We’ll launch Roadies on Metaverse in some form & extend it to Web 3.0: Anshul Ailawadi

‘MTV Roadies’ is all set to embark on an adventurous journey with the newest season in South Africa. Hunting for new thrills and challenges, this season will be hosted for the first time by actor and philanthropist Sonu Sood. Co-powered by CoinSwitch, Paree Sanitary Pads, Leverage Edu and Lakme Sun Expert and produced by PipPip Media, the cult youth reality show will premiere on April 8, 2022, at 7:00 pm and air thrice a week for the first time from Friday to Sunday on MTV. The show will also stream exclusively on Voot.

Speaking to Adgully about what is different this year in ‘Roadies’, Anshul Ailawadi, Head – Youth, Music and English Entertainment, Viacom18, said, “I won’t tell you what is different, I will tell you what is the same, and that is the DNA of the show – which is adventure and journey. Everything else is different, whatever you will see will be different this year, but at the end of all the episodes, we have grown with the contestants. It’s a new journey, adventure, a new location, it’s a new host, new vibe.”

Talking about hosting ‘Roadies’ internationally this year, he said, “South Africa is a beautiful country and we were very clear that we wanted to mount the show at a certain scale, and visually the kind of canvas South Africa gives you, not many countries have.”

‘Roadies’ has also donned a new avatar, with actor Sonu Sood brought on board as the show’s host. Talking about the same, Ailawadi said, “When you inspire a generation of young people to become a Roadie, we did get a real word Roadie and in my mind, there is no better real world Roadie in this country than Sonu Sood. He is a first generation self-made man, who has used a lot of what he has earned, goodwill and other resources to give back, and that for us is special.”

Speaking about the partnership with Infinix, he said, “Infinix is a fast growing brand in the mobile space, they have a philosophy, which is very sleek, very cool, we like the line-up that they have. We wanted a wider audience base, especially the young audience, we wanted a wider space to go on and they have been integrated very seamlessly in the show.”

He further said that ‘Roadies’ has a multimedia campaign, which will be seen everywhere. Elaborating on the marketing strategy for ‘Roadies’, Ailawadi said, “There were a lot of jokes around Sonu Sood leaving everyone home and people making memes on Sonu Sood leaving the evicted contestants home. We have made campaigns on that and played it in metros in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. There is a 360-degree campaign, including hoardings, digital and video campaigns, fully conceptualised, designed and made in-house.”

Giving a hint about what’s next in the pipeline for ‘Roadies’, Ailawadi shared, “We will launch ‘Roadies’ on Metaverse in some form and extend it to Web 3.0.”