ASIA-PACIFIC – MUMBAI, AUGUST 2010 – India’s favourite game show, Kaun Banega Crorepati (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire) is back on television. Amidst much anticipation, Sony Entertainment Television unveiled the thematic advertising campaign for Kaun Banega Crorepati on Indian Idol Grand Finale last Sunday.
The new ad campaign created by Leo Burnett, Mumbai was conceived by Nitesh Tiwari, Executive Creative Director, Anup Vishwanathan, VP and their teams. The first phase of the campaign started with teasers highlighting Mr. Bachchan’s return to Kaun Banega Crorepati and the fact that the show will now be coming on Sony Entertainment Television. This was followed by the call for auditions, giving people information about the show and how they can participate.
The second phase has been showcased by Big B on Indian Idol Grand Finale where the new theme films created by Leo Burnett were unveiled. Each ad tells a story of a character who once ignored a question and that question comes back to haunt him on the hot seat in Kaun Banega Crorepati. Mr. Bachchan then reminds the audience to be wise and to never underestimate a question!
“The campaign was a big challenge for us, considering the Kaun Banega Crorepati legacy and all the work that has happened on the brand in the past. We knew we needed to be different without losing relevance,” says Vishwanathan.
Danish Khan, Vice President and Head Marketing SONY Entertainment Television said, “The consumers have seen and experienced Kaun Banega Crorepati – the iconic host, the prize money and the game itself. Thus our brief to Leo Burnett was very simple – to bring the romance back to Kaun Banega Crorepati. To entertain and enthuse the entire family to come together to watch and play the game while delivering on show’s core proposition of combining knowledge with entertainment”.
Nitesh Tiwari adds, “For the theme commercials, we knew we didn’t need to educate people about Kaun Banega Crorepati, so we opted for a rather interesting approach. Mr. Bachchan has always come across as someone who values knowledge. Thus, we used this human truth with a creative twist and focused our communication on -Koi sawal chota nahi hota (Do not underestimate any question). Our theme films bring this adage out with a touch of humour!”
Sony Television received more than 800,000 messages on the first day of the airing of the ‘Call for entry’ spot.
Going by this initial response, one can say that the campaign has certainly lived up to all the hype. But the important question is, will the coveted show get as many eyeballs as its previous editions did? Or will it get much more? Only time will tell, but one must not forget, yeh sawaal bhi koi chota sawaal nahi hai! (no question is a small question!)
CREDITS
Campaign Title: Koi sawal chota nahi hota (Do not underestimate any question)
Client: Sony Entertainment Television/Kaun Banega Crorepati (Who wants to be a Millionaire)
Agency: Leo Burnett Mumbai
Creative team
National Creative Director: K.V. Sridhar (Pops)
Executive Creative Directors: Nitesh Tiwari, Kapil Mishra
Creative Director: Ashwiny Iyer
Copywriters: Shreyas Jain, Nikhil Mehrotra, Piyush Gupta, Ripanka Kalita, Abhishek Sinha, Pranjal Choudhary
Art Directors: Pushkar Shintre, Naresh Dhondi, Prasad Patil
Client Servicing Team
Vice-President: Anup Vishwanathan
Brand Services Director: Anupriya Shetty
Brand Associates: Sulakshana Ray, Madhuparna Das
Films team
National Film Head: Kevin Affonso
Sr. Films Executive: Manoj Pillai
Production House: Chrome Pictures.
Director: Amit Sharma
Producers: Hemant Bhandhari and Prafful Sharma
Sony Entertainment Team
Vice-President and Marketing Head, SET: Danish Khan
Assistant Vice President – Marketing, SET: Ramanjot Singh
Senior Manager – Marketing, SET: Suma Nair
Senior Manager – Marketing, SET: Aman Srivastava
