MAM
Sahara One builds hype around ‘Kohinoor’ with 3 phase marketing campaign
MUMBAI: As the legendary Kohinoor diamond remains shrouded in mystery; Sahara One Television is leaving no stones unturned to arouse curiosity around their new show titled Kohinoor, which is slated to go on air on 5 September at 10 pm.
The first phase of the marketing campaign was unleashed on 16 August with teaser hoardings all over the country flaunting the question – “Is the Kohinoor diamond still in India?” and “Do the British have the fake Kohinoor diamond?
The second phase of the campaign will hit the roads on 22 August (Monday), wherein the protagonists of show and the launch date will be revealed.
The Rediff ‘Kohinoor’ blog has interesting postings and have surely got people talking!
The campaign will hit with close to one million posters across 20 cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Ludhiana, Ahmedabad, Kolkatta, Indore, Lucknow, Kanpur, Pune and Surat. Almost 450 outdoor sites in key metros and mini metros will rouse the curiosity of the common man. BEST buses and railway stations across Mumbai have been branded with Kohinoor.
Apart from that, two million flyers have been pasted in 13 cities including Mumbai, Baroda, Ludhiana, Ahmedabad, Kolkatta, Pune and Surat.
Sahara One will also be conducting a road show across 10 cities (Mumbai, Nagpur, Delhi, Chandigarh, Pune, Surat, Ludhiana, Ahmedabad, Baroda and Kolkatta) over 10 days, which will eventually lead up to an on-air contest on the channel. The road show will kick start on 22 August.
And as if that was not all, a special music video has also been created around Kohinoor.
The ‘Kohinoor’ mystery has spread across town. Seen here is a poster on the Sion Highway in Mumbai
Alongside outdoor, the show will also be promoted across the Internet, cable, print and all radio channels. Cross channel promos on NDTV, Aaj Tak, ETV Marathi, ETV Bengali etc are also on the Kohinoor agenda.
The show will also be promoted across malls in various cities.
Direct mailers to the media fraternity across Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi and Kolkatta will be sent out via various newspapers and magazines.
A blog on Rediff (http://kahangayakohinoor.rediffblogs.com) has been created, wherein surfers post their comments on what they think about the Kohinoor that is suddenly being talked about.
Promotional activity around the show will also be seen across Yahoo! India from 22 August.
Sahara One Television head – marketing Rajeev Chakrabarti
Speaking exclusively to Indiantelevision.com, Sahara One Television head – marketing Rajeev Chakrabarti says, “The idea behind this marketing campaign was to create intrigue and curiosity around the Kohinoor diamond and resurface it by making it the talking point among people.”
The half hour show Kohinoor will be aired at 10 pm from Monday to Thursday on Sahara One. Once the show launches on 5 September, the third phase of the marketing campaign will kick start from 6 September. However, Chakrabarti remained tight lipped on what the third phase of the campaign will encompass.
The channel is pitching the show against Star Plus’ Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii, Sony’s Ye Meri Life Hai and Zee’s Time Bomb (Monday), Rabba Ishq Ka Hove (Tuesday), Rooh (Wednesday) and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge (Thursday).
With television stalwarts like Kahaani… in the 10 pm slot, only time will tell whether Sahara One’s efforts around Kohinoor will pay off or not. Till then… the buzz around the show continues.
MAM
Smytten appoints Shishir Varma as CEO of Pulseai Research
Rebranded AI platform scales with 150 plus clients and 30 million users.
MUMBAI: In a world obsessed with what consumers say, Smytten is betting on what they actually do. The company has appointed Shishir Varma as chief executive officer of Pulseai Research, signalling a sharper push into AI-led, behaviour-driven consumer insights. The move comes as Smytten rebrands its insights vertical from Smytten PulseAI to Pulseai Research, marking a shift away from traditional, project-based research towards a more continuous, intelligence-led model.
Varma brings over 30 years of global experience across APAC markets, including India, China and Japan. Most recently managing director, Insights at Kantar Japan, he has built and scaled consumer insight businesses across geographies, including playing a key role in establishing Millward Brown in India. His mandate now: turn Pulseai into a category-defining platform in a space still dominated by surveys and static reports.
The pitch is straightforward but ambitious. Instead of relying on claimed responses, Pulseai Research taps into observed behaviour leveraging Smytten’s ecosystem of 30 million users built over a decade of product discovery, trials and purchases. The idea is to close the long-standing gap between what consumers claim and how they actually behave.
The numbers suggest early traction. In under 18 months, the platform has onboarded over 150 enterprise clients across sectors, pointing to growing demand for faster, more reliable alternatives to legacy research models.
Under the hood, the platform blends behavioural data with AI and large language model-led analysis to deliver real-time sentiment tracking, scalable qualitative insights, faster quantitative studies and always-on brand intelligence. In practical terms, that means compressing research timelines from weeks to days without sacrificing depth.
The ambition extends beyond FMCG. Pulseai Research is positioning itself as a cross-category intelligence layer, spanning auto, education, gadgets and emerging consumer segments anywhere behaviour-rich data can sharpen decision-making.
For Smytten, the leadership hire is less about optics and more about direction. With Varma at the helm, the company is leaning into a simple but powerful premise: in the age of AI, insight isn’t just about asking better questions, it’s about watching more closely.
