Exclusive | The quality of story-telling is the key differtiator: Life OK's Ajit Thakur

The young GEC on the block, Life OK in a short span of time has established itself as one of the favourite channels as far as prime time family entertainment is concerned. Its latest achievement comes with its show Devon ke Dev… Mahadev, the popular mythological saga’s Maha - episode aired on Sept. 9 2012 recorded the highest rating for any General Entertainment Channel (GEC) in the past one year. As per TAM ratings, the special episode of the show recorded a whopping 8.2 TVR in Week 37 – 2012. This week, the channel recorded its highest GRP of 167, a major jump from previous week’s 141 GRP.   

 

On achieving this feat, Adgully spoke to Ajit Thakur, General Manager - Life OK to know more about the achievement and the plans ahead.  

 

On asking about the 3 keys strategies that helped them achieve this position, he says, “We wanted to deliver certain formats that would be different. We wish to tell a story that would matter more than anything to life, along with a social touch to it. Mahadev for example is not consumed as a mere 'mythology'; it holds and departs values like the protection and purity of river Ganga or the beauty from within a human being.”  

 

“Thus, 'relevance' and 'relativity' is what is important, thus it goes beyond entertainment. Secondly, our marketing and promotional plans are spectacular for example the Maha Kali incident. This sets a scale for expectation for our viewers. Thirdly, we take keen interest and efforts on the content presentation front,” he added. 

 

In terms of taking it ahead, he says, “In context to our show Mahadev, after the Maha kali incident, we have the birth of Karthik and the death of Mahishasura followed by the birth lord Ganesha. On the channel front in the coming month we have more offerings to abide by the policy of relevance in entertainment.”   

 

They shall also have a kids talent show named 'Hindustan ke Hunarbaaz', which is the first show on Indian television that is a 'no - competition' format and every child on stage is a winner. Also, they have a show named '26/11’, a show on terrorism and the dealings with the common man. He says, “These are a few steps we believe should continue to support and enhance our success.”   

 

According to him, one element of the show, Mahadev that is the key differentiator, is the quality of story – telling and also the writing of the Mahadev specifically is fantastic and the characterization is supreme.   

 

In terms of marketing & promotions Thakur told us that on the digital front they have a huge fan base and are highly visible on this front. But apart from this, they have bigger plans to come up in November. 

 

It’s been a milestone for the channel and so explaining what it means for the channel, Thakur said, “With this feat, we understand that our story - filtering is really essential and working for us. Also, it is a way to reinforce the fact that Life OK is beyond mere entertainment. Having said that, we also understand that this brings a lot of pressure and responsibility on shoulders as a channel to continue generating relevant content and entertaining our viewers in our meaningful way.”  

 

The channel aims to further strengthen its distribution, width and reach as well as its brand presence by creating greater affinity with its content and consumer-centric marketing activities. Life OK has been rapidly adding viewers ever since its launch in December 2011. It is also the only channel that steadily increased GRPs in the last two weeks. | By Aanchal Kohli [aanchal(at)adgully.com]