Sony takes IPL dance party outdoor

SET has increased marketing spends for the IPL by 15 per cent over 2012.

Sony Entertainment Television has unleashed a huge marketing activity to connect with people across the country to promote its flagship property, Indian Premier League Season 6, being telecast across SET Max and Sony Six. On the outdoor platform, the channel has initiated a slew of activities simultaneously to engage with people at different touch points such as malls, societies and apartments. The activity revolves around teaching people the three signature dance steps for the 'Sirf Dekne ka Nahin' campaign that uses choreographer Farah Khan.

A canter activity has been launched to carry the message across 14 cities of the country. A red canter van with a large poster of Farah Khan will engage people in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mohali, Jaipur, Lucknow, Kanpur, Indore, Ludhiana and Ahmedabad. The poster says 'Dance Ok Please' and the van has volunteers who urge people to showcase their talent by dancing to the IPL tunes. The van started its journey a couple of weeks before the start of the tournament and will run for another week.

Video booths have been set up at several key touch points across all these states, where people can go and imitate the dance steps demonstrated by Khan on the TVC, and in return get their performances recorded on a CD at the spot.

Also, billboards have been put up at high footfall junctions across the country to catch eyeballs.

The element of surprise has always been key to engagement. Using this philosophy, the channel is organising frequent flashmob activities across different cities of the country, where volunteers dressed as policemen join the crowds and sway to the IPL signature tune.

SET has also lined up activities at Resident Welfare Associations, where it interacts with families and children and gives away gifts for participation.

Neeraj Vyas, business head, SET Max, says, "Our objective is to engage people. Our target is to motivate people and urge them to get up and dance to the IPL tune."

Vyas says that the marketing spends for the entire campaign for IPL Season 6 has increased by 15 per cent over 2012. Apart from digital, the spends on all the other media remains the same. The digital spends have been raked up by 5 per cent.

In 2012, the viewership of the tournament was around 161.9 million. Vyas adds that the main target audience this year comprises kids because as they come in, the parents follow. He says, "I would be extremely happy if the viewership numbers can increase by 10-15 per cent."

This year's IPL includes nine teams and will continue till May 26. There will be 76 matches before the winner for the season is decided. The first season of IPL took place in 2008 and follows the 20-over format.

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