WHERE ARE the NEW HITS? Hindi Gecs Have Driven the Growth of National TV Networks for Years
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December 1-15, 2018 Volume 7, Issue 12 `100 WHERE ARE THE NEW HITS? Hindi GECs have driven the growth of national TV networks for years. But they seem to have lost their ability to deliver big shows. What’s the problem? RAHUL JAUHARI JOINT PRESIDENT REDIFFUSION 16 8 6 PLUS TOPPING THE CHARTS Most Viewed Ads 21 MOVEMENTS/APPOINTMENTS Who’s Where 22 DETTOL SITISHIELD 15 GAJRAJ RAO BIRLA AEROCON Tackling Air Pollution One Man: Many Shades ‘Leak-proof’ Strategy The brand releases its The ad filmmaker and actor The brand is targeting first-ever campaign. recounts his journey. consumers and plumbers. itoi This fortnight... Volume 7, Issue 12 ew months back, Shailesh Kapoor, head of Ormax Media, said to me during EDITOR Sreekant Khandekar F an interview: “... Over the last seven to eight years GECs have been in PUBLISHER December 1-15, 2018 Volume 7, Issue 12 `100 standstill mode. After 2010-11, content innovation in Hindi -unlike regional- Sreekant Khandekar GECs stopped. The only real evolution in Hindi GECs is - non-fiction has got EXECUTIVE EDITOR more acceptability. But that’s more like a default advantage given to non-fiction Ashwini Gangal because fiction has not evolved...” ASSOCIATE EDITOR Sunit Roy WHERE ARE THE NEW HITS? PRODUCTION EXECUTIVE This fortnight, we ponder the ‘Why?’ of this. The experts we spoke to gave us Hindi GECs have driven the growth of national TV networks for years. But they seem to Andrias Kisku have lost their ability to deliver big shows. What’s the problem? a range of possible reasons. If it’s a creative block, how come it’s affecting all Hindi RAHUL JAUHARI ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES JOINT PRESIDENT REDIFFUSION 16 GECs at once – and what’s causing it? Is the market over-competitive and over- Shubham Garg crowded? Are the writers not experimenting enough – and if they are, are their risks 81301 66777 (M) paying off? Perhaps it has something to do with production budgets? Apoorv Kulshrestha 8 6 9873824700 (M) PLUS TOPPING THE CHARTS Noida Most Viewed Ads 21 MOVEMENTS/APPOINTMENTS Who’s Where 22 The overarching theme that emerged from all our interviews is: Audience tastes Nikhil Jhunjhunwala DETTOL SITISHIELD 15 GAJRAJ RAO BIRLA AEROCON Tackling Air Pollution One Man: Many Shades ‘Leak-proof’ Strategy The brand releases its The ad filmmaker and actor The brand is targeting 9833371393 (M) first-ever campaign. recounts his journey. consumers and plumbers. are changing. Not just in the context of what they like to watch on TV, but in Mumbai general. As one producer put it, “India is changing”. The way we live, eat, dress [email protected] and entertain ourselves has undergone a massive transformation. MARKETING OFFICE B 3, Ground Floor, Sector 4, Noida -201301 Uttar Pradesh Another question worth raising is: Has the very definition of a ‘hit’ on TV changed? Surely the parameters can’t be the same as they were ten -or even three- MUMBAI 302, Makani Center, 3rd Floor, years ago, can they? Off Linking Road, Bandra (W), Mumbai - 400050 While the growth of OTT content may have little to do with the absence of hits SUBSCRIPTION ENQUIRIES on Hindi GECs, this new world will definitely stir things up. One of the channel [email protected] heads we spoke to for this article said something that stayed with me – the makers Owned by Banyan Netfaqs Pvt Ltd and of TV programmes, unlike OTT shows, focus more on the larger story arc than on Printed and published by the personalities of the characters. Sreekant Khandekar, at 7-A/13, Ch. Ratan Singh Complex, Jawala Heri Market, Paschim Vihar, As my boss puts it, characters on TV have always been ‘Fair & Lovely-ised’, New Delhi-110 063. because they’re designed to please the entire family, a diverse set of viewers. Time Printed at Artz and Printz 208 DSIDC Sheds, to change? Okhla Industrial Area, Phase 1, New Delhi - 110020 Ashwini Gangal Cover Design [email protected] Deepesh Singh CONTENTS 19 WUNDERMAN THOMPSON Beginning of a New Story 20 WPP’s decision to merge vintage advertising brand J. Walter Thompson with direct-and-digital shop Wunderman holds a mirror to ethos of advertising today. AN OBITUARY Remembering the Guru KV Sridhar on his guru 14 Alyque Padamsee, who passed NEROLAC POINTS OF VIEW away recently. Belting it out Smartly Brands and Celebs: Have the rules of The brand turns conveyor engagement changed? 18 belts into shade card. afaqs! Reporter, December 1-15, 2 0 1 8 5 tisi BIRLA AEROCON ‘Leak-proof’ Strategy The green building solution brand launches its first-ever campaign. By Sunit Roy lumbing solutions in India is estimated to be `10,000 crore Pin which the organised or branded segment is around 50 per cent. This category is growing in double digits and gaining traction with the government driving towards ‘Pakka’ houses and sanitation. There is strong competition between national and regional players and the market is flooded with various brands such as Astral, Finolex, Plasto, Supreme, Star Pipes & Fittings, and Texmo, to name a few. And being ‘leak-proof’ is a virtue that stands for consistent performance. and Hyderabad. Hence, the brand felt There was once a carpenter, who Although the B2B segment is where it was time to take a well-calculated always replied with a standard phrase, “We wanted to the main business lies, most of these marketing drive to gain momentum ‘Sir, main kabhi aisa-waisa aapko ensure that both brands have, time and again, crafted and establish a stronger positioning. bataunga hi nahi...’ That was stuck communication keeping in mind the However, there are a number somewhere in my mind. So, we said, the superior quality B2C segment. of marketing and distribution what if you had a plumber who ends of the product and Taking the competition head-on, challenges the brand faces today. up having a new name every day. And Birla Aerocon, the green building “The smaller players in the market, everything just flowed from there.” brand Birla resonate solutions brand from the house of who are region-specific, play on a In a market where no one really HIL, recently launched the campaign very low price strategy. This is due cares to distinguish one pipe from together in the - ‘Naam Birla Dekhke Lena’. to various low input costs that create another, making people think of Birla form of a single Conceptualised by Ogilvy, the TVC pricing pressure on a national brand Aerocon differently, is an uphill task. is a quirky take on the problems like ours. This is in spite of our Hence, establishing the durability of communication for caused by leaky plumbing. operations in a multi-geographic Birla Aerocon Pipes was the prime the consumers.” The TVC showcases the superior environment with multiple logistical focus of the creative team. “House- quality that Birla Aerocon offers in complexities and even with the owners don’t really worry about what DHIRUP ROY the ‘leak-proof pipes and fittings’ presence of multi-locational plants,” pipes go into their homes. They rely CHOUDHARY category. The brand is targeting informs Neha Gupta De - head of on the word of the plumbers. So the end consumers as well as plumbers/ marketing, HIL. thinking is that ‘a pipe is a pipe’. For influencers, through this campaign She adds, “The competition is us, the brief was to make the plumber, message conveyed humorously. directly. fierce but that’s what makes it even as well as the house-owner, think According to Chitresh Sinha “We wanted to ensure that both more interesting for us. Competition about the pipe that goes into the home - CEO and head, Innovation, the superior quality of the product drives us to better our quality and and consider Birla Aerocon Pipes Chlorophyll Innovation Lab, “In and brand Birla resonate together in brand even more.” above all else,” explains Moonje. India, even today, customers get the form of a single communication This is Birla Aerocon’s first involved in the visible elements (like for the consumers. HIL (formerly TAKING THE attempt to reach out to its customers bathroom fittings or exterior paints, known as Hyderabad Industries HUMOROUS ROUTE in a mass way. There will be a but not in the invisible items like Limited) and Birla Aerocon brands Speaking of the insight on which 360-degree communication rollout putty or pipes). There are strong are well known, but to get better the new campaign is based, Nilay for the campaign. The brand has influencers in these categories traction from the influencers Moonje - group creative director, planned for extended visibility of the who finally make the decision. In campaign in Above the Line (ATL), that sense, I don’t think of it is Below the Line (BTL) and digital a B2B segment. It is more of a Conceptualised by Ogilvy, the TVC is a quirky formats. It will run the campaign ‘B2I’ segment, which is business to take on the problems caused by leaky pipes. in two phases - pan-India ATL, influencer. So, the strategy is correct followed by a channel-focused BTL to engage with the B2B audience.” (plumbers being the key), we decided Ogilvy, says, “Right from the campaign. ATL will play a pivotal Ayan Banik, head - brand strategy, to go with this,” informs Dhirup Roy beginning, we knew we had to think role in creating a positive brand Cheil India, says, “What I really like Choudhary - MD and CEO, HIL. of something that would get people positioning for Birla Aerocon. in the communication is the intrigue Birla Aerocon recently extended its to notice Birla Aerocon Pipes.