No kiddin', Nick

Kid channel Nick plans a spate of new initiatives as part of a larger brand building exercise.

Spoil the kids rotten... that's on our mind." This is Hema Govindan, vice-president & general manager, Nick India, making her channel's intentions clear over a meeting at The Park's coffee shop in New Delhi.

Gazing into her Toshiba notebook, Govindan shares statistics of the share of kids' channels in India while also explaining Nick's "second phase of growth and momentum in India". Nearly 18 per cent of the domestic television pie belongs to kids today as compared to 8 per cent nearly 20 months ago.

Nick is all set to unleash 10 new shows soon that will be a healthy mix of "localised content" along with other international shows. At number three in the kiddie channel rankings at the moment, this seven-year-old channel expects to turn its graph inexorably upwards.

"Our success lies in the fact that we are completely involved with children," says Govindan.

The channel has visited over 1,000 schools all over the country, and tapped nearly 7.5 lakh children as part of its brand building exercise.

For instance, the channel celebrates birthday parties of children and airs them on its channel. "This initiative is a huge hit," says Govindan.

Nick also plans to continue its focus on local content, and this season begins with Gilli Gilli Gappa.

Interestingly, providing local content is the mantra for other channels as well. While Cartoon Network has a spate of Indian animation shows like Ramayan: The Legend of Prince Ram, Vikram Betaal, Adventures of Tenali Raman, Chhota Birbal and Akbar & Birbal, Nick, which went completely Hindi in 2004, launched its local content with J Bole Toh Jadoo.

"The character was from the Indian blockbuster Koi Mil Gaya, and this show offered a slice of Bollywood to children," says Govindan.

Though she remains tightlipped, Govindan admits "more Bollywood related projects are in the offing". Hungama TV too keeps a high local content with shows like Shaka Laka Boom Boom.

Coming back to Nick, Govindan will also tap "fickle-minded tweeners" this summer. She says, "The 9-12 age group is restless, and through aggressive retailing that we started last year, we hope to build brand awareness."

Wait a minute. Retailing? Nick launched a range of bed linen in partnership with Bombay Dyeing last year. "Our 2,200 bed linen pieces (in three designs) sold out within two months, prompting Bombay Dyeing to produce another 12 designs," confirms Govindan.

This year, the channel will launch towels, apparel and even party products featuring characters from the channel's programmes.

"This year, Nick will get into the confectionery and candy market, tie up with snack-food players and also the home video market," says Govindan.

Clearly, kids are in for some good spoiling this summer.