In an exclusive interview with EVENTFAQS' Rachel George, Himmat Butalia, Marketing Head, PIX, talks about the channel's marketing strategy and the brand's success in connecting with the youth.

What is your marketing strategy to popularize PIX among your target audience and how much emphasis do you place on BTL marketing?

PIX has always been very active in creating new and innovative touch points with its viewers since the channel's launch. As a marketer for PIX, I see great value in BTL activations, be it in shopping malls, road shows or college events. BTL activities enable a brand to garner high recall and remain at the top of the mind simply due to the engagement experience it creates with the consumer. We aim at executing a couple of activities every quarter so as to regularly interact with our viewers.

The main aim of a BTL activation is to interact with the consumer on a common ground which he/she is comfortable in. BTL is voluntary engagement unlike many other mediums where a brand (or channel in this case) can mostly engage in one way communication. Last year, we carried out a series of very interesting flash mobs for the premiere of Michael Jackson's This Is It. Recently, we have also tied with local colleges for college festivals like Malhar, Highlight Reel and Olio to interact with the youth and establish dialogue with them. The key remains innovation - if you don't have a great idea, don't bother!

What kind of changes have you made to the brand to enable it to connect to the younger generation?

A channel like PIX is a great connect for the youth - the films are current, the look of the channel is current and the channel too, is barely five years old. We believe in the power of the youth and today, with the popularity of social media and the internet, the youth are more active than ever. PIX launched a unique community eight months back called the PIX Movie Club wherein all the members can watch current Hollywood release for free in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. PIX Movie Club has grown by leaps and bounds since then because of its unique proposition.

How would you rate the success of the PIX Movie Club?

I'm very proud of the PIX Movie Club and the response has been overwhelming. The strength of the community has grown to almost 15,000 members in less than a year. Over the past few months, we have received numerous requests from Hyderabad, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai, and we plan to take the PIX Movie Club to more markets.