Here, there and everywhere
Coke Studio on MTV
When Coca-Cola Company wanted to tap the young and build a loyal set of consumers, it got together with Leo Burnett and crafted Coke Studio India, officially titled Coke Studio@MTV. The concept of Coke Studio India came from Coke Studio Pakistan and concentrated on promoting a unique and memorable alternative to Bollywood music. Now as Coke Studio reaches its soon-to-launch third edition in India, the concept that aims at connecting young people to Coke in a new way, has helped the brand gain a renewed appreciation amongst the target audience.
NGC & Ford Endeavour
In a bid to promote the new edition of Ford Endeavour, Ford India, the Indian arm of the US-based car maker, has partnered with National Geographic Channel to launch My Endeavour Alterrain in May this year. The show documents personal endeavours and quests that involve challenging road trips of celebs like Chetan Bhagat, Gul Panag, Karun Chandhok, Rajeev Khandelwal and Nagesh Kukunoor.
Tanishq Swarna Sangeetham on Raj TV
Jewellery brand Tanishq wanted to connect with consumers in Tamil Nadu. It launched a branded show titled Tanishq Swarna Sangeetham – a carnatic classical music reality show in 2012. Carnatic music is part of the cultural heritage and still quite popular among people. The show was conceptualized by Maxus on Raj TV. Now, in its second year the show has not only discovered amazing talent but also brought Tanishq culturally closer to consumers. The ongoing second season of the show will have its grand finale this month.
9X Media and branded integrations
9X Media execute a lot of brand integrations across 9XM, 9X Tashan (Punjabi) and 9X Jhakaas (Marathi). Most of these are around the animated episodes of Bade Chote, Bheegi Billi and Bhabi, amongst others. Idea Cellular executed a complete animated episode using the ?Hunny Bunny? song with the 9XM character Bheegi Billi, Kurkure has chosen 9X Tashan’s Bhabi.
Initiatives in the digital space
Shoppers Stop (SS) has released about 24 videos on the web that give tips on how to accessorize one’s attire, wear make-up and dress one’s hair. The videos showcase SS products across all categories. With SS not advertising on television, the strategy to release branded content on the web is surely a smart move.
Drive with MTV
MTV India and Tata Nano launched the second season of the social travel show, Drive with MTV, on June 4. The road trip executed through webisodes, has 12 travel junkies on a 21-day journey across the country in a Tata Nano, discovering places, cultures, sights and scenes. In its first season, the web-show had four teams traveling over a period of 21 days. The event was webcast entirely on social media and claimed to have engaged 15 million people across platforms. Among the four teams, the team that had the highest social media response from people won Nanos at the end of the show. So as Nano helped the 16 individuals from season one discover India, the car succeeded in conveying that Tata Nano can all kinds of journeys.
Urban Discoveries
As part of an online initiative for Ford’s EcoSport, Mindshare is curating content for 31 teams (of three people each) across 12 cities. The participants will be among the first to drive the car and keep it for three weeks ? take it to work on week days and discover the city they are in (across India) on weekends. The initiative is expected to witness scores of videos generated for the web. The company hopes to connect with the Ford TG through the initiative. Ford is calling it, the EcoSport Urban Discoveries.
Dedicated divisions take charge of match making
Group M
GroupM ESP is the entertainment and sports marketing consultancy within GroupM, specializing in evaluating, identifying, developing, negotiating and managing strategic platforms and partnerships for GroupM agencies and brands with media houses. The division focuses on developing innovative concepts that embed its client brands in consumer passion points through multifaceted partnerships, says the agency. Each agency from the Group M stable has a branded entertainment head who finally reports to GroupM ESP.
Madison
Mates, the seventh unit of Madison, is a specialized cell which works on in-film advertising.
Bloomberg TV
Bloomberg TV India has a division titled ?Pulse Conferences and Summits? that offers specialized conferencing and exhibitions solutions to clients. The division undertakes client mandates to organize conferences, congress, conclaves and summits across the country and select international destinations. Some of the successful properties created by Pulse include The Autocar Awards, The CXO Awards, the Financial Leadership Awards, The Airport Summit, The ED Tech Summit and The Power Summit. All these shows are telecast on the channel.
Integrated Network Solutions
In March this year, Viacom18 forayed into customised brand solutions with its new division ?Integrated Network Solutions? with an aim to create large format shows and brand solutions for clients across genres and platforms.
Times Television Network
In May, Times Television Network (TTN) launched a new business unit to enhance its efforts on the branded content front for all its channels including Times Now, ET Now and Zoom. The company said branded content was a new business imperative that will focus on customized solutions and properties that enhance a brand’s association with the broadcast company.