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The massive OOH campaign has been executed across 100 plus towns in the country from metros to LC1 towns using large 3D sculptures on billboards ranging from 17 to 22 ft in height
BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | September 16, 2013
One of the most ambitious show launches by Star Plus for the year - Mahabharat - is all set to make a blazing entry in the GEC arena. Star Plus has not left any stone unturned to ensure that this is the biggest show launch of the year and has gone all-out through a massive multimedia campaign across the country. Star Plus has partnered with DDB Mudramax OOH to create the required awareness and buzz for the show launch through a hi-decibel OOH campaign.
The massive OOH campaign has been executed across 100 plus towns in the country from metros to LC1 towns. Apart from the high visibility OOH campaign, it has also taken the innovation route to garner the desired eyeballs and buzz.
The biggest challenge has been to outshout the competition which has simultaneous presence on ground with their flagship show launch campaigns. The Mahabharat OOH campaign seems to have easily achieved the desired goal in a big way.
Spencer Noronha
Spencer Noronha, VP, DDB Mudramax OOH, said, "The brief was to create impact and buzz for Star Plus' Mahabharat - the biggest show launch of the year. We selected the most impactful media vehicles clubbed with three first of its kind innovations and ensured that the awareness and recall generated for the show launch are quick as well as lasting. The idea was to bring the billboards to life by recreating famous scenes from the epic on ground. The route we used was to put up large 3D sculptures on the billboards ranging from 17 to 22 ft in height emerging out of the billboards. The three innovations of Arjun, Shakuni and Draupadi look dominating and dwarf the conventional innovations done so far on the OOH platform. These innovations have been entirely conceptualised and designed by our in-house OOH creative team."
Nikhil Madhok
Nikhil Madhok, SVP Marketing, Star Plus, said, "The work done for Mahabharat by DDBMudramax OOH has been outstanding. The innovations have been novel and the scale of execution has been a first of its kind in the country on the OOH platform. Star Plus always strives to disrupt and this execution is another example of our continued efforts in that direction."
The three innovations are:
Anirudha Pawar
Anirudha Pawar, DGM, DDB Mudramax OOH, said, "We have installed the large sculptures on strategically located high impact billboards in the city. We hired professional sculpture artists to ensure that the final output comes to life especially as it involved recreating human form. Getting all three sculptures ready and put up simultaneously at the start of the OOH campaign was a mammoth task and took detailed planning on our part. The sculpture work started almost a month back. We had to hire a crane to hoist these giant sculptures on the billboard for installation. The innovations are impossible to miss and have definitely amplified the scale of the launch campaign. All the media vehicles have been meticulously selected to complement the eye-catching and dominating creatives used for the campaign."
A multi-media approach has been adopted by DDBMudramax OOH to amplify the effect of the campaign by achieving the right balance between impact, frequency and reach. Large format premium billboards and unipoles, gantries and bridge panels, mall media, metro stations and railway station platform branding as well as transit media have been extensively used to create the desired level of awareness and hype for the upcoming show. The media selection done aptly reflects the premium nature and scale of the show.
There are six creatives used for the campaign highlighting six characters of the epic saga - Krishna, Arjun, Draupadi, Duryodhan, Shakuni and Gandhari. The rich colours and strong visuals used in the creatives help the campaign look dominating and create an instant connect and recall for the campaign amongst the masses. Care has been taken by the agency to ensure that the commuter gets exposed to each of the creative in a sequence as he travels across the city eliminating monotony and keeping the noticeability factor for the campaign alive.
It is a herculean task to relate Indian mythology with the current scenario but renowned author Devdutt Pattanaik has undertaken this as a challenge. His understanding of the subject, the research he has conducted and by virtue of authoring innumerable books on Indian mythology and relating their significance to modern day life, he has been the apt choice for Siddharth Kumar Tewary's Mahabharat that begins on Star Plus on September 16th at 8.30pm.
He is all set to make his TV debut although off screen and has been selected as Chief Consultant for this new project. In his view all incidents that occur today have a parallel to the epic and hopes that the younger generation will relate to the series.
The various books he has written related to Hindu mythology, include Myth- Mithya, Shiva -An introduction, Indian mythology, Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharat, The Pregnant King among others.
With Pattanaik's rich understanding of mythologies and having worked closely on this genre, Adgully, in an exclusive conversation gained insights on the upcoming show Mahabharat and also how challenging it is to fit Indian mythology in today's scenario.
Star Plus as a channel believes in retaining the bond with audiences and keeping them engaged with new and fresh ideas. Although different mythological series are popular with viewers on different channels in different time bands we asked Pattanaik, what is new about this series of Mahabharat that will grab eyeballs. He said, "I have not seen the other shows on other channels. In this retelling, we have tried to satisfy the diverse television audience by showing the human side of all characters, how noble and how unwise they could be. This coupled with spectacular sets and special FX will surely stir a lot of curiosity."
When any show goes live on screen, it deals with a challenge of adapting to present day scenario. So, even to relate Indian mythology with the current day scenario is the biggest challenge. We asked him to explain how it is possible to draw a parallel between the two, on which he shared, "Mythology is timeless. People in the show may wear costumes of the past but the issues they are dealing with are timeless and will be relevant in the past, present and future. They are issues like ambition, greed, love and jealousy."
With regard to research carried out by him for the series and in what way it will contribute to the show Pattanaik shared to say, "There is a team of researchers. I have written a book called Jaya - an illustrated retelling of the Mahabharata by Penguin India for which I had done a lot of research. The idea was to talk about stories not just from the classical version but also from various regional versions and folk traditions to give richer and fuller experience to the audience."
In recent times it has become a trend whereby we see most channels on Indian television focusing on different mythological content. On asking how he sees this genre growing in India, he avers, "I am not an expert on this. You have to ask TV experts. Indians have always loved mythology. Maybe, television is finally realizing this."
Where casting for Mahabharat is concerned the younger generation has been roped in. Is he satisfied with the casts and the way in which the storyline has been projected in the show? "I am not involved in the casting process or storyline. Mahabharat can be told in various ways and this is yet another way. Each way is delightful and has something new to offer," he reverted.
Pattanaik shared the two major elements which will help this version of Mahabharat to build better connectivity with the audience. He said, "One, it shows the characters as humans with human frailties that audiences will be able to connect with. Two, it has sets and costumes that are grander than ever before."
As Chief Consultant of the show and making TV debut off screen, we asked him, how he plans to present a style that is unique and different from standard visual formats that are prevalent of late. "Well, I am advisor to "Devon ke Dev Mahadev" which has been running on Life OK for past one year. So this is not my debut. I am a consultant, I consult. The rest is up to the production team," concluded Pattanaik.
Star Plus' trump card might be the weekday slot that they have chosen. The earlier show time will ensure that Mahabharat will not clash with known crowd pullers such as Sony's KBC and Big Boss on Colors
Sohini Sen | Mumbai | September 16, 2013
Arjun and Draupadi in Mahabharat
Star Plus has a lot riding on its new show Mahabharat'. The tale based on the epic story from Indian historical mythology is Star's big release for the season.
In recent times many historical and mythical shows have come on the small screen. However, none of the remakes was able to repeat the super success of BR Chopra's Mahabharat' and Ramanand Sagar's Ramayana' in the late 1980s on Doordarshan. Ramayana was made twice - once by erstwhile channel NDTV Imagine and most recently by Zee TV. Both fell flat on people meters. Mahabharat found no takers either in the form of Sanjay Khan's Maha Kavya Mahabharat' or Ekta Kapoor's Kahaani Hamare Mahabharat Ki'.
Meanwhile, Colors launched Jai Shri Krishna' in 2008 by Sagar Pictures which ran for over a year. Sahara One's Jai Jai Jai Bajrangbali' (2011) and Colors' Mahavir Hanuman' (2010) couldn't impress viewers going by TAM data for the shows. Meanwhile, launched in 2011, Life OK's Devon ka dev Mahadev' has been doing well.
Why then is Star Plus going ahead with such a show? On being asked, the channel confirmed that there was no consumer research done. However, the show has been in the making for three years. Star has taken help from renowned historian Professor BB Lal and the Draupadi Trust to make sure they stick to historical facts. Author Devdutt Pattanaik has helped with creative inputs while Salim Khan has helped Mihir Bhuta with dialogues. Oscar-winning designer Bhanu Athaiya, music directors Ajay-Atul, action director Ram Shetty are also part of the show.
Nikhil Madhok
According to Nikhil Madhok, Senior Vice-President - Marketing at Star India, the need for the story of Mahabharat needed to be told, "especially at a time when our society is going through social and political changes".
"The story of Mahabharata has been told and retold several times over. But if you see, the current generation of under 25s, that is, those who had not grown up watching Mahabharat on Sunday mornings, would probably not know about the complexity and enormity of the story," said Madhok.
With the backing of a big brand like Star, the story is likely to reach more viewers than the earlier versions attempted by other channels.
Sudha Natrajan
Sudha Natrajan, Founder-Director, The Media Consultants, commented, "Mythologies have come back and gained popularity. Unlike non-fiction, or episodic stories, which do not need viewer loyalty, mythologies do help promote and build loyalty. Channel share and stickiness increase with this genre of programming. It is my observation that the youth, who are becoming aware, worldly wise as well as technological savvy, are also inclined to explore their roots and their history. It depends on the treatment and the casting, which will determine if the youth can resonate with it or not. The Bhagwat Gita and the entire story of the Mahabharat are timeless and relevant even in today's society. If the narrative is simple, and is able to form a contemporary bond with the youth, it will work."
While Ramayana is a linear story, Mahabharat is much more complex. It has many characters and innumerable viewpoints. Ramayana as a story is well known because either it has been passed from generation to generation as bedtime stories or it has been staged as plays on Ramnavami every year. However, Mahabharat's retelling needs skilled hands and Star Plus hopes that they will be able to do the job. Unlike Chopra's Mahabharat which was narrated by Kaalchakra or time, Star Plus' Mahabharat will be narrated by Krishna. Krishna will also pose questions during each episode.
For Ramayan, Zee had unveiled a first of its kind virtual temple on its Facebook page. Interestingly, Zee had also leveraged the 3D depth-sense concept and created an exciting 90-second game of modern-day The Battle of Good vs Evil' for all those visiting Mumbai's malls. The game created 3D avatars of Ram and Ravan. The players had to assume the Ram avatar and their mission was to nail the 10 heads of Ravan with accurately aimed arrows. Players could choose from amongst a choice of arrows such as the Soorya Baan (sun arrow), Agni Baan (fire arrow) and the Naag Baan (snake arrow). Zee had also made the show available on Doordarshan in the time slot of 11 AM on Sundays, trying to make the old weekend morning slot popular again.
Time slot gambit
However, Star Plus' trump card might be the weekday slot that they have chosen. Mahabharat would come on Star Plus on weekdays at 8.30 PM. This has been decided after much consideration. The earlier show time will ensure that Mahabharat will not clash with known crowd pullers such as Sony's Kaun Banega Crorepati (which comes on Friday-Sunday at 8.30 PM) and Big Boss on Colors (weekdays 9 PM). This is also a noticeable shift from Star Network's Satyamev Jayate, which by coming at 11 AM on Sunday mornings had tried to rekindle that dying time slot.
The 8.30 PM time slot comes into play for the viewership profile as well. With the release of the new LC1 list, TAM is covering 92 per cent of the HSM urban markets against the earlier 74 per cent. After the inclusion of these towns, the average primetime has shifted to 8-9.30 PM and shows playing in this time slot do better. Mahabharat is likely to be more popular with the audience from the LC1 towns than the urban population.
Amol Mohandas
"We have seen channels try and capitalise on the Sunday morning slot just because earlier, mythologicals worked well. However, times have changed and with that people's lifestyles too. Moreover, telecasting in the same time slot may raise viewer expectations and is more likely to be compared to the previous versions of similar programming. This genre would find high affinity among the smaller markets. Hence 8.30 PM looks good as viewers in smaller towns would be relatively free compared to their metro counterparts," said Amol Mohandas, Business Head at Allied Media Network.
Mahabharat's marketing strategy is far wider. It is being touted as the biggest marketing effort a show has seen on any GEC ever. Star has created Mahabharat themed museums across 7-8 cities. These museums will showcase an array of weapons and jewellery used by characters in the show. There will also be Glasstrons - something like a sci-fi glass - on the screen on which viewers would be able to see content linked to the show.
To make sure that the show reaches not only the urban mass but also the Tier 1 and 2 cities and towns, the same museum has been converted to a Mahabharat Museum on Wheels' that will have LED installed canter vans travelling throughout the country. To connect with the younger generation in metros, Star Plus will travel to colleges across various cities and install a virtual wardrobe there. The youngsters can then see themselves on TV screens dressed as any of the characters from the show. Star will use the Kinect Mirror technology for this leg of the promotion.
Though the channel is not ready to disclose anything right now, more activities are planned for the next six months - each time a special turn of events takes place in the show.
The channel will also introduce a high engagement app which will allow users to listen to Mahabharat shlokas, take part in daily contests, pose with different weapons and jewellery from the show, and even go through the entire family tree of the Mahabharat characters. On social media sites, they have created a page for each of the major characters of the show and not just one common page for the whole show. While, there will be uploads on YouTube of specific content from the show - like the making of Mahabharat - full episodes will not be uploaded for virtual or online viewing yet.
The outdoor campaign for the show will cover around 100 cities across the country. It includes innovations like a life-size mannequin of Arjun firing an arrow at a fish rotating on a motor above him. There will also be one of Shakuni with his dice. On television, five character centric TVCs have been created including one each on Draupadi, Krishna, Shakuni and Arjun, which are already on air. The teasers were launched four months in advance. These are being shown through the Star Network as well as 25 other channels. Again, the making of Mahabharat is being shown during primetime on Star as well.
A lot is riding on Star Plus' Mahabharat. Its success will dictate the future of mythological shows and historical epics. The weeks ahead will unravel whether the new Mahabharat can rival the viewership success of BR Chopra's Mahabharat' and Ramanand Sagar's Ramayana' in the late 1980s. Star is leaving no stone unturned to achieve that.
Posted by Kanchana Devi on September 16, 2013 in Entertainment, Exclusive, News 0 Comments
Mumbai, Sep 16 (TruthDive): The epic story of Mahabharat is all set to hit your television screen on Star Plus on September 16. The show will be telecast Monday to Friday in the 8.30 pm prime time slot.
This new Mahabharat is being touted as the country's most- expensive TV series " Star has invested Rs 100 crore on the project and spent another Rs 20 crore on marketing the show.
Produced by Siddharth Kumar Tewary's Swastik Production, the show will be replacing Star's Ek hazaaron mein meri behna hai' in the 8.30 pm slot. Mahabharat will be a half-hour show consisting of a fixed 128 episodes.
Great pains have been taken to narrate this story with extreme care. The most skilled people were selected to make the narration of this tale perfect on TV. The sets, costumes and the action sequences are all set to take you back in time.
Nikhil Madhok, senior Vice President for Marketing at Star India, said the channel is targeting the youth, especially those who have not watched BR Chopra's Mahabharat on DD. Huge investments have been made by the channel to create visual effects that would excite the younger audience.
He added the characters had been given an edgy look so that today's youth relate to them. The makers have also tried to bring out different facets of human behaviour which one could relate to even in today's days and times.
To create curiosity among the audience, Star has created Mahabharat themed museums across 7-8 cities. These museums will showcase an array of weapons and jewellery used by characters in the show.
Star cast
Pooja Sharma, a Delhi girl (Draupadi)
Saurabh Jain (Krishna)
Rohit Bharadwaj (Yudhisthir)
Shaheer Sheikh (Arjun)
Aham Sharma (Karn)
Puneet Issar (Parshuram)
Arpit Ranka (Duryodhan)
Praneet Bhatt (Shakuni)
Arav Chowdhary (Bheeshma)
Ratan Rajput (Amba)
100-crore Mahabharat' starts today! Catch new stills of the star cast | ||||||
| Can the new 'Mahabharat' go one better on the old one? The show premieres today! | ||||||
| By ApunKaChoice | ||||||
| Date: Mon, Sep 16, 2013 09:15:13 GMT | ||||||
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by PRASANT NAIDU on SEPTEMBER 17, 2013
in CAMPAIGNS
Before the Indian television was swamped by the satellite television networks, Doordarshan defined the idiot box for Indians. This was during the late eighties when the prime time slots were defined by Sundays 9 AM to 10 AM. A time when like most of the kids my Sunday used to pass by having my breakfast in front of the black and white television that showcased the most popular Hindu epic television series Ramayan (1987-88) and Mahabharat (1988-90).
So, I was naturally excited when I heard that Mahabharat is being showcased again by Star Plus but with a new look, star cast and under a new production banner, Swastik Pictures. With the changing times when TV is no more the only dominant medium, I have been constantly updated about the new show via social media. From Facebook to Twitter to YouTube, Star Plus has made sure that the pre-buzz makes ample impact while keeping the subtle innovations.
I witnessed the initial buzz spreading from Facebook with targeted Facebook ads running for some time now (approx more than two weeks.) The targeted Facebook ads that informed about the new show landed on the Star Plus Facebook page. The Facebook page which has more than 3 million fans, has been aggressively informing fans about the new show, the new star cast along with their screen roles and revealing interesting trivia around it too. The below Facebook content gives you the hint of the pre-social media buzz content strategy for the television show that started from yesterday.
If this was not enough the page has been running sponsored content where it has been informing more about the show to its fans. The 140 character network has also witnessed an aggressive push in terms of promoted trend with hashtags such as #Mahabharat and #AajKaMahabharat. The channel that has more than 139K followers on Twitter has been creating some interesting pre-show buzz. The below tweet should give you a hint.
In addition to this, yesterday the channel invited renowned author Devdutt Pattanaik for a Twitter chat with the followers inviting discussions on the epic. Devdutt who is a known mythologist, has also helped with creative inputs for the new Mahabharat. Tweeps were asked to tweet questions along with the hashtag #Mahabharat and tagging Star Plus. Checking the tweets I can say that the Twitter chat drew interesting conversations.
YouTube channel of Star has more than 389K subscribers; it has been the one point destination for uploading all videos related to the epic. From making of the epic, to character promo videos, etc. the YouTube channel has it all and I am sure going further the channel would be uploading the show videos. According to Unmetric, the promo video on Satyavati is already one of the top videos for last week on the channel with more than 44K views.
Besides this, the channel rolled out the YouTube masthead and pre-rolls. The masthead of the show had an interesting game embedded in it. The simple game asked to choose an arrow and fire it at the opponent. One needs to choose the arrows carefully as the enemy has the same number of arrows too. The app is executed on YouTube itself and if you are bored by playing the game then either you can join the social conversations on Facebook and Twitter or watch the embedded videos.
In addition to all the social engagement, Star Plus has a section dedicated to the serial on its website. The site is interesting with features like details of the characters, news, videos, image gallery, etc. The social conversations from Facebook and Twitter have been embedded on the site too.
Mahabharat Museum is a must watch section where you can find interesting weapons and ornaments associated to the characters. For example you can have a look at the Arjun's weaponry such as bow and arrow. Infact these have been displayed at malls in different cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Baroda, etc. Other worth mentioning on-ground activities include virtual wardrobe, museum on wheels and glasstron technology.
Integration and innovations with websites like MSN and Yahoo. While the MSN innovation shows a gada' that hits the page resulting in a split of the page for a few seconds, the Yahoo! innovation shows an arrow tearing the page, reports AFAQS. The show is also being extensively promoted across Star's group websites by takeover. Besides this a mobile app has been created to bring the augmented like experience for the user who gets to know more about the characters after scanning an outdoor ad.
On print, apart from regular ads the channel ran 3D ads which were visible through the 3D glasses that came attached to the papers. Bombay Times was one of the publication that ran a 3D campaign ad and The Maharashtra Times masthead was changed to Mahabharat Times on September 15 as the show went on air on September 16.
The channel has done a larger than life 360 degree marketing campaign for the mythological series Mahabharat. From digital to social to print to outdoor to mobile to radio, the channel has left no stones unturned to get its mythological show gain maximum eye balls. Going further, it would be interesting to keep an eye on the ongoing social buzz and at the same time it would be a challenge for the show to capture viewers once again considering the massive investment Swastik Pictures have made to capture the young audience.
I will be watching the new series on the YouTube channel considering its interesting special effects but at the same time the old one which ran for 94 episodes is still one of my favorite shows in the history of Indian television.
