MasterChef India launches today after high intensive promotion

We have seen reality shows in all forms till date. It has varied from singing, dancing, doing extraordinary things to even absurd things like who can stay awake for the longest time period to testing your partner's loyalty. Some of them even thrive on typical human nature and emotions. Today Star Plus will be launching their much talked about and internationally acclaimed reality show MasterChef India. For the first time in the history of Indian reality shows, "cooking' will be looked at as a talent. This show will have 12 contestants displaying their culinary skills and competing for the title of "Master Chef India'. A reality show in cooking hosted and judged by actor Akshay Kumar is the latest innovation that Star Plus has brought to its audience. The other judges will be Ajay Chopra and Kunal Kapoor. "A bit of knowledge and fun' is what Akshay Kumar expects to bring to the show. 'Tasty Dish, Varna Game Finish' is the thought that the marketing campaign is stressing upon.

The promotion for a show for this stature has to be large scale and all-encompassing. Star Plus has ensured that MasterChef is making conversations on social networking sites by releasing a web premier that is also available on all Star Plus properties like www.startv.in (India's premier catch up television service), www.indya.com (India's premier television news aggregation site) & www.starplus.in (Star Plus's official website). Star India has also partnered with one of India's most popular website i.e. www.rediff.com along with www.rajshri.com, www.facebook.com and a host of their current distribution partners who have embedded Star Player widgets.

"Digital media plays a very important role in any media plan. In fact, to explore this space better with Amul presents MasterChef India, Star Plus has planned to do a web premiere for the show-the biggest ever done for a television show. This Web Premiere ' first look that begins on Oct 14th at 3 pm and will be on till October 16th 9 pm will reveal the first look of this most awaited reality show of the season," said Anupam Vasudev, Executive Vice-President, STAR Plus.

The first look of the show has already been unveiled from October 14 on www.masterchefindia.in, facebook.com, rediff.com and yahoo.com.

Vasudev further adds, "The premiere will also feature a contest wherein users are given the opportunity to win a blackberry phone every hour during the premier by answering questions related to the content of the show. Besides on-air promotions of the web premiere on the channel, Star is also telling netizens about this premier through media placements across the Indian web space."

Apart from this, Star Plus also has a show microsite which is www.masterchefindia.in and is blogging across Social networking sites about the show. Their other social media initiatives include promotion through banners across key sites- www.rediff.com, www.facebook.com & www.masterchefindia.in and heavy promotion through seeding of MasterChef India promos across all video sites.

GCMMF Amul Taste of India is the title sponsor along with various associate sponsors who includes Adani Wilmur Ltd-Fortune Plus, Marico Ltd-Saffola Oats, KRBL LTD-India Gate Basmati Rice, Hindustan Unilever Ltd-CIF, Hindustan Unilever -FoodsKnorr Soupy Noodles, Ferrero India Pvt Ltd -Kinder Joy, Ramdev Food Products Pvt Ltd-Ramdev Masala.

Apart from the music video that the channel has created featuring Akshay Kumar, in which the actor makes innovative use of kitchen sounds and visuals to recreate the show as a musical, it has also used outdoor media extensively. Cutouts of Akshay Kumar along with mobile van innovation with life size mixer and enormous life-size models of microwaves have been put up across various cities. This is a part of the robust outdoor campaign with 400 plus units across Mumbai, Delhi, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Jaipur & Lucknow. The channel also has made use of transit media through bus wraps, railway station branding & bus backs & kiosks and has promos played across multiple Vijay Sales outlets across the country

There are various promos undertaken which includes a roadblock today which is a two-minute capsule on the show concept, directing the viewers to STAR Plus to watch the first episode. Other promos include concept explanation, countdown and footage.

There will also be a 24 hour countdown clock across networks channels and in-show integrations across all key shows on Star Plus.

Adverts and editorials in print publications such as Grihashobha, Mukta, Sarita and India Today have also been used to promote the show.

In addition to the high intensive digital and outdoor campaigns, the channel has initiated a one-week campaign with high-frequency radio spots across stations, including Radio Mirchi, Radio City, Big FM, Red FM, Fever, Radio One and My FM. The channel is running over 40 spots a day where the RJs will mention the sponsorships and the ultimate objective is to increase listener interactivity with hourly countdowns and also an interview with Akshay Kumar today, the day of the launch. | By Janees Antoo [janees(at)adgully.com]