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MUMBAI:
Sony Entertainment Television's Indian Idol 3 has gone
on air and this one seems to be creating a lot of curiosity
with an alltogether different format.
The
show has undergone a few changes compared to the earlier two
editions.
"We
are still the most popular reality show and this time we have
created a very comprehensive and versatile panel of judges
that consists of a male and a female playback singer, a music
lyricist and a music director. We have introduced Hussain
as an anchor to motivate contestants. Our search has gone
global by expanding our auditions to NRI's to do justice to
what we say Bharat ki Shaan," says SET executive
VP and business head Albert Almeida.
Being
a reality show that has already featured twice, the content
plays a vital role as it has to be different to engage the
viewers. This year's show promises to look different from
its earlier siblings.
"We
have prepared our content to engage our viewers. Though the
physical engagement by voting comes in the later part, right
now we look to involve them by entertaining them and this
was evident in the first episode of this season. The major
entertaining factor is the changes that the participants undergo
in the entire journey till last," avers Almeida.
Indian
Idol season 2 was not as popular as the first one. Being
a reality show, don't the seasonal intervals become important
as they break the monotony?
Agreeing
to this Almeida says, "I attribute the failure of the
last Indian Idol to the lack of seasonal breaks, it
was due to the overdose of similar shows. Indian Idol
had just finished and then came Fame Gurukul followed
by Indian Idol 2. But this time we have come back after
a good long break."
A
lot of marketing and promotional activities are involved while
Indian Idol 3 returns especially after the failure
of the previous Indian Idol. This time the auditions
were conducted even in far flung cities like Srinagar and
the NRI auditions were conducted in Dubai and London.
"We
have tried to pitch it as the ultimate hunt by calling people
to participate by organizing road shows featuring the previous
Indian Idols apart from the conventional penetration through
mass media. We announced the Jury which has worked well and
the turnout was good," says Almeida.
Huge Marketing Splash
Adding
to this, SET marketing head Aseem Kapoor points out, "Our
marketing activity was done in two phases. First was done
by organising raod shows and the second was for the launch
which was for the first two episodes."
Sony
has utilised branded local trains in Mumbai and 15 branded
buses along with few creative hoardings all over the city.
"For us, Indian Idol is not a talent hunt but a journey,
We wanted people to be aware of the show, which is back with
a lot of things changed so we have done our best to get good
viewership," adds Kapoor.
Was
it difficult to get advertisers for the show considering the
failure of the second season?
Responding
to this, Kapoor says, "No, it is a part of the industry
functions and it did not affect us in any way. In fact, we
have got eight big sponsors who believe in us with the likes
of Maruti, Levis and Sony Erickson among them."
Sony
has also partnered with Radio Mirchi as radio partners, Sify
as the internet partner and Aaj Tak is the television partner.
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