When Multi Screen Media (MSM) launched Pix, the English movie channel around one and a half years ago, it hit a roadblock. The channel discovered there was no connect with one of its primary target groups (TG)?students. To bridge this gap, the channel went in for a makeover in January this year. It revamped its content line-up and went for a brand makeover. But despite that, the pertinent question remained unanswered ?how to build the brand among young audiences.
?That?s how the idea of a movie club for students surfaced,? says Himmat Butalia, marketing head, Pix. Approximately eight months back, Pix inked an exclusive deal with multiplex chain PVR to launch Pix Movie Club for students. It is a special initiative by the channel to encourage students to watch Hollywood movies. College students register on the channel website free of cost and Pix provides them a chance to watch the first show of any brand new Hollywood movie absolutely free at PVR theatres in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. In each city, the channel has located one PVR property where it hosts the special screening.
?We book the entire hall for the first show and on average we buy around 150 tickets. While in each city we host the show in one of the theatres, if the movie is big then we may go for more number of halls,? says Butalia. The club currently has 8,942 members and has screened movies such as X-Men, Transformers, Harry Potter and Friends with Benefits.
The channel says that it is an exclusive deal with PVR ?because it is a premium property and Hollywood is also considered to be premium in the country. ?We wanted to create a top-of-line experience for our viewers,? he says.
Although Pix needs to acquire the tickets from PVR to host the special screening, the cost of the ticket is usually 15-30% lesser than the usual tariff rate depending on how big or small the movie is. ?We see this as a long-term investment in terms of building the brand Pix amongst young audiences. And we have seen a spike both in terms of young viewers on the channel as well as in terms of the channel perception,? he says.
He also explains most students go to the theatre and then back to the channel thinking that the movie will be also showcased on Pix. ?While that may not be the situation all the time, we do get some of the movies on the channel as well?. Pix is now planning to expand the movie club to cities including Kolkata, Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad. ?In the next six months we should at least cover one or two more cities?, says Butalia.
Pix will also launch a loyalty programme around Pix Movie Club in the next six months. ?While we do not have plans to get into things like merchandising or anything similar, we definitely plan to launch a loyalty programme. This will include membership cards, discount coupons and so on,? he says.
The channel is in talks with major food and beverage and telecom service providers to come on board for the loyalty programme. Pix has been promoting the Pix Movie Club across various platforms with a special emphasis on promotions online. The concept is promoted on Pix and various other channels across the MSM network. The Facebook page of the Pix channel that has a fanbase of 2.4 lakh is used by the channel liberally to promote the movie club. Moreover, when 3-4 movies are released in the same month, the channel encourages users to vote online for the movie they want to see. And based on the number of votes a movie gets, it is then selected for the special screening.