By HETAL ADESARA
Indiantelevision.com Team

(21 July 2006 8:00 pm)

MUMBAI: It has been under wraps for quite some time now. But TV and advertising veteran Raveena Raj Kohlli's branded entertainment venture Show M in partnership with Group M is ready to roll. Its goal: to create multimedia content assets for brand owners, which can be exploited through media distribution, marketing, licensing and retailing. This in turn will build deeper and more valuable connections with consumers.

It is worth noting here that Group M and Kohlli had reached an agreement in May 2005 to launch the venture but the final agreement was signed only in March this year. And the company inaugurated its new office on the morn of 21 July.

Says Kohlli, "Globally, it is the first professional approach to strategic programming for brands and it is the perfect crossover between my years in advertising and brand building and my years in programming and broadcasting. This harmonious synch of two schools of thought and businesses is going to give birth to a new hybrid kind of media person, who can think both - programing and advertising - in a creative manner."

"Show M will help brands reach target audiences with compelling, profitable and proven techniques using traditional advertising and marketing techniques, new technologies and by incorporating licensing into marketing campaigns. And all this creatively and with the marketing ROI rigorously quantified," adds BroadMind general manger content and entertainment Rajeev Berry.

Show M has already been involved with Hindustan Lever's detergent brand Wheel and has already rolled out a game show - Wheel Smart Sreemati - on Doordarshan. "There was a huge amount of ground activation done around the show by the brand in towns and cities across India. The show doesn't promote the brand in an obvious kind of way but it manages to convey the brand value," says Kohlli. The show is going into its second season with a whole new scaled up package, she adds.

The company is actively working with two or three brands from the HLL stable and also with the likes of Seagrams, Perfitti, Hutch, ICICI, Diamond Trading Corporation (DTC), Hero Honda and Frito Lay. Show M is also in talks most channels in the general entertainment space like Zee, Sony and also with DD. "Our responsibility is to sell our ideas not only to the network but eventually to the audience," Kohlli says.

On the other hand, Kohlli's company Sundial Creative Media Pvt Ltd. in itself, is not a production house but is a multimedia think tank. The other company that it has under it is called – The Programming Company (TPC), which is a consortium of production houses comprising the likes of Bombay Talkies, Make Up Films, Quiz Craft and a few other independent creative minds. These production houses have a specialty area like non-fiction, game shows, knowledge based programming, lifestyle programming and fiction etc.

"I am a programming person and I want to remain that. I co-create projects with these companies and also co-produce them but the line production is taken care of by them. The industry is changing and we are going to witness an exciting phase and for that I am open to working with anyone and everyone in the industry," Kohlli adds.