Devesh Gupta
Marketing

Tata Sky: Going Karaoke

Tata Sky has launched a high impact marketing campaign for what it terms as the first ever DTH Karaoke service in the World.

Karaoke has often been used to make the atmosphere lively at the parties and weddings. People look at the screen, read lyrics and then sing it for their pals. Now Tata Sky has come up with, what it calls, a first-of-its-kind service across the globe, where it is offering the Karaoke service on the DTH platform. There will be lyrics which people can read and simultaneously watch the video and sing it.

Tata Sky: Going Karaoke
Tata Sky: Going Karaoke
Tata Sky: Going Karaoke
Tata Sky: Going Karaoke
The service is available on Tata Sky Plus as this version of Tata Sky has a hard disk. The DTH player has launched the service in partnership with Hungama.com.

The idea behind the launch of this service comes from a basic insight that singing is entrenched in the cultural ethos of India. In wedding celebrations, picnics or a night out with friends, singing favourite Hindi songs in loud chorus adds tremendously to the fun factor.

But the problem with a conventional Karaoke serivce is that it is available at limited number of platforms or one has to arrange for it, which might halt a certain audience from expressing themselves. For example a pub may have a Karaoke service, but not all may go there and participate. Similarly occasions such as weddings or parties do not happen everyday and not all involve Karaoke services.

The Karaoke service from Tata Sky also provides a Sur Meter, an inbuilt app which tells people how good or bad they are sounding.

Vikram Mehra, chief commercial officer, Tata Sky says, "The passion of singing is very well entrenched in the Indian cultural ethos and we wanted to captialise on it. Our product is targeted at the families who can sit together and share a good laugh, enjoy and have a great time together. The Sur Meter also motivates the people to perform better each time."

The song library will be refreshed on a monthly basis to keep boredom at bay. Initially Tata Sky has gone with the Hindi songs but it will soon expand its library.

Karaoke systems available in the market are very expensive. Tata Sky is offering the service at Rs 1,990 for a mike and annual subscription. The service was launched on February 20. The DTH player claims to have been receiving a good response from the market for its service.

Neeraj Roy, MD and CEO, Hungama.com, says, "Hungama's relationship with Tata Sky has been deep rooted with the vision of providing entertainment to their consumers. Music is a derivative of films that generates mass appeal and now we are presenting a new innovation to the consumer giving them the ability to watch and sing music with Actve Karaoke. A first in the industry this should prove to be a game changer of how the masses will enjoy music."

Tata Sky has launched a high impact marketing campaign for the service across media platforms. It has launched three films which have been crafted by Ogilvy and Mather. The main theme of the communication revolves around the moments people enjoy with their families, while they subscribe the Karaoke services. The DTH player is strongly pushing the service on the digital platform.

Launched in 2006, Tata Sky is a JV between the TATA Group and STAR. The company has invested in state-of-the-art digital infrastructure, partnered with global leaders to provide superior technology and set-up high-end 24x7 call centers across the country manned by multi-lingual customer service associates.

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