<FONT COLOR="#FF0033"><B>FICCI Frames ’06:</B></FONT> Sensationalism driving audiences to television, says Hejmadi

On-air promotions are used mainly to introduce viewers to programmes or to a channel. In a session on TV promos at FICCI Frames 2006, experts pronounced their verdict on the next wave to induce appointment viewing and brand exposure and what could possibly break through the clutter.

Pradeep Hejmadi, vice-president, TAM Media Research, said, “The main objective of a promo is to attract the audience either to a programme or to a channel. However, some cases, such as the negative publicity of Baba Ramdev by the press, increased the TRPs of the Aastha channel. From this, we can rightly say that not everything positive is driving audiences to the television sets.”

“The future is bright for promotions if we can tap into the right technology,” added Hejmadi.

Technologies such as mobile phones, sms, ringtones, gaming, movies and individual products can be used to promote a channel or a programme.

Hejmadi elucidated, “We have discovered that word-of-mouth plays an important role in terms of promotion. In every walk of life, we find opinion leaders who have the power to influence others’ outlooks.”

“The power of word-of-mouth can be proved easily if we ask three questions and the answers to these will establish the supremacy of word-of-mouth,” he said. “Firstly, how do consumers find out which channel a cricket series is on? Secondly, how do consumers know about a new eating joint? And finally, how do consumers know about a new show?”

Hejmadi ended by saying, “With time, technology will undoubtedly redefine the rules for television promotions. However, it can also bring threats to it. With the introduction of set-top boxes, digital cable and broadband, the future of promotions is unknown. The answer will emerge with time.”

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