Sony YAY! ropes in Badshah to increase engagement with kids

Sony YAY!, the first kids offering from Sony Pictures Networks India, which turns 2 this summer, has on-boarded popular music artist and B-town rapper Badshah for new song. The foot tapping number by Badshah is inspired by popular show on Sony YAY! – ‘KickO and Super Speedo’. 

In the song ‘#GoKicko’, kids will hear Badshah encouraging KickO to fight for the right, thus making the future of Suncity brighter. Sung in the trademark Badshah style, kids will get to see toon character KickO and the rapper in the action-packed song video and perform the trademark #GoKickO hook-step. 

By signing on Badshah, Sony YAY! plans to increase the fervour and excitement for kids this summer. Along with the #GoKicko song, the channel will also launch brand new episodes for ‘KickO and Super Speedo’ as well as four new ‘KickO and Super Speedo’ movies. 

While Sony YAY! already enjoys a leadership position in HSM, the channel will continue to consolidate its position through engagements on TV and beyond. Apart from the extensive on-air lineup, KickO’s fans are also in for a treat with an array of engagements through all the relevant touchpoints. On a mobile device, kids will get to play as KickO themselves while they combat deadly villains and play the KickO and Super Speedo mobile game. KickO will also meet his young fans and shake a leg with them on his 10-city tour across the length and breadth of the country. Also, with a 124 city van engagement plan, the superhero will greet kids in the deepest pockets of the country.

Ronojoy Chakraborty, Head – Programming, Sony YAY!, elaborated, “The philosophy behind Sony YAY! is to give the kids the content which they can identify with – local characters and local sensibilities. That’s how the shows have been conceived and conceptualised. We feel that kids will have a greater affinity with these characters.” 

The channel is planning to expose these characters in other formats like telemovies based on these characters. 

He believes that being “unique” and ‘Indianised”, these shows are helping create a separate identity for the channel. “We have stayed away from acquiring shows and dubbing them in local languages. This gives us an identity of being an Indian channel and with 7 language feeds. The idea is to give the kids characters who speak in their mother tongue,” Chakraborty added. 

When it comes to building stickiness for the channel, Sony YAY! has seen good results and claims to have doubled its share in the past 10 weeks. “We are the second highest time spent channel for kids, which proves that kids are liking our content,” Chakraborty maintained. 

As part of its marketing strategy, Sony YAY! is doing mall activation in 8 cities and canter activities across 124 cities, which also include Tier 3 towns. Besides there are also a lot of associations, such as HoneyBunny flavoured and KickO flavoured ice-creams in Gelato’s range. Merchandise such as back to school gear as well as rainwear are also available. 

On the choice of Badshah for the song, Chakraborty said, “Most of our insights come from research, which we do on a regular basis. In focus groups when we asked kids as to what they liked about KickO, their answer was that he has a great hairstyle, wears good clothes and has a lot of ‘swag’, and that he is so cool. That word ‘Swag’ was what made us think and then we asked ourselves as to what kind of music they would like, across the board all the answer was Badshah and that is when we decided to partner with Badshah and create this summer delight.” 

Speaking to Adgully on his association with Sony Yay, Badshah said, “I have always had this dream of wanting to be a superhero character, and this is the closest that I have come to it. When Sony Yay made this offer, I realised that kids love me and this is my way of repaying that love. I have always had this affinity towards children, I still feel I am a child – or should I say there is a child in me!” 

He further said, “When I got to know that in their research the kids wanted me to sing something for them, I felt blessed. For a kid, it’s only black & white, there are no grey shades.” 

He acknowledged that the word ‘Swag’ has become synonymous with him after the song ‘Wakhra Swag’ in 2016. “Whenever swag is mentioned, Badshah is also mentioned in the same breadth,” he added.

 

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