Significant among these is the launch of its fourth home-grown show featuring two new characters in the form of Gattu-Battu. To sustain its 20 per cent top line growth and consolidate the network’s position in the kids’ genre further, the kids’ cluster is banking on local content. It is also taking the characters beyond television so that the audience can touch, feel and interact with them.
Viacom18's Kids Nickelodeon Cluster, which houses Nick, Sonic, Nick Jr. and TeenNick, features a mixture of international content (SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora The Explorer, Oggy and the Cockroaches, Power Rangers and Peppa Pig, among others) and local content (Motu Patlu, Pakadam Pakadai, and Shiva), and has identified locally cultivated characters and shows as the focus of its growth strategy.
Nina Elavia Jaipuria, EVP & Business Head, Kids Cluster, Viacom18, says: “We believe in putting our money where the mouth is and we are committed to creating local content and characters which we own the IP (intellectual property rights) to. This allows us to go beyond the TV screen. We have already extended Motu Patlu to the big screen and that has been possible because we own the IP. While Motu Patlu has led growth on Nick, our other home-grown character, Shiva, has helped Sonic (the second kids channel brand from the network) grow from a 4 per cent relative share in 2015 (of viewership) to 10 per cent last year.”
Motu Patlu and Oggy and the Cockroaches at Krackerjack Karnival
Shiva, a show centred on a superhero boy with a penchant for nifty gadgets, was launched by Jaipuria and team in 2015 on Nickelodeon. It shot up to number one spot in the genre within two weeks and once the viewership reached a certain mass and stabilised, the show was shifted to Sonic, so that the channel can attract the audience driven by the show. The strategy seems to have worked as the channel not only showed a spurt in market share but also saw 40 per cent growth in terms of ad rates.
The new show, Gattu Battu, is an attempt to “fill a white space”, as Jaipuria calls it, in detective themed storytelling in the form of an animated show. The show follows the adventures of two friends who solve crimes in their home town, Vishrampur. Gattu Battu will premiere on Nickelodeon India on Monday 1st May 2017.
Jaipuria agrees that the concept is a risk that the franchise is taking, but she believes that is the way to ensure growth. “While crime shows and crime novels (Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys etc) are popular among kids, it is something that hasn’t been tried on Indian television in this way. Our previous initiatives have seen traction and we are hoping this one hits the mark as well,” she adds. The characters have been brought to life by Toonz Animation, an animation company that created Pakadam Pakadai.
Spectators watch as a Dora the Explorer balloon floats down Broadway during Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City
Having full ownership of the shows allows Viacom18 to take the characters out of the TV. This not only means a more immersive experience for the viewers as they can interact with the characters on various platforms such as on-ground and digital, but also gives the advertisers more avenues to engage the audience. This has been crucial to making Sonic turn profitable in 2016 (Nick already was profitable) and to the cluster, showing top line growth of 20 per cent, says Jaipuria.
“On TV, there are just 12 minutes per clock hour. To maximise the potential of the popularity these characters have, we have to think out of the box. So we have mall activations, van activities (a moving van with the show’s characters) and of course digital initiatives. The Nick website hosts close to 407 games that kids can play and of these, around 190 are based on local characters. Advertisers do see value in the holistic reach we offer, and we have been able to maintain a sturdy growth trajectory,” she says.
SHIVA
Demonetisation did prove to be a bit of a speed bump, impacting top line by around 15 per cent. However, Jaipuria says by February, advertisers were back and spending.
More Nick: Nickelodeon India's "Together For Good" Behavioral Change Initiative Returns For A Second Season!
Apart from the usual brands like FMCG and kids apparel, the cluster has observed a spike in advertising by traditionally non-kids categories such as automobiles and BFSIs. These companies have also become big spenders in this category.
Original source: Business Standard News.
Also, via ET BrandEquity:
Nickelodeon introduces a secret weapon to impress kids
Nickelodeon is relying on a couple of sleuths to retain its lead in viewership and turn the market share tide in the channel's favour. Find out who they are...
Nickelodeon found itself catapulted on top of the list of highest-rated channels in the kid's segment category thanks to the popularity of its homegrown shows, Motu Patlu, Pakdam Pakdai and Shiva. However, the Nick cluster comprising of channels like Sonic Nickelodeon, Nick Jr. and Nickelodeon HD still falls short of the Disney cluster which currently dominates with a 33% market share.
Nickelodeon, however, plans to turn those numbers around by introducing the newest members of its universe- Gattu and Battu.
The show claims to be India's first animated investigative series for children, centered around two best friends who own an investigative security agency, fighting crime in the city of Vishrampur. Gattu Battu will premier in May.
Keeping a child's attention, however, is arguably one of the hardest things to do in the world.
Just ask Nina Jaipuria, business head- kids cluster at Viacom18 Media, who is responsible for all business and marketing aspects of Nickelodeon's offering. Defying the general trend that forecasted Indian children's viewership predominantly gravitating towards more westernized and live action TV shows, Jaipurira successfully managed to turn the sails in favor of organic and homegrown Indian characters, imbued which classic desi characteristics targeted to fuse entertainment with education.
Nickelodeon now:
The channel is known for shows like Ninja Hattori (of which 20-30 original episodes are churned out every year in collaboration with the Japanese-run production house, Shin-Ei Animation), Motu Patlu, Pakdam Pakdai and Keymon Ache. With this line-up, Nickelodeon has really put the money where their mouth is considering how expensive it is to produce animated content. Each episode costs anywhere between a cool 30-50 lakhs.Motu Patlu, Pakdam Pakdai and Keymon Ache. With this line-up, Nickelodeon has really put the money where their mouth is considering how expensive it is to produce animated content. Each episode costs anywhere between a cool 30-50 lakhs.
Though demonetisation impacted the channel bumping it off the ladder by 15% to 20% in the months of November, December and Jan the brand was quick to recover its footing. "The reason Nick has managed to sustain its leadership in the segment is because of the width and depth of our library.We've created libraries that span over 200 to 300 videos of local content. That's a whole lot of investment going into the kid's space, but what we enjoy from that investment is the fact that the shows have huge shelf-lives and therefore they continue to flourish and give us ratings that monetize our top lines," explained Jaipuria.
Taking Gattu Battu to town:
Whether it's above the line promotions, below the line or under it, Nickelodeon wants to make sure that Gattu Battu will be present everywhere. Not only does the network plan to focus on the Nick franchise, (which is four channels strong) but also at cross-channel television promotion. Since kids' viewing patterns are not solely restricted to 'kiddy channels' anymore, Nickelodeon plans to advertise on GECs like SAB TV and a few other music channels. They also plan to undertake promotional activities separate from mass media.
Nickelodeon introduces a secret weapon to impress kids"We are going to be creating a whole lot of partnerships on ground. There will be massive van activations too. We're going to have retail stores, install 3-D graphics in popular malls and will attempt augmented and virtual reality in malls situated in the metros. The thrill with VR is that you can become part of the show. And that's where kids get completely tickled with the idea that they can be part of their favorite shows. Aside from that, we have great partnerships with Pantaloons Hamleys and McDonald's- you name it, and we'll make sure we'll be there."
Delicious digital:
Gone are the days where kids consumed content through a single medium. For Jaipuria it's all about maximizing engagement and building affinity with characters through 'touch-feel-play' methods that are best brought about through the digital medium.
"We have created a world out of digital assets. While 'Voot Kids' supplies all the digital content (thus beating competitors on rival OTT platforms and YouTube), We have 407 games on Nick's website, of which almost 200 are local content games featuring our character's Motu-Patlu and Shiva. Jaipuria, however, has no plans to slow down just yet. "This summer, we plan to launch 15 new original games. Whether it is cricket, football, a racing game or even virtual table tennis, we like to ensure that we have enough engagement going on with the kids." affirms the business head.
Advertising anomalies?
According to Jaipuria, a whopping 50% of Nickelodeon's advertisers are 'non-kid advertisers'. Which means that while the usual suspects like Heinz, Kellogs and Britannia still advertise on Nickelodeon, the channel also has major traction with automobile brands like Hyundai and Ford, banking and finance brands like Axis and LIC, electronic mavens like Phillips and LG, besides, Flipkart, OLX, Samsonite and VIP etc. "There is a lot of advertising which is going outside of the usual, traditional route. We, therefore, see a lot of uptake from some of these categories as well."
Merchandising missions
Although Shiva was launched in 2015, it was only in 2016-17 that Shiva-themed merchandise saw the light of day. "Consumer products, always follow a lag." laments Jaipuria. This is simply because a newly launched character takes time to settle with its audience. According to her, Motu Patlu, Dora the Explorer and Shiva are currently at the peak of their popularity with regards to merchandise , but Gattu Battu will take a while to reach that level organically since the audiences are still getting to know the characters.
However, overall, the merchandising for the channel is flourishing. Speaking on the channel's branding and merchandising Jaipuria says, "Over the last year, we've grown by 40% and now feature in 46 categories which include toys apparel, back to school essentials, eyewear, innerwear etc. We also have about 6,000 SKUs and reach out to 5,000 retail points in the country which also includes modern trade and e-commerce. We see it as an ancillary revenue stream over and above the ad sales and subscription"
Storytelling is not kids' play!
"The DNA for any kids show is humour and comedy" asserts Nina. "One of our biggest challenges (for running a Kids channel like Nickelodeon) lies in the writing. There are three things that make up the channel and the genre- First, is the storytelling in itself, how you tell that story and therefore how you script it. The second is how you mould, create and enable your characters to create a relationship and bond with the child. They should have the ability and affinity to create a bond with the viewers. Last but not the least. 'touch and feel' experience that a story offers. So environments, colours, the dubbing etc. play a big role in making great entertainment for kids" says Jaipuria, signing off.
Also, via Indian Television Dot Com:
Nickelodeon ad sales grew 20%, launches 'Gattu Battu'
MUMBAI: Ruling the genre from August 2014 to date with 31 per cent market share is not one man’s game. Growing from strength to strength are Viacom 18’s children’s networks -- Nickelodeon (19 per cent), Sonic (10 per cent) and Nick Jr (2 per).
The other two networks Disney and Turner stand at a 33 per cent and 27 per cent market share, respectively. Reaching out to 32 million kids every week, Nickelodeon is the undisputed leader across various slices, TGs, Dayparts (weekdays and weekends), NCCS and Geographies. The channel sees a 28 per cent contribution from South as a region. When it comes to viewership, the channel gets 65 per cent traction from the Urban whereas 35 per cent come from Rural.
The franchise’ revenue has gone up 20 per cent y-o-y. Sonic’s yield has increased by 40 per cent y-o-y whereas, Nickelodeon’ yield has increased by 25 per cent y-o-y.
“Nickelodeon's team has steered the channel as the ruler from 2014 in the kids category. The channel has been leading with a five per cent gap from two of its competitors Hungama and Cartoon Network. The fantastic news is that Sonic is at 10 per cent market share with 252 TVTs. In fact one of the weeks Sonic took over Disney. We are all up there growing, crawling, reaching there,” said Viacom18’s kids cluster EVP and business head Nina Elavia Jaipuria.
According to the Ormax Small Wonder Study, six out of 10 characters that are widely loved by kids come from this channel.
“When new kids comes to a channel, we normally drop time spends or when you have lesser reach on your channel, the time spent goes up. Therefore, we feel happy that we have the highest reach and have maintained our time spent. The kids are loyal to us which means that we have a great channel affinity, content affinity,” added Jaipuria.
The network released its full length feature film titled Motu Patlu: King of Kings which has done wonders. The movie has made its way to small screen and will air on the channel soon. Viacom also plans to launch a new Motu Patlu in Dragon World by June 2017. Apart from this, the channel will add new episodes to Motu Patlu and Ninja Hattori, which is getting updated after a year.
Nickelodeon:
With an average time spent of 90 minutes on Nickelodeon, it is all geared up to launch its fourth local franchise. After a successful year with home-grown toons like Motu Patlu, Pakdam Pakdai and Shiva, Nickelodeon intends to magnificently captivate kids with its new fully owned IP Gattu Battu on 1 May. The show will air throughout the week.
“Nickelodeon has managed to sustain its leadership for the longest time is because of the width and depth of library. I think it is about creating enough content library and therefore the fourth local show so that we have width. But, that is not enough. We need depth due to which we have created libraries with 200 episodes for our local shows. It is a whole lot of investment but they have a huge shelf life which gives us ratings that can monetize the top-line,” added Jaipuria.
Gattu Battu is a story of two best friends who own an investigative and security agency in a small town called Vishrampur. While Battu is the sixth sense behind every case to be solved, his friend Gattu is the courageous and righteous one. Their hilarious and brilliant cover-ups is what forms the heart and soul of this show. Gattu and Gattu are joined in their fun escapades by Ting Tong, their goofy and adorable sidekick with a flair for martial arts. They together along with Dr. Bhatawadekar and his gadgets come together to fight the notoriously funny villain Sher Singh.
The unique investigative home-grown animated show from the house of Nickelodeon is an ultimate blend of action and comedy and is sure to provide a fun filled entertainment experience for kids.
“After launching three blockbuster 'Made in India' shows and creating an eco-system around them, we are delighted to bring to them yet another winning series, Gattu Battu, that they will surely embrace and make a part of their daily lives. There were no characters that bring a blend of crime thriller combined with comedy for kids – Gattu Battu fills this whitespace,” added Jaipuria.
The show’s launch is followed by an expansive marketing campaign which will have promotions with an extensive cross channel plan, large scale on-ground, ambient engagement and interesting on-line interactivity. Adding to this will be the on-ground initiatives like retail and mall partnerships (Phoenix, Ambience, Viviana etc), multi city promotions etc. The channel has associated with Mc Donald’s to air the show promos across 300 screens. Gattu Battu themed games, van activations in Tier 2 cities and meet-and-greets at various gaming zones such as Funcity will introduce the duo as well as allow kids to engage with the characters.
Sonic
Viacom18 made a bold move last year by placing Nick’s iconic teen adventure program, Shiva as part of Sonic’s programming henceforth. The change is in line with Nickelodeon’s need for a strong second channel. This led to a huge spike in its viewership and therefore, the channel has grown from four per cent market share to 10 per cent.
“We have done everything possible when we launched a new show. We did games, malls, mass media, school content program, etc to make Shiva the next big thing after Motu Patlu and Pakdam Pakdai,” added the channel head.
The channel has been delivered mainly because of three shows -- Pakdam Pakdai which gives the channel 25-27 per cent share in local content, Oggy and the Cockroaches and Shiva.
On the digital front, the channel plans to engage more with kids by creating several digital assets. “The websites are rocking with it. We have 407 games on the websites out of which 200 are local content games with 15 new ones in the pipeline,” said Jaipuria.
Rocking the summer with exciting content line-up, the channel will add new episodes to its famous shows- Shiva, Pakdam Pakdai, Oggy and the cockroaches, etc. The marketing strategies for these shows will matchup with Gattu Battu’ plans. The channel will place blimps of the characters at several places in partnership with malls and will also do van activations in tier 2 cities.
Nick Jr.:
The 24 hour pre-school channel for toddlers has the best content with iconic, world renowned shows like Peppa Pig, Dora the Explorer, Paw Patrol, etc. Dora continues to be the face of the channel.
Nick HD+:
The best of local and international shows like Motu Patlu, Pakdam Pakdai, The legend of Korra, Dora the Explorer, The Penguins of Madagascar, Rabbids Invasion, etc., are available on high definition on this channel. It does not simulcast the content from other channels in the bouquet. The channel also has a block on the channel called Teen Nick, where the channel plays sitcoms.
Some channels may not bring in advertising revenues. “A lot of these channels are here to stay because they create large-scale perspective, foundations, and gives us a base of consumer products and subscription revenue.
Ad sales and revenues:
The franchise has been contributing the network’s bottom line year after year. The ad sales over the last year have grown by 20 per cent. The channels have also seen a rate increase. Three years in a row, the franchise has given 30 per cent and 20 per cent to the top line. The subscription revenues have also grown by 10-15 per cent y-o-y. The cluster has also delivered on the bottom line and has doubled from last year.
The franchise provides various non FCT solutions to advertisers like promotional licensing, product licensing, tentpole licensing, movie sponsorships, in-show placements, school contact program, tailor made brand solutions that paved way for increased.
“If we are spending so much, the money has to come from somewhere. So, the rates have increased on Nick and Sonic. Sonic has made it to the consideration of many advertisers. We are very happy to note that monetizing is actually working for us, subscription revenues are also growing by 10-15 per cent y-o-y. Therefore, this business looks greener. The non-subscription revenue from ad sales, non-FCT revenue and it’s starting to get great ancillary revenue from consumer products, licensing or digital screens or syndication,” concluded Jaipuria.
Jaipuria also noted that the network’s 15-20 per cent revenues got hit due to demonetisation. It took away the surplus.
With a slew of characters, the franchise’ merchandising revenue has grown by 40 per cent from last year. The products are available across 46 categories.
Also, via Adage India:
Nickelodeon Strengthens Content Game for Summer, Goes Aggressive on Marketing it
Nickelodeon, the kids entertainment cluster from Viacom18 portfolio, which runs channels like Nick, Sonic, Nick Junior & Nick HD+, has announced its content and consumer engagement plan to lure kids during their summer vacations, this year.
After the success with home-grown toons like Motu Patlu, Pakdam Pakdai and Shiva, Nickelodeon has announced the launch of their fourth IP (intellectual property), an animated investigative series for kids titled ‘Gattu Battu’. The detective action comedy series is slated to launch on May 1st.
In addition to Gattu Battu, the kids cluster of Viacom18 will be airing new episodes of its existing shows like Shiva (Sonic), Oggy and Cockroaches (Sonic), Motu Patlu (Nick), Shaun the Sheep (Sonic) and Ninja Hattori (Nick).
Nickelodeon will also be releasing their theatrical movie ‘Motu Patlu King of Kings’ (released last year) on television. In addition to that, Nick will air a new movie ‘Motu Patlu in Dragon World’.
Commenting on the same, Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Head – Kids Entertainment, Viacom18 said “Nickelodeon endeavors to serve the best entertainment to its young audience. Catering to children and their evolving preferences is at the core of all our initiatives. It is this coupled with our desire to innovate that has helped us sustain our leadership in the kids’ segment since 2014. After launching 3 blockbuster made in India shows and creating their eco-system, we are delighted to bring to them yet another winning series, Gattu Battu, that they will surely embrace and make a part of their daily lives.”
The brand is also planning to market the upcoming shows and new episodes aggressively across media platforms. The expansive marketing campaign will have promotions with an extensive cross channel plan, large scale on-ground, ambient engagement and interesting on-line interactivity. Adding to this will be the on-ground initiatives like retail and mall partnerships (Phoenix, Ambience, Viviana etc), multi-city promotions.
The channel has associated with Mc Donald’s to air the show promos across 300 screens. Gattu Battu themed games, van activations in Tier 2 cities and meet-and-greets at various gaming zones such as Funcity will introduce the duo as well as allow kids to engage with the characters.
This is not the first time that Nickelodeon is promoting a show at such a large scale. The franchise, which continues to be profitable, spends heavily and smartly on the mass media.
Nickelodeon also invests in engaging with kids on the digital platforms through games. It claims to get around 1.6 lakh game installs on Play Store every month. Jaipuria mentioned that there are 400 games on their website where close to 200 have characters from the Indian home-grown shows of the franchise.
Jaipuria also shared that the franchise revenue has been growing 20% year-on-year. Individually, Nick (its flagship channel) is witnessing a 25% y-o-y increase in its revenues while Sonic is seeing a 40% growth. The revenue of the mentioned brands is contributed by subscription and ad revenue along with tailor made brand solutions that have paved the way for increased revenues. The brand solutions include movie sponsorship, in-show placements, school contact program, tentpole sponsorship, product licensing and promotional licensing.
For example, customized TVC with Motu Patlu was created to promote New Motu Patlu Magic Theme based toys which kids were getting free with every purchase of Rs 5 pack of Yellow Diamond Rings. Licensing with Shiva (one of the shows on Sonic) where the kids get a Shiva game card free with every Choki Choki stick.
Consumer durables and merchandizing too contributes to the portfolio’s business. Though in single digit, Jaipuria said that it grew by 40% last year. “We have consumer products in 46 categories and have 5000 retail points including e-commerce and modern trade.”
Nickelodeon portfolio today has advertisers across categories. Interestingly, 50% of its advertisers are for non-kids. “Our advertisers include brands like LIC, Philips, Olx, VIP, Samsonite, Flipkart, Axis Bank etc,” Jaipuria added.
Also, via BestMediaInfo.com:
Nickelodeon launches its fourth local production
As of now, the network has about 200-300 episodes of each show as library content and it will add about 200 hours of new content in 2017
Nickelodeon, the kids’ network from Viacom18, has announced the launch of its fourth local production — Gattu Battu. Produced by Toonz Animations, the channel will launch its fourth intellectual property on May 1. Gattu Battu is a high decibel detective action comedy series.
The channel already has three Indian properties — Motu Patlu, Shiva and Pakdam Pakdai. The three characters are quite popular and the network cashes on this popularity across verticals — consumer products, digital games and TV series. “While Shiva was an instant success for us, Motu Patlu gradually grew to enter the favourites’ list of the viewers’ minds. We are hopeful that Gattu Battu will also ring the same bell in the little viewers’ heads and be on the top of their mind soon enough,” said Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Head, Kids Entertainment, Viacom18.
Gattu Battu was conceptualised in-house by the Viacom18 team and it will run seven days a week, through the summers. It will be mixed with the new episodes of the existing shows and the library content of the network to create a robust mix of content for the kids during the summers. There will be new episodes of all the existing shows — Motu Patlu, Shiva and Ninja Hattori. Along with this, television premiere of the theatrical release of 2016 — Motu Patlu King of Kings.
As of now, the network has about 200-300 episodes of each show as library content, while they will be adding about 200 hours of new content in 2017. The network has stood by his promise of crossing 30 per cent market share in 2016, by clocking 31 per cent. Disney India, the kids network, garnered about 33 per cent, while Turner Broadcasting’s kids network got 27 per cent market share. (Data provided by Viacom18, Source: BARC 2-14, NCCS ABC, U+R, Week 8-12, 7 am to 10 pm).
Jaipuria also informed, “The channel has the No. 1 spot across all demographics, all geographical markets, all time bands and all age-groups and that is because we have put in a lot of effort into it. In terms of the rural urban divide, we get about 65-70 per cent viewership from urban markets. Rural is a strong market for us, but we have not yet felt the need to launch a specific channel for the rural market.”
It must be noted that the only FTA in the genre is Maha Cartoon TV launched in October 2016. However, Jaipuria clearly suggested that owing to the high cost of production for the animated content, a free-to-air (FTA) channel will not really make business sense to the network.
The network has claimed that six out of the 10 most popular characters of Ormax study has been Nickelodeon. Motu, Patlu and Chingam from the Motu Patlu series; Ninja Hattori, Red Ranger and Shiva have been the most popular. A few other characters include Doraemon and Chhota Bheem.
The network has registered a 20 per cent increase in the revenues in 2016. This must have been driven through the yield by its channels — Sonic’s yield increased by 40 per cent and Nickelodeon’s yield has increased by 25 per cent. The channel has also witnessed an increase in subscription revenues of 10-15 per cent because of digitisation. Jaipuria also informed that about 50 per cent of the kids’ cluster sponsors are non-kids advertisers.
Sonic has come out as a surprise winner since the channel has got 10 per cent market share in the year that ended on December 2016, against a 4 per cent market share that the channel commanded in the year ending December 2015. While the data for 2015 and 2016 is not comparable, the increase has been significant.
The network had been aggressive in promoting the channel, on both fronts — marketing and programming. So much so was the effort that the network shifted its most popular property ‘Shiva’ from Nickelodeon (a more established channel) to Sonic (comparatively, an underdog then). But the strategy has worked marvellously for the network and Shiva contributed to about 22 per cent into the total GTVTs of the channel (data provided by the channel).
The biggest money spinners for the network were the Kids Choice Awards which came back after a gap of two years and the theatrical release of Motu Patlu.
Jaipuria said, “Nickelodeon endeavours to serve the best entertainment to its young audience. Catering to children and their evolving preferences is at the core of all our initiatives. It is this coupled with our desire to innovate that has helped us sustain our leadership in the kids’ segment since 2014. After launching three blockbuster made in India shows and creating their eco-system, we are delighted to bring to them yet another winning series, Gattu Battu, that they will surely embrace and make a part of their daily lives.”
Gattu Battu will be launched with an expansive marketing campaign including cross channel plan on TV, large scale on-ground, ambient engagement and interesting on-line interactivity. Adding to this will be the on-ground initiatives like retail and mall partnerships (Phoenix, Ambience, Viviana), multi city promotions. The channel has associated with McDonald’s to air the show promos across 300 screens. Gattu Battu themed games, van activations in Tier 2 cities and meet-and-greets at various gaming zones such as Fun city will introduce the duo as well as allow kids to engage with the characters.
Also, via Exchange4Media.com:
We have grown our ad sales over the previous year by almost 20 per cent: Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Viacom18
After achieving immense success with other home-grown toons such as ‘Motu Patlu’, ‘Pakdam Pakdai’ and ‘Shiva’, Nickelodeon gets ready for its fourth series called ‘Gattu Battu’, a detective action comedy show. Starting May 1, the channel is looking at expanding its content by trying out a new genre. Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Head – Kids Entertainment, Viacom18, says, “We haven’t tapped into this genre before. With 32 million kids on the platform, we have a good reach and (are) robust enough to launch new show.”
She explains further why she’s taking a risk with ‘Gattu Battu,’ adding, “With more and more dependence on local content now, it only makes sense for us to analyse those gaps. Investigative has not been done before as a genre. We continue to look at newer genres as we go forward. It’s pioneering but also risky. It’s a risk we are taking again with ‘Gattu Battu.’”
She is already working on fifth IP, scheduled for next year.
The network has planned an expansive marketing campaign for the channel launch with an extensive cross channel plan, large scale on-ground, ambient engagement and on-line interactivity. Adding to this will be the on-ground initiatives like retail and mall partnerships (Phoenix, Ambience, Viviana etc), multi city promotions and more. The channel has associated with McDonald’s to air the show promos across 300 screens. Gattu Battu themed games, van activations in Tier-2 cities and meet-and-greets at various gaming zones such as Funcity will introduce the duo as well as allow kids to engage with the characters.
Upward growth trajectory
Moving ahead, Jaipuria mentions Nickelodeon has been the undisputed number one channel since August 2014. “We have been growing from strength to strength. When it comes to market share Nickelodeon is the market leader constituting 19 per cent while Sonic constitutes 10 per cent. Our network overall (Nickelodeon, Sonic and Nick JR) constitutes 31 per cent.”
Disney network with its four channels (Disney, Hungama, Disney XD and Disney JR) contributes 33 per cent.
The growth is reflected in their profits as well with 2016 being an extremely profitable year for Viacom18’s kid cluster. The business head adds, “It’s the fourth year in a row where we are a very profitable franchise for Viacom18. We are contributing to its bottom line year on year. We have grown our ad sales over the previous year by almost 20 per cent. All of this has come through whole lot of rate increase, which this category totally deserves, as we have been under-indexed for the longest time. There has been a whole lot of rate increase on Sonic and Nickelodeon. This year topline has been with KCA (Kids’ Choice Awards), box office numbers, and subscription revenue (growing at 10 to 15 per cent) and ad sales.”
Despite demonetisation, the franchise recovered in February and March. As she says, “We were hit by 15-20 per cent from the revenue perspective.”
She adds, “We delivered on the bottom line over and above the budget and target that we have set and almost doubled it from last year.”
Also their shows like ‘Motu Patlu’ and ‘Shiva’ have done well on Viacom18’s digital platform, Voot. She adds, “Local content is ticking for us on television and digital. Revenue is coming from us through digital as well.”
She credits this to their branded solutions that they offer to their advertisers including promo licenses, brand integrations, school contact programs and product licenses. “The way we present our brands outside the normal FCT of 30 second spots seems to make all the difference for advertisers today. We had tentpole sponsorships, movie sponsorships and whole lot of non FCTs. It works for all stakeholders.”
Merchandising, an important segment
Viacom18 has always been working on strengthening its merchandising, which has worked in its favour. Jaipuria adds, “Over the last year we grew by more than 40 per cent in merchandising. We are now in 46 categories including toys, apparel, puzzle, back-to-school, innerwear; we have about 6000 SKUs and reach out to 5,000 retail points in the country. It’s over and above the ad sales and subscription and adding to our topline as well. It’s in single digit. I see it growing big time because there are more characters that are coming in.”
Kids’ category only to move further
Last year the kids’ category grew by 10 per cent to Rs 500 crore in ad sales. Jaipuria is expecting a similar growth percentage of about 10-15 per cent this year. “Ad sales for Nickelodeon in the last three years have been very good.”
Positive about the growing ad rates, Jaipuria says, “We have been growing our ad rates from 20 to 30 per cent. We are going to see a similar hike continuing this year because of the whole branded solution perspective that we have got. We have takers and advertisers. Mother Dairy is already talking to us for summer. Lot of brands are interested in going beyond the 12 per cent. I can imagine continuing with that if my competitors allow me to.”
Things have improved for the genre, Jaipuria doesn’t deny that, but it can be much better, as she says, “The trajectory has improved over the last three to five years. We are beginning to get what we deserve. This is the only reason why we can plough it back into the content. In terms of CPRPs and TVTs that we deliver we are way ahead of a lot of genres. But do we get that kind of rates that we should? Not yet.”
Also, via Hindu Business Line:
Viacom18 launches fourth made-in-India series for kids
Continuing with its strategy of creating localised content appealing to children in India, Viacom18 owned kids channel Nickelodeon is set to launch its animated investigative series for kids -Gattu Battu.
Gattu Battu is the fourth Made-in-India series for Viacom18. The new series is slated to be released on May 01, 2017. It had previously launched home-grown toons like Motu Patlu, Pakdam Pakdai and Shiva.
“We have continuously created new characters to keep kids engaged. After launching three blockbuster made in India shows and creating their eco-system, we are looking at this new character,” Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Head, Kids Entertainment, Viacom18 told Business Line.
Jaipuria said that the kids segment is growing at 8 per cent in urban and 6 per cent in rural in terms of viewership. It is also seeing huge uptrend from advertisers.
In spite of being a niche segment, kids category is attracting non-typical advertisers like e-commerce and lifestyle players, detergents and automobile among others.
Industry observers say the category accounts for only about 200-odd advertisers as compared to 700-plus in GEC and movies. The kids’ segment revenue share is about 3 per cent of the total revenue.
Viacom18 has four channels in its kids cluster — Nick, Sonic, Nick Jr/Teen Nick and Nick HD+. Nick features comedy while Sonic is an action comedy channel. Nick Jr caters to pre-schoolers. Last year, Nick had launched an HD feed to its channel, making it one of the first in the kid’s entertainment category.
Last year, Viacom18 introduced took Motu-Patlu from television to the silver screen.
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