Automobile category drives the festive boost for Disney Star

After two years of muted celebrations owing to Covid19 pandemic related lockdowns and restrictions, India’s festive spirit is back once again. Navratri has already ignited the festive spirits and Diwali is expected to further electrify it. As consumers once again loosen their purse strings, brands are also increasing their ad spends.

Kevin Vaz, head, network entertainment channels, Disney Star, says he has witnessed an upsurge in advertising.

“The sentiments of both the viewers and the advertisers is extremely positive. For us the festive season begins with Onam. This Onam has been one of the best in many years as a large number of local advertisers signed up. We believe if Onam is good, the rest of the season should be good. Similarly, Ganesh Chaturti was great for Star Pravah. Next we have Durga Puja in West Bengal,” he said.

With festivities returning to normalcy after a long hiatus, there is a positive sentiment amongst the viewers and the advertisers. Festivals are a time when families come together. The television screen tends to be a unifier for families to bond together. So entertainment channels optimise the opportunity by putting up good family content.

“We always put the consumer first. Their entertainment is always at the centre of all our content strategy. The ratings are a byproduct of that,” Vaz added.

Festive season is a great time for categories like consumer durables, electronics, retail, jewellery, fashion and lifestyle to advertise. While the regular categories like FMCG and e-commerce continue to advertise all-year round, it is these categories that drive the festive spends. besides the regular, which is ecommerce.

“It is these categories that give the boost and make the difference between a festive quarter and a regular quarter. Some categories only advertise at a particular time and because they have not been able to advertise for the last two years, they are coming back with a bang,” he said.

Disney Star is working with advertisers to provide them unique solutions to address their marketing objectives. For example, Reliance Trends has associated with the Bengali General Entertainment Channel Star Jalsha for Durga Puja to establish the fashion retail chain as the preferred brand of clothing. The 360-degree campaign incorporates on-ground, on-air and digital components. It is in the form of a contest “Trends Saj Parbon 2022” where 500 localities will come together to compete for the best Paras this Durga Puja.

However, the most prominent rebound has come from the automobiles category. Plagued by a chip shortage since 2020 coupled with the lockdowns, the category faced tough times in the last two years. Brands from the category have put their money on almost all shows on Star Plus. In fact, Maruti Suzuki launched its latest car Grand Vitara on Star Plus’ non-fiction show Ravivaar with Star Parivaar.

“The biggest icing on the cake is the auto industry. Normally we would see two or three manufacturers advertising during Onam. But this year, every manufacturer was advertising. That will be the standout category this time,” he said.

Apart from Disney Star’s top-rated shows across languages, including Anupamaa and Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin, advertisers are also drawn to its non-fiction shows and movie premieres of Samrat Prithviraj and Shamshera.

Disney Star network has a presence in seven regional languages - Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Bangla, Marathi and Odia with Asianet, Star Suvarna, Star Maa, Star Vijay, Star Jalsha, Star Pravah and Star Kirano respectively. These regional channels are tuned into the local sentiments and help the network penetrate the local market. Vaz says in most of the markets it gets as much as 35-40% revenue from local advertisers.

“The biggest objective for a regional channel is to tap into the local pool. That is the benefit of having a regional channel. The local advertisers really understand the true value beyond just ratings. During Onam we saw many local brands across categories advertising. Similarly, we saw it during Ganesh Chaturthi for Star Pravah,” he said.

At the same time, these channels are also an important part of the media mix for national advertisers. “Brands grow when they penetrate deeper into the country. The regional market plays an important role for them. For that growth they need a mix of HSM and different regional channels,” Vaz added.