WOOING VIEWRS

e
Sahara One's TV promo for its programmes

Finalists on Sony's Indian Idol try to woo audiences to vote for them, Star Plus tries to generate suspense on Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi by putting together a few clips from the show, MTV's fun promos have an angry, old, liftman trashing its VJs — on-air promos have become an integral part of the programming strategy of most television channels, as they look at them as a sure-fire recipe to drive more eyeballs to their channel.

The commercial break on most channels is invariably preceded by a 30-60-second promotional break as all of them want to promote themselves before they make their money through advertisements.

Channels are going all out to create the most spectacular promos and are not hesitating to spend a fortune on them.

On-air promos are extremely important for a channel to attract more eyeballs, especially in today's circumstances when there are more than 250 channels in the fray and a new show is being launched almost everyday, says Ashish Kaul, Director (Corporate Communications), Zee. "It is the promo that sets the ball rolling. A dish is tasted by the eyes first; similarly, a promo helps generate curiosity and interest in a programme. A promo is also a reflection of the production values, storyline and characterisation."

"As genres multiply and viewing preferences of an audience get highly individualised, it becomes increasingly important to provide viewers with a compact yet informative peek into what a show entails," adds Anshuman Mishra, Managing Director, Turner India.

Promos are the "t-shirt messages" of the channel, says Ashish Patel, Vice-President and General Manager (Creative), MTV India Network.

"They help not just to draw eyeballs to shows but work in defining the channel's brand image and personality. We are known for our cutting-edge promos and people till date remember and talk about our fun promos such as the angry old liftman and the chai boy. Promos help to introduce the concept of the show, to sample the show and to create interest / intrigue around it to make people want to tune in," he adds.

Promo-making has become a specialised discipline today and channels are assigning separate budgets for them, says Purnendu Bose, COO, SaharaOne.

"We have a full-fledged team to look after on-air promos, which is separate from programming. For each promo that you see on air, there is a creative concept and a story. It is not mere accumulation of clips from the show. The process for creating a promo includes clutter-breaking ideation, detailed pre-production/post-production and widespread research to keep up with market trends."

An opportunity cost?

Atul Phadnis, Chief Evangelist, Media e2e, believes that almost Rs 4,500 crore of usable advertising time is used for promos. He says that the industry spends close to Rs 140 crore every year on promos.

Though he agrees that promos are definitely one of the best mechanisms to get viewers in, he also says that every promo run is an ad refused. "Promos are being treated as an opportunity cost by networks. If you have a huge viewership base, there are bound to be huge advertising pressures. Therefore, taking time off for promos is quite a challenge for most networks," he says.

However, Nina Jaipuria, Marketing Head, Sony Entertainment Television, feels that it is a chicken-and-egg story. "If we don't talk about our shows we will not get viewers and if we don't get viewers we will not get advertisers."

Puneet Johar, Vice-President, Star India, says that terming investment in promos as an opportunity cost is a short-sighted view as every channel has certain time allocated for promos.

Promo success

How does one measure the success of a promo? Johar of Star India says the success of a promo largely depends on how many viewers actually watch the show after seeing the promo. He lays down three factors to measure the conversion ratio.

The conversion ratio depends on how creative the promo is, how unique the concept of the show is and also whether that particular show has a star value."

Similarly, Patel of MTV also attributes a promo's success to three factors — ratings, revenue and recognition.

"Did it communicate what we set out to convey, what was the conversion from people who viewed the promo to viewing the programme, did it create the buzz and get the people and media interested, talking and writing about it?" he says.

Phadnis of Media e2e says that the cost of a programme's failure is tremendous, and that the channel just can't afford to go wrong in marketing its shows. "A channel has to have spectacular promos to generate interest in its shows."

Kaul of Zee says that promo-making has evolved as a serious business strategy. "In the business of selling dreams, the dream itself has to be desirable. The better the dream the better the impact."

Apart from airing 30-second promos during commercial breaks, many channels are also promoting themselves through other shows on their channels. It could be through scrollers during a particular show or by getting the characters of a show to talk about a new show. For instance, Sony is now trying to promote some of its new shows through the anchors of Indian Idol. Similarly, to encourage viewers to vote for the Indian Idol finalists, the channel has also got the characters of some of its leading shows to talk about their favourite Idol. "If your favourite character is talking to you about a particular show then your interest for that show would definitely be more," says Jaipuria of Sony.

She says that a channel has to resort to all kinds of formats to promote a particular show. "One can't afford to have a single endorsement plan and expect it to do wonders."

Phadnis of Media e2e points out that many channels prefer in-programme promotions to individual promos. "The viewership is usually higher when the programme is on and it also doesn't use up one's break inventory."

The other trend which has caught the imagination of most network and advertisers is that of blending their programme promos with brands. Reshma Malhotra, Director, Milk, a marketing consultancy firm, says, "When a brand associates itself with a show on a particular channel, it is because the show has brand values and an ethos that it would like to associate with. As far as the channel is concerned, customised promos generate more revenue for the channel. Also, association with a luxury brand tends to take a show into a higher SEC."

As television networks are trying out every possible way to break the clutter and drive more and more eyeballs towards their respective channels, experts believe the future would see more cutting promos across all media platforms including new media technologies.

"It's both challenging and exciting. Reckon we have lots to look forward to," says Malhotra of Milk.