MAM
Promos & Programming are heart & soul of television channels: Raj Nayak
MUMBAI: Colors CEO Raj Nayak opened the PromaxBDA India 2016 Conference highlighting the ever growing importance of promos for shows on channels.
Starting on a lighter note, Nayak said, “I have noticed a few changes compared to last year and biggest change that I have seen in the industry is that the time is fleeting. It feels like it was just like just yesterday when I spoke at the last PromaxBDA.
Giving insights into how the industry had changed over the years, Nayak said, “Today you have to create promos that tell a story within 20 to 60 seconds. With every passing day the competition is getting more aggressive, more and more channels are launching, more and more shows are being launched. Therefore, there are so many promos to run in lesser time, which makes the job even more challenging.”
Nayak said that earlier even promos were creatively brilliant. The amount of exposure they got on TV made sure that they stuck in the consumers mind, but today that luxury no longer existed. “In fact the biggest problem that we face in Colors is we don’t have enough promo time on our own channel and we go and spend millions of dollars buying promo time outside the network for that’s the kind of money we spent to promote our shows,” while stressing the importance of promos.
Nayak shared that at one point of time in the television industry, though the promo department was an important department for the channel, in terms of hierarchy, it always came after the programming department. He said, “It was always seen as the support function but that concept has changed now. Programming and promo departments could be defined as the heart and soul of a television channel. One doesn’t know which one to call the heart and which one to call the soul. At Colors we believe that both of them are equally important in today’s time.”
Nayak said that in the past unless it was big ticket shows like Fear Factor, India’s Got Talent, Kaun Banega Crorepati and Indian Idol, channels never spent money on producing or shooting promos separately for their other shows. He observed that that thinking had changed now. “I think now even for fiction shows channels shoot promos, sometimes before the channel has even started casting for them. At Colors, we shot the promos for our show Ashoka Chakravartin Samrat six month before launching it. Also, for Naagin, we shoot the promo with dummy actors before finalizing the cast,” Nayak shared.
This was the fourth consecutive year that Nayak had donned the role of chairperson for PromaxBDA India 2016. The PromaxBDA India 2016 conference programme ran over two days. The first day or ‘Boot Camp’ schedule comprised of workshops’ on promos, branding, marketing including news marketing and animation.
The second day of the conference or ‘Master Class’ schedule comprised of speakers sharing their knowledge and a panel discussion. The day culminated with an awards function.
Lee Hunt LLC founder Lee Hunt who made two keynote addresses. Lee’s opening keynote was ‘Dynamic Branding’, while his second keynote scheduled for the post lunch session as a closing keynote was titled ‘Death of the Channel Brand’. Other sessions included ‘The next generation of Viewer Connection’ by 602 Communications president Graeme Newell and ‘Creativity is An Option: Fake It Till You Make It’ by SBS Belgium creative director Steve Brouwers.
Lunch was followed a panel discussion – ‘Panel Session: State of Our Art’ moderated by creative director and co-founder of Dynamite Design Sheetal Sudhir. The panellists were The 120 Media Collective & Sooperfly founder and CEO Roopak Saluja and Studio Eeksaurus founder and creative director Suresh Eriyat.
Like every year, PromaxBDA India 2016 has encouraged marketing professionals to send in their best work for the opportunity of being recognized at the PromaxBDA Awards in the midst of the best in the business. PromaxBDA represents more than 10,000 companies and promotion and marketing professionals at every major media organization.
MAM
Lego brings Messi, Ronaldo, Mbappé, Vinicius together
Campaign clocks 314 million views ahead of FIFA World Cup 2026 buzz.
MUMBAI: Four legends, one frame and not a single tackle in sight. Lego has pulled off a crossover few thought possible, uniting Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior in a single campaign ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 only this time, they’re building dreams brick by brick.
Titled “Everyone wants a piece”, the campaign features the quartet assembling a Lego version of the World Cup trophy, before placing miniature versions of themselves atop it, a playful nod to football’s ultimate prize. Shared widely across social media, the ad carries a pointed disclaimer: it is not AI-generated, a subtle but telling signal in an era where even reality is often questioned.
The numbers tell their own story. The campaign has already crossed 314 million views on Instagram across the players’ accounts, with fans hailing it as a rare, almost nostalgic moment particularly for the reunion of Messi and Ronaldo, whose last shared campaign ahead of the 2022 World Cup became one of the platform’s most-liked posts.
Beyond the film, Lego is extending the play with exclusive, player-themed sets tied to each of the four stars, part of a broader football-led programme designed to ride the global momentum building towards 2026. The idea, as echoed by the players themselves, leans into the parallels between football and play experimentation, creativity, failure, and triumph.
Messi described the sets as a way to bring on-pitch moments into an imaginative, hands-on world, while Ronaldo called the transformation into a Lego figure a rare honour, blending sport with storytelling. Vinícius, meanwhile, struck a more personal note, recalling childhood moments of building with Lego and framing creativity as a universal language that transcends borders.
The timing is no accident. With the 2026 World Cup set to run from June 11 to July 19 across the United States, Canada and Mexico, and featuring an expanded 48-team format, global anticipation is already building. Argentina, led by Messi, will enter as defending champions, adding another layer of intrigue.
For Lego, the campaign does more than celebrate football, it taps into its mythology. Because when icons become figurines and rivalries turn into play, the beautiful game finds a new kind of pitch. one built, quite literally, by hand.
