Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin- the reinvention of programming & marketing

Contents

Introduction Sony’s gamble Understanding

Women Characteristics of Jassi Why audience adore

Jassi Marketing challenge Marketing Objective Foolproof marketing

strategy

1-2-3-stages of marketing

Television ratings Vs popularity

Reason for success of Jassi

Results Map depicting ratings

in different regions Post image makeover

INTRODUCTION

Adaptation from the world famous series Yo Soy Betty La Fea.

Telecasted in more than 25 countries worldwide.

Launched in September 2003 by Sony Entertainment television.

Target audience-Indian middle class

Outcome of research- “To provide intelligent and innovative entertainment to its viewers”

Gamble paid-off for Sony

‘Hum Log’ DD serial telecasted around 1994 captivated the middle class, though the characters were not beautiful but great actors.

Things changed when Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai took over the universe and world by storm.

Cosmetic giants realised the potential of India and since then the average Indian women changed beyond recognition.

Gamble paid-off for Sony

‘Khwahish’, a Sony serial based on a similar storyline like Jassi jaisi koi nahin failed to thrive long.

But Jassi with its customised marketing turned out to be Sony’s best bet.

Understanding Women- Finally Sony cracks the mystery……………

Birth of woman as a strategist

Women were educated and modern housewives who identify themselves with the working, real women.

Women were looking for distinct viewing alternative beyond family dramas and kitchen politics.

Characteristics of Jassi

Grit, Knowledge and hard work

Stands firm on principles and has managed to create her own identity.

Loyal, devoted, adjusting, sweet and anxious to please.

Honourable, decent and upright and undeniably intelligent. Moral of the story-”Don’t judge a book by its cover”

Why the audience adore Jassi?

Ninety percent of audience relate to her

Transition from the usual glamorous family dramas and the designer bahus and bhabis to a more realistic story.

Completely unconventional heroine

Lovable duckling

Working woman with infinitely elastic duties and responsibilities.

Audience love continues………..

Keeps traditional values intact Reassuring hundreds of ordinary looking girls about their

self worth. Jassi provides reasons for introspection She extends the notion of unflagging loyalty from family

into the arena of workplace. She pursues a career and carves out a space for herself. Last, but not the least that without cooking, she can be a

model bridegroom.

Marketing Challenge

“Promoting and popularising a character, who is less than ordinary looking, especially at a time when television had a plethora of ice candy stars was a definitely challenging job”

Marketing Objectives

To drive sampling for the time slot and build reach in the shortest possible time

To grow channel share in terms of average TVRs as well as Audience preference index

To get “Jassi jaisi koi nahin” into the top ranked shows on Indian television

Marketing Objectives

To create hype around the launch in a manner as unconventional as the serial

To break the mould in terms of positioning of the serial and thus the channel

Foolproof Marketing strategy

1st stage Euro RSCG was the hired agency for its promotional and

advertising jobs.

Launched in July, excitement was created around the main character.

There were no faces in the campaign and the focus was on blurbs

The true essence of the pre-launch campaign was to generate curiosity

Stations

Trains

Shopping malls

Airport placards

SMS

Word ofmouth

leaflets

Media mix

Different forms of Marketing

2nd stage of campaign-popularizing the other

characters 2nd stage of campaigning started soon after the launch of the

show.

While the pre-launch campaign was a teaser to create curiosity around the main character, the second phase shifted on the other characters popularising the show.

The reason K Soaps on Sony and star are very different. On Sony, the

serials focus on individuals while on star they focus on families. Hence the move was strategic to bring in families to watch this show

The third phase focussed on the psyche of the viewers. The idea was to give a boost to the buzz.

Moreover, Sony planned to sustain the buzz post launching of Jassi jaisi koi nahin through the following ways:

A flash mob with a marketing objective-organized by SET named “Apna Bazaar” with a few dozen people were launched in October 2003 chanting ‘Jassi, Jassi….

‘Shaher Shaher mein charcha’ campaign featured people from all walks of life voicing their opinions

3rd stage of campaigning-sustaining the buzz

Television rating points Vs Popularity

Although TRP has risen from 3.6 to 5.2 in less than a dozen episodes, it hasn’t yet translated viewer ship on lines of KBC (kaun Banega crorepati).

On the other hand, beauty is still skin deep and lies very much in the eyes of the beholder. If a clumsy but an intelligent character pops out of television sets, heads are bound to turn and create a success story for itself.

Reasons why jassi clicked

It was a combination of conventional and contemporary media that presented jassi in a compelling manner to viewers, urging them to log on to Sony TV to view the show.

In a world that uninhibitedly worships false perfections, it gives us reasons to accept genuine imperfections.

RESULTS

SET share of the prime slot is up from 8.2% to 32.4% Star Plus is down from 81.8% to 62.6% Slot TVRs are up from 1.33 to 6.3 by December 2003 The Jassi pal club yielded more than 4000 members at a

conversion rate of 8.7% The first stage marketing campaign has resulted in more

than 2 lakh hits to “know more about Jassi”

TRP ratings as on December 2004

After the Image makeover- Jassi’s downfall

The USP on which this serial was built was being altered and it did not translate into a facelift for Sony.

Viewers mourned the loss of next door girl with striking intelligence and comparisons started with the K serials.

Too much of branded entertainment post makeover made it seem like an advertisement.

TRP ratings post image makeover