MAM
Sony’s magic run with Big B continues
MUMBAI: Sony Entertainment Television‘s (SET) magic run with Amitabh Bachchan at the lead continues as it scales new heights, inching closer to the market leader Star Plus.
Pumped up by the game show Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), Sony races to 271 GRPs, a new peak after a long gap. Star Plus stays ahead by just 21 GRPs and the gap between Sony and Colors widens as shows like Bade Achhe Lagte Hain gain ground.
Sony had reached 270 GRPs more than a year back, but it was like a flash in the pan with the Aamir Khan movie 3 Idiots providing the spike. Sony had moved to an almost eight-year high as it grabbed 270 GRPs for the week ended 31 July 2010, gaining a mammoth 108 points from the trailing week, as 3 Idiots clocked an average TVR of 10.9.
“We are now in a position to sustain our momentum. Our growth has come from a bunch of shows such as CID and Crime Patrol. KBC and Bade Achhe Lagte Hain no doubt spearheaded this movement. With Kuch To Log Kahenge launching on 3 October at 8 pm, we are looking at adding more GRPs,” said Sony Entertainment Television senior vice president and marketing head Danish Khan.
KBC has become the top-rated show with the Thursday episode, featuring Ranbir Kapoor, amassing a staggering 6 TVR. The game show averaged 5.4 TVR and collected 65 GRPs during the week ended 17 September.
Also aiding Sony‘s climb were shows like Bade Achhe Lagte Hain (average TVR of 4), CID and Crime Patrol.
“3 Idiots had helped Sony catapult to 270 GRPs, with a 108 GRP jump from the preceding week. So the fall was equally dramatic. Now the rise is more steady as Sony has seen a 28 GRP gain from the trailing week,” a media analyst said.
Star Plus has shed 15 GRPs to collect 292 GRPs for the week ended 17 September, according to TAM data for the Hindi speaking markets (HSM).Colors descended to 219 points vis-?-vis 233 points it garnered in the previous week.
Zee TV added three points to end the week with 184 GRPs. At number five, Sab stood tight with 124 points as against its last week‘s score of 112.
Imagine TV rose to 75 GRPs, gaining seven points over the preceding week.
Brands
Kansai Nerolac tests paint in stratosphere for durability proof
Excel Everlast sent to 86,000 ft, survives -64°C and extreme UV exposure
MUMBAI: If walls could talk, this one would say it’s been to space and back. Kansai Nerolac has taken product testing to dizzying new heights quite literally by sending its exterior paint into the stratosphere in a bid to prove durability beyond the lab. In what the company calls a first for the Indian paint industry, a stratospheric balloon carried a payload coated with its Excel Everlast paint to an altitude of 86,000 feet above Earth. Up there, conditions are less “extreme weather” and more “near space”: temperatures drop below -64°C, ultraviolet radiation hits unfiltered, and atmospheric pressure is only a fraction of what it is at sea level.
Most materials struggle to survive such a hostile environment. This one didn’t. According to the campaign, the painted surface returned intact no visible damage, no compromise effectively turning a marketing claim into a high-altitude experiment.
The initiative, conceptualised by ULKA, moves away from simulated lab tests to something far more theatrical and verifiable. The campaign film documents the entire journey, positioning the exercise as proof rather than promise.
The test also doubles as a showcase for the Excel Everlast range, which includes features such as nano-silica-based protection, 30 per cent higher toughness and crack-bridging capability, along with a 20-year warranty claims now dramatised under conditions few buildings will ever face.
For Kansai Nerolac, the stunt is less about spectacle and more about signalling intent: in a category often dominated by functional messaging, it’s an attempt to turn durability into something tangible and memorable.
Because when your paint survives near-space, the neighbourhood monsoon suddenly feels like a very small test.
