Life OK, which turns three this December, is looking at the festive season and especially Diwali, to give it a leg up to the top. The new GEC that was a re-launch of Star One two and half years ago has seen tremendous growth since its inception. Today it is at a stable No.4 spot on the ratings chart, with a 13-14 per cent market share and has given competition to some of the top Hindi GECs. Ajit Thakur, EVP and GM, Life OK shared some of the programming plans for the entire quarter.
The channel has already announced three of the seven new programming plans. This includes dance reality show Dare2Dance with Akshay Kumar, fiction show Ajeeb Daastaan Hain Ye staring Sonali Bendre and new sitcom Comedy Classes. With the aim to take Life OK to the top Thakur said, “We wanted to use Diwali as a big push during this quarter so that we are considered the best GEC. And I am saying the best, not top, as beyond a point we don’t control the numbers. But we want people to stand up and take notice of this channel that is very different from the others. In the Diwali quarter we started with Dare2Dance and Ekta (Kapoor’s) show (Ajeeb Daasthan Hein Ye) is launching soon. We are set to reinvent comedy through Comedy Classes”. He further added that the channel had opted for a sitcom since this is a format that has done well for most channels but has not been explored by Life OK. “We will follow that up with our first big premiere with ‘Two States’. We will follow that up with a big Diwali event; and then a show with Vipul Amrutlal Shah. That will lead on to a show with Sooraj Barjatya who is also coming to Life OK for the first time. And then we will also have the next big mythology series on Indian television which will be the next level after Mahadev,” he said. The mythological series will be launched in December he added.Large scale marketing campaign Thakur plans to launch an advertising campaign across all media to promote the new offerings. Though he didn’t give any numbers, the marketing spends are expected to be the highest during this quarter for the channel. “We will spend in three months what people would spend through the year, because we have so much to tell in the next three months,” Thakur said. “In terms of the marketing investment, I can tell you that nobody will be as visible as us in terms of multiple full page print ads, advertising across 50 television channels including advertising Life OK on football on the Star Network. We are looking at outdoor campaigns such as malls, bus stations, buses, etc. We will have our promos running with Bang Bang in theatres. So if go outdoor, you will see Life OK campaigns running for the next three months. If you go to Tata Sky, you will see Life OK ads running,” he added. Further to these plans, the channel will refresh the look and feel of the brand by mid October to attract advertisers. “We want to make sure that advertisers know that there is a no bigger destination to advertise than Life OK this Diwali and let our viewers know the same,” Thakur added. The plans don’t end in December. Thakur said that more stars and directors have been sounded out for upcoming shows that they will look to build from January onwards. “We want to bring in stars on our platform both in front of the camera and behind the camera. These stars will be for both fiction and non-fiction, with a leaning towards the former. We are looking at make more announcements (regarding this),” he added. All the new shows will be on the prime time slots that get the highest viewership for the channel.
Source: Exchange4media.com
