WHEN COLORS WON ITS FANS BACK DURING IPL 2019

TitleWHEN COLORS WON ITS FANS BACK DURING IPL 2019
BrandVIACOM 18
Product / ServiceCOLORS
CategoryF01. Excellence in Media Insights & Strategy
EntrantMADISON MEDIA Mumbai, INDIA
Idea Creation MADISON MEDIA Mumbai, INDIA
Media Placement MADISON MEDIA Mumbai, INDIA
Production MADISON MEDIA Mumbai, INDIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Prasanna Devadiga Madison Media National Creative Director
Aneesh Nadkarni Madison Media Senior Copywriter
Samit Poipkar Madison Media Art Director
Vishal Srivastava Madison Medi Planning Director

Why is this work relevant for Media?

To curb the dipping viewership witnessed during Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019, Colors TV wanted to put a strategy in place that would keep the users hooked onto the channel during the tournament, and at the same time, not miss out on the cricketing action. This resulted in 'Colors Premier League' - a mobile gaming experience that let users score runs through their smartphones while interacting with Colors shows on TV. This two-screen activity, however, needed a multi-pronged amplification strategy that included mobile, social, influencer, TV, radio and outdoor branding. This helped us capture the TG's attention from all sides.

Background

Colors, one of India’s leading General Entertainment Channels, enjoys a very high TV viewership, despite the rise of OTT content platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and the likes. To take this legacy forward, Colors decided to join hands with IPL’s firebrand franchise Mumbai Indians, as their principal sponsor. However, reports suggested that viewership ratings across India’s GEC channel circuit took a dip when IPL season was on. And that included Colors, too. Therefore, the channel wanted to retain its viewership during the IPL season, give them a reason to watch their favourite shows on Colors while the matches were on, and accordingly leverage the Colors-Mumbai Indians nexus to that effect.

Describe the creative idea/insights (30% of vote)

Insights suggest that 65% of online content in India gets consumed on smartphones, with these phones being handy while people's TV sets are on. This second-screen toggling tendency sees the TG sneaking a quick game while an ad break is on.This is common during IPL season, when fans make it a point to turn every point of conversation into cricket, everywhere. We latched on to this grand insight and brought both above-mentioned scenarios together, while leveraging Colors' Mumbai Indians sponsorship. While the biggies were playing IPL, fans could get busy playing 'CPL' - 'Colors Premier League' - a gaming experience that would let users score runs through their mobiles while watching their favourite Colors shows...right off their couches! More runs meant topping the leaderboard which could possibly win them tickets to see Mumbai Indians matches live!

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Colors TV targets a wide and a diverse audience base. It goes from casual viewers to multi-show obsessed folks, ranging from ages 25-74. It enjoys a massive presence in the metros as well as in Tier-II and III cities and towns. While watching Colors, fans could play CPL and score runs by 'facing deliveries bowled on the TV screen'. Containing (a) show-based trivia questions, which appeared real-time during the show's airing, that had to be answered on the microsite. (b) QR codes, which appeared during ad breaks on Colors, that had to be scanned through their mobiles. Fans would get excited when they would hit a '6', or a '4' or even get 'OUT' while playing on their screens, thus, making them feel the 'cricketing' experience. Bonus runs could also be scored on the microsite by clicking on and being redirected from social media post links from Colors' official pages.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

To get everybody hooked on to playing Colors Premier League, a three-pronged targeting strategy was put into effect on social media, TV, SMS and outdoor inventory. ONE- To drive game registrations, a digital push strategy was adopted across key social media platforms and Google display network. Affiliate marketing was also employed to bring about a boost both in paid as well as organic visits. About 80% of the budgets were allocated to the mobile platform. SECOND-Over 2000+ TV spots on Colors & 2800+ spots on Colors HD, including aston bands, bumpers and promos, were run to increase awareness and scale. THIRD- 18 trains on the Western & Central Railway routes carried Colors Premier League-branded inventory throughout the IPL season.

List the results (30% of vote)

Due to CPL, this year's IPL season didn't have as much an impact as witnessed in the previous years. - 31% RATINGS DROP in 2018 was brought down to 2% in 2019. TV spots on Colors resulted into 261 GRP%, a 24% reach at 1+, while on Colors HD, led to into 20 GRP % and a 1% reach. - A boost was seen in the ratings of the channel’s top performing shows – 15%, 18% and 26%. Over 45 days: - 21 million+ impressions recorded - 97,000+ users visited the mobile microsite. - 17,000+ game registrations via FB login - 500+ registrations per day - 4600+ gameplays recorded daily - 30,72,000+ runs scored - 2,000+ Mumbai Indians match tickets won

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