MUMBAI: One thing that Sony Entertainment Television (SET) proved with the launch of their mascot Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahi last year was that they can do wonders as far as marketing a show is concerned.

With the red carpet launch pad of Jassi..., SET laid the benchmark as far as innovative marketing was concerned. The latest launches from the channel - Hum 2 Hain Na and Ayushmaan - however (when compared to Jassi...) fall far short of creating that kind of hype.

Quizzed on this however, Sony is quick to dismiss such claims. Their strategy this time round is different, channel executives say.

The 'talking' dog with the twins from 'hum 2 Hain NA

SET senior vice president marketing Albert Almeida explains, "I don't think that there was less hype created for the two new shows that we have launched. In the case of Jassi..., the marketing activities were built over a period of time and I think that the concept in itself was very revolutionary. All the pieces of the puzzle worked together to create that impact. The hype was created about this 'never seen before' character on television. And then she appeared on television and everyone's jaws dropped. So I think it was a combination of what we did in the promotion as well as the content that generated the hype and gave us that activity."

Elaborating further, Almeida says, "The two new shows - Ayushmaan and Hum 2 Hain Na - are interesting shows in themselves. In Hum 2 Hain Na we expect the talking dog to generate interest. The marketing efforts are truly innovative as far as both the shows are concerned."

'Hum 2 Hain NA branded water bottles distributed at schools

What they did: For Hum 2 Hain Na, which is a show specifically for kids, Sony has a very aggressive and focused on ground school contact programme. Says Almeida , "We are going to touch over 4,000 kids in two key metros - Mumbai and Delhi initially and have identified schools across Sec A, B, C. First we will target Mumbai and Delhi and then take it across the rest of the country." Sony will be holding contests, giving out freebies to kids in schools.

The activity has already been kicked off in Mumbai and Delhi. Sony plans to take the concept to schools and pitch it there through a flip chart. Posters will be put in selected schools of the show wherein kids will be urged to watch the show and answer three simple questions. Also a small water bottle and ruler branded with Hum 2 Hain Na is being distributed to kids.

Special drop boxes have been placed in the schools where the kids can drop their entries. The winner of the contest will win a computer. Says Almeida, "We have created a whole experience around Hum 2 Hain Na. For this show, I don't need to waste my money in mass media. Maybe the lay man has not seen too many promotions. But as far as I am concerned, as part of our marketing effort - we know who our target audience is and we are focusing on them. The secondary audience of course, is young mothers. So we also have a lot of marketing activities and creative elements targeted at them because they will also end up watching the show. But the early adopters will be the kids."

Almeida promises that other more interesting activities are being planned which will be unveiled very soon in the media. "The idea is to keep the excitement alive," says he.

Direct mailer in the form of a capsule for 'Ayushmaan' which was distributed at railway stations to generate interest around the show

As far as Ayushmaan is concerned, Sony developed direct mailers in the form of a capsule and distributed them at railway stations in Mumbai to generate interest and curiosity among people. Sony has an extensive menu SMS '2525' on their website. Says Almeida, "On Ayushmaan - a 17 year old doctor - we've got interesting health tips which people can access. These tips build the personality of this 17-year-old genius as a doctor and we have used SMS as a medium to get interactive with viewers."

Some questions from 'Ayushmaan'

Also special contests were weaved around the show on the website and also on pamphlets which were distributed randomly. Also the show was heavily advertised on MSN India and a contest was weaved there too. Says Almeida, "Online advertising works for us. We did this interesting activity on MSN for Ayushmaan very recently. We played a game with all the people who surf on MSN where we built up the core positioning of Ayushmaan being a 17-year-old genius. We had an interactive session with surfers where we asked them a string of very intelligent questions and test whether they could achieve that in 20 seconds because that's what Ayushmaan would have done. We don't have the number of click throughs for the contest yet but we should know it in a couple of days."

So targeting the core audience for the shows is what Sony's stance is today. "Every marketing activity that we undertake is a challenge for us. We are a strong number two today and therefore we try that much harder. The fun is in trying," says a determined Almeida.