Predikta completes great innings on MAX

Navroze Dhondy, country head, Quintus, and CEO, Creatigies, is a happy man. Predikta, the interactive TV game run by Quintas on the World Cup wrap-around programme Extraa Innings on MAX, has seen "no less than a couple of million people" participating in it. "In contrast, during the ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka last year, 1.35 million people participated in Predikta," chuckles Dhondy, speaking to agencyfaqs! from Johannesburg, South Africa, where the cricketing extravaganza concluded recently.

For the record, Predikta is a sort of quiz on cricket. The questions were flashed on TV screens, with participants having to answer via sms to the Indiatimes number 8888. There were huge prizes on offer every day. Predikta, a UK-based company, owns the concept of Predikta and the trademark and it has licensed the game to Quintus in India. While Pepsi was the official sponsor of Predikta on MAX during the World Cup 2003, the associate sponsors were Toyota, Timex, Reebok, RayBan, Electrolux-Kelvinator, Westside, Star Cruises, Onida, Sony Ericsson and Samsung.

Dhondy is awed by the success of the game in India. "It is basic human nature to predict things. Also, there is an element of fun and suspense while putting your skills to test. To spice up the game and make prediction more fun we thought why don't we throw in a dollop of cricket in it. We had to offer a reason for people to play Predikta. So there was cricket and lots of prizes," Dhondy adds.

The game was promoted on mass media through the tournament. Besides promotions on TV, the Internet and magazines, Quintus took Predikta to the retail space as well. A Predikta zone was created at retail showroom Westside in Delhi, where buyers were asked questions and given prizes.

For the World Cup, Quintus introduced a few innovations to the game of Predikta. It was divided into three formats - Insta, Krazee and Jackpot. The Insta questions were asked just before the match on Extraa Innings. The Krazee questions were popped during the break in a match, again on Extraa Innings. The answers were given out at the end of every match on Extraa Innings. Predikta Jackpot was the real big deal. It was based on the sum of all of one's points gathered during the entire tournament.

For the Jackpot, the company took to cross media promotions. In other words, to participate in the Jackpot, one had to buy the Outlook magazine every week or grab Pepsi labels and crowns to add as much as 500 bonus points and watch Max everyday of the World Cup to get the latest Jackpot question. Based on the number of points collected, three participants (Anurag Kansal from Bangalore, Vikash Binani of Kolkata and Anil Shah of Bharuch) were shortlisted and flown to South Africa to play Predikta Jackpot Live during the World Cup Finals.

The Jackpot winners walked away with some amazing prizes. Kansal, who finally won the Jackpot, went home with a Toyota Carolla, and a Timex Watch, like the one that was given to Kapil Dev, the Wisden Indian Cricketer of the Century. Binani, the first runner up, won five nights and six days on Star Cruise, and second runner up Shah walked away with an Onida Home Theatre.

What happens to Predikta after cricket? Dhondy says he has plans to take the game to non-cricketing events. © 2003 agencyfaqs!