Zareena is confident that Bindass will connect to young India
Bindaas is no more
just a tapori slang, as it’s sitting pretty in the English Oxford Dictionary since over an year now. Just a small indicator of the thriving impact of young India and Indians on the rest of the world! Small wonder that the budding media house UTV started its TV channel journey with a Bindaas bang. Yes, launched on September 24, 2007, the Hindi GEC targetted at the 15-34 age group is promising the world to India’s youth. Will it be able to deliver? 4Ps B&M spoke to Zareena Mehta, CEO, Bindass on the promises and prospects of the channel...
4Ps B&M... What’s the strategy behind launching a niche GEC targeted at youth?
ZM: India is a very young country & getting younger day by day. One fine day I was wondering how a 20-year old boy thinks. We started a research process and interviewed 2500 people in the ages of our target group and realised that while there has been a considerable growth in news, movies-and-kids based channels, no channel offered complete leisure content for the age group of 15-34 years. There is a huge gap in the entertainment space for young India. Research says that young India enjoys watching action, thrillers, comedy, sitcoms, stand-up acts, wrestling, et al. That’s when we decided to introduce Bindass to fill the gap.
4Ps B&M...You call Bindass a 360 degree entertainment brand for Young India?
We started with TV channels. We will have four channels. The Hindi GEC and the movie channel have already been launched in September 2007. The other two would be the regional variants of the first. We will be present in many other areas like mobile, web, gaming, merchandising, cafes, retail & nationwide ground events. No other entertainment brand in India does this. So we are, in effect, the first & only 360 degree entertainment brand for young Indian audiences.
4Ps B&M...Existing GECs already cater to the youth, especially to reality shows. What’s Bindaas’ USP?
Programming of Bindass focusses on genres like action, comedy and thriller. To highlight our key drivers, we have shows like Shakira, Lagegi, 3rd Degree etc. While Shakira is an edgy, action-thriller series in the prime slot showcasing today’s empowered woman who fights for justice; Lagegi is a spirited satire on current issues affecting young India (shot only 48 hours prior to telecast to maintain its topicality). 3rd Degree is a show featuring Ugesh Sarcar–India’s first street-magician. We are confident that Bindaas will strike the right chord...
4Ps B&M...How has the response been so far?
The start has been marvellous! We have been able to reach 1/3 of young India in our first month. From the audience point of view, our shows are really catching up, specially - Shakira and Sun Yaar Chill Maar. Besides, our Hollywood movies dubbed in Hindi and acquired international programming has been well received with some quality dubbing. The advertising community has been very receptive to the brand concept & our launch concept of Bingo Bindass Go to Space contest, sponsored by ITC’s hip brand Bingo was a success. Colgate fresh, ITC’s Sunfeast, Essence, Sypkar are the other key brands on the channel.
4Ps B&M...What is the revenue model for the channel?
We would be available across DTH platforms, which would be a strong revenue sources. Besides we have launched with a strong new media strategy where Bindass programming would be available on mobile in short formats of 1-2 minutes. Bindass is the first GEC to launch its content on mobile TV. Partnerships with Airtel, Hutch, BSNL, IDEA, BPL, Aircel, Spice Telecom & MTNL enables us to bring repurposed content, aggregated content & content exclusively created catering to the requirements of the target group.
4Ps B&M...What is the marketing strategy for Bindaas?
As for our launch idea, we wanted to do something that would make Bindass stand out as a brand that represents the four F’s - Fun, Frank, Free & Fearless.We designed a mother-of-all contests to send one lucky and BINDASS PERSON to Space - BINGO! Bindass go to Space. We also have excellent media partners like cinema chain PVR Ltd, radio channel Red FM and Headlines Today partnering with us. At the same time, college contact programmes have been an ongoing progress for the channel. Brand Bindass was the title sponsor for the largest college festival, St Xavier’s Malhar in Mumbai & IIT’s Rendezvous in New Delhi.
4Ps B&M...What do your future plans entail?
We have to launch two more TV channels under the Bindass brand. We will also focus on website and mobile content. In its second phase, Bindass will foray into retail with its own Bindass cafés. Their décor, music, food and ambience will reflect the brand values of Bindass. Bindass will also simultaneously roll out into the merchandising domain. It will also include the launch of multiple channels across languages in India and Southeast Asia.
Bindaas is no more
just a tapori slang, as it’s sitting pretty in the English Oxford Dictionary since over an year now. Just a small indicator of the thriving impact of young India and Indians on the rest of the world! Small wonder that the budding media house UTV started its TV channel journey with a Bindaas bang. Yes, launched on September 24, 2007, the Hindi GEC targetted at the 15-34 age group is promising the world to India’s youth. Will it be able to deliver? 4Ps B&M spoke to Zareena Mehta, CEO, Bindass on the promises and prospects of the channel...4Ps B&M... What’s the strategy behind launching a niche GEC targeted at youth?
ZM: India is a very young country & getting younger day by day. One fine day I was wondering how a 20-year old boy thinks. We started a research process and interviewed 2500 people in the ages of our target group and realised that while there has been a considerable growth in news, movies-and-kids based channels, no channel offered complete leisure content for the age group of 15-34 years. There is a huge gap in the entertainment space for young India. Research says that young India enjoys watching action, thrillers, comedy, sitcoms, stand-up acts, wrestling, et al. That’s when we decided to introduce Bindass to fill the gap.
4Ps B&M...You call Bindass a 360 degree entertainment brand for Young India?
We started with TV channels. We will have four channels. The Hindi GEC and the movie channel have already been launched in September 2007. The other two would be the regional variants of the first. We will be present in many other areas like mobile, web, gaming, merchandising, cafes, retail & nationwide ground events. No other entertainment brand in India does this. So we are, in effect, the first & only 360 degree entertainment brand for young Indian audiences.
4Ps B&M...Existing GECs already cater to the youth, especially to reality shows. What’s Bindaas’ USP?
Programming of Bindass focusses on genres like action, comedy and thriller. To highlight our key drivers, we have shows like Shakira, Lagegi, 3rd Degree etc. While Shakira is an edgy, action-thriller series in the prime slot showcasing today’s empowered woman who fights for justice; Lagegi is a spirited satire on current issues affecting young India (shot only 48 hours prior to telecast to maintain its topicality). 3rd Degree is a show featuring Ugesh Sarcar–India’s first street-magician. We are confident that Bindaas will strike the right chord...
4Ps B&M...How has the response been so far?
The start has been marvellous! We have been able to reach 1/3 of young India in our first month. From the audience point of view, our shows are really catching up, specially - Shakira and Sun Yaar Chill Maar. Besides, our Hollywood movies dubbed in Hindi and acquired international programming has been well received with some quality dubbing. The advertising community has been very receptive to the brand concept & our launch concept of Bingo Bindass Go to Space contest, sponsored by ITC’s hip brand Bingo was a success. Colgate fresh, ITC’s Sunfeast, Essence, Sypkar are the other key brands on the channel.
4Ps B&M...What is the revenue model for the channel?
We would be available across DTH platforms, which would be a strong revenue sources. Besides we have launched with a strong new media strategy where Bindass programming would be available on mobile in short formats of 1-2 minutes. Bindass is the first GEC to launch its content on mobile TV. Partnerships with Airtel, Hutch, BSNL, IDEA, BPL, Aircel, Spice Telecom & MTNL enables us to bring repurposed content, aggregated content & content exclusively created catering to the requirements of the target group.
4Ps B&M...What is the marketing strategy for Bindaas?
As for our launch idea, we wanted to do something that would make Bindass stand out as a brand that represents the four F’s - Fun, Frank, Free & Fearless.We designed a mother-of-all contests to send one lucky and BINDASS PERSON to Space - BINGO! Bindass go to Space. We also have excellent media partners like cinema chain PVR Ltd, radio channel Red FM and Headlines Today partnering with us. At the same time, college contact programmes have been an ongoing progress for the channel. Brand Bindass was the title sponsor for the largest college festival, St Xavier’s Malhar in Mumbai & IIT’s Rendezvous in New Delhi.
4Ps B&M...What do your future plans entail?
We have to launch two more TV channels under the Bindass brand. We will also focus on website and mobile content. In its second phase, Bindass will foray into retail with its own Bindass cafés. Their décor, music, food and ambience will reflect the brand values of Bindass. Bindass will also simultaneously roll out into the merchandising domain. It will also include the launch of multiple channels across languages in India and Southeast Asia.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist)
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