SET strengthens its content play

As it is rightly perceived in the Hindi General Entertainment space that Content is the key to success, 2015 seems to have infused fresh and creative thoughts among the players. Last couple of years have witnessed a lot new changes in the programming strategies of every channel. In the race and chase to grab eye balls, every broadcaster seems to be quite aggressively exploring newer ideas, concepts and formats.

With growing and developing demand of differentiated content, Multi Screen Media’s Sony Entertainment Television which has always listened to the voice of its audiences has pulled up its socks and hence decoded to launch a bouquet of shows keeping the viewer at the center.

The channel that has witnessed a challenging phase is trying to strengthen its position with a unique line up of show with differentiated concepts. With the starting of 2015, the channel had launched some of its properties like Bhanwar, Aahat and Muh Boli Shaadi, is now geared up for Dil ki baaten dil hi jaane featuring Ram Kapoor.

To know more on the marketing and communication push for the new properties, Adgully caught up with Gaurav Seth, Sr. VP and Head-Marketing, SET.

Sony that has been silent from quite some time now is trying to make a comeback with a bang. Speaking about the same, Seth said, “The biggest challenge today the channel is facing is in terms of its reach and the best way to strengthen the same is to make our communication hit the right chord. Differentiated content will surely grab encouraging eye-balls but if the communication is not played well the content might also lose its sheen.”

With a distinct thrust to create a buzz for the brand, the channel for the new show, Dil ki baaten dil hi jaane, will be adopting a unique and differentiated communication route which will involve Digital push aggressively. Keeping in mind the staggering statistics of digital natives, the channel believes that a lot of potential TV viewing audience lies on Digital therefore they have released the first promotional video of the show, Dil ki baaten dil hi Jaane exclusively on Youtube. The promo video is trending aggressively on the digital medium and stands tall with more than 21 Crore impressions on Twitter and 3 lakh views on Youtube.

Elaborating on the reason behind utilizing Digital so aggressively, Seth said, “India is getting younger day by day and today internet is becoming the most reached and preferred medium by the Indian audiences hence we thought of tapping that space. At Sony we are always open to explore new horizons for Content and for creating a buzz about the same among our consumers.”

Not only that but with an aim to involve the viewers’ right from the inception of the show and make them grow as the show grows, the channel has created behind the scenes videos of both making of the campaign and the show which will released way before the show is actually launched. Apart from that since the show is being directed and written by veteran film-maker Mahesh Bhatt, the viewers will get to see Mahesh Bhatt talking how the show is inspired from his autobiography. To keep the curiosity of the audiences alive the channel will be releasing webi-sode with Mahesh Bhatt.

The interesting fact is that the channel has created different and exclusive promo content for the digital platform which will not be seen on television. Adding further, he said, “It is an effort to give exclusive content to our viewers. We are trying to evoke strong responses from the audiences through these videos thus taking the show closer to its audience.”

Though the show is slated to go on air from March onwards but the timing of the show is yet to be confirmed but it will surely be aired on the late prime time slot which is before 10. As told by Seth, the show will not fall in the trap of stretching the story beyond a point and will be concluded in a sensible manner.

We spoke to a few media experts who were of the view that Sony is trying to cater to the male audiences and the shows are skewed towards the same. So when clarified with Seth about the same, he said, “No we have a healthy mix of shows. The central aim is to target both male and female audiences with our shows but the influencer for a show at a particular point could be a male or a female.”

This is the story of Anandita who is suffering from a terminal illness and wants to embrace death to rid her loving husband and two kids of all the agony they are going through to bring her back to life. This is the story of Ram who is not ready to let go of his wife and is ready to go to any extent to save her. The show poses the quintessential question that how far can one go for love.

As the channel embarks upon a newer phase and on asking Seth the reason behind the channel’s challenging phase, he said, “It is the game of content. Sony viewers have always had a set of expectations from the channel in terms of delivering new and fresh content. We have witnessed success with shows like bade Ache Lagte Hain, as the viewers were not getting to similar content elsewhere. The key learning was that the moment we started airing content which was similar to that of other players the viewers lost the connect.” 

Having said that, he meant that Sony has always given differentiated and unique content and that is what will make the viewers build a connect again with the channel. Therefore, with an aim to get the lost viewers back and add more in its kitty the channel is leaving no stone unturned.

Well, the year seems to be an interesting one for the avid Sony viewers as the channel is all set with promising shows like Sankat Mochan Mahabali Hanuman', promos of which have already hit the TV screens, a show with Rajeev Khandelwal, and their non-fiction property, Indian Idol  and few more are in pipe line. Watch this space for more….| By Aanchal kohli | Twitter: @aanchalkohli
 

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