All that jazz

How a television serial on Sony Entertainment Television became the hottest brand launch of the year

Sunil Lulla

The biggest brand launch of the ninth Brand Derby is a television serial revolving around a Plain Jane character "" complete with unflattering fringe, heavy spectacles and a row of braces across her teeth.

But even as we write about the success of Sony Entertainment Television's (SET's) Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin, Cinderella is getting ready for the ball: the eponymous Jassi is about to metamorphose into a beautiful woman.

And importantly, it's not a bid to boost flagging television rating points "" the transformation of Plain Jane to fairy princess is all part of a carefully-designed plot to keep viewers hooked.

After all, Jassi's consistently maintained decent TVRs (television viewership ratings, TRP weighted by the actual viewing time of the respondents) of between three and five.

Those ratings don't really appear noteworthy, especially considering that soaps on rival channel Star Plus are bringing in numbers like nine and 13.

But they assume importance when you remember that previous prime-time TVRs on SET were in the region of two (see "A fairy tale comes true", The strategist, June 22, 2004).

Besides, say media planners, high ratings aren't the only parameter of success in the television industry. Jassi was an all-round success, with respect to content, branding, marketing and its rub-off on the channel.

And Derby respondents appear to agree. Consider the comment from one of the respondents, "Jassi almost created a new category in TV serials. It created a brand out of a television soap and made waves using different media vehicles."

How did Jassi do that? See how the story unfolded.

Standing out in a crowd

Jassi the brand has its roots in SET's situation before the serial was launched in September 2003. SET had missed cashing in on the craze for family sagas that Star Plus had adopted as its own.

SET's soaps like Kutumb and Kahani Teri Meri had run out of steam within four months of their launch, compared to the average year-long running time of most Hindi TV serials.

SET needed to break out of the saas-bahu mould and find a theme that would attract and retain a younger set of viewers.

The channel decided to target women in the 18 to 34 age group "" the second-largest age group that watches television after the 4 to 14 years bracket. Also, this segment is more likely to try new programming, unlike older women.

SET conducted extensive market research, which pointed to four attitudes of women. Young women, the research showed, believed in their power to realise their dreams, and saw themselves as strategists who could solve problems at home and the workplace. They wanted to achieve success at all odds.

And women knew they were intelligent and wanted to be treated that way. It also helped that none of the prime-time daily soaps spoke specifically to working women.

There was a clear gap and SET jumped to fill it. The research had shown the kind of protagonist who would appeal "" a woman who was a dreamer, solution-finder, hard working, intelligent, but innocent and naive.

SET considered several successful international TV serials on these parameters and zeroed in on a Latin American soap, Yo soy, Betty la fea (Here comes Betty, the ugly one).

Produced by the Colombian RCN Network, Yo soy... had been on air in Columbia, Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela, five days a week for more than a year-and-a-half.

Go local

Not that SET could replicate the international format in totality. For starters, the title of the Spanish serial would have been a turn-off, given Indian viewers' preference for good-looking protagonists. Instead, SET took the Plain Jane Jassi and branded her as special and unique.

"The marketing task at hand was to get audiences to sample an unusual product and eliminate the risk of rejection," says Albert Almeida, senior vice-president, marketing, SET.

To minimise the risk of negative viewer reactions, none of the pre-launch promos showed Jassi "" they merely hinted at her less-than-perfect looks and instead, showed the other characters commenting on Jassi.

"We wanted to build intrigue in a manner in which people would fall in love with her," recalls Sunil Lulla, executive vice president, SET.

The buzz factor

Significantly, this image-building exercise for Jassi went on for an unusually long time before the serial went on air. While Jassi appeared on TV in September 2003, the brand building began in July "" that's twice the time usually spent on pre-publicity for a new TV serial. Then, to give viewers a feel of the unusual character and story, the premiere for the serial was aired on a prime-time, one-hour slot on the Sunday before Jassi actually went on air.

But what really rocketed the serial into instant popularity, was the buzz created around the serial. SET pulled out all stops in creating the pre-launch hype for Jassi last year. Flash mobs were gathered at high-footfall locations such as shopping malls, local trains and multiplexes.

They would enact a war-cry for Jassi, startling onlookers. And on the day of the launch, SET hired people at the domestic airport arrival lounges to hold placards of Jassi.

The company claims that the airport gimmick won curious glances from media buyers and brand managers who would be entering cities like Mumbai or Delhi on a Monday morning.

Pump up the hype

Once Jassi went on air and the ratings started their ascent, SET linked on-air content to off-air marketing opportunities, capitalising on the fact that Jassi's workplace is a fashion house.

A cameo appearance by Jassi at the Miss India pageant kicked off the marketing tactics, which was soon followed by Jassi anchoring a part of the Lakme India Fashion for the channel telecast and so on.

Now in its second year, Jassi continues playing the marketing game. Jassi has visited the Association of Secretaries (she starts out as a secretary in a fashion house in the serial) and Apna Bazaar outlets where she met customers and distributed instant redemption prizes.

What adds to the off-screen credibility is that in all such public appearances, Jassi is in character.

As part of an agreement (neither the channel nor the actor disclose details), the actor playing Jassi has to be in character for all public appearances.

The result of all this hectic activity is that SET is back on media planners' radar. Remarks Navin Kathuria, media group head, R K Swamy BBDO, "Jassi has become the face of the channel and SET is leveraging the character's popularity to the hilt."

Consider this: the show attracted nine sponsors in a couple of months itself, a jump from just one in the first week.

Moreover, Jassi may have been the first soap on Indian television to showcase so many product placements within the story plot. The list includes Asmi diamond jewellery, Maruti Zen, Samsung phones and Singapore Tourism, among others.

Jassi even tied up with another successful brand in the BS Brand Derby "" Hindi film Hum Tum. As part of this promotion, actor Saif Ali Khan made a cameo appearance on Jassi, as the character he played in the film.

Media analysts say that SET's revenues are likely to have increased by 10 to 15 per cent after Jassi was launched last year. Most importantly, the card rate for airtime on Jassi became the highest the channel ever charged (Rs 3 lakh for 10 seconds).

Then, the marketing strategy and particularly the content format used for Jassi created the benchmarks for serials that were launched later. Says Lulla, "The foremost learning has been that the central character has to be unique. Secondly, irreverence in marketing works."

Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin may be a modern-day retelling of Cinderella, but for SET, it's been the fairy godmother.