Exclusive | Nickelodeon franchise strengthens summer line up

Summer is back and so are the holidays! Celebrating this time of fun and frolic in style, Nickelodeon, India’s leading kids’ entertainment franchise, is all set to entertain kids across the country with exciting offerings across NICK, SONIC, Nick Jr. and Teen Nick.

Building on its unparalleled leadership story, Nickelodeon today announced its high decibel plans for the summer season, rolling out a robust programming line-up and interactive campaigns on-air, on-ground and online. From power-packed promotions to exciting new shows, new seasons of leading shows and many more interactive initiatives, Nickelodeon aims to engage kids across age groups this summer.

In order to get a deeper understanding about their summer line up, we at Adgully caught up with Nina Jaipuria, EVP & Business Head Kids Cluster, Viacom18.

Nick line up

This year Nick has a super summer line up.  The preferences of kids are constantly evolving and the focus at Nickelodeon is to cater to these evolving preferences.  For instance, one of the latest trends that has become popular with kids are the animation apps.

The undisputed leader of the kids genre, NICK continues to build the kids entertainment category through path-breaking innovations. The trend of animation apps combined with the every kids’ dream of being seen on television has led Nickelodeon towards its latest summer innovation.

In a power-packed start to the summer season, NICK has set the stage for its flagship show Motu Patlu through a path breaking campaign called ‘Motu Patlu Hero Hunt’. Through this unique initiative, Nicksters will have the opportunity to get animated in an episode of the Motu Patlu on television.

Speaking on the innovation Nina Jaipuria said, “This summer we are engaging with kids by giving them an opportunity be a Hero and getting animated in the Motu Patlu show on Television. We will look at creating awareness about this innovative campaign through a high decibel marketing and communication plan”

Summer Trend

The growth of the category during the summer quarter is an average of 15%.

Media Mix

The channel has a 360 degree marketing plan for their campaign. On asking Jaipuria about the same she said, “We will be doing a lot on the marketing front for this initiative. We will be leveraging the Viacom18 Network to promote this franchise. We will also extend promotions for the campaign into other networks which are also watched by kids. We thus have a robust TV plan.”

She adds, “Apart from TV, we will engage with kids on ground as well. The endeavor is to interact with Motu Patlu in a very engaging and novel manner on-ground.  Through augmented reality across select malls in Mumbai and Delhi kids will will be able to interact with Motu Patlu in their animated avatar. In Delhi we have already tied up with MGF Metropolitan, Gurgaon and are also closing on malls in Mumbai.

The other on ground engagement will be in collaboration with Pantaloons across their 26 outlets in India. We will partner with them on the Pantaloons Junior Fashion Week, the finale of which will be held across four cities Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata.  We will also be having another on-ground activity with McDonalds promoting the campaign.”

“All our on ground activities are backed by Radio and Print thus making it a 360 degree campaign. Lastly, we have a digital plan where we have created a microsite which has videos, games, contests, Memes of the day and more,” she went on to add.

Adding to the summer excitement will be the launch of Motu Patlu’s 6th exclusive ‘made-for-television’ movie, Motu Patlu Kungfu King Returns to be released in June and all new episodes of Motu Patlu.

Apart from Motu Patlu there is Ninja and Oggy to keep the kids engaged this summer.

The channel will also have a Back to School range with Motu Patlu and Dora in major retail outlets like Hypercity, Big Bazaar, etc.

Sharing insights on their time band Jaipuria said, “During summer, all time bands are prime time as children consume television through the day.  We have around   on the is on for 5 to 7 hrs .

SONIC line up

Sharing insights on SONIC Jaipuria said, “The objective with SONIC is to gain reach and thus viewership. We have created a robust TV plan for Sonic which will go across mass TV like GEC’s, movie channels etc.  As part of the summer plans for SONIC, the Nickelodeon franchise has launched a campaign to drive engagement with the digitally savvy generation that is trigger happy, called ‘Selfie Kheecho Prizes Jeeto’. Starting Mid May, the campaign will have kids nationwide clicking selfies with a freeze frame of their favourite toons from Pakdam Pakdai to win exciting gadgets every day across platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook.com/sonicgang and sonicgang.com.

Sonic’s campaign will also reach out to kids through the length and breadth of the country through a robust media mix which will include promotions on TV, print and radio. Sonic will also go BTL with an extensive van activation that will reach out to over 15 smaller towns across Maharashtra, UP and MP. Kids will be able to take selfies at the vans with Pakdam Pakdai and win prizes.
Sonic will be targeting the high footfalls at malls where Kids will also be able to engage with Sonic’s Doggy Don from Pakdam Pakdai by taking selfies with the characters leading to  them winning instant gratifications like Sonic Merchandise. Sonic will also connect with kids across multiple retail touch-points such as Funcity across 12 cities and numerous McDonald’s outlets pan India. Sonic Selfie Khicho, Prizes Jeeto contest will be hosted on sonicgang.com.

Further building on the Pakdam Pakdai franchise, the channel will be launching all new episodes of the action packed chase-comedy show this summer. SONIC has also launched 2 new shows – Hubert Takako and Mini Ninjas.

Teen Nick

Lastly Jaipuria threw light on the plans for Teen Nick she said, “On this front we have two new shows for Teen Nick - Marvin Marvin and Nicki Ricki Dicky Don.

Consolidating Leadership Position

When enquired about their leadership in the BARC ratings last week, Jaipuria said, “We have consolidated our leadership position with endearing characters and shows and we intend to continue the success story. We have a high decibel summer of engagement and that is what will add to our growth in viewership and ad revenues.”

Franchise

Last but not the least Nickelodeon will celebrate Mothers-day in association with Gelato across four cities in India i.e.  Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Delhi where all mothers and kids will be treated to a free Gelato to make the day special. The kids will also get to meet the Nicktoons at the outlets. By Archit Ambekar | Twitter: @aambarchit