Sony sets the stage for Indian Idol Junior

Sony Entertainment Television is extending its singing reality show Indian Idol to kids with Indian Idol Junior that starts airing on 1 June. Gaurav Seth, senior VP, marketing and communications, Sony Entertainment Television, takes us through marketing plans and advertiser response so far.

Tell us about the show

This is the first year for Indian Idol Junior, which is in line with our singing talent show Indian Idol. The new show is for the age group of five to 15. The idea was to extend the India Idol brand and expand the talent base. We have had tremendous success in locating talent across the country and bringing it in front of our judges – Vishal (Dadlani), Shekhar (Ravjiani) and Shreya (Ghoshal). We have shortlisted the talents who will now go into the theatre round and from there we will select the 10 finalists.

Can you share the marketing plans around the show?

The audience base for Indian Idol junior is slightly larger. Leo Burnett, which is our advertising agency, created three television spots and we used those as the teaser campaign. We used three famous songs, which marked historic moments in Hindi cinema and replaced the actor singing the song with an Indian Idol junior talent. We received tremendous response to those spots. This was carried on to radio. The campaign was also extended on outdoor, print, digital, BTL, mobile and so on. For instance, in the audition phase we created a mobile app. We had a website where one could do online audition and then send it to us. Since its launch phase, the idea has been to create a 360-degree campaign around the show.

Tell us about the BTL activities.

We have designed a 15-city BTL campaign, which we call the ‘Society Idol’. We go into societies, colonies and residential areas and organise a contest there to choose a junior idol for those individual colonies, which will then be gratified.

How many advertisers do you have on board? In percentage terms, can you disclose how much inventory you have pre-sold?

We have six sponsors on board. This includes Nissan Micra, Horlicks, Kelloggs Oats, Alpenliebe, 99 acres and Real. In terms of the total utilisation, there will be a lot of spot buying happening and I do not have the exact figure on me today.

The spot rates of non-fiction reality shows tend to be higher than those of fiction shows. Are advertisers paying a premium for a new show like Indian Idol Junior?

Indian Idol is a well established brand. So despite its first year, Indian Idol Junior appeals to the entire family and therefore it is a show that commands a premium.