Makeover mantra

In the last couple of years,various GECs including SAB TV,Sony,Sahara One and Star Plus have undergone a makeover. Heres looking at the success ratio

In the last couple of years,various GECs including SAB TV,Sony,Sahara One and Star Plus have undergone a makeover. Heres looking at the success ratio
In July 2000,a new Star Plus was born. It was one of the most spectacular makeovers in the history of general entertainment. Another example of an equally spectacular makeover is SAB which repositioned itself from a youth-focused channel to family comedy entertainment brand two years ago. In May last year,Sony undertook a re-branding exercise but didnt succeed to the extent it was expected. Late last year,MTV dropped Music Television from its name and upped its non-music content,while Channel V went Bloody Cool for the same reason recently. Three months ago,Star One changed tracks to woo the new age woman. Recently,Sahara One also refreshed its logo and content with the aim of reaching out to wider hinterland audience. Two weeks ago,Star Plus announced yet another channel refresh for a decisive new direction in general entertainment.

A channels identity and audience base is determined by the shows,look and overall content it offers. While most channels undergo a periodic visual identity or cosmetic change in terms of new logo and look,some opt for a complete makeover by bringing new programming. But does re-branding/makeover help a channel connect with larger audience and improve ratings? It all depends on the positioning and content. If your research is right and you are able to read the consumers mind correctly,then you could fill the vacant space in entertainment by offering content that the consumer is asking for, says Anooj Kapoor,vice president and business head,SAB.

Ten years ago,Star Plus succeeded by changing the rules of entertainment. SAB,on the other hand,identified a glaring gap for comedies in general entertainment market which had oversupply of saas-bahu soaps. The experiment has worked wonders for the channel,which has grown from strength to strength,from around 30 to 35 GRPs two years ago to over 100. The best and most surprising aspect of our success story is that its been done at one-fifth of programming budget of top GECs, claims Anooj.

According to Sonys ex-fiction head Sanjay Upadhyay,generally a channel undertakes cosmetic refreshing exercise to draw attention when its content is in place. But strategic makeover or re-branding is done to send out a clear message to the audience about a major change in content and approach to programming, he points out. Sony tried to reposition itself by targeting psychography instead of demography and geography because the channels top brass felt that it had diluted its equity. It identified its core audience in the 15 to 35 age group which is educated and upwardly mobile. But the fresh approach and new shows didnt get eyeballs and Sony slowly started going back to its old self.
However,Star Plus is going for a makeover at a time when it has emerged as a leader once again.

Apparently,though the going has been good over the past few months,Star Plus decided to go for a comprehensive makeover to reclaim past glory. The wake-up call came last year when we took a few hits. The choice before us was either fight competition with tactical stunts or go for a decisive experiment, says Star Indias CEO Uday Shankar. Star did a FMCG-style in-depth research to glean out comprehensive consumer insights and changes in consumer behaviour brought about by sweeping economic prosperity post-liberalization.

We went to cities,towns and villages to understand our audience. Our new approach to programming is based on a fresh perspective to life and relationships which will give us comprehensive and creative leadership for the next decade, says Stars COO Sanjay Gupta,a FMCG veteran,who headed the research and who is part of Stars core leadership team that will lead the brand in the next phase of its evolution. According to Anupam Vasudev,Stars head of marketing,Star is committed to entertaining its viewers with content that propels them in a new direction,and sets the agenda for entertainment on Hindi GECs. The main aim of the re-branding exercise is not to build reach but to rekindle this relationship with our viewers. Incremental reach will be one of the outputs, he adds.

Incidentally,the process of setting new agenda was kick-started last year with non-fiction shows like Aap Ki Kachheri and Sach Ka Samna and was extended to fiction genre with Pratigya and Sasural Genda Phool. These shows reflect the new thinking and approach to programming. Our new shows will be bold where the voice of todays woman will not be stifled but heard, promises Uday. But the question is how much can a GEC change,given the fact that its content mix will consist of soaps,reality shows and movies? There will be a definite change in the stories. The protagonists of our shows will bring in new thinking either quietly,staying in the background or leading from the front. We are ready for bold experiments, says Uday.