Sonal Kabi on why Prime Video campaigns eye your Instagram feeds & WhatsApp forwards

Anywhere you see a lauki now, you’ll think about Sachiv Ji from Phulera, and that’s how smart and well-executed Prime Video's marketing campaign for Panchayat was. The streaming platform has been doing some cool marketing gigs to promote their original series and movies.

Remember when Srikant, aka Manoj Bajpayee, went job hunting on LinkedIn? Or when elephants suddenly disappeared from Times of India’s logos to highlight the issue of poaching? These aren't typical promotions, but Prime Video seems to do well with each IP.

To know more about their marketing strategies, afaqs! spoke to Amazon Prime Video. Below are excerpts from an edited conversation with Sonal Kabi, director and head of marketing at the streaming platform.

What factors determine which Prime Video Originals receive heavy promotional support?

All our Originals are important for us, and as a customer-backward organisation, we ensure that our marketing strategy for each is tailored to the title and the audience cohort it addresses.

Here's our approach:

(i) Know our audience: Like matching viewers with their perfect show, we're targeting campaigns to exactly who needs to see them. 

(ii) Speak their language: Using the right channels 

(iii) Be entertaining: If our marketing isn't as engaging as our shows, we're doing it wrong!

(iv) Stand out: we're going for "wow" with our campaigns.

Prime Video receives viewership from 99% of India’s pin codes, and over 25% of the audience for Indian titles comes from outside India, demonstrating our ability to not just offer access and reach to good, relatable, authentic Indian stories, but also generate curiosity and appeal amongst our viewers to watch the same as well.

For promoting their new series, Gram Chikitsalay, Prime Video bought in Bhushan from Panchayat, the audience's favourite and fun character. The promo in a way promotes the Panchayat series as well, as its new season is coming up soon.

What role do data and viewer insights play in shaping your promotional campaigns?

We strive to create moments that can live in your Instagram feeds, WhatsApp forwards, and dinner table conversations. Here’s a quick insider view of how we operate –
i. We obsess about our shows, which is why we enjoy marketing them as well
ii. Dive deep into viewer data (what parts of the show will make someone binge at 1 AM?)
iii. Track memes and viral reels people are sharing post-launch to build a strong sustenance campaign

With Call Me Bae – when we took over Mumbai Metro, that wasn't just marketing – it was a daily commute turning into a movie set. We made the character real before you even hit play.

When The Family Man's Srikant Tiwari started job hunting on LinkedIn, it wasn't just the promotion – it was the entertainment that got everyone asking, "Wait, what's happening in Season 2?"

Finally, we obsess over data, but we also obsess over anecdotes. We read through comments and listen to customer feedback to understand what they are loving about the show.  

Does Prime Video have a preference for established actors or social media influencers when promoting Originals?

We cast for character and not star power in our Originals, and collaborations are based on creative fit – strategy first, follower count second. We work closely with talent who share our vision of delivering fresh, engaging, and relatable stories to our customers.

The same approach applies to our marketing and promotional collaborations. The choice of creator or talent is driven by the marketing strategy and what resonates best with the target audience and not based on popularity or star power.

In the case of Dupahiya, we matched Gajraj Rao's on-screen dad energy and Shaadi.com's Anupam Mittal, creating the ultimate Indian parent collab.

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Similarly, for Paatal Lok Season 2, we explored a different approach. The series’ universe is layered, raw, and full of tension — so we wanted to break away from that with a marketing narrative that would surprise and intrigue the viewers.

A stand-up comedian and a YouTuber, Samay Raina is someone not typically associated with the gritty crime genre that Paatal Lok belongs to. His dissonance from the world of Paatal Lok became the creative hook. Combined with the timeless charm of Farida Jalal, the collaboration brought a fresh lens to storytelling.

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Are on-ground activations a key part of your strategy, and can you share an example of a successful one?

Especially for returning seasons, on-ground activations that allow customers to experience the IP off-screen are a must-have.

With Bandish Bandits Season 2 we wanted our viewers to become performers – (i) We turned 100+ colleges into talent hunt grounds – 'The Bandish Bandits Championship', a nationwide college band competition inspired by the show’s storyline, was executed with casts promoting it across existing converts and crashing into AP Dhillon and Kailash Kher concerts (legally), and (ii) standout on-ground activation was 'Mehfil-e-Bandish', an immersive musical experience held at a popular youth hotspot.

What mix of digital, on-ground, and traditional media does Prime Video typically use in a campaign?

Our marketing mix is carefully curated to reach audiences effectively, in the most culturally relevant and conversation-triggering manner.

Panchayat Season 3 – A vegetable (the humble lauki) became Prime Video's most successful marketing tool. We developed a hybrid campaign—digital and offline—with a creative website (www.panchayat3date.com) where users revealed the show’s release date by clicking on images of laukis (bottle gourds).

We turned vegetable markets into marketing real estate and vendors into accidental influencers across Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Indore, and New Delhi, where we displayed laukis stamped with the release date and hosted cast visits to build buzz. To extend the moment, actual laukis were sent to influencers—turning the show’s mascot into a physical, shareable experience.

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For Farzi, we created a perfume that smells like fresh currency. 

Poacher, a one-of-a-kind wildlife crime thrillers, we made Elephants Disappear (For a good cause, of course!) by collaborating with The Times of India and over 30 brands to delete elephants from their logos—drawing attention to the issue of poaching.

As part of the pre-launch campaign, we created high-impact installations: oversized faux tusks in glass boxes, and staged “elephant crime scenes” across Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru, driving home the urgency of wildlife crime with the intent to generate conversations without the guilt often associated with the topics.

With a strong emphasis on strategic creativity, audience understanding, and genre experimentation, Prime Video India continues to shape its marketing playbook to resonate with a diverse and evolving viewer base.