ETV Bangla promotes TV show to engage 3000 people

by EVENTFAQS Bureau | Marketing | August 2, 2013 | News

Speaking about the activity, Ravish Kumar, Executive Vice President, Viacom18 & Business Head - Regional Channels, ETV Bangla said: "Bigg Boss is a show that offers unscripted reality to its viewers. Through this initiative, we wanted the viewers to sample the game show not just virtually but experience the true essence of the format. This initiative was undertaken to engage with our viewers and to give them a chance to not just watch the game virtually, but to experience the tasks undertaken in the show as well. The canter activity reached out to the length and breadth of Bengal and we were happy to have RW execute the same for us effectively."

The mandate was to create hype around the Bengali version and to increase ETV Bangla's viewership. Speaking about the association between ETV and RW, S. Venkatesh, Director, RW Promotions said: "RW Promotions had recently launched a promotional campaign for Kaun Hoeel Marathi Crorepati for ETV Marathi. The success of this campaign helped RW in its association with ETV Bangla. Our role included promoting the show to help it reach the hearts of people in West Bengal. ETV wanted to make the show a resounding success and earn great goodwill from the Bengali audiences across geographies."

Speaking about the importance of such BTL activities, Kumar said: "While a 360 degree marketing campaign that involves OOH, radio, print and television creates impact, a BTL activity encourages and activates viewer engagement. Seeing a hoarding produces brand recall wherein at the back of the viewers' mind, he or she knows that some show will be launched but this medium is simply a visual medium. A BTL activity is undertaken to give the viewers a complete experience of the show, which serves as a touch and feel medium making the show real to them. Hence, these activities are important for the brand."

The show is produced by Endemol and hosted by Mithun Chakraborty. Two vans, fabricated to resemble the Bigg Boss house, complete with the Bigg Boss's chair and the confession room, moved around the entire state of West Bangal. The idea of the decorated vans was to give the crowds a real feel of the Bigh Boss house. The vans opened into a stage which was fabricated to resemble the Bigg Boss house.

The vans were stationed at crowded places such as a market place or a chopal and the Big Boss's chair would have a cut-out of Mithun Chakraborty. On entering a town or village, promoters would invite people to the vans and emcees would ask them questions related to the concept of the show. They would also play games with the crowds similar to the tasks given to the contestants in the Big Boss house. Winners of the games would get free merchandise and cable operators would also be wooed with gifts. An LCD set in the van would play commercials of the show reminding people about the show timings. Tin-plate branding, an effective way of creating brand recall, was also used.