By SONALI KRISHNA
Indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: In an attempt to garner new audiences, Star One has decided to get into retail branding. In alliance with Talwalkars gymnasiums nationwide, the channel has co-branded their fitness property Figure It Out. The show is essentially a reality fitness show which has four Mumbaiites trying to shed their weight in a matter of 100 days. The show airs at 7:30 am Mondays to Fridays.

This branding exercise has been undertaken to ensure an off-line supplement to the show allowing for more visibility and curiosity for both the show as well as for the channel.

The viewer hook for Figure It Out a chance to win free gym memberships every day for a month and viewers can participate via SMS through 7827 or by logging on to indya.com.

A special course called 'Figure It Out course' that has been modeled on Figure It Out and will be available at all the Talwalkar outlets.

Alongside, the show will also get promoted with the course across Talwalkar gyms and will be associated as the show's ground partner.

Commenting on this co-branding exercise, Star India senior vice-president marketing and communications Ajay Vidyasagar says,"Fitness is fairly high in the priority list of the young Indian generation. Talwalkars was a great fit primarily because of what the brand stands for and the fact that it is a fairly desirable brand as well. This partnership brings the entire fitness gamut to the forefront and sensitises the consumer to the fitness concept."

The urban Indian that StarOne is targeting is very upbeat about fitness, and hence this is an endeavour to offer content that would marry their requirements, avers Vidyasagar.

Interestingly, a scroll that went up on 17 March recieved a total of 500 queries the same day.

The broader idea being that if the fitness property on the channel was extended on ground, the popularity levels for the show will definitely witness a spike.