Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Indian television industry has seen an exponential growth since satellite
television first came to India
Today, though cable penetration is only about 50 per cent (according to various industry
estimates), this class of people is defined as the “consuming class” in India. By 2002, the
share of cable & satellite television was 86.9 per cent of total television advertising as
against a meagre 31.3 per cent in 1994.
Hindi general entertainment television is the fuel for growth in the television industry
with a 46.8 per cent share of total viewership and an even higher 57.4 per cent share of
total advertising revenue. Sony Entertainment Television is a key player in this space and
has been a consistent and strong number two behind Star Plus, which has been the
undisputed leader since July 2000.
In India most homes are single TV homes. Hindi is the preferred language for consuming
entertainment across India (except the four Southern states) and that makes Hindi General
Entertainment Television an intensely competitive space. It consists of five players. Star
Plus has been the undisputed leader since July 2000 and has significantly consolidated its
position thereafter. In September 2003, Star Plus had nearly five times as much
viewership of its nearest rival Sony Entertainment Television. The other contenders are
Zee TV, Sahara TV and SAB TV. The key factor is that in primetime (and specifically in
the 9-10 pm band) which is the focus of this case, the female influences the choice of
channel to view.
Business Challenge:
Star Plus with original programming from 7:30 pm to 11:30 pm at night has successfully
funnelled audiences from one show to another and has today a strong loyal base of
viewers. In contrast, Sony Entertainment Television has more “appointment viewing”
wherein viewers come in for a select show, and tune out.
Sony Entertainment Television dominated the 9-10 pm band, with two of its leading
shows, Kkusum and Kutumb up until mid 2002 after which the 4 daily shows of Star Plus
took over.
Despite several high profile attempts to regain lost audiences, Sony Entertainment
Television’s share in this band continued to erode. Star Plus had established a clear
dominance over Sony Entertainment Television. (Star Plus average range of Television
Ratings (TVRs) approx 13.2 TVRs, as compared to Sony Entertainment Television’s 1.3
TVRs). Besides, Sony Entertainment Television was now perceived as a “me-too” to Star
Plus
Understanding Women
Sony Entertainment Television commissioned research among women, the primary target
audience for the channel. The research “Understanding the woman” conducted in seven
cities across India provided insights, which helped define its content/programming
strategy, which is: “To provide intelligent and innovative entertainment to its viewers”.
The research threw up some startling trends and insights. One key insight was “The birth
of the woman as a strategist.” Today’s women have “solutions in their grasp all the time”
- be it at home or outside at work. These women are educated, modern housewives who
easily identify with the working, real woman who strive to make it in the world out there.
These women were looking for something different (yet relatable) from the routine
kitchen politics that dominated television programming.
The challenge therefore was to create and sell a distinct viewing alternative, going
beyond the clichéd family dramas with storyline’s revolving around family conflicts and
kitchen politics which is the predominant fare on general entertainment channels today.
Product Offering
The product offering “Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin”, true to its title, has a truly unique
protagonist in Jassi. She is a less than ordinary looking “Plain Jane”, trying to make her
way in a world where good looks and glamour matter more than they should.
Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin is an adaptation of the hit Colombian series “Yo Soy Betty La Fea”
(I am Betty the ugly one). The original Columbian Telenovella was a rage in Columbia
and 25 countries around the world. In India however, we would recreate the serial unlike
all other markets where it was merely dubbed or subtitled.
Marketing Objectives
• To drive sampling for the time slot and build reach in the shortest possible time
o Slot reach prior t
• To grow channel share in terms of average TVRs as well as Audience Preference
Indexes
o Star was dominant here with Average TVRs 10 times that of Sony
Entertainment Television
• To get “Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin” into the top ranked shows on Indian Television
o Currently Star Plus dominates the list of top 50 shows
• To create hype around the launch in a manner as non-conventional as the serial
• To break the mould in terms of positioning of the serial and thus the channel
Marketing Strategy
As in the old adage, we decided that we will not give the viewer an opportunity to judge a
book by it’s cover — therefore never show Jassi in any pre- and post-launch promotional
material and activity until we get a critical mass to sample the show.
Also keeping in mind the Indian culture, a literal translation of “ugly” was unlikely to cut
ice with the viewers. Hence Betty was transformed into Jassi - and her extraordinary
qualities were played up.
Like Jassi, her marketing was also unique. The Communication strategy built around the
fact that if you create intrigue yet give people clues about the character you would be able
to fuel their curiosity and get them to sample the show.
We decided to stay true to this strategy in everything we did, be it in print, on billboards,
on TV and even on ground and at press meets.
Execution
The primary objective was to fuel curiosity about Jassi and build endearment for her as a
character, by giving the viewers different facets of her personality. All this without ever
revealing her.
Where all channels were treating the consumer as an unintelligent mass, the Jassi
communication elevated the consumer to a status of a more discerning audience. Each
piece of communication gave you a bite into Jassi’s persona allowing the viewer to create
a personal image of Jassi, which made her real and identifiable. The campaign messages
and various elements built up to fuel the curiosity around the launch and after.
The desired response was, “I’ve heard so much about her, now I can’t wait to meet her.”
Communication Flow
The communication strategy started with building attributes that personified Jassi. The
next phase had anonymous people talking about Jassi and then the campaign moved on to
characters from the show talking about Jassi in their inimitable way; be it her parents, her
boss, her peers.
Once Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin had generated some momentum and the initial feedback from
critics, media and viewers was very positive, the channel seized the opportunity to use
this feedback to fuel further sampling through the next phase of communication — the
Shaher Shaher Mein Charcha campaign, which features people across all walks of life
voicing their opinion about Jassi.
Questions to ponder
• Do you think Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahi can do for SET what Kaun Baenga Crorepati
did for Star Plus?
• What contributed to the success of the series — differentiated content or
innovative marketing?
• How should SET capitalise on the success of Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahi to push up
TRPs of its other programmes?