WE MIXED INDIA! A CONTENT SWAPPING STORY

TitleWE MIXED INDIA! A CONTENT SWAPPING STORY
BrandTATA SKY
Product / ServiceSERVICE
CategoryA01. Best Use of Screens
EntrantMAXUS Mumbai, INDIA
Entrant Company:MAXUS Mumbai, INDIA
Media Agency:MAXUS Mumbai, INDIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Ajit Varghese Maxus Managing Director
Kartik Sharma Maxus Managing Partner
Rajendra Dwivedi Maxus General Manager
Anish Appukuttan Maxus Business Director
Pratik Rathod Maxus Senior Investment Director
Annie Velankar Maxus Investment Director
Rrahul Manerao Maxus Business Director
Vikash Modi Maxus Business Manager
Tauseef Unea Maxus Business Manager
Ramya Akhileshwar Maxus Business Executive

Results and Effectiveness

GFK Mode research scores for ‘cost perception’ and ‘value for money’ for Tata Sky bettered by 10% & 5% respectively. Subscriptions to ‘TruChoice’ packages touched a record 1.4 million. The effort won ‘Silver’ at the most coveted CANNES Media Lions 2011 for the best work in consumer services category and ‘Gold’ for the best work on TV at GOAFEST 2011, the highly acclaimed Indian Media Awards. This never done before execution of “mixing language on different channels” is a classic case of innovation that was not only relevant but also effective as it delivered desired subscriptions for Tata Sky.

Creative Execution

We mixed India! In the middle of live content of a language channel, we aired content with a different language. Viewers did not understand the new language and were caught by surprise. For example, a Western Indian language channel aired Eastern Indian language content during live programming. It was followed up with a message reminding viewers not to pay for channels that they don’t watch. A message to switch to Tata Sky DTH followed. Post this, the regular live programming resumed. 12 leading language channels created 42 similar situations of language change. This engagement surprised 7.3 million audiences and made them realize that they were currently paying for languages they don’t understand. The integration into live content ensured that there was no loss of viewership that otherwise happens during commercial ad breaks. A single idea cut through multiple cultures and demographics. This was a first on Indian Television.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

India is a country with 21 different languages spoken exclusively in 27 different states. Viewers of one language often don’t understand other languages. Such diversity has resulted in multiple language channels in India. However, direct-to-home (DTH) players bundle all different language channels in a single offering, hence forcing the viewers to pay for channels that they don’t understand and watch. To allow viewers to reduce cost burden of non-viewed channels, Tata Sky DTH introduced ‘Truchoice’, a unique package allowing them to pay only for the language channels they understand. Media thus had to make consumers realize that they were paying for channels they don’t even watch. Insight - “Realizations are deeper when one is caught by surprise”- led us to do what has never been done before. We caught viewers unexpectedly by making them watch what they don’t understand and telling them not to pay for it.