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| Source: Buzzom |
I would have imagine Facebook go buzzing when Mihir Virani came back alive in the then soap operas of 2000’s “Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi” or Ansh (Akashdeep Saighal) casting his evil plots. Social media then was not the most active content sharing medium. But time seems to have change!! Audience are actively logging into Youtube to catch-up with their loved operas or checking out the erotic best from Poonam Pandey. India has finally entered the bandwagon of the Social Network and with gossip mongers accounting for half of India’s billion populations, the stake are high on its success.
Indian prime time has been darling to Family Serials and 80% of the audience being women, gets the social circle goes vigorous. Congruently, research project that almost 55% of active Facebook users are women and the combined estimates highlights the increasing traffic of “Saas-Bahu” topic hitting Facebook alone. Further, if we compare the traffic source of the popular family drama and social network, we realize that both have almost similarly contribution from the non-metro cities (60 percent). Likewise, the north and west India accounts for the biggest crowd for both.
Trading on the stated figures, Indian television is now using the social media tools to indulge in cross-platform loyalty programs and enhance the brand equity quotient. ZoOm television has reached out to its fans through tools like Facebook and Youtube. ZoOm has almost 2 crore impressions every week and 2.5 lakh conversations and its Youtube channel has in influx of almost 500 million views. MTV has also been doing the same – MTV Roadies has seen 14 lakh fans on its Facebook page. Interestingly, Sony’s popular serial ‘Bade Acche Lagte Hain‘ has created a lot of buzz with its two thousand strong community on Facebook. Similarly other music, news and entertainment channels are joining the league.
Businesses are not only trying to capture the buzz of existing programs but they are making sure that they are generating exclusive buzz about new TV serials too. For e.g.: ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati‘, the reality game show that started from 15th August, got into the social act much before it hit the television advertisement.
Marketers are smart today. They realize and capitalize on the fact that the most popular time for use of social media is 6pm-10pm (the prime time for the family opera telecasts) and the maximum users come from the ‘less than 5 lakhs p.a.’ income category – the famous middleclass society of India, who are either effect by Sachin Tendulkar’s much awaited hundredth 100 or if Mohnish Behl and Kritika Kamra can finally express their love for each other in the most happening serial “Kuch To Log Kahenge” aired on Sony TV.
We obviously like the way television is dating social media but we would love to see it grow into a real life bonding. It’s great to see that businesses who till date considered TV as the biggest medium of broadcasting and promoting, are now paying attention to social media. So one might wonder whether Indian marketers are investing big time in social media, the answer is a firm YES!!
Indian prime time has been darling to Family Serials and 80% of the audience being women, gets the social circle goes vigorous. Congruently, research project that almost 55% of active Facebook users are women and the combined estimates highlights the increasing traffic of “Saas-Bahu” topic hitting Facebook alone. Further, if we compare the traffic source of the popular family drama and social network, we realize that both have almost similarly contribution from the non-metro cities (60 percent). Likewise, the north and west India accounts for the biggest crowd for both.
Trading on the stated figures, Indian television is now using the social media tools to indulge in cross-platform loyalty programs and enhance the brand equity quotient. ZoOm television has reached out to its fans through tools like Facebook and Youtube. ZoOm has almost 2 crore impressions every week and 2.5 lakh conversations and its Youtube channel has in influx of almost 500 million views. MTV has also been doing the same – MTV Roadies has seen 14 lakh fans on its Facebook page. Interestingly, Sony’s popular serial ‘Bade Acche Lagte Hain‘ has created a lot of buzz with its two thousand strong community on Facebook. Similarly other music, news and entertainment channels are joining the league.
Businesses are not only trying to capture the buzz of existing programs but they are making sure that they are generating exclusive buzz about new TV serials too. For e.g.: ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati‘, the reality game show that started from 15th August, got into the social act much before it hit the television advertisement.
Marketers are smart today. They realize and capitalize on the fact that the most popular time for use of social media is 6pm-10pm (the prime time for the family opera telecasts) and the maximum users come from the ‘less than 5 lakhs p.a.’ income category – the famous middleclass society of India, who are either effect by Sachin Tendulkar’s much awaited hundredth 100 or if Mohnish Behl and Kritika Kamra can finally express their love for each other in the most happening serial “Kuch To Log Kahenge” aired on Sony TV.
We obviously like the way television is dating social media but we would love to see it grow into a real life bonding. It’s great to see that businesses who till date considered TV as the biggest medium of broadcasting and promoting, are now paying attention to social media. So one might wonder whether Indian marketers are investing big time in social media, the answer is a firm YES!!
I don't know really! As of today, I'd say that the relationship is in a nascent stage, with no significant trends of turning into a full-fledged "marriage". The biggest thing countering this is the penetration of the "famous middle class soap watching" population into Facebook/Twitter, and vice-versa. Revenue of a channel is directly linked to the number of advertisements during a program, amounting upto a cool 100K rupees for a 10-second slot. In such a scenario, a Facebook community of 2000 people is just peanut, even less than that. And if I consider that the Indian middle class is growing towards its counterparts in Europe and America, then also I never saw Friends or Big Bang Theory attributing even a small percentage of their success to the internet.
ReplyDeleteAll in all, I still believe that Product remains the most important of the four P's. No one is going to purchase horse-shit, however attractive the promotions may be. If people watch Mohnish Behl, its just because they love him, Facebook be damned.
Hi Kish
ReplyDeleteThis is a great story, wondering why i didn't think of it earlier. The key is marketers can use this for many purposes.
One thing i can immediately think of is working with the fans and members to develop the story of the soap operas. This way the viewers remain more involved.
Other think is that I remember Tulsi and Parvati sarees had become very popular maybe there could be a channel to move to e-commerce using these fan pages. Soon Facebbok is going to be biggest challenge to on line retailers and these pages can be used to develop customer loyalty.
Finally I think TRPs and Advertisements are passe, so last century. The future belongs to the social networks...