MxMIndia

Tag: Vivek Srivastava

  • Q&A with Vivek Srivastava, Digital Head of Colors, on the online strategy for the 'Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa'

    Jaldi 5 with Vivek Srivastava, Digital Head, Colors: Jhalak online pageviews will double this year

    There’s more to the new season of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, the Indian version of the BBC show Strictly Come Dancing, than just the airing on Colors from June 1. The channel has planned an online offensive that will not just extend the on-air excitement, but also engage internet users with the show and its stars. MxMIndia posed a few questions at Vivek Srivastava, Digital Head of Colors, to get a sneak peek.

     

    01. We’ve been hearing about the various online activities that you are doing for Jhalak. How critical is online for the promotion of a television programme? Or are you looking at attracting an entire set of people online who may not necessarily watch it on telly?

    Digital is a critical part of our promotion strategy. This year, we are taking the brand Jhalak and our promise to make Non-Dancers dance to the next level. Throughout the season,  we will release one dance tutorial every day for our viewers. This will be from different dance forms , for example, Seven Steps salsa etc. These videos will be released every week on our website, Jhalak app and social media. To make this more exciting we have tied up with Dancewithmadhuri.com – Madhuri Dixit’s online dance academy. Viewers can now learn, practise and upload their videos. Madhuri Dixit will herself select the winners and one lucky winner will get a chance to dance with Diva herself.

     

    Apart from this, we are also launching a microsite for Jhalak and soon we would also be launching a Jhalak app. Also, there will be lots of action happening on the day of the launch – June 1, as viewers will get a chance to come face-to-face with Madhuri on our website and Facebook page at 11:30am. In the afternoon (3pm), we have a 20-min web premiere on YouTube.

     

    02. Some of the content that you have on the internet requires fast broadband speeds, which is a reality only with people in offices… at least in India. What were the numbers like last year, and what do you expect it to be this year?

    Connectivity has been improving –  Smartphone/tablet penetration, 3G and access to Internet has gone up significantly in the last few years. We did 100 million pageviews on our website last year. We are looking at doubling these numbers this year.

     

    03. In terms of audiences, how many of them from India and abroad? And in India, where are the people coming from? Could you share some of these statistics?

    At over all level approx 30 percent of our consumption is from outside India. In India, the consumption is across states and towns the Tier 2 however are slowly gaining in numbers and we expect them to be a sizable number this year.

     

    04. In terms of revenues, are you going to be having the same set of sponsors, or will your digital presence have an all-new sponsor set?

    The on-air title sponsors will get preference since they have a existing association. However, we do approach a larger set for digital sponsorship.

     

    05. Until last year the TV show (JDJ) winners were decided by votes received via phone (smses). Will this year’s edition be factoring in votes received via the app?

    A JDJ viewer has the option of voting through sms and the website, last year too, the SMS voting option was incorporated in the JDJ app. We will have the same option this year as well.

     

  • India may be out of the T20 Cricket World Cup, but advertisers continue to cheer

    India out, advertisers still in!

     

    By Ananya Saha and Robin Thomas

     

    India might not have made it to the semi-finals of the T20 Cricket World Cup, but the advertisers and sponsors of the event are still cheering. ESPN Star had sold inventories to about 34 advertisers and, according to industry estimates, the advertising revenues that the channel made for the T20 World Cup are already in the range of Rs 250 crore. Are they complaining?

     

    Mahesh Ranka

    Mahesh Ranka, Founder & CEO, Indus Sports and Sponsorship, feels that India’s performance would hit the advertisers. He said, “The ad deliveries in the World Cup will be lower given that India did not make it through. However, the advertisers and sponsors would have taken the factor of India not making it through before they signed up. The bigger issue is for ESPN Star, whose inventory might be affected.”

     

    It is no news that advertisers and agencies always plan with such contingencies, of India not winning or getting out of a tournament, in mind. And especially in the case of T20, India was going to play either five matches or seven. With just three games left, from a sheer quantity perspective, it does not seem a big loss to advertisers.

     

    Anwesh Bose

    Anwesh Bose, Senior Vice President, DDB MudraMax Media, said, “Advertisers and sponsors have got their value already. Cricket is a non-cancellable property, so nobody is going to withdraw the money they have put in. For the T20 World Cup, sponsors buy the inventory for the entire tournament.” He added, “The broadcaster, in this case ESPN Star, holds back about 10 percent of inventory of finals and semi-finals, which they sell at a very high premium. Now that India did not go, they might not be able to command the premium for the inventory.”

     

    With India losing, ESPN Star has definitely lost an opportunity that they would have capitalised on if India had made it through.

     

     

    Vivek Srivastava

    Vivek Srivastava, Joint MD, Innocean Worldwide, said, “If you are a brand that looks at tactical use of such opportunities then you might sound like prophets of doom at this eventuality. However, most strategically driven brands today have long-term sports marketing properties and a long-term perspective on leveraging them. They look at a long-term engagement via a mega sport like cricket. Our client Hyundai has a long-term vision about integrating the brand and engaging with India’s passion for cricket as well as other cricket-playing nations via a five-year official partner status with the ICC. While India missing out on a semi-final berth hurts the emotions, it is business as usual.”

     

    Agreeing with Mr Srivastava is Hiren Pandit, Managing Partner-Special Projects at Group M who opined, “Advertisers have got more mileage and viewership during the T20 matches, and India’s exit will be slightly disappointing for them. Most of the advertisers in cricket are long-term advertisers, all the deals have been done earlier. India’s early exit may have been a missed opportunity but it does not mean that advertisers will not continue to sponsor the sport. Viewership will be impacted by India’s exit but there will still be some viewership.”

     

    The industry believes that the viewership will only see a minor blip, if at all. According to Satish Menon, CEO, Sports 18, while advertisers may be slightly disappointed with the loss, it is not going to stop them from advertising or investing in cricket in the near future.

     

    Mr Menon asserted, “When (Team India) does not do well it does reflect on the viewership and so on. As far as the viewership is concerned there will be a marginal dip, not a huge one because cricket is a universal game and a lot of the cricket fans or viewers also follow other matches equally. So I don’t think India’s exit will have any major impact on viewership and especially because it is the T20 World Cup.”

     

    Sudha Natrajan

    “When India is not there in a tournament, there is between 25 percent and about 35 percent drop in the viewership as compared to when India is playing. This is the sort of trend you see in the earlier games. If the games are interesting, the viewership could even climb, despite India’s exit from the tournament. The problem however is the buzz and the interest level that the country has when India is playing as compared to when they are not playing. So more than the TVR, it is the overall interest that you see diminishing,” concluded Sudha Natrajan, founder, TMC Corporation.

     

    Given that it is the festive season in India, the advertisers might not mind a few losses.

     

     

    Clippings above (LtoR) from DNA, Hindustan Times and The Times of India