STAR Gold trying its luck with Bollywood babes now

STAR Gold is ready to launch a contest – 'Humse Dosti Karoge' – which offers the viewers to go on a dream date with four upcoming Bollywood heroines -- Isha Koppikar, Celina Jaitely, Amrita Arora and Kim Sharma.

Ajay Vidyasagar, senior vice-president, marketing and communication, says, “Our strategy is to introduce innovative programmes for our regular viewers, while maintaining the brand's relevance and salient features. These innovative activities not only helps us in bringing in new viewers to the channels, it also helps us in bringing in new set of advertisers.”

Vidyasagar cites the example for Pepsi which was the title sponsor for a similar innovative programme, 'Sabse Favourite Kaun'?. “Pepsi has been with the channel since then,” he says. And for 'Humse Dosti Karoge', the channel has got Dabur as its title sponsor. TVS' soon-to-be launched brand TVS Star is also a sponsor for this programme.

The concept certainly seems interesting since in a Bollywood-crazy country such as India, anything connected with the film world sells. But can the so-called item girls – Isha, Amrita Celina and Kim show the same magic as Aishwarya, Rani or Preity?

Vidyasagar says, “STAR Gold mainly caters to the SEC B-D and these actresses are quite popular among this segment of audience.”

The channel will air one episode on each star for the next four weeks, starting February 25. In each episode, the profiled celebrity will be interviewed by Vinod Sherawat – the popular host of Bluff Master on STAR One. These actresses will talk about their likes and dislikes in food, clothing, accessories, dream man, places etc. In these interviews, they will also disclose details about their personal life.

At the end of each episode, the starlet will ask a secret question which the viewers will need to answer through SMS at the STAR Code 7827. The person with the maximum number of correct answers will be eligible to win the date with the four actresses together.

The contest doesn't end here. STAR Gold will organise a grand event on April 1, which will have both solo and group performances by these stars. The channel will also bring another famous male artiste to perform at the grand event. The name of the male artiste has been kept a secret, and would be revealed only days before the event.

For the lucky winner of this event, awaits a gala day with these beautiful actresses. His dream date starts with a limousine picking up these ladies individually. He then gifts them a ring each, and gets to dine at a five-star hotel. Next, they welcome the evening dancing at Enigma, a Mumbai-based discotheque.

The winner’s dream date with these four attractive women will be made into a special episode, which will be aired on April 8.

Media planners are of the opinion that the concept of 'Humse Dosti Karoge' is certainly innovative and has every possibility to bring in new sets of viewers to the channel. But the main challenge for the channel would be to retain this set of viewers.

Kajal Gupta, regional director, OMS says, “Content with a contest always works. So with a few good titles and this innovative contest, coupled with the support of the STAR Network, the mix can be a deadly combination. It can take STAR Gold ahead of its competitors. But if the forthcoming titles are not that interesting, it would hardly make any difference although a new set of viewers would come in. 'Humse Dosti Karoge' has every potential to drive in viewers on its own.”

It seems that STAR Gold is trying to have a judicious mix of titles. Vidyasagar says, “Each episode of 'Humse Dosti Karoge' is followed by a favourite movie of the featured actress. From April 2005, we will have some big titles every week, which will also include television premiere and recent releases.” 'Hulchul' and 'Khaki' are the two big aces that STAR Gold is holding up in its sleeves.

© 2005 agencyfaqs!