Sangeeta Tanwar
Media

STAR Plus gets aggressive with Shaurya Aur Suhani

The channel is engaging in brand building activities to build salience for the characters of the show

STAR Plus is spreading its net wide and far. The general entertainment channel is pulling all strings to engage its audience with its new show, Shaurya Aur Suhani, and has taken up various marketing initiatives to aggressively promote one of its key properties amongst the youth.

Shaurya Aur Suhani was launched on March 21 and airs on weekends at 8 pm. It traces the adventure and love story of Shaurya, the warrior prince, in getting back his lost kingdom. STAR Plus claims that the show was launched to fill a gap in the current offering, which was not catering to the younger target group.

STAR Plus gets aggressive with Shaurya Aur Suhani
Speaking to afaqs!, Anupam Vasudev, executive vice-president, STAR India, says, “We felt that we did not have enough shows targeting the younger audience, or say, kids. As a family entertainment channel, our portfolio should offer entertainment for one and all. This new show fills that gap as it caters to the younger audience in the age group of 8-24 years.”

Shaurya Aur Suhani is a differentiated property providing a break from regular traditional soaps. It is an action-adventure packed property, laced with romance and woven around a fancy story.

In addition to the usual media push guiding the launch and promotion of a new show, the channel is busy in brand building activities with a mission to create salience for the characters of the show amongst the target group.

STAR Plus has tied up with McDonald’s for a high promotional buzz across markets such as Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. People coming to McDonald’s outlets will be eligible for a lucky draw contest and the winner will get a chance to feature in the show as a tribe member of the lead character, Shaurya.

About 50-60 outlets have been earmarked for this activity in the western region. Lead characters Shaurya and Suhani are also visiting select McDonald’s outlets. Merchandised items such as pouch bags are being distributed to those ordering Happy Meals.

The channel also plans to finalise a tie up with Camlin, the writing instruments and art materials manufacturer, soon. It plans to partner Camlin in its All India Colour Contest, asking students to paint their favourite action hero. The contest aims to reach out to four lakh students.

Apart from these initiatives, an aggressive campaign spread across TV, radio and outdoor media is being carried out for three weeks. Innovative outdoors have been employed by mounting 20 feet cantilevers of the lead character, Shaurya. About 100 hoardings have been put up at key markets in Pune, Nasik, Kolhapur and Ahmedabad.

The show is being promoted across most of the kids' channels. Vasudev adds, “Promos for the show are running on kids' television networks such as Hungama and Nick. English and Hindi news channels such as STAR News, India TV and Aaj Tak, too, are being used to heavily promote the show.”

Without sharing the details of the spots being used for promotion on STAR's own network, Vasudev says, “Today, when network inventory is at a premium, we have utilised the STAR Network to its maximum potential to promote the show.”

He further adds that the three week campaign includes spots being aired on Radio City, where 8-10 spots are being played per day per station. In addition to regular spots, STAR Plus has incorporated interactive RJ mentions and contests in shows across key Radio City stations.

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