengaluru.

He also updated us in detail about AXN’s  on ground activities  for the upcoming seasons of  Supernatural Thrillathon. The first Indulgence Lab will be launched on 25th August in Mumbai through youth festivals viz. Malhar and Umang, Mumbai’s two biggest college fests,  There will be Supernatural stalls with interactive activities and on  15th, 16th and 17th August, 2013.

AXN is doing a multiple city tour starting this weekend across Delhi, Nagpur, Pune, on 17th & 18th August, Chandigarh and Kolkata on 24th and 25th August and 31st August and 1st September will see them in Bangalore.

The channel is also using  Radio actively for  promotion this season. , Butalia said, “ for Supernatural Thrillathon (season 7 & 8) there are campaigns on Radio One - English in Mumbai and Delhi and Indigo – English radio station in Bangalore.  Such promotions are happening every week and would be there right through all the seasons of the show. When English GEC’s like us launch certain shows we have to maintain sustenance till  the show is on air  and in a  ongoing format, so that is where the medium of radio comes in.  

One of the campaigns involves a competition which says ‘ Indulge in a Pizza while watching Supernatural’ so an app is being  launched on the Facebook Page where if questions are answered on a daily basis they are entitled to  Domino Pizza coupons and allows them to order a Pizza of their choice which can be eaten  while watching Supernatural.

Facebook and Twitter have been used actively to engage with the TG by way of quirky posts ,on this Butalia says “Social and digital platforms are very critical for our TG  because people interact with us, they react to our post and give their feedback. It is the best medium to interact with people, and from television perspective today it is apparent that people wish to interact with the brand and programmes they view on television,” he added.

Elaborating on how the word ‘Indulgence’ was conceived in their campaign Butalia said,  “We used the word ‘Indulgence’ since the campaign thought was everywhere.  On television it says 46 days of non-stop indulgence,  on ground it is – Supernatural Indulgence Club,  the app says – indulge in pizza while watching Supernatural and it’s presence on the radio too all add up to ‘indulgence’”.

Outdoor advertising is one of the key promotion area, so when asked how they  plan to promote the show on the OOH medium Butalia informed that by doing mall activation they would create an Indulgence Lab where audiences will get a chance to indulge with Sam and Dean (the two actors of Supernatural). Adding further he said, “Fans will participate in games and competition and our entire peg will be on are you Samoholics or Deanoholics, in order to know whom people’s preferences since there are fans for both the brothers. We have three types of competition like small arm wrestling, second is puzzles, and third is blindfold, where you will be blind folded and be asked to kiss Sam and Dean on lips, and all these games are being shared on Facebook. Moreover we will also be giving away tattoos and merchandises which includes T-shirts with ‘I am Samoholic’ and ‘I am Deanoholic’ printed on them in an effort to interact with fans.”

AXN is going all out to engage with its audience whether its by way of  Print ,Digital/Social , or  Radio  for the Supernatural Thrillathon marketing campaign.

Speaking about expectatioins from season 7 and 8 and benchmarks they want to create before the premiere of Season 9, Butalia shares, “At the end of the day yes we want our people to come and watch our shows and also  want them to engage with the brand . From Season 9 perspective when the premiere will be launched  we plan to  do plethora  of other  initiatives  which will  include  digital and social in a big way since it plays a important role these days . In terms of bench mark, there is no benchmark as such. AXN as a channel has been no.1 since a long time now, but from the show perspective we would want to interact more with our fans. The more we interact with people through social media there is more feedback and so there would be loads of focus on the digital platform.”                                                                                               

“We are home to Supernatural, so even if you want to see the  first season of Supernatural you will have to come to AXN and  that is the  thought we want to spread,” concludes Himmat Butalia.