Exclusive | We have the best Intl. franchise: AXN India's Sunil Punjabi
Be where the action is. This has been the success mantra for many a companies who chose to base their manufacturing or other operations closer to their markets. So it does not come as a surprise if the financial companies or the entertainment & media companies base their operations out of Mumbai, being the financial and entertainment capital of India. Now in a very much same breath, AXN the leading English GEC channel from Sony’s stable has decided to shift its programming and packaging base from Singapore to India.
According to the channel, the shift of programming and packaging to India will result in a better output which will be in line with today’s audiences’ needs in the country. Further the shift will help create original programming that has a proven record of being a category breaker time and again. The programme preference in India is significantly different from any other Asian country. Audience feedback suggests that Indians prefer simple storylines, less complicated and bright films. The move to shift is therefore a step to realign AXN’s programme strategy and grow its audiences here.
In line with this AXN has acquired a host of popular and distinct titles to provide the viewers fresh content. The coming festive line-up of channel promises a host of new series and a bank of new movies.” For example, Punjabi said, the festive line-up of channel will have new series and a bank of new movies.
Beginning September 23, the channel is in the process of launching 10 shows including new series, reality shows and movies to capture the audiences imagination and strengthen its viewership. The different shows will keep the viewers glued to their TV sets.
To find out more about the developments at AXN, Adgully recently caught up with Punjabi who was glad enough to share the new plans that they are initiating. Punjabi also explained how he took time to understand the genre and the insights he gained in the process.
To begin with Punjabi said, “AXN has acquired some of the best international franchise and movie titles, the line-up has shows like ‘End of World series, Hero, Sherlock Holmes, Chosen, Top Gear, Voice, So You Think You Can Dance’ to name a few which are extremely rich visually and in content.” Then there is ‘Voice 5,’ a singing talent hunt show which will be launched within three days of its US launch and ‘Supernatural Season 9’ launching on October. 8. This will be followed by ‘The Hero’ and ‘Top Gear’ on October 18 and new seasons of ‘Hannibal’ and ‘Live Another Day’ (a new season of 24). The ‘Hero’, hosted by the Hollywood actor Dwayne Johnson, is a show similar to ‘Amazing Race’ and ‘Fear Factor.’ ‘Chosen’ will be telecast when the ‘EOW’ series concludes; ‘Sherlock Holmes’ and ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ are slated to be launched during Diwali. Another thriller, ‘Orphan Black’ about human cloning with a female protagonist, which will also be launched around the same time.
In the last one year AXN has already tasted the fruits of its revamped strategy. Viewership has increased by 30 per cent. Adds Punjabi, “Where audiences are concerned there are two kinds viz. the loyal ones and others who prefer to snack on content. Earlier audience viewership lacked engagement and this is what AXN plans to overcome with their new
When asked about the key strategies , Punjabi said, “The way we look at, it is basically a three pull strategy. One is focusing only on series which is pushing more content, second is from base perspective as we have two kind of viewers the frivolous viewer and loyal viewer. The loyal viewer is effective and views content on a daily basis whereas the frivolous viewer without loyalty gets in and gets out in search of content. The third strategy is to focus on our two pillars which are movies and reality shows.”
According to Punjabi the need of the hour was to bring in the differentiator factor that would increase viewership for the channel. “What to showcase on Friday, was one thing that we really saw as a differentiator; and a year back we took a risk of putting up shows close to US. We started with ‘Supernatural’ in October 2012, which was just 20 days old in the US. This was done for the first time in the country and it drove a lot of loyalty for ‘Supernatural’ and AXN as a channel,” said Punjabi.
“We have seen that when one wants to build a franchise one needs shows that have already run for one or two seasons. This in turn builds loyalty and a necessary fans base. For instance we recently announced the dates for Season 9 of ‘Supernatural’ and since then we have been innundated with enquiries and generated multiple likes as well as sharing on Facebook too ," Punjabi added.
AXN has invested heavily in their property ‘Supernatural, ‘and is the only channel to have done loads of ground activation for the show. The channel has done a six cities activation in cities like Chandigarh and Nagpur to promote the show. Thanks to its intense promotion, shows like ‘Teen Wolf’ and ‘Supernatural’ have developed a strong loyalty base. Even if it is shifted to some other time slot it is bound to have loyal viewers. The channel is building up franchises on series specific shows and will soon launch the ‘Sherlock Holmes’ series as it commands a massive fan following.
Discussing the programming perspective, Punjabi said, “We have broadened the genre as today we are no more purely into action, but an action, adventure and thriller channel. We have picked up all the three components which give viewers edge of the seat entertainment. This is the core promise which we give to our viewers. That is what we have planned in terms of programming strategy.”
The channel has not only made changes in terms of content but also in terms of schedule of the programs and the time band too. Now the channel has fixed slots for different kinds of shows like 8 p.m for reality content, 9 p.m. for light drama and 10 p.m. for heavy drama. Weekends will have a combination of blockbuster movies and reality shows. “The 9 pm time band is the slot which grabs maximum eyeballs even in English GEC's as the prime time is 8.30 to 10.30. We have pitched all the big titles at 9 pm,” says Punjabi.
AXN will launch 10 new shows of different categories between 23rd September 2013 to December 2013. Out of these some are renewal of the seasons already telecast. The first show ‘End of the World’ launched on 23rd September depicts six stories and six disasters and six four-hour-long series. One series will be telecast one series each week between Monday to Thursday at 9 pm.
With an idea to strengthen the films pillar, AXN will showcase movies that are thrilling and edgy in keeping with the tagline. It will premiere select movies that appeal to the audiences. “For movies we have packaged nine weekends, beginning 28th September. We have packaged films like ‘Mission Impossible, Godfather and Transformers.’ So, every weekend Sat-Sun 9 pm, we will have blockbuster movie premieres. We plan to bring in something which is closer to the brand and that has been our endeavour,” he shares.
With the channel witnessing developments in various categories, we asked Punjabi to brief us about their marketing plans. The channel’s marketing plans which were earlier restricted to limited periods have now been extended to longer periods. Elaborating further Punjabi said, “The length of marketing campaigns have now become longer and have stretched from 15 days to 30-45 days now depending on the type of property that is to be showcased. For small shows it could be 30 days and upto 45 days for bigger shows.”
Currently for 3-4 properties like ‘Supernatural, Teen Wolf, Orphan Black and Sherlock Holmes’ AXN is running six weeks campaign. There is also focus on print, outdoor and digital YouTube and Facebook. For AXN, its TG has always remained the younger generation in the age group of 15-35 years.
Punjabi also shared the channel’s marketing spends and disclosed that there has been an overall jump of 30 per cent with a substantial increase in the digital and social media. He added, “Where social media and digital helps in getting measurable results, non-digital medias are completely clutter breaking even today and helps in getting significant reach. The core areas where we are focusing are eight metros and approximately 34 cities all over India.”
AXN’s marketing campaigns took off with the ‘Supernatural Thrillathon’ series and are now focusing on ‘End Of The World’ promotions on different platforms. The channel will also use ‘The Hobbit's’ telecast extensively. Various on ground activations too have been initiated. The EOW series has already made its appearance on bus backs. Since people take time to consume outdoor AXN believes in the 40 day campaign to render their marketing strategies effective. Another interesting promotional strategy was the airline boarding passes to promote its show ‘Crossing Lines.’
The presenting sponsor for the newly launched series EOW is Micromax whereas Titan Edge is the associate sponsor. Every show has two sponsors. The channel has roped in several sponsors for the various upcoming series. ‘The Hero’ has taken aboard Renault as the presenting sponsor, while Nokia Lumia is the ‘Powered By’ sponsor for the reality show. ‘NCIS LA 4’ will be presented by Tata Safari Storme, along with Canon as the ‘Powered By’ sponsor. Apart from these two, the associate sponsor for ‘NCIS LA4’ is Axis Bank. . The two associate sponsors for ‘Voice’ are Bose and Levis.
With a huge bouquet lined up this season there will never be a dull moment for the loyal AXN viewer who will be entertained non-stop with a variety of edge of the seat premieres of reality shows, series and movies.