Exclusive | The year brings a lot of hope: Turner's Krishna Desai

Since its launch in 2004, POGO has grown by leaps and bounds to become the No. 1 kids’ entertainment channel in the country. Over the years, the team has tried to ensure that POGO viewers get everything that they desire and more from a kids' entertainment channel. It has become a true GEC for kids. Delivery of premium, relatable and engaging content for kids and their families is the corner stone on which POGO has been moulded. This has enabled POGO to sustain leadership in the kids’ genre across 2012 with 22% relative share (Source: TAM | CS: 4-14 | Jan 2012 – Dec 12 | All India). POGO also achieved the highest GRP of 174 in the last 5 years for any Kids channel (Source: TAM |CS: 4-14 | Week 18 of 2012 | All India).

In conversation with Adgully, Krishna Desai, Director, Content, South Asia, Turner International India Pvt shared some insights and strategies behind sustaining it’s position and also spoke about some of the trends he visualizes in the kids genre.    

POGO has been kids no. 1 channel throughout 2012 and has been the main driver of the Desi Toon strategy. When asked to share some insights behind the strategy of sustaining their position, Desai explained  that at Turner, they have coined their  localization strategy for Cartoon Network and POGO in India as the ‘Desi Toons’ strategy. This encompasses localization from dubbing to transcreating scripts and from acquiring local content to now creating original productions. “In order to be the ultimate GEC for kids’ every entertainment need, we have created specialized scheduling blocks some of which include: 'Lights Camera POGO' for movie buffs, unique format shows like M.A.D. for budding artists, Tiny TV for pre-schoolers, classics like Mr. Bean who, inspite of being mute, transcends every linguistic and cultural barrier and of course, Chhota Bheem – the biggest superhero for the current generation. Our highly entertaining content, programming, marketing strategies and packaging of the channel and brands has enabled POGO to reach such heights,” he says.

Desai opined that the upcoming year brings a lot of hope for the TV industry. With the first phase of digitization complete, it will be interesting to see the level of STB and Satellite penetration thereby determining reach of all genres including kids. It will also help broadcasters get a better understanding of the content consumption by audiences which in turn will enable broadcasters to deliver content better attuned to consumer demand.

He believes that digitization will also determine the effectiveness of the current revenue model; the current ad driven model under-values and under-prices the kids’ genre. With a subscription based revenue model, broadcasters will hopefully receive a fair share of the revenue pie.

In today’s multi screen playground, gone are the days when the television set was the only screen in the home. Sharing his views on how Digital marketing is on the rise, Desai explained that in the past decade, a four-fold growth has been witnessed in kids’ access to computers and internet at home with 1 in 4 kids using the internet and 1 in 10 kids having their own mobile phone (Source: Cartoon Network New GenerationsTM 2012).

This clearly represents huge opportunities for content providers to expand the presence of a brand or a character in the mobile and online space through smart phones, tablets and computers. He added to say “At Turner, we believe in giving viewers a seamless experience across all screens thereby making our brands and shows available ‘Anytime, Anywhere’.”

Speaking about how alternative mediums to TV will be growth drivers, Desai said, “With 73% kids using mobile phones, 1 in 10 kids owning mobile phone and 27% kids using the internet and mobile are emerging as lucrative screens to complement television. In addition, the licensing and merchandising sector in India has grown to 150 million dollars. With kids seeking entertainment across all these platforms, with the right market mix and brand association, the avenues of success are unlimited. Today, it is imperative for kids’ broadcasters to consider these platforms as long term goals. On the whole, as far as the kids’ genre is concerned, ‘Content will always be King’ and the need of the hour is to go beyond television.”

With regard to Marketing innovations and strategy that they would adopt he said , “At Turner, we believe in giving kids the ultimate consumer experience. As far as marketing is concerned, we will continue to aim to engage kids across 360 degrees ensuring they are entertained at every touch point: On-air, We periodically conduct innovative contests wherein kids who win are rewarded with prizes such as iPods, PSPs, etc. For instance, last year, we did a highly successful exam contest with Roll No. 21 around the exam time that was a stress buster for kids. In order to take the show and movie promos to a whole new level, we make them as humorous and interactive as the shows themselves thereby ensuring that kids even look forward to watching our promos.”

In terms of on-ground events, annually, Turner conducts on-ground events for both, Cartoon Network and POGO. Last year, through multicity events conducted for both channels, we entertained over 35,000 kids and parents. At these events, kids get to play games and interact with their favourite characters. It is the ultimate experience for kids.

When it comes to school Contact Programs over the past decade, Turner has been conducting annual School Contact Programs (SCPs). “Over the years, we have increased the reach to include over 1 million kids between Cartoon Network and POGO. These SCPs provide an excellent platform for our advertisers as well to interact with the end consumer,” Desai added.

Elaborating on the last but not the least contributing factor i.e. the Digital front, he said, “Considering the growth in popularity of mobile and internet platforms with kids, none of our marketing strategies are complete without an extension onto these platforms. Our strategic efforts of providing innovative games to kids across our websites and mobile applications have enabled us to create records. Today cartoonnetworkindia.com and pogo.tv are the leading kids’ websites in the country with each site receiving over 5 lakh unique viewers per month. The Ben 10: Xenodrome mobile game that was launched a few months ago has got over a million downloads in India.” 

Shedding some light on plans for 2013 with growing competition as well as diverse content, Desai said, “Competition is always healthy and helps the whole genre develop. At Cartoon Network and POGO, we see this changing landscape as an opportunity to meet kids’ growing appetite for more diverse and engaging content.” He believes that as the genre gets fragmented, it has been noticed that the audiences tend to gravitate towards what they are familiar with. With POGO at No. 1 at Cartoon Network at No. 3, we see this only as an opportunity to strengthen loyalty towards our shows and brands.

Looking at  tough competition, increase in costs and low advertising rates it seems these have been some of the major challenges facing kids’ channels in India. However, the genre has attracted new channel launches and content acquisitions in the recent past. Desai said that the kids’ genre is the third largest after Hindi GECs and Movies. It is more than double the size of any of the subsequent genres be it news, music, sports, etc. (Source: FICCI-KPMG Report 2012). Thus term ‘niche’ no longer applies to this genre. With digitization in progress, growth of multiple TV households and a new set of TG every few years to tap, this genre will only continue grow in years to come and from this perspective investing in this genre is viable.

When asked about the influence of cartoon characters on kid’s behaviour and mind-set, Desai  opines, “Since they are at a tender age, kids are easily influenced by their surroundings which include cartoons as well. Kids relate to certain characters that create lasting impressions on them. They soon aspire to be like an alien-morphing superhero like Ben 10 or an adventurist in a mystical land like Jake from Adventure Time or a character they idolize like Chhota Bheem, or a good friend like Raju from Chhota Bheem. Kids even gravitate to characters they can laugh with like Kris from Roll No. 21.”

In terms of trends in kids’ channels for 2013, Desai feels that there’s definitely more choice in kids’ entertainment today than there was when Cartoon Network first pioneered the kids’ genre in 1995. This speaks of the growing demand for quality content in this space that now spans everything from local series such as Roll No. 21 and Chhota Bheem to classic toons like Tom and Jerry and contemporary phenomena like Ben 10 and Oggy and the Cockroaches.

With more choice, comes a more discerning audience and interestingly adults are just as likely to tune in to these channels as kids. Kids, these days, tend to tune in to fewer shows on kids’ channels than ever before, but their time spent on each show is increasing.  | By Aanchal Kohli [aanchal(@)adgully.com]