_1594557612069_1594557621156.JPG "The campaign brings together key advertisers as well as original programming returns to entertain viewers.")
NEW DELHI: Intriguing billboards of big brands such as Amul Lassi, Nestle's Maggi, and Cadbury Dairy Milk cropped up across Delhi and Mumbai, asking consumers to stock up and brace themselves for 13 July. People were left guessing as these hoardings did not reveal much except for a hashtag which said #13thKiTaiyyari ki jiye. Curiosity led some people to even share pictures of these billboards on Twitter.
The hoardings finally turned out to be a campaign by television broadcaster Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEEL) as it prepares to resume its daily television soaps from 13 July, over three months after production was halted due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The campaign, which was also promoted on social media, is part of the network's larger comeback multimedia campaign 'Banegi Baat Saath Saath’ which caters to its consumer, partners and distributors. The campaign is also promoting 10-second long promotional spots with various television actors from its shows.
"These hoardings are a teaser to our larger campaign and the objective was to create intrigue and treat it as an announcer campaign which will be taken on digital platforms where viewers can actually participate in conversations as their favourite serials return on TV," said Prathyusha Agarwal, chief consumer officer, ZEEL.
Created by advertising agency Lowe Lintas, the co-created campaign brings together key advertisers as well as original programming returns to entertain viewers.
"We urged brands to market us and create the necessary buzz about the original daily television programming resuming," Agarwal added.
Nestle India, which was seen leveraging its noodle brand Maggi on the billboard campaign, said it’s an innovative brand collaboration for a specific occasion aimed to resonate how much consumers enjoy their bowl of Maggi noodles, while indulging in one of their favorite programmes.
"We will let the surprise unveil itself," the company spokesperson said.
The broadcaster said during April and May, it did multiple Zoom calls and webinars with various viewers to understand the kind of content they look forward to on television channels.
Due to social distancing norms, the scripts and screenplay need to be reworked. The channel said its focus would now be on highlighting and promoting positivity and the intrinsic need of viewers to move forward through their stories.
With original content, advertising is also expected to return on general entertainment channels (GEC) which have taken a major hit in the last three months as advertising money moved to news and movie channels.
Ashish Sehgal, chief growth officer – ad revenue, ZEEL said the regular viewer of GEC went away due to the absence of original content and "we saw a new set of viewers who were watching comedy, mythology but the advertiser chose news and movie channels over GEC".
"With unlock happening and consumption gradually resuming, advertisers are coming back to GECs as it is the only channel category that drives appointment viewing on a daily basis. The viewers are habitual and are waiting to watch the daily serials," he added.
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